World Cup
Mon, June 28th 2010
Fifa have today refused to enter into a debate over the introduction of video technology after officiating errors contributed to World Cup defeats for England and Mexico. The governing body did not send any officials with responsibility for referees to its daily media briefing, and their spokesman Nicolas Maingot responded to all questions on the subject by saying he was not competent to discuss decisions by referees or football’s rules-making panel, which has previously rejected the use of video technology.
Two shocking decisions yesterday ruined what could have been 2 classic games. A poor England team had comeback from 2-nil to equalise before half-time, and Mexico were the better team against Argentina before Argentina scored a goal that was miles offside.
The use of video evidence would not spoil the game of football - it would stop travesties that make a mockery of the game.
England 1 - Germany 4
England were dumped out of the World Cup by Germany in game where the winner’s dominance was overshadowed by refereeing error.
Mon, June 21st 2010
Players and analysts push for 4-5-1 formation
Capello’s favoured 4-4-2 formation is out of favour with the media and apparently the England squad. Would a different formation be any better?
Sat, June 19th 2010
England 0 - Algeria 0
England were booed from the field after a dismal nil-nil draw with Algeria.
Fri, June 18th 2010
From the players on the pitch, to the coach idly leaning on the dugout, and even the substitutes tucked up under their woolly hats and blankets, no one seemed to want to be there for last night’s 2-0 defeat by Mexico.
A truly shocking sight to see from one of the world’s biggest teams…
Thu, June 17th 2010
A great article on the so-called expert opinions being given on UK TV by Tom English of the The Scotsman:
Before the Algeria versus Slovenia game in Group C on Sunday, Shearer seemed to be speaking for the entire BBC panel when he said, “Our knowledge of these two teams is limited.” Limited! What the former England striker was saying was that he hadn’t done his homework…Shearer was content to sit in front of the cameras and tell the viewers that, really, he didn’t know much.
You could possibly forgive the lack of research beforehand if their analysis of the game was good, but it isn’t.
Tue, June 15th 2010
Jamie Carragher last night claimed England’s old rivals Germany have been given an advantage by the controversial World Cup ball.
The adidas Jabulani ball has been used in the Bundesliga since February ...but the Premier League have a deal with Nike.
The ball’s maker adidas gave leagues the chance to use the ball last season.
From: The Mirror
Mon, June 14th 2010
Whether the new World Cup 2010 ball - the Jabulani - is “the most stable and most accurate” ball ever as adidas say, or “rubbish” as England’s David James says it seems bizarre to introduce a new style of football especially for the tournament. Surely we’d see higher quality play if the players had been used to playing and training with ball during the season.
World Cup organisers say they will not ban vuvuzelas from stadiums in South Africa despite numerous complaints.
From BBC
Quite right. The noise can be irritating until you learn to ignore it, but if people want to blow them, let them.
Despite a good performance against USA, Heskey’s weaknesses are impossible to hide.