Tuesday, June 1, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Gerardo dos Santos is One Angry Soccer Dad” plus 4 more

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Gerardo dos Santos is One Angry Soccer Dad” plus 4 more

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Gerardo dos Santos is One Angry Soccer Dad

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT

F R ZIZINHOIf you’ve ever played, coached, attended or heard tell of youth soccer, then you’ll know about the angry soccer dad. The guy who comes to watch the team, but is really only interested in seeing his son/daughter play, and will yell obscenities should the coach ever dare to bench this guy’s offspring. It’s embarrassing for all concerned, not least for the poor kid, who probably just wants to find somewhere quiet and not draw attention the fact they’re not on the field.

Now imagine your name is Jonathan dos Santos. You’re a 20 year old Mexican attacking midfielder who plays for Barcelona (albeit Barcelona B). Imagine that instead of a youth soccer league it’s the World Cup, and imagine that when you were left out of the Mexico World Cup squad your father (ex América and Monterrey star Gerardo dos Santos (aka Zizinho)) went ballistic on national television. Because that’s exactly what happened yesterday.

Jonathan dos Santos was named in the 26 man preliminary Mexico squad, along with older (but only by a year) brother Gio dos Santos (who’s owned by Tottenham Hotspur, but played last season on loan at Galatasaray). But when coach Javier Aguirre cut that squad down to his final 23 man World Cup squad on Sunday, Jonathan was gone. Cue parental outrage:

“Jonathan will not play for Mexico anymore,” he told the Mexican TV network Televisa. “I love Mexico, I adore it, even though I am Brazilian. But they cannot hurt him this way.”

Zizinho said much much more, and you can read his full rant in Andrea’s excellent post on Mexico World Cup Blog (and some interesting reaction in the comments). Basically daddy dos Santos said that both boys (Gio and Jonatahan) called him in tears after the announcement, and that the real kicker was that this wasn’t the first time Jonathan has been messed around by the Mexican Football Federation. Zizinho is Brazilian born and both Gio and Jonathan lived long enough in Spain to gain citizenship, and so the threat is that Jonathan will switch to one of those other nations. Jonathan has already played five times for the Mexican national team, but all five games were friendlies, so I think – and clearly Zizinho thinks – that switching is still an option.

For those who speak Spanish, here’s a video clip from ESPN Deportes, featuring a phone call from Zizinho:

I feel this father’s anger and can understand where he’s coming from. But he must know that outbursts like this are helping no one. Especially not his other son Gio, who actually made the Mexico squad and will now travel to South Africa feeling all kinds of awkward.

>> Supporting El Tri in the World Cup? Put on your Mexico jersey, get your Mexico World Cup tickets, and get to the stadium! If you're watching from home, keep up to date with Mexico World Cup Blog, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Daily Dose: From Inch-Perfect To May 31st, 2010.

Posted: 31 May 2010 08:46 PM PDT

The art of the inch-perfect free kick with Sejad Salihovic.

[101gg]

Yassine Mikari Rescues a Cat During Tunisia 1-1 France

Posted: 31 May 2010 01:40 PM PDT

tunisia catI know what you’re thinking. That image looks Photoshopped. But it’s not. There was a tiny feline pitch invader during yesterday’s France vs Tunisia pre-World Cup friendly in Rades, Tunisia, and Tunisian left back Yassine Mikari was first on the scene to catch the cat (which if you’ve ever tried to do so, you’ll know is not easy) carry it to the sideline and drop it back in the stands.

Mikari just earned himself about 10,000 bonus points with animal lovers, but – as Chris pointed out – ended any hopes he had of a secondary career as an NFL running back, because he was “carrying that thing like a loaf of bread”. Proof that this really happened is below:


Inevitably, the cat now has a Facebook fan page. Enjoy your fifteen minutes cat.

Oh yeah, the football match. It finished 1-1, with Tunisia taking a fifth minute lead and World Cup bound France equalizing in the 59th minute through a William “I’m not injured, see?” Gallas goal. The big story is that due to defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra being diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia last week, Raymond Domonech has abandoned his (unpopular with the fans) 4-2-3-1 with two defensive mids and switched to a 4-3-3. Which didn’t produce much of an improvement according to Sarah Jeff (sorry!) at France World Cup Blog. Still, the cat thing was cute.

Life’s A Beach With The Jabulani

Posted: 31 May 2010 10:40 AM PDT

jabulani_456Everybody knows tournament preparations haven’t officially begun until a handful of goalkeepers threaten to storm the compound, whichever compound, unless the Big Tournament Ball is replaced with something which doesn’t fly like a balsa wood plane. Recently, a few keepers would whisper fling daggers, luring the Grand Poobah of goalkeeper criticism, Jens Lehamm, from his cave to throw down the Mad Jens kibosh.

Whenever a legend passes on, it often takes a village to carry on, so it seems the entirety of World Cup squads have banded together to decry the plastic beach ball which is shaking the foundation of the World Cup.

The squads have yet to be announced in total (tomorrow officially) and yet it seems every player this side of Pluto has taken a shot at the Jabulani, as though kicking it while it’s down just isn’t enough. It’s a practice typically reserved for the keepers, too, but even though the world’s keepers have done their glove-wearin’ duties – including the very best in the world: Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Marcus Hahnemann – it’s the field players who are chiming in.

Brazil has been in South Africa since Thursday and [Julio] Cesar described the World Cup balls as "terrible," comparing them with cheap ones bought in a supermarket. Casillas said the balls were "in an appalling condition."

