Mostly Balls

The referee's a ....

2010-07-11T09:41:00.003-07:00

So it's World Cup Final day; the octopus has spoken (figuratively) and Spain are therefore destined to become World Champions for the first time...so now we don't have to worry about the outcome of the match, let's focus on the England team appearing today...for the first time since 1974, an English team of referees and linesmen will officiate the world's biggest sporting event. Here's the interview they had a few days ago with FIFA.com

Howard Webb will become the first Englishman to step out at a FIFA World Cup™ Final since 1974 when he leads the Netherlands and Spain out in Soccer City. He sat down with his assistant referees, Mike Mullarkey and Darren Cann, and FIFA.com to discuss the challenge ahead and reflect on the importance of teamwork.

FIFA.com: How does it feel to follow in the footsteps of Jack Taylor, the last English referee of a FIFA World Cup Final 36 years ago?

Howard Webb: It is a really special honour. Jack is someone we look up to, he is a refereeing icon and has been a big supporter over the years so to be able to follow him is wonderful. I've just spoken to him on the phone, he has come over for the game so hopefully we'll have a chance to meet. Only 19 men have refereed this game so we feel very privileged to join this exclusive band.

Did you have any inkling you would get the Final before the appointment was made?

Our games went really smoothly, Darren and Mike did unbelievable work for me, and because of the way those games went we thought, 'we've got the chance of a latter stage game'. Other things need to fall into place, like your national team not progressing. We didn't want them to get knocked out but when they did, we realised it increased our chance. To hear our names actually mentioned at the meeting on Thursday was an unbelievable moment for us – we held hands tightly under the table. But the hard work is still to come.

The focus is on you, Howard, but it's clear you're very much a team.

One thing this tournament has demonstrated quite clearly is the importance of teamwork. The three officials taking charge of every game know that one mistake can cost the entire team and mean the end of your ambitions and we rely on each other. The experience we've been through, at the European Championship two years ago [where they went home early] and in domestic and Champions League football, and the World Cup experience here has made us into a really tight unit.

How do you prepare for refereeing a game that several billion people will be watching?

It is a huge game and the pinnacle of our careers but we need to prepare as normally as possible. The game will still last 90 minutes or maybe two hours, we'll still have 22 players and one ball. We will eat at the same time as normal, have some good rest like before a Champions League game, but what we will do is visit the stadium. We have been to Soccer City but only as spectators so we would like to walk the field of play the day before and visualise some situations that might happen. These guys will have a look on their touchline, on the surface and visualise themselves running the line. I'll walk the diagonal that I'll mainly patrol. We did this before the Champions League final and it just makes you comfortable in your surroundings.

What kind of team talk do you have before a game?

Darren Cann: Howard will give us our normal pre-match instructions usually on the morning of the game so we are fully focused. We are aware of the size of the game but have to almost treat it as though it's not the World Cup Final. If you thought about the many thousands of people at the game and billions watching on television you wouldn't be able to perform effectively.

Mike Mullarkey: We'll talk before the game about being the best we can be and having no regrets when we come off. With the radios, we give each other constant encouragement and support, saying things like 'great flag signal'. Although we are not involved in the immediate play all of the time, we are still involved in the game.

It's been an amazing 14 months – FA Cup final in May 2009, UEFA Champions League final in May and now the FIFA World Cup Final. How do you explain what you have achieved as group?

Refereeing is ups and downs and you need to keep your self-belief when things have not gone so well. It is also testament to our teamwork. You need good fortune as well. There are some really talented guys who've not been lucky here. The Champions League this year was the first chance we've had for some years because of the progress of English teams in the past. The fact the opportunity came around was good fortune but you have to take your opportunities when they come.

Will the experience of the Champions League final help you?

In terms of mental preparation, yes. The build-up was similar in terms of media attention and the messages you get from home. We will draw strength from having done that game so close to this one – it takes away some of the unknown factors. The fact we were able to perform under that sort of scrutiny, and that people were talking afterwards about the teams and not us, tells us we can do it again.

Are your families here?

My father came over for the first three weeks of the tournament, but actually went home last Tuesday. Like Mike's father, he had to fly back out on Thursday night.

Darren Cann: My father obviously had more confidence. He took a chance we might get to the final and he stayed. All three fathers will be sitting next to each other.

Finally, Howard, your wife told an interviewer that you can't control your kids, is this true?

She phoned me yesterday and said she was asked who wears the trousers at home – to be fair she is more of a disciplinarian at home, probably because I am away so much and when I go home I treat the kids and am very soft with them. She is the one who has to take control.

Source: Fifa

Sick as a parrot...literally!

2010-07-10T11:18:00.002-07:00

So the third/fourth place play-off is on today, and did you know that the last 7 of these games have averaged more than 4 goals a game!? Maybe it is worth watching? And besides my pet octopus told me this morning that we're going to get a 5-4 thriller.

Now I don't know Miroslav Klose, but I bet he's distraught to miss out today. The 32-year-old international football German goal fiend needs only one goal to draw level with Ronaldo on 15 World Cup goals and become the joint leading all time scorer in World Cup final, and this was probably his last chance. Right now, he’s level on 14 with Gerd Muller, one ahead of Just Fontaine and two ahead of some dude called Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele. But he has a bad back and a case of the flu, so he starts on the bench...let's see if he gets the chance...Germany get a penalty, will they sub him on??

Uruguay make two changes to the side beaten by the Netherlands as captain Diego Lugano recovers from a knee injury to replace Mauricio Victorino and, having served his suspensio, Luis Suarez comes in for Walter Gargano. Diego Forlan will be trying to score a few to have a chance of getting his hands on the Golden Boot.

Germany ring the changes following their defeat at the hands of Spain as Miroslav Klose, who needs one goal to equal Ronaldo's all-time World Cup record of 15, drops to the bench alongside first-choice keeper Manuel Neuer, captain Philipp Lahm, Lukas Podolski and Piotr Trochowski. Hans-Jorg Butt will play his first match for the German national team since 1 June 2003, ending a wait of seven years and 39 days. Any chance of a Robert Green moment??

C'mon Uruguay!

Even in Arizona...

2010-07-09T14:02:00.001-07:00

Eyes around the world were on Germany's octopus oracle Paul on Friday as he made his biggest prediction yet in the World Cup: Spain will beat the Netherlands in the final on Sunday.

The most surprising thing is that this even made the news here in Arizona... Read the article from our local news website...

Paul the Predicting Octopus

It's Golden Balls time - and I'm not talking Beckham

2010-07-09T11:57:00.002-07:00

At every World Cup since 1982, FIFA has put together a shortlist from which accredited journalists choose the best player of the tournament.

The previous winners are:

1982 Spain: Paolo Rossi (Italy)

1986 Mexico: Diego Maradona (Argentina)

1990 Italy: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)

1994 USA: Romario (Brazil)

1998 France: Ronaldo (Brazil

2002 Korea/Japan: Oliver Kahn (Germany)

2006 Germany: Zinedine Zidane (France)

This year's nominees for the adidas Golden Ball trophy are:

Diego Forlan (URU), Asamoah Gyan (GHA), Andres Iniesta (ESP), Lionel Messi (ARG), Mesut Oezil (GER), Arjen Robben (NED), Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER), Wesley Sneijder (NED), David Villa (ESP), Xavi (ESP)

I'm not sure what Messi is doing on that list; like the other 'world stars' Ronaldo and Rooney, I was underwhelmed by his performances, other than a few flashes of brilliance. But to make him one of the top 10 players of the tournament is bowing to his reputation not the reality of the tournanment I've been watching! I think his spot should have gone to Thomas Mueller of Germany - 4 goals in 5 games (he was suspended for the semifinal defeat) for a young midfielder is more impressive than Lionel Messi's contribution.

My top 3:

Bronze - Thomas Mueller - Germany. His drive, energy and goals were the driving force behind Germany's surprise progess - his absence in the semifinal due to a poor refereeing decision in the QF was noticable as the German team lacked the spark of previous games.

Silver - Diego Forlan - Uruguay - It was a shame Sir Alex let him leave Man Utd a few years ago; without doubt his country's MVP at the World Cup, Forlan was the main reason Uruguay surpassed all expectations. After some truly dreadful free-kicks by other long range 'specialists' at the tournament, Forlan has shown the world how to strike and get the best out of the Jubulani ball.

Gold - David Villa - Spain - I used to be a striker, so maybe I'm biased, but goals win games and Villa has scored 5 of Spain's 7 goals in the competition so far. 3 of his goals came in 1-0 wins, which has made him a match-winner on three occasions. Villa is also going head to head with Wesley Sneijder for the Golden Boot as the World Cup's top scorer, after winning a similar accolade in the Euro 2008 final.

I would be interested to know your thoughts...

Goals per game update...

2010-07-08T07:00:00.003-07:00

With just 2 games to go, the 2010 World Cup is on course to be one of the lowest scoring World Cup tournaments in history. And with Spain, the '1-0 Kings', in the Final we could be relying on Germany and Uruguay scoring a bundle to keep 2010 out of last place.

3 goals would see the tournament match the lowest ever gpm ratio of Italia 90, while just 2 would see South Africa become the most goal shy World Cup ever. To leap frog Germany 2006 in the table, the 4 remaining teams need to muster 9 goals between them in the Final and the 3/4th place game.

It's interesting that, barring a 20 goal miracle over the weekend, the last 3 World Cups will rank in the 4 lowest scoring World Cup tournaments ever. Has international football become more defensive? Have the differences in quality between the 'big and small' nations evened out? Other than North Korea, there wasn't really a terrible team in this World Cup. Yes England, France and Italy underperformed, but I mean there were no 'minnows' just along for the experience. Look at the performances of Australia and New Zealand for example. Both had opportunities to get out of their groups...

When it's all said and done, we'll revisit that discussion, but for now here's the stats table!

Average goals-per-match for each World Cup tournament:
5.385 : Switzerland 1954
4.667 : France 1938
4.118 : Italy 1934
4.000 : Brazil 1950
3.889 : Uruguay 1930
3.600 : Sweden 1958
2.969 : Mexico 1970
2.808 : Spain 1982
2.781 : Chile 1962
2.781 : England 1966
2.712 : United States 1994
2.684 : Argentina 1978
2.672 : France 1998
2.553 : West Germany 1974
2.538 : Mexico 1986
2.516 : Korea/Japan 2002
2.297 : Germany 2006
2.242 : South Africa 2010
2.212 : Italy 1990

Spain v Germany - The rematch of Euro 2008

2010-07-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

The second semi-final is a rematch of the Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany.

As England didn't qualify for that tournament I honestly didnt pay too much attention, so it was good to watch these brief highlights. I don't think the Spanish will be as dominant in today's game as they were 2 years ago...

Germans - With just a touch of English!

2010-07-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

The German national team coach Joachim Low has revealed that he picked the best bits of English, Spanish and Italian football to create Germany's impressive new style of free flowing counter attack football. I couldn't tell you which bit was the English influence as the Germans have yet to look inept, old, sluggish and passionless...maybe that all happened in the defeat to Serbia earlier in the competition - I didn't see that game.

Low said "I've seen a lot of international football, I have soaked it all up and taken away many aspects. In England the tempo is incredible and something to be emulated. In Spain, there is the free-flowing style, technique and skill and you can see that's something that is second nature to them, even to their youth teams."

"In Spain the game is not just played or worked at, but celebrated. It impresses me how easy it looks even though, of course, it isn't easy at all. I like combination passing football and that is what I work towards. Italy won the World Cup in 2006 with perfect defensive play but the game has moved on in the last four years. The teams in the final four have solid defences but you have to have a more than that, a more versatile style of play," Low added.

Interesting that tempo was the thing he highlighted from England - you might be able to win a world cup with good defence - Italy did - and you certainly can with free-flowing style, good technique and skill - just ask many a Brazil team in years gone by - but I don't think you could ever win a World Cup with good 'tempo'! Perhaps that is another reason why it could be another 44 years before England wins another World Cup!

On Germany's chances of gaining revenge for their Euro 2008 final defeat to Spain in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final and then going on to meet the Dutch in the World Cup Final, Low said: "In 2008, there is no doubt that Spain were the best team at the tournament. They were also very good in the final. But now the situation is different. We too have a good team and we have every reason to believe that we can succeed."

What price a repeat then of the 1974 World Cup Final between Germany and Holland? I can't make my mind up on picking a winner - sometimes I think that Germany can't possibly play as well again, but then I also think that Spain have yet to hit top gear and yet they are in the semi-final. Spain were my pre-tournament pick, so I'm going to stick with them...which has pretty much just guaranteed a German victory! Although Paul the psychic octopus has also picked Spain, so maybe I'm onto something??

The 2 greatest World Cup semi-finals ever...

2010-07-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

On the eve of the 2010 World Cup Semi-Finals, I thought you might enjoy watching some highlights of two of the greatest ever World Cup semi-final games, both involving Germany. Hopefully this year's games will live up to these two as Uruguay v Netherlands and Germany v Spain take center stage.

The first takes us back to Mexico in 1970 - The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City was the venue and 17 June 1970 the date as Italy and West Germany contested a tight affair for the opening 89 minutes, before drama was unleashed in the closing moments that carried on into extra time. Roberto Boninsegna put Italy ahead with eight minutes on the clock, only for Karl-Heinz Schnellinger to equalise deep into injury time, extra time was next...

And back to a time when England had a team to believe in...

Celebrating my Independence!

2010-07-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

So after a day off to enjoy July 4th yesterday, a thought came to mind that perhaps it's time for me to declare my independence from the England football team.

I'm not the most fanatical of supporters by any means; I don't spend thousands travelling the world to watch these bums 'play'; I don't invest in tickets to watch them; in fact my biggest expense this World Cup was buying a few new England t-shirts to wear. So what have I lost? Nothing really, other than losing a few brain cells and minutes off my life from 'stress'! But perhaps it's time to step aside for a while.

England is in disarray - ageing 'stars' and little coming through the ranks of the country's best teams, thanks to the money available in the Premier League and the consequent lack of opportunity for England's young players to play. 10 years ago Germany was in a similar situation. They rearranged the governance of the game in their contry, restructured the youth set-up and look how they've turned their fortunes around, with a young team that has made it (again) to the latter stages of a tournament and could go on to win it. The Bundesliga (the German league) is a good example of how a national team can benefit when young players get the chance to play and develop at home.

