Road to Brazil 2013

I'm currently recovering after catching a little bit too much sun in Newcastle yesterday.

I will start with the StreetGames awards in Manchester. Huge congratulations to Tom Harley who picked up three awards including National Young Volunteer of the Year. A big well done to all nominated and the Sport North Tyneside team for winning team of the year.

Since our first Brazil Day things have got a little crazy so you will have to bear with me. Firstly we hosted a 5 a side tournament 'Road to Brazil 2013' which was brilliant. We managed to raise £585 for the project with 80 participants and 12 teams taking part. The weather was super and our eventual winners Ivory Toast got a lovely trophy they could show off at work.

The city hall of Curitiba have been in touch and we featured on their official World Cup website. The mayor Gustavo Fruet is following us on Twitter. Maluco! Big time! Hopefully this is the start of a great time in Brazil developing some amazing projects.

We have an interview planned with a newspaper in Curitiba so those in the city please keep an eye out. I think it is called the daily sport newspaper.

We released our main video which  you can watch on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONArrGPLwQI

This is our home city of Newcastle upon Tyne and what the project is about.

We have two more Brazil Days next week so it is going to be busy. Our fundraising has reached around £3000 so we are doing well.

Update

I'm off to Manchester for a StreetGames award event to recognise young people who give their time to make the community better. Hopefully the North Tyneside team do well!

Road to Brazil tournament went well and will give an update when I'm back.

Things are going crazy. For those who don't have English as a first language you can read about us here:

http://www.copa2014.curitiba.pr.gov.br/noticias/jovens-ingleses-preparam-se-para-passar-ano-da-copa-em-curitiba/29632

Craig

Promo Video

We released a promo video yesterday which has footage of the Brazil Day at Holystone. The main video which explains Project Curitiba will be out next week.

We have also featured in the News Guardian today. You can read that here:

http://www.newsguardian.co.uk/community/carnival-comes-to-town-for-brazil-1-5724262

Brazil Day!

Our first Brazil Day has been completed at Holystone Primary and what a day it was. It left me quite speechless because after all the planning and organising for the event I don't think it could have went any better.


The idea of a Brazil Day came as an opportunity to share our NewcastletoBrazil aim and thankfully schools have taken the idea on to help support us and the project. Sadly the weather was typical North East England weather with a cool wind and rain, but the enthusiasm and excitement from pupils made this a day to remember. Just before the day we prepared a presentation which explained the purpose behind the day, but actually made us minor celebrities as children recognised us as we passed through the school.

As we approached the school to setup for the day they proudly had a Brazil flag on show next to a union jack flag. We delivered futsal tricks with an inflatable pitch, they school organised WorldBeaters to come in and teach pupils music. We managed to have some Brazilian students come along and meet pupils to give them the opportunity to ask question, learn some phrases and culture.

Overall the 480 pupils were absolutely fantastic and really took to the day helping to raise £383. I can't thank them enough for the support and hope to create a link between a school in Curitiba for them. The carnival they finished with was brilliant and hopefully we should have a video appearing soon.

The main thing was for pupils to enjoy the day and two quotes stick in the mind "we should do this every Friday" and "best day ever!"

Brazil Days

The end of May and June are going to be exceptionally busy for us. An idea we had was to create a link between our current home and then our home for a year. Due to our links in the community we have managed to agree with schools to host a Brazil Day. The schools that have confirmed so far with specific dates are Holystone Primary, Fordley Primary, Forest Hall Primary, Redesdale Primary and Excelsior Academy. There are more schools interested and we are working on those to incorporate them into our program.

Each school will be different, but the core idea is to share culture and understanding potentially creating a legacy beyond 2014. We will go into each school for a day and deliver some sport, music, a visit from Brazilian students thanks to help from International House and the teachers can deliver lessons based on the country. Pupils also have the opportunity to wear non school uniform on the day and hopefully this can help create a carnival atmosphere.

Each child will donate £1 with the option of voluntary donations, but every little helps. The main aim is creating a fun day, shared learning and the opportunity to create a link from Newcastle to Brazil.

