World Cup 2006 Blog

Bizarre Happenings In Wales v Germany Posted: 02 Apr 2009 10:00 AM PDT And no, this time it has nothing to do with a mascot. At least that we know of, anyway. Craig Bellamy was left out of the starting lineup for a knee issue. At least that’s what they’re saying publicly. To open up the sans-Bellamy proceedings, Michael Ballack scored a fantastic goal in front of what looked to be precisely no one at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. Clearly Bellamy’s ‘defeatism’ has spread. Wales had a real chance to climb back into a game they had no business being in when Serdar Tasci fell down (1:25), watched the ball into his his hand…swatted it away…in the box…all while the Welsh attacker tripped over his body. That’s at least one red card and two penalties. Or vice-versa. And yet no whistle sounded. Then Mario Gomez finally broke his German duck with a positively exquisite finish. From Welsh defender Ashley Williams. Just wasn’t a Welsh day, was it? (Oh, and Poldi slapped Ballack.)

The High Price of High Altitude: Bolivia 6 - Argentina 1 Posted: 02 Apr 2009 07:00 AM PDT No good deed goes unpunished. “Before becoming Argentina coach, Maradona had backed Bolivia’s campaign against a FIFA ban on matches at high altitude, taking part in a charity match in La Paz alongside President Evo Morales last year. The ban was later overturned.” After captaining Argentina’s most embarrassing defeat in some time, do you think Maradona might change his mind? Maybe? And if the sword was bad, the swordsman was worse: Striker Joaquin Botero, who plays for Mexican second division team Correcaminos (Roadrunners), scored a hat-trick. A player from the Mexican second division beating the likes of Lionel Messi, Kun Aguero, Esteban Cambiasso and Angel Di Maria - all seven minutes of him. Who’d have thunk it? A Cinderella story if ever there was one, surely, despite Botero’s long history of goal scoring above sea level. Much of this will be blamed on the 3600m Argentina had to climb - not literally, then it would’ve been 12-1 or so - and that’s certainly a logical and valid reason. But while altitude does make a difference - you’ll hear no argument there - to turn a club which many consider, coach aside, to be a contender in South Africa to become the heavybag for a team which sits second bottom in qualifying is something else entirely. Something beyond environmental factors. Bolivia simply had their day. Now how will Argentina be compensated for their troubles? With a trip to the thin airs of Quito in the next qualifying round. Out of the frying pan and into the fire? Certainly could be.

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Sporting News Today: Impact of Jay Cutler trade is far-reaching

MAMUDU, Your April 03, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue Debate: Which team, Broncos or Bears, got the better deal? Who is the most important player in the Final Four? MLB preseason predictions, preview Offseason outlook: Cowboys still have work to do Frustrated Pistons struggle to stay in race If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&40873&126979&13344&0000&1236449971&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207

World Cup 2006 Blog

Wolfgang Stark Can Cross Italy Off His List of Holiday Destinations… Posted: 02 Apr 2009 04:10 AM PDT Because only the German referee himself knows why he gave Gianpaolo Pazzini this red card in the 4th minute of Italy’s World Cup qualifier vs Ireland yesterday. I’ve watched the above video (spotted on - you guessed it - 101GG) a few times and all I see is a player jumping up for a header. But Stark imagined/saw something more sinister. Yeah, Pazzini uses his arms for leverage. And he does accidentally catch John O’Shea. But emphasis is on the accidentally. There’s clearly no intent as Pazzini is looking at the ball the whole time. Here’s how Italy WCB’s Julian saw it: Pazzini's sending off? Harsh at the very least. Maybe a yellow, and that would've been worse than fair. The game finished 1-1. Not a horrible result for either team, but Italy can definitely feel that playing 86 minutes with ten men may have denied them all three points. A quick glance at Wolfgang Stark’s Wikipedia entry reveals a man with a taste for flashing plastic at players. The two red/seven yellow card combo he showed to Chile in the 2007 U-20 World Cup semi-final resulted in him needing a police escort to get off the field safely. Always the sign of a good referee. UEFA World Cup qualifying Group 8 now looks like this: Bad news for Italy is that if and when they get to South Africa, they could be meeting Stark again. His name is on the 38 man shortlist of referees for World Cup 2010 duty.

