Video Assistant Referee (VAR)

At the 2006 World Cup TM, FIFA assigned a fifth official to assist the fourth official in a variety of tasks, and potentially to be called upon to replace another match official if necessary. The fifth official might also stand beside the goal-line, to adjudicate when the ball crossed the goal line. They also had access to television coverage of the match, but were not permitted to advise the on-field referees of any incidents they had missed.

In 2014, FIFA, sanctioned goal-line technology after a complication arose during a round of 16 match at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Frank Lampard (England) thought he had scored an equalizer against Germany, which was disallowed. Lampard shot hard from the edge of the penalty area and the ball struck the underside of the bar bouncing a yard behind the German goal line. Despite the incident clearly being caught on camera, the referee, waved play on, and Germany went onto win 4-1. As a consequence of the vigorous debate which followed, FIFA decided to introduce goal-line technology.


(Video Courtesy: Mark James Youtube Channel)

International Football Association Board (IFAB) have finally and fully approved the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at the FIFA World Cup TM in Russia. Despite controversy and huge unpopularity the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) system has been written into the Laws of the Game on a permanent basis. VAR will be used to correct any "clear and obvious errors" in relation to:

- Goal/No Goal:
The role of the VAR is to assist the referee to determine whether there was an infringement that means a goal should not be awarded. As the ball has crossed the line, play is interrupted so there is no direct impact on the game.

- Penalty/No penalty :
The role of the VAR is to ensure that no clearly wrong decisions are made in conjunction with the award or non-award of a penalty kick.

- Direct red card (not a second yellow) :
The role of the VAR is to ensure that no clearly wrong decisions are made in conjunction with sending off or not sending off a player.

- Mistaken identity:
The referee cautions or sends off the wrong player, or is unsure which player should be sanctioned. The VAR will inform the referee so that the correct player can be disciplined.

From the 1st June 2018, VAR technology will also be available to pick up any off the ball incidents which the referee may not have spotted. Once confirmed the referees will be informed and can send the player(s) off in the case of red card incidents.


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

VAR is the use of referring a decision to a highly-trained match official (a current or former referee) who is watching the game from a room full of televisions. Specific rules govern how the video analysis can be used.


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

The referee may request the review or by the video assistant referee VAR, when they observe an off the ball incident and need to bring this o the referee’s attention. The official signal for a video review is the referee making the outline of a rectangle with his index fingers (indicating a video screen). This precedes both any on-field review OFR as well as any change in the original call.

Players who demand a video review by making the rectangle motion are to be cautioned with a yellow card. Players who enter the area where the referee conducts an OFR are also to be cautioned with a yellow card, and team officials who do so are to be dismissed.

The process begins with the video assistant referee(s) and the assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) reviewing the play in question on a bank of monitors in the video operation room (VOR) with the assistance of the replay operator (RO). When the VAR believes a potential clear error has occurred , he or she will contact the referee.

The referee can then either (a) change the call on the advice of the VAR or (b) conduct an on-field review (OFR) by going to a designated spot on the sideline, called the referee review area (RRA), to review the video with the help of the review assistant (RA) or (c) decide that he/she is confident in the original call and not conduct an OFR. The referee is allowed to stop play to reverse a call or conduct an OFR, but is not supposed to do so when either team is engaged in good attacking possibility.

Over two years, extensive trials were conducted worldwide including at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, Bundesliga, and Serie A. The Hyundai A-League in Australia became the first to use a VAR system in a professional league game in 2017. The system was later introduced to most top-tier European leagues at the beginning of the 2017–18 season, with the exception of England's Premier League. VAR was later used in bothEngland and France.

The VAR system has met with a mix of reactions from players, managers and supporters. Many remain confused as to how the system works claiming it creates as much confusion as clarity. Fans are especially annoyed at the time it takes and the silence which surrounds ajudication. Technical problems such as cameras malfunctioning or being blocked by supporter’s flags add to the chaos which surrounds the use of VARs.


