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Sports Thailand

England-Thailand friendly officially cancelled

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The backstory is here. From today’s Bangkok Post:

The England football team has confirmed the cancellation of its friendly match against Thailand in Bangkok in June.

It was to have been the first time the England national side had played in Thailand.

The English Football Association cited scheduling concerns for the withdrawal, but the British press has speculated it is retribution for Thailand’s football boss breaking a “promise” to back England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

The Thailand-England fixture would likely have proved a highly lucrative event and was supposedly agreed in return for the support of Worawi Makudi, president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT).

But Mr Worawi, also a Fifa executive member, chose another candidate at a Fifa committee members vote on Dec 2.

FAT secretary-general Ong-arj Kosinkha confirmed yesterday the English FA had informed Mr Worawi of the cancellation in a letter dated Dec 22.

In the letter, English FA general-secretary Alex Horne said: “I have been informed by [English FA chairman] Sir David Richards that the England national team is not ready to come to Thailand according to the programme that was set earlier.”

(Emphasis mine.)

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Sports Thailand

World Cup bids, England, and the (apparently) cancelled Thailand friendly

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As you’re probably aware, the 2018 and 2022 World Cup host countries were announced on Thursday. Russia won 2018 and Qatar was awarded 2022. There are many fascinating issues to discuss, but given the focus of this blog, I wanted to zero in on one interesting element: the Thailand connection.

Some background: Prior to the vote, much of the Western European media echoed the notion that the front runners for 2018 were Spain/Portugal (home of the scintillating world champions, Spain) and England (home of robust infrastructure and the world’s most popular domestic league).

But Russia — considered by some to be an outsider — won, of course. This may not have been as big an upset as it seems, but it was still surprising to many observers. It’s worth noting that, as I understand it, many within Russia considered their bid to be the strongest all along, chiefly because the World Cup has never been held in Eastern Europe.

The process by which World Cup bids are awarded has been the subject of increasing scrutiny in recent years. Here’s how it works: A 24-man panel — the FIFA executive committee — decides, behind closed doors, which countries will be allowed to host the world’s most-watched sporting event.

Votes are secret, and are cast in an exhaustive ballot system, with several rounds of voting until a winner receives a majority. There is no official transparency, though reports usually emerge, afterward, regarding who voted for which countries.

Allegations of corruption — the idea that votes are bought — have been raised in the past. And significantly, just before this year’s winners were announced, the BBC program Panorama ran a show called “Fifa’s dirty secrets.” So the selection process is murky, confusing, and said to be tainted by back room deals.

On to the Siam connection: Thailand’s Worawi Makudi sits on the FIFA Executive Committee. Competing countries are often thought to secure votes by courting — legally — the loyalty of individual committee members.

In May, England’s Football Association (the FA) announced that the national side would be playing a friendly here in Bangkok in June 2011 — a first-ever meeting between England and Thailand. This remarkable match, combined with the fact that British coaches Peter Reid and now Bryan Robson have coached the Thai national team, have been seen as efforts to curry favor with Thailand in order to secure the vote for England’s 2018 bid.

The England-Thailand game would have drawn a large crowd given the great popularity of the English Premier League among Thai fans and would have presumably been commercially lucrative. But it would have exacted a physical toll on the Three Lions’ players given the long flights in each direction.

So what happened on Thursday?

England finished dead last, receiving just two votes, one of which came from their own representative. The other vote? It didn’t come from Thailand’s Worawi. It’s unclear who he voted for, but it apparently wasn’t England.

The fallout: The Telegraph reported yesterday that England has cancelled the Thailand friendly. Mind you, the story says the FA had received indications some time ago that Worawi wouldn’t be voting for England, so one wonders how much of a shock this really was.

In addition, a word of warning regarding sources: The Telegraph story says that “the FA intends to cancel the fixture,” but there is so far no news of this on the the FA Web site. However, the match is not listed on the fixtures page, though this may be due to the fact that it is — was? — a friendly, not a competitive game.

