FIFA 13 captures all the drama and unpredictability of real-world football, and is driven by five game-changing innovations which revolutionize artificial intelligence, dribbling, ball control and physical play. It is the largest and deepest feature set in the history of the franchise. These innovations create a true battle for possession across the entire pitch, deliver freedom and creativity in attack, and capture all the drama and unpredictability of the real-world game.

Attacking Intelligence:
Players have the ability to analyse space, work harder and smarter to break down the defense, and think two plays ahead. Plus, players make runs that pull defenders out of position and open passing channels for teammates.

Complete Dribbling:
Face your opponent and use precise dribble touches combined with true 360-degree mobility with the ball. Be more creative and dangerous in 1v1 opportunities.

1st Touch Control:
A new system transforms the way players control the ball, eliminating near-perfect touch for every player, and creating more opportunities for defenders to capitalise on errant balls and poor touches to win back possession.

More to come soon.

FIFA 13 Screenshots

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

On the back of a successful season that saw them achieve their highest ever Premier League finish, West Brom have reduced ticket prices in a bid to help the local community afford to watch live football matches and to encourage families and young fans to attend more games.

West Bromwich Albion have reduced all adult season tickets by £50 and knocked up to £70 off the cost of seats for youngsters. This is especially impressive considering that other clubs with outstanding seasons have all looked to increase ticket prices across the board. Man City, Reading, Swansea, Fulham and Norwich are all clubs that have hiked prices to either match demand or to bring ticket prices in line with ‘Premier League pricing’.

And unlike a few other Premier League clubs, Albion has little local pressure to drop prices. WBA’s 23,622 home allocation was 96% fully subscribed last season, and with the season ticket price cuts and the club on a stable footing in the league, WBA is likely to attract more fans now, especially from a younger generation.

In fact the club is mindful of the fact that they have a responsibility to help people in an area that has been particularly hard hit economically, and to also capitalise on their Premier League status by reaching out to local fans and making up for lost time when, in their words, a generation of supporters was lost.

Mike Jenkins, the Albion chief executive:

“I think our season-ticket prices for this season were already very competitive given our location and the size of the stadium, particularly when you look at our rivals, but we felt that we could still do more in the current climate.

There’s no doubt that youth unemployment is a very big issue at present. I’m a parent and I know full well that for teenagers and those in their early twenties even finding part-time employment is tough, never mind a full-time job. As a result we’ve really tried to focus on them and to focus on juniors too. In many ways that is the single biggest motivation behind our pricing strategy – to secure the next generation of fans.

Having talked with the consultation group, to season-ticket holders and supporters, it’s clear we lost a large number of a whole generation of fans between 1986 and 2002, primarily because we were out of the top division and struggling in that period but also because there were very harsh economic times in this area. If you look at the make-up of our crowd, there is definitely a weighting towards people from around 40 and older, and that reflects that period in time when we failed to attract as many new fans as we should have.”

West Brom Ticket Prices for 2012/2013

Albion have taken the unprecedented step of cutting season tickets by big margins, with the exception of the over-60s category where prices are frozen. All adult season tickets are down by £50, the Under-18 discount has been extended to Under-21s, where prices are reduced by up to £70, and the Under-16 discount has been extended to Under-17s, where prices are reduced by up to £30. Mark Jenkins, Albion’s chief executive, said: “We are hopeful this will lead to more young fans and families attending our home matches.”

Figures in full: Season-ticket prices reduced 11.3% for adults, frozen for over 60s, reduced 17.6% for U21s/U18s, reduced 14.98% for U17s/U16s renewing before 1 June (adults £349-£449, Over 60s £269-£329, U21s £199-£299, U17s £99-£139). Matchday prices: tbc.

Source: Guardian.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

David Villa has been ruled out of Spain’s Euro 2012 campaign, leaving Spain without their all-time record goalscorer. The onus will now fall on the likes of Llorente and of course Torres to step up to the plate and help Spain defend their European Championship crown.

The Barcelona forward has failed to prove his fitness to the head coach, Vicente del Bosque, after fracturing his tibia while in action for the Catalan side at the World Club Challenge in Japan in December.

