THE CORONA MENACE

Coronavirus has recently hit the globe with its infections worldwide. It has not spared sports events. Most of these sports events have ended up being called off  or postponed. The COVID-19 virus has hit most parts of Asia and Europe, with Italy being the most infected European nation. All sporting activities in Italy have since been banned by the Prime Minister.

We have seen numerous being played behind closed doors. This comes in time when Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola questioned the essence of playing games behind doors. He termed the decision as not a permanent solution to this menace. Arsenal fc also find themselves in the wrong footing after it was reported that their players may have been in contact with Olympiakos owner, Evangelos Marinakis. Marinakis tested positive after the club’s game against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium.

InterMilan has also cancelled all training activities following reports that Juventus defender, Danielle Rugani has tested positive to the virus. Juventus has since confirmed his information to be true and is planning a quarantine to the player.

The player recently uploaded a picture with his teammates relebrating the 2-0 win over Inter, a game that was also played behind closed doors. Quick recovery Danielle!

 

WANYAMA LANDS IN MLS

Victor Wanyama posses with the Montreal Impact jersey after striking the deal.

Kenyan international Victor Wanyama signed for Montreal impact marking a four-season timeline with Tottenham Hotspur. The Kenyan captain brought to an end his career at the North London club after 97 appearances for the club with 7 goals to his name. The skipper has agreed a deal with the Canadian outfit on a three-year deal and will now play in the United States top flier league, MLS.

The career at Tottenham was a bumpy one and was marked by long spells on the bench without forgetting his injury crisis every now and then.  With these troubles, it was an uphill task to convince the team manager for a first place in the team. This move comes in time when a similar move hit a snack in January. It involved Belgium giants, Club Brugge. The reason for the transfer hitch was reported to have been work permit issues. However, Tottenham fc thanked Wanyama for the special memories and wished him the very best. Wanyama, 28,  initially spent three seasons at Celtic Glasgow before joining Southampton in 2013.

THE TOKYO 2020 THREAT

Talk about the excitement and anticipation that comes with the Olympics! Well, that is not seeming to be the case in this years most watched sporting event. The coronavirus scare has now shown fully in the picture and threatens to the postponement or even calling off of the event. The COVID-19 virus sparked off in Wuhan China early in January this year and does not seem to let go of its spread. As at 2nd March, more than 3,000 deaths were reported and more than 89,000 cases of infection recorded.

Infections have hit more than 60 countries with China being top of the list. This means that Asia has been hard hit, not forgetting that Japan is an Asian country and host to the summer games. The International Olympic Committee has remained numb on this issue but is expected to make its statement later on today. This comes even after there have been fears of the virus spreading during the Olympics. An epidermic during the Olympics will mean the ballooning of problems in most nations since the games have participants from over 100 countries. Fingers are still crossed for the sports fraternity.

THE SERIE A SCARE

The Italian top flight league Serie A was yesterday given an unbearable blow by a deadly virus threat. The Coronavirus made a number of scheduled matches to be postponed. a statement from the league said that those particular matches had been called off due to the virus scare. Clashes which included InterMilan vs Sampdoria were postponed despite the InterMilan team showing up for the training sessions until Saturday.
The deadly virus has claimed over 2,000 lives worldwide, including the recent cases of two deaths in Italia. It is believed to have started in Wuhan, China, which has recorded the most deaths and casualties as well.

SAFARICOM KEEPING THE BALL ROLLING

Kenya’s giant telecommunications network, Safaricom, is doing a great deal in identifying and nurturing young talent. This is especially in its annual competition Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom. It covers youth aged between 16-20 years. It has also sponsored numerous events that have been a good platform for cropping up of these talents. The annual showpiece has attracted many other sponsors with the recent one being LaLiga. Laliga is the body that is in charge of Spain’s top flight league. The winners of the competition have a lifetime opportunity of travelling to Spain and enjoying Laliga facilities. I say kudos to this great milestone. We should also see government support coming to such kind of program.

OLUNGA DARES ABROAD

Kenya’s Michael Olunga yesterday proved his worth by hammering the hapless Kyoto Sanga FC in a 14-goal thriller. The Kenyan international pulled the trigger EIGHT times beyond the J2 League side in Kashiwa Reysol’s 13-1 victory.

This victory put the home side top of the J2 League standings with 42 points, having won 4 of the previous 5 games. It also puts Kashiwa Reysol in prime position to get into the top flight of Japanese football next season

WEBMETRICS

FootballMania wishes to thank all the people who have made this football site even more successful. I wish to take a look at the webmetrics of FootballMania.

Views: 263

Visitors: 126

Likes: 146

Comments: 18

Followers: 33

(Statistics as of 11th October 2017)*

Awareness Metric

I made awareness about this blog and it was successful. Awareness was done through social media platforms such as Facebook, twitter and Whatsapp mobile application. In this platforms, I sent out links where people could follow my blog. 

I also sent links of my specific blog posts where individuals would access the posts, view them, like them or even comment about them.

Another way of awareness was by physical means. Here, I literally told people about my blog physically. I encouraged them to get to visit my site.

First Visit Metric

After the awareness bit, people went ahead to visit the  FootballMania website. Here they either visited my dashboard or the posts. From the awareness, people know that it is a sports blog and more so a football blog.

