World Cup 2010 Blog: Ribery: “I’m almost German”

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Ribery: “I’m almost German” Posted: 14 Nov 2010 04:16 PM PST As if Frank Ribery hadn’t endeared himself enough to Les Bleus fan, he has now declared himself ‘almost German.’  Politically, its a smart move – at least for his club, Bayern Munich. After a long negotiation process (which endured some controversy), Ribery signed a long-term contract last year that will keep him at the club until 2015.  And Ribery apparently has no regrets about his decision… Extending my contract with Bayern was the right decision. They are a great club on the international stage and at the same time they are a real family club Ribery has been out with an ankle injury since September 21st, but he made his return to the field this weekend in Bayern’s game versus Nuernberg.  Ribery didn’t waste time with a slow start, having an immediate impact on the game. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for Germany, despite Ribery’s declaration that he’s almost German- he won’t be lining up beside Schweinsteiger for Euro 2012 qualifying anytime soon.  Ribery completed his 3-match ban imposed by the French Football Federation (FFF) and was available for France’s coach, Laurent Blanc, to choose during France’s qualification game against Romania on October 9th.  Given his injuries, his absence from the national team would have been inevitable even without the Federation’s ban.  If his form does improve, it will leave Blanc with a difficult decision.  Competition for spots has grown this year as Blanc has introduced new, younger players to the squad.  In the past, the role of France’s playmaker has always been Ribery’s to lose.  Now, it’s a position he will have to win back.  But, can France risk putting their Euro 2012 in the hands of player as injury-prone as Ribery?  Ribery still has confidence in his body… I still have confidence in my body and I hope it was my last injury of the season But does Blanc?

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “Vuvuzela Earrings: The Perfect Christmas Gift” plus 1 more

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Vuvuzela Earrings: The Perfect Christmas Gift Posted: 11 Nov 2010 12:00 PM PST Looking for a Christmas gift for that special someone who loves football and isn’t picky about wearing plastic, possibly ridden with spittle, jewelery? Look no further than the vuvuzela earrings. These are the same earrings which won the design contest from a few days back, but this is the first glimpse we have of the actual product prototype. They’re…colorful. And yes, they’re actually going into mass(ish) production. I can’t imagine you’ll find these at Cartier anytime soon, though you can bet someone will try, but hey, it’s certainly a great improvement on their more popular use and they wouldn’t look at all out of place with a decent makarapa. (Also not to be found at fine, upstanding jewelers.)

Wang Dalei Suffers The Fate Of Football’s Future Posted: 11 Nov 2010 09:13 AM PST Today is a very, very sad day. Not 24 hours ago we had such promise on the footballing horizon in the form of Wang Dalei, a man who loved microblogging and we loved his candor. Since his soul pouring outrage he has been suspended indefinitely, been forced to issue an apology which sounds closer to castration and the entire blogging site has been shut down by Chinese authorities. Don’t they know they’re biting the hand that feeds? And all this when his “tirade” wasn’t even that bad. “I’m sorry for my ‘microblog things’. I want to say sorry for all the fans and reporters in China,” he said. “My childish and irresponsible words harmed the image of my team, the delegation and China’s sports.” “And I also pleaded to all the fans, especially the fans hurt by my words, to forgive me this time. Please understand me. We were not easy (in the tournament),” he added. And so continues the further sterilization of football interviews. The powers that be won’t be happy until everyone’s reading from preselected, preapproved answer cards which have shown not to upset women ages 18-45, men ages 32-59 and pygmy aeronautic engineers with cleft palettes. The whole sport’s going downhill.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Wang Dalei, Microblogging Hero

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Wang Dalei, Microblogging Hero Posted: 10 Nov 2010 07:22 AM PST If you’re looking for a hero who hasn’t been shackled by the tragic bout of boring political correctness from which most footballers currently suffer, Wang Dalei is your man. And really, though we joke, every little guilty pleasure in football – the fights, the bribes, player candor, etc. – seems to be emanating from China. There might be something to this growing domestic superpower afterall. Wang’s candor has erupted into a small scandal, and it all stems from their 3-0 loss to Japan in the Asian Games on the weekend, particularly the second goal, which can be seen here. I mean, it’s not a good punch, that much is clear, but it’s certainly not the worst we’ve seen, not least with a current rash of inexplicable howlers sweeping the globe. (Honestly, who released the airborne pathogen which prevents goalkeepers from checking their surroundings?) Getting a verbal lashing from China’s 1 billion football critics, Wang responded in kind: A national TV commentator compared Wang to “volleyballer”, saying his save was amateur. Wang reacted by filling his microblog on a popular Internet portal with angry outbursts, calling Chinese soccer fans “morons” and reporters “haters of Chinese soccer”. “I heard that there are 7,000 professional soccer reporters (in China) and I guess 4,000 of them must hate soccer,” Wang wrote. “Is that really necessary? “I’m not a ‘Spiderman’. I punched the ball out, but you guys still laugh at me. I was beaten on the pitch and verbally abused off. Don’t say you know how to play soccer. Because you know nothing about it. “Go home and first count how many pieces of leather a football has. ‘Hit a person when he is down’, that’s what you bastards are doing. That’s why Chinese soccer is a mess.” He then confirmed his rant with his best rapper impression: “I didn’t use dirty words. If you think I did, that’s your problem,” said Wang after Tuesday’s training for next match against Kyrgyzstan. Wang then used dirty words to push across the point that he didn’t use dirty words. “I don’t give a shit to what other people would say. That’s who I am,” he added. Clearly we all need more Wang Dalei in our lives. And it sounds like we may get it, considering he’s been on trial with Man City, Inter and PSV. The day shall come.

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