مقتطفات من الجولة الثانية في كأس القارات ٢٠١٣

البرازيل 2-0 المكسيك *** إسبانيا 10-0 تاهيتي

           

  إيطاليا 4-3 اليابان  ***  الأوروغواي 2-1 نيجيريا

 مجددًا نيمار يستعرض بمهاراته و يقود البرازيل إلى نصف النهائي مبكرًا

ميسي اليابان (كاغاوا) يقدم مستوى رائع أمام إيطاليا و يسجل واحد من أجمل الأهداف في البطولة

سباستيان جوفينكو يسجل أول أهدافه مع المنتخب الإيطالي، و الأكثر أهمية أنه هذا الهدف قاد إيطاليا لمرافقة البرازيل إلى النصف النهائي

إسبانيا حطمت رقم البرازيل (٨ أهداف) لعدد الأهداف المسجلة في مباراة واحدة في كأس القارات و سجلوا عشر أهداف نظيفة أمام تاهيتي

سجل فرناندو توريس رباعية سهلة في مرمى تاهيتي، ليصبح هداف البطولة

سجل النجم دييغو فورلان هدفًا في مباراته الـ ١٠٠ مع منتخب بلاده وأهدى الأوروغواي فوزًا مهما على المنتخب النيجيري

رسميًا غادر كلًا  من تاهيتي و اليابان و المكسيك البطولة بعد تلقيهم هزيمتين في أولى لقاءاتهم في البطولة

بقلم: ماجد عطار

يمكنكم متابعة الكاتب عبر تويتر: @Majidola

FIFA Confederation Cup 2013 (2nd Round)

BRAZIL 2-0 MEXICO *** SPAIN 10-0 TAHITI

           

  ITALY 4-3 JAPAN  ***  URUGUAY 2-1 NIGERIA

Neymar once again shows his magic against Mexico
 and led Brazil to the semi-final!

Messi of Japan (Kagawa) had a great game
against Italy and scored an amazing goal. 

Sabastian Giovinco scored his first goal 
ever with his national team and that goal 
led Italy to reach the semi-final.

Spain break Brazil's record (8 goals) for most goals in a game by scoring 10 goals against Tahiti during the Confederation Cup tournament.

Fernando Torres scored an easy super hat rick against Tahiti and become the top scorer  of the tournament 

Diego Forlan scored in his 100th appearance with the
 national team and gave Uruguay an important win against Nigeria.   

By loosing for the second time Tahiti, Japan, and Mexico are officially out of the tournament  .

By: Majid Attar

You can follow the writer on Twitter: @Majidola

The Evolution of Soccer

Nowadays, soccer is the world wide’s most popular sport. Many people all over the world are crazy about this sport. In the last 20 years soccer has changed totally. It changed financially and popularly. Now, I am going to write about how soccer is becoming more popular in the world wide and the growth of the financial side of it.

   

First of all, soccer started in England in 1863. But, at that time Rugby (An English sport similar to American football) had  more popularity. At the beginning soccer was in the same association with rugby. Later, soccer split from rugby and became independent. In 1872, there was the first international soccer match. It was between England vs. Scotland and the match was watched by 4,000 spectators. This means that the popularity is still small. Years passed, soccer reach to different countries, so FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) decided to make an International soccer competition every 4 years. The wisdom is that they wanted to attract people from different countries, so they can increase the popularity of soccer. Soccer faced a large increasing in its popularity when soccer matches started presenting in TV.

Rungnado May Day Stadium, North Korea

In the last 20 years soccer has reached to all over the world. Millions of people watch soccer matches every week. World Cup 2006 in Germany recorded the largest number of attendance. 3,359,439 (52,491 per match) this is the number of the people who attended the matches at stadium in 2006 world cup. There is a larger number of people who watched the games from TV. Soccer popularity isn’t only increasing in males’ side; it’s increasing in females’ side. The number of people who attended Women’s world cup 1999 matches at stadiums was 1,194,215 (37,319 per match) people, which is a very large number. At this moment, there are more than ten soccer stadiums all over the world that can host more than 85,000 Spectators [Rungnado May Day Stadium, North Korea 150,000 spectators], [Salt Lake Stadium, India 120,000 spectators], [Estadio Azteca, Mexico 105,000 spectators], [Azadi Stadium, Iran 100,000 spectators], etc.

My second point is the growth of financial side of soccer. As everyone knows economy is growing in the whole world. It’s one of the most important things in people’s life if not the most important. Sports’ business is becoming one of the most important parts in economy. Soccer teams are spending hundreds of millions every year. Big companies spend a lot of money in soccer ads. Sports channels are spending so much money to get the right to present soccer competitions. This year, Sky Sports Channel (England) bought EPL’s (English Premier League) rights by almost £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion). Also, summer transfers market (Players transferring from teams to other teams) become more interesting than soccer matches. People want to see players transferring to new teams and how much do they cost. It’s really interesting for me. Every summer, I follow all soccer news accounts on twitter to be in touch with the latest news.

