Invent Football

David Beckham, conquerer of nations, retires via AFR

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:48:37 -0400

David Beckham, conquerer of nations, retires

via AFR

Future goalkeeping legend.

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:10:55 -0400

Future goalkeeping legend.

The man who hates to lose.

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:39:05 -0400

The man who hates to lose.

Beckham’s boots for his last game David Beckham plays in the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:28:32 -0400

Beckham’s boots for his last game

David Beckham plays in the final match of his career on May 26th. As he heads into retirement, he carries the pride of Great Britain. Typical Becks.

(via afootballreport)

David Beckham. Superstar. Pride of England. Icon. [Art by...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:26:59 -0400

David Beckham. Superstar. Pride of England. Icon. [Art by LB for KICKTV]

Thanks for the memories, Becks We could rattle off a list of...

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:36:25 -0400

Thanks for the memories, Becks

We could rattle off a list of all the achievements that David Beckham has won throughout the course of his career, but the truth is, you already know. From the free kicks to the H&M advertisements, David Beckham quickly became an ever-present, unrelenting force in sports and style, one of the first footballers to be embraced and recognized on such a global scale. And while some may maintain a cynical perspective on the trajectory Beckham’s career took, we here at AFR HQ will always remember his ability to transform a monotonous, insignificant match, into a spectacle.

Read More at AFR

Let’s not forget about that time Beckham drove a speedboat...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:22:01 -0400

Let’s not forget about that time Beckham drove a speedboat through explosions on the River Thames (via KICKTV)

Photography: Lee Smith/Action Images Fernando Torres scores...

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:52:57 -0400

Photography: Lee Smith/Action Images

Fernando Torres scores Chelsea’s first as they beat Benfica 2-1 in the Europa League Final

Torres! (via kicktv)

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:21:24 -0400

Torres! (via kicktv)

Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse By Dominic...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:20:33 -0400

Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse

By Dominic Vieira

There’s a curse in Lisbon known as the ‘Guttman curse’, named after the Hungarian manager who led Benfica to back-to-back European titles in the early 60s. That was 51 years ago in Amsterdam, where the legendary quadruple of Aguas, Coluna, Eusebio and Simoes, sunk Real Madrid 5-3, to place Benfica as one of the leaders of world football. And following Bela Guttman’s second trophy, he left the club.

Benfica went on to become one of the clubs that has lost the most European finals, 6 to be precise. But their last presence in a final was the 1990 European Cup Final, losing 1-0 to Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan - which was arguably viewed as the best team in the world. Despite qualifying for their eighth European final, it was evident that Benfica were not at the level or quality that won them greatness in the 60s.

23 years later and the club is back on a stage that they used to visit much more often. Much has changed since their last visit; a new stadium, Porto rising and dominating the domestic football, overcoming their financial troubles and having a much larger South American presence amongst their squad.

Read More at AFR

Chelsea or Benfica? [Art by LB for KICKTV]

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:13:23 -0400

Chelsea or Benfica? [Art by LB for KICKTV]

Woj about what Wenger thinks about his physique.

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:44:13 -0400

Woj about what Wenger thinks about his physique.

The Finish Line Is Here. [By Luke Barclay] (via kicktv)

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:41:47 -0400

The Finish Line Is Here. [By Luke Barclay] (via kicktv)

Indecisive? Pick the middle “The goalkeeper picks a side and...

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:00:12 -0400

Indecisive? Pick the middle

“The goalkeeper picks a side and dives 93.7 percent of the time and just stands in the middle only 6.3 percent of the time. There was a clear bias toward action.”

The Journal of Economic Psychology recently looked at the link between decision making and penalty kicks, and found, somewhat surprisingly, that goalkeepers might be better off doing nothing at all.

Analyzing close to 300 penalty kick situations, the study considered goalkeeper’s decisions in regards to which direction to move towards, the area to which the ball was actually kicked, and most importantly, whether the penalty was actually blocked.