The problem is that the Premier League is now too successful and there is too much money to be made. It is a juggernaut out of control, and unable to stop. But until the powers that be find a way to get some control back from the money men, the England team's fortunes won't change.

Italy is in a similar position. Inter Milan won the treble this year (Italian League, Cup and Champions League) without regularly fielding an Italian? They won the Champions League final without an Italian on the pitch. And how did their team of ageing stars do? Not much worse than England!

Admittedly Italy were World Champions 4 years ago, but look how finances in football have changed in those 4 years. The most expensive transfer in history 4 years ago remained the 2001 move of Zidane from Juventus to Real Madrid for about £43 million; since then we've had Kaka move to Madrid for £57m; Ibrahimovic to Barcelona for £61m and of course Ronaldo from Manchester United to Madrid for £80 million. The fact that Spain have bucked this trend and done well at a national level despite an overpriced league is down to their core crop of excellent players - their golden generation that, unlike England's, has performed. Also the money in Spain is limited to just a few teams - the Premier League remains the wealthiest across the board.

So, until the English FA sort their s&%t out, this is my declaration of independence because I too have certain unalienable rights, among which are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - and the latter does not include watching England play football!

So until that time when I can again have pride in my national team, I lower the flag and pledge my allegiance to baseball, basketball and all sports American!

Well at least until the next qualifying campaign starts... ;)

The World Cup's most shocking moment ever!

2010-07-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

I'm in Las Vegas, so I'm writing this a few days in advance and therefore I can't comment on the quarter-final scores just yet...

So in the interests of brevity and of keeping my promise of posting something every day of the tournament, I thought I'd remind you of the most shocking moment in World Cup History that happened just 4 years ago...

Argentina v Germany - Round 2!

2010-07-02T05:00:00.002-07:00

Following on from yesterday's Mostly Balls post, here's clip of the Argentina v Germany brawl from 2006 - let's hope we see similar excitement on Saturday, it will make for an entertaining few hours for the neutral! Not that I'm neutral darling... (but we do have a German Shepherd!)

Germans: Argentina have no respect...

2010-07-01T05:00:00.008-07:00

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger accused World Cup quarterfinals rival Argentina of showing no respect for opponents and referees, and urges his teammates not to be provoked.

Four years ago at the 2006 World Cup, the hosts Germany eliminated Argentina on penalties (Germany in shock penalty shoot-out win!) at the same stage and there were chaotic scenes after the shootout, with both sides exchanging punches and kicks in a fracas that included team officials from both benches.

Now as an Englishman who has lived in Germany, and being married to an Argentine girl with family down in Patagonia, no personal good can come from me commenting on this! And as I have little or no fondness for either nation's footballing history, I shall remain discretely neutral on the subject and refer you to the full ESPN story for the details...

Germans: Argentina show no respect.

What? No football?

2010-06-30T16:40:00.004-07:00

Got withdrawal symptoms yet?

For the first time in what seems like months (although it is only 19 days) the world woke up to the first football free day since June 11th. As the world takes a 2 day breather, the remaining 8 teams prepare for the Quarter Finals of this year's competition.

Friday

Uruguay (16) v Ghana (32)
Netherlands (4) v Brasil (1)

Saturday
Germany (6) v Argentina (7)
Paraguay (31) v Spain (2)

With 3 surprise teams (Ghana, Uruguay & Paraguay) in the last 8, and for the first time since 1930 4 South American teams, it promises to be an interesting couple of days.

The balance of power certainly seems to have shifted back to South America. In 2002, the only South American quarter finalists were the eventual winners Brasil; in 2006 we had Argentina & Brasil in the last 8, along with 6 European teams. The semi-finals (and therefore obviously the final) were all European match ups.

This time there is the possibility of an all South American semi-final line up, although I think Spain might ruin that 'fiesta'.

Goal Watch
After 56 games, we're now at 123 goals; that's a rate of 2.20 goals per game. It's getting better, but 2010 in South Africa is still on course to be one of the lowest scoring World Cups of all time.

The curse of Nike?

2010-06-29T16:20:00.009-07:00

So I'm sure many of you have seen the full length 3 minute Nike 'Write the Future' ad that was launched just before the World Cup; but how many of you have noticed the curse that Nike has obviously put on the football players featured?

Watch it again and then we'll discuss it further below... I guarantee you'll find it interesting...!

Nike being Nike, and advertising being advertising, they want to associate their product and brand with success...they picked 6 of the world's biggest football stars to feature in their extensive, expensive commercial, I'm sure hoping that one of them would 'take it all the way'.

Well, the outcome is that not a single solitary one of their 'stars' made it to the Quarter Final stages of the World Cup, let alone 'performed' in the tournament. Let's break it down one by one...

Cursed #1? Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast broke his arm in training a few days before the World Cup began limiting his time on the field, with just one goal in a losing effort to Brazil. Out in the Group stage.

Cursed #2? Fabio Cannavarro - Italy's captain - too old, too slow and with the rest of the Italian team, clearly past his best at international level. Would probably have thrown his back out with that overhead kick in the commercial. Out in the Group stage.

Cursed #3? Wayne Rooney - Supposed to be England's talisman, yet looked a pale immitation of himself. Lived up to the first part of the ad, giving the ball away, but never had the drive that he seemed to have in this advert and in previous performances to get it back. Let's hope he's got that nice caravan and groundsman job lined up. Out in round of 16 - lucky to get through the group.

Cursed #4? Frank Ribery - France. No more needs be said. Out in the Group stage, home with the rest in shame.

Cursed #5? Ronaldinho of Brazil didn't even make it into the Brazil squad. His only appearance on our TV screens during the World Cup is in this commercial. Out before the World Cup.

Cursed #6? Cristiano Ronal-D'oh of Portugal - not quite as dismal as Rooney, but not far off. One lucky goal against North Korea, several dreadful free kicks, a fair amount of dives and his usual level of bitching will be all he is remembered for at this World Cup. Out in the round of 16. No movie, no statue.

So the only stars still shining from the ad are the LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant who won his 5th NBA Championship a few weeks back, and Roger Federer (he was playing table tennis against Rooney if you missed it) who hopes that the Nike curse won't stop him claiming another Wimbledon title this weekend.

Nike have had to do some fast editing a create a new ad that actually features a star likely to continue to play in the tournament for a while longer yet. Step forward Robinho, and if you're a Brasil fan, let's hope the curse doesn't strike again...

England - a monument to mediocrity

2010-06-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

Phil McNulty, BBC Sport's chief football writer, breaks down the failings of the England football team in a very interesting blog...

If England carry a burning sense of injustice as part of their baggage on the long flight home from South Africa on Monday night, Fabio Capello and his players will fool only themselves.

Capello's complaint about the incompetence of officialdom after England's humiliating last-16 exit against Germany was little more than a flimsy fig leaf when it came to disguising shortcomings exposed in a World Cup campaign that was a monument to mediocrity.

England's coach, of course, had every right to draw attention to one of the worst decisions in the tournament's history as a mitigating factor in their eventual defeat by a vastly-superior Germany.

Capello must not think, however, that Uruguayan linesman Mauricio Espinosa's failure to spot Frank Lampard's clever finish dropping well behind Manuel Neuer's goalline with the score at 2-1 was a defining moment that somehow blocked England's path to glory.

Read the rest of Phil's blog here...

Take down the flags...

2010-06-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well at least one good thing has come out of the England Germany game; I think it's guaranteed that video technology will be used at the next World Cup.

I'm not sure that 'the goal that wasn't' would have made a difference to the outcome as England were outplayed, but still, that goal would have made it 2-2 and who knows what would have happened. A game of such importance should not be influenced by mistakes, especially when the technology is available to counter such mistakes.

We shouldn't be surprised at the result though - the Germans have not failed to reach the quarter finals in a World Cup since 1954 and this England team wasn't going to stop them on this World Cup's performance.

2 final things to say; at least my German Shepherd is happy and Vamos Argentina!

US - Ghana preview

2010-06-26T09:02:00.001-07:00

So Uruguay are the first team through to the QF stage, and they await the winner of the next game - US v Ghana. Uruguay become the first South American team (other than Argentina and Brazil) to reach the Quarter Final stage since 1970.

Apparently, as you'll notice repeatedly in this video, the US are 'champions' of Group C. I wasn't aware that was an award that FIFA handed out, but here in the US, everything in sports needs to be exaggerated slightly! Superbowl World Champions - Lakers World Champions - Baseball World Series - Need I say more! So rather than the team that 'topped' Group C as we would say, the CHAMPIONS of Group C have a great chance of advancing to the Quarter Finals...listen to what Ruud Gullit thinks of their chances...

Top 10 goals so far...according to ESPN

2010-06-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

ESPN's Top 10 goals of the tournament so far...maybe a little biased but entertaining nonetheless!

16 down...

2010-06-26T01:00:00.004-07:00

So we're down to the round of 16 - 48 matches played, 16 games to go... starting with the two games today...including the big one on this side of the pond, the US v Ghana. However exciting that will be, and we will be watching it and cheering on the US on Saturday afternoon, the big day in this household is Sunday, when my Argentine wife and German Shepherd dog will be ganging up against me and the England boys...

Saturday

Uruguay (16) v South Korea (47)

United States (14) v Ghana (32)

Sunday

Germany (6) v England (8)

Argentina (7) v Mexico (17)

Monday

Netherlands (4) v Slovakia (34)

Brazil (1) v Chile (18)

Tuesday

Paraguay (31) v Japan (45)

Spain (2) v Portugal (3)

I picked only 11 of these 16 teams to make it this far, and I only got 5 of the 8 group winners right, so I'm not going to put my neck out and pick winners here!

If you were wondering what the goals per game ratio has climbed to - see my earlier post - well this is still on course to be the lowest scoring World Cup ever. After 48 games, we've had 101 goals - that's 2.10 goals per game. That's lower than Italia 90 - the previous lowest scoring tournament. Portugal and Argentina are the leading scorers with 7 each (although Portugal got their 7 in 1 game against North Korea so I'm not sure if that counts)

In preparation for the US game later; here's ESPN's preview of the US v Ghana.

Take that vuvuzela and shove it...

2010-06-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

German police in Berlin say an American got so fed up with the constant mosquito-like droning from his neighbors' vuvuzela plastic horns that he threatened to kill them with an ax. Police in the Bavarian city of Weiden said Friday the 45-year-old man confronted his neighbors during Thursday's Netherlands-Cameroon World Cup game wielding the ax.

They said he was so sick of the constant buzzing and honking from the vuvuzelas since the tournament began that he screamed: "I will kill you," and then returned home.

German authorities took the U.S. Army civilian employee into custody and turned him over to U.S. military police. The military says he has been released and the matter is in German hands. Prosecutors are investigating whether to charge the man, whose name was not released, with making a threat and slander for allegedly calling his neighbors names.

The cheap, yard-long vuvuzela trumpets have become a side story of the World Cup in South Africa, where their buzzing has been the backdrop to every match. Players have been criticizing the noise because they find it difficult to take advice from the bench, and visiting fans have no chance for community singing amid the noise.

A French cable TV channel even offers vuvuzela-free broadcasts for all World Cup matches, with the trumpets digitally tuned out. Defenders include FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu - and masses of South African football fans.

The trumpets were first produced and marketed in 2001 by South African Neil Van Schalkwyk, who still owns the rights to the vuvuzela name. His latest innovation is to sell each with a pair of earplugs included.

Meanwhile, in another part of Germany, a drunken fan severely beat a police officer with a vuvuzela following Germany's win over Ghana on Wednesday. From the local paper:

"Most of the celebrations in the town of Dinslaken just north of Duisburg were peaceful after the game, which more than 10,000 people turned out to watch, the Wesel county police department reported. But at 11:10 pm, one intoxicated 20-year-old fan began taunting a police officer who was directing traffic around a gathering of some 1,500 people."

"As he turned to the 20-year-old, the man suddenly began hitting and kicking the officer," the statement said. "Furthermore he began pounding the officer's head with a vuvuzela."

Vuvuzelas, the South African plastic stadium horns introduced to the world at this year's World Cup tournament, are controversial in Germany due to what many consider their irritating sound.

But to be fair, it doesn't take much to irritate the Germans. :D

Arrivederci Italia!

2010-06-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Going Home in Shame

That's the headline in the famous Italian sports paper, La Gazetto della Sport, after Italy's shock defeat to Slovakia which had them finish last in a group with Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand!

Perhaps a bigger disgrace is the fact that Italian coach Lippi didn't have the decency to shake the hand of the Slovak coach after the game. Not behavior befitting a defeated champion, but when have the Italy side ever behaved like honorable champions?

The World Champions head home...and won't be missed!

England v Germany...

2010-06-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

So it had to happen didn't it! England will play Germany on Sunday in the last 16 of the World Cup for the priviledge of playing Argentina or Mexico in the Quarter Finals.

England last played Germany in a friendly in Berlin in November 2008 (England won 2-1) and the last competitive match (i.e. not a friendly) was in Munich in 2001 (England won that one 5-1).

Here's a short look at the heritage of this classic encounter shown by ITV before that last friendly in 08'

Job done...but now we take the hard path...

2010-06-23T10:28:00.001-07:00

Phew...it's never easy to be an England football supporter is it? My wife is Argentine, and every Argentina game seems to be a breeze for her compared to the emotional turmoil, the pain and suffering that comes with EVERY England game, even when we win!

I'll leave breaking down the game and the performance to other more qualified writers, but the main thing to know is that while England have got through, that late Landon Donovan goal that sent the US through too might just be the second most important goal in England's World Cup campaign. The late late show by the USA means that they top the group and England qualify second. That means trouble! Why?

Because now England fall into a different part of the World Cup bracket. Depending on the results of the matches later today, England are now likely to face Germany in the second round on Sunday. It gets worse; should they vastly improve on performances to date and beat the old enemy, then they will probably have to face Argentina in the Quarter Finals.

Meanwhile the US, by virtue of topping the group, will probably face Serbia in the second round, before a Quarter Final match up against Uruguay or South Korea; now tell me which is the easier route to a Semi Final? The US now have an unbelievable chance of making it to the Semi-Finals - one thing is for sure, either the US, Uruguay, South Korea, or Ghana/Serbia will make it to the semi final...not the biggest or best teams in the world.

