Tech firms: Football must move with the times

JOHANNESBURG - Companies ready to cash in if FIFA accepts goalline technology after World Cup refereeing howlers say they are not yet convinced football's governing body will adopt measures common in other sports.

England and Mexico fell victim to mistakes by officials in their second-round matches on Sunday, prompting an apology from FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the decision on Tuesday not to retain the refs who made them for the rest of the tournament.

Blatter, who rejected the use of goal-line technology just three months ago, said the game's governing body would look again at the issue, although he did rule out using video replays to decide possible offsides.

A German company and an English firm specialising in goalline systems welcomed Blatter's change of heart and said controversy over refereeing does nothing but detract from the beautiful game.

"The good stories are in the players and the competition, you don't need to create artificial stories by creating officiating controversy," Paul Hawkins, founder of Winchester, England-based company Hawk-Eye Innovations, told Reuters.

Debate over goalline technology reignited at the weekend when Argentina were awarded an offside goal in their second round clash against Mexico and England were denied an equaliser in their clash against old rivals Germany.

Germans complained for decades that England were unfairly awarded the decisive goal in the 1966 World Cup final from a Geoff Hurst which bounced down from the bar, but all acknowledged that Sunday's 20-metre (65-foot) shot from midfielder Frank Lampard did cross the line.

If it had been awarded, the goal would have levelled the scores at 2-2. England went on to lose 4-1.

GOAL SENSOR

Oliver Braun, communications director at German firm Cairos Technologies AG, said the company's goal sensor technology would have given the equaliser.

"The first thing I thought was 'thanks for not using the technology' because I'm a Germany supporter, but of course the second thought was that it was clearly a goal," Braun said in a telephone interview.

"We're happy because when something like this happens the discussion starts again and people see that you might need technology to resolve the issue," he said.

"The Uruguayan referee will have to live with this for his whole life and that's something we don't want to happen."

Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda, who refused to award the clear England goal, and Italian Roberto Rosetti, who allowed the offside Argentina goal to stand, were not retained for the remainder of the tournament, FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hawk-Eye's ball tracking device is already used in cricket and tennis, while Cairos's "Smartball" localisation system was tested at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007.

Any decision by football's governing body to accept such systems would be a huge boon to business, but both companies say any concrete change of position could prove elusive.

"We're not cracking open the champagne. There have been many times in the past when we were a lot closer to providing goal line technology than we are today," Hawkins said.

"We'll just wait to find out whether this is just a little statement to defuse the current public pressure."

Finally...

Since my friends keep complaining about my blog where full of football, football and just football, maybe is time to update something about myself.

Since World Cup started on 11th June, i've been watching almost every match and hardly miss a game. England team dissapointed me again this year..haihz..Shit!Football again....fine..skip.

There are four assignments waiting for me and i haven even start doing any of it. Wonder how to even start since my life is all about World Cup and sleep now. Yeah!Planned on stepping into football line after i graduate.

Oh yeah, and i just receive my dear Viva. Is a second hand thou, all-white and brand new. Its a 2 years car and costs me around 32k..T.T..the car is maintained well by the previous lady owner and the engine is so so so SO quiet compared to Soo Gee's.Any of you heard before?I can know he reaching my house from far away..@.@. Since then, i became a driver and fetched my siblings here and there..dammit!Petrol and further modification is all on myself leh..a bit hard for me to keep it clean..i hate white car..T.T..but i'll try best to treat my wife..^^

Thats all for now...will update more not very soon

P.S: 3 free tickets for Toy Story. First come first serve. Expired on 30th June 2010.Contact me if interested..

Theo would be spot on for England

Should England do what some sections of the media seem certain they will do, and lose to Germany on penalties this afternoon, it won't be because the weight of history weighed heavily on the players' shoulders, or that the Germans cope better in high pressure situations.

No, it'll be because Fabio Capello didn't pick 21-year-old right-footed forward Theo Walcott in his 23-man squad.

At least that's what research undertaken by Lucozade Sport, with the help of the football analysts at Prozone, suggests.

They have analysed every penalty shoot out the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2000, 2004 and 2008 European Championships to determine which players are successful from the spot and why.

