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| Japan Drive The Anti-Vuvuzela Bus Posted: 17 Nov 2009 10:10 AM PST
Japan, the latest team to enjoy some South African soil (in a nil-nil draw), have taken it one step further: they’ve officially requested the South African FA ban the vuvuzela. The South African FA almost assuredly won’t ban something which could conceivably give their team an advantage, but this is the first battle in a war which may overshadow the build-up to South Africa 2010.
And while the South African FA likely won’t do anything, not without significant pushing from the political higher ups, there’s a very real chance South Africa will be sans vuvuzela. Remember it was banned at one point for the tournament before FIFA reconsidered, thinking it an integral part of the South African football experience. Which it surely is. The only problem is it’s creating a singularly South African football experience, not a World Cup experience. And that’s precisely the problem: it’s affecting the football. This has nothing to do with South Africa, Africa or trying to impose one’s football culture on the host. It simply has everything to do with knocking that little white ball around a green pitch. And while FIFA may be many things, they take the football very, very seriously. Some may say Japan is whining, but they won’t be the last and it won’t be long before the noise of the complaints drowns out anything emanating from the trumpets.        |
| Gigi Buffon and Iker Casillas Reach 100 Caps Posted: 17 Nov 2009 08:45 AM PST
Let me tell you what this is not: This is not a Buffon vs Casillas “who’s better?” post. Because that’s not a very productive debate. Both are excellent and it’s very hard to find fault with either. So let’s leave it at that. Instead here are YouTube highlights of the two men in action. For the purposes of celebration, not comparison. Iker Casillas for Real Madrid and Spain: One thing worth noting: Iker Casillas is only 28. I’m not saying he’ll necessarily get even better, because that would be madness. But for a goalkeeper to have 100 international caps at 28 is quite frankly scary. I’ve heard Mohamed Al-Deayea is looking over his shoulder, just in case. Even Gigi Buffon is only 31, and has a good few international years left in the tank. So here’s a WorldCupBlog salute to two awe-inspiring goalkeepers, who we look forward to seeing in action at World Cup 2010. [thanks to alessio of Juventus Offside for the tip.]   |
It would seem this vuvuzela thing is, at the very least, unpopular. As a direct result of its popularity, of course. Xabi Alonso left the Confederations Cup 
A double international milestone was reached this past weekend, when both Italy’s Gigi Buffon and Spain’s Iker Casillas made their 100th international appearances on the same day. Nice little co-incidence as they are arguably (or maybe inarguably) the two best keepers in the world today.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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