So now we sit back and watch the next games unfold - Germany against Ghana and Australia v Serbia; I'll be cheering on Ghana, as a win or draw for them could send Germany home and out of England's way! Unbelievably if Australia and Ghana win, then the US would face Australia in the next round, while England take on Ghana!! It's all too complicated; the important thing is both England and the US are moving forward, but let there be no doubt that the US are in far better shape to make a run deep into this tournament.

But then, when has the England football team ever done anything the easy way?

The time for talking is over...

2010-06-23T05:00:00.002-07:00

Enough Said...

Smithy's team talk

2010-06-22T07:00:00.002-07:00

If you're in England, you may have seen this on Comic Relief's Red Nose Day last year...
But never has it been more appropriate...perhaps this is what the intruder to the England dressing room after the Algeria game should have done. So grab yourself a nice cup of tea and enjoy...

France - This just gets better and better...

2010-06-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

France coach Raymond Domenech has said some of his players may refuse to face South Africa on Tuesday because of Nicolas Anelka's expulsion from the squad. The Chelsea striker was sent home for verbally abusing Domenech during last week's 2-0 defeat by Mexico. When asked whether some of his squad may not play against the hosts, the coach said: "It is a possibility".

Domenech said his players acted like imbeciles by protesting Nicolas Anelka's expulsion from the team by refusing to train just two days before the match that decides their World Cup future. "I tried to convince them that what they were doing was an aberration, an imbecility, a stupidity without name," Domenech said Monday.

The players' strike was in protest at Anelka's expulsion.

Patrice Evra's role as captain could be over after only five games, with Domenech refusing to confirm him as his leader after the defender initiated the player walkout.

"I haven't picked the team yet, we will see tomorrow," Domenech said, adding of the players that "they've expended a lot of energy. It's sad." When Domenech was asked if some players had told him they do not want to play the game, he answered evasively. "It is a possibility that we will finalize [things] tonight with the staff to see what team we put in place," he said.

Evra was furious at the French Football Federation's decision to send Anelka home late Saturday, amid claims from the players that the FFF denied Anelka a chance to give his side of the story at a news conference.

Don't you just love the French...!

World Cup controversy is nothing new...

2010-06-21T12:10:00.002-07:00

The crew on ESPN have finally (three days later!) stopped going on about 'the goal that wasn't' from last Friday's game against Slovenia, but let me just reassure American readers, who may be new to the World Cup, that controversy is nothing new. Watch this and you'll see what I mean!

Clutching at straws...

2010-06-20T06:31:00.003-07:00

So yesterday I highlighted the fact that England's most successful World Cup since winning it in 1966 started with 2 draws; I thought we might need some inspiration for Wednesday, so here are a few clips from that World Cup campaign... in the superstitious hope that in some way I'm contributing to a turn-around in England's form and fortune!

The campaign started against Republic of Ireland with an early goal for England, that was followed by a mistake (although less obvious than Rob Green's!) that led to the equaliser - finished 1-1, sound familiar?

After a 0-0 draw in their second game (admittedly against a decent side, the Netherlands, rather than Algeria!) they had to win their third game, against Egypt to progress...

Then into the last 16, and a nailbiter against Belgium... who remembers this?

So, there is hope...and maybe England can follow the same path...and improve (they can't get worse!) as the competition progresses. And maybe, just maybe, Wayne Rooney will emerge as Paul Gascoigne did in 1990...

Don't get your hopes up...as they say in this part of the world, it's a "Hail Mary!"

Got to love the French...no, really you do...

2010-06-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

Now England may be in disarray, but you can always rely on the French to go one step further!! England's performances may have been dire, but they haven't lost yet, which is something that the Germans, Spanish and French can't say! But that Gallic passion has bubbled over again off the pitch, even as they manage to generate none of that passion on the pitch!

French Implosion!

Rooney - How dare he?

2010-06-19T09:37:00.003-07:00

For a man who reportedly earns £90,000 a week, and who's agents are reportedly looking for a £200,000 a week deal from Manchester Utd, Wayne Rooney should expect to take the rough with the smooth. Nobody is more idolised when he plays well, and scores goals...but after a personal performance like that, one of a host of dreadful performances from those in the white of England, he frankly needs to take the criticism and shut up.

At the end of the game he stalked off field to jeers from the English crowd. He then finds a camera and delivers what appeared to be a fairly calm statement - "Nice to see your own fans booing you. Is that what loyal support is... for f---'s sake."

Hopefully Rooney woke up this morning understanding that English fans, the vast majority of whom will earn less in a year than he currently does in about 3 days, have a right to voice their displeasure. Remember that phrase - England Expects. Often we expect too much, but the thousands of fans who traveled thousands of miles and paid thousands of pounds (that they probably don't have!) to watch him and his mates go for an evening stroll, occasionally interrupted by a poor touch of the football, have the right to feel aggrieved.

He did issue an apology this morning - "I said things in the heat of the moment out of frustration of our performance and the result," he said in a Football Association statement. "For my part I apologise for any offence caused by my actions."

Hopefully he understands, too, that loyalty runs both ways. The great thing about football is that, come Wednesday, with the right result and the right performance, all things will be forgiven.

After all, if you are looking for some crumbs of comfort, the last time England got to the semi-finals of a World Cup in 1990, they also drew both their opening games and were massacred by the press and fans. They then went on to win their group; and the scores were the same. The first game was a 1-1 draw vs Republic of Ireland, followed by a 0-0 draw against the Netherlands, before a 1-0 win against Egypt. We went on to beat Belgium 1-0 in the last 16, before beating Cameroon 3-2 after extra time in the quarter finals...before the infamous battle with Germany and a loss on penalties...

We'll take the same again, except for the loss to Germany!

What a waste of talent...

2010-06-18T16:15:00.002-07:00

Too dispaired to write my own obituary on England's dismal, distressing and downright abject performance in a dire 0-0 against Algeria, I'll leave it to the words of ESPN's Richard Jolly...

Few crumbs of comfort for England

There has been a sequence of shocks in South Africa in recent days and now England have provided an addition to the catalogue. They were shockingly bad. Unlike Spain and Germany, they remain unbeaten but, besides the assured return of Gareth Barry, there are few other positives.

At least, it might be said, they are not France. But, cross-channel gloating apart, they failed to beat an Algeria side containing ten French-born players who, in most cases, were never likely to be capped by Les Bleus - they were more their G team than their B team. Yet Algeria, who looked resoundingly mediocre against Slovenia, resembled a decent outfit against England. Karim Ziani was the most skilful midfielder on show, Rafik Halliche the most dependable defender.

In a pre-match interview, Fabio Capello asserted, rather oddly, that Algeria score a lot of goals. He should be grateful they do not: the Desert Foxes have one in seven games and, were they to possess a forward line, victory may have been theirs.

"We've got no excuses," said Steven Gerrard, who tends to be more candid than most, including his manager. "Not good enough." It was honest, but an understatement nonetheless. Start with 'abject' and 'abominable' and select any number of similarly disparaging adjectives from the dictionary - they would all be accurate. There were misplaced passes, misjudged touches and misguided ideas. Too much was missing: invention, incision, inspiration.

Kick and rush? At times they didn't even bother with the rushing. The kicking wasn't particularly effective either, especially in the final third. Algeria changed goalkeeper, but Rais M'Bolhi enjoyed a comfortable game. The replacement was rarely tested.

The sight of Emile Heskey tripping over the ball as he prepared to cross was sadly emblematic of his evening. As is all too typical, Heskey rarely dared enter the penalty area as his confidence dipped. Alongside him, Wayne Rooney, average against the Americans, was out of sorts against the Algerians.

There were a couple of occasions when Gerrard and Rooney combined encouragingly, but there were more when they were on separate wavelengths. Rooney has still not scored since he was injured in Munich in March. On fire then, the spark is absent now and, 20 years on from Italia '90, Wazza is no Gazza just yet.

But it is unfair to focus solely on him. Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Ashley Cole: each is operating some way below the standards he set at club level. Gerrard looked a man depressed at Anfield and, in the opening game, a man possessed. This was more like his Liverpudlian lethargy. Glen Johnson, perhaps the outstanding individual against USA, regressed and was troubled by the touch of Ziani.

And yet alternatives appear few and far between. Capello showed a reluctance to trust his substitutes which, given the level of performance, is damning. The first two deployed, Jermain Defoe and Shaun Wright-Phillips, at least looked sharper, but the Italian's faith in the Manchester City substitute appears increasingly bizarre nonetheless.

The sole crumb of comfort in the performance came from Eastlands. Barry was comfortably England's man of the match, aided by the complete lack of competition from his colleagues. He performed the defensive midfield role adeptly, sweeping up in front of the defence and making a couple of excellent interceptions. His distribution was respectable, but England's pass completion statistics should show some unflattering statistics.

At least now they have a holding player, but the issues lie further forward. Personnel and formation are twin problems. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, a switch to 4-2-3-1 is surely required now. Surely Joe Cole merits a chance now. Surely England have to demonstrate some ambition. They need to pass; they need some class.

They need, too, a demonstration of Capello's winning habit. It is far from the only subject to address, but he has a third alteration to make to the centre of defence. The high-quality crocks, Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King, will be joined on the sidelines by the suspended Jamie Carragher for Wednesday game with Slovenia. Enter either Matthew Upson or Michael Dawson, two more who don't seem to command Capello's confidence.

Beat Slovenia and they are through, probably undeservedly. The backdrop may provide a consolation but Cape Town, for England, was the Cape of No Hope.

For more insight (and depression!), read Martin Samuel's article in the Daily Mail.

England team news! David James is in!

2010-06-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Fabio Capello has recalled David James to face Algeria. Emile Heskey gets another chance alongside Wayne Rooney despite the Fabster's talk of recalling Jermain Defoe. Heskey did well in every department (except scoring) against the United States. Is this his last chance if he doesn't get on the scoresheet today?

As expected by the media, Jamie Carragher comes in for the injured Ledley King at centre half, and a hopefully fully fit Gareth Barry replaces James Milner.

I'm in favour of the James and Barry decisions, but I would have gone in a different direction tonight at center back, possibly Michael Dawson instead of Carragher. Heskey, Heskey, Heskey... what to do there? Defoe hasn't really done it either has he? Capello obviously likes the impact of Crouch off the bench, so what choice does he have? Maybe Gerrard up front, or just off Rooney, and Joe Cole playing on his natural left-hand side would be a better option. We shall see - Capello gets paid millions of dollars to make these decisions, let's hope he's right!

Let's just hope it's a win, and they can take control of their destiny in this group.

USA v Slovenia - phew! England v Algeria Sim!

2010-06-18T09:55:00.001-07:00

Well that was an exciting game to watch! Finally...something to spark the interest of the US Soccer audience!

Why the US team only manages to play for 45 minutes a game though is beyond me; perhaps it's the 'Hollywood' factor! It's the classic movie story, the 'good guys' always have to be knocked down before they get back up off the mat and come good. Somebody tell Bob Bradley and his players that doesn't have to be the script!.

Think Rocky, think Rambo! All we needed, had that perfectly good third goal been allowed to stand, was Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey grabbing the mic at the post match interview and yelling 'Adrian, Adrian...'; I wonder if one of them is married to an 'Adrian' - wouldn't that be a coincidence!?

With every Hollywood story, there has to be a bad guy; today it was the referee. I know this is the African World Cup, but does a referee from Mali really have the necessary experience to handle World Cup games? There were a number of dodgy decisions, but the most astounding was disallowing what would have been the winning goal for the US. I'm English and theoretically a neutral (although a draw was good for England), but I played football for 25 years, and have watched the game for 35 years, and I could see nothing wrong... "They was Robbed" indeed!!

A good referee is one you don't really notice; and I have to say that the two in both games today have likely officiated their last games in this tournament - well done Serbia by the way for beating the Germans and throwing that group wide open!

So anyway, on to the third (and most important!) game of the day - England v Algeria - here's EA sports simulation of the game; let's see if they get this one right - they predicted a 2-1 England win vs the USA, so I wouldn't give it too much credibility - but cool graphics nonetheless!

Fab's Friday!

2010-06-17T17:56:00.004-07:00

On the eve of the next round of games for England and the US, here's a quick 4 minute highlight package of the England v US game from last week as a reminder. Personally I think that results (France, Italy and Spain spring to mind) this week have shown that this was not a bad point for England. Had we not created chances I'd be more concerned...but tomorrow is a must win game for both the US and England if they are to progress to the last 16.

Who will play in goal for England against Algeria? Hopefully David James, although I think Fab might stick with Green. Barry will come in for Milner, allowing Gerrard to play down the left, although I think Gerrard was excellent against the US, so hopefully this switch won't make him revert to type...i.e. poor performances in an England shirt.

I'd like to see Crouch on for Heskey; Heskey set up England's goal, and generally did well, but he is just not a goal threat as the one-on-one that he fluffed clearly demonstrated. I would also have Upson or Dawson in for the injured King rather than Carragher. So this would be my team - James, Johnson, Terry, Dawson, Cole, Barry, Gerrard, Lampard, Lennon, Rooney, Crouch... Prediction 2-0 to England...(gulp!)

Spain v Switzerland!

2010-06-16T18:00:00.018-07:00

How can I not mention Switzerland upsetting Spain, my pick to win the tournament today! What this result should do is put England's draw against the US in perspective. The US is ranked just 6 places below England in the FIFA rankings (8th and 14th) - Spain are ranked 2nd in the world, the Swiss are 24th. This is an upset; England drawing against the US was not.

The Spanish press has bemoaned the country's "nightmare" start to the World Cup in South Africa in which the European champions received a "lesson in humility" from unfancied Switzerland. "Huge disappointment in Durban. Spain blew up against Switzerland and its iron defence," the country's leading daily El Pais opined on its website. "A nightmare has started," said El Mundo.