The conclusion? Goalkeepers dive right or left 93.7% of the time, and choose to remain in the center in only 6.3% of penalty kick situations.

The problem comes from the fact that the direction of penalty kicks were distributed much more evenly, with almost 30% of penalty kicks sent towards the center of the goal.

But if goalkeepers could “almost double their save percentage by doing nothing,” why do they almost always choose to dive?

The researchers point towards something called action bias. Essentially, there’s an accepted norm that goalkeepers dive when attempting to block penalty kicks. If they fail to block a penalty kick when diving, they are considered to have made an effort; if they stay in the center when a penalty tucks into a corner, they’re lazy, indecisive, and made no attempt to block the ball. Goalkeepers favor action because of social expectations.

Read More at AFR

An early exit after 27 years: Sir Alex steps down in his own...

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:00:19 -0400

An early exit after 27 years: Sir Alex steps down in his own style

By Anthony Lopopolo

The numbers pop out of his resume like eyes out of a cartoon character: he won 27 major trophies with United over the same number of years; he outlasted 116 managers on seven major European clubs; and he’s won 75% of his home games at Old Trafford. Nothing satisfied his hunger for success, and his diet never consisted of anything but winning. He’s always the first man at Carrington, the team’s training facility in Greater Manchester, there before staff and players as early as 5 a.m. He’s said over and over that he has trouble envisioning life without football. Retirement was something he wasn’t exactly ready for. “Nobody’s getting rid of me,” Sir Alex Ferguson told The Guardian in March.

Nobody – not the media, not the club, not his body – but himself did.

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(via afootballreport)

lokuradeportiva: El ultimo pasillo para la leyenda Ferguson

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:17:14 -0400

lokuradeportiva:

El ultimo pasillo para la leyenda Ferguson

The best fans in the world Found in Buenos Aires. End of...

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:00:35 -0400

The best fans in the world

Found in Buenos Aires. End of discussion.

Via AFR

He’s not only a Chelsea legend, he’s now the club’s all-time...

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:37:16 -0400

He’s not only a Chelsea legend, he’s now the club’s all-time leading scorer. Congrats on 203 goals for the Blues, Frank. [Art by Luke Barclay]

via kicktv

anasurimbor-rai: bluesfan: GUYS! NEW SPECIAL1 TV shorts!!...

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:29:18 -0400

anasurimbor-rai:

bluesfan:

GUYS!
NEW SPECIAL1 TV shorts!! Could it be? New episodes?!

It’s back.

Tomhet, Idel Tomhet: Remembering Ivan Turina We tend to have a...

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:43:28 -0400

Tomhet, Idel Tomhet: Remembering Ivan Turina

We tend to have a habit of talking about a ‘football family;’ a sort of community of fans, journalists, players and coaches who all interact to make our small corner of the world possible. Though we may bicker over rivalries, and obsess over insignificant rumors, we are all nevertheless interconnected. Our successes and moments of joy are shared, just as those moments of pain. This past week, the football family suffered a great loss with the sudden death of AIK goalkeeper, Ivan Turina. Here’s Özgür Kurtoglu, remembering Ivan.

The first time I met him was outside a modest but popular bar called L’Angolo in the posher part of Stockholm. My best friend was DJ-ing that night, probably a mix of mild house and odd techno tunes, and the bar was in the same building, just a few floors down from the Croatian Embassy. Outside the embassy, in a corner of the bar, sat Goran Ljubojević and Ivan Turina, new signings to a team on the brink of implosion and relegation on the heels of a treble-winning season. Six months later, Goran left, tearing up his contract in mutual consent, saying “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you with more goals, but I can help by not taking your money when I leave.” And Ivan, well, Ivan stayed. I haphazardly thanked them both that night for coming to our rescue with an embarrassed laugh. They laughed in return, thanked me for the support, and Ivan went back to drinking his wine (as Croatians do) and smoking his cigar.

Read More at AFR