The Bangkok Post also ran a short piece about the possibly cancelled fixture, but it appears to be merely a summary of the Telegraph story.

For the record, I am not suggesting that anything inappropriate occurred between England’s FA and Thailand or Worawi. But I think the episode illustrates the kind of efforts that FAs undertake to try to secure the backing of executive committee members — and just how tricky and unpredictable the voting process can be.

Issues for another post: Qatar‘s winning 2022 bid (the country’s population is estimated at 840,000, and it covers an area about the size of Connecticut); the prospect of a winter World Cup and/or cooled, open-aired, “carbon neutral” stadiums (don’t miss the artist renderings) to beat the heat; and the U.S.’s failed 2022 bid.

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Sports Thailand

Asian Games: Thailand women win gold in 4×100-meter relay

Some upbeat news for Thailand near the end of what has been a difficult year: The women’s 4×100-meter relay team won a gold metal Friday at the Guangzhou Asian Games.

AP has the details:

Thailand was the surprise winner of the women’s race, clocking 44.09 seconds as they interrupted Chinese dominance of six straight golds in the event. No female sprinters from Thailand finished in the top three of either the 100 or the 200, but that didn’t prevent them putting togther a winning team.

Nongnuch Sanrat flashed a wide smile as she overtook China’s Ye Jiabei in the final leg to give Thailand its first track and field gold in Guangzhou. It was sweet vindication for the 27-year-old Thai after she dropped the baton in the same race at the previous Asian Games in Doha four years ago.

“We lost at the Doha Asian Games and this time we came here for a gold medal,” her 30-year-old teammate Neeranuch Klomdee said. “I have trained for 10 years. Our team trained five days every week and we worked on strength, speed and co-operation.”

(Emphasis mine.)

Here’s a video — embedded below — of the race. Nongnuch’s sprint in the final leg is inspiring indeed. She takes the baton around the 3:20 mark.

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Sports

My very own vuvuzela

Quick note to say this: I am now the proud owner of my very own vuvuzela — the much maligned horn, you’ll recall, that I mentioned in my World Cup roundup last month.

But this isn’t just any vuvuzela, mind you.

My very own vuvuzela

My pal M picked it up for me at the World Cup — you can see that the instrument bears the colors of the South African flag. I am very, very grateful, and the horn is now hanging in a place of honor on my office wall.

And indeed, when tooted, the thing produces an immense buzzing sound, making the immediate area sound not unlike like the inside of a bee’s hive. I can only imagine what a stadium full of droning vuvuzelas must sound like.

It’s another four years until the next World Cup, of course, but the English Premier League season starts again next weekend. Pity the folks who live in my neighborhood…

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Sports

Looking back at the 2010 World Cup

I realize that I’m nearly a week late with this, but following Spain’s 1-0 win over the Netherlands on Sunday, I wanted to share a few brief notes given my previous posts on the World Cup.

Spain: the tournament’s best team

The final match was ugly, but Spain deserved to win — and take home their first-ever World Cup title. They had the most skill, the most cohesion as a team, and superior tactics. And don’t be too perturbed that the final match featured relatively ugly soccer. After all, World Cup finals are often less-than-scintillating affairs.

Oh, and what can you say about pulpo Paul, aka Paul the octopus?

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A look back at my predictions

My predictions were, well…so-so. I thought Brazil, Italy, or Germany — one of the titans of the game — would win. I was wrong. Very wrong.

Brazil were let down by indiscipline, though the team will be odds-on favorites to win the next World Cup, which will be held in their homeland. The Italian players were just too old. Germany were wonderful to watch, particularly in their back-to-back 4-goal wins over England and Argentina, but they ultimately fell short.

On the plus side, I did predict correctly that Argentina’s Diego Maradona would fail to apply the best tactics. And I hinted at the difficulties England could face.

On the goalkeepers

On the goalkeepers: Italy’s Buffon went out with an injury. Lloris, of France, didn’t get a chance to shine because his team imploded. Julio Cesar was at fault for Holland’s goal. And we all know what happened to England’s Rob Green.