Field players have been critical too. Brazil striker Luis Fabiano described the ball as "weird" and suddenly changing trajectory and Italy's Giampaolo Pazzini said it was "a disaster."

"It moves so much and makes it difficult to control," the Italian striker said. "You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it."

And more….

“It’s a bit like a beachball,” the Spain captain was quoted as telling Spanish media Sunday, the day after the friendly in Innsbruck, Austria. He went on to describe the unpredictable movement of the ball. “Now it isn’t only the goalkeepers (complaining) it is the outfield players as well. It’s sad that a competition as important as a World Cup has an element as vital as the ball with such abysmal characteristics.”

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon joined the chorus of disapproval.

“The new model is absolutely inadequate and I believe it is shameful to play such an important competition, where so many champions are taking part, with a ball like that,” the 2006 World Cup winner told his website (www.gianluigibuffon.com).

The criticism has become so bad Adidas has been forced to deviate from their normal methods of dealing with disturbances – sitting back and counting the money one by one – to making press releases and throwing low blows back at the national federations:


"On top of that, we have distributed it to all the finalists so that they have been able to get used to the ball. Apparently they have not taken advantage of that if we are only hearing this criticism now. I am quite surprised in these circumstances."

While it’s become something of an biannual tradition (Euros were fun too), it does get a bit much to hear just how rubbish the balls are every single tournament. Thus maybe it’s time they formed a committee of goalkeepers to oversee the ball creation process.

IronBall02

Problem solved.

10 World Cup Questions: Cameroon

Posted: 31 May 2010 08:20 AM PDT

cameroon fansIf you're unfamiliar with World Cup Blog, then allow me to explain: The blog you're reading now is the front page, but the core of WCB is the multitude of team specific blogs, including one for each of the World Cup 2010 teams.

The authors of these team blogs have forgotten more about their sides than I'll ever know, so I decided to tap that knowledge by asking each of them a set of 10 questions. Today it's the turn of Shane from Cameroon World Cup Blog. Read on to learn all about The Indomitable Lions, and no prizes for guessing the answer to the “who’s your best player?” question.


1. Who is Cameroon’s best player?
Samuel Eto’o. He’s Cameroon’s best player because he has scored a record 44 goals for his country, is the all-time leading scorer in African Cup of Nations history with 18 goals, helped Cameroon win the African Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002. He helped the Cameroon under-23s to an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the nations first ever gold medal in any sport, scoring the equaliser against Spain in the final and netting in the penalty shoot-out. He won three straight African Footballer of the Year awards from 2003-5. When one thinks of a world class striker at both club and international level one of the first names that will come to mind is Samuel Eto’o.

2. What do you think of Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen?
He did a great job turning around Cameroon’s qualifying campaign but some poor squad selections prove fatal at the Nations Cup. I think Le Guen is a competent manager but he needs to select the best squad (ex. selecting Bassong), and he has been willing to try out numerous players to try and fix the defense. I trust him but not as much as I did pre-Nations Cup

3. What do you think of Cameroon’s World Cup 2010 kits?
I hate the color green but the home kit looks nice nonetheless, like the lions head on the shoulder. Like the away kit better because its not green.

4. What is Cameroon’s biggest strength?
They never give up, even when playing poorly they are in with a chance because they keep battling.

5. …and biggest weakness?
I should say central defense based off the Nations Cup but I’m assuming Bassong will start alongside N’Koulou which wasn’t the case in Angola and that should help. So I am going to say the lack of attacking flair in midfield. Aside from Achille Emana the rest of the midfield is composed of players like Mbia, Alex Song and Makoun who try to boss the midfield but can’t direct the attack. If Emana or Eto’o are not having a good day then the attack can become quite toothless.

6. If you could steal one player from any other World Cup 2010 team, then who would it be and why?
Xavi, it really shouldn’t need an explanation because he might be the best midfielder in the world and would solve the biggest weakness as no one directs an attack better from the midfield than Xavi.

7. Tell us one thing about your team that the rest of the world might not know…
Nicolas N’Koulou could be a breakout player provided the defense isn’t the catastrophe it was in Angola. He had a very strong campaign in Ligue Un for AS Monaco and at just 20 years old is already well on his way towards becoming the anchor of the Cameroon defense. I would expect him to be playing for a bigger club this fall.

8. What would you consider success/failure for your team at World Cup 2010?
Making it to the knockouts would definitely be a success with the quarterfinals probably being the best case scenario. Going out at the group stages would be a failure in my opinion despite this being a pretty evenly matched group. It could well be the last opportunity to play in a World Cup for stalwarts like Eto’o, Emana and Makoun and they will want to make an impression for the first time on the world’s biggest stage.

9. What are you most exited about at World Cup 2010?
I am always most excited about the African sides and that remains the case this time around. I particularly want to see who the break out players will be from the African sides. In addition to N’Koulou keep an eye out for Kwadwo Asamoah for Ghana who if he starts, which he should, will play his way to a bigger club than Udinese and also Gervinho for Côte d’Ivoire who has been in scintillating form for Lille.

10. Who do you think will win World Cup 2010?
I don’t believe a European side has ever won a World Cup outside of Europe, which if it holds true essentially means Brasil wins it. I think Europe’s failure outside the continent holds true especially as both Italy and France look much weaker than normal and it is probably four years too soon for Germany though I think they make it to the final anyway. Brasil over Germany in hopefully a better final than 2002.

- More from Shane at Cameroon World Cup Blog.

>> Supporting The Indomitable Lions in the World Cup? Put on your Cameroon jersey, get your Cameroon World Cup tickets, and get to the stadium! If you're watching from home, keep up to date with Cameroon World Cup Blog, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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