(Video Courtesy: Berita Sepakbola Youtube Channel)




(Video Courtesy: Breaking News 2018 Youtube Channel)

Perhaps the most convincing evidence of VAR failure came in the 2018 Huani A-League grand final between Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory. VAR software suffered a technical malfunction which prevented the assistant referee from viewing the replay and a clear off side goal for Melbourne was allowed and they went on to win the game 1-0. The incident was primarily the result of a short-term failure of the technology rather than human error on the part of the VAR team. However, on the eve of the FIFA World Cup TM 2018, the video assistant referee (VAR) failure at the Australian final reverberated around the world.


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Heading the ball: Potential Health Hazard

Hilderaldo Bellini , was the first captain of Brazil, to win the World Cup in 1958 when Brazil beat Sweden 5 -2. He was also the first winner to hold the cup above his head for the waiting paparazzi.



(Video Courtesy: KINGofSOCCERhistory Youtube Channel)

Sadly ‘O Capitão’ died in 2014, aged 83 and it was initially attributed to complications related to Alzheimer’s Disease. However, at the post mortum, it was later discovered Bellini’s demise was due to an advanced case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The degenerative brain disease had previously been associated chiefly with boxing and American football.

In Scotland, Frank Kopel, (Dundee United and Manchester United) was just 59 when he was diagnosed with early-onset dementia and died aged 65 in 2014. He was initially diagnosed with vascular dementia but his wife Amanda was not satisfied and consulted a US-based neurologist who believed from his history Frank's dementia was probably misdiagnosed and caused instead by Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, caused by knocks to the head. As a player, Frank scored a wonder goal against Anderlecht in 1979 whch is regarded as one of Dundee United's finest ever goals.


Other high profile players have died as a result of complications from dementia including; Ally MacLeod (Blackburn Rovers) and Jeff Astle (West Brom and England), with many others like Mike Sutton (Norwich), living with degenerative brain disease. A linear study to examine the potential connection between head trauma in soccer and dementia was undertaken with fourteen (14) retired footballers diagnosed with dementia and referred to the Old Age Psychiatry Service in Swansea between 1980 and 2010. Twelve later died of advanced dementia. Another cadaver study carried out by researchers from University College London and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, involved the brains of six deceased players. The study, spanned four decades, and the deceased had played football from childhood through their teenage years and beyond (an average of 26 years). When the brains were examined, all six had signs of Alzheimer’s, and there was clear evidence of CTE in four. This is the first UK study to provide scientific evidence of a link between heading a football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Encouraging as these findings are from small studies more work is required.


(Video Courtesy: Progressive Soccer Youtube Channel)

Presently soccer is the only football code where participants are deliberately engaged in repeated head impacts. Scientists are aware repeated head trauma has the potential to cause damage, but to date no attempt has been made to ban it from the adult game football. Although there has been several studies showing the dangers of concussions during contact sports, there has been none looking at the impact of regular smaller blows to the head. The Einstein Soccer Study (2018) demonstrated using the head to control the football is more likely to result in concussions than other head impacts sustained during play, including collisions with elbows, heads and even goalposts. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology,

Subjects were recruited from both experienced and active amateur adult footballer populations in the New York area. Subjects with history of existing psychological or neurological disorders were screened out. Players were asked to self-report any impacts to the head and any subsequent symptoms covering two weeks of activity, using a validated questionnaire known as HeadCount, providing a set of results . Participants were also required to completed an in-person neuropsychological assessment during the same two-week period. The assessment used a variety of tests to measure recall, verbal learning, psychomotor speed and attention span. Many participants repeated this protocol at three- to six-month intervals across a 37-month period, yielding 741 complete sets of data from more than 300 participants, four-fifths of whom were male.

The study finding suggested heading incidence was a significant factor in reduced performance in the areas of psychomotor speed and attention, and to a lesser extent on working memory. Players headed the ball an average of 50 times during each two-week study period for men, and 26 for women, and those who reported the most headings demonstrated poorest performance on cognitive tasks. Unintentional knocks to the head, however, were shown to have no significant effects on any area of neuro-psychological testing.

