Showing posts with label WORLD CUP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WORLD CUP. Show all posts

FOOTBALL'S REFORM ACT ON THE HORIZON
1/28/2011 - -

Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros might not be as prominent a figure in the world of football as Michel Platini or Sepp Blatter, but if proposals that could change the landscape of European football are implemented, then he may well become so in future.


As chief executive of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), Medeiros has revealed how important reforms could be supported at the organisation's general assembly in Manchester on March 30 following a landmark meeting of the EPFL board in Madrid in just two weeks' time.

Medeiros was in London this week for a meeting on intellectual property rights and sports betting issues when ESPNsoccernet caught up with him ahead of the February 11 meeting in Madrid, which will set in motion the final stages of some of the biggest reforms in the history of the European game.

The formation of the Premier League in 1992, the change to three points for a win and the inception of the Champions League have been amongst the most startling changes to the game in the modern era. However, now the relatively new amalgamation of 950 professional clubs across 30 European nations have combined to become the most influential force outside of UEFA and FIFA, further change could be afoot.

Television income might have underpinned the formidable financial standing of the Premier League, but there may be an even bigger pot of gold in sight. The European leagues have united with governments throughout Europe and with the European Union in order to tackle the 'pirates' who use the clubs' intellectual rights on the internet and elsewhere, and the betting industry that uses the copyright of the clubs and the leagues. The EPFL estimates the industry is worth €14 to 17 billion across the continent.

In addition, the EPFL will tackle illegal betting, fraud and corruption, putting into place a universal code of conduct with severe punishments for anyone within football who breaches new, far stricter betting regulations within the game. The global fixture calendar will also be examined, and there will not be a winter World Cup in 2022 if the European leagues do not endorse it.

Medeiros uses the language of a diplomat urging radical change on a united front when explaining the principles upon which his organisation's planned reforms are founded.

He told ESPNsoccernet: "We stand for the future development [and] enhancement of the game, with a social conscience, seeking solutions for challenges of global dimension through global solutions. But we are taking a reformist approach. We are a constructive organisation. Our voice is sober and responsible, but equally we are promoting active reform. Indispensable reform."

So exactly what are the reforms that will change the game as we know it?

1. Intellectual rights

This is more of an imminent victory than a fight, as a triumph is within touching distance and ready to be endorsed at the two landmark meetings.

Medeiros explains: "The streaming of matches, logos, data, images and all the clubs' and the leagues' intellectual properties must be legally protected . This is football's main income source and, if duly protected, may form a new and extremely large source of income for the whole of the sport to benefit from. I cannot quantify how much, but it will be a significant amount. Without such ability to generate revenues and ensure its economic viability, how can sport continue investing in grassroots or sporting grounds and pursuing its social function to the full?

"To this end we have lobbied the European Union and all the national governments to open their eyes to the sport's legal rights. We are dealing with all sorts of pirating: people making money from football illegally, an endless number of websites streaming matches. This is all part of the new age digital piracy. We are making progress and we have European Commission and Parliament approval, including the recognition of the urgent need to protect all of football's content, all of these intellectual rights, which are vital to ensure sport's economic viability and social role."

2. Betting

Medeiros argues it is vital that football and other sports have in place proper controls on betting using intellectual rights - fixtures for example - in order that the clubs can profit from income and control illegal betting.

"There are different laws in different countries. Whereas France introduced a new law on May 1, 2010 opening up regulations regarding the ownership of the intellectual rights of the sports authorities and how it relates to the multitude of betting companies, there is at the moment a different and less satisfactory legislative approach in England. However, in England there has been a recent court ruling which recognised the fixture list is under the copyright protection bill. This was a positive development but the need to take legislative action still remains."

The EPFL praised the proactive approach by the French government. On March 2009, the Finance Minister Eric Woerth announced strong measures to protect the integrity of sporting competitions and ensure that organisers get a fair return from betting companies for the commercial exploitation of their fixture list and other property rights. Online sports betting is now permitted in France, but subject to a new licensing and regulatory regime, ensuring the sports authorities' involvement in the licensing process and in the decision as to what type of bets, if any, are to be allowed on their events, as well as ensuring a fair financial return.

Medeiros added: "Equally we need to ensure the integrity of our competitions from the threats posed by unlawful betting, fraud and corruption, to ensure that our sport remains credible and sound. There have been a number of irregular patterns detected around Europe, not in England I should point out, and they have been reported to the proper authorities."

In July 2008, the EPFL signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Sports Security Agency to detect irregular betting patterns and ensure, as much as possible, that professional football remains clean and free of corruption. As a result of that, a number of irregular betting practices have been signalled and brought to the attention of the concerned leagues. A code of conduct is ready to be put into place for the start of next season, once approved at the general assembly. It will include zero tolerance for anyone within football betting on any event they are involved in, directly or indirectly.