In Defence of International Week Posted: 01 Apr 2009 06:40 AM PDT I’ve heard a few complaints about the international break this week. Chris at Studs Up called it “a necessary evil”, while Travis at Arsenal Offside has branded it “the interlull.” But me? I love it. I genuinely look forward to international week. Maybe not when it’s just friendlies, but when it’s World Cup qualifiers from all around the world… what’s not to like? First and foremost, I love the feeling that the whole world is playing football. While domestic football leagues are on varying calendars, when World Cup qualifying happens, it happens all around the world. This past weekend saw World Cup qualifying games in Africa, Asia, Europe, North/Central/South America, the Caribbean and Oceania. So basically everywhere. International break underlines exactly why football is the world’s game. And with the exception of the tragic events in Abidjan, this international week has thrown up some great stories so far. We’ve already had Togo’s surprise win over Cameroon, Diego Maradona winning his first competitive game 4-0, Artur Boruc’s howler, Craig Bellamy’s unmissable post-match interview and so on. And there’s still a whole round of games to come today. More importantly, if you’re among the many many football fans who feel that club football is being slowly suffocated by money, then international games should be a welcome break. They play national anthems before these games, not the Champions League anthem. And for the most part, players don’t represent their country for any financial gain. You think David Beckham needs to keep playing for England to put food on the table? Course not, the man’s got mega-millions. And Posh Spice doesn’t eat anyway. Even better, though there are a few mismatches (eg Germany 4-0 Lechtenstein this weekend was Lechtenstein’s best ever result against Germany) you’re more likely to see an upset at international level, more likely to see Northern Ireland beating Spain or Scotland taking down France (twice!) because the techincally inferior players are playing for pride. I know it’s frustrating to have to break for a week if your club team is on a good run and I know most people feel a closer affiliation to club than country. But it’s worth remembering that - though far from perfect - international football is still the pinnacle of the beautiful game.

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Sporting News Today: Michigan State next to test 'home-court' advantage theory

MAMUDU, Your April 02, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue Final Four coaches debate pros and cons of Spartans playing in Detroit 49 college basketball experts pick their national champion Trade him or keep him? Former Broncos weigh in on Jay Cutler Q&A with Les Miles: LSU coach talks about hot recruit and new defense Report: USC's Floyd to take Arizona job If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&39928&126882&13316&0000&1236449449&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207

World Cup 2006 Blog

Country of Birth v Country of Employment Posted: 31 Mar 2009 02:18 PM PDT It’s really not uncommon to find international teams being coached by a foreigner. In fact, it’s getting to the point where most countries will go the way of club football eventually and prefer a national, but have it make little difference in the eventual selection. And this brings up an interesting conundrum: what happens when facing your own country? Marco Tardelli, known the world over for his tear-soaked celebration in World Cup 1982 (above), will deal with this tomorrow when the Italian national anthem is played at the San Nicola. As well as being an Italian legend, Marco is also a part of Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland staff. While he says he’ll respect his employers, Tardelli will also respect his country and whisper Fratelli d’Italia. It’s a strange issue, isn’t it? On the one hand you want to respect your country above all else worldly, as so many have been taught since birth - and particularly for a man who has meant as much to his country’s sporting achievements as Tardelli. But on the other hand, when you’re employed at the level of national team coach or assistant, one would expect your full commitment to the cause and singing the anthem of your opponent would seem to usher in a cloud of suspicion. We could say that it’s fairly easy to separate the two, but it’s not always that simple - neither for the employer nor the employee. If one must sing the anthem, must they always support their country in all cases? Yes, professionalism is nice but professionalism still refers to employment, and many things for many people are still placed higher on the shelf of values. Does this make it a case-by-case basis? Where do one’s values stand? Is this just sport or does the playing of the anthem stand for something more? Should everyone just duck and cover during the anthem and hope for the best? I know one thing - just thinking about this has sent my mind spinning into a whirlwind of confusion. I can only begin to understand how Marco feels.