That’s a total of 14 penalty shoot outs and 130 penalty kicks - 16 of which were taken by England, seven unsuccessfully so.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the high pressure involved, when a team is losing a shootout the likelihood of a successful penalty drops by approximately 18%.

That perhaps explains why the team who miss first generally go on to lose the shoot-out - 78.5% of the time, in fact.

Case in point would be England's last three shoot-out defeats. In all three the opposition (Argentina in 1998 and Portugal in 2004 and 2006) missed one of their penalties, but only after our brave boys had botched one first.

As you'd also expect, forwards are the most successful in shoot outs, scoring 75% of the penalties taken. But it's the defenders who follow in second, with a 72% success rate, with midfielders surprisingly bringing up the rear with 61%, despite taking half of those 130 kicks.

The research highlights 21 as being the optimum age for taking a penalty in a shoot-out - with players of that age converting 91% of spot-kicks taken.

Worryingly from England's point of view, Fabio Capello's squad has a grand total of zero 21-year-olds, whereas the Germany squad currently features four - Mesut Ozil, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng and Marko Marin.

Although the statistics suggest England's lack of youth may be a hindrance, their lack of left-footers may prove a blessing.

A higher success rate is seen for right footed penalties (71%) than those taken with the left foot (52%) - so it might be worth telling Gareth Barry and Ashley Cole to make themselves comfortable on the halfway line if the teams can't be separated after 120 minutes.

Almost 87% of penalties aimed in the top left corner of the goal (see above) - the natural side for a right-footed to aim for - are successful. This is more than any other area of the goal - just don't tell Manuel Neuer.

A higher success rate is seen when the kick is taken with the inside of the boot (70%) than with the laces (62%) or the outside of the boot (50%). Although to be honest if you're going to try and be a clever dick in a World Cup shoot-out you deserve to miss.

NOT all fingers are of same LENGTH

NOT all fingers are of same LENGTH,
but
when they are BENT, all stand in EQUAL length.
LIFE becomes easy
when we BEND & ADJUST to certain situations.

How England can beat Germany

This Sunday afternoon will be livelier than your average Sunday, when you’re more likely to be laid out on a sofa nursing the effects of the night before. But not this weekend because come 3 o’clock the nation will be full of pride and hype as England take on the old enemy Germany in the World Cup knockout stages.

As soon as these two teams were drawn together it immediately threw up all the old clichés about the war, 1966 and of course penalty shootouts. There really isn’t another team that provokes the nation into a frenzy as much as the Germans.

This World Cup has thrown up plenty of shocks so far: both of the last tournament's finalists have gone home early in disgrace, the new ball is ‘rounder’ and most importantly Germany have missed a penalty. That miss from Lukas Podolski was the first time Germany have missed a penalty outside a shootout since the 1974 World Cup. Germany scoring penalties is one of the things you’d usually but your house on, there is hope…

Paddy Power are offering the best odds for an England win at 17/10 and here are the reasons for us all to believe they can beat Germany:

Not so “Vorsprung durch Tecknik” - This German side are clearly not as clinical and efficient as the German teams of yesteryear. Beating an understrength Australia and then losing to Serbia isn’t the mark of champions. The squad is young and around half of the squad are first- or second-generation immigrants – not that this is bad thing, but it remains to be seen how accustomed these players are to the stereotypical systematic Germanic approach.

Weak Links – The two German centre-backs are the weak links in the German side. Both lack pace and haven’t played together long enough to form an understanding. They will not relish the prospect of Jermain Defoe’s speed and the aggression of a fired-up Wayne Rooney.

Mind The Gap – The likes of Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger have too much flair to be your normal German footballer, they are key to their country's chances and will look to get forward as much as possible leaving big gaps in the midfield for England to exploit.

The Kaiser – Franz Beckenbauer has been unusually chippy about England during this World Cup. The usually quiet and reserved man is respected in the game for this feat of winning the World Cup as both a player and a coach however his comments about England being a “kick and rush team”, “Stupid for finishing 2nd” and “German players are fitter and England are burnt out” have all but written Fabio Cappello’s team talk. It can only mean the Germans are nervous!