 Cristiano Ronaldo being presented at Santiago Bernabeu for the first time 

In summer 2009, the Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Manchester United (English team) to Real Madrid (Spanish team) with the cost of $130 million, which is the highest transfer fee in soccer history. A week after Real Madrid signed with Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid made the same amount of money that they spent on Ronaldo’s transfer from Real Madrid Shop Stores and stadium tickets. At the same year, Real Madrid bought the second most expensive soccer player “the Brazilian Ricardo Kaka”. Kaka cost Real Madrid $82.5 million. The total of Real Madrid’s costs in summer 2009 was $328 million, which is the most in soccer history.

In conclusion, I would like to say that soccer is becoming more popular and its financial side is becoming bigger. The number of people who watch soccer is increasing in the worldwide year by year. Soccer also becomes a very big business for businessmen. Soccer players are making a lot of money every year. In my opinion, soccer will be a major source of income for many countries in the future, and soccer popularity will be unimaginable.

By: Majid Attar
You can follow the writer on Twitter: @Majidola

مقتطفات من الجولة الأولى في كأس القارات ٢٠١٣

الجولة الـ ١:

البرازيل ٣-٠ اليابان *** أسبانيا ٢-١ الأروجواي

إيطاليا ٢-١ المكسيك *** نيجيريا ٦-١ تاهيتي

 بعد أن وضعوا عشاق السيليساو آمالهم فيه  رغم صغر سنه ، كان الموهوب نيمار جونيور عند حسن الظن، و تمكن من افتتاح التسجيل في بداية  المباراة ضد اليابان، ومن ثم الفوز في إفتتاحية البطولة بثلاثية نظيفة.

سجل النجم الإيطالي أندريا بيرلو هدف جميل من ركلة حرة في مباراته المئوية مع المنتخب الإيطالي ضد المكسيك ، وجعل جمهور ملعب المركانا بأكمله تردد بيرلو .. بيرلو

أستمر المنتخب المكسيكي في تقديم العروض المميزة كما عودنا في السنين الأخيرة و خاصة في أولمبياد لندن ٢٠١٢، و كانوا على بعد خطوة من اقتناص نقطة من الطليان في أولى لقاءاتهم في البطولة.

فاجأ الأسمراني ماريو بالوتيلي الجميع بقصة شعر عادية على غير العادة ... واستمر في تقديم مسلسلاته المضحكة بخلعه القميص بعد تسجيل الهدف مما يؤدي إلى تلقيه إنذار مجاني  ... وأكد كالعادة أن فائدته كبيرة على أي مدرب يلعب له لكن على المدرب أن يتحمل تصرفاته الساذجة أثناء المباراة.

أخيرًا غير المدرب الأسباني ديلبوسكي طريقة لعبه ليشرك روبيرتو سولدادو كمهاجم صريح بعدما كان يعتمد على ديفيد فيا كجناح و مهاجم في كأس العالم ٢٠١٠ ، و شيسك فابريجاس كصانع ألعاب ومهاجم في يورو ٢٠١٢

لفت الأورجواياني مارتن كاسيريس أنظار المتابعين بارتدائه شورت يصل إلى أسفل الركبة على طريقة لاعبين كرة السلة على غير المعتاد في المستطيل الأخضر.

 سجل المنتخب النيجيري إنتصار كبير بسداسية مقابل هدف يتيم لمنتخب تاهيتي الحلقة الأضعف في البطولة، ومن الممكن أن تكون هذه الأهداف الست مفيدة في حالة تعادلت نيجيريا و الأورجواي و خسارة نيجيريا من أسبانيا.

بقلم: ماجد عطار

يمكنكم متابعة الكاتب عبر تويتر: @Majidola

The Art of Conversation

We all have enjoyed having conversations with particular people. They can talk with anyone about any subject in a modest and casual manner that makes you enjoy spending time with them. Having conversations with people who master this art form will make you feel like you’ve known them for years. Many people think that this kind of art is so difficult to master, and that the maestros are blessed for having it. It’s somehow true that some people have a certain natural charm, and acquiring the art of conversation is a skill that will make any person have much more success in their future.

