World Cup 2010 Blog: “WoZela: Return Of The Dreaded Vuvuzela” plus 1 more

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WoZela: Return Of The Dreaded Vuvuzela Posted: 09 Nov 2010 04:00 PM PST But with a catch: this time it’s about finding a use which doesn’t include making one’s ears bleed. A competition, WoZela!, was launched to find the best creative use of the vuvuzela, and the grand prize was announced today. The winning design probably had a helping hand in its method of construction, maybe even more so than its final product. It involves the cutting to pieces of a vuvuzela, which is music to the ears of many the world over. (Sorry.) This is the grand prize: hoop earrings made from a number of the cuts. Some are more useful for the grand scheme, like this idea for irrigating crops…. …or planting the crops in the first place… …while others are less useful, like this one for irrigating…yourself. (The aptly named ‘Boozela’.) I’m guessing the last one comes in a two-fer package with this splashback guard. No matter the scenario, even when trying to turn evil into good, pee jokes are never far behind. The future is bright.

What’s Domenech Up To These Days? Posted: 09 Nov 2010 08:33 AM PST You know, aside from suing the bejeezus out of the FFF for his €2.9m in what he thinks is owed salary. Turns out he's been in hanging in Thailand since his minor faux pas known as Sept. '06-June '10 (does he even get a smidge of credit for WC06 or is that all Zidane by now?) in another unapologetic cash grab; honing his skills, perfecting his art, becoming one with the poker table. Clearly an advertisement, but it's plausible he spent the last few months hiding out in the jungles of Southeastern Asia. But you wonder how on earth could a brand think that using Rayray as a spokesman would reflect positively upon itself at this point. Or does the betting industry not even care? The more villainous the better.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Danny Jordaan Cleanses His Soul

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Danny Jordaan Cleanses His Soul Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:30 PM PDT Now’s probably not the best time to announce this, not with Sepp basking in his powerful glory and FIFA in heaps of trouble as it is, but alas, Danny Jordaan must cleanse his soul of all its evils. Portuspain 2018 and Qatar 2022 have been accused of colluding for the upcoming World Cup decisions, supposedly agreeing to swap votes. While this is investigated by FIFA and a team of novice, possibly fictional, pre-teen sleuths, Jordaan, head of the South African World Cup, admitted they did as much to win this summer’s World Cup. He’s got to stay relevant somehow. The man who secured this year's World Cup for South Africa says he tried to get England to withdraw from the 2006 bidding by offering Nelson Mandela's support for a 2010 English bid. While South Africa did get Brazil to pull out of the 2006 bidding, England stayed in the contest with South Africa—and the tournament went to Germany instead. "In the end we wanted a straight fight, so we sent an emissary to the English bid, but the English believed they were going to win 2006," Jordaan told the International Sports Event Management conference in London. Jordaan recalled that England was told: "If you withdraw we will get Nelson Mandela to come to London, to praise you and say nice things about you, and then in 2010 you will be stronger because then you will have dealt with the difficulty of the debate of 1966-2006. But, of course, we didn't convince them." Jordaan later said such deals would be harder to attempt now because bidding nations have lucrative deals with commercial partners that would prevent a late withdrawal. England? Overconfident regarding a World Cup? Never. As collusion is “explicitly forbidden” by FIFA, Jordaan is lucky that the South African World Cup is done and dusted, and nothing short of Sepp inventing a time machine (wait for next month’s Forbes) can bring it back. Because it’s not like he’s involved with FIFA as part of FIFA’s official inspection team. Oh, he is. They just don’t care to be subtle anymore, do they?

