BOOK

Everything I needed to know in life I learned in Football (Soccer)
A passage into the beautiful game with Middle Eastern accent!
by Nader Jahanfard

REVIEW

No sport has experienced such a tremendous growth in popularity in the U.S. in the past few years as soccer. Soccer is now played everywhere around the globe. This book has been written to present the experience of a man over the years. The knowledge gained has been and will continue to be tested as new ideas emerge and changes occur. Nader is the maker of his own fortune. Soccer is an intriguing game. There is nothing like an exciting run, a great feint, an accurate pass, a good shot, a brilliant save or a dazzling goal... The goal of this book is to provide you with verbal and visual imagery to recall and adopt. I strongly believe that the author has scored on all accounts. -- Ahmad Tousi, PhD, Head Coach of Cal State Stanislaus Warriors

EXCERPT

Aim for unattainable shots
Don’t be afraid of taking long shots!

Take risks and go for the unfeasible shots.

You may not score from behind the box every time, but once you do; your efforts will pay off big time.

Occasionally being an under dog, is not anything but an opportunity to make history.

Always aim high and go for that long and impossible shot.

You’ll be amazed how it’s going to payoff.

“In life, nothing is impossible. You never know what you have in you until you give it your best shot.” -- Ali Daei

“O” is for Obama!
Without hesitation November 4th 2008 has a very special place in my heart. I have spent more than half of my life in United States and candidly speaking I thought I would never see a day that an African American would be elected as president to lead this great nation.

After months of struggle and intense campaigning and re-campaigning, it finally came down to two candidates for presidency of United States.

On one side we had the ex POW and a veteran senator from Arizona who represented the Republican party, and on other side and for the first time in U.S. history we had a young, black, and very ambitious senator from state of Illinois who symbolized the Democratic side.

Those who are familiar with United States history are very well aware of the antagonistic past and the dark chapters relating to African Americans in this country.

Not too far back blacks were excluded from many activities here and the memories of the fight back and struggle were still fresh in minds of many.

During the campaign, the opposition tried real hard to smear the Democratic nominee’s crusade.

The opposition used every trick in the book to tarnish his image. They wanted to stop him cold on his tracks.

One day he was wrongly linked to terrorist organizations and the next he was accused of being a Muslim. (Like that is a crime!).

In all this he stood his ground and did not budge in.

He responded to every blow diplomatically and never lost his cool.

Gradually but surely the mass population realized that this guy was for real and got behind him.

After eight years of absolute dishonesty, corruption and deceiving leadership, it was time to have a candid politician leading this great nation.

Senator Obama was the sure bet now.

He gave people like me who had immigrated to America from other parts of the world a new hope, a new reason to stick around and witness a brighter future with a brand new optimism.

This was not “his” fight anymore. His fight became “our” fight as we drew closer to Election Day.

And on November 4th 2008 the history was made as Borack Obama, an African American, became the 44th president of United States of America giving all of us a new trust.

He swept the votes by a wide margin and rewrote history. (And yes, I voted and I am so glad that my vote did not go wasted this time around).

Ladies and gentleman, Barack Obama scored a scorcher from behind the box, and the cheers that followed were echoed around the globe.

And to all those who tried to stop history from happening:

He is black, his middle name is Hussein, he is the next president of United Stats of America, and there is not a damn thing that anyone can do about it.

On November 4th 2008, USA won a significant match, owning her victory to a man who was not afraid of taking that long shot.

Don’t get bullied, period
If pushed by a bully, push back real hard, and never show fear!

Every once in a while you’ll face an opponent who is a bully.

This situation is virtually inevitable.

In circumstances like this, you have two clear choices.

Bow down and back off slowly without making any waves, or get on your adversaries face and push back real hard.

The choice is yours, however, (and history is behind me on this), if you don’t push back real hard, the bully will keep coming back until you are defeated, conquered, humiliated and beaten badly.

Respond the intimidation appropriately and show that you are always ready to push back, even if in reality you are scared to death.

Get the message across that you are never an easy target.

Let this be a lesson to even future bullies who are observing it.

Allow them to see that they will face the same resistance, and confrontation in the future.

Never show fear in front of a bully.

Remember, you can always throw up later when they are not around.

“We have to be very aggressive, to go to the limit of what's legal,” -- Michael Ballak

Add a little spice into your game
When you are out there, you are the artist!

Think creative and don’t be afraid to show your craft on whatever area that interests you the most.

People, who downplay the significance of your actions on the field, obviously have never been on one!

Play hard and don’t forget to turn heads using your inventiveness.

History never remembers bland people.

Be a hotdog.

Take it up a notch.

Show a little spice!

“An artist in my eyes is someone who can lighten up a dark room. I have never and will never find difference between the pass from Pele to Carlos Alberto in the final of the World Cup in 1970 and the poetry of the young Rimbaud, who stretches cords from steeple to steeple and garlands from window to window. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty which touches us and gives us a feeling of eternity.” -- Eric Cantona