Week 2 of 2012/2013 Season

Lovely weekend of football. Lots of rain in England, but still lovely weekend of football.

Let's start with Saturday. Two biggest games going on were Chelsea vs. Newcastle and Manchester United vs. Fulham. For the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, Chelsea have won their first three games in a row. A 2-0 win against Wigan, a 4-2 win against Reading, and now a 2-0 in against Newcastle. The first goal was a penalty caused by a foul against Torres. Eden Hazard was the one who converted it, making it 1-0. At the end of the first half during stoppage time Torres scored the second goal which was assisted with a toe poke, heel poke, or whatever by Eden Hazard. Eden Hazard has so far had a really good start to the Premier League. I think he's has been involved with almost all 8 of the goals Chelsea has scored so far. To be more exact (not really) I think it's about 6-7 goals he's been involved with. Torres has been showing his old self. He's looking more confident in front of goal which means he's scoring more goals.  He doesn't have the lingering shadow of Drogba on his back this season, so this is a great time for his shine you know after a good ending of last season (winning the FA Cup, Champions League, and Euro 2012).

The second big game on Saturday was Manchester United vs. Fulham. The first to score the goal was Fulham, but at the 10th minute Robin van Persie scored his first goal for the Red Devils. Kagawa scored the second, and Rafael scored the third putting the Reds 3-1 in front. Unfortunately Vidic put in an own goal making it 3-2, but that's how the game ended. Manchester United won their second game of the Premier League. The biggest news out of that game is definitely Wayne Rooney's gash on his thigh. If you haven't seen it's a really big nasty one. It's so bad that it has caused him to be sidelined for about four weeks. I think someone stepped on him on accident and woosh, huge gash. If you are easily disturbed by blood and any type pictures like that, I suggest you NOT go and look it up.


So today, Sunday, there were a lot of big matches played too. Let's begin with the Premier League. games played by Arsenal vs. Stoke and Manchester City vs. Liverpool. The Arsenal game turned out to be another 0-0 draw for the Gunners. I watched a bit of that game, and a lot of them seem to be scared to shoot or something. Arsenal dominated that game, yet they were very hesitant to shoot. Arsenal are playing well, it's just their finishing needs a little work. I guess you could say they are feeling the effects of no Robin van Persie (who scored 40% of their goals). The Manchester City vs. Liverpool game was played at Anfield and that game also game to a 2-2 draw. Goals came from Skrtel, Yaya Toure, Suarez, and then Tevez in that order. There have been lots of surprises this season, and I pretty sure there are more to come.

Moving on to La Liga. Barcelona played an away game at Pamplona again Osasuna. Barcelona was behind 1-0 a majority of the game until Magical Messi came up and got 2 goals in the second half giving the Blaugrana the win for that night. On the other hand of things, Real Madrid LOST their match against Getafe. Like I was really surprised to hear that. Real Madrid were the first to score with a goal from Higuain, but two goals from Getafe put them in front and gave them the win. I'm not really sure why Khedira hasn't been playing which may be a reason why they lost. Another reason could be that Madrid are feeling the effects of not having Pepe as one of their central defenders. When he comes back to play maybe a lot of things will change.

A lot went on this weekend, and a lot of is going to go on next weekend. Stay tune to keep up what's happening in the footballing world!

The Season has Begun!

Both seasons that I love to keep up with (EPL and La Liga) have begun finally. Most of the games have been played on Saturday (yesterday) and today some will be played on tomorrow (Monday). Here are the games that I've been able to keep up with so far are first the Arsenal vs. Sunderland game. This was a way for the new transfers, Podolski, Santi Carzola, and Giroud to show what they had. Unfortunately they weren't able to penetrate Sunderland's defense enough and the first game for the Gunners ended in a 0-0 tie. At least they got one point, but it isn't the three that they wanted. 

Chelsea vs. Wigan is another game that was played today. They were able to take the 3 points away with two goals, one from Ivanovic and the other from Lampard in the first half of the game. This was first Premier game for Hazard and he showed great skill that he has because he had a pretty good game. Oscar another young transfer was also able to make his debut and showed a pretty good performance. 

On the other side of things in England, the defending champions of the Premier League had a struggle during their first game. The newly promoted Southampton showed they weren't going to take the game lightly. They were the first to score which means Manchester City had some catching up to do. In the end City were able to take away a win by 3-2 with goals from Tevez, Dzeko, and Nasri. Hopefully this doesn't happen again in the near future for the them because that was one heck of a scary start for City. 

