Lionel messi Messi loves to play a specific pass and a non-specific pass

 This is part two of a series of three posts about my favorite player, Lionel Messi.  Like Messi, I was diagnosed at a young age with growth hormone deficiency, and, like Lionel, I was cured of it--although, unfortunately, I was neither a gifted young footballer nor contacted by FC Barcelona.  These posts will focus on three parts of Lionel's game: dribbling, passing/vision, and intangibles/movement. 

Part 1 

Passing has always been an underrated part of Lionel Messi's game.  Not that anybody had dared to argue that he wasn't a particularly capable passer of the football (as mostly every La Masia graduate is), but it wasn't until last year, where a deeper, "freer" role accelerated Messi's assist numbers, that anybody seemed to be really taking notice:

But truth is Messi has always been a kind of hybrid player, both an excellent finisher and distributor.  Coaches for his national team have always tried to figure out how to utilize Lionel's talents.  Why isolate him on the wing when he can influence so much more of the game?  Why ask him to play centre-forward when he can play the enganche position, even better than the likes of Riquelme, Cambiasso, and Pastore?  But I'm not here to talk about Messi's positioning.  For now, I want to talk about how Messi passes, how he thinks on the ball, and what makes him an even better, more effective passer than even some of the midfield maestros on his own team.

"The Messi Ball" 

There are basically two types of passes that Messi loves to play: a specific pass and a non-specific pass (I'll get to that explanation in a minute). 

The first one (shown in the above video) can occur in two ways, either as Messi drops deep and frequently rightward from the centre-forward position or even when he is not withdrawn.  The destination of Messi's pass here is to find a wide-playing forward, Villa or Pedro usually, who is playing just behind the full-back.  Now, it's important that the recipient of Messi's pass is behind the defender for a few reasons: 1) The defender is unaware of the attacker's run and can't time his response to it. 2) The defender is drawn to Messi, which allows Messi to discern when to make the pass. 3) The defender is not "goal side" of the recipient as to be able to make an easier tackle.  Now, here's how it works:

Lionel messi News&latest pictures 

Using the Arsenal game as an example, we have Villa tucking behind Sagna (the right fullback) and Messi dropped off from his centre-forward position with the ball running at the goal. Arsenal's defense now has a decision to make: do one of their centre-backs come out and confront Messi like Mourinho ordered Carvalho in the Supercopa...or do they stay still and allow Messi to run at them full-steam?  Logically, they chose to not take that risk; however, the knock-on effect is that the defense has to shift to compensate for the CB (in this scenario, it's Koscielny) approaching Messi.  What Messi is looking for when this hapens is a very specific lane that suddenly opens up.

Now, remember that in this example suddently the defense is shifting to the left (Messi's right).  And this can only favor one person--you got it: Villa.  Magically, Villa can hang wide and await a diagonal ball between the centre-back and fullback because there is not only space there for the pass with one less defender but the defense is suddenly out of shape.  The funny thing about this pass is that it's also the favorite pass of Xavi and Iniesta, and you used to see a lot more of it from those players when Messi was playing to the right.  And that's the key difference, and advantage, insofar that Messi is playing the ball much closer to the intended target, while additionally he is drawing defenders and opening up spaces...while Xavi and Iniesta, with their deep-lying role and limited (at least in comparison to Messi) dribbling abilities, can't do as effectively.

So, yes, that is a specific pass that Messi has developed now that his role has become more central and thusly more focal in this phenomenal Barcelona side.  But that's not the only type of pass Messi does...so what about all of those others?

I'm going to lump all of them into what I call "non-specific Messi passes." With the earlier pass/assist, it's something very specific to Messi's role on the team--how he vacates space in the center of the pitch, how he draws defenders in a particular area--and while there is slight variety in it (as many of you might have anticipated, Messi's assist in the Arsenal game was when Villa was behind a centre-back--but it's roughly still the same pass) one can basically list the permutations fairly quickly. On the other hand, Messi does a whole lot of passing in Barcelona's games that isn't so specific; in fact, frequently he drops into midfield to just simply pass or help out because Xavi/Iniesta/Busquets are having a hard time getting the ball forward. It's here, I think, where we realize just how talented Messi is as a team player, how he is not only capable of dribbling around the midfield in ways that Iniesta can't do but how he can just as well slot in and keep the ball "flowing" to the final third.

