World Cup: Round of 16

It is already halfway through the World Cup finals, and 2 teams have already secured a place in the top 8--Uruguay and Ghana. Tonight's match is one of the most exciting, with the 3 time winners Germany playing with England.

Both sides have their strengths and weaknesses, which can result in a loss or a victory. The German players have good coordination and teamwork, passing with precision and striking with style. They are extremely good with short passes, allowing them to get past defenders easily. However, the defence of Germany is not as strong. Another weakness is that they will become complacent after a thrashing, leading to underestimation of the opponents.

England's squad comprises of many star players like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. They are good with ball handling, dribbling and are fast enough to strike. But the most important thing in a football team is coordination and teamwork. However hard the players train, without team bonding, they will never succeed. If they had spent their precious time carrying out a team bonding activity instead of vigorous training, I believe they would have done better in the previous matches.

For this match, I predict that Germany will win, but I support England (don't know why). What about you?

Task 2

Children in the Darkness
There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

This poem is written in the point of view of the writer, showing sympathy to the children who had to fight for the country. This reflects the character of the writer which is kind hearted. He would feel for the children who were suffering. Therefore, he wrote this poem in his point of view to influence others, conveying the message that war is always cruel.

The poem is set before the war. As the picture of the boy was shown in the news, the news reporter was trying to say that even a boy had to go to war. There are two perspectives to this issue. Firstly, the news reporter could be saying that war is cruel, and even dragged in the younger generations. However, he might want to tell the people that even a young boy was patriotic enough to serve and defend the country.

In the first stanza, the writer mentioned darkness twice. The first one is to show that the children died young in the war, being unable to live happily. The second one is to show that the children were trapped in the darkness and cruelty of war. This also shows that they were controlled and had no freedom at all. In the third stanza, the candle symbolises brightness, peace and warmth. The author is trying to say that the children had lived in the world without peace and warmth. In the fourth stanza, the writer mentioned, "Blood be poured down some endless thirsty hole". The blood means the soul of the children and the endless thirsty hole is the war. The war is thirsty, thirsty for blood of the children. This clearly shows the cruelty of war destroying the lives of the children. The last stanza is a repetition, drilling the point that war is cruel into the readers' mind.

After reading this poem, I also sympathise the children who were forced to suffer in war. There are also values in this poem. One of them is humanity. The government at that time was desperate to win the war, therefore, war totally dominated them and made them lose their humanity. Consequently, the children were forced into war. Humanity is very important as when someone loses it, anything can happen.

Home Learning 26th May Task 1

At that time when he wrote this poem, he was in Vietnam. He looked at the TV and the news was on. Although he did not understand what the reporter was talking about, he could infer from the picture of a boy holding an automatic rifle. This picture actually shows that even a young boy is going to war. That was how inhumane and cruel war was. The country was willing to sacrifice all these younger generations who would be the next leaders of the countries. If all of them died, no one could imagine what would happen.

Finally, English team out of Champions League Finals

Finally, the English teams are out of Champions League Finals. For the past few seasons, the English teams had been earning a place in the finals. This is a different season, with German Champions Bayern Munich and all time favourites Inter Milan as the two finalists.

I think Inter will win. They have a excellent manager whom I believe will bring the team to victory. However, the main reason is that Ribery was red carded the last match. Obviously, he would be ruled out of this coming match. Ribery is the best candidate to fill up the midfielder position. His red card may result in a disaster for Bayern and shatter Bayern's dream of lifting a second trophy this season.

However, I believe the German club would not be demoralised by this incident. Instead, they should be playing better to make it up for Ribery. The ball is round, a soccer match result can never be predicted.

Who will win?

Deserve it!

103 is a nice number, 71 too.

Drogba and Anelka are good players, Frank Lampard too.

Man Utd is a good team, Chelsea too. In fact, better.

Chelsea deserved the win. A good manager, unstoppable scorers and indestructible defence with spectators as morale boosters, they deserved it. A stunning win over Wigan Athletic brought them the 4th title, which further boosted their confidence in the FA Cup finals. However, I am a loyal fan. Man Utd's loss was most probably the lack of scorers.