The Red Kit – The red jerseys brings back memories of 1966 and the retention of the all-red kit (as worn against Slovenia) is another good omen for England. In the last seven matches they’ve worn all red they’ve won four times, drawn twice and lost once.

Back On The Beeb – ITV screened the first two group matches and we all know what happened. The first England game shown on the BBC for this World Cup was the Slovenia one and they’re showing the game this Sunday against Germany.

If England are to avoid it going to penalties they need to make sure they take all the chances they create against Germany, the team looked livelier against Slovenia and we’re all hoping they play even better against the Germans. Not only did England play better but also Wayne Rooney looked more like the Rooney we know. Wazza is 5/1 to score the first goal of the match.

What about the famous 5-1 thrashing in Germany England dished out, think about that! It’s a massive 325/1 to happen again this Sunday and another reason why we can beat the Germans!

Avril Lavigne-When You're Gone

I always needed time on my own
I never thought I'd need you there when I cry
And the days feel like years when I'm alone
And the bed where you lie is made up on your side

When you walk away I count the steps that you take
Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too

When you're gone
The words I need to hear to always get me through
The day and make it ok
I miss you

I've never felt this way before
Everything that I do reminds me of you
And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor
And they smell just like you, I love the things that you do

When you walk away I count the steps that you take
Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
And when you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too

And when you're gone
The words I need to hear to always get me through
The day and make it ok
I miss you

We were made for each other
Out here forever
I know we were, yeah

And all I ever wanted was for you to know
Everything I'd do, I'd give my heart and soul
I can hardly breathe I need to feel you here with me, yeah

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
And when you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too

And when you're gone
All the words I need to hear will always get me through
The day and make it ok
I miss you

Diego's gold reserves shine

Having assured qualification for the next second round with two wins, Maradona surprised nobody by trying out a couple of second-string players against Greece. Having used 108 players in his preparations for the World Cup, nobody expected any less.

Amongst his ‘reserve side’ were a striker who recently won the Italian treble, including the winning brace in the Champions League final. One of the defenders is the player lined up by Milan to rejuvenate their ageing backline. Another of is, of all Argentines, second only to Alfredo di Stefano in his trophy haul. Another can only lay modest claim to three Libertadores winners’ medals.

In midfield, Mascherano was replaced by the architect of the best league side in recent years in Argentine domestic football. And the last new face would be first name on the team sheet in any side other than Argentina.

Between them, Diego Milito, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Burdisso, Clemente Rodriguez, Mario Bolatti and Kun Aguero made up the majority of a new-look Argentina. Not a bad reserve side.

Can you name these men? Diego can...

Throw in the late zip and ideas from Javier Pastore, plus the self-perpetuating legend of Martin Palermo with his late goal, and Argentina showed off the array of talent at Maradona’s disposal. They passed the ball around comfortably, rode the lunging Greek challenges, and secured a 100% record in the group phase, while resting big-name players in the process.

"Argentina celebrate again", wrote Clarin. La Nacion relished in "the world talking about Argentina". Olé invited supporters to choose the headline, so predictably most revolved around Martin ‘The Titan’ Palermo with predictable contributions… Pagina 12, meanwhile, pointed to something that those who don’t have goldfish memories are thinking. "They don’t stop surprising us."

Argentina are now amongst the favourites to win the tournament, despite the popular pre-World Cup opinion being that Maradona has no idea what he's doing, that the team's dire, that they’d implode and would be packing their bags much, much sooner rather than later.

Three wins in the group phase have changed the headlines, but have changed nothing from the chaotic build-up. The qualifiers were still a mess of internal wranglings, shocking displays, eccentric improvisation and soap opera media wars.

But we’ve all forgotten about Riquelme. Losing to Bolivia to 6-1 is a mere anecdote. Does anyone care about Zanetti or Cambiasso? For now, frankly, the answer is no.

"It’s do or die now," says Maradona. For now, even if it seemed unthinkable three months ago, they’re very much doing.

Redknapp unimpressed by Rooney

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said he would not sign Wayne Rooney for £1.5 million based on his England performance against Algeria.