Manchester United will be playing Everton tomorrow. 

In Spanish news, both the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had their opening season games today. Real Madrid played Valencia FC and left the game with a 1-1 draw with Higuain scoring their only goal. Not something they wanted of course. On the other side of things FC Barcelona played Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou and beat them 5-1. The first goal came from the club captain Puyol during a corner kick from Xavi and then Sociedad drew the game 1-1 a few minutes later. The Catalan giants were going to take that and two goals from Messi and a goal from Pedro put the Blaugrana up 4-1 by half-time. The greatest thing is at the second half David Villa came onto the field after being sidelined from an injury since the Club World Cup in December 2011. What's even better is that he scored a goal and ended the game 5-1. This gives Tito Vilanova his first win of a La Liga season as the head coach. 

The first game is only the beginning and anything can happen during the season. But it's always good to start off the season with a win. It's a good moral booster and it helps set the tempo for what the season has in store. 

English Premier League vs. La Liga

 

These two leagues are probably the two most popular and competitive leagues there are. But which one is the best  league of the two? Each league is unique and play different styles of football. Here is what I think:

I think the English League is definitely more competitive than La Liga. If you think a little harder, there are multiple top clubs competing for the title such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and honestly it seems that most of the clubs have somewhat a fighting chance unlike La Liga. In La Liga it's literally two clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, fighting for first place, and everyone else trying to win third place. That's 2 large Spanish Clubs verses 5 large English Clubs. I'm not trying to say that the other Spanish Clubs can't compete, because they can, but until the La Liga tables fluctuate as much as the EPL table, then EPL wins for the most competitive league out there.

BUT who has the best teams in the world? This might a bit biased, but I believe that La Liga holds the two best teams in the world. To play in the two Spanish Giants it's almost a dream come true to many footballers. Some of the best players to ever play the sport had their best moments while they played in La Liga, like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Figo, etc. And currently the two best players right now (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) play in La Liga. So yes, I believe that La Liga has the best teams. Both clubs are very competitive in their league and in the Champions League (yes I know Chelsea AN ENGLISH CLUB won the most recent one, but BOTH Spanish giants were able to make it to the semi-finals, ok?)


I just want to mention though, that I don't think that English Clubs can't compete with the two Spanish Giants JUST because I say that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I'm just saying that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I believe that big English clubs can compete with the two teams and I have always believed that. AGAIN Chelsea has proven it this past May.


There is one more comparison that I would like to mention: the type of players each league produces. Right now, I think that Spain wins. They have produced and produce some of the best midfielders lately. And come to think of it, I really can't think of any English players that play in the Spanish League. But I know some Spanish players who played or play in the EPL. EXAMPLES WOULD BE:


David Silva (Manchester City)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool)
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Juan Mata (Chelsea)
Xabi Alonso (ex-Liverpool)
Cesc Fabregas (ex-Arsenal)
Alvaro Arbeloa (ex-Liverpool)
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
David de Gea (Manchester United)

This is only a small list of some current and recent Spanish players. The most recent English Players in La Liga were Jonathan Woodgate (Real Madrid) who only had 9 appearances for the club. He was then loaned off and then went back to the EPL. Then of course the very famous David Beckham (Real Madrid). Other than that, I don't know any English players. I think this goes to show that Spanish players are vital for teams. I think it's because of their midfield mastery and magic (cheesy I know) they bring to a game. Another reason there may not be many English players in La Liga could be because Spain and England have very different styles of play. England concentrates more on strength and La Liga is more finesse....patience.


So which league do I prefer the most.....I would actually have to say the EPL. Even though Barcelona is my favorite club team and I root for Spain, I chose the EPL because there is more competition between clubs. None the less though, I still love La Liga! I watch it just as often and always checking on updates about that league....but everyone likes more competition.

Truths and Rumors

TRUTHS: Chelsea have purchased the young and  upcoming Belgium Eden Hazard who seems to have a bright future in the football industry. He has definitely impressed many of the big clubs that were after him while he was Lille; now will he impress while he's in a big English football club?