Tevez and Ronaldo left the club. Currently, the main scorers are Rooney and Berbatov. Personally, I feel that the Bulgarian has not been performing well this season. That leaves with a main scorer as Michael Owen was ruled out of the season. If Ronaldo had stayed, there would be more scorers, better free kicks and winger. Tevez is also a good scorer, his unimpressive performance last season was due to the lack of appearances.

On the other hand, Chelsea trained many to score. Other than Drogba and Anelka, Lampard, Kalou and Malouda are great scorers too. Although Chelsea has several old players, they maintained their fitness level to bring Chelsea to such heights.

Chelsea deserved it.

Who do you think Man Utd should buy? Comment please.

Miracle?

Manchester United is hoping for a miracle today. The title race has not ended but it will most likely go to Chelsea. Their opponent is Wigan Athletic who has not been performing well. This will most probably ensure a win for Chelsea.

But as I said before, the ball is round. Complacency in Chelsea players will lead to a disaster and shatter their dreams of lifting the trophy for the fourth time. Manchester United, who has won the title 17 times, is praying for a miracle which is a Chelsea lose.

Despite being a ManU fan, I think that Chelsea will win. This is because of their impressive performance shown in previous games. The players are now in top form. With strong defenders and accurate strikers, almost nothing can stop them from scoring. Almost nothing can break through their defence.

Of course, I am also praying for a MIRACLE. What about you? What do you think?

Last hope for ManU on Liverpool

This is the first time I am supporting Liverpool for a match. Liverpool has not been performing well this season, being unable to clinch the 4th position to qualify for the Champions League qualifiers. However, I never doubted Liverpool's ability to win Chelsea. Although Chelsea thrashed Aston Villa and Stoke 7-1 and 7-0 respectively, Liverpool may be able to win Chelsea and "help" United go top of the table.

This is the last hope for ManU to continue its streak of Premiership titles. From the league table, Chelsea has scored an impressive total of 93 goals. This clearly shows how strong Chelsea is. They were not demoralised by their loss to Tottenham, instead, they turned their defeat into motivation to help them further strive harder and aim for their 4th title. As a ManU fan, I would support Liverpool for the Big Clash, although the chances are lower than 50%.

Of course, United still has to win its remaining game to maintain its position.

Liverpool, you can do it!

Bad times...

It was a stunning win for United, 2 weeks ago. German club Bayern made a step closer to the semi-finals of Champions League with a 2-1 win over United in the first league. Another stunning 2-1 defeat to Chelsea last week further demoralized the United players. They held high hopes to win Bayern in the Champion League quarter-finals 2nd league. The final aggregate was 4-4, Bayern won on away goals rule. I want to comment on this rule, which led to United's defeat.

Basically, this rule means that in any case of a draw, the team who scored more away goals will move on to the next round. Why is this rule implemented? This is because the organiser thinks that the home team would be at an advantage as they will receive more support.

Direct support from the supporters watching the match at the stadium does not mean better performance from the players. The teams should know very well that there will be countless supporters watching them play on television. Personally, I think that it is unfair. The teams are strong, but the ball is round. It is not the quantity that counts, I believe ability and strategies are much more important. Even without the rule, Bayern Munich might be able to score the golden goal in extra time to obtain their ticket to the Semi-Finals. However, with the away goal rule, both teams were not allowed to display their ability to score the winning goal.

However, I have a different view. From a different perspective, the away goal rule can be seen as a motivation for teams to play well. Take United's case for example, they lost 2-1 in the first league, and were leading 3-0 at first in the second league. Bayern Munich encouraged themselves with the away goal rule, which could be their only glimmer of hope to get them to the next round. Bayern players made a nice comeback, scoring 2 goals and won. The cause of United's defeat might have been their underestimation of Bayern Munich. The United players were too complacent, after scoring 3 goals, resulting in lack of defence.

I have two perspectives of this rule: Motivation or Unfair. But, the ball is round, sometimes, luck is needed. What do you think? Do you see it as a motivation? Do you have other views?

Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool----My opinions

Yeah! Another win for Manchester United! In this post, I will be sharing my opinions on this match.