It was a one-sided affair, but football is a great game because only one stat counts Switzerland 1 - Spain 0. Here are some interesting facts from ESPN Stats and Information:

No team has ever won the World Cup after losing its opening match. Only three teams have ever won the title after losing ANY match, most recently Argentina in 1978.
Spain completed more passes (574) and created the second-most chances (18) of any team thus far in the tournament. The Red Fury failed to net a goal against a Swiss team that now has five consecutive World Cup clean sheets, a streak of 484 minutes that dates back to 1994.
Switzerland's 480 touches were the second-fewest of any side to win a World Cup match since 1966.
Switzerland's 163 completed passes were the second-fewest of any side to win a World Cup match since 1966. Spain's 574 completed passes were the most of any side thus far, and the most of any side to lose a match in the World Cup.
Spain outshot Switzerland 24-8 and held a 63-37 percent edge in possession, which matches Brazil for the largest margin at the tournament thus far.

So the First round of games is in the books, and the goals per game ratio that I talked about in a previous post has not yet improved. All 32 participating nations have now played one game, and the 16 matches produced just 25 goals at a rate of 1.56 goals per game. In 2006, we would have had 37 goals and in 2002, more than 40 goals by now; so in terms of encouraging Americans towards the beautiful game, it's not going well for FIFA!

ESPN have a nice summary of the first round of games; read it via the link below...

First Round Highlights and Lowlights from ESPN

Steve Nash at the World Cup

2010-06-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Steve Nash, inspirational Point Guard for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA is a huge soccer fan, and he's in South Africa for the World Cup. Shame - I'd rather he was still in Phoenix playing in the NBA Finals instead of the Lakers... He's a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan by the way and can often be seen at White Hart Lane!

Here's the full video he was talking about from wwwyoutube.com/visagofans

Steve Nash Goal!!!!!!!!!!

A few thoughts from Down Under...

2010-06-15T17:47:00.003-07:00

Mostly Balls' new antipodean contributor - Simon 'I'm a Pom' Wilkins - has sent this interesting story from Australia... Cheers Simon...

In an almost unprecedented attempt to claim someone else's success in sport as their own, the Australian media decided to rename New Zealand as Australasia to mask the terrible effort their own team Australia put in against Germany. It appears that the 'Kiwiroos' will now also represent Australia, and moves are afoot to add an extra star to the NZ flag.

The Australian media have expressed an interest in taking their team outside to be humanely put down to end any embarrasment.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/blogs/blunt-instrument/soccer-in-australia-will-never-be-anything-more-than-a-lame-joke/20100614-ya1q.html

Thankfully they wont need to, as Ghana is expected to add the final nail in the Australian coffin this weekend.

Australasia 1 Slovakia 1 - Kiwis-get-the-point-

More football gibberish to be found on Simon's twitter feed @cerealk777!

Underwhelmed?? I am...

2010-06-14T15:46:00.005-07:00

So we've had 4 days of the World Cup in South Africa; that's 11 games, just 18 goals and 4 reds cards...I have to say that overall, while it's exciting that the tournament has finally begun, so far the action itself has been pretty disappointing.

World Cups tend to get off to slow starts as teams are desperate not to lose their opening match and leave themselves a mountain to climb from day one; we shall have to see if things improve as we get into the second round of games on Thursday. But the lack of goals has been disappointing, given the fact that this much discussed ball was supposed to lead to more! So far we've averaged 1.64 goals per game, and a large chunk of that average is thanks to the Germans who scored 4 against Australia. Just to put that into context...

Average goals-per-match for each World Cup tournament:

5.385 : Switzerland 1954
4.667 : France 1938
4.118 : Italy 1934
4.000 : Brazil 1950
3.889 : Uruguay 1930
3.600 : Sweden 1958
2.969 : Mexico 1970
2.808 : Spain 1982
2.781 : Chile 1962
2.781 : England 1966
2.712 : United States 1994
2.684 : Argentina 1978
2.672 : France 1998
2.553 : West Germany 1974
2.538 : Mexico 1986
2.516 : Korea/Japan 2002
2.297 : Germany 2006
2.212 : Italy 1990
1.636 : South Africa 2010

Now, let's give it a chance as we've yet to see 3 of the tournament's favorites, the best 3 teams in the world - Brazil, Spain and Portugal - but so far, well to be frank, it's been a litle dull!

The England v USA game was a notable exception, and Germany's demolition of Australia was pretty impressive. Argentina looked excellent (and exciting for about 30 minutes) against Nigeria, and Italy showed signs of life late in today's game, but the rest has been pretty forgettable. No screaming free-kicks, no really special wonder goals (although South Africa's opener was pretty good, as was Park Ji Sung's goal for South Korea against the woeful Greeks). It's all been a bit below par...

6 of the 8 main seeds (plus the US as my country of residence and adopted home!) have now played - Brazil play their first game on Tuesday (as does fancied Portugal) and Spain (my favorites to win it all) play on Wednesday. But for now, based on the English grading system (A for excellent to F for fail) here are my marks for the main teams we've seen so far... Happy to hear your views and grades...

France - Rubbish! F
Argentina - Patchy - great going forward, wobbly in defence - C+
England - Disappointing (as expected) but a few signs of life - D
USA - Equally disappointing, but happier than England - C
Germany - So far the team to beat...but it was Australia A-
Netherlands - Job done, but not up and running yet... C
Italy - Uninspired for about 75 minutes...then woke up...D

As for England USA in a little more detail, well I thought it would be a draw and as such I'm not too disappointed - other than the manner of the equalising goal obviously.

But the US are ranked by Fifa as the 14th best team in the world, so I think a draw is not too bad of a result. Should we have won? Would we have won but for Mr Greenfingers, probably yes. But Italy (ranked 5th) just drew with Paraguay (ranked 31st). Cameroon (19th) lost to Japan (45th), and Greece (13th) lost to South Korea (47th).

So in many respects a draw is a credible result for both teams. Algeria (30th) and Slovenia (25th) are our upcoming opposition, but the pressure is now on as these games are must wins...and games we must win well to ensure finishing top of the group and avoiding Germany in the next round.

English Tabloid Headlines

2010-06-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

If you live in the UK then you will probably have seen this headline in your sunday morning papers, but the headline writers back in the UK have had a field day.

"The Hand of Clod" was used by both the News of the World and the Sunday Mirror, in a not so subtle reference to the "Hand of God" "goal" by Argentina's now coach, then star player, Diego Maradona which knocked England out of the Mexico World Cup in 1986.

The News of the World ran a sub-headline of "Shock 'N' Draw", and suggested "Rob still too Green for England", describing his "howler" as Yankee doddle to Yankee doodoo.

Even the stoic Sunday Times joined in. Under the headline "Green Fingers", and referencing the ongoing 'discussions' about the BP disaster, they claimed that Rob Green's gaff was "One disastrous spill the Yanks won't complain about."

The Daily Star went with "Rob-bish," and added him to an unfortunately growing list of England's Hall of Goalkeeping Horrors under the heading "Rob-bed of the Points."

The Mail On Sunday called it a "Calamity!", but considering David 'Calamity' James is Green's likely replacement should he be dropped, then I'm not too sure that was a good headline choice.

And summing up the likely wrath of the British public should that blunder go on to cause a swift English exit from South Africa, the Sunday Mirror suggested "God Save Our Green" might be a more suitable national anthem.

The big day!

2010-06-12T06:00:00.005-07:00

It's the big day. England vs USA, the most anticipated game in US soccer history. I was watching ESPN a few days ago and heard Wayne Rooney described as a 'foul mouthed man with a bad temper' by one of the ESPN hosts - I have to say I was astounded!! I can't say that the comment was necessarily wrong, but it was perhaps a little harsh on national television!

That does give an indication of how England's young striker is viewed over here, and also perhaps of how important they feel it is to stop him. I fully expect to see Rooney wound up by the US team, and would not be at all surprised to see him pick up a stupid yellow card! (Hopefully he won't see red!)

How will the game go? Well on paper England should walk it, but unfortunately football is played on grass not paper! On paper, Mexico should have comfortably beaten South Africa yesterday rather than sqeezing out a draw.

If England turn up and get into a rhythm, then I can see a relatively comfortable win for the 3 Lions, but when have England got into a rhythm in the first game of a World Cup? Probably the only time I can remember was in Mexico 1982, when England beat France 3-1 in their opening game, when Bryan Robson scored after 27 seconds with one of the fastest World Cup goals ever.

Given all the bad mouthing between the UK and US over the BP fiasco, there is added spice to this encounter - not that it was needed! Let's just hope the result of this game doesn't given the US more to brag about!!

Here's a good preview...

England v USA preview

Macca's predictions

2010-06-11T16:57:00.001-07:00

Steve McManamanamanan, the old scouse bugger, is working as an analyst for ESPN over here, along with Alexei Lalas, one-time average centreback for the US team, and less than average coach of the LA Galaxy till a few years back.

Watch their predicted line-ups for the US England game, and their predicted scores...

Uruguay and France - An introduction...

2010-06-11T09:00:00.003-07:00

An introduction to the next two protagonists to join the fray!

Two time World Cup winners Uruguay (1930/1950, 4th in 1954/1970) and one time winner France (1998, Runner up 2006)

Grab your vuvuzela...It's on!

2010-06-11T06:59:00.001-07:00

The countdown clock is down to minutes, the game is afoot! South Africa and Mexico take center stage! Enjoy! Here's a preview of the two countries!

12 hours...and we're off...

2010-06-10T19:05:00.001-07:00

The wait is over and in 12 hours we'll be off and running...Time for some bold predictions!

My semi-final line ups are - Brazil 3 v 1 England and Spain 1 v 0 Argentina...

The final - Brazil 0 v 2 Spain

World Champions - Spain!!

For fox sake, that's bollox, you w@#ker!

2010-06-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Brazilian referee and his assistants who will work the England-United States match at the World Cup have been studying English-language obscenities the players might use.

Carlos Simon will referee Saturday's match in Rustenburg, assisted by Roberto Braatz and Altemir Hausmann. They want to ensure players can't get away with abuse. "We have to learn what kind of words the players say," Hausmann told Brazilian broadcaster Globo Sport. "All players swear and we know we will hear a few."

Braatz says they aren't learning them in "11 different languages, but at least we have to know the swear words in English." FIFA denied reports that match officials have been given lists of swear words to listen for, but did say proficiency in English was a requirement for referees and assistants working the World Cup.

In addition, refereeing officials briefed all teams about the rules, including the potential for players to be cautioned or sent off for abusive language or gestures. "There should not be any surprises to any members of the teams," FIFA spokesman Alex Stone said.

Stone said there was no requirement for referees to know obscenities in languages other than English. "Refereeing is an impossible job, it's a difficult job, and emotions run high on both teams," U.S. goalie Tim Howard said. "So we've been warned to keep our emotions in check and watch our mouths, and I'm sure we're going to try to the best of our ability to do that. I don't think it will go 100 percent as planned. "But we have a lot of respect for the referees, so there won't be any problem from our end."

Wayne Rooney received a yellow card during England's warmup match against South African club Platinum Stars on Monday for swearing at the referee. "In this day and age I think it's important to show the referees some respect," England captain Steven Gerrard said Thursday. "You don't use any language because then you'll be booked and the whole team suffers. You don't want to fall into that trap ...We've had experience of losing big players at important times."

So the question is, will Wayne Rooney, Steve Gerrard and Jamie Carragher be able to tame their 'inner scouse'?

A little ESPN coverage that UK readers may find interesting

2010-06-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

England v USA - result already in...watch it here now

2010-06-09T07:00:00.006-07:00

So with exactly 2 days to go the start of the World Cup and 3 days till the kick-off of the "biggest game in US soccer history" (to quote an ESPN annouincer last night!), if you had plans for Saturday morning/afternoon/ night (depending on where you are in the world) you are now free to mow the lawn, paint the walls, or even go to the mother-in-law's for dinner.

EA Sports have run a simulation of the England v USA game, and the match has already been decided! Will it turn out this way, you be the judge...? There is one fatal flaw, see if you can spot it...

3 days to go...are you ready?

2010-06-08T10:01:00.003-07:00

Less than 3 days to go...and it's getting very exciting! I'm about to go out and hire a 2nd DVR from our cable provider (just for a month!) so I can record all the games on a second TV, and therefore keep the mrs happy! If you're married, and a sport's fan then you'll know that Happy Wife = Happy Life!! Kick-off times are reasonably civilized for those of us on Pacific time - most games are 11.30am, or 7.00am, but unfortunately some start at 4.30am - and so the DVR will come in very handy!

I'm dusting off the various England t-shirts and tops I've accumulated over the years, including a few specially purchased new ones! I think I have enough for a different shirt for 7 games - wow that's enough to take me all the way to the final! Sorted...ah but then I have to think about the superstition element - what if they play well when I'm wearing one particular shirt? Should I keep using that one...it's vital to England's success! And what about boxers...one lucky pair or seven...?

What other preparations?? The beer fridge is full and chilling nicely! Oh, and apparently the mrs is out buying wine...hope she's not expecting to get it in the fridge! :)

My diary already contains all possible dates that England will be playing, all the way through to the final (or heaven forbid - 3rd/4th place play-off). If they make it to the Quarters, we'll be in Las Vegas for a meeting so we booked an extra night so as not to be travelling during game time - I'm pretty sure I won't find Radio Five Live for radio commentary in the car driving through the Arizona/Nevada deserts...

The Union Jack flag is being prepared (unfortunately I don't have a St George's flag!) and that will be draped from an upstairs window (out of reach of those troublesome Yanks!) before every England game, but especially for this Saturday's face-off against those with whom we have a special relationship! Just not this weekend! A picture will follow! NEWSFLASH - Just discovered I do have a St George's flag - the current Mrs Rowe reminded me when digging out her Argentina flag...! Result, other than the Argentine flag that we may also have to display on occasion!!

So I think I'm ready...are you?

11 from 300 million...easy pickings?

2010-06-07T18:59:00.001-07:00

OK, so soccer is not the national sport here in the US, but there are a lot of people who enjoy and are knowledgable about the game on this side of the 'pond'. To those of you reading this in the UK, don't under estimate the US team this Saturday. It was back in 1950 that the “miracle on grass” occurred when USA beat England, the US wearing blue and England wearing white …those are their colours again this Saturday...

With a country of 300 million plus people, soccer can afford to be less popular than the UK, as they have 5 times as many people to work with! What do I mean by that? Well to come up with 11 decent players is five times easier for the US than it is for England! In fact it's more than that, as 60 million is the population of the UK, not just England.