Another truth, after the many issues with Eric Abidal, Barcelona have finally made a purchase for a left back. His name is Jordi Alba. If you watched the Euro 2012, you saw that the 23 year old impressed. He may be small but he is FAST. He has the energy and speed to run the pitch. And like I said before he even got a goal in the Euro 2012 final! Like many of the Barcelona players, he is a product from La Maisa so he has the Barca DNA in him. He really began his professional career when he played for Valencia FC and that's where he turned into the talented left full back he is today. Now he's back at his boyhood club and I'm pretty sure he's ready to impress.


Also other truths, Arsenal have made two big purchases, Lukas Podolski a forward who also plays on the wings and a straight up striker Olivier Giroud. Currently the contract issues with Arsenal's star Robin van Persie are unstable.


RUMORS: So the rumors can come true or never happen, but here is what's currently on the market. Chelsea are about to make another big move about 25million pounds for a Brazilian attacking midfield named Oscar. He is supposedly another up and rising star (only 20 years old), and if Chelsea can sign him he can show the footballing world what he has. (Chelsea, because of Roman Abramovich, have a lot of spending power on them).

Another rumor, and it seems like it's going to go through is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago from AC Milan are going to be moving to Paris-Saint Germain (PSG). The French club currently have the money and with money comes power. They are spending big this summer as we can see with the targets such as Ibra and Thiago.

Oh, Real Madrid hasn't made any purchases yet, but it seems that their target Luka Modric from Tottenham will be making the moved to the Spanish giants. This move seems inevitable, but nothing has been put and set in stone so until the papers say "REAL MADRID SIGN LUKA MODRIC" this is going to be a rumor. This also makes me think, what is going to happen to Kaka?

AND Newcastle seem to want Andy Carrol back, but Liverpool want a good 20 some million pounds for the guy.

NOW to the coaches. There have been lots of new changes for the next season and they are all truths.


Tito Vilanova has finally begun his run as the first-team head coach for FC Barcelona after Pep Guardiola resigned from his four year reign in La Liga. They are currently training and awaiting for their pre-season to begin. Liverpool has sacked Kenny Dalglish and has been replaced by Brendan Rodgers who was the former Swansea City coach. And in Tottenham news, Harry Redknapp has been sacked and  replaced by (surprisingly) Andres Villas-Boas. Yeah, you didn't think that he'd show up this fast after his minimal time at Chelsea. Speaking of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich made the right move and hired Roberto Di Matteo as the full time head coach.

There is definitely more to come! I wish I had blogged more this summer. But this is actually the third time I've actually turned on my computer this summer. Or is it the second?

Chelsea are Champions League Winners!

It's quite unbelievable actually. Chelsea are the UEFA Champions League Winners and this is their first. (I bet you no one expected this at all this season). After a really tough season, Chelsea were able to tough it out and win both the FA Cup and Champions League. That means they qualify for next years Champions League and Tottenham, who are in fourth place in the Premier League, are kicked out.

The game was a brutal game. Bayern were at home and hoping everything would just go their way. It was at first when Mueller put a goal in, but at the 88' Drogba equalized and the game had to go into overtime and eventually penalty kicks. In the end, Drogba put the last penalty kick in and finalized the win for Chelsea. This was definitely a blow to the German side and I am really, really sad because I was rooting for them, but it sometimes luck really is the deciding factor on who wins or lose. In a way I really don't think Chelsea should have won. I just don't. It could be because I was rooting for Bayern Munich or Bayern Munich did a better job. Chelsea has luck. That have an ass load of it. 

Well we're going to have to wait till next year to see what happens. Anything can change. The status of whether Di Matteo will finally become Chelsea's head coach has still been undecided. Roman make a smart choice for once and appoint him as head coach. He brought this Chelsea team, who was falling apart, to be winners of the FA Cup and champions of Europe. What more could you possibly want? 

I couldn't watch the whole game through. I get really, really anxious and it can get really ugly at times. I could only watch parts of it. But I did see the end, and well that's it. Chelsea are winners. Congratulations Chelsea for becoming champions of Europe, sorry for the loss Bayern Munich, but good job! 

