My Formal Rather Belated Introduction!!!
in [World Football]
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From: Enzo on 7 Apr 2010 05:07 I am Sid Debgupta, born and brought up in Calcutta, India, home of Indian football ( passe ). I am 45 years old and have a 11 year old son and 2 dogs who I prefer to the 11 year old since they rarely talk back ( not to mention the wife ). I am from the original body shopped generation of Indian programmers; I cut my teeth on a VAX-11 ( wonder how many people have heard of that one ) and remember staring disdainfully at the first PC I laid my eyes on, some sort of AT or XT machine from IBM. After working for a few years in India, I worked in the UK ( Farnborough ) and France ( Strasbourg ) for a couple of years before arriving in the States on a bitter cold late December Pittsburgh evening. Over the next 13 years I worked in various places - Fairfax (VA), Seattle and finally San Jose, before retiring to make a living trading futures. I went on to live in Miami for a while before returning to Calcutta. I still trade futures but have gone back to working as a programmer full-time ( no need to ask why! ). I do not regularly support any particular club or country - it changes with the seasons. I had a fling with Valencia early this decade and it is still my favorite club. I used to be quite a fanboy of the Argentine NT but find it hard to sustain interest in their affairs lately. My posting handle is the first name of my all-time favorite player, Enzo Francescoli.
From: Clément on 7 Apr 2010 07:34 On Apr 6, 9:29 am, "The Scrutineer" wrote: > Sorry for wasting a thread, but I'm Daniel, born and bred Australian, with > European heritage!!! No need to be sorry. Nice thread! My name is Luiz Mello and I am from Vitória, Brazil. I am 35 and own a small software company. I'm married with no kids, but with 2 dogs. My favorite clubs are Vitória FC (which is not from my hometown, but from the neighborhood I have lived in for about 30 years), Vasco da Gama, Arsenal and Juventus. At NT level, I root for Brazil and France. Like most Brazilian clubs, Vitória FC has to play every year for a place in the Brazilian pyramid Serie D. In order for that to happen, we have to win the State League. Our prospects look quite reasonable this year, as we are second on the State League table, a good position to make the 4-team playoffs. My favorite players all-time are Roberto Dinamite, Juninho Pernambucano, and Michel Platini. I've never played football at any organized level for a simple reason: I'm no good. =) Usually I tried made up for my lack of ability with a good football sense (keep it simple and make smart plays) and lots of effort. Recently I have been inclined to play as goalkeeper (in small-surfaces weekly play with friends). Not because I suck and need to find ways to make the team (well, maybe a little bit because of that too...), but because I actually enjoy being a goalie, and I can contribute more in that role, as I am not really fit these days. I do have some experience in professional football as a club official for Vitória FC, but I'm not currently working with the club. I am also a huge (ice) hockey fan, since the late 80's. Back then I had to rely on foreign magazines and the odd 10-second TV highlight to even know what was going on, but the internet came and made all things accessible. I probably spend more time following/watching/reading about hockey these days than football. Abraço, Luiz Mello
From: REDDEVIL6 on 7 Apr 2010 07:58 On Wed, 7 Apr 2010 01:56:54 -0700 (PDT), Abubakr <deltarasha(a)gmail.com> wrote: >On 7 Apr, 14:22, "The Scrutineer" <vla...(a)bigpond.com> wrote: >> > Pleased to finally make your formal acquaintance, Daniel. My handle is >> > my name. I'm 33 years of age and have lived in Australia for most of >> > my life but am of Afghan origins. I've been a dedicated follower of >> > Serie A for more than 20 years now. Used to be a Juve fan but found >> > myself in the Rossoneri camp at some point early in this decade (they >> > were my father's favourites). >> >> Thank you for being courteous Abubakr, and nice to meet you too!!! >> I bet you loved the Serie A highlights show that used to be on SBS every >> Saturday at 10 as much as I did, it also played an important role for me to, >> Parma were the first team I ever supported as a very young boy, way before I >> even heard of Arsenal. Usually when I say I like Parma, people say why, my >> reason truely is, the day felt better when I saw the result, and when they >> lost, the day would pan out to be a long one!!! Milan though are a great >> choice, and honestly can't believe we beat you a few weeks back for the >> first time in a long time!!! :p > >Oh yes, that SBS show was all we had for years in Australia. Parma has >made a habit of making splash in Serie A against Milan. I remember >they announced their arrival in their first ever season in Serie A in >1990 by beating the Rossoneri, and of course then went on to be one of >the best clubs during the 90's. > >> > I also follow the English top flight though I don't favor any >> > particular club these days, though I do have a soft spot �for Everton >> > as they were the champions around the time I started to watch the >> > First Division. Also follow La Liga but don't favour any club, but >> > rather the style of play and nobody in their right mind could look >> > past Barcelona in the second of half of this decade. >> >> Yeah, Everton have great traditions, and