5 a side Tournament

ROAD TO BRAZIL

We have around 3 weeks until our 5 a side football tournament that will be hosted at Complete Football in Gosforth and we are really looking forward to it. We've had interest from a number of teams and it is great that we can do something fun that will benefit a wider audience. The money from the day goes straight to the Brazil project and will supply funds to provide education or sport.

Each team will get to play some football matches, watch the International friendly match and also there will be a buffet that we will provide as part of the team entry fee. The day will also be a bit more awareness about our project, but we hope to have a couple small games that could see people win some prizes.

You also get:

• Welcome introduction and 'Team Captains' brief
• CFTV - All goals recorded and shown in players lounge
• Synthetic rubber crumb turf pitches
• FA Qualified Referees
• Nike match balls and bibs 
• Private dressing room with shower and locker facilities
• Private car park facilities
• Fully licensed bar on site
• A winning team trophy, player of the tournament and top goal scorer award

If you are interested in entering a team please get in touch.

Alan Pardew - Manager of the Year to Relegation Favourite!

Newcastle United lost 0-6 against Liverpool and now sit 16th in the league, hovering over the relegation zone. This time last season we had just lost 0-4 away to Wigan, but were chasing Champion's League football in 4th place.

This season has been quite the disaster as injuries and European football have took its toll on a small playing squad. However when you take away the excuses about the team performance this season and look at the basics there are two glaring faults.

Firstly the defence are often left exposed against teams who are quick and can pass the ball. Newcastle set up yesterday with Perch and Tiote as two defensive midfielders and part of a five man midfield, but Coutinho still managed to find space to execute some excellent passes. Within the first 20 minutes Liverpool managed to expose the back four and there was countless attacks of either 4v4 or 5v4. Three of the back four playing yesterday arrived this season so it could be a lack of playing time together or lack of communication as some defenders were playing for offside, but others were slow to push up. It wasn't just yesterday the game against Everton at home the same problem occurred where the defence was left exposed as they played the ball out wide which created space in the centre of the pitch. Anichebe was able to come on and exploit this as the central defenders were forced to cover the full back position, but no midfielders tracked back to cover the space.

As an attacking side Newcastle offer little threat which means the other team can either have a high line or wait for a long ball to go aimlessly out of play or to their goalkeeper. Papiss Cisse has often been left isolated as the lone striker with no support play from wide players or midfield. It seems like a tactic this season has been for Cisse to be on the shoulder of the last defender which means he has been caught offside numerous time (38 times before yesterday). Moussa Sissoko who arrived in January looked extremely promising as he had strength, pace and could deliver a defence splitting pass. However now it seems that his main instruction is to run at people until he tires or loses possession. Jonas does well in supporting the full back, but offers little when attacking often going down under pressure to win a free kick. Yohan Cabaye has been a shadow of himself from last season, although depression has been talked about this season. Ultimately there has been little movement from attacking players and we have relied on Hatem Ben Arfa when he is fit to come up with another goal like Bolton or Blackburn last season. The "team" is split into position so nothing becomes interchangeable and they don't support each other. For example Debuchy and Haidara got forward a few times past the midfield yesterday with a couple of successful crosses delivered. There was not one time Cisse received the ball on the edge of the 18 yard line to feet that he was able to pass to an onrushing midfielder. There is no point in discussing set pieces as the delivery is either not good enough or the aim is to hit Taylor and hope he can get it on target. It must be over 300 corners since we last scored from a corner as it was back in October 2011 which is shockingly bad.

Last season Pardew kept to the basics which proved to be successful and this season Newcastle have looked anything like a team. He needs to address the issues quickly otherwise his future will be elsewhere because the owner backed him with funds in January and another relegation would mean missing out on the new TV money. Hopefully this seasons finishes with Newcastle still in the Premier League, however the summer will need some major issues sorted out between management and playing style.

Where do NUFC go from here?
Should Pardew be given a chance?