I would consider Manchester United to be lucky. A penalty was awarded to the team in the first half. Liverpool's Masherano sort of pulled Valencia's shirt and he fell just at the border of the penalty box. The goalkeeper saved Rooney's penalty but he scored with the rebound. I think Masherano should not have made that foul. It is not worth it. Given the goalkeeper's ability, he saved a penalty and he should be able to save that shot by Valencia too. If Masherano did not make that foul, and let Valencia shoot, and Pepe Reina saved that shot, there could have been another miracle like last year's 4-1 thrashing.

The goal from the penalty equalized the score, demoralizing Liverpool. This led to another goal by Park Ji Seung. He headed the ball into the net in the second half. Before that, he made an attempt with his head too. I think the decision to put him as a forward is good as he has the determination to score goals. Furthermore, he has been the winger the last time, and did a lot of crossing and passing. Putting him as a striker can train his dribbling, shooting and heading, which will definitely be useful for the club in future. Berbatov can score goals, mostly with his foot and are closed range. Liverpool is a tough opponent, therefore, Park would be a better candidate for the forward position.

This win brought Manchester United to the top of the table, maintaining the high chances of winning the title for the fourth consecutive year. I am quite confident that Manchester United will end this season with a first or second place. Chelsea is the toughest opponent of all, but with Rooney's ability now, I believe Manchester United can maintain their position throughout.

All the way, Manchester United!

The soccer leagues in England--Premier League, Carling Cup and FA Cup

It was bad news for Manchester United in the FA Cup. They lost to English League One team Leeds. Got knocked out. It was quite sad but it did not demoralise them as they showed impressive performances in the other leagues.

After intense competition in the Carling Cup, Manchester United emerged as winners after the win over Aston Villa in the finals. Although both sides possessed the ball for about the same amount of time(50:50), Manchester United made a comeback after Aston Villa was awarded a penalty in the fourth minute. Michael Owen equalised the match not long after the penalty. Rooney was substituted in after the scorer's injury. Rooney headed in the winning goal in the 74th minute. It was a blessing in disguise. With a total of 16 shots and 7 shots on goal, Manchester United won the cup.

English Premier League is the most popular. Twenty teams in total competed in the league. The last 3 teams will be relegated while the first two teams will qualify for the Champions League next season. The big four were Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, but now, things have changed. Liverpool dropped to the sixth position, following closely behind Tottenham and Manchester City. The title race is now up to three teams, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. The teams are having a close fight, with a maximum of two point gap. Manchester United has been winning the title for last three seasons, but the ball is round, no one knows who will be the winners of this season's Premier League.

Who do you think will win the EPL?

UEFA Champions League

It started off with thirty-two teams, split into eight groups of four. Now, the league tournament is over, two teams from each group are qualified to take part in the knock out league. Expectedly, the two teams I support emerged as tops of their groups.

In the first league, Manchester United met up with a strong opponent, AC Milan. They have strong players like Ronaldinho. Despite the opponent's strong players, formation and tactics, Wayne Rooney of Manchester United scored two goals to make it 3-2 and won the match. Rooney has been in top form in the last few matches, showing impressive performance in these matches and is currently the top scorer of the season.

Surprising! Barcelona tied with German team Stuttgart. I expected Barcelona to beat their opponents as they won the Champions League last season with impressive thrashings.

That was only the first league, there will be a second league. AC Milan will definitely train hard so as not to get knocked out of the tournament. I believe Manchester United will not underestimate the skills of AC Milan and continue to maintain its top form. Barcelona is a strong team, it will definitely win Stuttgart this time. But I do not wish that to happen as I would not want Manchester United to play with Barcelona. I want my favourite team to win!

Robots VS Humans in soccer. Possible?

This post will be about the question in the previous post. Is it possible for a team of autonomous(programmed)robots to beat a world class soccer team? Here's my view.

I personally think it is possible. By then, technology will be very developed and may allow humans to construct a robotics soccer player. There will be high class motors that produce high strength. This will allow the humanoids to kick the ball with enormous strength. There will be high class sensors which enables the robots to sense another robot and pass to it. There will also be stronger materials that can withstand kicks from the human players.

