Football News: Weekly Football News Roundup
30/1/10
Höeness: Blatter knows South Africa was a mistake
New Bayern Munich president Uli Höeness has voiced his criticism
at FIFA's decision to award the World Cup to the South African Republic,
and not take it away from it when difficulties became apparent.
"I was never supportive of the idea to stage a World Cup in
South Africa or anywhere in Africa until the security measures are
raised to a higher level. It had to be as Mr. Blatter said, but
I considered that decision wrong from the start," said the
outspoken German.
The World Cup will be held between June 11 and July 11, but Höeness
will not be among the visitors.
"Now that the situation is the way it is now, all must be done
to organize the best possible World Cup. I am sure Blatter has regretted
his decision and that he recognizes it as one of his worst decisions
ever," said Höeness, himself a winner of the 1974 World
Cup with West Germany.
Cristiano Ronaldo's six red card stirs controversy
Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off last Sunday in a Real vs Malaga
league game and received a two-match ban for elbowing an opponent
and breaking his nose. Amazingly, everybody at his club believe
the sending off was a mistake, claiming Ronaldo just wanted to rid
himself of Malaga's Patrice Mtiliga.
The Portuguese said that the red card was "a shame" because
he had "no intention of hitting Mtiliga." According to
the former Manchester United man, the unfortunate injury was a result
of a difference in stature, as Ronaldo is 185 and Mtiliga 172, so
the backstroke landed on the opponent's face instead of on the chest
or somewhere.
Real's director Jorge Valdano also said the referee should have
appreciated the fact that Ronaldo was subject to a foul by Mtiliga
and that his reaction only showed his desire to progress with the
ball.
The Madrid media launched a campaign to persuade the FA's Disciplinary
Committee not to punish Ronaldo with more than a one-match ban.
Marca and As compared Ronaldo's strike with a similar
move by Lionel Messi
last week, when the Argentinian tried to push away Sevilla's Marc
Valiente.
Still, Messi did not hit his opponent, much less injure him, so
the comparisons are really out of place and deeply partisan (Marca
and As openly support Real Madrid).
In Barcelona, people are adamant that Ronaldo was justifiably sent
off and that he should be banned for a couple of games by way of
example.
"The two-much ban is completely just," said Barca's Xavi
Hernández."He waved back his arm and struck Mtiliga
right on his nose. While Messi's gesture was totally unintentional,
I cannot say the same about Ronaldo's."
Taller players punished more often
Two investigators from Rotterdam's Erasmus University analyzed
100,000 fouls awarded in the Bundesliga, the Champions
League and the past three World Cups and came to the conclusion
that taller players are more likely to be ruled as perpetrators
of fouls than their shorter colleagues.
Niels van Quaquebeke and Steffen Giessner have interpreted the findings
in light of evolutionary psychology. Since taller individuals come
off as more aggressive and dominant, referees tend to see them as
being the culprits in an ambiguous foul situation, while shorter
individuals are perceived as victims.
"The taller people are blamed for more fouls than their rivals
of smaller sizes, even in situations when they did not commit any
infraction," wrote the researchers.
This may be the reason why Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off last Sunday
after a skirmish with a shorter Malaga player. Or maybe it was because
Ronaldo broke the guy's nose and sent him to hospital, it's difficult
to tell.
The Scorpion man retires
The swashbuckling Colombian goalkeeper Rene Higuita will no longer
entertain crowds (and sometimes horrify his own fans) with his extraordinary
antics.
The keeper who performed the legendary "Scorpion save"
in 1995 at Wembley
and frequently engaged in dribbling rival players up to the half-way
line said goodbye to soccer at 42 in a farewell game in his native
Colombia. He scored two goals in the match, reminding us of his
offensive affinities that made him famous, along with his dodgy
hairstyle and eccentric saves. He also repeated that Scorpion trick
(lunging headfirst as if to perform a summersault and stopping the
ball with his feet high in the air!), but only after noticing that
the referee had ruled the striker offside.
A skilful ball player, Higuita liked to act as a libero in the mould
of Franz Beckenbauer and go forward at every opportunity, sometimes
with disastrous consequences. In the Italian World Cup 20 years
ago, he tried to dribble past Roger Milla, but lost the ball only
to see the admirable veteran score and take Cameroon to the quarterfinals.
He also spent four months in detention because of his obscure role
in trying to mediate the release of a kidnapped man, which the prosecutors
interpreted as aiding the kidnappers. Luckily, the jail time made
him miss out on the 1994 World Cup in the USA, when the Colombian
fans were particularly intolerant. His teammate Andres Escobar was
shot back home after the Cup, supposedly because of his own goal
that cost Colombia a place in the second round. For all we know,
he could have met the same fate if he had played and engaged in
his habitual crazy moves.
Salvador Cabanas shot and fighting for his life
The extraordinary Paraguayan international Salvador Cabanas was
shot in the head last Monday in Mexico City and his life is in danger.
According to reports, the America striker was attacked by a man
during a showdown in a bar. Allegedly, the man criticised Cabanas'
performances, upon which the player dared him to shoot him...which
he did.
The Paraguayan was operated on with urgency and had two blood clots
removed but the 0.22 bullet was kept in his head, as the doctors
deemed it was not in a position of doing further harm. Four days
after the shooting, the hospital staff are reluctant to give any
firm prognosis regarding Cabanas' survival, qualifying his condition
as severe, but stable.
The striker scored 10 goals in 44 games for Paraguay and was voted
South American player of the year in 2007.
|
