Didier Drogba and the Ivory Coast Men's National Soccer Team

Didier Drogba was a smash hit at the African Nations Cup which was produced by CAF (Confederation of African Football) and hosted in Egypt. The final with Ivory Coast took place on February 10 2006 and was won by the host country Egypt 4-2 on penalty shoot-out.

Didier Drogba had the most impact of any other national player of any other of the participaying teams during the course of the intra African match-ups. He is essentially a centeral force on any of the teams he has played on.. This also includes Chelsea of the English Premier League of which he is also a striker.

For team mate, Toure, Drogba presents a potentially decisive edge in the first competitive meeting between Ivory Coast and Nigeria since the 1994 Nations Cup semi-final won by the Nigerians on penalties.

"Drogba is a really great player and he is something special. We are really proud of what hehas a done for the team". "It's going to be a very hard game. But now we are in the semi-finals, anything can happen. We've got our chance," said defender Toure.

Seconds into the second half, the whole difference was made when Drogba netted his fourth goal of the tournament and the Elephants could afford to sit back for most of the second half. The goal stung the Nigerian bench who immediately replaced Mikel Obi with Jay Jay Okocha and Kanu Nwankwo with Julius Aghahowa, but still the Nigerians could not turn the game round. This is the first time the Ivorians, who have qualified for the World cup, will have played in the final since winning the title in 1992 in Senegal.

The Egyptians must thank goalkeeper Essam EL Hadary for saving two penalties as Ivory Coasts Didier Drogba missed a crucial first spot kick for the Elephants.

COTE D'IVOIRE (Ivory Coast) National Team Line-up

01.Tizie Jean-Jacques Hobrou
02.Akale Kanga Gauthier
03.Boka Etienne Arthur
04.Toure Kolo Abib
05.Zokora Deguy Alain Didier
06.Kouassi Koffiblaise
07.Fae Emerse
09.Kone Arouna
11.Drogba Tebily Didier Yves
21.Eboue Emmanuel
19.Toure Yaya Gnegneri

How many of these following substitutes will make their way to other Premier League teams in Europe and Asia?

10.Yapi Yapo Gilles Donald
08.Kalou Bonaventure
14.Kone Bakari
15.Dindane Aruna
16.Gnanhouan G. Amoukou Okosias
17.Domoraud Depri Cyrille Leandre
18.Tiene Siaka
22.N'dri Koffi Christian Romaric
23.Barry Boubacar
20.Demel Guy Roland
12.Meite Abdoulaye
13.Zoro Kpolo Marc Andre

The battle for African Footballer of the year

Drogba overshadowed Samuel Eto'o, his rival for the African Footballer of the Year award usually held in late February. Didier Drogba scored the decisive penalty to put Ivory Coast into the last four in a dramatic shootout victory over Cameroon in Cairo.However it might be blindsided by a contender from Egypt. Could Mido be in the mix?

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Video Slide Show Productions

Slide show companies are popping up all over the internet. People are taking their pictures and placing them on CDs, DVDs, or VHS for personal use and for gifts for all occasions. People everywhere are hiring companies to make wedding slide shows for receptions, graduation slide shows, anniversary slide shows, birthday slide shows, memorial service slide shows, vacation slide shows, holiday slide shows, and just about anything you can think of slide shows. But how do you know which slide show company to choose?

It use to be that when we took our photos of our special occasions: weddings, vacations, reunions, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, family, friends, pets and so on, that wed get the photos developed and place them in a photo album or a shoe box. A couple of our very favorites would be placed in frames. But, the photo album or shoebox would then sit on a shelf or under a bed or in a closet or somewhere where theyd be neglected and hardly ever looked at. In the meantime the photos themselves are drying out, cracking, and turning yellow. When we do go to look at them theyre never as good as we remember because theyve aged.

Placing our photos on CD, DVD, or VHS preserves the photos forever. They will never crack, fade, yellow, or get damaged. Future generations can enjoy the same quality in a hundred years as we can today.

Turning your photos into slide shows, video albums, or photo montages makes the photos fun to watch and more people will enjoy viewing them with you. So how do you know if you've found a quality slideshow company? An important rule of thumb to remember is, "If the price seems too good to be true, then it probably is". Creating slide shows is a service related industry; no real slide show creating company can give you quality work without putting quality time into it. The less the price, the less the amount of time going into it. You might as well go buy yourself the cheapest slide show software you can find and do it yourself.

A quality slide show creating company has invested thousands of dollars to be able to produce the highest quality work for the consumer. In addition, they will spend the time needed to clean up your photos and create a quality CD, DVD or VHS that you can be proud of. Although, like in any industry, you'll need to beware of those who overcharge, the bottom line is; the more time a company puts into creating your slideshow, the higher the cost of that slide show.