Personally I still think that the likely outcome is a draw, and I don't think that would be a bad result for either team, as I expect both to emerge from the group.

Watch this fan made trailer, and you'll see that the US is not a team to be taken lightly...

England World Cup Songs! Oh dear!

2010-06-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

So I was randomly thinking about football songs tonight, and wondering what this year's England song is...unfortunately after a few minutes I discovered it was this...So I went searching for a few others... enjoy, if that's the right word!

If you're American and wondering what all the fuss is about, this should demonstrate the insanity in the UK round about now - just 5 days before the start of the competition.

And here's another one that's not much better!

This was the 'official' 2006 England World Cup song from Embrace, also pretty weak!

And I came across this one from 2006! Dreadful, but quite funny!

Remember Fat Les from 1998 - Vindaloo! Brilliant!

1990's classic from New Order...World in Motion

And saving the best for last, if you made it this far! But with a 2010 twist...listen out for Robbie William's dulcet tones joing Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightening Seeds...

Careful now...

2010-06-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

In 7 days, almost to the minute as I write, England will be kicking off their World Cup adventure against the USA. So this time next week, the beers will be cold, the big screen TV will be cranked up with the surround sound blaring, England shirts on...hoping for the best.

So I know I'll be there (in spirit!), but the question is how many stars will actually make it to the finals...? The list of big names likely to be absent is growing; a rash of injuires over the last few days, added to previous casualties, has put a lot of big names out, or in doubt.

David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand - England

Didier Drogba - Ivory Coast

Jon Obi Mikel - Nigeria

Michael Essien - Ghana

Arjen Robben - The Netherlands

Michael Ballack - Germany

Andrea Pirlo - Italy

I can't help thinking that some players may start to take it a bit easier in training over the coming days for fear of the same thing happening to them! Where's Rooney? Pass me that big bag of cotton wool!

Could this be Heskey's most telling contribution?

2010-06-04T08:37:00.005-07:00

With one week to go, has the England curse returned? England could be without their captain Rio Ferdinand after reports suggest he could be ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a knee injury in training.

The 31-year-old centre-back had a scan after hurting his left knee following a challenge with Emile Heskey during Friday's first training session. He is on crutches and getting a second opinion but a Football Association source has told the BBC "it's not looking good".

The FA is due to confirm the seriousness of Ferdinand's injury later and make a statement. Tottenham's Michael Dawson is on stand-by to be recalled to the squad, but the question is who would partner John Terry in Rio's absence? West Ham's Matt Upson is the most likely given Capello's recent choices, with Ledley King and Dawson as back-up on the bench.

Arguably Rio hasn't been in the greatest form of his career in a season already plagued by injuries; he only started a dozen or so Premier League games for Man Utd this season. But recently he had enjoyed more consistent playing time and he came through the 2 recent friendlies unscathed.

So the questions I'm pondering are these...

Is this a blow that England's already shaky defence can withstand? Rio's pace makes up for Terry's lack of it, do either of the replacements have that asset?

Are the relatively inexperienced Upson, King or Dawson good enough replacements given the pressure of World Cup football?

Or could it be a positive? Fresh blood and a player in better recent form in the heart of England's defence?

Gerrard would take over the captain's armband; could that responsibility invigorate his recent lacklustre form?

And has Emile Heskey made his most telling contribution to England's World Cup hopes before the tournament even begins?

Your thoughts are welcomes as we wait for the final news on Rio...

PS - Looks like Didier Drogba's out of the Ivory Coast team too; anyone upset about that? What a shame... ;)

Predict your team's progression...

2010-06-03T11:09:00.001-07:00

If you're into the World Cup, and let's face it if you're reading this you probably are, then try your arm at this bracket predictor on ESPN.com. At the very least it allows you to see who your team may line up against if they progress through the group stages...if you're into Fantasy sports games, you can enter a league and get points based on your predictions.

ESPN World Cup Bracket Predictor

My bracket has England winning the group (predictably!), then facing Serbia in the round of 16; then France in the Quarter Finals (for once England will get Irish support!). Should they progress as far as Capello predicts and reach the Semis, I foresee a game with Brazil. And should they reach the final, I predict it will be against Argentina or Spain - that one's too tough to call!

What does your bracket say?

England - Unlucky...or cursed???

2010-06-02T17:58:00.002-07:00

We're nearly into the final countdown folks...The England team left London on Wednesday night, bound for South Africa, hoping that they will be making a triumphant return in 40 days...having broken the curse of English football.

This interesting article on ESPN highlights the 'sod's law' aspect of England's recent World Cup exits, or is it a curse...? Missed penalties, goalkeeping howlers, untimely injuries and the Hand of God have all led to England's exit from the world's greatest stage since 1966.

Rarely have they just been outplayed and we've been able to say, 'fair enough, the better team won!' Just read some of these stories and it will take you back through every agonising moment; it's sadistic, but perhaps just a little bit enjoyable to relive the agony, hoping this time, more than any other time, this time, we're going to find a way...

Get ready, the emotional rollercoaster is just days away...
Read the ESPN article here

Bonus points if you can give me the year of the England World Cup song that those last few lines/lyrics were taken from...

Decision made...now go and win it...

2010-06-01T12:55:00.003-07:00

So it's been announced...England's 23-man squad for the World Cup finals. And obviously Fab and I (that's Mr Capello to you) had differing ideas of who should stay and who should go!

Walcott is the big surprise, especially as he was deemed good enough to go to Germany 4 years ago by Sven even though he had never played a Premier League game for Arsenal at the time. Now with 4 years playing experience behind him, the 'Fabster' thinks he's not quite making the grade. Personally he runs a bit hot and cold for me, but I probably would have had him on the bench instead of Mighty Mouse - Wright Phillips.

So how did my predictions fare? Bent, Huddlestone, Dawson, Warnock, Carrick, Milner, Heskey - Well only 3 out of my 7 got the red card, so pretty poorly if truth be told... We'll see who was right, I hope it's Capello!

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).
Defenders: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).
Forwards: Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

The players come from just 8 different teams, and all players play in the English Premier League. Spurs and Chelsea supply the most with four players each...

Aston Villa - 3
Chelsea - 4
Liverpool - 3
Manchester City - 3
Manchester Utd -3
Portsmouth - 1
Tottenham - 4
West Ham - 2

One thing to note - out of the supposed 'big 4', not one Arsenal player - Thanks for helping develop the English game Mr Wenger!

Lionel Messi: England are favourites to win

2010-05-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

Lionel Messi suugested this week that England are one of the three favourites in South Africa. When the best player in the world speaks, people listen. Messi's elevation above the ranks of mere mortals in football boots during the past 12 months has earned him the right to be respected for his opinions as well as his body swerve.

Messi said: 'I think that, right now, the strongest sides going into the World Cup are Spain, England and Brazil. England had a strong, easy qualifying and are very tough.'

Whether that means people back in England will raise national expectations further is open to question. After all, great players do not always make great coaches, judges or commentators!

Japan 1 v England 2

2010-05-30T13:15:00.002-07:00

So another apparently unconvincing performance by England, but I can't really comment on the game as I have yet to watch it (it's sat on the DVR waiting for me). But not that the result of these games matter because they are, after all, glorified experiments, but England have been winning ugly and that is good for confidence running into a big tournament.

The question now is who will make the plane? Capello says he already knows the 23 he will take, but do you? Here's my guess of the 7 that will get the dreaded phone call on Tuesday morning telling them to go enjoy the summer and go on holiday with the WAGs.

Bent, Huddlestone, Warnock, Carrick (if Barry is fit), Milner, Dawson, Heskey (I would send him home, but Rooney does play well with him, so he may stay for that reason...)

Joe Cole insists England having a successful World Cup is more important than his own battle to be part of the final squad. Cole is sweating on his place for South Africa but came off the bench as a second half substitute to set up the equaliser in today's 2-1 win over Japan in Austria. I would take Cole because he has World Cup experience, and he does have individual skills and trickery that England haven't really seen since Paul Gascoigne 10 or 15 years ago.

When asked about his selection, or non-selection Cole said: "Do I have any nerves? You've got to be pragmatic about it. I came here 10 days ago to try to enjoy my time back here, train well, and it's in the manager's hands about the squad. There are a lot of players who will be hoping, a lot of players have got a good case. But, whatever happens, we are all right behind England and hopefully this will be our time."

"Have I done enough? I don't want to go into that," he said. "I came here 10 days ago. I had a good finish to the season, I wasn't starting but I was having an impact coming off the bench. I came here and did my thing and I've enjoyed it because it has been such a long time. Croatia was my last game and I ended up with 10 stitches in my head. It is just nice to be back around the lads and it feels great."

Cole added: "I don't know what I will do on Tuesday. I've never been in this position. I don't know. It is a funny atmosphere. There is nothing you can do. We've done everything we can do, we've trained hard, everyone has had an excellent week's training and that's all you can do. I'll wake up, have my breakfast and there we go..."

Decision time nears for Capello

2010-05-30T01:01:00.000-07:00

So there is one game left, and about 48 hours or so before Fabio Capello will make seven telephone calls to end the hopes of seven young men. According to the England manager he already knows 20 of the men he will be taking to South Africa.

"I more or less know," Capello said. "Not 23 but maybe 20. It will be disappointing when I have to tell some of the players that they must go home because all the players here have trained really well. I am really happy with their focus and the job they have done. But I have to choose."

The rest face Japan in Austria on Sunday knowing they have one last chance to shine and press their case for inclusion. The most likely candidates for the axe include Michael Dawson, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Scott Parker. Tom Huddlestone and Darren Bent both start against Japan knowing a failure will probably end their hopes too.

Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock are disputing the right to be Ashley Cole's understudy at left-back, while Joe Cole and Adam Johnson would appear to be scrapping over the remaining berth for left midfield, probably off the bench.

Interestingly Capello has said that he won't be consulting his captain or other experienced players when making his final selection. "No. I won't talk to the senior players," he said. "If I lose I want to know it has been because of my decisions." I like that - bravery - buck stops here...

As for Gareth Barry, we still wait and see..."Barry has improved a lot. The last news was good," said Capello. "But we have to wait and see what the doctor says. After that, we will know if he will be fit in a short time and ready to train with us, or whether he won't be ready.

"He has to be able to train normally the day after the first game. He is doing a lot of physiotherapy to get the movement going and is following what the doctor says. But I don't know if he is running yet."

USA 2 v 1 Turkey...next up England

2010-05-29T15:43:00.004-07:00

The US team played their final friendly game prior to the World Cup today and enjoyed a come from behind 2-1 victory over Turkey. Their next game...England on June 12th in South Africa...

As an England football supporter living in the US, I think we underestimate this team at our peril. On our best day, England should beat the USA, but when have England ever showed up with their 'best day' in the first few games of a World Cup? The US team has a few very good players, and admittedly quite a few very average players, but I think I'd take a draw in the game and rely on beating Slovenia and Algeria to top the group.

Watch some brief highlights here on ESPN

US team gets Presidential send off...

2010-05-28T08:48:00.005-07:00

The US World Cup squad met President Obama, President Clinton and Vice President Biden at the White House yesterday for an official send off as they depart for the World Cup.

President Obama had been planning on attending the event in South Africa, but sadly fears by the South African security team that his protection would spreadtheir resources too thin meant it was deemed it unsafe; so VP Biden is going instead! I guess he's expendable!! The Vice Presidents get all the rough deals don't they? Did the Queen give Capello and the English boys a tea party at the Palace??

Ssshhh...

2010-05-26T17:41:00.006-07:00

Something struck me as I was walking around my local Safeway here in Arizona earlier this week; try as I might I couldn't see a World Cup promotional item anywhere. I can guarantee that in every supermarket, sports pub, and store in England, you won't be able to move for football promotions, prizes, giveaways and gimmicks. Not so over here...sshhh...don't tell anyone, but the biggest sporting event in the world is only 15 days and 12 hours away!

Admittedly the hype can get a bit much back in England - a bit like the fact that the run-up to Christmas now starts shortly after Easter! But a little retail enthusiasm would be nice! Yes, ESPN are promoting the arse out of the tournament, but I do seem to be missing out on the general excitement and eternal optimism that will be floating around stores and shopping malls back over the pond in the home of football about now.

Where are the beer promotions? Buy 16 cases and get a free plastic football worth 99p. Where are the piles of Coke and Crisps? These wonderful promotions promising me that if I put on 20lbs during the course of the World Cup, I'll qualify for a free (fake, knocked off) England shirt that won't fit me because I seem to have loaded up on carbs the previous 3 weeks!

Where are the Rooney face masks in the papers? I'd settle for a Landon Donovan one? Where are the posters to put on the wall and write in the results? The fun of tracking your team's progress and plotting who they might meet in the Semi-finals, if only Ghana were to beat Serbia, and Japan draw with Cameroon, meaning that Nigeria will finish above Greece and give England a chance of avoiding Argentina until the semis...you know what I'm talking about don't you; well you will if you're English...!

You see at this moment in time, everyone still has a chance! The USA still harbours hopes of winning; England could be World Beaters; even Wales and Scotland would still be excited, had they qualified! That's where the excitement comes from! Anything is possible until the first kick-off, when most of us will come down to earth with a bump!

So for now, I'm off out to explore and try and track down a flag, a pennant, a retail display of any significance that would indicate that the world is about to watch 64 Superbowls over the space of 30 days!

England 3 v Mexico 1

2010-05-25T10:15:00.005-07:00

The result was welcome - Mexico are ranked 17th in the World - but the performance was less so, just 18 days before the important one. So what did we learn?

Robert Green did himself no harm in goal, for that matter nor did Joe Hart, although he had less to do in the second half than his rival did in the first. Although I do think David James will be number one, I suspect Green has solidified himself as the #2 keeper.

Defense was hard to measure - it was definitely shaky in the first half, but I think the addition of John Terry and Ashley Cole (rested after the Cup Final) to Rio and Glen Johnson (great goal!) will solidify it. I think Leighton Baines wilted under the pressure, proving he remains very much the understudy to Cole. Carragher will go I think; he has the versatility to cover at full back or centre back, and versatility is vital at the World Cup. Ledley King did himself a favour with the goal, but I don't think we will know his fate until the game on Sunday when I'm sure we'll see how Dawson peforms, for the right to be Terry/Ferdinand's understudy.

