World Cup 2010 Blog: Maradona to Sue Head of Argentina Football

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Maradona to Sue Head of Argentina Football Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:38 AM PST Oh, Diego. It’s been weeks, maybe even a month, since your last outburst. We were starting to think you forgot about us, the football writers and bloggers who thrive on controversy and quotes. Welcome back, sir. Diego Maradona is suing Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondola for defamation of character. Because no one gets to defame Diego Maradona’s character but Diego Maradona. The event that seems to have caused all the fuss was a quote from Grondola last week, which Maradona says implied that he was back using drugs and alcohol. The quote: “There are reasons for what happens with Maradona, and everybody knows them.” Diego claims to be clean for six years, and if that’s true, then two things follow from that fact. One – he is as unstable off of drugs as he ever was on (see for example Argentina squad selections), and two – he has reason to be upset. For someone with as long and sordid a relationship with chemicals as Diego has, six years sober is a major accomplishment, and I can certainly understand him being defensive about it. But I’m not sure it should go so far as a legal battle. For one thing, Grondola could be talking about more than just drugs. It’s a very vague statement, and proving that it was meant as a derogatory reference to drugs is going to be a tough sell for a judge. On the other hand, Maradona might just be able to sign an Albiceleste jersey for the judge and get some sympathy – it’s hard not to side with a national legend. On the other side of things, Diego’s time with Argentina has certainly tarnished his legend a bit. If he would have led the team to victory in South Africa, or even to a semifinal, he would have gained a new level of godhood. But he very much didn’t. His Argentina side were comprehensively taken apart by Germany in the quarterfinals, and that was the end of a reign that no one argues to have been all that successful. Considering his job performance, maybe he’d be best to just leave this one be, and call it a draw.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Some Like It Hot, Including Arsene Wenger

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Some Like It Hot, Including Arsene Wenger Posted: 23 Dec 2010 09:40 AM PST Whenever most coaches of a giant club opens their mouth, it’s often with the bent and benefit of their team in mind. It’s just good coaching, and good coaching is a numeric job of 24/7/365. Arsene Wenger’s no exception. In fact he may be in the top five with Hall of Famers Sir Alex Ferguson – due a lifetime achievement award – and Jose Mourinho, who may replace Fergie in a number of roles one day. Of course suspicious though it may be, it’s still a decent enough break from the mundane winter transfer news and the rumors of Liverpool fans congregating in vigil outside Rafa’s house. His statement is an important subject, if for no other reason than the recent rumblings that the World Cup needn’t be played in Month X, or that major leagues must hold true to Schedule X. “That [the heat in Qatar] is a big problem,” said Wenger. “They have spoken about maybe having the World Cup in the winter. Why not? I'm not against that at all. “But I think overall, in the whole world, football should be played between February and November, and then you could organise it for winter.” What exactly does it mean? Just the one season, or the whole system in general? The subject is Qatar, but he’d arguably like nothing more than to field his slick system through June and July, fitting in with the managerial gospel that is cui bono. Russia’s recently ignored their slight winter chill – well, not entirely, as there will be a significant break – and scheduled their league for the more common European fall-to-spring model, and one thing we’ve learned with the recent World Cup is that as soon as something is spouted in the press, someone else chirps back with ‘Hey, that’s not a terrible idea…’ Well, this is, since it would eliminate the concept of midseason form, but with nothing set in stone anymore, someone is writing this down.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Players Want A Winter World Cup In 2022

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Players Want A Winter World Cup In 2022 Posted: 22 Dec 2010 07:41 AM PST Of absolutely no surprise to anyone is the declaration by FIFPro that the players union, and thus the players, want a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, so as to do away with that pesky ‘Was that a dive or did he just have a heat stroke in the box?’ issue due to arise in Qatar’s July. Of course they’re speaking for players who will have no part to play in 2022 since they’ll have graciously retired by then. Oh, and David Beckham. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Romelu Lukaku, for example, will be smack dab in the middle of his prime – and he already starts for Belgium. Tijs Tummers, secretary of FIFPro’s technical committee, said: “We will have to take a careful look at the international match calendar, but FIFPro does not foresee any insurmountable problems in this regard. “Space will have to be made for the tournament, even though many countries already have a winter break. “In Europe, competitive matches will have to be played in August and the second half of May and the first half of June. If you look at what happened last weekend with weather problems in Europe because of heavy snowfall, you could see this as an advantage rather than as a problem. “And it might perhaps turn out that the players will be fitter at the start of a winter World Cup than was the case last summer at the World Cup in South Africa.” This space is less announcement than charting the transition of ‘possibility’ to ‘inevitability’. Everyone, most importantly those with power, seems to want this winter World Cup. And what powerful decision-makers want, powerful decision-makers get. See: Everything FIFA does.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Gimme Hope Joachim: The Remix.

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Gimme Hope Joachim: The Remix. Posted: 21 Dec 2010 11:10 AM PST Fairly sure this was completely missed during the World Cup, but if not, it’s certainly no crime to post again. Actually, it may be illegal in several countries not to post it again. You’ll probably remember the a-capella Gimme Hope Joachim song from pre-World Cup, because it was the best thing without umlauts to arrive from Germany this year. Well, turns out they made a remix at some point during the World Cup to aptly reflect what had transpired. And it’s predictably the best thing since sliced bread mit Nutella. Lyrics after the jump. German: Gimme Hope Joachim gimme hope, joachim hope for Südafrika. Die Afrikaner haben Vuvuzelas, die Engländer die haben Humor, die Australier haben ne starke Abwehr, aber wier haben das schönste Tor Die Spanier Haben die tollsten schiris der Ronaldo hat ne Traum Figur David Backam der hat nen Fuß aus Stahl doch Jogi Löw hat die schönste Frisur OOOhh Gimme hope Joachim Gimme hope joachim hope joachim for the Weltpokal gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim hope for Südafrika Die Koreaner zeigen Emotionen Die Mexikaner haben nen harten Schuss Die Italiener haben nen guten mann im Tor aber wir haben den größten Bus Die Franzosen halten fest zusamen und die Engländer haben Sex Tabu Die Argentinier quälen sich im Jungelcamp nur der Jogi schmiert Nutellabrot OOOhh gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim for the weltpokal gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim hope for Südafrika Die Serben sind die Überflieger und wie geschmiert läufts für die USA die Holländer sind immer noch dabei Aber trotzdem holt uns Jogi den Pokal Ohh gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim hope for the Weltpokal Gimme hope Joachim gimme hope joachim hope for Südafrika Ohh English via Google Translate: Gimme Hope Joachim gimme hope, joachim hope for South Africa. The Africans have vuvuzelas, The English have humor The Australians have ne strong defense, But wier have the best goal The Spaniards have really great refs Ronaldo has the perfect body ne David Backam has NEN foot steel But Jogi Löw has the most beautiful hairstyle OOOhh Gimme Hope Joachim Gimme hope joachim hope joachim for the World Cup gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim hope for South Africa The Koreans show emotions The Mexicans have a HART shot The Italians have NEN good man in goal but we have the largest bus The French hold on together, and the English have sex taboo The Argentine torture in Jungelcamp only Jogi bread smeared Nutella OOOhh gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim for the world cup gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim hope for South Africa The Serbs are the flyer and smoothly running for the U.S. the Dutch are still at it, but still gets us Jogi ‘Cup Ohh gimme hope joachim gimme hope joachim hope for the World Cup Gimme Hope Joachim gimme hope joachim hope for South Africa Ohh

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