"We have all seen the problems of insider betting, and there is an urgent need for a proper code across all of Europe's leagues," Medeiros said. "All the new rules, which should be implemented by the leagues in accordance with their own sphere of competences, will come with the consequences if they are not respected. There is deep concern about betting, and our aim is preventative, but also to establish the proper dissuasive measures to deter it."

3. Financial stability and solidarity

This means backing the Platini blueprint for financial solidarity and financial transparency, and seeking to have the highest financial standards throughout all the leagues.

"Financial sustainability is the watchword," Medeiros explained, adding: "this means that even the big leagues, and the most powerful clubs, recognise the benefit of the smaller leagues and the smaller clubs. Interdependence of clubs has always been one of the key features of the European football model and the basis for its success and global appeal. This means collecting selling of rights but also equitable distribution of revenues and financial solidarity.

"We feel that UEFA's Financial Fair Play system is to be welcomed by the clubs to enable the clubs to be sustainable organisations. So we compliment UEFA on driving through club licensing system and sound financial criteria and taking on board our views. At the national level, we also want clearing houses for transfer of players, we want a sustainable and transparent football financial structure."

The EPFL is creating a database and assessing the different regulatory frameworks that concern club ownership and fit and proper persons tests. It hopes to ensure that clubs remain independent and free from any detrimental control and influence.

4. Fixtures and the 2022 World Cup

The size of the leagues, when games are played and when the World Cup takes place are issues that are all high on the agenda. If FIFA still has any lingering thoughts of a winter World Cup in 2022 or any other time, they will need to have the approval of the united European leagues.

All Medeiros would say regarding the World Cup situation is that "there is a board meeting in Madrid in two weeks' time". In other words: watch this space.

As for the Champions League, Medeiros says "it has proved to be the crème de la crème of international club competition, which everyone including the fans are happy with. That doesn't mean that, together with UEFA and the clubs, as ever in a constructive fashion, there cannot be room for dialogue on possible means of improving the distribution of revenues and financial solidarity".



CATALAN - QATAR WORLD CUP CONSPIRACY
12/12/2010 - -

As the weight of their potentially crippling debt sinks in, Barcelona have signed a five-year, €150 million ($200 million) deal with the non-profit Qatar Foundation for shared space with UNICEF as the club's shirt sponsors. UNICEF became the club's first ever shirt sponsor in 2006, but Barcelona contributes €1.5 million annually to the organization as part of the deal. This deal with the Qatar Foundation marks the first time in the club's 111-year history that it has been paid to advertise on their shirts.

Barcelona said the UNICEF name will remain on the shirts and that it would seek a way to combine the two logos, but the Qatar Foundation would be the prevalent one if a solution cannot be found.
The club said the deal could be worth up to 170 million euro ($225 million) with add-ons.
“With this deal, Barcelona places itself as the indisputable brand leader in world football ahead of our international competitors,” Barcelona’s financial vice president Javier Faus said Friday.
Barcelona previously flirted with deals but this marks the first time in the Catalan team’s 111-year history it will be paid to advertise.

Barcelona will receive €30 million per season, topping previous record holders Manchester United and Liverpool by a wide margin.

What's odd about this deal is that the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development is a private organization with aims at improving those fields within the borders of the state. It was started by the Emir of Qatar in 1995 and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, one of the few women to take part in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, serves as chairperson. Given the nature of the foundation (as opposed to the international cause of UNICEF), it's hard not to wonder how sponsoring a Spanish football club will help its stated cause or why it wouldn't be more beneficial to just pump that €150-170 million directly into the foundation.
Coincidentally, Barca manager Pep Guardiola was a paid ambassador for Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid, while club president Sandro Rosell has been a vocal proponent of the development of a Qatari football academy styled after Barcelona's.

Amidst rampant speculation over possible backroom deals, whether Qatar is capable of hosting, and the environmental impact of its plan, there are bound to be conspiracy theories that follow this announcement. But regardless of that, Barcelona once again proved they're "more than a club." Like everyone else with a shirt sponsor, they're also now a propaganda tool.



WORLD CUP DECISION CRITICAL FOR U.S.
12/02/2010 - -


Whatever your opinion of Major League Soccer, almost everyone will agree the league is no cash cow. Far from it.

So why would the relatively frugal MLS happily fork over $2 million to the USA Bid Committee, the lead element in a chase to deliver World Cup 2022 to this country? Why would MLS donate such a handsome sum this late in the game, when things already look so promising ahead of Thursday's massive announcement?

Because everyone associated with MLS knows exactly what's at stake. They recognize the spectacular growth opportunities World Cup 2022 could create for the league and domestic soccer in general. So grand are the stakes, so golden the rewards, that MLS commissioner Don Garber and the league owners were happy to toss more cash into the kitty to fill any remaining gaps.

