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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Martin Palermo Is Not Messi’s Biggest Fan” plus 1 more

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Martin Palermo Is Not Messi’s Biggest Fan

Posted: 17 Aug 2010 09:24 AM PDT

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Little Lionel received something of a mixed bag this summer over his performance. He was undeniably brilliant throughout much of it, overshadowed by no one heading into the quarterfinals, but then was taken out of the game against Germany, largely attributed to Jogi Loew’s tactical abilities and Diego Maradona’s lack of the very same.

The critics were there, and one has emerged from inside the Argentinean camp.

"Messi isn't Maradona," Palermo said Monday on America TV. "To me, Messi does not have Maradona's mentality. He's not prepared to carry the team.

"He (Messi) is not one to take the role of leader. He won't do it because he's not used to this position. He grew up in another way, he's lived differently. He's been with Barcelona since he was 12."

Messi is not God – not yet, anyway – but there’s something very important to remember here which Martin has seemingly forgot:

The boy is 23 years old. If one’s leadership skills at 23 are the be-all and end-all to his legacy – even someone of Lionel’s ilk – then we might as well pack it up and go home. The absurdity has finally won.

Is Nicolas Anelka’s International Career Over?

Posted: 17 Aug 2010 08:04 AM PDT

92952859MS028_France_v_Repu The French Football Federation has handed down punishments to the players involved in the infamous World Cup 2010 revolt. Big loser is Monsieur Nicolas Anelka, who started the whole thing by suggesting that coach Raymond Domenech do something anatomically impossible during halftime of the 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

Anelka received an 18 game ban from the FFF. That’s 18 international games. If you take a look at France’s schedule you’ll see that between now and October 2011, there are only 14 games planned. So Anelka will be suspended for the entirety of France’s Euro 2012 campaign and then some. Anelka is 31 years old right now, so he’ll almost certainly be 33 or older by the time his ban is served. In other words, we probably won’t be seeing Anelka doing his butterfly celebration in a France jersey ever again.

Captain Patrice Evra received a five match ban for leading the team’s refusal to train after Anelka was sent home, Franck Ribery received a three match ban and Jeremy Toulalan just the one match. Eric Abidal was summoned by the FFF but escaped punishment. My guess is he ratted everyone out in a Ray Liotta Goodfellas style plea bargain. (Not really).

The hilarious thing here is that in my opinion the FFF are to blame for everything that happened at World Cup 2010. If the FFF had replaced Domenech after his dismal failure at Euro 2008, then the disaster in South Africa almost certainly wouldn’t have happened. Can we somehow impose a 100 year ban on the FFF from making decisions about who coaches the French national team?

- More about Les Bleus at the France blog.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Introducing the all-new SportingNews.com

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Soundoff: Would You Eliminate World Cup Draws?” plus 1 more

Soundoff: Would You Eliminate World Cup Draws?

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 02:30 PM PDT

Sepp-Blatter-001 Though the World Cup is no stranger to structural changes – 18 World Cups, 18 World Cup rulebooks, it seems – the announcement that FIFA may eliminate draws for the World Cup is still a thumping headline for an organization which has balked at some much desired rule changes recently.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says consideration is being given to scrapping the draw at the World Cup by bringing in a penalty shootout after 90 minutes or using the golden goal in extra time.

Blatter said Saturday on Germany’s Focus weekly that the changes could make the tournament more interesting, claiming teams “above all do not want to lose — that makes for a boring game.”

The immediate thought of more penalty shootouts forces a cringe, since it’s so often a cruel roll of the dice to determine the victor, and golden goal isn’t far behind after witnessing a World Cup with so many suspect goal decisions on almost a daily basis. (Priorities, Sepp.)

But it would certainly make the game more exciting, less cautious and, to a point, reward the more adventurous teams, though you’d still get a number of teams hoping for the fluke goal and/or penalties and the balance of power would shift away from the Cinderella even further.

So what’s your say? Would this be a good or bad move for the future of football’s grand occasion?

Euro 2012 Qualifying Hath Commenced

Posted: 12 Aug 2010 11:45 AM PDT

It feels like just yesterday Spain were dominating possession, peppering balls towards the opposition’s box and keeping the Spanish public on edge right until the very end. Probably because it was just yesterday, but it also feels like the World Cup ended yesterday too.

Time to turn the page. International friendlies made their return, but so did something of far greater significance: European qualifying. It feels like 2012’s wannabes should be years away, but the kickoff date has come and gone, with a battle of powerhouses the Faroe Islands & Estonia firmly tucked into the Completed folder.

However, the entree portion of the meal will begin on September 3rd, with some intriguing matchups (the battle of youth in Belgium v Germany) and some intriguing public massacres (Liechtenstein v Spain, for example). So mark your calendars where appropriate.

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