No. 24—Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Soccer from Spain: Real Madrid’s Error in Judgement May be the Reason for Not Winning the Match

by Soccer Coach Albert M.Luongo

The competition between the Barcelona and Real Madrid soccer teams proved to be an exciting game that was held on March 10, 2007: The match was replayed on TV on December 22, 2007. The final score ended in a tie of 3-3. In my opinion, it could have been a victory for Madrid, but this will be discussed later. Both teams were running at top speed through the entire game. However, as the game wore on, the play became rough, but for the most part at least, the referee maintained control. Within 4 minutes into the game, Real Madrid’s Van Nistelrooy scored by being in front of the goal with only the goalkeeper to his front. He again scored at the 12-minute time on a penalty kick. Two minutes before, at 10 minutes into the game, Barcelona’s Leo Messi scored with no defenseman on him. At minute 27, Barcelona’s Ronaldinho with a great run with the ball passed it to unmarked Messi for Messi’s 2nd goal. At the last minute into this half, Barcelona’s Pressas Olequer received a red card for an inexcusable foul causing the team to play with 10 players from there on. The score was 2-2 at the end of the first half.

Madrid’s coach Fabio Capello, I believe, was not satisfied with a 2-2 tie and brought in Striker Robinho after 15 minutes of play into the second half. At this point, I would have strengthened the defense and not brought in an attacker. I believe this was the error that prevented Real Madrid from winning the game. At about 73 minutes into the game, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos scored on a diving header on a free kick. It rebounded off the cross bar and into the goal making the score 3-2. At this point for sure, strengthening the defense would have been a prudent measure. Anyway, at the 90th minute, Ronaldinho passed the ball to Messi. Messi made one of his usually superb runs with the ball, passed through two defenders simultaneously--on the left attacking wing, and shot the ball into the net at the far post; thus, scoring all of Barcelona’s 3 goals. He is the team’s workhorse: This player wants the ball, no matter which team has it. So the game ended with a tie of 3-3 instead of 3-2 in favor with Real Madrid.

This is for young players and coaches to know:
I do not favor one team over the other and my views throughout the game are totally objective. This was a relatively high scoring game as both teams are rivals and it appeared that attack soccer would be the usual method in such a match. As with most if not all high-scoring games, the defensive players can prevent some of the goals; but not all. Perfect headers into the goal are of course the most difficult to prevent. But, marking an attacker in one’s zone (and not being mesmerized by the ball) and backing up with the dribbling attacker are the essential requirements for a superb defender. Naturally, self-discipline for not getting faked is another key ingredient into the mix. Real Madrid could have won. Not only did they have the lead over Barcelona up until the final minutes of the game, they had a one player advantage. Had they shored up their defense later in the match, they could possibly have prevented that last minute goal of Messi.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.

No. 23--Boca Juniors vs. AC Milan Argentine and Italian Soccer: An Example of Not Enough Defense

by Soccer Coach Albert M. Luongo

The FIFA Club World Cup final game was held in Japan between Boca Juniors vs. AC Milan on Dec. 16, 2007. It ended in a 4 to 2 victory for Milan, thus they won the cup. This was an exciting game to watch as it was played professionally at the highest level in my opinion. The game was played with passes on the ground most of the time—typical for Italian and Argentine teams. In addition there were very few goalie’s kicks far up field. And the ball seldom went out of play during the match. All of that made for a highly professional and enjoyable match.

The shooting and scoring went like this. At 21 minutes into the game Milan’s Kaka’ passed off the ball to Philippo Inzaghi who headed it into the goal. There was no chance for the defense to prevent this goal. About a minute later Boca’s Rodrigo Palacio also headed in a crossed ball with no chance for the Argentine defense to stop it. At 35 minutes into the game, Boca’s Placio placed the ball in front of the goal, but no attackers were there and they lost that chance to score. The score was 1 to 1 at the end of the first half.

The second half’s scoring went like this. At about the 49th minute, Milan’s Nesta placed a half volley into the goal and made it 2 to 1. At little while later, Kaka’ scored by himself with some fantastic dribbling making the score 3 to 1. At minute 71, Kaka’ again sent the ball to unmarked Inzaghi who kicked in the ball making the score 4 to 1.Inzaghi was completely unmarked. At the 84th minute a shot from Boca’s Ledesma kicked ball inadvertently ricocheted off the midsection of Milan’s defender and into the goal. This goal was attributed to Ambrosomi scoring against his own team making the score 4 to 2.

Near the 76th minute of play, two red cards were issued, within a few minitues of each other. One to Argentine’s the Ledesma and the other to the Italian’s Kaladze. The referee is commended for handing out these cards, as there is no excuse for their type of malicious fouls.

More about the game play. At 5 minutes into the match, Milan’s Seedoff sent a good ball across the goalmouth, but there was no one there. Thus Milan missed their first chance to score. However, the team’s players showed good dribbling and passing skills making it a possessive game for them. One problem with the Argentine team was that frequently they lacked enough players back for defense. It was quite the opposite with Milan. Often Milan had their whole midfield team back helping out the defense team. This had an obvious positive effect on the outcome of the game. In summing up the game, both teams gave their all, but I believe that Milan’s players were in the best of form with passing, defense and endurance.

A note to young players and coaches:
This was a championship game and as such the best teams participated in the match. To get there, it naturally takes talented players that play together as a team. But, it takes more than that. It takes a disciplined defense controlled by the goalkeeper to help prevent defensive mistakes. It also takes discipline to keep most passes on the ground to open players. Furthermore, physical endurance that comes from rigorous training at home and at practices is a must. A further note on defense: Defensive backs must learn to watch and mark unmarked opponents near their goal. Not doing so is a mistake often made both at the non-professional and professional levels. It is usually costly.

