Tag: Soccer

Categories
Misc.

FIFA Bans High-Altitude Matches

Disappointing news for Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia: FIFA says no more international soccer games above 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) in altitude. So much for the legendary home field advantage courtesy of the rarefied Andean air.

BBC News:

Football’s governing body, Fifa, has banned international matches from being played at more than 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level.

Fifa said the decision was made because of concerns over players’ health and possible distortion of competition.

The ruling was greeted with dismay in Latin America, notably in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, where games in La Paz are played at 3,600m (11,811ft).

Bolivia’s President, Evo Morales, vowed to lead a campaign against the ban.

Speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting, Mr Morales said the ruling amounted to discrimination.

“This is not only a ban on Bolivia, it’s a ban on the universality of sports,” he told reporters.

Mr Morales also said he would send a high-level delegation to Fifa’s headquarters in Zurich and called on other countries to join his campaign.

And for Spanish readers out there, here’s a story in Hoy Online, a daily paper in Quito, Ecuador, with the reaction from the mitad del mundo.

Categories
Misc.

Thaksin to Buy Man City?

Is Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra aiming to snap up English football club Manchester City?

IHT/AP:

Toppled Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who earlier made an unsuccessful bid for Liverpool, is planning to buy another English soccer club, according to a Web site close to Thaksin seen Monday.

The site — http://www.hi-thaksin.net — said that the former prime minister was ready to pay more than 6 billion baht (US$185 million; €136 million) for the Manchester City Football Club with partners from China and the Middle East.

Nopadol Pattama, Thaksin’s lawyer and de facto spokesman in Thailand, said he had read about the bid on the Web site but had not yet had time to ask Thaksin about it.

Thaksin, one of the country’s richest people, was toppled in a bloodless military coup last September following months of mass street protests accusing him of massive corruption and abuse of power. He has since been spending time at his home in London and traveling in Europe and Asia.

In 2004, the then-prime minister made an unsuccessful attempt to buy Liverpool and had also reportedly expressed interest in acquiring other English soccer clubs.

Note: Perhaps Everton FC would be a better fit, given the club’s prominent Beer Chang advertising partnership.

Zidane Playing in Chiang Mai Charity Match on Saturday

Zinedine Zidane [Not My Image]

CNN:

French football legend Zinedine Zidane, whose career ended with an infamous head-butt in last year’s World Cup final, will play a charity match in Thailand this weekend.

Zidane will play alongside top southeast Asian players in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on Saturday, corporate sponsor Adidas Thailand said.

Categories
Misc.

Watching the ASEAN Football Champtionship — From Pitch Level

Last Sunday night A and I had the good fortune to attend the final of the biennial ASEAN football championship between Thailand and Singapore here at Bangkok’s Supachalasai Stadium. And our perspective was unique: we were in the media gallery down at pitch level, just behind the goal.

The sound of 40,000 Thai supporters cheering on their side (pictured above) was overwhelming. Sadly, Thailand lost by an aggregate score of 3-2 in a here-and-away match; the first leg, in Singapore, was marred by a refereeing controversy that caused the Thai squad to walk off the field for 15 minutes in protest. On Sunday evening, Thailand scored a goal in the first half, drawing even on aggregate, but then Singapore pulled one back late in the game to defend their crown.

Here was the vantage from the field.

The atmosphere was festive; this supporter’s costume featured a tank — a humorous reference to the September military coup.

More fans.

The crowd at halftime, as seen from the pitch.

A interviewed some Singapore supporters.

And so did PJ Roberts, of the ESPN Star Sports highlights show Nokia Football Crazy.

The Singapore squad was presented with the trophy amid a burst of confetti.

Though the match was hard-fought and tempers flared on the field at times, the Thai supporters treated the small contingent of Singapore fans with respect and generally lost gracefully.

Becks Pursues His American Dream

David Beckham Chia-Pet Doll

Soccernet:

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and join side Los Angeles Galaxy on a £128m five-year deal – which works out at a mere half-a-million pounds a week. The former England captain will leave Real in June and begin his new career in MLS in August.