Del Bosque had promised to give the 30-year-old until the last moment to get himself ready but, with his squad set to be named on Sunday, he has called time on Villa’s race to be fit.

A statement on the Spanish Football Federation’s official website on Tuesday night read:

“David Villa cannot definitely be on the list for Euro 2012.

“Villa spoke with the national team doctor this afternoon after the arrival of the team in the Austrian town of Schruns.

“After not getting in the final practice and development desired, David Villa spoke with Del Bosque, who relayed that although it was Villa’s wish to be with the team in Poland and Ukraine, that his physical state was ‘not as good’ as would be desirable.”

Spain will announce their Euro 2012 squad on Sunday.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Roy Keane was a team-mate and captain to Gary Neville for many years at Manchester United – at the same time that Ferguson brought Keane to Old Trafford, the young crop of players that included Gary Neville were making their mark in the youth team.

So when Keane was asked to comment on Neville’s appointment to the England backroom staff, you would expect an informed opinion. And Roy Keane, being Keane, duly delivered. In fact, he may even have paid his successor as United captain a compliment (see if you can spot it).

Roy Keane on Neville’s influence behind the scenes:

“It’s important you are yourself. Listen, Gary can talk but don’t think for one minute he was as influential in the dressing room as people might think he was. Gary would say his piece but he wasn’t running the show. Far from it.

So don’t think for one minute he will be going into England and calling the shots. He will be learning his trade and being a link between the manager and the players, and I think he will be good at that.”

On Neville continuing with his media commitments as Sky’s lead pundit for Champions League and Premier League matches, or his column in the Mail on Sunday:

“I’m surprised he has kept his role with doing TV. That can be difficult. You can get your way around criticising players by saying: ‘I’d expect the player to do better.’ He probably won’t be as critical as me and speak in the terms I do. I know Gareth [Southgate] does it, but he’s not in the dressing room, he’s not on the training pitch, he’s not working with the players.”

On Neville’s potential impact on England’s fortunes:

“There’s a lot of thumbs-up, everyone says it is a good appointment, but I’d say let’s wait and see. We’ve got to give him a chance. He’s not done any coaching before. I know he has done his coaching qualifications but sitting in a studio talking about teams is very different.

What he has got is he’ll be working under Roy Hodgson. It is not as if he will be calling the shots. He can learn his trade. I’m pretty sure if they have a decent tournament, or a decent couple of years, Roy Hodgson and his staff will get praise. If they don’t, the manager will get criticism and people will start criticising Gary. Gary’s a decent guy and he’s played at a decent level, but that doesn’t guarantee you success.”

On Neville entering management:

“You have to look at these opportunities when they come. You can’t be too clever when you are outside of football and not involved in a team, and if an opportunity comes up.

He is going to be working with top players and a top manager so there is no surprise Gary jumped straight into it. There is only one way to find out if you can do it or not – let’s get into it. It’s no good just talking about it. It’s not a week-to-week job. He will still have a bit of time off and will be learning from a top manager.”

It may not sound like it, but this is high praise from Roy Keane. I imagine his kids must be very jealous.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Chelsea winning the Champions League will see the other English Champions League qualifiers lose a few million pounds each from UEFA’s pot of TV money going to the Premier League.

While this is a small part of the overall Champions League revenue split (explained in detail here for 2010/2011), it represents a loss nevertheless.

As part of the financial benefits of participating in the Champions League, each league’s clubs get a a share of UEFA’s TV money profits depending on their UEFA coefficient rankings. The Premier League were due £30m from the market pool pot, which would have been split according to the teams’ league standings.

Normally, as domestic champions Manchester City would get 40% of Uefa’s “market pool” pot of TV money totalling around £12m, the second-placed Manchester United 30% (£9m), the third-placed Arsenal 20% (£6m) and the fourth-placed club 10% (£3m).

Instead, with Chelsea winning the Champions League and qualifying as winners, they are now ‘tied’ with City in terms of TV revenue share. As such, City and Chelsea will each receive 30% (£9m), United 25% (£7.5m) and Arsenal 15% (£4.5m.). Uefa have said the figures would be confirmed by its executive meeting in July.