One of the things I would recommend it for you to listen more than you speak. People may think that talking is the essence of this art form, but ironically it’s the opposite. Try to avoid conversational narcissism. Always ask interesting and thoughtful questions; we all know that people love to talk about themselves. Try not to ask obvious questions such as asking about what a person’s job is but instead ask specific questions. For instance, you can ask what could be the most difficult part in their job.  Try your best to give a chance for someone else to speak.  If you noticed that you’ve been talking for so long and nobody is asking questions, commenting, or showing any signs of interactions that most likely shows that you talked for so long. Hand the microphone to someone else.

You could also prepare in advance some topics to talk about before an event or a family gathering, however, use this very sparingly. You don’t want to see just one side of a person. I usually think about the people that I’m going to meet, and I start preparing topics that fit that group of individuals. For example, people talking about sports, try gathering some recent information on sports and prepare it for them, and the same case with people interested in economy or politics etc. If you don’t know the people you’ll be conversing with, you can try thinking about topics that might interest them.

Please, please, please think before you speak! Many embarrassing situations happen due to the lack of thinking before speaking. You rant about a person and that person is the uncle of someone in the room. To avoid offending someone, don’t throw statements out of the blue. For example, instead of saying, “ Have you seen what that idiot did?” say, “What do you think of his new plans, do you agree with it?”

Do not interrupt people in the middle of their sentences. An easy way to avoid this is to wait until the other person has stopped talking, and it’s your turn to start. Never say,” Are you done?” unless you prefer being rude. Another kind of interruption is drifting away from the main point by saying, “By the way…” this kind of interruption will indicate to the listener that you’re either rude or acting stupid just to show that you don’t agree with his point.

Don’t talk to one person in a group; this will make the other people feel awkward and uncomfortable. It doesn’t necessary have to be literally talking to someone, but also it can be by choosing topics that only the person you’re conversing with understands such as talking about events related to his or her job. Moreover, avoid inside jokes and the “Remember when’s” because only the person you’re conversing with will get these jokes and you’ll leave the rest of the group bored and uninterested.

Don’t try to act superior to someone. For example, if someone told you that he bought a new watch, don’t reply by showing that you have a better watch and this watch was handmade in a European country. A person who does this will feel that he’s superior over the other; on the contrary, it’s actually showing his egotistical character.

Avoid giving out too much information. Trust me, we’ve all met at least one person who pours out their life story and tell you all of their problems. In a few minutes you will know why his family isn’t sending him money anymore, what difficulties he has in his relationship with his wife, and why he will never be able to buy his dream car. Don’t give everything out to the first person you talk to, if you do, you will show other people how desperate you are. Also don’t look for deep secrets of the person you’re talking to, respect other people’s privacy.

            The most important rule is that there are no rules. There aren’t specific steps to follow to carryout a conversation. Act natural, if a certain conversation has taken a wrong turn, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with changing the subject and walking away. Just remember, the other person is also trying to hold up his end of the conversation as well.

By: Faris Alothimin

You can follow the writer on twitter: @AlothiminFaris

Tips to Make Your Reading Affective

The master tool for personal development may be inside one of the books that are sitting there on your shelf at your local bookstore, or the worldwide library known as the Internet. Reading challenging books could demand a considerable effort, but that effort could pay tremendously in the future. If you didn’t start a reading plan for this upcoming summer, consider these reasons on why you should start planning.

To do this, you must first understand your thoughts and ideas. Whether you’re aware of this or not, your thoughts and beliefs might be shaped based on social norms that have evolved since your early childhood. The independent ideas you have might be someone else’s ideas created by a thinker from the previous generations. Robert M. Hutchins once said, “These books are the means of understanding our society and ourselves. They contain the great ideas that dominate us without our knowing it. There is no comparable repository in our tradition.”

Let me ask you this, what do you think of love, happiness, democracy, or freedom? Okay, now that you’ve answered. Do you think these answers and ideas are your own? Are you the only one who thinks that way about love or happiness? What about democracy and freedom? Maybe there is an outside force such as cultural and social factors influencing these ideas. By reading books over time, you can clearly see how these ideas have developed overtime, and how they affect you and made you the person you’re now. Whether you’re going to accept the way you’re thinking today or not; what matters is that you will become aware that it’s a choice and you have to make the final decision yourself.

Vera Nazarian once said, “Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light”. Another excellent way to improve your reading is to get a genius twist. They say, “you’re who you associate with”, I believe it’s the same when it comes to books. There are some great books written by great thinkers and historians, and by reading them you expand your thoughts and take them to a higher level.

Selective reading is effective reading. To quote HarukiMurakami, “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” When I was in high school, I noticed that people only read popular modern-day books, forgetting about the classic books and the great thinkers of history. As Descartes said, “The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries.” No matter where you come from, or what your background is, reading classics can give you a full understanding of the different ideas in the world. It’s possible to bring your intellectual level to the same level as those great thinkers by pursuing a self-study plan of their famous work. Remember, they weren’t born ready.