One Emotional Weekend

I must say this was probably my favorite weekend of football out of this whole season. It began with the Chelsea vs. Liverpool, FA Cup final. I was rooting for Chelsea, because I personally do not like Suarez....so go Blues! And what do you know, the Blues won! Two goals, one from Ramires and Drogaba. Andy Carroll also got on the score sheet, but it wasn't enough to take the FA trophy away from Chelsea. THOUGH there was a controversial goal in which Carroll heads in the ball, but the ref says that it didn't pass the line. But none the less, Cech made a great save and kept Chelsea in the game until the last minute. Now it's off to the Champions League, and to win that competition is super, super important. If they win the Champions League final, they can say they've had a pretty successful season after all they've been through. I mean if they can take home two prestigious trophies, the FA Cup the Champions League, how can you say that's not a successful season? Second they would automatically qualify for the Champions League next year. That seems to be their only chance to to qualify for the most prestigious tournament in Europe because they are in 6th place in the EPL. (I'm still rooting for Bayern Munich for the Champions League Final though).

Speaking of the EPL, the title race between United and City is STILL ON. Manchester City played first, away at Newcastle. Newcastle are a very strong side, and they were fighting in hopes of breaking into the top three. Unfortunately (and fortunately), Newcastle lost and Manchester City was able to win 2-0 with both goals from Yaya Toure. On the other ends of things, Manchester United played Swansea City and they stayed in the title race with a 2-0 also, with goals from Scholes and Young. It seems that the title race is really going to be decided based on the last game of the season. Manchester City are to play QPR and Manchester Untied are to play Sunderland. Let's see how this turns out.

And in Serie A, the final winners of the league or Scudetto is Juventus! Juventus were able to take a 2-0 from Cagliari. While they were playing, the Milan derby (Inter vs. AC Milan) was going on and AC Milan lost to Inter 4-2, which caused the title to slip out of their hands. Finally after years of waiting, Juventus are finally Champions of Serie A, again.

Now to La Liga (this is where I got emotional). It was FC Barcelona vs. Espanyol (the Catalan derby). FC Barcelona was able to take a 4-0, all goals from the one and only Lionel Messi. A freekick, two spot kicks, and a great run gave him 50 goals during the La Liga season and a total of 72 goals during a European season. The Atomic Flea still has two more games to bag more goals. It's like he's unstoppable. But during the game and after the game is what got to me. This game was not only special because it was the Catalan derby, but also Josep Guardiola's last game at the Camp Nou as Barcelona's manager. When Messi scored his 4th goal, he went to Guardiola and gave him, I guess a farewell./thank you hug which was joined by the rest of his teammates. Now that's what I call mes que un club. After the match was the most emotional part. This was Guardiola finally saying goodbye as the manager to the supporters at the Camp Nou. I can't really explain it, but you can watch this video and see what I mean. You don' need to be able to understand Catalan to get the gist or the emotion, all you got to do is watch and be a supporter of FC Barcelona to understand. That's all. I've got to say a 4-0 win is a great way to send Guardiola off. Gracies Pep!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH GUARDIOLA'S FAREWELL TO THE CAMP NOU 

Chelsea in 6th place

Since the 2-0 lose against Newcastle, it looks like Chelsea will be ending the season in 6th place. If you watched the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, you will know that the two goals Cisse scored were brilliant goals. They were absolutely brilliant, especially the second goal. The second goal really made you go "Holy mother of God." If you don't believe me, just see for yourself

CLICK HERE TO SEE CHESEA vs. NEWCASTLE HIGHLIGHTS 

On another note. Because Chelsea weren't able to take a win from this match, I'm pretty sure that their season is going to end not being able to secure a spot for a Champions league spot. At least they'll be able to play in the Europa League. The rest of the season now, what they have to look forward to is the FA Cup final against Liverpool and the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich. Those two competitions are definitely something they can look forward too. After what Chelsea have been through this season, if they can take the FA Cup and Champions League Final, I would say they had a pretty good season. Next season they can always start fresh, and if Di Matteo stays, there is nothing that Chelsea cannot do. 

Now looking at the standings of the EPL, Newcastle and Tottenham are both tied with 65 points each. The games this weekend (Tottenham vs. Aston Villa and Newcastle vs. Manchester City) are going to be vital games to determine who might get the fourth place spot. Arsenal must watch out too. They need to win their game against Norwich City this Saturday. I've got to say, this weekend of football is going to be really intense. Everyone is fighting to keep their spots and others are fighting to take spots. I'm not predicting anything, but this is what I WANT to happen. 