To put these numbers into perspective – each team gets a basic fee – £3.5m in 2010/2011 – for qualifying for the group stages each season, and the profits from qualifying for the knockout rounds and progressing further in the Champions League can mean a £20m difference.

The actual reduction in earnings will be loose change for the three Premier League clubs. Far more importantly, Chelsea’s bumper Champions League earnings will paper over the loss of earnings from finishing 6th in the league and continued Champions League participation will mean that they have another £20m-£25m to expect as a minimum next season.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The Samsung Galaxy Note is a powerful smartphone that doubles as a tablet – and when it comes to the London 2012 Olympics, it even has David Beckham using (and composing music with) the device.

The video, which demonstrates the unique features of the Samsung GALAXY Note, showcases Beckham’s incredible soccer skills as he reproduces the melody of Beethoven’s classic ‘Ode to Joy’ by kicking a series of soccer balls against a 15-foot wall of drums. Beckham uses the GALAXY Note’s large screen to plan his sequence of kicks against the drums. Then he uses the S Pen to annotate a photograph and post it on Facebook, capturing his experience and sharing it instantly with all his seventeen million fans.

GALAXY Note introduces a revolutionary new mobile device category. Retaining all the portability of a smartphone, its immersive large screen and advanced pen-input capabilities enable new possibilities for creating, rendering and sharing content with unique self-expression and spontaneity. GALAXY Note continues to win praise from consumers across the globe, recently surpassing 5 million sales in only 5 months since its launch.

Samsung, an Olympics sponsor since 1988, will be demonstrating the latest smartphones including GALAXY Note in the Olympic Village and throughout London for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The GALAXY Note – David Beckham full length video can be viewed on Facebook or Youtube.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The new Barcelona home and away shirts for the 2012/2013 season have a fusion-theme, giving Barcelona players (and Barcelona-supporters) a distinctly unique Nike football jersey to wear.

The home shirt sees three vertical bands of blue and maroon blended in to give a slightly electric feel to the traditional Barcelona colours, with blue dominating on the shirt and red trim adorning the collar and sleeves (also seen with yellow trim). The shorts are blue.

The away kit is a horizontal fusion of orange and yellow, and is probably the first Barcelona away shirt that manages to properly use the colour orange in their shirts. The away kit gently fuses into completely yellow shorts, giving a very nice spectrum effect from top to bottom.

All in all a refreshing design by Nike, and you will soon be able to pre-order / buy your new Barcelona shirts at the Soccerlens Store.

Barcelona Home and Away Kits for 2012/201 (by Nike)3

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

To celebrate the 2012 UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and CHelsea FC, UEFA sponsor Mastercard has conducted research into football fan behavior and unearthed some very interesting statistics on team following, spend and the increasing globalisation of football brands.

Football fans in Europe are collectively spending a staggering €35bn each season supporting clubs from foreign countries. Whether it’s funding their overseas match attendance and PayTV subscriptions or buying merchandise, Fans Without Borders notch up a combined spend per season that would fund the construction of 100 Fußball Arenas München (Allianz Arena to you and me), or buy 372 Cristiano Ronaldos or even 562 Fernando Torres’.

The results show one quarter of Europe’s football faithful (41 million) are classed as Fans Without Borders, with FC Barcelona the most popular foreign team (29%), followed by Real Madrid CF (10%) and Manchester United FC (8%).

How They Spend It

Fans Without Borders ring up €35bn worth of spending each season and here’s how:

• One fifth of the total spend, or €7.5bn, is on Pay TV.
• Merchandising (club-branded goods) earns 13% of our far-away follower’s money.
• Actual match attendance consumes 10% of Fans Without Borders’ spending, with an additional €2.5bn allocated to food, drink and other goods purchased when there.
• 6% of spend is given over to visiting a pub or sports-bar to take in a game on the big screen, and subscription to a club’s own TV channel takes 5%.
• One in four fans attends home matches abroad. Accommodation and travel relating to match attendance, or visits to their favourite stadia, cost Fans Without Borders €8.75bn each year – one quarter of the total spend.
• The impact on tourism is positive; one third of all Fans Without Borders have booked a trip for the sole purpose of watching a match or visiting a stadium. One fifth intentionally combine match attendance with a short city break, or integrate the game into a regular holiday.
• In total, cities hosting Fans Without Borders at live matches, benefit by around €4.5bn per season.