One thing I ask is that you don’t focus on one specialty. Focusing on subjects related to your major is a smart move, but it will only help you earn a living. Shutting yourself from other specialties will inhibit your excelling and improving. To be a well-rounded person, one needs a good understanding of the world and the different fields of study. Be a jack-of-all-trades. Don’t limit yourself at all. Whether you’re studying information technology, computer science, medicine, or business, gaining vast knowledge in a lot of subjects covered in books will enhance your chances to excel in the future.

You must learn from past experiences. As George Santana said,” Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Winston Churchill said it best,” Study history, study history. In History lie all the secrets of statecraft.” Reading about past discoveries is a guide for us to avoid the mistakes that were made by those before us and learn from them. Everyone has to create his or her own path in this life, so why not benefit from past experiences? Not reading about these past experiences is like getting lost in the city without using a map.

Although they weren’t written for specialists, stepping out of your reading-comfort zone by reading challenging books will develop your comprehension and will enable you to read all kinds of books; as a result, no need to run away from academic or historical articles.

In the end I would like to say that reading could help you to develop your personality and be a better person. Not only will they help you to develop your personality, but alsothey will give you answers to questions. You’ll notice that a lot of books are talking about roughly the same theme,and they won’t give you one answer, but each book has it’s own view on that particular theme, so this will help you to grasp all the different views. You have the final decision to pick which idea suits you the most.

Most don’t bother themselves knowing how ideas developed and made the world the way it is today but asSamuel Butler said,” A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little want of knowledge is also a dangerous thing.” Reading books can bring that desire to strive for knowledge and the curiosity to learn more about the world. What’s the use of all the discoveries and the experiments that happened in the past if we didn’t learn them?

By: Faris Alothimin

You can follow the writer on twitter: @AlothiminFaris

Reading as a part of your daily life activities

Before many technologies were invented, namely the Internet, people considered reading their only way to gather information and keep up with current events. Advances in technology dominated our lives; movies, television, and video games took so much of our time when it comes to the usage of our free time. Unfortunately, many of us, especially the younger generation forgot about reading in favor of these other activities. In my opinion, the more you do these activities, the more you develop passion and love toward them, it’s exactly the same case when it comes to reading.

Medical professionals have said that the brain is a muscle like any other, and to grow your brain and broaden its ability, you have to read. Reading is essential for your brain to function properly and is one of the most affective ways to exercise it. It’s the same when you go to the gym to workout your muscles. Our brains actually process information when we play video games or watch the television, but it doesn’t come close to the same level of processing when you read. While reading, the brain does two things: It processes the information that you’re reading, and also creates imagery and visualizes the words that are in front of you. The brain does all of this. Picture this for example, “ The red car rushed through the jungle.”  Creating imagery enhances your brain function.

Another reason why you should read is that it’s an effective way to become knowledgeable in a lot of subjects. There is no limit to the categories that books, novels, and magazines can offer. You can find all these information waiting for you online no matter the topic. What should you look for, you may ask? My advice as a member of society is to be familiar with the current affairs in the society and in the world. 

I agree that sometimes people don’t have enough time to read due to their busy schedule, and they get their information through other medium such as television or radio, and that’s fine, but keep in mind that this information that you hear on the radio or see on TV can be a little bit condensed. When you read a full article on a familiar topic, you will discover much more information that you other wise wouldn’t be familiar with. I also recommend reading some history, it’s said that you don’t know where you going if you don’t know where you come from. It’s really important to read as much as we can on historical topics to know how things evolved from nothing. 

Reading improves your memory. It helps to activate your memory muscles, and it requires you to remember details, themes and characters. Also the more you read, the more knowledgeable you get, and the more confident you become.  People will look at you for answers because you have a lot of knowledge on different topics; as a result, your confidence will develop, and you will feel better about yourself.  You don’t have to necessary look for an easy book to read, challenging books will improve your vocabulary and will give you some interesting information.

Reading about different ethnicities and diversities will give you an insight to a new whole world. You’ll become more aware of the different cultures and languages. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you didn’t have anything to talk about? A remedy for this is to grab a book and start reading! 

Note: If you want to break the lack of interest in your life, go grab an interesting book and introduce yourself to a world full of new information and ingenuity. Importantly, the more accurate information you have, the more it will lead you to reach your accurate goals, and the more your level of reading gets high, the more you will be able to knock on the different opportunities in this world.

"Not every reader is a leader, but every leader must be a reader."

---Harry Truman.

By: Faris Alothimin

You can follow the writer on twitter: @AlothiminFaris