Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious

Thursday, June 14, 2012

World Cup 2010 Blog: “UEFA Has Too Much Faith In Cristiano Ronaldo” plus 2 more

Link to International Football News - World Cup Blog

UEFA Has Too Much Faith In Cristiano Ronaldo
The Reddened Cheeks Of Sweden
UEFA: Russia’s In Trouble

UEFA Has Too Much Faith In Cristiano Ronaldo

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 12:09 PM PDT

yeKxF

Well, they should have faith – he may be a twat, but he’s a @#$%ing brilliant one.

After a shoulda-woulda-coulda non-goal in the 50th, UEFA’s Twitter stream fired up this moment in screenshot history. And that was, of course, before this gem from Ronaldo.

(Wouldn’t matter, as Silvestre Varela would break Danish hearts.)

The Reddened Cheeks Of Sweden

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

The gents of Sweden played a game of ‘pig’ at the end of training. Johan Wiland lost, and this was his punishment. Now, ‘anti-bullying groups’ are casting a scornful gaze in the direction of the Swedes, as if they need more things to worry about in the wake of Andriy Shevchenko’s Rapture.

There was outrage amid anti-bullying campaigners with Lars Arrhenius of the organisation Friends saying: ‘They are poor role models. They are heroes to thousands of boys and girls around Sweden and I do not think they should signal that this is OK.”

In fairness, this probably isn’t the type of thing which should be maneuvering to playgrounds. Then again, neither is anything Zlatan does. Ever.

UEFA: Russia’s In Trouble

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 09:05 AM PDT

l4wli

No. No it isn’t. (That banner was seen at yesterday’s Poland-Russia match. Turns out a great many of the fans in attendance struggle with geography.)

Russia’s on the UEFA naughty list, incurring a fine of $150,000 and a suspended sentence for Euro 2016 qualifying after some fans attacked Polish stewards on the weekend.

UEFA says Russia could be deducted six points in its Euro 2016 qualifying group for a repeat offense. The probationary period expires at the end of Euro 2016 qualifying.

Russian fans were filmed fighting with stadium staff in Wroclaw after a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic last Friday. Police said violence flared when stewards tried to detain a man they believed threw a firecracker.

Russia’s fine was also imposed for the thrown firework and because fans displayed nationalist flags.

That would be a crucial loss, those six points, as it would likely rule them out of Euro 2016 barring an astonishing showing otherwise, a key tournament for all that nonsense about experience before hosting the World Cup in 2018.

Where, yes, that banner will finally work. But not until then.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

World Cup 2010 Blog: Photo: Funtik the Pig

Photo: Funtik the Pig

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 07:38 AM PDT

511628015

511627924

It’s a sexy beast, ain’t it?

This makes one thing the swine dating pool looks something like a Match.com reject bin. Standards can’t be particularly high.

(And s/he chose Poland in today’s more interesting fixture – though do note both dishes are gone. And isn’t one supposed to save the best for last? Does this hold true for things which are to become bacon?)

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Belgian Fans Do Human Trafficking” plus 3 more

Belgian Fans Do Human Trafficking
Erik Hamren’s Seminar On Rallying The Troops
If Franck & Joleon Had A Baby…
Photo: God Save The Queen

Belgian Fans Do Human Trafficking

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:02 AM PDT

FBL-EURO2012-FRA-BEL-FRIENDLY Nothing the international watchdogs would shame, really, though they make no mention of what they won’t do in the name of UNICEF at the end of the procedure…

A bunch (20k or so) of Belgians offered up their services to fandom on ebay to any country willing to take them on for the remainder of the tournament. The disappointment of the tournament thus far, the Dutch (largest upset relative to expectations), decided quantity might just equate to quality. (Or one Dutchman, anyway.) Plus the commute is shorter and they can commiserate over losing World Cup 2018.

Ah, the meant to be…

The fans set up a Facebook group – ‘Belgian soccer fans for sale for Euro 2012′ which has grown to 20,000 members, explaining they needed someone to shout for and would donate any proceedings from a buyer to UNICEF.

“Second hand but mint condition. Not been used since FIFA World Cup 2002.

“Once again we Belgians have no team to root for at the Euro 2012 soccer championship. Since tournaments are much more fun when you have a favourite team, we decided to put our fandom for sale at ebay,” the group said, adding they would offer their allegiance to the highest bidder

“All profits will be sent directly to Unicef.”

Of course this now begs the question: how much is a Belgian football fan worth?

An anonymous Dutch buyer stepped in and will donate the 3,000 euros to Nordschool, a UNICEF project providing education to children living in countries hit by conflict, one of the fans told Belgian daily Vers l’Avenir.

Not very much, it seems.

Erik Hamren’s Seminar On Rallying The Troops

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 05:47 AM PDT

Par7154989

As a coach, there are various methods to extract the desired psychology from one’s players. Co Adriaanse breaks your spirit. Sir Alex kicks on the hairdryer. Jose Mourinho joins them in the showers.

Erik Hamren of Sweden goes the name-calling route:

“We’re not reaching the level we want to and that’s my responsibility as a coach,” he said. “We didn’t show the courage we were supposed to. Only five or six players did. We all need all the players doing that. We were cowards in the first half and should have done more. I’m not happy with the team, I was expecting more. The players do want it very much, but we should have scored with the three last chances we had.

This could be a situation lost in translation. One can only hope not, and a similar performance against England on Friday results in Erik calling them soft babies with appropriate hand gestures and tossing of a prop binky.