I think Carrick may have played himself off the plane with another disappointing performance, whereas Theo Walcott looked sharp on the right and can book his seat on the safari right now. Gerrard was a different player in the second half; perhaps losing the headband helped, but more likely the switch back into central midfield was the difference. Huddlestone is not international class in my book, so I think he'll miss the boat this time. For me Joe Cole has more to offer off the bench, and with Lampard and (hopefully) Gareth Barry to come back in, the right of midfield remains the only real question mark. Walcott looked sharp, Lennon was OK, if not inspiring, and we didnt see Wright-Phillips - maybe we will on Sunday in the final warm up against Japan.

Up front Rooney doesnt look quite right; 1 goal in his last 7 games, as opposed to 10 goals in the previous 7 games, is concerning. Hopefully he'll continue to get fitter in the next 2 weeks. Crouch does what Peter Crouch does - right place, right time. Set up the first goal, bundled in the second and continues his remarkable goal scoring record for the most ungainly footballer you will ever see in an England shirt! And Jermaine Defoe - disappointing...again. But where else does Capello turn? Bent has a hamstring issue, so that leaves Heskey? That for me is the worry - if Rooney doesn't fire, who else can we turn to? That was the problem Utd faced in the closing weeks of the season.

England will face sterner tests than Mexico (possibly not in the group stages) but they certainly need to plug some gaps and fill some holes if they are to overcome likely second round opponents Germany, Serbia or Ghana.

My starting 11 (as of now)

James

Johnson

Ferdinand

Terry

A Cole

Barry

Walcott

Lampard

J Cole

Gerrard

Rooney

On the bench:

Greene

Carragher

Baines

Dawson

Upson

Johnson

Lennon

Defoe

Crouch

Wright-Phillips

On the plane home:

Carrick

King

Bent

Milner

Huddlestone

Warnock

Something to be scared of...

2010-05-24T09:42:00.010-07:00

With just under 18 days to go now, Diego Maradona, coach of the Argentina team, has made a frightening statement that if true could have a great impact on the destination of this summer's World Cup trophy. What did he say that should send a shiver down the spine of 31 other national team managers? Simply... "Messi is better than me!"

Lionel Messi is often criticised as an under-performer when playing for his country; but according to his national team manager, he is a better player than Maradona was when he pretty much single-handedly won the World Cup for Argentina in 1986.

Should Messi be able to reach the heights of Maradona's performances in Mexico in 1986, then Argentina with all their other talent could be a very hard team to beat when it all kicks off in 17 days and about 20 hours! Unfortunately if Argentina were to win, I'd never hear the end of it from my wife and her family in Patagonia!

Read the full article here on ESPN Soccernet

In the meantime I'm looking forward to England kicking off their warm-up match against Mexico in a couple of hours; if you're in the US you can watch it live on Fox Soccer Channel at 3pm Eastern/Noon here in Arizona. Here's hoping for a solid performance, and more importantly no injuries!

19 days...but where next....

2010-05-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

The video below is an interesting US perspective from TV host/comedian Drew Carey on the World Cup vs the Superbowl, and why the World Cup should come back to the USA in 2018 or 2022. Personally I think we have a good chance of England hosting it in 2018 and the US in 2022. That would be a right result personally, especially if Phoenix has an MLS team and a super-dooper indoor soccer stadium by then!!

FIFA likes to rotate the World Cup around continents. From 1958 (Sweden), FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe; this pattern continued until 2002 when the Finals were hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan. This was the first World Cup to be held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts. Next month South Africa will become the first African nation to host the World Cup. And in 2014, the competition will return to South America (Brazil) for the first time since 1978 (Argentina). This will be the first time that consecutive World Cups will be held outside Europe.

In October 2007, FIFA ended the continental rotation policy. Instead the last two tournament host confederations are ineligible, which means African nations are ineligible for 2018 and South America are ineligible for both 2018 and 2022. Personally I think that gives Europe (basically England) a more than fair chance of winning in 2018, and consequently the US a great chance in 2022 (as Europe & South America will be ineligible), unless they take it back to Asia, or even Australisia!

In recent years, and by recent I mean the ones I can remember, South America had it in 1978 (Argentina), Europe in '82 (Spain), the Americas again in 1986 (Mexico), Europe again in 1990 (Italy), North America had it in '94 (USA), Europe again in '98 (France), Asia in 2002 (Japan/S Korea), Europe again in 2006 (Germany) and now Africa in 2010 (South Africa).

The decision for 2018 and 2022 will be made by FIFA on 9 December of this year!

Anyway, listen to what Drew Carey thinks with unfortunately just a little arrogance creeping in!

Write the future - Nike!

2010-05-22T07:00:00.005-07:00

This Nike gem was brought to my attention recently, thank you Jane! Three minutes and worth every second! Highlights include a fat Wayne Rooney living in a caravan, and Homer Simpson with Christiano Ronaldo, oh and Kobe Bryant even gets in on the act! Brilliant!

Again, note that Nike isn't an official World Cup sponsor, but because of their player and kit deals, there is nothing to stop them running ads around the World Cup as long as they don't use the FIFA brand or World Cup trademark. Ambush advertising!

Enjoy, and pay attention, you may need to watch it twice to catch everything!

3 weeks and counting...

2010-05-21T07:30:00.001-07:00

Only three weeks to go to the start of the World Cup Finals; and the latest FIFA rankings may tell us who the favorites are...

Brazil (1st) have retaken the top spot from Spain (2nd), with Portugal (3rd). The reigning World Champions Italy are in 5th, while England (8th) have been overtaken by Argentina (7th). The USA have risen to 14th. Other notables include England and the USA's other group opponents Algeria (31st) and Slovenia (23rd), while hosts South Africa are 90th...not much chance of a 'home win' there I feel!

So according to form, England should exit at the quarter finals (no surprise there!) and the USA should make it out of the group stages to the second round... Both are distinct possibilities...

You can see the full list here

Argentina...Argentina...Argentina!

2010-05-20T16:50:00.009-07:00

Argentina coach Maradona held his first training session with his World Cup squad on Thursday, and said he had high hopes for the June 11 - July 11 tournament in South Africa. Note that this picture isn't from the training session!

"Our World Cup starts today because we start work with 17 players. We have high hopes," said Maradona, who led Argentina to FIFA World Cup glory in 1986.

Maradona was without five players for his first trip onto the paddock with his South Africa-bound squad. Sergio Aguero played in Wednesday's Spanish Cup final for his club Atletico Madrid, while Inter Milan duo Walter Samuel and Diego Milito, and Bayern Munich's Martin Demichelis are all in Madrid ahead of Saturday's UEFA Champions League final. Clemente Rodriguez and Juan Sebastian Veron were to play for Estudiantes later today.

Two-time champions Argentina were drawn alongside Nigeria, UEFA EURO 2004 champions Greece and 2002 semi-finalists South Korea in Group B and begin their campaign against the African side on 12 June.

Of course I'm married to an Argentine gal, so I kind of/sort of have to "cheer" them on these days, unless they are playing England OBVIOUSLY, but it's tough to forgive and forget this from (can you believe) 24 years ago! You'll notice the commentator for the second goal is Martin Tyler who will be commentating on ESPN this summer.

And this is how the Argentine commentator described the secong goal! Football is religion in Argentina, so the commentators do tend to get a bit carried away! It's just not the way and Englishman would do it! To my lovely wife and Argentine in-laws, I hope your team does well this summer, just not as well as mine!

A Scot backing England? Well done SAF

2010-05-19T15:46:00.016-07:00

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has backed the USA to do well at next month's World Cup™ finals in South Africa - just not as well as England.

The United States open their Group C campaign against Fabio Capello's England in Rustenburg on 12 June before playing Slovenia and Algeria, and while Ferguson believes the Americans could go a long way in the tournament, he added that he is not expecting them to start their run to the latter stages until after their first game.

"In the group they're in with England and Algeria, it's not beyond them to qualify," Ferguson said during a press conference in New York to publicise Manchester United's summer tour to North America. "England will be very, very motivated under Capello. Capello is a really outstanding coach.

"Of course, he has some issues what his team is going to be to start with, but they will be difficult to beat. If [the US] can survive after that in terms of the next two matches, they have a very good chance at qualifying. In fact, I think they will qualify," he said.

Ferguson, whose side will face a Major League Soccer All-Star team in Houston, Texas, on 28 July as part of a four-game tour through Canada and the US, pointed to Fulham's Clint Dempsey and MLS 2009 player of the year Landon Donovan as the players to watch in Bob Bradley's squad.

"You know, they've proved themselves in previous World Cups. Donovan, Dempsey, have some experience of being there before," he said. "I don't think they're going to be overwhelmed with the atmosphere of the World Cup, the importance of the World Cup, the intensity. I think that will be easy for them. I think they'll be used to that. Those players have that, Donovan, Dempsey. Dempsey has had a great season in England this year. They are very athletic, they apply themselves very well, and are difficult to play against."

Backing Henry in the MLS

Ferguson also tipped former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry to be a great success in MLS should the France striker's expected transfer from Barcelona to the New York Red Bulls be completed.

"He was an outstanding footballer with Arsenal," the Manchester United manager said. "He was the best player. He had incredible speed and his goal scoring was exceptional. When he moved to Barcelona, that continued, although I think that Barcelona's team, as it's proved now in the last year or two, he found it difficult on that team.

"What you're getting with Thierry Henry is enormous experience and presence. I would not say he's deteriorated by any means. He's still a very competent player. He doesn't have the brilliant pace he had five years ago, but he's still quick and he's experienced. I think that when players get older, they know how to use speed better, their timing is better. I think he'll be a success here, I have no doubt in my mind about that," he also said.

Reproduced Courtesy of FIFA

The World Cup on ESPN

2010-05-18T15:44:00.019-07:00

Some great news if you're watching the World Cup over here Stateside; we'll have some decent match commentary as Martin Tyler and Andy Gray have signed up with ESPN to provide the in-game call and analysis...much better than those goons on FSC...

OK, so they're not John Motson, but Tyler and Gray are possibly the best football commentary team since Motty hung up his sheepskin coat after Euro 2008. Check out some classic John Motson quotes below these two videos...

And if you're not in the States, I thought you might be interested to see how ESPN are promoting their coverage...

In case you were wondering, John Motson was a legendary English commentator who worked for the BBC and delivered these memorable quotes, among others...

And Seaman, just like a falling oak, manages to change direction.
Brazil - they're so good it's like they are running round the pitch playing with themselves.

I think this could be our best victory over Germany since the war.

It looks like a one man show here, although there are two men involved.

It's Arsenal 0 - Everton 1, and the longer it stays like that the more you've got to fancy Everton.

Nearly all the Brazilian supporters are wearing yellow shirts - it's a fabulous kaleidoscope of colour.

Not the first half you might have expected, even though the score might suggest that it was.

That shot might not have been as good as it might have been.

The goals made such a difference to the way this game went.

The match has become quite unpredictable, but it still looks as though Arsenal will win the cup.

The World Cup is a truly International event.

There is still nothing on the proverbial scoreboard.

24 days...

2010-05-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

Grab you bag...it's on...24 days to go and the England team have arrived in Austria to start altitude training....

England Team arrive for training camp

Oh Ballacks!

2010-05-17T11:24:00.004-07:00

So it's not just an English curse then? Germany captain Michael Ballack is out of the World Cup following an ankle injury sustained in Saturday's FA Cup Final victory over Portsmouth.

For any number of World Cup Finals in the past, there's always been a key England player or two injured in the run-up to the tournament - Beckham, Owen, Rooney, Robson... So while it brings me no joy (OK - maybe a little!) to see the Germany captain out of the competition, it certainly makes a change for another country to be getting the headlines on injuries.

The fact that Ballack was injured by a player born in Germany, who played for the German under 21 team, but who has now chosen to represent Ghana the country of his father's birth, will add to the German conspiracy theorists. Why? Because Ghana and Germany are in the same group and will face each other in what could be a decisive third game on June 23. Had Rooney been injured by a Slovenian or an Algerian, I'm sure English fans would be saying the same!

Ballack out - Read the views of a German tabloid paper

Becks - What a top bloke!

2010-05-15T07:00:00.004-07:00

Enjoy this 6 minute BBC interview with David Beckham as he reflects on missing the World Cup, what he thinks he can still offer the England team, and when he'll return to the Galaxy...

It's a real shame that he will miss the competition through injury; personally I think he still has a lot to offer on the right hand side of England's midfield. Certainly none of his successors have done an outstanding job and would take his place automatically in my team. If he had been fit, and he surely would have been picked for the squad if so, then he would have been the first Englishman to play in 4 World Cup Finals.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8645556.stm

Ahhh the memories of 2006

2010-05-14T10:08:00.003-07:00

27 days 21 hours to go...or put differently, this time in 4 weeks the World Cup will be underway with the first match just about wrapping up!

After yesterday's education/reminder of what the World Cup is all about, here's a compilation of the best bits from the last World Cup Finals, held in Germany in 2006. This should whet your appetite for the competition...and imagine your team lifting the trophy at the end!

How many of these moments had you forgotten about? Joe Cole's stunning volley for England, and what about Zidane's headbutt in the final, what a way to end such a storied career!? To put that moment in perspective for American readers, imagine Michael Jordan headbutting an opponent during Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the last ever game of his career, and being sent off (ejected) and costing the Bulls the Championship! What a wierd game that was! Let's hope this years Final isn't decided by penalties, and that England spank Argentina 3-0; ok, let's make it 4-0 to calm the nerves!

Be sure to click on 480p, rather than 360p, at the bottom of the video for better quality and have your volume turned up; the Black Eyed Peas add to the 'carnival'!

Soccer...for dummies...

2010-05-13T08:30:00.002-07:00

Now don't take this the wrong way America, but I appreciate that football (as the rest of the world describes soccer) is not your most popular sport...hey, I don't understand how the NCAA basketball tournament works so we're even, so I thought this might be a useful link for you to play catch up on what the whole world is starting to talk about...

And as far as my title goes, check out the link below, this guide really is brought to you by the 'Dummies' people...