The Return Visit Metric

Most people who first visited this site came back for the second visit. This was confirmed especially from the likes that were consistent from those who liked the posts.

It was also achieved from the persistent comments which were made throughout the month.

The Conversion Metric

In this last metric we will take a look at how much impact the site has made to the public.

Visitors of this site have benefited in the mist awesome way. From the comments, most people are now getting to know this sporting better. Those who were sitting on their football talent have come out to showcase their prowess. A good example is Mike Mulonza, who emailed me personally that he has benefited from my blog tips.

There might be more people out there who have had a bite of this wonderful cake. It has truly taken football in Moi University to a whole new level.

I have seen the office of the sports director make reasonable measures to improve this sport.

In conclusion, FootballMania will always be happy to see that football does steps authority in Moi university and its environ.

MAKING IT IN FOOTBALL

[FEATURE PHOTO: UNIVERSITY GAMES 2016]

Success is the one thing that has always been in everybody’s dreams. And more so we take a look at archiving maximum success in football. It is in every footballer’s dream out there to be successful.

In Moi University we have witnessed students archive this fete. Year after year these students have won scholarships for further studies and have also grown proffesionally. I did my own research to unravel this. This is what I found out: 

Discovery your talent

The first thing is to know that you have the talent. Discover your talent. A lot of of people would ask; how do I discover my talent? Well, it is not a hard task. You can discover it by noticing that you have love football. The urge to play just comes out. You will realise that you would want to keep in touch with this sport. When you notice this, don’t sit on it, go out there and do your thing.

Practice, practice, practice.

It is true that practice makes perfect. Potential will remain potential unless it is fully exploited. In sports, not just football but any given sport, PRACTICE carries the day. This is the most important part. Sharpening your talent takes it all. Most of the renowned players of this sport did not just rise to startdom in a single day. They toiled out there in the afternoon heat, rain and windy climate just to become better. There is no shortcut in this one.

Trust in God

This crowns it all. God is the author of everything. After doing all the hard work in your practice sessions, you need The Almighty to go out there and do your best. Remember He gives the fitness and the victories in football events. But when you lose, that should not be a death sentence. You have to go back to the drawing board and see the loopholes that have to be mended. Before you play any football event, at least murmur a prayer.

Give your very BEST

Give your very best. One should play each and every game like a it is a final. By this I mean, just put in your best. Anybody can archive this success in football.

To conclude, success can be fully archived in football. If you have the talent, then you have the potential to scale to greater heights.

#futaaManenos

DAN BIWOTT: AN ICON IN THE MAKING

When someone mentions the word football in Moi University, be sure the name Dan Biwott is just about be mentioned. Dan Biwott has been a major talking point now and the recent past within the university premises as far as football is concerned. He has been very phenomenal writing and rewriting the soccer history books in Moi University, surppassing record after record.

I seeked to bring him on board and just have a word or two about this sport. He honoured the invitation and I had my interview. ” I am a third year in the school of engineering. Yeah a lot of people have really been mesmerised by the fact that I am actually an engineer in the making. I really love football myself. It’s something that I keep doing with passion,” he tells me. Biwott says that football has been his thing right from his early days. ” I have represented the Moi University in different football occasions where we have won five major trophies”.

Biwott was part of the third year team that lost to the fourth years about two weeks ago at the TSA games. The scored the solitary goal for his side. He tells me that apart from talent, football requires hard work, dedication and discipline for anyone to hit the top spot. ” I really urge all the parents out there to nurture the talents of their kids for them to be motivated for greatness. The government should set up football talent academies to expose these abilities. We all have an obligation in this.” Those were some of his great words.

Dan Biwott puts it clear that all stakeholders have a role to play in bringing up the game. ” On the issue of women into football I would really want our ladies to take up the sport. Football is something that is for all us and women can do much better. I have seen many ladies like Pamellah Achieng who are really doing well.”

He points out on corrupt leaders who squander funds allocated by the government for the good of the sport. On this closing remarks he says ” Football can be taken to higher heights if we put much more effort into it. We can do this.”

THE FOOTBALL EVOLUTION

Football as a sport has had to go through numerous changes to be what it is today. This has kept given tireless men and women out there some sleepless nights. They have had to crack their heads just to ensure the sport equally to the current sporting world. We could easily call it the football revolution.

We now seek to examine these changes and the implications that they have or have had to the sport

Goal line technology

This technology dates back in 2012 when it was first developed and tested successfully. It is an innovation that has completely killed one of the most controversial talking points in football.

It has been able to solve controversy of whether the ball is over the line or not: whether it is a goal scored or not. According to thefootballfamily.com, this innovation has been of great importance to goal decision in many professional leagues in the world today. Many would argue that this has killed controversy, which is an important item in football.

Unfortunately it is not the case in Moi University. Goal line has not been embraced due to obvious reasons: it is way too expensive and of course, we dont engage in professionalism.

Video assistant refereeing

This is also a major milestone in the football world. This involves the use of video to replay in case of any confirmation. A match official in charge is called a video assistant referee. He or she is basically the centre referee’s third eye.

It has helped to cement decisions on the pitch with minimum controversy.

For more reading visit worldsoccer.com.