For months now Garber and U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who also chairs the USA Bid Committee, have been talking about the unprecedented 12-year runway, the dozen potentially fruitful years between Thursday's announcement and World Cup 2022. Talk about a landmark period of leverage for domestic soccer. That's all assuming that the U.S. bid can trump efforts from Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea in a process already dented by corruption.

"If we do prevail, then between now and 2022 we will have a 12-year run that will change this league and the sport in America forever," Garber said last week.

Garber is confident that it can happen. Qatar has oodles of money behind its bid, but has significant weather challenges -- it's prohibitively hot. Australia has an outside shot, although China's emergence as a potential 2026 host could complicate the Aussie bid. Same for Japan and South Korea, countries further challenged by another impediment, having hosted a World Cup even more recently than the United States.

Garber met with a small group of reporters and bloggers one day before the MLS Cup final in Toronto. While the commissioner didn't talk about specific opportunities for his league -- now an 18-team operation but one still seeking aggressive growth-- it's not hard to decode his messages.

Bill Clinton: Why the U.S. is a perfect match for 2022

Outside of the obvious, the boon to development of fans and players, it's mostly about leverage. Imagine Garber and Gulati (in his role as U.S. Soccer president) going to the networks for contract talks. Consider their favorable place at the bargaining table as they bundled MLS and national team matches with World Cup rights. It would add instant value to MLS contests, to World Cup qualifiers, to Women's World Cup rights, etc. Suddenly, elements that might not have been on the table previously (such as a more favorable slot for the MLS Cup final, just to name one) could be in play as networks keen on securing World Cup rights become more agreeable.

At the local level, a city with designs on those World Cup delights will need to develop a regional plan to promote and enhance the sport. As many as eight of the 18 U.S. cities currently under consideration will not make the cut, so they'll need to improve their odds by pandering a little to MLS or to U.S. Soccer. The league could leverage it all kinds of ways, by attracting higher franchise fees for newcomers or by requesting tax breaks for stadiums in existing markets, for instance. Or it might mean the development of a blue-ribbon training site, which a close-by MLS side would use around the small World Cup window.

It all feeds into a lucrative growth cycle. Leveraging these opportunities will create more favorable financial situations. That provides more cash for player acquisition and marketing opportunities to increase awareness of the stars yet to arrive in MLS. Presumably, these stars and the increased quality they create will lure more people to the stadiums, which will add more money and more sponsors to propagate the cycle.

MLS could do all this without a World Cup acting as a huge fulcrum -- but the pace of the process would look very different. If the current pace is "X," a World Cup 2022 boost could speed up the pace of development to 3X or 4X.

Beyond MLS, Gulati has long stressed the infrastructure element of the U.S. bid. Specifically, a land blessed with an embarrassment of venue riches won't have to spend for facilities or the supporting, physical components. Rather, they can use development money to enhance the game itself through after-school programs, creation of inner-city fields, promotion of the women's game, etc.

Garber and Gulati say they speak to one another almost every day. Both say they share a vision of what soccer could look like here -- and so much of that vision revolves around a successful outcome Thursday in Zurich.

"That vision has the league as a focal point," Garber said recently as he toured MLS cities in the run-up to MLS Cup. "Because nobody disagrees with the fact ... that if we want soccer to succeed, Major League Soccer needs to get better. We need to have better quality. Need to have better facilities. We need better training grounds, need to have better player development, higher quality environments for players to compete in. We need to have more games and better games on television and all those things. So a lot of our attention is focused on our World Cup Bid."

Consider that the tremendous legacy of the 1994 World Cup was in establishing the sport in this country, about positioning soccer so that it could be mentioned alongside the bedrock sports in American culture.

It established MLS, the starting point for soccer to be taken seriously here past youth level. It provided the infrastructure and proper backdrop for a very successful Women's World Cup in 1999, a breakthrough moment in America's recognition of the sport. In the big picture, it moved the sport past an unattractive sticking point; soccer had previously been fastened to outlier status, that funny foreign game most people played in elementary school and then grew out of.

The 1994 World Cup established soccer as Americana, as a piece of the fabric of American life. Now, the legacy of World Cup 2022 here would be about digging down into the nitty-gritty, about cooking up ways to make the game better.

"The legacy, the upside of a market in a country like the United States, to be more engaged in the world's game, is something that is unique and extraordinary," Gulati said last week in Toronto. "One of our goals is to go from 100 million who watch the World Cup to 200 million. There aren't many countries who are bidding that can do that. Size matters."

POTENTIAL U.S. CITIES

The 18 U.S. bid cities for the 2022 World Cup, a list that will be culled to 10-12 as plans are finalized in years to come:

Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Miami
Nashville
New York
Philadelphia
Phoenix-Glendale
San Diego
Seattle
Tampa
Washington, D.C.



