ON THIS DAY IN FOOTBALL HISTORY: JANUARY 24.

BIRTHS

GUIDO BUCHWALD (Born: January 24, 1961)

                                             DAVIDE BIONDINI (Born January 24, 1983)

LUIS SUAREZ (Born January 24, 1987)

DEATHS

LEONIDAS DA SILVA (Born September 6, 1913 - January 24, 2004)

DAVE HARPER (Born September 29, 1938 - January 24, 2013)

MIROSLAV JANU (Born November 8 1959 - January 24, 2013)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY.

Following a serious injury, in which he suffered a badly broken leg, Belgian footballer Luc Nilis announced  his retirement from professional Football on January 24, 2001 at the age of 33.


Written by Alex Stilianos.

AND THE 2013 BALLON D'OR WINNERS ARE....

It's that time of year again when FIFA stages it's annual event known as THE BALLON D'OR. For those who are unfamiliar with this event, it's pretty much the Academy Awards of Professional Football. Every year in January hundreds of great names in Football, along with their stunning WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends), gather in Zurich to award one lucky footballer the highest honour in professional Football. Since 1956, the Ballon D'or has been awarded to some of the greatest names in Football history. Names like Matthews, Di Stefano, Yashin, Charlton, Eusebio, Best, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Platini, Van Basten, Ronaldo and Zidane have all won this prestigious award. Originally awarded to the European player of the year, the award changed in 2010 when it was merged with the FIFA World Player of the year award.

 In the last few years there's been only one name on people's lips when it came to this award; Lionel Messi. Since the award was revamped back in 2010, the race for this grand prize has been a constant tug of war between Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. Having been runners up to Messi for two years in a row, Ronaldo finally took out the grand prize on January 13 in Zurich, Switzerland. Full credit must go to Ronaldo for this achievement, as his consistent and tireless work ethic on the field finally overshadowed that of Lionel Messi's achievements in the year 2013. Special mention must also go to German International Nadine Angerer, who took out the FIFA Women's World Player of the year award that same night. For a month which saw the loss of one of Portugal's favourite footballing son's Eusebio, this award will no doubt restore great pride for both Cristiano Ronaldo and the people of Portugal.


Written by Alex Stilianos.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Late yesterday afternoon the news of Brett Emerton retiring from football filled the twittersphere. Most football fans would have expected "Emmo" to retire at seasons end but due to ongoing injuries he has decided to retire with immediate effect. What shocks us here at insidetheboxFC is the lack of respect shown by football fans on twitter and football forums hailing Emmo's retirement as a great day and thanking god he has now finished. Some football fans have short memories, with fans of his final club Sydney FC being the worst culprits. Brett Emerton has been one of our greatest servants to the game having achieved great success in Europe and proudly representing the Socceroos on 94 occasions. Something which he classed as his highest achievement, a player who always gave his all for the green and gold and a true professional in the dressing room. Acting as a great role model for young Socceroos coming through the ranks.

Okay he didn't set the A - League on fire upon his return, and yes his pay cheque as Australian marquee didn't match his performances on the field but don't use these things to judge his whole career. He returned as a regular in a English Premiered League side, Sydney FC offered him the contract was he not supposed to sign it?. To suggest that a Micheal Zullo or Aziz Behich will become better players then Emmo (which is some stuff we are reading) is just ludicrous and a uneducated claim. Considering both of their careers are just getting off the ground in comparison to Brett Emerton's long and distinguished career. We are all entitled to our opinion but please do your research before typing, congratulations Brett Emerton on a wonderful career.

Emerton's career highlights:

Uefa cup winner 01-02
Oceania player of the year 2002
339 appearances for Feyenord & Blackburn Rovers
94 Socceroos caps
2 FIFA world cups

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EUSEBIO (1942-2014)

Up until 1966, the only Portuguese names the rest of the world were familiar with were great explorers like Vasco Da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan. Indeed it was both Spanish and Portuguese explorers who wrote their names in to the history books for their many voyages and exploits around the globe. This rivalry between the two European neighbours (Portugal and Spain) dates back to the 15th Century. With the Spaniards conquering a large part of the Americas, Portugal's exploits seemed almost dwarfed compared to the great Spanish conquests. It seemed for every Magellan and Da Gama Portugal had, Spain had a Cortes and Pizarro. This was also the case in later years when it came to Football. For the first half of the 20th Century their was no doubt Spain were a stronger Footballing nation than Portgual as the Portuguese had never qualified or been admitted to a FIFA World Cup. That all changed however after the 1966 FIFA World Cup (the first World Cup Portugal featured in).

Having failed to qualify past the group stage, Spain were eliminated early from the 1966 World Cup whereas Portugal came up trumps as winners of their group. After some scintillating performances in the knockout stages, their was one name constantly making headlines; EUSEBIO. After disposing of North Korea 5-3 in the Quarter Finals (4 of them coming from Eusebio), Portugal were then drawn with host nation England in the Semi Final. Although Portugal went down 2-1 in the end, Eusebio's performance could not be forgotten. For a brief period it seemed Portugal might even level the game thanks to a late penalty which Eusebio converted in the 82nd minute of the match. Sadly, for Portuguese fans, this was not to be and Portugal's 1966 World Cup campaign had come to an end after getting within reaching distance of the Final. All was not lost however as, just a few days later, Portugal's Bronze medal victory over the USSR guaranteed the Portuguese would not go home empty handed. Eusebio was certainly not left empty handed as he won the tournament's Golden Boot award having scored 9 goals during the competition.