Midweek Predictions: Crouchy to Pull Out the Rope? Posted: 31 Mar 2009 10:49 AM PDT World Cup qualification games happening everywhere except Africa tomorrow, so I’ve chosen three games and predicted the scores. Feel free to laugh at my feeble powers of prediction, but only if you’re brave enough to leave your own in the comments. England vs Ukraine, April 1st, Wembley, 20:00 Think it’s fair to say England have injury problems. Fabio Capello had to sub the sub of a sub vs Slovakia on Saturday as Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch all got injured. Darren Bent was called up as a reinforcement only for him to need replacing with Gabby Agbonlahor. Crouchy is now fit enough to start though. Ukraine lost in-form Artem Kravet to a nasty sounding muscle tear in his hip, but the main goal threat will likely be the pony-tailed poacher Andriy Voronin. He’s on loan at Hertha and scoring Bundesliga goals for fun, but will want to remind Liverpool why they signed him in the first place. Meanwhile I’m sure Andriy Shevchenko would love to remind all of England that he is not as useless as those Chelsea performances led everyone to believe. Prediction: Have to admit I’m a little biased, but I’m predicting a respectable 1-0 win for England. Odds: England 2-5, Draw 10-3, Ukraine 15-2 1-0 England win: 9-2 Peter Crouch to score first: 5-1 Peter Crouch hat-trick: 33-1 Andriy Shevchenko to score first: 9-1 The sub of an England sub to be subbed (like on Saturday): 200-1 More odds at PaddyPower Bonus Prediction: If Peter Crouch does score a hat-trick, he’ll “pull out the rope”. If Shevchenko scores, Wembley will go very very quiet. Also, don’t rule out England unveiling another new home shirt, since it was so much fun the last time. USA vs Trindidad & Tobago, April 1st, Nashville, 18:57 (apparently) Impressive comeback from the USA in El Salvador over the weekend, where Bob Bradley’s men overcame a two goal deficit and some unconvincing El Salvadorian injuries to get out of there with a 2-2 draw and a point. But it wasn’t the best of performances against a team they really should have beaten. Meanwhile Trinidad & Tobago are off to a slow start with two draws against El Salvador and Honduras. So they need a big performance if they want to get back to the World Cup. Prediction: Things don’t seem to be going all that well with T&T, so I’m backing the USA to get a convincing 3-1 win. Odds: USA 1-4, Draw, T&T 9-1 3-1 USA win: 10-1 More odds at PaddyPower Bonus Prediction: Landon Donavon’s hairline to visibly recede during the 90 minutes. Brazil vs Peru, April 1st, Porto Alegre, 22:10 It’s still not quite happening for Brazil. Despite the many many talents at Dunga’s disposal, they were lucky to get a 0-0 draw in Ecudaor over the weekend (apparently Ecudaor outshout the Seleção 22-8). But this game may offer some relief. Peru are bottom of CONMEBOL qualifying, and word is that Brazil have some guy named Kaka available again after injury… Prediction: Brazil to win 2-0. Odds: Brazil 1-7, Draw 6-1, Peru 15-1 3-0 to Brazil: 5-1 Kaka to score first goal: 9-2 More odds at Paddy Power Time to check in on last week’s predictions. Here’s what I went with: Argentina 3-0 Venezuela Lithuania 1-1 France Mexico 1-0 Costa Rica And here’s what happened: Argentina 4-0 Venezuela Lithuania 0-1 France Mexico 2-0 Costa Rica So I get four points. One each for correctly predicting Argentina and Mexico victories, one for predicting Venezuela nil, one for predicting Costa Rica nil. Medals and congrats go to: Gold Ian: 6 pts Silver John, Weston: 5 points Bronze Toby, Ranjeet, Tom and Jem: 4 points This week there’s a bonus point on offer for naming a goalscorer. You pick a player from each game, and if he scores you get a bonus point. From tomorrow’s three games I’m picking Crouch, Altidore and Kaka. Here are the games again, let’s have your predictions. England - Ukraine USA - T&T Brazil - Peru

North Korea and South Korea Shake Hands for Soccer Posted: 31 Mar 2009 07:47 AM PDT Remember what happened last time North Korea met South Korea in World Cup qualifying? It was a diplomatic disaster. North Korea refused to let their southern brothers display the South Korean flag or sing the South Korean anthem at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, and do FIFA stepped in and the game was moved all the way to Shanghai, China. This time around things are going a little better. South Korea are hosting in Seoul tomorrow (April 1st) and seems everyone will be able to sing whatever songs they want. The two head coaches Huh Jung-moo (left) Kim Jong-hun (right) have been pictured shaking hands to prove that everything’s OK. Don’t they look comfortable? Normally, the fact that the North Korean team was in South Korea at all would be massive news, but seems the football has been overshadowed by North Korea’s planned rocket launch, which has Northern Asia - and everyone else in the world - a little worried. It would take some football match to knock that rocket launch out of the headlines (seriously, would have to finish 12-11 with a last minute winner scored by a goalkeeper or something) but here’s hoping the beautiful game can at least relieve a bit of tension - both local and global. Footballing wise, it’s still an important game. Here are the Asian World Cup Qualifying standings: North Korea are top, two points ahead of South Korea, who have a game in hand. So a South Korea win would see them jump to the top, and make them favourites to qualify. The top two from each group go to the World Cup anyway though, so there’s a genuine chance that 2010 could be the first World Cup to feature both Koreas. For more on this game, read South Korea World Cup Blog

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