that era was a long time ago now, >> but still they battle on, and yeah, on Barcelona, only a team led out by Sam >> Allardyce would look past it!!! They simply are clever with the ball, and >> special as a unit!!! > >They are peerless in this day. > >> > As to NTs, though will always support the Socceroos over other teams, >> > I am an ardent fan of Argentina and now to a lesser extent Brasil. >> > Favourite player of all time is Maradona, but I was also a huge fan of >> > Baggio (one of the reasons I supported Juve), Zidane, Gullit, Van >> > Basten growing up. >> >> Great list too, it's good to know the choices are popular in Maradona, van >> Basten, outside of a few tapes I have, it was a shame I missed such a great >> era, and usually blame my parents sometimes, >> >> Up the Socceroos of course, and just imagine how Messi in current form will >> go at the WC quite frightening!!! >> >> If I may, how do you think Australia will fare in the group stage? Are we >> any chance to get at least four points again? > >We're a chance but it's going to be tough. I think they need to get a >result against Germany in the first game to have a chance. Their >problems are in creating chances and scoring goals. Verbeek is a >terribly cautious manager at the best of times and he hasn't been >helped by the fact that Australia doesn't have any good strikers >around, but hasn't helped himself either by continuing to snub Nicky >Carle who's the one player in midfield that can provide some spark of >creativity and freshness. Apart from that, the team is built around >the stalwarts of 2006, all pretty much four years past their best. I >just don't know where goals are going to come from this time. I think the Roo's are going to be the "darling team" of just about all neutrals and the second team for a lot of fans after the way they got shafted in the last WC. i, for one will be following their progress with a lot of interest.
From: JK on 7 Apr 2010 10:52 Benny wrote: > My name is Mohammed Mehdi, I'm 37, born in England, married and have 2 > boys who both support Chelsea, If they supported Manchester United or > Liverpool I would have sent them back. I support Milan. > > My favourite three players are Van Basten, Savicevic, Rijkaard and > Inzaghi, in that order. I was also a big fan of Tony Adams, Mr Perfect > Dennis Bergkamp and Robbie Savage who I feel would have shone at ANY > big club given the chance. World Cup tip? Predictably Brazil. > > Outside of football I enjoy MMA and BAKING! > 43 years old, lived my whole life in US, currently in MD outside of DC. Been following the game since I took it up in the mid-70s as part of the first big wave of US kids to play. Lived in NY at that time so was exposed to the Cosmos. Started following the World game in 82 with Espana 82, so I got lucky - the first game I really remember well was WGermany- France semifinal :). So I was hooked. (A recent purchase was a reprint of the official Joan Miro poster for that Cup. It's hanging in my office and I'm looking at it right now.) Didn't really pay much attention to club football until the late 80s when I had a chance to attend a Man U-Palace game in person when studying abroad. As an American in those days, following club football was nearly impossible, though pursued all the normal channels, like Soccer Made in Germany, the Spanish language channels, the Italian league games (in Italian) on local UHF channels. Favorite players: Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Pele as a kid. Socrates, Van Basten, Bergkamp (have always liked the Dutch), Ben Olsen, too many to mention. Favorite teams: of course DC United and the USNT, but otherwise have changed constantly. Always liked Ajax (that 1995 team will always be one of my favorites), Holland, Liverpool a long time ago but not any more, Leicester City (Kasey Keller) Blackburn (lots of US players and Ryan Nelsen), Villa, Schalke (die knappen!) Barca. Coach both my daughters in youth leagues and fortunately still get to play with some reqularity. I'm a left-footed defender. Slow, but scrappy. :)
From: Werner Pichler on 7 Apr 2010 11:20
On 6 Apr., 14:29, "The Scrutineer" <vla...(a)bigpond.com> wrote: > > Hopefully it's not asking a lot, but I would like to know, if someone > replies, a brief introduction about yourself, nationality, age, favourite > team, and maybe even your favourite player ever!!! Hell even a World Cup > tip!!! Nationality: Austrian Age: 29 First tournament I really followed was Italia '90 and my sympathies have lain with Italy ever since then, even though they beat the Austrians there. I remember crying out with joy when Kim Vilfort scored the decisive 2-0 in the Euro final 1992 which should tell you all about my footballing dislikes (although softened over time). My local team is Sturm Graz (who had their glory days between 1998 and 2002), and I began supporting Milan ever since a wonderful evening spent in 2002 in the Meazza for some inconsequential CL group game against Real Madrid. I also used to follow Chievo during their first three cinderella seasons. And while it would be preposterous to call myself a fan, I really like Tottenham for their perennial mediocrity, I consider that a laudable feat. Favourite players: Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio, Ivica VastiÄ Favourite coach of all time: Ivan Osim World Cup tip: England > Nice to indulge in football chat with you all, and hopefully for a long time > to come!!! Sure thing. Ciao, Werner |