I personnally cannot fault Ambrosomi for scoring against his own team on defense. The same situation occurred with me on defense in a game several years ago. We lost that match because of my goal.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.

No. 22--Hertha Berlin vs. FC Bayern Munich German Soccer: A Strong Defense by the Weaker Team Kept Them to from Losing

By Soccer Coach Albert M. Luongo

This game on Dec. 15, 2007 ended with no score for either team. FC Bayern Munich being the dominant team could not score against the less aggressive Hertha Berlin. How can a team that dominates the field for most of the game not fail to score against a weaker midfield team? The answer is almost always that a weaker team with a strong defense, making few defensive errors can prevent the opposition from scoring. While totally dominating the first half, Bayern Munich attempted to attack Hertha Berlin’s defense. However, Hertha Berlin’s defense team backed up with each dribbling player and generally did not attempt to tackle the ball while it was under control of the dribbler.That is excellent defense. They maintained themselves in front of their attackers and were careful not to fall for fake movements on the apart of their attackers. This excellent defense frustrated Bayern Munich.

Hertha Berlin’s management must have given its team a strong pep talk during the half time because this team reappeared on the field aggressively at the beginning of the second half. Up to the end of the first half, it seemed that it was just a matter of time before Bayern Munich would score as they had many attacking chances, even though Hertha Berlin’s defense thwarted them continuously. However after about 15 minutes into the half, Bayern Munich again dominated the field of play for most of the remaining game allowing only sporadic attacks by Berlin. Within a few minutes to the end of the game, Hertha Berlin’s defense was caught off guard however. Bayern’s Miroslav Klose was running at top speed towards the goal with two of Berlin’s defenders on his heels. Somehow the defense failed this time to be in front of their opposition attacker. This was a big mistake. Klose got of the shot but it went high off the mark. Berlin got off lucky.


FC Bayern’s passes were more accurate than those of Hertha’s. And they were more aggressive going for the loose ball. Also, it appeared that Bayern's team was in better endurance shape than that Hertha Berlin. With all of this dominance on the field, they could only produce a few crosses due to the opposition defensive pressure.

Many of Hertha Berlin’s passes were indiscriminate and therefore gave them only a few good chances to score, but their strong defense and excellent slide tackles kept them from losing the match. While their defense was adequate, the few chance to score by Hertha were mostly due to the defensive mistakes of FC Bayern Munich.

With both teams, most of the shots on goal were high and sailed over the goal. This is quite common in soccer even in with the most professional athletes. But at least each had a commendable defense.

Young players and coaches should take note of what went right and what went wrong in this game.

1. Rigorous conditioning and training of players gives them more speed and endurance throughout the game.
2. Endurance and accurate passing allows a team to dominate a game, if the other team is weaker in either or both of these two areas.
3. A strong defense making few defensive errors can prevent one's own team from losing a soccer match.
4. Kicks on goal must be taken with the body over the ball in order for the shots to not rise above the goal. This must be practiced frequently.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.

No. 21--Ascoli vs. Fiorentina Italian Soccer: Great Defenses by Midfielders and the Defense

by Soccer Coach Al Luongo

This recent game aired on Dec. 11, 2007. It was full of action, was played during a pouring cold rain and ended in a 1 to 1 tie. At 30 minutes into the game a corner kick was put to the head of Fiorentina’s Per Kroldrup. He sent the ball swiftly into the back of the net. There was no chance for the defense to stop this shot. Fiorentina was the more aggressive as they pressured Ascoli for most of the early part of the game. However though, the game was played mostly in the midfield with Fiorentina having a few more chances at scoring than Ascoli. Both defenses were strong and for the most part disallowed each opposition from making many penetrations into the goal area. This action packed game was performed as both teams made good and bad passes in the midfield; thus keeping the ball mostly in this part of the field for the first 60 minutes. Up to this time, Fiorentina seemed to be more determined and had more control of the ball.

At times during the game, Ascoli seemed to back away and let Fiorentina players win the loose ball, thus giving their opposition more of a chance to make passing buildups for an attack on their own goal. And, it seemed that Fiorentina would easily win the match.

After about 60 minutes into the game, Ascoli seemed to get a burst of energy, became stronger and the game was more evenly matched. At about the 80th minute, Ascoli’s Stefano Guberti kicked a powerful shot with no chance for Fiorentina’s goalkeeper Chistiano Lupatelli. This brought the score to 1 to 1.

The last ten minutes of the game was largely kickball as each team tried to hurry the ball upfield in hopes of a forward player scoring.

An analysis of the game is as follows: The game ended in a low tie score due to the midfield players of both teams being very defensive (aggressive), along with the good defensive techniques of the defense teams. By being defensive, it is meant that the players pressured the opposition when they were without the ball. These aggressive defensive movements made it difficult for both teams to develop good attack buildups, so they were at a minimum. Young players should take note of the Following: It is a fact that being a good soccer midfielder or forward means that it is not only necessary to participate on the offense, but

1. To be undeterred to win the loose ball by soccer-legal means
2. And to pressurize the opponents to win the ball back.

One problem not mentioned above, was one in which the goalkeepers too often kicked the ball up field hoping that the forwards could make something of these long passes (kicks). Long upfield kicks are best kept to a minimum; as most knowledgeable soccer people know, there is somewhat of a 70% or better chance that the ball will be intercepted (note: the interception is only determined after the ball is finally settled).

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.