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “Trezeguet to make a comeback for France?” plus 1 more

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Trezeguet to make a comeback for France? Posted: 31 Oct 2010 07:31 PM PDT Will Trezeguet’s performance for Hercules be enough to catch Blanc’s attention? If David Trezeguet has anything to say about it, then yes. On this Sunday’s edition of Telefoot, he declared himself “available” to Blanc should his former France teammate decide to call him up. In the past, Trezeguet has not always been “available” to France’s previous coach, Raymond Domenech.  Trezeguet hasn’t been a consistent call-up for France since 2006 – supposedly because Domenech never really forgave him for missing his penalty in the 2006 World Cup final against Italy.  Since his last call up in 2008 (when he was chosen as a replacement for an injured Benzema), he has been absent from the national team due to competition in the striker position as well as a self-imposed international retirement. When explaining his reasons for retiring in 2008, he said the mains reasons were… The awful Euro 2008 and the reappointment of the coach. I see football differently from how they see it in France. Euro 2008 was very negative, but what annoys me more is that Domenech is staying. But if David really wants to return to the France side, he will have to convince Blanc that the team needs his leadership and experience.  Blanc has been staunch in his commitment to developing the next generation of French talent, something which Trezeguet has noted… The coach’s speech was clear, he relies more on a new generation. If someday there is an opportunity to be reconvened [to the France national team], it could be something special for me. Trezeguet has scored 5 goals for Hercules this season since his summer transfer from Juventus. For Les Bleus, he has 71 caps and 34 goals.  But will that be enough for him to surpass Benzema (Real Madrid), Payet (Saint-Etienne) and Remy (Marseille)?

UEFA Issue Verdict for Serbia and Italy (…and Northern Ireland) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 09:44 AM PDT Earlier this month, the Euro 2012 qualifying match between Italy and Serbia was abandoned due to to rioting among supporters.  Serbian fans threw flares on to the pitch and at Italian supporters  (by climbing over a fence and cutting a hole in the netting intended to prevent objects being thrown).  This was after the Serbian goalkeeper pulled out of the match in fear of his life after being threatened by Serbian fans angry over his loan to Partizan, the rival of the club where he began his career (Red Star Belgrade).The supporters also clashed with police after the abandonment leading to 17 arrests.  In response, UEFA has delivered the following verdict… Verdict:  Serbia 3-0 forfeit to Italy 1 game played in a closed stadium (vs Northern Ireland) (Suspended sentence) Additional game to be played in a closed stadium for a 2-year probationary period No future allocation of tickets to the Serbian Football Federation for away games Financial fines totaling: €120,000 Verdict:  Italy (Suspended sentence) Game to be played in a closed stadium for a 2-year probationary period Financial fines totaling: €100,000 This leaves Italy in first place in the group, 3 points clear of Slovenia (2nd) and Serbia in 5th place. While Italy appear to be thrilled., the reaction in Serbia seems to be mixed.  The Serbian Federation is claiming the role of the victim, arguing that Italy used its influence to obtain a cushy victory for the abandoned match (3 points and +3 goal difference).  Unsurprisingly, they are planning on appealing…and they want a replay of the match. The Italian lobby did its job in order to get this result, but we are not satisfied with UEFA's verdict, especially the 3-0 defeat. - Tomislav Karadzic, Serbian Football Federation President The press though seem to be taking a more moderate position – acknowledging that it could have been oh-so-much worse.  Before the verdict was released to the public, there was speculation that Serbia could be banned from international competition for several years.  Politika, a newspaper in Serbia (I think…), agreed that the fines were harsh but also acknowledged that Serbia “got off well.” Had UEFA really applied what (its president Michel) Platini calls ‘zero tolerance,’ we could have already said an international farewell to this generation of players - Politika Perhaps the more surprising opinion floated in the Serbian press is the idea that a national ban would have been beneficial for the country’s long-term success. Had it forced us into isolation, we would have had plenty of time to clean the house, like England did [reference to England's 5-year ban following the 1995 Heysel Stadium disaster]. Only then, after punishing our own for our own mistake, could we return to Europe with a clean face and point at others for their faults. - Politika But this decision doesn’t just punish Serbian fans (who did and didn’t riot)…but also Northern Ireland fans planning on traveling to the game to support their team. I really feel for our fans who have made their travel arrangements and will now be seriously out of pocket. I just cannot see why we should suffer because of the behavior of another country's fans. It could also have an adverse effect on the team. It's completely wrong and the Irish FA must strive get this outcome overturned. It is not right that two international sides should be playing in front of a dozen people. - Nigel Worthington, Manager of Northern Ireland UEFA should expect a call from IFA chief Patrick Nelson who is planning on protesting the decision, arguing that a neutral site where Northern Ireland fans can travel to support their team is a better solution.

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