Although Eusebio is primarily remembered for his performances during the 1966 World Cup, that very tournament was perhaps the catalyst for what was to follow for Portuguese Football. Since 1966, Portugal have produced many great Footballers, the likes of which we may never see again. Players like Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are names which have continued the legacy of Portuguese Football. These players almost repeated the 1966 achievement after coach Luiz Felipe Scolari guided Portugal to a 4th place finish at the 2006 World Cup. As for the rivalry between Spain and Portugal, it's still alive and as  strong as ever. In November 2010 Portugal thumped the reigning World Cup champions 4 goals to nil in a friendly match just four months after Spain had won the World Cup in South Africa.18 months later and it was Spain who would come up victors as they defeated the Portuguese 4-2 in a Euro 2012 Semi Final shootout after the game had finished 0-0. So what's next for both of these countries? Only time will tell. When looking back through the years though, time has told one of the greatest football stories ever in Eusebio.


Written by Alex Stilianos.

Graduating 2013

As we reach the halfway point and close the year on yet another successful A league season, insidetheboxFC has had a few things confirmed and we have also learned a few things. As you nurse a sore head from Tuesday nights New Years celebration, take a look at what insidetheboxFC has learned and confirmed from the 2013/14Hyundai A - League season.

Confirmed

Melbourne Heart is a shambles

From the start the Melbourne heart franchise made a few strange decisions. Hiring a good coach for your inaugural season is a great idea but it all comes at price, John Van't Schip was the highest paid manager in his time in Australai reportedly earning a whopping 850 k a season. The best they could do was reaching the finals before behind knocked out in the first week. Yes this is a good result and success takes time but 850 k really? This money would've been put to better use on a big name marquee especially for a start up franchise, who is challenging heavyweights Melbourne Victory for members.

Good players don't make good coaches

We all know the story with John Aloisi and Melbourne heart so we don't have to dig too far into it, but seriously who appoints a coach for his reputation as a player? JA had no previous experience as a topflight manager, what did the Heart board expect?

Running a football club as a business never or very rarely works

You only have to ask Roman Abrovamich, when you buy a football club you will almost lose money from the day you take over. It's happened a few times in the A league and surely it will happens again. Whilst we are grateful for rich ownership the FFA should be aiming to grant licenses to football people. Gold Coast united and now Melbourne Heart have both been run by businessmen looking to make a buck and its ended up by both clubs being the laughing stock of the league. Your football roster should always take no.1 priority if they can't play attractive football or win you games, the fans will lose patience and you have lost a customer.

Australian coach’s can coach

Kevin Muscat Mike Mulvey & Tony Popovic have all done a stellar job in their first and second seasons in charge respectively. No more Rini Coolen and Frank Straka’s please, we have the talent here so let's use them. Foreign coaches should only be looked at if all local options have been fully explored.

Melbourne Victory & Western Sydney Wanderers have by far set the benchmark off the field. Yes both clubs have the geographical advantage in terms of attracting supporter numbers but this is the closest we have come to reaching a European style football fan base

Learned

Officiating needs to improve

The A league has improved leaps and bounds over the years but sorry the quality of referring has not. Too many times this season we have seen some average decisions change the game when really they shouldn't have at all. If this means our refs need to go full time then so be it. Every other football code the refs are full time so why aren't the A league refs. Yes it will come at a cost but the investment will be worth it.

Mike Mulvey Can actually Coach

When Mike Mulvey was first appointed coach of Brisbane Roar there was a huge dissatisfaction amongst Roar fans much to our bemusement.  Although the Ange postecoglu era was well and truly over, taking over was always going to be a tough gig. After taking over the disastrous Vidosic era, Mike helped the Roar reach the finals despite making a early exit. This year the Roar are top of the table and still playing attractive football.

He has also made some smart business in the transfer market. Poaching Liam Miller from rivals Perth Glory was a masterstroke, but the transformation of Dimi Petratos has been the most satisfying.  Altought Mike Mulvey hasn’t won anything yet, first signs are that the Brisbane Roar Football Club could return to the glory days under the Englishmen.

Player Power indeed always wins

We always thought that as Manager of a Football club you are in charge of all football decisions and what you say goes. But what transpired last year with Perth Glory proves that it’s the players that ultimately rule the dressing room. Alistair Edwards was sacked after a disagreement with a string of his players but captain Jacob Burns more so than most. Whilst Edwards shot himself in the foot by choosing his sons over other players, Jacob Burns couldn’t handle the fact that he didn’t automatically return to the starting line up after his suspension. It seems that Perth Glory is a boys club and if they are ever to win the 

A- League championship again they need a strict manager who's going to come in and completely change the culture of the boys in purple.

Happy New Year to all our fans & followers.