GettyImagesWayne Rooney cut a frustrated figure against Algeria

• Jolly: England need to get real

Rooney was widely criticised for his showing on Friday, with Fabio Capelloadmitting the striker "lost a lot of balls and a lot of passes" and suggesting he was struggling with the pressure.

Redknapp said in the Sun: "If I'd asked you to go and watch Rooney on Friday, say he was available and I could get him for £1.5 million, you would have come back and said: 'Nah, you can't take him - he's not good enough'. If you didn't know it was Wayne Rooney, you would have thought he was a poor player."

Redknapp also believes Capello is failing to get the best out of Steven Gerrard. The captain put in an impressive showing in the opening game against USA from a central position, but he was disappointing when played on the left against Algeria.

"You have to play people in their best positions," Redknapp said. "Gerrard is a central midfield player. Play him off of Rooney, get him in the middle. The one thing you wouldn't want to do is play him wide left. The balance is wrong."

Photo of the Day

Portuguese wow young fans

After three disappointing draws, Cape Town got the wake-up call it had been waiting for on Monday as Portugal thrilled a 63,644-strong Green Point crowd with a seven goal sizzler.

There to cheer his favourite team on to their best ever World Cup performance was Tanzeel Gamieldien. A few decades ago his father would not have been allowed to watch a local football match at the site where the world-class Green Point stadium now stands. Today, in a new democratic South Africa, host of Africa’s first ever World Cup, Tanzeel walked onto the pitch hand in hand with captain Cristiano Ronaldo and instantly became the envy of millions of seven year-olds around the world.

“When I get back to school I will tell my friends that my holiday was great, especially when I walked into the stadium with Ronaldo. I don’t think they will believe me though,” said the young Gamieldien. “Ronaldo was very relaxed in the tunnel before the game and even went and hugged one of the boys who started to cry when he saw him.”

His friend Jayden Rose has made sure that his moment in history was well documented. “My mother already called to say that they showed more of me on television than any of the other children. I will watch it as soon as I get home as my uncle recorded it,” said the ten year old Rose who held the hand of two time Portuguese goal scorer Tiago.

Chilambo Seyuba is proud to have been one of the six girls who had the opportunity to be part of the excitement. “Inside the tunnel I just stared at Ronaldo because we weren’t allowed to move. I am so excited to be here and to have been given this opportunity,” said the wise young ten year old who, even at her tender age, seemed to know that this is the kind of experience that doesn’t come round every day.

Gamieldien, Rose and Seyuba are just three of more than 1400 young South African and international children between the ages of six and ten who will be given the opportunity to escort the players onto the pitch at the 64 matches as part of the McDonald’s Player Escort programme.

But they were far from the only children in the stadium, as parents made the most of the five-week long school holiday’s and travelled from around the country to cheer the hugely supported Portuguese team on. Portugal has no shortage of local support in South Africa with an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 South Africans of Portuguese descent.

Best Players so far

1) Gabriel Heinze 9.51/10

-1 goal scored

-1 foul committed

-2 shots

-111 passes

-77.48% passes completed

-100% crosses completed

53.85% long passes completed

-78.87% medium passes completed

-85.19% short passes completed

-pass to Walter Samuel most (16)

-passed from Javier Mascherano most (22)

-19.19km covered

-27.12km/h top speed

Best GK-Manuel Neuer (Germany) 9.22/10

Best DF-Gabriel Heinze (Argentina) 9.51/10

Best MF-Park Ji Sung (South Korea) 9.06/10

Best ST-Dirk Kuyt (Holland) 8.90/10

Day 11 Statistic Analysis

31% of portugal's goals came from North Korea in World Cup finals history

20 shots for Chile in order to score 1 goal

9 hours and 19 minutes without conceding a goal in World Cup enabled Switzerland to set a new record beaten 2nd place Italy and 3rd place England.

6 different players on target for portugal against North Korea

1 minute and 20 seconds is all Humberto Suazo needs to take a yellow card.