• I want Arsenal to win their game and eventually secure the third spot in the league 
• I hope that Manchester City wins so they have a chance to beat Manchester United in the league (so that means Newcastle needs to lose) 
• I actually hope that Tottenham lose because if that happens, there is a chance that Bale could move to Barcelona. 

Selfish I know, but hey everyone has their own opinions. 

Vincent Kompany Seals the Deal (sort of)

The next biggest derby, after El Clasico is probably Manchester City vs. Manchester United. Played at the Ethiad Stadium yesterday, Manchester City was able to take home a win, stay undefeated at home, and take the number one spot on the Premier League table. It wasn't as exciting a game as the 6-1 thrashing in the beginning of the year. Only one goal was scored before the second half ended. A great corner served by David Silva was found by Vincent Kompany, the club's captain, who lost his marker and blasted a beautiful header into the goal! From then on the game moved on from nowhere and ended in a 1-0 win for Manchester City.

During the game there was an interesting little spat between Mancini and Ferguson. I'm not sure what they were talking about, but they were making mocking hand gestures and not really presenting themselves well. The players behaved better then them. Maybe it was the pressure of the game. I mean this game (kind of) decided the title winner.


But is the title race still over? There are two games left in the season. The Citizens are to play Newcastle United who are fighting for the fourth spot and then QPR. The Reds have to play Swansea and Sunderland. If Manchester City really wants to win the league they will need to win the next two games. There are no rooms for slip ups. Currently the two teams are even on points, both with 83. The only thing splits them apart is the goal difference. City have 61 and United have 53. That's 8 goals. If both United and City were to win the next two games, United would have to beat their opponents 7-0 or 8-0 just to break that goal difference.

The season for the Premier League is coming to an end, but many teams are still battling it out till the last minute of the last game.

Torres finding old form

It's been a pretty good week for Chelsea! They are off to the finals in Munich and they just thrashed QPR 6-1. AGAIN if Roman Abramovich does not make Di Matteo manager, I will consider him....stupid! I'm pretty sure any other club would gladly take Di Matteo as a manager after all he has shown recently. The beginning of the game Struriridge was able to pull of a beautiful stunner to open the scoring. John Terry was able to finish off a great corner, and then here comes Torres. The next three goals Torres showed his old self and was able to complete a hat-trick for the first time since 2009. This doesn't mean that Torres is back, but he's taking definite baby steps and showing that he is indeed a world class player. If you don't believe me check out these the highlights below!

CLICK HERE FOR CHELSEA VS. QPR HIGHLIGHTS 

UCL Final: Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea

Well what do you know the two teams that were expected to move on, Real Madrid and Barcelona, did NOT make it to the UCL final. I have got to say this is one heck of a surprise to me and I'm pretty sure to the whole footballing community. Real Madrid's game was a little more intense because the game had to go to penalty shoot out. Ronaldo and Kaka were both denied by Neuer and Sergio Ramos just BLASTED it over the crossbar. I honestly do not know what Ramos was thinking. It's kind of sad that Ozil and Benzema did not get to kick. Schweinsteiger, the German, sealed the deal for Bayern Munich sending them off to the final in MUNICH (how nice).  

I'm pretty sure no one expected the UEFA Champions League final to end up like this. Everyone pretty much expected FC Barcelona or Real Madrid to be in the finals, but noooooo. If anything, I'm very very glad that Real Madrid did not move on. If FC Barcelona aren't able to move one, Real Madrid shouldn't either. Both Spanish giants are out of the tournament and the final which is going to be on May 19th is going to be Chelsea vs Bayern Munich. 

Who am I going to root for? I wasn't sure about it, but I think I'm going to root for Bayern Munch. My reasons why I'm going to root for them? 1.) They beat Real Madrid, the rival team to Barcelona 2.) Chelsea beat Barcelona and kicked FCB out of the tournament 3.) I think that Munich will benefit due to the losses from Chelsea's squad 4.) Bayern Munich is not Barcelona, so parking the bus won't work on them 5.) Munich are at home, so they have the home advantage 

Derbies are Deciders

Last weekends El Clasico match was the turning point on whether or not  Barcelona could still compete in La Liga and we can conclude that it's not possible anymore. Now another exciting derby is to come upon us, Manchester City vs. Manchester United. It seemed like two weeks ago the title was given to United, but lately United have slipped up and City shown that they aren't backing down. April 30th at the Ethiad Stadium. That's where it's going to be at. This match may determine whether or not Manchester City still have a chance to win the Barclay's Premier League. Miraculously, City are only 3 points behind United and if City win the clash they will be completely even with Manchester United and the title race is still not decided.