When comparing prices, don't forget to compare the contents of the package. This will make a tremendous difference in the pricing and the quality of the slideshow you receive. But don't fall for bogus charges such as transition charges. What are slide shows without transitions? So shop around, compare prices, packages, and view some slide show samples.

Viewing slide show samples is very important to choosing your video slide show production company. If youre satisfied with just the simple fade-in, fade-out photo montage style slideshows, then you have a lot to choose from. If you want something fun, exciting, emotional, creative and unique, then theres very little to choose from. The slide show company you choose should value your precious memories so much that it reflects in the slide shows they create. To a true slide show creator, creating quality slide shows is comparative to an artist who is creating yet another masterpiece: each one is unique, creative, evokes emotion, no two are exactly alike, and all are worthy of displaying to everyone you know. At Sands of Time Multimedia Creations, slide shows are works of art. Visit us today and experience the difference!

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Soccer Betting - An Introduction

Lawmakers have been thus penned down to make tough new measures to crack down on corruption in sports related betting. Bets are placed on individual players performances, the winning team, scores in the game, etc.

Technology aids available

Today you can bet on the Internet, at casinos, through national lottery and also on cell phones. Growth of Internet betting exchanges has made sports more vulnerable to fraud and match fixing. Now betting is done with the help of GPRS technology, which is a more faster and reliable way for account holders to place their bets. Users are charged for the volume of data rather than the time spent using the service. But the police are now resorting to the use of electronic surveillance techniques to track down the alleged racket.

Advantages over other sports

Precisely betting on a football game has been an extremely popular form of winning big money for years, producing far better prize money amounts for relatively low stake money. Today a punt on the football pools or spot the ball for a quid could win you thousands upon thousands. A bet on a horse cannot produce the same odds. This is perhaps a clue to the nature of betting on a football. Complete change in the lifestyle for a stake that he can afford to loose and demand for no work in return is what allures an aspiring punter to football betting. This is the lure for many working class punters, both male and female regardless of their taste for football. Football betting is the most appropriate technique to make money for those who want to skip the hurdles and mushroom their profits without taking any pains.

Thus the lawmakers have called for various sports governing bodies to have a say in the type of bets offered to punters and to make bookmakers set up "audit-trails", something the new betting exchanges already do, to allow suspicious betting patterns to be traced. Lawmakers have also called for the governing bodies of various sports to devise common standards on who may bet on their sport, types of bets that can be placed on the concerned sport and what the other logistics for placing a bet on their sport should be.

Electronics: Newer, Faster, Better

When it comes to electronics, newer, faster, and better models of everything from computer processors to cellular phones appear at least every six months. The evolution of technology means manufacturers are incorporating more features and more power into virtually every type of consumer electronics. When you're in the market for consumer electronics - whether for yourself or as a gift idea for someone else - the question becomes, do you need to buy the latest and greatest?

As an example, let's take a look at digital cameras. Virtually everyone is making the switch - if they haven't already - from film to digital. Seven mega-pixel digital cameras are everywhere, and single lens reflex digital cameras are poised to dramatically drop in price within the next twelve months. With the dozens, if not hundreds, of models from which to choose, does it make sense to buy a top of the line digital camera?

Not necessarily. The type of digital camera you need depends on how you're planning to use it. If you primarily use a camera on vacations or while traveling, the most important feature might be the weight of the camera. The ultra-thin, lightweight digital cameras now on the market may not have all of the features of their heavier counterparts, but they're perfect to stick in your shirt pocket and pull out at a moment's notice.

If you take most of your pictures outdoors, an LCD screen with backlighting - and a viewfinder - might be the most important feature for your needs. There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to see what you're shooting. On the other hand, if you primarily use your camera indoors, a red-eye reduction feature is a must-have. If you want to use your camera at your child's soccer games, a digital camera that allows you to take short movies might be perfect for you.

You also need to consider how you'll be using the camera when it comes to selecting the appropriate picture resolution. Most people don't really need a seven mega-pixel camera; and you definitely don't need one if all you're going to do with the pictures is view them on your computer monitor or post them online.

Unlike jewelry, where more is almost always better, consumer electronics don't need to have every single feature in order to be useful. Let's face it: most of us only use a fraction of the power and features in our computers and software. So, when we're buying consumer electronics, it's important to think through which features we'll use and which are extras that add to the price but not the value.

Thank You, Ah Mah!

The rebel years are over. The phase of contradiction and compulsive behavior comes to a grinding but definitive halt. The act of pure impulse sometimes becomes impossible.

Youre older.

I must admit, even in front of my own parents, I have admitted that I have been nothing short of a hell-raiser. Running away from home, staying over at boyfriends face, kicking the hell out of my own sister, engaging in drunken cat-fights with friends, fist-fighting with my brother, word-battles with my father, thinking I was right when I was irrefutably wrong..the list can go on.