OCTOPUS PAUL VIOLATES JEWISH RELIGIOUS LAW
7/19/2010 - -

For the Spanish version in it's original from Diario AS read here

 
My translation into English:

The infallible octopus Paul and his successful World Cup match predictions violate the "halacha" or Jewish religious law, as has sentenced a rabbi in Israel.

David Stav, Rabbi and Chairman of the board of Shoham, a city east of Tel Aviv, said in an interview that the use of an octopus to predict the outcome of the games is "an expression of bankruptcy (moral) that plague the Western world ", reported the Israeli newspaper" Maariv ".

"These types of predictions are contrary to Jewish law," declared the devout.

According to him, "Jewish society has been able to cultivate the mind in the fields of science and medicine and made great achievements," something praiseworthy and totally contrary to what it represents  by the use of a cephalopod to predict the victory of La Roja.

The rabbi does not seem impressed by Paul's achievements and believes that the faithful Jews should not applaud the fortune telling skills of the animal revered by the Spanish fans, who requested his transfer to the Madrid Zoo Aquarium.

"It seems that the mind is not sufficient to meet the needs of men," says Stav, who warns that "to seek something beyond the mind can lead to the absurd" like having faith in an octopus to determine the outcome of a sporting event .

Stav is co-founder of the Rabbinical Organization Tzohar and the Yeshiva (Talmudic school) of Petach Tikva and gives classes in the school of Metivta, a women's seminary of the University of Bar Ilan.




CAN SPAIN NAB PAUL THE PSYCHIC OCTOPUS?
7/16/2010 - -


He's been one of the world's hottest topics this past month and has even "spoken" to TIME's World Cup blog. But now Paul the psychic octopus is the subject of an international transfer request. Hold onto your tentacles.

Paul is an understandable hero to the Spanish, after he bravely predicted the eventual World Cup winners would defeat Germany in the semi-final. He then went with them again in the final, with Spain's victory meaning the octopus went eight for eight. To show how serious they were about taking care of him, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero offered to send a security team to protect Paul from hungary -- and angry -- German soccer fans. But now a northwestern Spanish town has gone one step further: they want to bring him over.

Officials in O Caraballino (population 14,000) have labeled Paul their "honorary friend" and would like him to promote a seafood festival. And a local businessman apparently offered $40,000 to buy him, but the Oberhausen's Sea Life aquarium has turned down the offers. And you thought the trade deadline in baseball could be exciting.

This is but the latest attempt from Spain, where there have been hundreds of requests to bring Paul to the land of the paella. The highest profile of which probably came from the Madrid Zoo earlier this week, who want him as a tribute to the country lifting the World Cup for the first time. Germany has so far not succumbed but it's clear that this story still has legs (yes, eight of them in this case.)

Reuters


RAMOS CROWNED AS LA ROJA CONQUER
7/12/2010 - -


This has been a FIFA World Cup™ of firsts: the first on African soil, the first won by Spain and also the first to be assessed second-by-second using the Castrol Index. This innovative system has utilised advanced technology to objectively analyse and evaluate every single player movement, and tonight it crowned its very own FIFA World Cup king.

Its verdict? That Sergio Ramos, Spain’s daring and energetic right-back, has been the most influential and effective player on show over the past month. The Real Madrid star, an ever-present in the top 20 since the second round of group matches, went into the Final in pole position and retained his place in style. Indeed, Ramos emerged as the Castrol Performance Analysts’ man of the match, pipping team-mates Joan Capdevila, Iker Casillas and Andres Iniesta with a score of 9.64 that reflected his efforts at both ends of the field.

A couple of efforts on Maarten Stekelenburg’s goal reminded everyone of his attacking capabilities, but it is at the back – where the world and European champions restricted the Netherlands to precious few opportunities – that the Spain No15 and his team-mates once again excelled. Indeed, with Vicente Del Bosque’s side having conquered the world on the back of four straight clean sheets during the knockout stage, and just two goals conceded overall, it is no wonder that Ramos’s main challenge for the Index title came from his own defensive colleagues.

Sneijder the midfield master

La Roja, who scored just eight goals en route to the title – the fewest of any world champions in history – were heavily indebted to a back four in which Joan Capdevila, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique also excelled. In fact, only Philipp Lahm prevented this Spanish quartet taking places one, two, three and four in the Index, with Pique the man to drop into fifth due to his comparative lack of attacking involvement.

With David Villa – who leaves South Africa ranked by Castrol as the tournament’s leading striker - also recognised for his early heroics, Spain had kicked off at Soccer City with five players in the Castrol Index top ten to the Netherlands’ one. However, that sole Dutch representative, Wesley Sneijder, cemented his position with another stylish showing in the Final. Once again, the Inter Milan star was adjudged to be the Oranje’s top performer, and heads for home with the consolation of knowing that Castrol’s analysis has deemed him to be the tournament’s top midfielder.