But Iker Casillas — Spain’s number one — came up big in the final, when it really mattered. And his post-match interview with his girlfriend, TV journalist Sara Carbonero, made for a memorable moment (embedded below):

On the Jabulani

Goalkeepers — and outfield players — were quick to blame the new Adidas Jabulani ball, which many people said dipped and served dramatically. Indeed, the ball did appear to behave strangely, but I will reserve judgment on this topic until I get my own hands and feet on the model.

On the vuvuzela

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The sound of the vuvzelas — the plastic horns that, when played in unison, produced an all-enveloping buzzing sound — will always be associated with the tournament. I wasn’t as bothered by the horns as other people were. And I must say that I have been amused by the vuvuzela-themed spin-offs, like Vuvuzela.fm (“Listen to the Vuvuzela Radio”), the vuvuzela iPhone app, and the vuvuzela on Twitter.

On FIFA and technology

How long can FIFA resist calls for video technology to be used in the game? I like that the game’s rules have changed so little over the years. And I wouldn’t want any new technology to slow the game down. (Though some might argue that play acting and diving already does that.)

But something as simple as goal line technology — whether it’s a chip in the ball or cameras to be used on the goal line — seem completely reasonable. As we saw with England’s ghost goal against Germany, there’s something wrong when everyone in the stadium — except the four officials on the field — can see that the ball has crossed the line.

On my favorite moment

There can be only one. Landon Donovan’s injury time goal (embedded below) to lift the U.S. over Algeria.

And finally, for an excellent round-up of World Cup images, see this Big Picture collection.

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Sports

A brush with George Steinbrenner in 1996

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Note: explicit language used below…

George Steinbrenner, the longtime New York Yankees owner, died yesterday at the age of 80.

I had a brush with Steinbrenner back in July, 1996. It was during the Atlanta summer Olympics, and I was in college, working as a bellman at an Atlanta hotel.

Steinbrenner checked in at the front desk, and I took his luggage. We walked to the elevator, and the two of us got in. I punched in the number for his floor, and the doors closed.

I looked over at him. There was complete silence.

To make conversation, I asked him about the recent Centennial Olympic Park bombing, in which two people were killed and 111 were injured.

“What do you think about it all, Mr. Steinbrenner?” I said.

He turned and looked at me.

“I hope they catch that son of a bitch and hang him by his balls.”

And that was that.

To be fair, though he was known for his ruthless managerial ways, I will say this: He was a generous tipper. And, later in the visit, after he’d stayed for a few days and I’d helped arranged to have a few of his signature blazers dry cleaned, he gave me a special reward: a box of a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts.

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Sports

World Cup: USA beats Algeria in injury time

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I’ve been busy — and won’t be blogging much in the days to come — but given my previous posts, I felt compelled to comment on yesterday’s breathtaking U.S. win over Algeria in injury time. A few thoughts.

  1. I watched the game with some friends at an English pub here in Bangkok. The England-Slovenia game was on in the main bar area, and the US-Algeria game was on in a separate room.

    I cannot describe the anguish I felt when England went a goal up, and when the US continued to miss chance after chance after chance. If England had won, and the US had tied or lost, our World Cup campaign would have been over. To make matters worse, another seemingly good goal was called back that should not have been called back.

    And then, when all seemed lost, finally — finally — in injury time, when I must admit I thought we were finished, Landon Donovan slotted home:

  2. Speaking of which, Donovan has really shown his quality in this tournament. To get down the length of the pitch and be there, at the right moment, after playing hard for 90 minutes, and then to have the focus to score a goal like that…well, it’s just top-notch. Michael Bradley has also been exceptional in midfield. As so has Tim Howard in goal. Clint Dempsey has been very good going forward, as well.
  3. In terms of US soccer successes, the only other American victory that I can compare this to in my lifetime ((Yes, the U.S. team made it to the quarterfinals in 2002, but yesterday’s win was more dramatic.)) was Paul Caliguiri’s goal against Trinidad and Tobago in 1989. The U.S. qualified for the 1990 World Cup — the U.S.’s first World Cup appearance since 1950 — because of that long-distance effort.