The “mere half-a-million pounds a week” refers to the fact that his current contract with the Spanish side pays him much, much more than that. [Edit: Whoops, I think perhaps the Soccernet folks were being sarcastic and silly, as usual, and I fell for the “mere.” This new contract for Becks is actually quite lucrative even compared to other big-name soccer deals, though the Galaxy will retain his image rights.]

While I’ve been critical of the MLS in the past, overall this deal is great for soccer in the US.

It’ll raise the profile of the league globally, and I think other high-quality players — Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids is one early candidate — will eventually cross the pond, as well. Crucially, Becks is arriving in LA with several years left before he’s a has-been; too often, ex-world class players come to America in their twilight years simply to collect a decent wage and have an easy go of it until they retire. That’s not quite the case with Beckham. His days of playing for the England national side may be over, but he’s expressed an interest in building up a good team in Cali.

But perhaps most important is this: What effect will Mr. Spice’s move to the US have on the David Beckham Chia Pet Bobble Head Doll industry that has sprung up — sorry — in Asia?

(Thanks to reader Katie C for sending along this link.)

Stunning Photos of Soccer Pitches in Europe

Hans Van Der Meer's Photo Book of Football Pitches in Europe

Beautiful photos of the beautiful game. That’s the subject of Hans Van Der Meer’s gorgeous photography. He’s published a book called “European Fields: The Landscape of Lower League Football.”

(Via.)

Yahoo EPL Fantasy Football

Deportivo Azogues (Ecuador)

A brief alert for all newley.com readers who’re into fantasy football (soccer). My kid brother Colin has put together a Yahoo English Premier League group; go here to sign up. It’s free. Email me (newley [at] gmail.com) for the group name and password. Lineups must be submitted by 11:00 a.m. GMT on Saturday, August 19 (that’s 6 a.m. EST in the US). FC Newley is in. It will be scintillating fun, I promise.

Choosing an EPL Team

Sportswriter Bill Simmons has a great new column on choosing an English Premier League team to support.

The season starts on August 19; I shall be rooting for Arsenal, as ever. (I had a 24-hour layover in London in January of 2001. First thing I did upon arrival: took the tube to see Highbury, the Arsenal grounds. It was closed. I couldn’t enter for a tour. But I saw it in person.)

(Thanks to Miles B. for the tip.)

La Dolce Vita

Italia!!

Italy are through to the World Cup final. In what will go down as one of the finest finishes ever in a WC knockout game, Italy scored two gorgeous goals in the dying minutes of extra time to book a place in Sunday’s championship match. I was down on Italy going into this match; they’re often overly defensive and boring to watch.

But last night they played upbeat, positive, attacking football — and in the 119th minute, just sixty seconds from full-time, when even the never-say-die Germans seemed resigned to settling the affair with penalties, Fabio Grosso — a full back! — received the pass of the tournament from Andrea Pirlo and curled a wonderful first-time, left-footed strike just inside the far post, past a sprawling Jens Lehmann. When Alessandro Del Piero finished the game off with a chip over the German goalkeeper in the next minute, it was game set and match. Absolutely incredible stuff.

Kudos to Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann for showing true leadership, doing things his way throughout the competition and then picking his fallen players up off the field after the final whistle. (I’m honored to have him as a US resident.) Lehman was fantastic throughout the tourney; Buffon was brilliant in the opposing goalmouth and Italy couldn’t have won without him.

Tonight: France take on Portugal. I like the sound of a France-Italy final.

More on the Rooney Crotch Stomp

Rooney and Shrek

Wayne Rooney has issued a statement claiming that his now-infamous crotch stomp was unintentional. I invite you to watch this and judge for yourself (the video clip contains some hilarious Chinese commentary, by the way.) Why not just repent already? The public will forgive Rooney his youthful indiscretions. Somebody’s giving the kid some very bad advice.