Of course, the Final wasn’t the only match to influence the concluding Castrol Index of South Africa 2010. There was, after all, the small matter of that thrilling play-off for third place between Germany and Uruguay, a match that involved a clutch of potential contenders. Conspicuous by their absence, however, were two of the Index’s erstwhile leading lights: Philipp Lahm, the list’s one time leader, and Manuel Neuer, its top goalkeeper.

Nevertheless, while Lahm’s illness-enforced absence denied him the opportunity to return to the summit, he remained Germany’s highest-ranked player at fourth, while Neuer retained his pre-eminent position at the top of the goalkeeping list despite a late challenge from Casillas. The German duo were even able to gain ground in the Index as they ended the tournament with a superior average score to some of those involved in the last two fixtures.

Suarez outshines Forlan

Although an impressive showing in the third-place play-off was naturally not weighted as highly as a starring role in the Final, others also climbed, with adidas Golden Boot and Golden Ball winners Thomas Muller and Diego Forlan making major gains to enter the top ten and top 50 respectively.

Forlan would have considerably higher but for a poor pass completion rate, with the Uruguay star ranking 61st out of 71 forwards who attempted more than 50 passes. Attacking colleague Luis Suarez ultimately outranked him with an eighth-place finish, while credit should also go to Ghana’s John Pantsil and Paulo da Silva of Paraguay, both of whom finished in the top 20 despite exiting at the quarter-final stage.

There could only be one winner, however, and it was Ramos who took the inaugural honours, completing a fairy tale couple of years for both him and his trophy-laden team.



SERGIO AND THE WORLD CUP FIFA CASTROL RANKINGS
7/12/2010 - - 

    1    SERGIO RAMOS            DF       SPAIN       9.79
    2    JOAN CAPDEVILA          DF       SPAIN       9.74
    3    CARLES PUYOL            DF       SPAIN       9.70
    4    PHILIPP LAHM            DF      GERMANY      9.66
    5    GERARD PIQUE            DF       SPAIN       9.63
    6    DAVID VILLA             FW       SPAIN       9.59
    7    WESLEY SNEIJDER         MF    NETHERLANDS    9.56
    8    LUIS SUAREZ             FW      URUGUAY      9.53
    9    THOMAS MUELLER          MF      GERMANY      9.51
    10   MANUEL NEUER            GK      GERMANY      9.48
    11   SERGIO BUSQUETS         MF       SPAIN       9.46
    12   JOHN PANTSIL            DF       GHANA       9.43
    13   MARK VAN BOMMEL         MF    NETHERLANDS    9.41
    14   BASTIAN
         SCHWEINSTEIGER          MF      GERMANY      9.39
    15   PAULO DA SILVA          DF     PARAGUAY      9.36
    16   XABI ALONSO             MF       SPAIN       9.34
    17   ARNE FRIEDRICH          DF      GERMANY      9.32
    18   GREGORY VAN DER WIEL    DF    NETHERLANDS    9.30
    19   JORIS MATHIJSEN         DF    NETHERLANDS    9.28
    20   MAXIMILIANO PEREIRA     DF      URUGUAY      9.26

























TOTAL SHOTS ATTEMPTED





7/10/2010 -
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PAELLA IS MEANT TO SHARE





7/10/2010 -
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TAKING A UNITED APPROACH - ESTOS SON LOS REINAR





7/10/2010 -
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A NATION divided is now united. And, no, we're not talking about South Africa.



Spain, a serial underachiever, is one shot from glory. The pundits' favourite to lift the World Cup for the first time. And the people's favourite back home. They're celebrating on Las Ramblas and the Plaza Mayor. A national team, in the truest sense. For how long? Who cares. But right now, all of Spain is behind ''La Roja''. The power of football, and the scent of success.



Spain is a country riven, historically, by the great political and cultural divide between the Catalans and the Castillians. Not to mention the Basques and the Galicians. Its football culture has been defined by the deep, abiding, hatred between Barcelona FC and Real Madrid. But all Spanish fans have one thing in common. An enduring frustration with failure. It's been 60 years since Spain re-entered the international arena. Since Real Madrid and, more recently, Barcelona, became the benchmarks for club football. But in that time, the national team has consistently flattered to deceive.



Hands up if you remember Estanislao Basora? The Barcelona forward scored five goals in the 1950 World Cup, but Spain went out in the second round. Perhaps you might remember Marcelino Martinez, the Real Zaragoza striker who got his head to the ball to help Spain win the 1964 European crown. Until two years ago, when Spain won the European title for a second time, that was the only trophy in the cabinet. For a nation with such a rich football tradition, the hall of fame is scandalously small.



Vicente del Bosque is the coach who has changed everything. Perhaps because he comes from Castile and Leon, an autonomous province that promotes linguistic and cultural harmony, he's been able to bring the various groups together. The first player to congratulate Carles Puyol - the captain of Barcelona - when he scored the goal to win the semi-final was Sergio Ramos, who plays for Real Madrid. This is a team in the truest sense of the word. No egos, no in-fighting. Del Bosque hasn't changed much at all since he took over two years ago - at least in terms of tactics and personnel - but he has brought a calming influence. And it shows.