    When I watched that game, as a 14-year-old, I was simply astounded by the outcome. And I was similarly astounded — and so, so happy — when the U.S. team won last night.

  4. And finally, let me ask you this: When the World Cup draw was announced many months ago, who would have predicted that Group C would end up like this?
    group_c.jpg

Up next: Ghana on Saturday…

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Sports

Following the World Cup on Twitter

I have a created a Twitter list of some 43 (and growing) World Cup related feeds. This includes news outlets, players, pundits, journalists, bloggers, and other commentators.

A few of my favorite feeds are @henrywinter, @runofplay, @FourFourTwo, and @Zonal_Marking of the exceptional Zonal Marking site. ((@Zonal_Marking also has a Twitter list of 105 football journalists.))

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Sports

World Cup: USA’s comeback against Slovenia

A quick note to share a few World Cup related links. ((By the way, a programming note: Things will return to normal here at Newley.com, with regular posts about Thailand, soon. I promise.))

I can’t stop thinking about yesterday’s remarkable USA-Slovenia match, in which the US went down 2-0 in the first half and then fought back to level the score.

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As I Tweeted earlier today, I was thrilled with the US team’s resilience. Landon Donovan, in particular, was exceptional. And Michael Bradley’s play was truly inspired; his neat toe-poke finish for the second goal was surely much harder than it looked.

I watched the game live and then watched the replay in its entirety today. What would have been the US’s winning goal was called back, which was — to say the least — unfortunate. (Indeed, the 3-2 win would have been the most memorable and dramatic US soccer victory in decades.)

No US player appeared to be offiside on the play, and though there was jostling among American and Slovenian players in the box, that had been happening all game long. It seems the referee chose to enforce the rule and whistle for a foul in this one instance, when that sort of pushing and shoving is commonplace in the modern game and had been happening throughout the contest.

That said, the US also benefited from other odd refereeing decisions during the game. Clint Dempsey’s foul in the opening minutes could easily have warranted a yellow card. And in fact, I’m not convinced that the foul that led to the free kick and the US’s called-back goal was actually a foul in the first place.

Here’s a match report from the NYT‘s George Vecsey, in which he rightly points out that the US team were to blame for falling behind in the first half.

And here’s an AP piece that describes scenarios for the US team advancing. The Americans can still progress, but they must beat Algeria. If they draw with Algeria, it gets complicated, but depending on the result of the England-Slovenia game, it’s still possible.

As for yesterday’s England-Algeria match, all I can say is that the Three Lions delivered another tepid performance. More on their side soon.

UPDATE: June 20: Regarding the called back goal, this theory seems possible: it was a make-up call, since the foul leading to the free kick — as I noted — was dubious.

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Sports

“Crisp your hype” with “African Style” potato chips and sausages

My previous two posts clearly illustrate my unhealthy obsession fascination with the World Cup. But I am also, as many readers know, always on the lookout for quirky snackfoods.

So this advertisement in today’s Bangkok Post — in which these two interests of mine converged in a mishmash of globalization, odd English phrasing, and apparent ambush marketing — was right up my alley:

"African Style," "Limited Edition" Crunchips potato chips
(And here’s a larger version of the scan.)

Yes, you read that right: The ad is for Lorenz’s “limited edition,” “African Style” Crunchips brand potato chips and “Afrikawust” sausages from Hareico. (I believe that both Lorenz and Hareico are German companies.)

I especially love the copy on the right. It reads:

Don’t miss a moment of the excitement of The 2010 FIFA World Cup and crisp your hype with African Style Lorenz Crunchips and Hareico Sausage from Tops market and Central Food hall.

(Emphasis mine.)

German potato chips and sausages being sold in Thailand, using African advertising motifs and designed to capitalize on the World Cup. Wow.

Crisp your hype!