Imagine the difficulty for a defender: you not only have to get near Messi, but you have to understand that he can just as much pass around you to beat you as dribble around you. This is precisely why when a team bottles themselves up like Milan did this week, Messi will seemingly go full-throttle into the belly of the beast. Yes, he's looking for an opening to get to goal--one, must never forget that he is always looking to score--but he's also asking the defenders to lose their shape to possibly create a quick ball to a Barcelona player with a space now opened up. The brilliance of Messi is not simply that he can get into those micro-pockets that no other player on the planet can but that he can pass once he's there.

In conclusion, passing is as much to Messi's game as dribbling. The two, in fact, are rather reliant on each other; they bolster each other because superiority at one allows even more superiority at another. With Messi finishing last season second in Europe in assists, I don't think anybody can doubt La Pulga's remarkable talents as a world-class distributor.

John Cena 2011 big body and small man

Since his WWE debut in August 2010, Alberto Del Rio has been tabbed as wrestling's next big thing. He was given an immediate push by defeating Rey Mysterio in his first match. He followed that up with plenty more accolades, such as winning the largest Royal Rumble in history, competing for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania and winning Money in the Bank.
Once Del Rio secured the Money in the Bank briefcase, it was just a matter of time before he would become WWE Champion. Del Rio didn't wait long to cash in his contract, as he preyed on a vulnerable CM Punk after his WWE Championship match at SummerSlam and won the belt.
Del Rio has since been involved in a feud with John Cena and will have to defend his title against him at Night of Champions on Sunday. While many feel that Cena will recapture the gold, as he always seems to do before too long, Del Rio absolutely needs to retain.
Here are three reasons why a Del Rio win at Night of Champions is the only way to go.
Del Rio Needs a Legitimate Reign
Since winning the title, Del Rio has gotten mixed reviews from wrestling fans. Some find him interesting, great on the mic and solid in the ring. Others find his gimmick to be boring and don't see any redeeming qualities in him.
While I feel like he is fairly over as a heel, one way to ensure that he remains over is to give him a proper title reign of six months or more. There have been many failed title runs in recent years that could have worked out better had the creative team allowed for a longer reign with credible victories.

John Cena 2011

Maria sharapova Hot Tennis Player

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Svetlana Kuznetsova Tennis player Latest News US Open 2011

 Famous female tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova is a Russian born tennis professional who is currently ranked third in Women’s Tennis. She has won two tennis Grand Slam singles titles during her career and has been runner up in other Grand Slam finals. She is a reigning French Open champion and she also won the US Open title in 2004. Kuznetsova was a runner up in the French Open in 2004 and Us Open in 2007. She has born to a coach father who has coached five world and Olympic cycling champions. Kuznetsova could not keep up with her winning streak in year 2008 where she reached only two finals. She kept losing to seeded players and ended as World No. 8 at the year end which made her the only women tennis player to be among top ten best female tennis players with no title. The performance of Russian tennis player Kuznetsova improved in year 2009 when her ranking improved to 3 but she could not retain this ranking and fell to World No. 27 in year 2010 which is her lowest career ranking.

 With two Grand Slam singles titles already on her resume, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 26, still believes there is more for her to accomplish in tennis. She might be under the radar and playing on the outside courts as the No. 15 seed, but the 2004 U.S. Open champ and 2009 French Open champ is quietly working her way through the tournament. She beat Elena Baltacha of Great Britain 6-4, 6-3, on Thursday to move into the third round and will next face Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan. Kuznetsova spoke to espnW after the win over Baltacha.

 Svetlana Kuznetsova: Well, I was 19. It was a long time ago. I just remember that I was playing unbelievable in the final. [She defeated countrywoman Elena Dementieva.] I remember [in the] semifinal I was losing against [Lindsay] Davenport 6-1, 2-1 and down a break, and I have no clue how I won this match, that I could turn it around given the wind was so strong. And I don't know, I just was very excited and I couldn't expect for myself another win and then things changed a lot for me after this win here.

SK: I don't have any hopes or expectations, I just want to play my best tennis each match. I can and go match by match, and let's see where it will bring me, because you never know what to expect from any opponent and you always have to be ready 100 percent.

No.1 Tennis Player Caroline Wozniacki latest news US Open 2011&Dating With Rory McIlroy

  - Rory McIlroy reportedly getting close to Caroline Wozniacki, No. 1 tennis player in the world and they are reportedly dating.