Italy, France, Brazil and England have all gone home with a whiff of disharmony in the air. Spain is into the final because it has been forged by the sense of mission. To right the wrongs of the past, when Spain was routinely tipped to do great things but failed to achieve even the smallest ambitions.



The modern Spain, it must be said, is blessed with arguably the greatest generation of players in its history. Between 2007 and 2009, it didn't lose in 35 games. A world record. Since then, it has lost just twice. Spain's campaign could have spiralled into a vortex of self-doubt and recriminations. Instead it has bounced back. Opportunity is knocking like it's never knocked before, and finally Spain is ready to take it.




























SEER SUCKER: OCTOPUS ORACLE PICKS SPAIN TO WIN





7/10/2010 -
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There’s been plenty of ink for Paul the octopus lately, and why not?
Octopus Paul chose a mussel from a glass tank marked with a Spanish flag, while ignoring the tank marked with the German colors - indicating a Spanish victory in Wednesday's semifinal.



The octopus, also known as the “Oracle of Oberhausen,” has successfully predicted the winner of six World Cup matches so far.



Now, Paul has forecast the winner of Sunday’s championship match. And rather than go out on a limb—or maybe eight of them—the critter is sticking with the favorite, picking Spain over the Netherlands.






Handlers of the 2 1/2 -year-old floppy octopus—a resident of the Oberhausen Sea Life aquarium—usually have him make predictions only for games in which Germany plays. But because of Paul’s recent worldwide fame and demand for his pick for the final, they made an exception.



Here’s how the seer sucker makes his prognostications: Officials put a mussel inside each of two clear plastic boxes bearing the national flags of the teams in his tank. Paul then makes his choice by opening the lid with his tentacles and devouring one of the treats.



Millions across Europe, in Taiwan and elsewhere watched a live TV broadcast Friday of his choice of Spain, complete with breathless commentary. He also predicted Germany over Uruguay in Saturday’s third-place game.





Paul has gotten business proposals, has thousands of Facebook fans and even has the attention of world leaders.



Animal rights group PETA wants him freed. Many Germans—upset that he correctly picked Spain over Germany in Wednesday’s semifinal—want him fried.



“Paul is such a professional oracle—he doesn’t even care that hundreds of journalists are watching and commenting on every move he makes,” said Stefan Porwoll, the Sea Life aquarium manager. “We’re so proud of him.”



After his prediction of his home country’s loss came true, German TV showed footage of a grilled octopus. That prompted Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to fret about the safety of “El Pulpo Paul,” as he’s known in Spain.



“I am concerned about the octopus,” Zapatero said. “I’m thinking about sending in a team to protect the octopus because obviously it was very spectacular that he should get Spain’s victory right from there.”



In response to hundreds of angry e-mails from Germans, the aquarium actually took extra precautions, Porwoll said.



“I even told our guards and people at the entrance to keep a close look at possible football fans coming after Paul for revenge,” he said, adding that the hate mail was outweighed by declarations of love and requests for predictions.



PETA says Paul’s tank is too small. But Porwoll said the creature was born in captivity and has never had to deal with any natural enemies, so dumping Paul into the Atlantic would likely mean death. He could live up to four years in captivity, Porwoll added.



In the meantime, he might have a future beyond World Cup. A reporter from Greece asked if the mollusk medium could foresee the end of the financial crisis, and German TV stations have offered lucrative contracts, Porwoll said.



After Arab news sites reported Paul’s picks, it was suggested he be sent to Iraq to choose between two bitter rivals—Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his main challenger, Ayad Allawi—vying to head the new government.



Gary Jenkins, an economist with London’s Evolution Securities, hedged his market analysis note Friday with the phrase, “unless Paul says differently.”



Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for English bookmaker William Hill, said bettors have been asking the staff about the picks by the buoyant clairvoyant.



“If you had just bet 10 pounds ($15) on each of Paul’s six successive winning selections … so far, you would have made a healthy profit of 84 pounds ($126)—but if you had put the winnings from each bet all onto the next one, you would now be looking at 1,400 pounds ($2,108) of profit,” Sharpe said.



Paul is not without competition. There’s also Mani, a parakeet in Singapore, who predicted the Dutch would win Sunday by creeping out of his wooden cage and choosing between two cards that bore the two nations’ flags.



In South Africa, Spanish team defender Carlos Marchena isn’t putting too much stock in Paul’s pick.



“It’s only an octopus,” he said.




























MATHEMATICAL FORMULA PREDICTS CLEAR FAVORITE FOR THE FIFA WORLD CUP





7/09/2010 -
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A sophisticated new analysis of team tactics predicts a Spanish win in Sunday's FIFA World Cup final and also shows why England were beaten by Germany.