An earlier study from the University of Stirling asked a group of football players to head a ball 20 times fired from a machine designed to simulate the pace and power of a corner kick. After just a single session of heading they found that memory test performance fell by between 41 and 67 per cent. They found there was increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly. The changes were temporary, but had the potential, with repeated bursts of heading the ball to adversely affect brain health. This was in all probability a likely outcome when players was exposed to heading the ball over a career.

In the United States, the US Soccer Federation recommended a ban on heading for all children aged 10 and under as part of its Recognise to Recover program . This recommendation was implemented in 2016. Heading the ball has been banned in the US for children under-11 and the Professional Footballers’ Association last year called for a similar ban to be considered in the UK.


(Video Courtesy: U.S. Soccer Youtube Channel)

More Information
Frank's Law Scottish Government

World Cup football goes to Space Station

The Adidas Telstar 18 ball travelled a two-day space flight to the International Space Station (ISS), about 400 kilometres above the earth. The ISS laboratory is a rare example of American and Russian cooperation, has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour since 1998. Two astronauts, a cosmonaut and the ball went the distance and will be returned in good time for the same ball to be used at the opening game in Moscow, Russia v Saudi Arabia on June 14.

Expedition 55 Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev played an improvised football match aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with the official ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM. The impromptu football match was held in zero-gravity conditions in the Japanese Kibo module of the space station, as both cosmonauts tried to score the ball using improvised targets, such as a square entrance to the US Harmony module. The ball is planned to be returned to Earth together with the crew of the Soyuz MS-07 manned spacecraft on June 3.


(Video Courtesy: Ruptly Youtube Channel)

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Explained

(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

FIFA 18 PSG vs Bayern Munich Gameplay (PS4/XBOX ONE)

(Video Courtesy: ZAN OMG Youtube Channel)

Zabivaka™ :2018 FIFA World Cup TM Mascot

Zabivaka™, is the Official Mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM and means “the one who scores” in Russian. Zabivaka™, the wolf, will promote the event and entertain crowds at the stadiums. The character was designed by Ekaterina Bocharova, and got 53 per cent of the over one million votes cast over a month on the FIFA website.


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

Zabivaka is always seen wearing orange sports glasses along with a pair of red shorts and a white T-shirt with blue sleeves where are the national colours.



(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

FIFA World Cup TM Russia: adidas Telstar 18

The adidas Telstar 18 is the official ball of the 2018 World Cup TM in Russia. It is the first tournament ball since 1994 to be predominantly black and white and a recreation of the first adidas ball used at a World Cup, the classic 1970 Telstar.

Unlike the original Telstar with 32 panels, the new ball has only six, and they are not stitched but glued together. According to adidas, the newly designed latex bladder, ensures a more stable performance from ball to ball and the familiar visuals have been modernized, with the corners of the pentagons stretched into pixilated gradients. The only colour on the Telstar 18 is the gold Adidas, Telstar and World Cup logos printed on the white surface of the ball, with the black sections given a gradient, mosaic effect.

The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have been testing footballs for the world’s football governing body FIFA for 22 years. The tests were specially developed by EMPA experts in St. Gallen for official tournament footballs and after extensive rigorous testing have given the Telstar 18 the ‘thumbs up’,


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

adidas claim the new ball is the most technologically advanced World Cup ball in history and has taken four years of design and testing. The Telstar 18 underwent a series of rigorous tests on three continents, at altitude and at sea level, and in temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 100 degrees. It was even shot out of an air gun against a metal wall 2,000 times at more than 30 miles an hour in a cage resembling a giant pinball‐machine to ensure it retained its shape. The ball was also dropped 10 times on to a steel plate from a height of 6.5ft to test for rebound. The aim of the test was to ensure the ball was able to hold its air and always bounce up from the ground at the same height.

For good measure the Telstar 18 was also compressed 250 times into a bath to check it only absorbs a minimal amount of water. The ball was also extensively tested in situ in the lead-up to the tournament and has already been used in various youth competitions (with a different design), including the Under-20 World Cup.



(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

Not for the first time, the new World Cup ball has met with criticism from independent goalkeepers like Spain's David de Gea and Pepe Reina; and Germany's Marc-André ter Stegen. They believe ball moves in unpredictable ways and is difficult to grip because of its “plastic film”.