McIlroy 22 years had just broken up with his old girlfriend Holly Sweeney, according to several media 2 people are going out together. But it did not take long for McIlroy to latch on Wozniacki, 21 years rising star from Denmark. The couple, who looks a dinner together at a restaurant in London, according to an internet blog, have made public their friendship because they both have been tweeting back and forth to each other.

For Caroline Wozniacki, the top-seeded woman at the U.S. Open, last night was like deja vu.
After losing the first set to No. 15 Svetlana Kuznetsova in their fourth-round match and trailing 4-1 in the second, she rallied to win, 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals, the exact same scenario that unfolded in Flushing two years ago.
In the same round in 2009, Wozniacki lost the first set to Kuznetsova, 6-2, and was down 4-1 in the second before winning, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. That was fresh in her mind as she made her comeback last night.

"I thought about the match we played two years ago. I was down 4-1 and won that as well," Wozniacki said. "I was basically out of the tournament. Eight points from losing."

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The top-ranked Dane became more assertive after falling behind, and it was Kuznetsova who tired down the stretch of the three-hour, two-minute match. The scheduled 7 p.m. match did not get under way until 8:27 -- because of the lengthy final afternoon match on Ashe between Mardy Fish and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -- and dragged on to 11:29.

"I went out there after two sets, and I still felt fresh," Wozniacki said. "I knew that she took a bit of time after that second set, so I knew she was definitely more tired than me.

"I know I'm in good shape. I can play out there for five hours if I have to."

Wozniacki, 21, won 12 of the final 14 games to head to the quarterfinals for the third straight year. She will play No. 10 Andrea Petkovic.

*

No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic survived a marathon first-set tiebreaker and cruised through the next two sets to advance to the quarterfinals by beating Alexandr Dolgopolov, 7-6 (14), 6-4, 6-2. He needed six set points and an hour and 16 minutes, but Djokovic finally won the first set in a 30-point tiebreak, 16-14.

The first set took longer than the second and third sets combined (70 minutes). It was the longest men's tiebreaker of this U.S Open, but shy of the all-time Open record of 38, set in 1993 when Goran Ivanisevic defeated Daniel Nestor.

Francesca Schiavone US Open Tennis saves match point

 Francesca Schiavone (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃeska skjaˈvoːne]; born 23 June 1980 in Milan) is an Italian tennis player who turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She was also runner-up at the 2011 French Open. As of 4 July 2011, Schiavone's ranking will be World No. 8; her career high ranking is World No. 4, achieved on 31 January 2011.

Country ITA
Residence Milan, Italy
Born 23 June 1980 (1980-06-23) (age 31)
Milan, Italy
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Turned pro 1996
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money US$ 8,383,26

 Francesca Schiavone Tennis star

 Francesca Schiavone

 Professional career

Schiavone has won four singles titles on the WTA tour, but has also achieved ten runner-ups in total, eight of them since the autumn of 2005. Schiavone lost her first eight career finals before finally winning her first title in July 2007. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Flavia Pennetta, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy.[2] This match was a doubles match and Kirsten Flipkens partnered Henin and Roberta Vinci partnered Schiavone. In 2009 she won the Fed Cup with Italy for the second time against the USA, and also made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time. In 2010 Italy with Schiavone won the Fed Cup for the third time.

In addition, she realized a notable victory during the quarterfinals of the 2008 Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, when she upset World No. 1 and four-time champion Henin 7–6, 7–6. She also beat Amélie Mauresmo in a Fed Cup tie in 2006 when Mauresmo was ranked No. 1.

Partnering with Australian Casey Dellacqua, Schiavone was the runner-up in the women's doubles competition at the 2008 French Open.

 Francesca Schiavone victory 

"I think sometimes I could play a little bit less, but sometimes I am like this," said Schiavone, whose four-hour, 44-minute triumph over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January is a women's Grand Slam record.

Saturday's 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 clocked in at just under three hours.

Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion and runner-up at Roland Garros this year, said she would have liked to finish things off sooner against the 81st-ranked Scheepers, but without a power game it's not always possible.

"I don't play like Serena -- boom-boom," said Italy's world number eight, who at 31 is the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. "I have to work harder."

Scheepers had served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but fired a fierce backhand long on her lone match point.

Two games later, Schiavone had a chance to secure the set against Scheepers' serve, but the South African held on through three break points to force the tiebreaker.

 Once the match was all-square, it was a back-and-forth battle in the third.

Schiavone had medical treatment before the final frame, the physio massaging the muscles around her ribs to loosen her up after she felt short of breath.

Then, she turned up the heat.