Mathematicians and football supporters Dr Javier López Peña and Dr Hugo Touchette from Queen Mary, University of London have collected ball passing data from all of the FIFA World Cup games and analysed it to reveal the nations' different styles of play.


Using the mathematical technique called Graph Theory, they have revealed the gaping holes in England's tactics against Germany game and made predictions about the Netherlands-Spain final that could rival the psychic octopus.




























THE UNSUNG HEROES OF THE DEFENSE





7/04/2010 -
   - 
  









Ask a thousand football fans what they love about the 
Spanish national team and you can bank on the fact that Xavi, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Andres Iniesta, quick passing and attacking verve will feature in the vast majority of the answers.



Only the anorak, and I, will fight for the good name of their defensive troops – Iker Casillas, Carlos Marchena, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila. They are the least known and least appreciated of La Furia Roja, but some of the funniest, 
cleverest and most hard-working 
footballers at this tournament.



For example, had you any idea that for all Spain’s marvellously daring play when they tear into opponents, the World Cup semi-finalists have kept clean sheets in 19 of their 30 matches since winning the European 
Championship in 2008?



And, based on the bedrock of their stingy back four, Spain have now won 40 consecutive internationals when they have gone 1-0 up. Marchena has racked up a world record of 53 inter-
nationals without defeat, beating Garrincha’s record of 49, Capdevila reached the quarter-finals in South Africa as Fifa’s highest-rated player of the tournament via their Castrol Index – earning 9.7 out of 10 despite the fact even the Villarreal man himself says he is “not a first line player”.



Ramos and Capdevila play more like wing-backs than full-backs and before last night’s win over Paraguay, the two had not only completed the majority of Spain’s 106 crosses into the penalty area (28 more than their closest rival) they also had two of the best pass 
completion rates in the tournament, 79% and 81% respectively.



I wanted to be a bullfighter, not a footballer, but my mum was too scared 
Sergio Ramos
Ramos is something of a law unto himself who told me last week that he got so high up the pitch against 
Honduras because he has promised a girlfriend a goal and special celebration, so he’s flying down the wing regardless of tactical orders.



And Capdevila is a good footballer who is one of the most dogged of modern tacklers, but a flying machine he certainly ain’t any more. So shouldn’t Spain be conceding goals to clever opposition wingers? Isn’t the fact that they are often left with two at the back an invitation for quick counter-
attacking teams to score and to beat them on a consistent basis? The odd couple of centre-backs are a major part of why that doesn’t happen.



A couple of days ago, Argentina’s 1978 World Cup-winning coach Cesar Luis Menotti described Pique as “the greatest
centre-half I have seen since Franz Beckenbauer”. When I mentioned this to the Barcelona defender he stopped for a milisecond before confirming that “everyone knows that Menotti knows his football”. Which sums up Pique’s personality: good enough to be nicknamed
“Piquenbauer” in Catalunya, but cheeky, irreverent and occasionally wild.



Television interviews in the Camp Nou have been interrupted by Pique and Bojan dancing behind the presenter wearing only towels around their laps and this week at Ellis Park an interview with Cesc Fabregas was enlivened by the towering centre-half disrobing revealingly behind the interviewer in order to make his best friend, Fabregas, crack up in helpless laughter.



The fact he is so devotedly close to the massively serious, almost obsessively
committed Puyol is one of the 
quixotic tricks football produces. They have played together 76 times for club and country, losing twice, and the bond works off the pitch too. “He’s heavy on your ears,” Pique admits about Puyol. “He thinks I lose concentration and he never stops yelling ‘Geri’ at me – even when the ball is in the opposition penalty area!”



Iniesta is an amused spectator with club and country. “They are completely different characters and players which is presumably why the fit is so good,” he says. “They each improve the other and if Puyol brings the power and the determination then Geri adds elegance and a great ability to bring the ball out of defence. Honestly, I think Geri 
playing for Barca and Spain has added a lot of fun to Carles’ life. Before he used to stress out quite a lot. Since he teamed up with Pique he laughs more and enjoys his football more.”



Only Fabregas disagrees. “They are both a pain in the butt – between them they never let me sleep, they are always tormenting me and not one squad get-together passes without one or other of them trying to catch me out in one way or another.”



On either side of the two pillars are two more characters. Ramos, the most expensive Spaniard transferred between two La Liga clubs is the guy who arrived at the Bernabeu wet behind the ears but ready to claim: “I want Fernando Hierro’s shirt number and I want to emulate his achievements with Madrid.”



It went down like a proctologist at a finger buffet – but with maturity he has become one of Europe’s most powerful
and dynamic defenders. With a strong possibility Jose Mourinho will either convert him to an out-and-out centre-half or sell him to AC Milan there are golden years ahead for the Andalucian.