The new ball includes an embedded near-field communication (NFC) chip, which enables consumers to interact with the ball using a smartphone. Unfortunately, the technology does not measure the ball's speed, height or curl, and so is rather a novelty to allow users to do little more than interact with the ball by giving it a name or accessing content and information unique to that ball.


(Video Courtesy: SOCCER.COM Youtube Channel)

This is not the first time adidas has experimented with a smart ball and the miCoach Smart Ball used an integrated sensor to record strike point, spin and trajectory, but the ball was discontinued because it was never durable enough for use in competitive leagues.



(Video Courtesy: Soccer Reviews For You Youtube Channel)

The new world cup ball was manufactured by Forward Sports, Pakistan. The same firm provided the Brazuka, the official ball of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

A total of 64 children from across the world are selected to be Official Match Ball Carriers, with the lucky ones marching into the stadium and handing over the official ball before each match during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.



(Video Courtesy: Kia Australia Youtube Channel)

FIFA World Cup 2018 TM Russia :The strips

(Video Courtesy: Goal Youtube Channel)

FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 (Official Video)

(Video Courtesy: Curiocity TV Youtube Channel)

Female footballers to be ball girls at the World Cup

(Video Courtesy: Ruptly Youtube Channel)

The official poster for the 2018 World Cup TM Russia

The official poster for the 2018 World Cup TM Russia features the legendary Lev "Black Spider" Yashin created by Igor Gurovich , an artist inspired by the "unique visual language" of the Russian postconstructivist art movement in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The rays of light emanating from the ball are said to symbolise the World Cup's innate energy, while the green circle represent the 12 pitches on which the matches will be played.


(Video Courtesy: CaptainBlack Youtube Channel)

2018 World Cup TM Russia Official Emblem

The logo for the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM Russia was designed by Lisbon-based Brandia Central. The trophy-shaped logo uses red and blue (colours of the Russian flag), gold and black colours brilliantly. The 'magic ball' at the top not only signifies the love for football but is also a homage to Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. The human figures, with arms raised in celebration and trying to reach for the stars symbolise the players and fans.


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel) The new logo was launched through a countdown from Russia's International Space Station, and was projected at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

Drug testing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM Russia

In 2016 , a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was compiled by Canadian sports lawyer Richard McLaren, he found more than 1,000 Russian competitors were involved in a conspiracy to conceal positive tests over a five-year period. Russia has acknowledged some findings of the McLaren Report, but repeatedly denied the existence of a state-sponsored doping program.

To avoid any concerns of State cheating or other improprieties, FIFA are determined to reassure all teams samples at the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM cannot be tampered with. Further, no Russian personnel will be involved in the drug testing procedures at the 2018 tournament. FIFA designated chaperones, will accompany all players taken from the field for testing at the doping control room. This facility is staffed by FIFA approved medical people with no admittance to anyone other than designated officials. All samples are sealed and brought to the control of the laboratory in Lausanne under strict security.


(Video Courtesy: LucilleBurgess860084 Youtube Channel)

World Cup Bank note Russia 2018

To celebrate the 2018 FIFA World Cup TM , Russia has issued a special 100-rouble banknote. This is the first Russian note fully made up of polymer substrates and the first to display a historical figure who was not head of state. It depicts a child holding a soccer ball, looking up to a spectre of Soviet goalks. keeping legend Lev Yashin. The opposite side shows a soccer ball mid-flight with a map of Russia on it and the names of the 11 host cities.

The Bank of Russia assumed fans and numismatists primarily snap it up as a souvenir or for a collection however, the note is legal tender and the equivalent to just over 1.38 euros. The notes are available from most Russian Banks

The new note is made of polymer substrates with one drawback these cannot currently be used in technologies for paper currencies i.e. ATMs. According to experts, the life of plastic banknotes is about 2.5 times higher than that of paper money of low denomination. The Bank of Russia intends to produce ordinary banknotes using the same technology in the near future.