For the rest of the world, you will/should know all this, so just indulge me as I bring our American cousins up to speed. After all, the USA does play England in our opening game on June 12th, so we'll need to be all clued up if we're going to suitably rude to each other come match day...

ESPN 2 is a must have channel by the way if you want to watch the World Cup stateside...preferably in HD!

The Basics of the World Cup (for Dummies!)

Wayne Bridge was nearly on the phone...

2010-05-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

For a while there, it seemed that John Terry's World Cup may have been over before it began...and that meant Wayne Bridge would have been on the phone to Fabio Capello in a heartbeat I'm sure...

But it appears that Terry has not broken a metatarsal in his foot and should be fit to play; sorry Wayne, looks like you'll be staying at home with the ex-girlfriend after all!!

Terry's World Cup fears eased

Out with the old...

2010-05-12T08:30:00.003-07:00

No Beckham or Owen for England, no Ronaldinho for Brazil, no Ruud van Nistelrooy for Holland, no Luca Toni or Francesco Totti for Italy, no Patrick Viera for France...the old superstars are moving on and it's time for the likes of Messi and Rooney to make their mark on the world stage.

If you're English you won't be able to forget Ronaldinho's shot/cross (you decide) that knocked England out of the 2002 World Cup at the Quarter final stage...I won't be sorry if he doesn't make the plane...just in case we come up against Brazil again...

30 days and counting...

2010-05-11T16:27:00.002-07:00

I've been away but I'm back...hopefully with something interesting to say or share everyday from now until the World Cup! You'll notice the World Cup Countdown clock and so with 30 days and 15 hours or so till kick off, it's time to get excited about the upcoming 'festival of football'!

Today's news...The provisional squads are starting to be announced; the final squads of 23 players will be trimmed down just a couple of weeks before the tournament begins, but for now most players are learning what they'll be up to this summer.

The England squad has been announced; the midfield is strong as usual, but concerns for me are in goal, and up front. If Terry, Ferdinand, Cole and Johnson remain fit, then I think that's a strong defence, but with 'Calamity' James the best of the bunch between the posts, ummm...a little worried. On his day, a great shot stopper, but he does have those 'moments' doesn't he!

Up front we do have a match winner in Rooney, but his recent run of injuries is a little concerning. Crouch does appear to be a super-sub, but Bent, Defoe and Heskey have still to prove themselves as international goalscorers. Heaven forbid anything happens to Rooney, otherwise we'll be relying on Gerrard and Lampard weighing in for goals from midfield. What are your thoughts...?

Provisional England squad:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Spurs), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Spurs), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Man City), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Spurs), Adam Johnson (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Spurs), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Spurs), Jermain Defoe (Spurs), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)

C'mon ENGLAND!

Sol comes out in Portugal

2010-02-17T17:05:00.002-07:00

Sol Campbell was at the centre of the most amazing events in this Champions League tie on a bittersweet night in Porto for the centre-half.

Harry Harris hails Sol Campbell despite the Keystone Kops moments which saw FC Porto take a 2-1 Champions League advantage against Arsenal. What do you think?

Sol Campbell back in the limelight...

Spring is in the air...

2010-02-16T12:24:00.007-07:00

This is a wonderful time of year to live in Arizona - it's 74f outside with wall to wall bright beautiful sunshine! What makes it more wonderful is that MLB Spring Training is just around the corner!

For those of you reading overseas who are not so familiar with Major League Baseball, Spring Training is a month/6 week long 'warm-up' session consisting of a series of practices and exhibition games that precedes the start of the regular season on April 5th.

Spring training allows new players to audition for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warmer climates of Arizona and Florida to enjoy the weather, to get up close and personal to the stars and watch their favorite teams play while sat on grass embankments enjoying a cold beer, warm sunshine in small, cozy stadiums.

The 15 teams that play in Arizona will soon be arriving at the various sites around the Phoenix area, and Tucson. Here's a list of the 15 Cactus League teams...

Arizona Diamondbacks: Tucson Electric Park, Tucson

Chicago Cubs: HoHoKam Park, Mesa
Chicago White Sox: Camelback Ranch, Glendale
Cincinnati Reds: Goodyear Ballpark, Goodyear
Cleveland Indians: Goodyear Ballpark, Goodyear
Colorado Rockies: Hi Corbett Field, Tucson
Kansas City Royals: Surprise Stadium, Surprise
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
Los Angeles Dodgers: Camelback Ranch, Glendale
Milwaukee Brewers: Maryvale Baseball Park, Phoenix
Oakland Athletics: Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Phoenix
San Diego Padres: Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
San Francisco Giants: Scottsdale Stadium, Scottsdale
Seattle Mariners: Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
Texas Rangers: Surprise Stadium, Surprise

The first game is March 3rd, and the last is April 3rd. I plan on getting out to a few games again this year, especially as the Mrs is out of town for 10 days in March!

Here's the full schedule if you want to make some of the games yourself!

Cactus League 2010 Schedule

Premier League Play-Offs? What next...Cheerleaders?

2010-02-15T21:38:00.005-07:00

I came across an interesting concept today that I thought I'd share; the idea that the 4 teams who finish 4th through 7th in the English Premier League play off for the 4th Champions League spot. It will never happen, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless.

If today was the end of the season this format would pitch Liverpool, Spurs, Man City and Aston Villa into a mini-competition at the end of the season...

So what are the pros?

More revenue for the clubs in question and the EPL.
An opportunity for someone other than Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd to qualify. (Did you know that these same four clubs have filled the top four positions in five of the past six seasons. Only Everton, in 2005, have broken their stranglehold.)
TV coverage of more exciting, meaningful games. The Championship Play off final (to win a place in the Premier League) is often one of the most exciting games of the year for the neutral fan.
Mid table mediocrity could become a thing of the past; if you're in 10th/12th place in April, and still have a shot at 7th, the last 6 weeks of the season take on new meaning.

And the cons?

Extends the already congested season by another week or two; it would be no good in World Cup or European Championship years.
Having weaker teams in the Champions League could jeopardise England's entitlement to 4 Champions League places.
If you support English football and like to see English teams do well in Europe, wouldn't having Villa, Spurs or a team like Birmingham damage the potential for 3 or 4 English teams reaching the Quarters or Semis?
Last year Fulham finished in 7th, a full 19 points behind Arsenal in 4th. Even if you dislike Arsenal, would it be fair for a season's work to be lost in a one-off game to a team who finished that far back? In fact Fulham were only 19 points above relegation! That's how big the gulf in class was...

This year the battle for 4th is more interesting anyway; with the likes of Villa, Citeh and Spurs giving Liverpool and Arsenal a genuine run for their money. But could Play-Offs, a further Americanisation of the Premier League, bring a new dimension to the EPL?

Personally I'd prefer the introduction of Cheerleaders, a much better American invention!

Where are the pads and helmets?

2010-02-07T09:07:00.001-07:00

As America prepares to settle in for the big game on this Superbowl Sunday, a few of us ex-pats have been paying attention to another bone crunching encounter that takes place over the pond in Europe every year around this time.

The Six Nations Championship is an annual competition held between England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy. The game played - Rugby Union. It's like a mini European Championship as these are the best 6 rugby playing teams in Europe. They play each other over a 5 or 6 week period with winner being the team with the most wins at the end of the 5 games.

It doesn't get much coverage here in the US, so I thought I'd treat you to a little 5 minute highlight package, courtesy of the BBC, so you can see what Superbowl Sunday may look like without the helmets, pads, cheerleaders and half-time theatrics!! This game was played yesterday between England & Wales. It was the 100th anniversary of the first England - Wales game held at Twickenham - England's home ground in the south eastern suburbs of London.

By the way, the same 15 guys play offense, defense and are allowed to be substituted off and on if they need to get stitched up for a blood injury...why you need 53 players to play American Football is still difficult to comprehend for this Englishman in...Arizona?

Enjoy the highlights, by the way England are in the white, and enjoy the Superbowl!

Glory Glory Man Utd!

2010-01-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Manchester City's plans for world domination might have to wait a little longer...in fact their plan for domination of Manchester will have to wait a little longer after tonight's fabulous Carling Cup second leg defeat at Old Trafford.

A great footballing rivalry inadvertently created a great advert for the mostly ignored Carling Cup, the second cup competition in England after the FA Cup. Man Utd will now go on to face Aston Villa in the final at Wembley on 28 February, while Man City will see how much they can spend in the next 4 days before the transfer window closes!

Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson on tonight's win...

"It's a derby game and you like to win them. There was a lot of spice and at the end there was a special kind of celebration. We stayed patient and looked a threat when we stepped it up. I thought Wayne Rooney produced a world-class performance tonight, he played better than he did on Saturday when he scored four goals. Phenomenal."

A lot was made of Carlos Tevez and his return to Old Trafford; again he played like a man with something to prove, but at the end of the day, this recently amended poster says it all...

Get a full wrap up of the match here...

More evidence...

2010-01-20T14:01:00.003-07:00

This isn't a personal crusade, but I've just come across more evidence to back up my dislike for Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy...(see yesterday's post!) and it's not because he's Welsh...some of my best friends are Welsh, as indeed was my mother!

But take a look at this incident from September last year...outrageous!

While watching the Man Utd v Manchester City derby today, it struck me how much I really dislike Man City striker Craig Bellamy. There's no real reason for it; I've never met the man, he may be delightful in person (although I doubt it) but there's just something about the way he plays, carries himself and behaves on the football pitch that makes want to punch him in the face! And I'm not a violent man!

Others of the same ilk include Lee Bowyer, Robbie Savage, Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Joey Barton...I'm sure there's more...but it's late and it's been a long day...I'd value your views/contributions to the list though...

Anyway, on a slightly related note, I was searching You Tube to see if someone had done this job for me, and came across this slightly crazy ESPN Top 10 list of NHL players you love to hate - never heard of any of them (not being a NHL fan) but these guys would give you a real reason to dislike them - take a look at some of these hits!

Who's your money on?

2010-01-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

So the gig must be up for Rafa Benitez at Liverpool. The TV pundits are all weighing in, as are most media types (and bloggers!), that this must be his last season in charge of the famous old club. As I suggested here on Mostly Balls earlier this week - http://mostlyballs.blogspot.com/2010/01/is-this-end-for-rafa.html - his job is hanging by a thread. He may be gone as soon as next week if they don't get a win this weekend, but if he lasts the season, there can be little doubt that he won't be at the helm of The Reds next August when the new season comes around.

In this interesting article from ESPN Soccernet, they debate his likely successor...? Who's your money on? My crisp $1 bill is placed firmly on Guus Hiddink. Dalglish would be a backward step; I think Mourinho is biding his time to be Sir Alex Ferguson's successor at Utd; Klinsmann won't trade LA for Liverpool (would you?); O'Neill is on a mission at Villa and Rijkaard, well maybe he's an outsider...perhaps 50 cents on him.

Who's your money on? The Anfield Contenders...

Run and Gun offense back in the news...

2010-01-14T20:32:00.002-07:00

An update to the NBA story I blogged about 10 days ago; here's a link to that blog if you didn't see it...

http://mostlyballs.blogspot.com/2010/01/wizards-work-on-shooting-percentage.html

It seems that the superstar 'favoritism' I alluded to doesn't appear to be the case after all. Gilbert Arenas has been suspended by the league, is now facing felony gun charges and faces having his huge $$$ contract voided by the Washington Wizards.

Perhaps being an NBA player doesn't make you above the law after all...

Is this the end for Rafa?

2010-01-13T16:28:00.001-07:00

I don't have much time today, but I couldn't resist this quick thought... Is this the end of the road for Liverpool Manager Rafa Benitez? After another lacklustre performance from his multi-million Pound team, the Reds were dumped out of the FA Cup by lowly Reading FC today.

So following an abysmal EPL season, failing to qualify for the latter rounds of the Champions League, and now losing to a lower division team in the FA Cup, surely the patience of the American owners' of this once proud Football Club must be wearing thin...

This defeat is reminiscent of a famous game at Anfield in 1994 (video below) in which lowly Bristol City sent mighty Liverpool out of the FA Cup; that defeat saw the end of then Liverpool Manager Graeme Souness. I was lucky enough to be at that game, supporting my local team at the time, the mighty Bristol City!

So what money on Rafa being gone before the end of January? And if so, who's next in the hot seat?

Read the BBC match report Liverpool 1 - Reading 2

The Cards rock!

2010-01-10T23:58:00.001-07:00

Possibly the greatest ever game of NFL football was played this evening; the greatest number of points ever scored in one play off game - 96. The most touchdowns ever scored in one play-off game - 13. This game had everything.

For the first quarter it looked like a Cardinals blow-out; then we had a come back from the Green Bay Packers, then like a couple of heavy-weight boxers they traded blows until the game was tied at 45-45. Arizona then get the ball one more time and drive it down the field for a simple 34 yard field goal to win the game with 14 seconds left, and the kicker, Neil Rackers misses it.

Overtime. The Packers win the coin toss and get the ball first - and as the winner in overtime is usually the team that wins the coin toss, bad news for AZ. But one minute into the extra 15, the AZ defence suddenly wakes up and strips the ball from the Packers QB to run it in for a touchdown and the win - 51-45 - beautiful!

A short and sweet description, but watch the highlights for yourself! Breathless!

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d815a5f0c/NFL-GameDay-Packers-vs-Cardinals-highlights

It's just a game...

2010-01-09T13:44:00.005-07:00

Football, for all its passion and fervoured support, is only a game. It's important we remember that, and that's why I think that the national team of Togo is absolutely right to come home, choosing not to participate in the upcoming African Cup of Nations, a football tournament scheduled to start Sunday in Angola, Africa.

If you've not read about this, or seen the news, the Togo team bus suffered a deadly attack on the way to the tournament on friday. An assistant coach, press officer and the bus driver were killed; two players were also shot and injured in the attack.

Their highest profile player Emmanuel Adebayor, team captain and Manchester City striker was on the coach, but was unharmed physically, if not emotionally. On Friday he said many of his team-mates wanted to go home. He told BBC Afrique: "It's a football game, it's one of the biggest tournaments in Africa and a lot of people would love to be in our position but I don't think anybody would be prepared to give their life. If I am alive I can still play football tomorrow and in one year maybe even another Cup of Nations but I am not ready to pass away now."