But there are lots of factors to be considered. Firstly, the ball. The ball needs to emit infra-red rays and must be able to be kicked and headed by human players. Secondly, the spectators. In RoboSoccer, there cannot be yellow and blue colours in the robots as these two colours will affect the infra-red ball. It may also affect the humanoids in the match. Next, materials of the robots. The robots cannot be metallic as it will hurt if two players from each team collide. Furthermore, this will prevent everyone from slide-tackling. If the humanoids slide tackle the humans, the human player will definitely be injured. Therefore, the material of the humanoids cannot be any kind of metal.

If this match really carried out in 2050, it will surely be very exciting and attract millions and billions of people to watch this match. If the world class team turns out to be the team I support, I will still support the team of humanoids as they are the special in every way.

All the way, RoboCup, develop the team of humanoids to compete with the world's best team!

RoboSoccer

RoboSoccer is a competition under RoboCup. RoboSoccer is an interesting competition in which participants build robots with the necessary sensors and stuff to play soccer. Of course, not with legs. The robot size must be within 22cm in diameter. Two robots per team will be on the pit in a match. That makes 4 robots on the pit. Robots have to be equipped with sensors to sense a ball which will emit infra-red light rays. Seems hard? Yes, it is really challenging.

Our school took part in this competition last November and got a few places in the RoboCup Worlds held in Singapore, end of June. As we need a lot of time, we have already started on our work. First, we have to plan. Plan where we intend to place the sensors, circuit, motors, plan how we want our robots to work. Planning is the most crucial part as it decides the outcome of the robot.

Next, we have to build the robot. The robot will have at least 2 layers to hold the motors, shooter, sensors and the circuits. Of course, we start with the first layer. Cutting acrylic and then going on to drilling holes and lastly screw in the motors and the shooter. To construct the circuit board, we need to know how to solder the wires. It is quite fun but we have to be careful not to burn the circuit board and not to scald our hands. There are lots of other stuff to add in like infra-red sensor, ultrasonic sensor, compass sensor, power source and capacitors.

Before we code the program, we need to come out with an algorithm. An algorithm which will be effective in getting the ball, effective in guarding the goal and effective in shooting into the goal. Coding seems hard and complicated but if we understood how it works, it will be simpler.

I think it is very exciting and we will feel a sense of achievement when we have completed a new kind of robot that can play soccer. And for your information, RoboCup's ultimate goal is to develop a team of fully autonomous humanoids that can win against the world's best human soccer team by 2050. Do you think it is possible? Think about it...

Soccer--A CCA?

My school has a field and a few soccer courts where people can play soccer. But, it does not take soccer as a CCA. Why? Should be because of injuries....students get injured and not able to attend school and............

I think all this can be prevented, if soccer is a CCA, of course. So, if it becomes a CCA, what are the actions needed?

First, the school has to hire a professional football coach. The first thing the players have to learn is to tackle properly so that opposition will not get injured. The goalkeepers also have to learn to fall properly when saving. The students will have to learn everything about safety.

Next, they need to play fairly, and the importance of sportsmanship. If not, they will get into a fight when there is a wrong call for foul. If everyone plays fairly, there will not be any dispute. And if there is really a foul, and the person admitted, nothing's wrong. The game can continue. Sportsmanship is one of the most important in soccer. All players must bear that in mind so that every match will be a friendly match. Not a rough one.

If all these are carried out, is it possible to have soccer as a CCA? One of the reasons why I suggest this is because there are many of the students who are interested in soccer. The school should let them maximise their strength by setting up a CCA of their strength.

Soccer--a better side

Of course, soccer has its good points.

Let's start with fitness. Playing soccer, in any position, can keep you fit. When you move about to get the ball, to defend the goal or to tackle someone. All these actions can keep you fit. As I am interested about soccer, I do not really feel tired after playing 20 minutes of it. But 20 minutes can tire me out, seriously! Soccer can keep you fit and improve your strength of your legs(although there is no other uses).

There are many tricks in soccer, you can actually pick them up and impress your friends. They will think that you are "super zai". Furthermore, you will feel a sense of achievement.