(Video Courtesy: AFP news agency Youtube Channel)

FIFA World Cup TM Trophy Tour

FIFA World Cup TM Trophy is currently on a nine-month global tour . The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour kicked off in Moscow and traveled across Russian cities until December, when it continued its journey abroad visiting over 50 countries across six continents. The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour was first introduced ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Then it visited 29 countries and saw over 175,000 football fans taking pictures next to the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

When not on tour or being presented at the World Cup, the Trophy is normally displayed at the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich.


(Video Courtesy: Kenya CitizenTV Youtube Channel)

World Cup 2018: A tour of Cities and Venues- BBC News

(Video Courtesy: BBC News
Youtube Channel)

FIFA 18 | 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™️ (Trailer)

(Video Courtesy: EA SPORTS FIFA Youtube Channel)

FIFA Fan Fests @ Russia 2018

After it was noted many people during the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ watched the World Cup games away from the stadia and their own domestic televisions Impromptu gatherings made it clear, sometimes with hndreds of people meant there was a greter social component to the World Cup than had been previously recognised. FIFA introduced the FIFA Fan Fest™ became part of the Official Programme at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany . Locations for the FIFA Fan Fests were large enough to accommodate many thousands of people, and gigantic LED displays broadcast the matches live. This allowed many fans unable to afford the price of match tickets the opportunity to cheer on their national teams with other supporters. The carnival-like atmosphere soon proved popular and thousands of supporters flocked to the sites to watch all the games.The FIFA Fan Fest™ proved the perfect place to watch all matches of the FIFA World Cup™ live, and to enjoy an exciting music and cultural entertainment programme, free of charge on matchdays.


(Video Courtesy: André Scheffler Youtube Channel)

At the the 2010 FIFA World Cup TM, the FIFA Fan Fests was expanded to include not only the South African host cities but 7 other cities around the world. Over six million football fans gathered to watch the tournament.


(Video Courtesy: Shine2010Community Youtube Channel)

In 2014. The FIFA Fan Fests was held in each of Brazil's 12 host cities. 5,154,386 attended FIFA Fan Fests in Brazil during the World Cup, with Rio de Janeiro's spectacular Copacabana site attracting 937,330 which was the highest number in any individual city.


(Video Courtesy: Lucas Brito Youtube Channel)

The 2018 FIFA World Cup™ , FIFA Fan Fest™ venues are located in the eleven host cities in Russia.


(Video Courtesy: FIFATV Youtube Channel)

French World Cup winner Marcel Desailly and former Russia international Aleksandr Kerzhakov officially opened the FIFA Fan Fest zone in Moscow, in front of thousands of fans.

Can you bend it like Beckham?

Researchers at Queen's University, Belfast have suggested the human vision system is unable to predict the trajectory of a curving ball through the air. If true, this means goal keepers are handicapped and rely on chance to save rocket shots from sharp shooters like Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Lionel Messi.


(Video Courtesy: Messi MagicTM Youtube Channel)

Goal keepers were asked to watch computer simulation of spinning shots of 600 revolutions per minute and predict how the spin would influence the ball’s trajectory. Even professionals failed to do this. Spinning balls do not occur naturally and the side spin on the ball produces something called a Magnus force. This accelerates the ball in a direction that humans simply cannot visually process and the skill of the keeper to make a save from a bending ball is based on an educated guess.


(Video Courtesy: Veritasium Youtube Channel)

The Magnus effect was first described by German physicist Heinrich Magnus in 1853. It is a product of various phenomena including the Bernoulli effect. According to Bernoulli's principle, the pressure is lower on the side where the velocity is greater, and consequently there is an unbalanced force at right angles to the wind. This is the magnus force. Another variable is the formation of boundary layers in the medium around moving objects.


(Video Courtesy: Veritasium Youtube Channel)

The boundary layer is that layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface. In the atmosphere the boundary layer is the air layer near the ground affected by diurnal heat, moisture or momentum transfer to or from the surface. The Boundary layer effect occurs at the field region in which all changes occur in the flow pattern. The boundary layer distorts surrounding nonviscous flow. It is a phenomenon of viscous forces. This effect is related to the Leidenfrost effect and the Reynolds number.