Manchester City's away form is not as good as United, but their home record is amazing winning 16 games and only drawing 1 game. They are undefeated at home, and hopefully they can prove that during this derby clash. Also in the beginning of the season when City played at Old Trafford, they made a great thrashing beating Sir Alex Ferguson's team 6-1. City are looking in good form and starting to build momentum. The only thing now is they need to continue that form. Manchester City have excellent players they can field as well as Manchester United. Overall this game is going to be really tense for it can decide the fate of these two teams and whether or not they can win the title....or not.

League Round Up (April 6-8th)

Let's bring all the games into one big pile of closure by starting with the English Premier League. The battle between Manchester United and Manchester City for the title win just seems to fade farther and farther away from Mancini's reach. Manchester City played Arsenal at the Emirates stadium and took a harsh defeat with a late strike from Mikel Arteta losing 1-0. City are now 8 points away from United who secured a home win with goals from non other then Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes which gave them a 2-0 win over QPR. Mancini seems to still be having problems with the young Italian, Balotelli who received a red card during the Arsenal game. From different news sources, City are going to try and sell the controversial striker. It looks like Manchester United have the league title all wrapped up for the 20th time and only 6 more games to play in the league (unless some miraculously happens and Man. U drop a bunch of points, and Man. City win all their games). Chelsea who are continuing their good form (even though the game they played Wigan was NOT a very good performance) won at Stamford Bridge 2-, trying to secure a Champions League spot for next season. Tottenham try and keep their 4th place spot with a 0-0 tie when they played Sunderland. The Spurs taking only one point from the game, they are now two points behind Arsenal and only 3 points in front of Chelsea. Newcastle though is not far, with 56 points TIED with Chelsea. Six more games means a potential 18 more points for any of these teams. 

La Liga has become more and more tight lately. Real Madrid played Valencia this Sunday and were only able to take away 1 point from the Santiago Bernebeu with a tie of 0-0. It may have been European fatigue that has caused this tie between the two sides, but non the less, Madrid now only sit 4 points atop the tables when only a few weeks ago it was 10 points. Valencia were able to take a crucial 1 point and still in 3rd place but only 1 point of in front of Levante and 2 points from Malaga who still have to play Racing Santander Monday April 9th. If Malaga secure a win, they will be able to gain the 3rd place spot. But for the gap between Barcelona and Madrid to even shrink a little, Barcelona took on threatening relegation team Zaragoza and were able to take a 4-1 win, with goals from Puyol, Messi (2), and Pedro for Barcelona and Aranda for Zaragoza. The title race and places are still being fought for and there are still a few games to be played which can decide anything. For the title winner it may come down to the Clascio on April 22nd.  

The last league I'll be talking about is Serie A. The title race is still live and high paced with a 2-0 win for Juventus against Palermo. They sit atop of the table with 65 points only 1 point away from Milan's 64. Milan were not able to secure a win as they lost to 2-1 to Fiorentina at the San Siro.

With the Champions League semis still yet to be played and leagues are still hot and winnable, I believe that the end of each season for each league will be exciting to watch, and everyone should keep up to date and be posted on all things football. You can check out the links above to keep up with your favorite teams or leagues. If you go to the Football News Link there you can check out articles and opinions of all the different games and teams!

I grew up with soccer and will end with football

I grew up in the United States, and if you are to say football, well everyone thinks you mean "football"....you know the sport that uses a ball that's olive shaped, also called the pig skin at times (when it's actually made out of leather). I have nothing against saying the word soccer, but after watching so much European football, and football around the world, the word football (meaning soccer) has caught up to me and is stuck in my vocabulary. So excuse me if I ever do use the word soccer, because let's be honest, I grew up with that term and I'm pretty sure it will stick with me for the rest of the life. But I'm going to do my best to use the "correct" term football, but it does get difficult when you're speaking to a crowd who's meaning of football is not yours. They root for the Packers and the Giants, while I root for Manchester United or FC Barcelona. It's just two sport cultures clashing, where one is dominate in only one country, while the other is the most popular sport in the world. I'm pretty sure you can guess which one is which.