Showing posts with label Retirement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Retirement. Show all posts

Friday, January 7, 2011

Kara Lang is Forced to Retire

It's really a sad news. Kara Lang, Canadian soccer player, just announced her retirement due to recurring knee and ACL injuries. Kara Lang is the youngest woman to be named to Canada National Women's Team, making her National Team debut on March 1 2002 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal at age 15. She retired on January 5, 2011 at the age of 24.

Kara Lang represented Canada in two FIFA World Cups (2003, 2007) and the 2008 Olympic Games. Before retired, she made 89 appearances and 34 goals for her national team. She's also the youngest player ever to score in international competition, when she netted a goal against Wales, just two days after making her inaugural appearance for Canada.



Kara Lang's last appearance for Canada happened in 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying tournament. She took part in her team's victory against Mexico in the final (1-0) on Nov 08, 2010. Canada was through to the 2011 FIFA World Cup, but Kara won't play in the big tournament.

Kara Lang made the official announcement at an Oakville Soccer Club Press Conference in front of young fans, coaches, soccer club affiliaties, and press. "I have gotten everything out of this sport, and I have given this sport all that I have," she said about her retirement.




Kara Lang Statistics:

Position: Forward
Jersey No. : 15
High school: St. Thomas Aquinas HS, Oakville, Ontario
College: UCLA
Club: Vancouver Whitecaps (W-League)
Height: 5'10" (1.78 m)
Weight: 155 lbs (70 Kg)
Born: October 22, 1986 in Calgary, Alberta
Nationality: Canadian
Junior Caps: 33 (12 goals)
Senior Caps: 89 (34)




Friday, July 30, 2010

Batigol Keeps Scoring on Horseback

Argentinian legendary football player, Gabriel Omar Batistuta, has been retired since 2005. Five years after, he is still enjoying his life away from football. Batigol, his nickname, dedicated his retirement days to his farming business and construction company in his home country.

Apparently, Batistuta still can't lose touch with sports, he still regularly plays golf and polo. He started his polo career around a year ago. He chose to learn from his compatriot, Adolfo Cambiaso, world's number one polo player. He tried to prove that he can scoring a goal on a horseback as better as he was with his feet.


The retired striker has his own polo horses and his own team, La Gloria. The team wears a purple shirt with a coat of arms like Fiorentina's, a tribute to the club where the Argentine made a name for himself in the Italian Serie A football league.

Gabriel Batistuta also has completed his football coaching badges in Argentina, but at this moment he still shows no interest for coming back in the football field. He expressed an interest in coaching Argentina's national team and his former club, Boca Juniors. He said that it would be an honor, but now is not the right moment yet.

Maybe with Argentina defeated so early in quarter-final of 2010 World Cup he will change his mind?

Gabriel Batistuta 1024 x 768 Wallpaper

As a national player, Gabriel Batistuta is the all-time highest scorer for Argentina's national team, with 78 caps and 56 goals. He also represented his country at three World Cups. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the "125 Greatest Living Footballers".

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Martina Navratilova Fights Cancer with Sports

The tennis legend, Martina Navratilova (53), was diagnosed having a breast cancer on last February. She made a public announcement about her illness on "Good Morning America" last month. She decided to speak publicly about her condition to encourage women to get tested.

"I'm this healthy person, I've been healthy all my life, and all of a sudden I have cancer. Are you kidding me?" - Martina Navratilova

As part of her treatment, she will undergo six weeks of radiation started this May. Still in her second week of the therapy she has prepared herself to swing her tennis racquet again. “I am in fact cancer free, that was taken out when I had the lumpectomy about six weeks ago. I just started radiation last week,” she said on a conference call.




Martina Navratilova, 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, has been practicing at Roland Garros with doubles partner Jana Novatna ahead of the four-team mini-tournament they’ll participate in during the second week of the French Open. The tournament will be started May 23 in Paris.

Navratilova said her condition and treatment won’t affect her busy schedule. In March, after the surgery, she completed a 25- mile bike leg of a triathlon in Hawaii. She’ll attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, in December.