by Sean O'Conor - Most popular for September 2008
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Marcus Hahnemann has a point. A lone voice in defense of the ubiquitously-ridiculed awarding of a
phantom goal to his Reading team on Saturday, the Seattle native has argued that any number of
officiating mistakes can change the course of the game over 90 minutes, so that ordering a replay
every time there is a game-changing error is just impractical.
Last night's clash in Havana must be the most surreal game the US has played in a while. It was not
just the faulty stadium electrics, which bathed the field in a ghostly half-light before giving out
altogether a few minutes before the final whistle. Nor was it the lack of perimeter advertising,
the first time I have seen that televised soccer since the 1966 World Cup Final.
Watford's American skipper Jay DeMerit has spoken of his shock at the phantom goal awarded to
Reading at Vicarage Road yesterday, which has been the talk of England's Championship.Twelve
minutes into their 2-2 clash, 25-year old referee Stuart Atwell stunned the entire stadium by
awarding Reading a goal, on his linesman's advice, when the Hornets' John Eustace had clearly put
the ball out of play
Fears have dogged South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup ever since it was announced in 2004.
Questions persist about the country's crime rate – only Colombia has more murders per head of
population, and whether the stadia and infrastructure will be ready in two years' time. But surely
the most worrying thing yet is the official mascot Zakumi, unveiled yesterday, which looked like it
had
‘Comrade Jim – the Spy who played for Spartak', is an amazing soccer story. Jim Riordan
was not a spy but an Englishman studying communism in Moscow in the 1960s. Writing a dissertation
on Russian sport, he made friends with Spartak Moscow's full back Gennady Logofet, who invited him
to join a training session in 1963.
Oh what a beautiful evening, England and the USA win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of
the mother country, may I insincerely apologize for West Ham supporter Russell Brand offending
American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards....Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another
consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed
Croatia 4-1 in
Leafing through Jonathan Wilson's engrossing history of football tactics, 'Inverting the Pyramid',
it is clear to me there is neither a perfect or ideal way to play soccer, nor any consensus on what
constitutes the 'best' team in most tournaments. It is hard to deny league champions are anything
but tops over a season, but when it comes to knock-out, we are forever debating who should have
won,
**Yankee Stadium's last pitch will be thrown today and as might be expected, most of the farewells
and eulogies have airbrushed the soccer played there. Between the death of Ebbets Field and the
Polo Grounds and the birth of Giants Stadium, Yankee functioned as New York's principal sports
venue, which meant from time to time, spherical balls were kicked as well as thrown.
So Napoli ‘fans' are banned from away trips until 2009/10 after they smashed up a train and
assaulted Italian railroad staff en route to their first road game of the season at Roma. While
Italian police believe the violence is being orchestrated by Italy's mafiosi, FIGC President
Giancarlo Abete spoke of the need to "eradicate the groups of delinquents who are polluting
the world of football.
Oh what a beautiful morning, England and the US win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of
England, may I apologize most insincerely for West Ham season-ticket holder Russell Brand offending
American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards...Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another
consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed
Croatia 4-1
Here is the real reason the USMNT breezed past Trinidad & Tobago so comfortably on Wednesday. But
T&T's indoor kickabout brought back fond memories of me taking out different parts of my parents'
living room as a boy with my regulation weight ball. *Still with T&T, the ticket-scalping and
embezzling CONCACAF President & FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner might think he is untouchable
despite his
**Good news of sorts that Poland & Ukraine have not been dropped as Euro 2012 hosts, despite
widespread rumors to the contrary. Much as I love tournaments in new places, these two countries
have an impossible-looking job beyond rebuilding their stadia in time for kick-off. Any host nation
must also be able to ferry thousands of visiting fans around the country 24/7.