"In the third set I started to push like I had to," said Schiavone, who next faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a quarter-final berth.

The 17th-seeded Russian beat former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4.

Scheepers, a 27-year-old based in Florida who broke into the top 100 for the first time last year, said she just tried to forget about blowing her match point and keep fighting.

"I just went out in that third set and tried to do the same thing I did in the first two sets," she said. "She lifted her game a little bit, that made it more difficult."

Then again, Scheepers said, that was to be expected against Schiavone, who had the enthusiastic backing of the crowd on the intimate Grandstand court. 

 Francesca Schiavone won the match in us open 2011

Playing style
Schiavone employs an all court game and has a very classic approach to her clay game. She uses an extreme eastern grip on her one handed backhand. Chris Fowler and Brad Gilbert described her forehand as a "buggy whip."

Novak Djokovic 2011 US Open Tennis Pictures wallpapers&news

 NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic racked up his 60th win of the year on Saturday to join former champions Serena Williams and Roger Federer in the US Open last 16 as Flushing Meadows claimed a record 18th injury victim.

World number one Djokovic, who has lost just twice in 2011, clinched a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia's Nikolay Davydenko to set up a fourth round meeting with Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Djokovic, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, had only dropped three games in his first two rounds, but wily Davydenko, a semifinalist in 2006 and 2007, gave the Serb a decent workout under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I played well at important moments and got the crucial breaks in all three sets," said the top seed.

"He was aggressive and stayed close to the lines. But I was passive and I wasn't happy with the game."

Williams, who missed last year's tournament at the start of an 11-month injury and life-threatening illness lay-off, defeated Belarusian fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).

The 13-time Grand Slam champion, seeded a lowly 28, next faces former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia who saw off US wildcard Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-4.

In a tournament missing defending champion Kim Clijsters, and which saw Maria Sharapova, French Open champion Li Na and Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova all fail to reach the second round, Williams looks the hot favourite.

Asked what it felt like to be blitzed 5-0 after just 17 minutes of the first set, Azarenka said: "It's painful."

Williams, who saw three match points slip away in the ninth game of the second set, insisted she still has much to work on.

"I think in the first set I played some really good tennis. In the second, she kind of dictated. I probably could have played better."

Federer reached the fourth round for the 30th consecutive time at a Grand Slam with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Croatia's 27th seed Marin Cilic. 

 Novak Djokovic 2011 

 The third-seeded Swiss next plays Argentina's Juan Monaco who defeated Tommy Haas 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 with the German veteran committing a huge 71 unforced errors.

"It was a tough match. Coming in I knew it was going to be tricky, and I'm happy that I was able to counter his pace and his good play," said Federer.

Wozniacki, the runner-up to Clijsters in 2009, and still searching for an elusive first Grand Slam title, made the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over America's world number 103 Vania King.

The Dane next faces 15th-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion, who eased past Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Czech ninth seed Tomas Berdych and Marcel Granollers, the Spanish 31st seed, took the tournament injury toll to a record 18 when they quit their third round matches.

Berdych was suffering from a right shoulder injury and needed treatment at the end of the first set against Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, which he lost 6-4, and then called it quits when he was down 5-0 in the second.

Granollers was trailing Spanish compatriot and 2003 runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 4-3 when he brought proceedings to a halt with a stomach strain.

Tipsarevic and Ferrero will meet for a quarterfinal place.

"For me it is shocking to see so many retirements," said Federer, who has conceded just one walkover in his 973-match career.

 Novak Djokovic 2011 US Open Tennis

 "It doesn't matter how bad I'm feeling, I will be out there and giving it a try, because you never know what's going to happen."

Also going through on Saturday was 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, the Italian seventh seed, who saved a match point before defeating South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

Schiavone next faces Russian 17th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who beat Serbian 11th seed Jelena Jankovic, the 2008 runner-up, 6-4, 6-4.

German 10th seed Andrea Petkovic made the last 16 for the second successive year with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Italian 18th seed Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-0.

She will play Carla Suarez Navarro, who put out fellow Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-0, 6-4.

Men's eighth seed Mardy Fish defeated South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) and next plays French 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who saw off Fernando Verdasco, the 19th-seeded Spaniard, in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic 2011 US Open Tennis

Novak Djokovic Players of the us open 2011

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Novak Djokovic professional tennis player

Novak Djokovic born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who is ranked the World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won three Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open championships and the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively.Amongst other major titles, he is also the winner of the 2010 Davis Cup.