The Togolese government has instructed the team to return home, abandoning the tournament; you have to wonder if other teams will follow? Hull City Manager Phil Brown has led calls for Premier League players to return to the UK. There are 31 Premier League players in Africa for the tournament. Brown told The Sun: "I have two players on duty and I want them home."

But the question this poses for me, is just how much this incident will have prompted other national teams to reconsider their security preparations for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa this June? I'm sure security was high on the agenda before this incident, you have to wonder now what teams like England, USA and Argentina are thinking...?

World Cup boss Danny Jordaan says the attack will not impact South Africa's hosting of the tournament. "It's nothing to do with it and I think everybody understands it has nothing to do with South Africa," he said, countering concerns that the machine gun attack might persuade fans not to travel to the tournament.

"I don't think the world has ever asked one country to take responsibility for what happens in another country," Jordaan added. "Every country's responsibility is to safeguard the event in their country. Our World Cup is secure and we are confident because we have employed a lot of resources to safeguard the event in our country."

Let's hope so...

Poor Old Saffers!

2010-01-08T10:23:00.001-07:00

Recently this blog has turned it's attentions to basketball, baseball, American football, proper football and even golf; so perhaps it's time to pay a little homage to cricket...not least because England are beating (for the moment at least!) the Saffers in their own backyard.

Trying to explain a game that lasts 5 days and can still end up in a draw to an American audience is a near impossibility; this is a country where draws are unacceptable... overtime or extra innings are played to the death in an effort to establish a victor.

So the premise of a game that can take 5 days, and still come down to the last ball at the very end of the fifth and final day of play will be mystifying to some of you - for that I don't apologize! It's part of what makes this game great!

Without doubt, Cricket (like baseball) can de dull at times, but every now and then you'll get a finish that more than makes up for the intervening periods of dreariness. The Ashes (a battle fought every two years between England and Australia) is often the most intensely exciting cricket for an English fan. But there's something about beating the South Africans (Saffers - if you haven't guessed) that is immensely satisfying!

Possibly it's just because they are a good team, and it's always satisying to beat a good team in front of their own fans no matter what the sport. But more than likely, it's because they're just...South African!

So let me set the scene of this clip from the last day of the 3rd Test Match. England are winning the series 1 game to 0, with one other previous match tied. There is one more match to follow. England are not in a position to win this game, but if they can survive this last over, they will draw the game and prevent the Saffers from tying the series 1-1. With one match to go, a draw would mean that England cannot lose the series, and have a chance going into the last game of winning the series 2-0.

This clip shows the last over (6 deliveries or pitches) of the game. South Africa, the team bowling and in the field, need to get one wicket (out) to win the game. The English have their last (and worst) man batting; in basball parlance they are down to their final out. He needs to survive this over without getting out (protecting the stumps and not getting caught are his main concerns) for England to draw the game and avoid defeat. The tension of the crowd and the players/coaches in the changing rooms shows that cricket sometimes can indeed be nervewracking!

For those of you (Americans!) who have not seen cricket before, notice the absence of gloves with the fielding team, other than the one guy behind the batter. The wicketkeeper (catcher) is the only player who is allowed to wear gloves and pads, other than the batsmen. And notice how close they are standing to the bat in comparison to baseball! Makes you wonder why those baseball players need those mitts!

Enjoy...unless you're South African!

engsa 3-5-5
by meagainah

Basketball...It's just Netball isn't it?

2010-01-07T11:31:00.002-07:00

A lot of people in the UK wonder why NBA Basketball, which according to some (thanks for the idea Newbury UK!) is just a variant of 'Netball', is so popular here in the US.

Netball is a game played predominantly by schoolgirls in the UK - You may have caught it while watching the Olympics, as it's widely played in Commonwealth countries. But never having been a schoolgirl (honestly!), I can't comment on the excitement (or lack of) in Netball, which is essentially the same idea as basketball, but without the dribbling, without the backboard behind the net...and without the bling! Oh and in basketball, a 6 foot 3 white guy (Steve Nash) can look like a short-arse while he would probably stand-out on a netball team!

But the Phoenix Suns are an exciting basketball team; they play with a similar mentality (for those of you in the UK) to Kevin Keegan's Newcastle Utd football team in the 90s. Led by Canadian playmaker Steve Nash (an avid Tottenham Hotspur footy fan), defense doesn't seem to really matter for this team; their attitude is 'we'll just try to score more than you!' and that makes for great games to watch, even if it doesn't make Championship winning teams. They take and make more 3 point shots (that's from a long way out!) than pretty much any other team and play at a 'run and gun' pace that looks exhausting.

For those of you who doubt what I say, watch this 3 minute highlight package from last night's game between the Suns and the Houston Rockets. I didn't see it, but it looks like quite a game, with numerous lead changes and comebacks from both teams when 10-15 points down.

We've got to one game so far this season, but we should really try and get back down there...you can pick up re-sale seats for $15 which is good value for a couple of hours entertainment....Go SUNS! Beats spending $100 (cheap seats!) to watch the Cardinals in the NFL...

If this 3 minutes makes you a fan, follow the Suns at http://www.suns.com/

The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming!

2010-01-06T18:45:00.019-07:00

For the first time in years the New York Yankees are back in Arizona. I may be wrong but I don't think that the Yankees and the Diamondbacks have played in Phoenix since the climactic game of the 2001 World Series. So when the 2010 schedule came out with 3 games on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of June, I had to get tickets. However, the Yankees are so popular that I had to put my name down in a draw for the chance to buy tickets!

Anyway, long story short...I get a call from the Diamondbacks to invite us down to the ball park for a tour and to discuss ticket packages. It seems that you can only get tickets for the 3 Yankee games if you buy a package of tickets. Sensible business!

I have to admit the tour was great; much better than I had anticipated. I thought it might just be a quick visit, followed by a hard sell on the ticket packages. It was neither.

Chase Field is a great complex; it holds about 50,000 fans and the retractable roof (partially open when we were there) allows for the best of both worlds when it comes to the hot Arizona weather. For early season games in April and May, they open the roof and one entire side of the ballpark to give fans an outdoor game experience; then once the heat of summer arrives, they close the roof, turn on the air conditioning and keep 50,000 people in 78f comfort. The roof takes just 4 to 5 minutes to open and the advertising panels either side of the giant HD screen fold back like a concertina to open up one side of the stadium. That screen by the way was the largest in the country (at a baseball stadium, but now is second only to the Kansas City Royals).

This slightly blurred image is the clubhouse, or what we would have called a changing room in the old days! Directly across from where we were standing, the huge facility continues on into a weight room and various training rooms, and they have full indoor batting cages off to the left. We were lucky to get in! As we were walking past the entrance, Peter Woodfork, assistant General Manager of the Diamondbacks said 'hi', asked if we were taking the tour and showed us in. Tours don't normally get access to the clubhouse, so even Duane, our guide, was impressed! Peter told us that star pitcher Brandon Webb was in the clubhouse; he tried to find him to see if we could say hello, but Brandon was working out on one of the treadmills so unfortunately we didn't get to meet him. Still very cool to see the inner sanctum nonetheless!

Next stop was the field, by way of the home dug-out. It was great to see the stadium from this perspective and imagine what it must be like to ply your trade in front of 30/40/50,000 thousand people.

This is possibly the most interesting snippet from the tour. This is the area just down the steps from the dug-out, out of sight of the cameras. The double doors lead towards the the clubhouse; bolted to the wall is the 'frustration tire'! This is where players vent their frustration after a mistake or bad umpiring call, by basically smashing the hell out of the tire! Apparently it saves the light fixtures, pipe work and water fountain from continual repairs. I'm thinking of installing one in the office!

Down on the field, you get a great feeling of the scale of the place. My brief visits to batting cages have shown me how hard it is to hit a fastball, let alone do so with a massive audience watching your every move! It really must make it so much more difficult! Still that's why they get the big bucks and the first class clubhouses I guess!

When the new season starts on April 5th, (I bought a 6 game package by the way) we'll be in the crowd looking down and can now say 'I was there', and when Mark Reynolds disappears from sight after striking out, we'll know that he's gone out back to kick the hell out of the tire! Everyody should have one!

And finally this is what it's all about. The 'World Championship' trophy! I know that us Brits find it amusing that the winners of a competition comprising only 29 American (and 1 Canadian) teams get to call themselves 'World Champions', but let's face it, if they win this trophy they probably are the best team in the world. This is the one and only World Championship trophy that the Arizona Diamondbacks have won, but they've only been in existence 12 years. By contrast, the Yankees won their 27th World Championship just last November. The Diamondbacks won their trophy by beating the Yankees over 7 great games in 2001. I'm looking forward to seeing the re-match in June, although as a supporter of both teams it's difficult to know which cap to wear...literally!

Health & Safety gone mad again in the UK

2010-01-05T22:36:00.003-07:00

Two major football matches were cancelled in England today because of poor weather; snow and below freezing temperatures were responsible. Man City Chief Executive Gary Cook said "We pursued every avenue possible in search of a solution and while the pitch is still playable, what was paramount in our thinking was the safety of fans travelling to and from the game especially in light of the sub-zero temperatures forecast for Wednesday." Can people no longer make their own minds up about what is or isn't safe? Another example of Health and Safety in the UK gone nuts!

Check out this from Buffalo, New York this past Sunday...leave the game on and let the people decide!

How come this NFL game was playable in front of a packed house just 2 days ago? Kick off temperature was 12f/-11c, but with the wind chill it was -2f/-19c, and yet the game went on... At some points, by all accounts, fans couldn't see the other side of the stadium because of the snow...but somehow they managed to get there...and home... Just watch this video and tell me the UK hasn't gone safety crazy!

Wizards work on shooting percentage...!

2010-01-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

2 members of the NBA Washington Wizards alledgedly brought a whole new meaning to the term 'an NBA shoot-around' on Christmas Eve. It's been widely reported that 2 of the team drew handguns on each other in the locker room. According to the New York Post, their premiere player Gilbert Arenas and Jarvaris Crittenden almost turned the Wizards locker room into the OK Corral during a dispute over a gambling debt. Who knows if it is true, but it's quite ironic that the Wizards' owners changed the name of the team from the 'Bullets' in the 90s!

So while the Wizards are not getting it done on the court (Won 10, Lost 21), they are certainly the most exciting off it, with a higher than league average 'shooting percentage' and a pretty decent 'run and gun' offense! How can their TV and radio announcers and commentators ever use those well worn basketball phrases again without a chuckle or two!

The question is, if you or I brought a gun to the workplace (OK, probably not me as I work from home!) wouldn't we get fired instantly? Probably. That's even true here in the wild West (Arizona), where I can happily take a pistol into a bar...as long as I don't have a beer!!

But in Washington DC, the laws are far more intolerant of carrying weapons. In fact, I'm not even sure that you can carry or store a gun in DC unless you are in law enforcement...or now, it seems a player in the NBA.

It seems that these 2 have not been reprimanded by their team or the NBA (yet), and neither have had to face inquiries from law enforcement (yet). But 2 people waving guns at each other could be construed as 'Assault with a Deadly Weapon', if that is indeed what happened. Both players insist that they have done nothing illegal and that the matter has been blown a little out of proportion.

Gilbert Arenas, speaking after a game on Saturday said that he used "bad judgment" in bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room. He also denied that he gambles and said there are misconceptions in the various stories about a dispute between himself and teammate Javaris Crittenton.

I guess we will see if they face criminal charges, team fines or reprimands; but the question is, why do they need guns in the first place? Are they so famous, so important that they need personal protection? I don't know many people who would recognise them off the court. And if they do percieve themselves to be in danger, then surely they can afford professional security or protection? I think, if this story from the Post is at all true, that it's more ego related than anything else...

I assume that this alleged incident is being investigated, but it could prove to be an expensive 'misjudgment' for Arenas. Depending on the outcome of any investigation, the Wizards could invoke a standard NBA player contract clause (on morals and behaviour) and try to void the remainder of Arenas' six-year, $111 million deal. Ouch! That might be more painful than getting shot!

Fully Story on NBA.com

Best sports photos of 2009 - Part 4

2010-01-02T19:13:00.002-07:00

The fourth and final installment of the best sports photos of 'last year' as determined by this blogger at the Boston Globe. Just a couple of things to think about...

#10 - I think it's a woman...earrings...?

#11 - I think I'd claim 'lost ball' and take the penalty...

#17 - Ouch!

Best Sports Photos of 2009 - Part 4

Time to go shopping!

2010-01-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

The January sales are on; and while there won't be many bargains around the Premier League this month, there are a number of clubs who need to do some shopping during the Transfer window.

Not least, in my opinion, Man Utd. I'm still not quite sure how they are still on the shoulders of Chelsea at the top of the Premier league when they haven't really got started yet this year! I still think they lack a cutting edge after Ronaldo's departure; a creative presence in midfield in the mode of Beckham and Scholes, and maybe some steel (remember Roy Keane!) would be welcomed. Cloning a couple of new Wayne Rooneys would help; Wayne 1 could win the ball, pass it off to Wayne 2, and then play a great ball for Wayne 3 to finish it...because let's face it, he can't continue to do it all on his own this season...

After last season's crazy 100 million bid for Kaka by Man City in January, you wonder what those jokers at 'Middle Eastlands' will get up to this month! Rumours already suggest bids for Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Inter Milan defender Maicon; and the Daily Telegraph suggests that City boss Roberto Mancini is close to making Inter Milan defender Ivan Cordoba his first signing. It seems the Italian invasion I predicted a week or two ago is likely, as other rumours include moves to City for Juventus centre back Giorgio Chiellini, Inter Milan forward Mario Balotelli and AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.

The BBC has used its local affiliations well in this report, where they break down the transfer options and gossip on a Premier League club by club basis...

Premier League Movers and Shakers

Interesting snippets from the BBC report - Van Nistelrooy to Liverpool? Viera back to Arsenal? David Villa to Chelsea or Man Utd? Although Chelsea seem to be out of the mix after boss Carlo Ancelotti was quoted as saying "Will we sign anyone in January? Absolutely no way. Will I do a forfeit if we do? Yes, for sure. Will I run around naked in the snow? Yes!"

We shall wait and see...! I'm back to bed after far too little sleep on New Year's Eve! Let me know if I miss anything!