...volves a "pitch", or the field, designated by the selection of four trees, the cherry, maple, pine and willow. Many great houses in Japan would grow trees to have a permanent pitch, or field, established.

Kemari was normally played with two to twelve players. Established in roughly 1004 B.C., it vies for position of the oldest game with China's Tsu Chu. In fact, China's Tsu Chu players and Japan's Kemari players were the first to have an "International" game of their versions of Soccer, which is dated to have occurred in roughly 50 B.C., although a definite date of 611 A.D. is known. Regardless, this game stands with China as a sister sport to Soccer, while it never affected the modern version of the game.

Egyptian Soccer History

While not much is known about Egyptian Soccer, or other ball games, it is thought there was a version of a type of ball game played by young women during the age of Baqet III. On his tomb, images of this sport were depicted, although no one is certain how the game was played or whether or not it truly affected the outcome of modern soccer. Recordings of this game date as far back as 2500 B.C., although not much more is known asides the fact that it was played with a ball. The lack of information on the sport and how it was played has eliminated it from runnings as the first evidence of a game similar to soccer.

Greek/Roman Soccer History

Perhaps the closest relative to modern soccer are the games that were formed by the Greeks during the prime of their culture. They had numerous varieties of football style games, some of which required hands, some of which forbade hands. In the end, after the Roman conquering of Greece, the game Harpastum is what modern soccer would be based from. This game, probably a modified version of the Greek's "Harpaston", which translates roughly to handball. While grossly misnamed, this game is what is considered to be one of the precursors to modern soccer.

British Soccer History

In Britain during the 8th century, soccer was created, not as a recreational sport, but as a war game. One of the stories of the original roots of the sport comes from when a Danish Prince was beheaded, and his head was used as a ball and was...more

FA Cup Fourth Round Betting Review

...Striker DJ Campbell, last seasons FA Cup hero with non-league Yeading, dumped Premiership strugglers Sunderland out of the FA Cup to secure Brentfords spot in the last 16 for the second time in as many years.

The 5,000 summer signing opened the scoring after 57 minutes only for Argentinean midfielder Julio Arca to equalise for Sunderland. However, Campbell became the hero in the 89 minute, netting the winning goal to set up a memorable win for the 11/4 Bees.

Bolton Wanderers extended Arsenals away day blues with a 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium. The bookmakers priced this match according to Arsenals reputation, rather than their performances this season. Bolton were as large as 2/1 before kick-off, an insult considering they beat the Gunn...more

FA Cup Fourth Round Betting Review

...0 in league duty back in December. Greek international Stelios scored the decisive goal with six minutes remaining.

Shortest price of the day unsurprisingly was Chelsea at 1/2 but they will have spoiled a few betting coupons after a 1-1 draw at Everton. The Toffees, priced up as 11/2 before kick-off, took the lead through James McFadden but a 73 minute equaliser from Frank Lampard took the tie to a replay at Stamford Bridge.

League One high flyers Colchester United sent another Championship side packing in Derby County. Colchester were 11/8 favourites and found themselves 3-0 up through Neil Danns and Richard Garcia. A penalty from Tommy Smith 11 minutes from time was the Rams only reply.

Leyton Orient will have had their supporters at 10/1 to beat Ch...more

Top 10 Ways to Prevent Soccer Injuries

...Soccer is a growing sport among the youth in our country today. Notably, more female athletes are choosing to play soccer. With this added participation, it is inevitable that more injuries will occur. Many of these injuries are linked to physical training and conditioning.

The most common injuries in soccer typically involve the ankle, knee and hip region. Such injuries include ankle sprains, knee ligament sprains, meniscus tears, and muscular strains (hip and groin). ACL injuries are now reaching epidemic proportions, especially in the female soccer athlete.

Research has indicated that proper training programs can and do reduce ACL injuries and will help prevent other sports related injuries. Much of the research has indicated that strengthening, jump landing technique and agility training affect the r...more

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