Different Kinds Of Sports Stars

Back home the biggest sports stars seen on adverts tend to be male footballers, cricketers or F1 racers but on this side of the globe there are more female stars advertising things than there are in the U.K. which is great to see.

In the photo you can see Laura Geitz, an Australian netball player, on a huge poster just like Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton or Andy Murray can be found in shops around Britain.

Netball is huge in this part of the world with games on TV, pages in the papers and top players getting recognised in the street so if you enjoy playing netball at school, work hard and maybe a career as a famous netballer in Australia or New Zealand beckons!

'Soccer'

I managed to fit in my second football match of the trip by going to watch Sydney FC v Gold Coast Mariners play in the A-League (Australia's version of The Premier League) today.

The game finished 2-0 to Sydney and I got to see ex-Premier League player Brett Emerton and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero play for the home team but they are coming to the end of their career and the quality of football from both teams was not great (The teams would probably be lower Championship/League One in England) but it was football so I was more than happy to be there.

Did You Know?: The Allianz Arena, the stadium where the match was played, is also home to Sydney's rugby league and rugby union teams.

Futebol

Yesterday, I got to watch a football match in Brazil as I travelled to the Engenhão Stadium to watch Fluminense v. Vasco Da Gama. Fluminense are one of the top teams in Brazil and I sat with their supporters, they normally play their home matches at the famous Maracanã Stadium but that is closed at the moment as they prepare it for the World Cup next summer.
It was great to watch a football match in the country where next year's World Cup will be held and the game finished 1-1. I even saw an ex-Liverpool 'keeper play in goal for Fluminense and Fred score for them (The same player who scored against England last week).
Did You Know?: Although the Engenhão Stadium won't be used in the 2014 World Cup it will be the venue for the athletics at the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.