(Video Courtesy: Ron Hugo Youtube Channel)

The ball spinning through the air creates a whirlpool of rotating air about itself. On one side of the object, the motion of the whirlpool will be in the same direction as the wind stream that the object is exposed to. On this side the velocity will be increased. On the other side, the motion of the whirlpool is in the opposite direction of the windstream and the velocity will be decreased. The pressure in the air is reduced from atmospheric pressure by an amount proportional to the square of the velocity, so the pressure will be lower on one side than the other causing an unbalanced force at right angles to the wind. The overall behaviour is similar to around an aerofoil with a circulation which is generated by the mechanical rotation, rather than by aerofoil action. An experienced player can place a wide array of spins on the ball, the effects of which are an integral part of the sport itself. The way the ball spins and changes the air flow can really confuse the opposition," says Dr David James, of Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Sport and Exercise Science.


(Video Courtesy: mr bundesteam Youtube Channel)

The surface of the ball is affected by its shape and stitching which increase traction between the ball and boot. The Adidas Telstar 18 has six textured panels. These are not stitched, but seamlessly glued together. This makes the ball a lot more round with better sphericity, so it behaves more like a billiard ball than the traditional bladder. Changes in the design of football boots including improved traction on the boot upper and greater sole stiffness combine to give better control of the ball by the player.


(Video Courtesy: SOCCER.COM Youtube Channel)

Blistering feats and blistered feet

The origins of the name soccer are thought to have come from an Oxford footballer by the name of Charles Wreford Brown (1863). He borrowed 'socc' from Association and added 'er' to give the term "socc'er'". Such vernacular was common at the time and gave counter speak to the other football code, rugby or "rugger". By ironic coincidence the Latin word for slipper is soccus, and in antiquity the soccus was worn by entertainers, women and effeminate young, men. It described a simple slipper or calceoli and laterally became a sock that fitted loosely so they could be removed quickly. Soccus were commonly dyed yellow from the seed of the pomegranate.

Fashion dictates meant the original soccer boot became a soccer slipper. Black boots were once universal but as more colourful boots graced the field fans became suspicious as to the to the sexual orientation of the wearer. In a world once the prerogative of the heterosexual anything other than 100% machismo was vocally criticised from the terracing. Thankfully these days are gone and blistering feats in colourful boots are all part of the modern game. Fashion never rests and now hi boots have crept back into fashion.

In the 2005 Ping Pong video (Nike), Brazilian superstar Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (Ronaldinho), laces a pair of gold soccer shoes in an empty FC Barcelona's training ground stadium and starts juggling a ball with the new boots. He proceeds to the top of the 18-yard box, keeping the ball aloft as he goes, and then does the unimaginable. With the ball never touching the ground, the twice FIFA World Player of Year casually strikes a right-footed shot that hits the crossbar and rebounds back to him. He traps the ball on his chest and repeats the feat three more times. all in one camera take. Likely to be computer trickery of course, but the Brazilian sumpremo’s natural talent makes it all the more credible.



Twelve million people watched 'Ping Pong' which is eleven million. nine hundred thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine more people than spied a young Jimmy “Jinky” Johnstone (Celtic and Scotland ). Dubbed the 'Lord of the Wing', his former Scotland manager Tommy Docherty in a television interview, commented in his formative youth with no real mates other than his football he endlessly hit a ball against the gable wall to become a master of footwork. No trickery there.



Footgear plays a vital role in a footballer's game with even minor irritations resulting in painful blisters. In a warm up game against New Zealand in 2016, two weeks prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup TM , Brazil captain, Ronaldo limped off after complaining he had four blisters on his left foot and two on his right. The Brazilian doctor, Jose Luiz Runco was convinced his blisters were caused by a defect in Ronaldo's boots. Ooops !! The BBC confirmed Ronaldo’s old boots were sent for.



The Brazilian Captain made a full recovery and was able to play in the 2006 FIFA World Cup TM. Brazil were eventually knocked out in the quarter finals.



Preparing boots for play is a necessary task, even for superstars. Most of us do not have the luxury of a new pair of boots each time we grace the field which makes life a little easier, but routine care and maintenance is recommended if irksome problems like blisters are to be avoided.