Whatever a daughter can do wrong, I did.

But these are the activities, decisions, and memories that have helped shape me into the person that I am today. I have 2 wonderfully amazing and perfect boys to call my own. They look up to me, adore me and even when I think I am a little psycho, they think I am hilarious! The innocence..I am not yet a perfect person today but I can proudly say that I have become closer to perfect....in my personal opinion, that is. Age does this to people.

When people think I should keep a job, I left it. When people think I should not be in a relationship, I engaged in. When people thought I should just shut up, I spoke up. When people thought I should be more feminine, I kick out and punch around like a crazy woman on drugs! When people thought I should forgive, I am revengeful. When people think I should forget, I remember. Gosh, when people think I should remember (like where I placed my keys), I dont.

With that said, I look at my own parents and wonder how many of my decisions have made them into the older people that they are. How many of my rebellions have added an extra crease to their foreheads? How many of my shouting matches have given my parents wrinkles and white hairs? Only when youre older, you realize that Heck, I wasnt such a smartass, was I? and there I was, all of 16, thinking I was adult-enough to make my own decisions.

If I had a daughter like me, I would have done things to her (and/or myself) that I will live to regret!Thankfully, I dont. I dont have a daughter, period!! (Someone up there loves me, after all)

I spoke very briefly on the phone with my aging and lonely grandmother today and this blog is a result of that conversation.

To say I have regretted my actions and decisions when I was younger is an understatement. We all dont know how long she has to live on this planet anymore but one thing is for sure, it wont be for long. Oh, shes not really ill or anything. Shes happy (in a very lonely kind of way) and healthy (in an old kind of way) but she certainly has her own regrets as well. I guess a lot of the things that I did in the past were uncalled for and when she did things out of the goodness of her heart, I wasnt appreciative because I was too self-centered and obnoxious. I ruled the world, didnt I?

I dont know how long more the tenure of her stay here on earth has before it expires, but I hope she will take good memories with her down or up to wherever shes going after the expiration of her stay here.

Thank you, ah mah.

Soccer Systems of Play, Team Formation and Positional Set up, 4-4-2

4-4-2
Defense;

4, defenders are usually arranged as outside left, inside left, inside right and outside right.
The most recent idea is to have them lined up in a banana shape with the middle of the curve closest to the goalkeeper and the outside defenders, the points, slightly ahead but behind the midfielders.
As this is the shape of a banana the defenders can see one another usualy all the time.

Some considered the flat back option but this means much more communication from the capitain of the defense usually one of the insiders.
The general idea is to have the two defenders attend to the attack coming in from their side.

This means that the opposite outside tucks in a little to cover the center of the field covering the goal and any incoming additional attacking opponents.
When the team has possession the defenders would then play wide to stretch out the other teams attackers.
This is also known as playing it around the back.

Sometimes the defenders can be lined up in a diamond shape. This is to utilize the last player back as a "sweeper" who clears the ball up the field and out to the other defenders and mid fielders.
This player is in constant communication with the goalkeeper and relays the message to the other defenders. This is because the goalkeepers can see the complete field from their vantage point.

At times and in some cases too often this central defender will by-pass the midfield and play it up to the forwards. I say too often because this usually has the forwards out numbered by the opposing defenders.. However there are a few "power forwards" who could handle this situation, but most are unable too.

The defender at the top of the diamond is considered the "stopper" whose duty is to challenge any attack or attacking play. They usually play from side to side rather than up and down the field.
These defenders are involved in shutting down any play and play making.
These players really read the game well. They need to, or they would be doing all the running.

Midfield

4, mid-fielders are usually arranged as outside left, inside left, inside right and outside right.
The outside players are called, wingers or flank players and are also involved in striking at the goal.
This would make this line up have a possibility of 4 strikers at any given time.
These wingers usually have the bulk of the running to do as they could carry the ball from the defending third and into the attacking third.
This also depends on the team strategy as outlined by the coaching staff.

The two inside midfielders are supposed to be the "play makers". These are the individuals who are responsible for carrying out the plans the coach and players have designed and used as the methods of attack and goal scoring.
These positions have traditionally played these roles. However nowadays the play making comes from anyone and sometimes all the players at any given time.
These inside players have also been more defensive in their general on field play.
This defensive idea is to stop the opposition from creating attacking options.

Forwards;

These are the main ggoooooooooooalll scoring machines. The ones who react to the ball quickly and are able to shoot from any place on the field.
To be effective they should work closely together as a team and pair. To this extent they are sometimes called "twin strikers".
They are also responsible for creating space by making the defenders mark them.
They make the defense leave their zonal resposibilities whereby taking them "out of the game".