Ziga-Zoga's Footballers Blog (soccer)

Steps for Success: Chivas USA's Ante Razov's Tips to Help You Score Big

As promised, here are a few tips for aspiring footballers courtesy of Chivas USA's Ante Razov. Razov has three main musts to help pave the way for success:

1) Practice a lot.

2) You have to love the game, and have that competitive edge every day.

3) Have fun and enjoy the game.

These are good words to follow, coming from someone who has 109 MLS goals, which is second behind D.C. United's Jaime Moreno. On a side note, four of the league's all-time leading scorers are here this week: Moreno (112 - 1st), Razov (109 - 2nd), Toronto FC's Jeff Cunningham (96 - 4th), and Chivas USA coach Preki (79 - 9th). On top of that, last year's Golden Boot winner, D.C. United's Luciano Emilio (20 goals) is here as well.

We'll have practice video from the other day up later on today, and keep coming back for more Texas Pro Soccer Festival updates here in San Antonio.

TPSF Update: The Importance of Communication

It's Eddie checking in again, shortly before I head off to catch tonight's TPSF doubleheaders in Cibolo.

This evening, the Texas Pro Soccer Fest kicks off in earnest with the first of three doubleheaders at Steele High School, but if you were out at the Soccer International fields this morning, there was an extremely spirited and intense scrimmage between D.C. United and Chivas USA, who will face off one of tonight's matches, with Houston Dynamo and Toronto FC playing in the other match of the twinbill.

One of the most noticeable things about the scrimmage was not only its intensity, but the way the players were communicating with and encouraging their teammates.

Good communication is very important in sports, and in life in general. In a sport like soccer, when the players have to deal with language barriers sometimes, it's vital to be able to communicate with teammates both on and off the pitch to succeed and have the closest-knit unit as possible.

Speaking of helpful tips for footballers, I got a chance to speak with D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno and head coach Tom Soehn yesterday, and with Chivas USA forward Ante Razov today, and all three provided great tips for aspiring footballers. I'll be posting a video of yesterday's practice and interviews later on, along with the complete transcript from today's interview with Razov.

Moreno and Razov are two of the remaining 'MLS Originals,' who have played in the league since it started in 1996, and both have experienced a lot of success on a personal and team level, so if they have something to say on how to reach your goals, it's definitely worth listening to.

As for coverage from tonight's matches, if I have Internet access at the stadium, I plan to provide live updates of each game, but if not, I will post a recap afterwards.

MLS SuperDraft 1st Picks

The excitement and electricity buzzing through the MLS DRAFT is much different this year than last year.  The media presence has changed significantly and many more fan groups turned out.  What a great time to be involved in the selection of the future soccer stars here in America.

So, here's the first 5 picks of the MLS SuperDraft: Chance Myers to Kansas City, Brek Shea to FC Dallas, Tony Beltran to Real Salt Lake, Sean Franklin to LA Galaxy, Ciaran O'Brien to Colorado Rapids

Chance Myers comes out of UCLA; Shea US U-17 National Team & Dallas Texans; Beltran from UCLA; Franklin from Cal State-Northridge; O'Brien from UC Santa Barbara.

The 6th pick was defender Andy Iro - also from UC Santa Barbara - goes to Columbus and 7th pick Patrick Nyarko goes to the Chicago Fire.

We caught up with Chance, Brek and Tony just after they walked off the podium.  With Chance being compared to Frankie Hejduk, he said he was honored with such a comparison and was looking forward to demonstrating his personal abilities and stepping up to the next level. 

Brek, from College Station, TX, was really excited to play in state with FC Dallas because of the close proximity to family and friends.  Tony Beltran at 5' 8" 150 lbs. was asked about playing against larger and more physical players than he's normally used to and said, "heart and determination cannot be measured and if you continue to work on your skill you can compete at any level".

MLS SuperDraft 2008

Today the ZZ Crew is at the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.  We'll be covering the event from several different angels and will hopefully bring you a broad perspective of the event to include;  player interviews, coach interviews, fan interviews, cool pictures and videos.

Later this evening we'll catch up with some fellow ZZ members who are here like Barbara O'Connell, Ethan Zohn and Kartik Krishnaiyer and a few other exciting things.  Stay tuned :-)

Check Out The Switch Image Project

For a glimpse in the retro and cool new team kits from all over the world, check out the ultra cool blog Swicth Image Project.  You can see kits from the past and kits you may have never seen showcased along with a historical perspective or interesting note on the team wearing the kit and more.

Blogged with Flock

LIVE Interview with Jay Demerit of Watford FC

Jay Demerit, originally uploaded by calebpick09.

We'll be talking with Jay tomorrow LIVE on ZigaZoga.com at 11:30 EST / 4:30 GMT ( 10:30 CST / 8:30 PST ).  Jay is currently playing with Watford FC in the Championship League and is a member of the US National Team.

We'll be discussing some of his experiences playing in the U.K. and his National Team experiences as well talking about what advice he has for young aspiring players. 

If you have any questions you'd like us to ask Jay, please submit them here.  Lastly, if you cannot be in front of a computer to hear the interview LIVE you can always download the podcast at a later time from the Ziga-Zoga player.

Check ya later,

Jason

LIVE Interview with Brian Ching on ZigaZoga.com

ching_brian_2006m, originally uploaded by wjarrettc.

Today we will be doing our first LIVE podcast interview on ZigaZoga.com with Brian Ching of the US National Team & MLS Houston Dynamo at 4:30 PM CST.  We'd love for everyone in the community around the world to join us.  If you have a question you'd like us to ask Brian please submit it here.

We look forward to this show, it should be fun and exciting.

Cheers,

~ Jason

Dwayne De Rosario Podcast

 

What a cool guy...head on his shoulders and thankful for what he has.  We caught up with Dwayne today and really just had a talk about him, his experiences and his advice to younger players.  Listen in and you'll have to forgive the technical difficulties...we just started doing the podcast thing so I'm sure we'll get better as will Dwayne and the Dynamo.  We lost him toward the end of the call so forgive us for the awkward ending to the call.

Talking with Dwayne De Rosario today

Hello out there!  I will be talking with Dwayne De Rosario later today and I just wanted to know if anyone had anything they would like to ask him?  We have about 20-30 minutes to chat with him and we'll be recording to podcast later for the ZZ community.  So, let me know.

Cheers,

Jason

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A "SUPPORTER" AND A "FAN"

FANS-

Fans go to a game and bring their noise makers and horns. Fans are to busy talking to the person(s) next to them to know what's happening in the match, their kids are screaming and yelling because they're bored or hungry or have to go to the bathroom. They follow a team until the team does poorly, but not to worry because they immediately pick another team to follow (usually one that is in 1st place). Fans don't know or care or want to know the history of the team they follow, or only follow a team because of a certain player....again, only to switch teams if that player moves to a different team.

SUPPORTERS-

Supporters make noise through singing, chants, yelling (and yes, at times cursing). Supporter's kids are either left at home with a sitter or have everything taking care of before the match begins. Supporters follow ONE side....winning, loosing , top of the league or bottom of the table. Supporters don't always know the full history of their side, but have descent knowledge.....And last but NOT least, NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN THE CLUB!! players come and go, but the support for your side NEVER waivers!!

~ Scott

Scott Hudlow is a member of Ziga-Zoga and blogs passionately about his views on what's happening in football.  Scott that can be reached from his page here.