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World Cup 2010 Blog: Ex-World Cup Ref Moreno Pleads Guilty to Heroin Smuggling

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Ex-World Cup Ref Moreno Pleads Guilty to Heroin Smuggling Posted: 15 Jan 2011 10:03 AM PST Byron Moreno can add up to 63 months of time in federal prison to his already long-ish list of controversies in his career.  Moreno, who was arrested at JFK in New York City in September, has admitted to smuggling heroin into the country from his flight home from Ecuador.  While the charge means he can face up to 63 months in prison, a sentencing date has yet to be set.  Until then, he will be watching games from  prison while being held without bail. And while Italy fans may joke that this explains his referring decisions, it is a pretty serious situation.  Something which Gianluigi Buffon pointed out when questioned about the subject… I think Moreno already had the [heroin] in 2002, but not in his underwear, in his body.  Joking aside, when sports people get involved in drug cases it means they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. It also means they’ve lost the real meaning of the sport, which is also to save kids from the street and various dangers, like drugs.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “Asian Cup Defending Proving Difficult, Awesome” plus 1 more

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Asian Cup Defending Proving Difficult, Awesome Posted: 13 Jan 2011 10:37 AM PST For the second time in three days, a path was created from the left-hand flank, or close to it, and the ball intended for the head of an attacker landed in the net without touching another soul. This little cross – even if Baha’a Abdulrahman would swear on his mother it was a shot – was the decisive goal which sent Saudi Arabia to their ultimate Asian Cup demise. Meanwhile, in the ultimate no-no for keepers, Eiji Kawashima cleared it right to a Syrian attacker, earning himself a nice red card and warm shower in the process, despite the consequences to the offside rule. As if you needed anything past reason number one to watch the Asian Cup. The only thing that beats great football is good football married to defensive imperfection.

FIFA World Rankings – January 2011 Posted: 13 Jan 2011 07:30 AM PST There are some months FIFA just has to punt their rankings. The cynics and wiseasses among us (aye) might say all of them, but it is at the very least the month of January, with December largely a barren thirty-one days. Evidence? The only two moves worth mentioning were Burundi and Lebanon, which dropped to 140th and 168th in the world, respectively. And then came a stumble into the abyss that is known as ‘Page 5′ on FIFA’s official rankings. ‘Page 5′ reads like more like a potential vacation listing than a list of nations with football relevance, which is precisely why they’re on Page 5. And with a tip of the cap to the master of maps like such, The Best Eleven, these are the locations of the world’s most rubbish national football teams. View FIFA’s Bottom Ranked Teams in a larger map (Quite like the subtle dig at the US too.) Oh, and here are the rest of ‘em:

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Asian Cup Offers Early Candidate For Goal Of 2011

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Asian Cup Offers Early Candidate For Goal Of 2011 Posted: 12 Jan 2011 09:14 AM PST Qatar was in a precarious position heading into their match with China. With Uzbekistan already qualified, they needed a win, or else a draw would risk a ‘resting’ Uzbekistan side to fall to China with a draw, or simply leave the tournament as hosts in the groups. Yusef Ahmed took care of matters by scoring a goal which was so good the Qatari federation would’ve requested it count for two at halftime had he not rendered the point moot by scoring a second just moments before the half. (And at this moment, halftime 2-0 is where we stand.) See both of Ahmed’s goals and all of the goals from the tournament on our Asian Cup goals page.

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