21st June 2010 World Cup Player Statistic

Most goals-Gonzalo Higuain

3 goals

161 minutes played

3 goals scored in penalty

Most shots-Lionel Messi

180 minutes played

7 shots on target

8 shots off target

2 shots blocked

2 direct free kicks

0% goal rate

15 total shots

1 shot on post

Top attack-Cristiano Ronaldo

1 goal

180 minutes played

14 solo runs

4 tackles suffered

1 offside

1 assist

5 delivers in penalty area

Top defend-David James

90 minutes played

1 save

10 clearances

5 recovered balls

5 clearances completed

50% clearances completion rate

Top passes-Xavi

180 minutes played

175 passes

144 passes completed

82.29% passes completion rate

4 crosses

1 cross completed

25% crosses completion rate

21st June 2010 World Cup Statistic

Most goal scored: Portugal (7)

All scored inside penalty box with open play

Most Shots: Spain (46)

16 shots on target

23 shots wide

7 shots blocked

2 free kick shots

2 direct free kick

2 shots on bar

Most attacks: Spain (40)

12 from left

10 from center

18 from right

9 tackles suffered

3 offsides

49 solo runs

27 delivered into penalty area

Top defending: Algeria

37 clearances

11 clearances complete

29.735 clearances completion rate

26 tackles

9 saves

8 shots blocked

Top Passes: Brasil

1051 passes completed

83.41% passes completion rate

39 crosses

7 crosses completed

17.95% crosses completion rate

11 corners

6 corners completed

54.55% corners completion rate

42 throw ins

Philippe SENDEROS

• 
• Date of Birth: 14 February 1985
• Height: 190 cm
• Shirt number: 4
• Position: Defender
• Current club: Everton (ENG)
• International Caps: 41
• International Goals: 5
• First international: France - Switzerland (26 March 2005)

• Philippe Senderos is perhaps the most recognisable member of the Switzerland national squad. The 1.89m-tall, 87kg central defender, whose shaven head and tough tackling are known far and wide, is the rock at the heart of the Swiss backline.

  Born on 14 February 1985 in Meyrin in the Swiss canton of Geneva, Senderos spent most of his youth with local club FC Servette, making his Super League debut aged just 16. After 11 successful years with the Garnets, several leading clubs from around Europe became aware of the giant defender's abilities, and it came as no surprise when one of England's top teams came in for his services in 2003.

  Arsenal won the race for Senderos' signature, though it was another year before the Swiss stopper finally made his first team debut for the Gunners in a League Cup fixture against Manchester City. His first Premier League appearance as a substitute in a match against Charlton Athletic followed on 1 January 2005.

  In the subsequent years, Senderos developed into one of coach Arsene Wenger's key performers, popping up with four league goals between 2005 and 2008 and even being given the honour of wearing the No6 shirt vacated by Arsenal legend Tony Adams.

  A loan move to Italy with AC Milan materialised in August 2008, but the big defender failed to have the desired impact at the San Siro. First injuries prevented the 25-year-old from making his Serie A debut until January 2009, but even then he struggled to nail down a place in the Rossoneri starting line-up.

  Senderos returned to Arsenal last summer but only managed two appearances for the Gunners throughout the first half of the campaign. The Swiss international elected to join Everton in another loan deal and spent the rest of the season leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ at Goodison Park.

  Having previously captained his nation to UEFA U-17 European Championship glory in Denmark in 2002, Senderos went on to represent his country at U-20 level, again captaining the side at the FIFA U-20 World Cup three years later in the Netherlands.

  The towering defender made his senior debut on 26 March 2005 in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match against France and has continued to form an important part of the Swiss defence ever since, appearing in two major tournaments.

  At Germany 2006, he was one of the key members of then coach Jakob Kuhn's squad and was again a fixture in the Switzerland side which disappointed on home turf at UEFA EURO 2008.

  Current Nati coach Ottmar Hitzfeld first called Senderos into his squad in February 2009, though owing to injury the central defender only appeared in four of his country's ten matches en route to South Africa 2010. However, the talented polyglot - Senderos speaks six languages - is raring to go ahead of this June and July's showpiece and Switzerland's fortunes will no doubt depend heavily on the big man's form.

  Statistic: 0 goals, 1 foul commited, 11 passes, 2 short passes, 8 medium passes, 1 long passes, 73% passes completion rate