Categories of Fans

The report suggests that Fans Without Borders have been categorised into three groups:

Lead Photo Credit: Hassan Rai.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Nike Football “My Time is Now” campaign features a global roster of the world’s best players, and celebrates the hunger and impatience of young players ready to tear up the rule book to make their mark in football’s elite ranks.

The film will also be on TV on May 19th during the European Club Final features many of the elite players who will battle it out in Poland and Ukraine, and later this summer, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Wesley Sneijder, Franck Ribery, Mario Götze, Mesut Özil, Yann M’Vila, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck. Special guest appearances are made by Pep Guardiola, Lauren Blanc and basketball superstar LeBron James.

My Time Is Now

As the action unfolds, viewers can experience content in a unique interactive way through hidden tunnels designed to share athlete insights about their hunger to succeed and inspire young athletes to be better footballers.

We first join a France v Holland match that is suddenly interrupted by wave after wave of young players, who invade the pitch, ready to show they have the skills and hunger to take on the world’s best. Defined by their impatience and distinctive black and white uniform, they reflect the players Nike is looking for through “The Chance” which is a global talent search for young players to prove themselves on an elite stage and take their game to the next level.

As the young players take their chance they are joined by football’s new generation and iconic stars as the game heats up. Neymar dazzles with his blinding skills and faints, Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta, complete in corporate suits from a stuffy boardroom meeting, join the play on pitch. Even Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to pull on the distinctive black and white uniform sported by the young players, but he’s out of luck as the last remaining jersey is a small size. He wears it anyway, ready to join the game.

Also unveiled in the campaign is the Nike Clash Collection of boots worn by elite players for the biggest moments on pitch and clash of rivalries and games this summer. Nike’s Mercurial Vapor VIII, CTR360 Maestri II, T90 Laser IV and Tiempo Legend IV boots will feature performance innovation and color clash design of traditional white with a bold second color signifying each boots style to stand out on pitch.

Nike has a history of great football advertisements, and on first viewing this is set to be another Nike classic.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

If the incredible drama of the Premier League has made you wonder how you are going to cope without football until August fear not football fans – Euro 2012 is just around the corner, and of course, there are plenty of Euro 2012 odds to study, as punters across Europe decide on which team to back, or who will pick up the golden boot.

A four week feast of top-class competition awaits, with the best players in the world, including Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo, amongst others, set to lock horns. Fans, players punters and television pundits all contribute to the excitement as bookmakers offer Euro 2012 free bets to pick up. It’s at tournaments like this that great players become legends and exciting youngsters have the platform to catapult themselves onto the world stage.

A couple of players to watch out for in the youth department are Mezut Ozil of Germany, who has progressed into a top player since joining Real Madrid last season and young Spanish midfielder Juan Mata.

He has been the shining light in a Chelsea side that has reached the Champions League Final and is a perfect fit for the style of play that the reigning champions Spain suffocate their rivals with. Look out for his partnership with Fernando Llorente – it could take the tournament by storm.

It is Spain that head the betting markets going into the tournament, as bookmakers across the board have Vicente Del Bosque’s as the side to beat. They won the last European Championships in 2008 before going on to rubber-stamp their authority at international level with a brilliant World Cup success in South Africa.

Their intricate, unique passing style make them a joy to watch at times and it will be immensely exciting to see whether they can continue their incredible form in international tournaments. The likes a of the vibrant German side, expertly managed by Jochim Low, and World Cup finalists Netherlands, will be looking to hijack the Spaniards campaign.

And sides such as two time European Champions France and the unpredictable England will also feel they have enough quality in their locker to land, what is shaping up to be, one of the most intriguing major international tournaments for a long time.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride – it’s going to be an excitable one.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News