When you are in a soccer match, you have to be alert, no matter which position you are in. A goalie has to look out for the ball in order to save a shot. A defender has to be alert so that he will know who to pass the ball to. Therefore, playing soccer can keep you alert and vigilant. In case of an emergency, you will be more alert and be able to think quickly.

See, soccer helps a lot! What are you waiting for? Start playing soccer!

Problems in soccer

Injuries

In soccer, injuries are inevitable. Leg injuries, hand injuries, back injuries, there are all sorts of injuries. When you got the ball, an opposition team player slide tackled you, there you go, you may get a knee injury that could leave you out of the team for months. Worst situation, you may break your leg and soccer fields and courts are never for you again. Thinking of how to solve this problem? It will be hard. Once again, injuries are inevitable. Not discouraging you from playing soccer, but just wanted to say that injuries are..........

Fouls

When players fouled, and referees did not see or when players did not make a foul but the referee thought it was one. This is quite serious and unfair to the players as the team on the advantage may score a goal and increase the score gap. In this situation, the spectators will be angry and start throwing rubbish onto the field. This will actually demoralise the players even more as they are showing that they think the team performed badly. Instead of booing, they should be cheering even louder to give them support. Handballs.......a handball that is not seen will be disastrous. Players on the pitch will start to argue with the referee and the opposition team. All this actions are to reduce the chances of the opponents increasing the score gap. There are limits to the tolerance of the spectators. They may just break through the security of the police and climb over the fence and start all those protest.

Soccer can be a fun sport if there is fair play and sportsmanship.

English Home-learning Task B

As there is no tasks for mathematics, my choice will be interpersonal and intrapersonal.

Interpersonal--Conduct an interview with a friend or family member. Ask him/her about their point of view of discrimination and prejudice.

I interviewed my primary school friend, Annie, currently studying in River Valley High School.

What are your views about discrimination and prejudice?

Annie: It is wrong, nobody should be discriminated because of their skin colour. Everyone should have equal rights to speak for themselves and to do that, they have to be treated equally.

If you were one of the whites in the past, what would you do to the Africans Americans?

Annie: I would treat them differently, and I believe skin colour proves nothing. Skin colour is just what people see, they could never see their inside if they kept on discriminating the blacks. Definitely, the other whites would starting to call me names, but I would not care.

If you were one of the blacks, how would you feel?

Annie: I would feel terrible, not understanding why I was discriminated just because of skin colour. I would use any means to fight for the rights of the African Americans.

Even the government and lawyers had racial prejudice, how would you fight for your rights?

Annie: I might start a strike despite the fact that it would never work. This fact would not affect me, I would keep on fighting. If I failed, I would rather die than suffer in silence. I would die happily, as I fought for the blacks who were treated unfairly.

Intrapersonal--Which character would I like to be friends with in the novel?

I would like to be friends with Jem. He had the courage to protect siblings. With a good father, he did not practise discrimination against the blacks. As I am not a racist, I would not want to be friends with people who had racial prejudice against the blacks. Jem would be a good friend in terms of that. He took care of Scout, I believe he would give me a sense of security. What is most important in friends is trust. He was one who could be trusted.

English Home-learning 2nd March 2010

Calculations --Math-Logic

Managing Feelings-- Intrapersonal

Problem Solving --Math-Logic

Leadership --Interpersonal

Earth Science --Naturalist

Basically, these are the five highest skills I possess according to the learning profile(MIDAS).

Overall, my three highest skills are mathematics and logical thinking, interpersonal and intrapersonal.

I think it is quite true, as I am good in mathematics, can manage feelings and also get along well with people. This assessment will help us a lot now and in future as it allows us to maximise our strength and maintain our good points. For example, I can manage feelings well. So, I have to keep it up so that I can get along well with others, either in work or leisure. I would not have known that I have rather good leadership skills and I confirmed that it is true only when I was voted the monitor of the class. Knowing that I have strengths in this area is always good, I will keep it up and perform better in every area.

I love soccer!

I love soccer, supporting teams from English Premier League (EPL) and Spanish Primera Liga. Soccer is exciting especially when there is a goal or a mistake that should not have been made. For your information, my favourite team is Manchester United, followed by Barcelona. Of course, there are teams which I personally dislike. Examples are Manchester City and Real Madrid.