Nevertheless, he complains: “I never wanted to be a footballer when I was growing up, I wanted to be a bullfighter
but my mum would never let me because she was too scared. I have had to calm down a little over the years because if I admitted all the tricks I used to get up to when I was younger then they’d probably clap me in jail. That has probably helped me in football terms because when I play centre-half for Madrid it is a less free, more demanding role where concentration is at a premium.”



Throw in the fact that captain Casillas
is a flinty, rock-hard competitor and you have the Dirty Half Dozen (Casillas,
Puyol, Pique, Ramos, Capdevila and Marchena) who maintain La Roja’s defensive purity. Except that the final statistic to is that dirty they are not.



Pique is scrupulous about winning the ball cleanly and is rarely suspended, and in the group stage Spain became the first team since 1986 to avoid a single yellow card. Both the Spain and Barcelona
coaches tend to have consistency of selection as a weapon because, for all their physical force, Pique and Puyol play the ball, not the man.



And, above all, they don’t care if you love Villa or Xavi, or El Nino more than them. “You get used to being undervalued or less famous because it is the winning that counts” admits Puyol.



History will remember this Spain squad fondly, but without the Dirty Half Dozen they’d be nothing.


Graham Hunter
























A CONTINENT'S HOPES ARE SWATTED AWAY





7/03/2010 -
   - 
  









The rules are the rules. Luis Suárez, a striker, did not have to think as he batted a sure goal away from the line. He did the crime and he would do the time but he saved the World Cup for Uruguay — and he broke the heart of Africa.



Has this ever happened before, in any sport, where an entire continent was putting its hopes, its prayers, its soul, into a melee in front of a soccer goal?



Dozens of countries, so disparate, so far removed from each other, were surely wishing for Ghana to become the first African nation to reach the semifinals of the World Cup.



Ghana had the support of Nelson Mandela, the former president, now 91, who sent a letter to the Ghanaian federation saying that the entire continent wished success to the last African team. The South African team became the first host not to make it out of the first round, so all around Africa people became honorary Ghanaians after Ghana ousted the United States, fair and square, last Saturday.



But now all of Africa is gone, done in by an exchange that favored Uruguay. This was no Hand of God, so dubbed by Diego Maradona, after he swatted home a goal on the fly for Argentina in the semifinals of 1986. In that prehistoric age, the officials did not have a clue that Diego had made his deal with the devil, although the English defenders certainly knew.



The swat by Suárez had the smell of sulfur to it, no deities involved. He performed his handball on the goal line with the entire field watching him. He saved the game for Uruguay. He cuffed a continent as surely as he batted away the goal.



Suárez reacted in the first minute of injury time of the second overtime period, meaning the players had gone 120 official minutes and then nearly another one. Ghana was swarming the Uruguay goal. And Suárez stood on the line and knocked the ball away.



But was it cheating — or was it a cynical trade under the rules of a sport in which goals do not happen very easily? Suárez had no time to reason it out, but he is a professional, he knows the score.



He is 23 years old, plays for Ajax in the Netherlands, and he had to know there was a leeway in the law of soccer that allowed him to take a red card, an automatic expulsion and banishment from at least the next match. But at least there will be a next game. Uruguay will go on to play the Netherlands in the semifinals next Tuesday in Cape Town. Ghana is done. Africa is done.



The drama afterward was not inevitable, although it seemed that way. The trade Suárez arranged in an instant was his expulsion for a penalty kick for Ghana, no automatic, ever. It’s not a fair exchange but it is the rule of the sport.



Moments later, Asamoah Gyan whacked the ball off the crossbar, up, up and away. The 1-1 draw went into penalty kicks and Uruguay won, 4-2. Africa will not reach the semifinals this time.



For a time in those final furious seconds, the vuvuzelas seemed to die down because the fans were actually watching the match and reacting the way fans have always reacted in this sport of very few goals. They oohed and they ahhed and they roared and then they groaned.



Even as Suárez was sent off the field, the fans in the stadium knew they had been deprived, and surely they would say cheated. But that’s the trade. Touch the ball on purpose, bat away a goal, and the other team has a pretty good chance to make a penalty kick. Should the referee have the right to wave an automatic goal? That’s for the folks from FIFA to take up when they discuss the possibility of electronic surveillance or more referees at their next rules meeting later in the month.



The only thing left for Ghana was how it would react. After the players picked themselves up off the floor, Ghana officials said they had no recourse to protest.



And Uruguay Coach Óscar Tabárez noted that Suárez would be penalized by missing the next game, and that was a fair price for the red card.



One lingering question is whether the ball crossed the line before Suárez touched it, but since world soccer does not provide for goal-line officials or electronic surveillance or chips in the ball, there is no provision for review.



Ghana’s gracious acceptance matched the kindness that has marked this South African World Cup. Now Africa has no team left in this tournament, but its last team played well, and when it lost, it lost with grace. That memory should last as long as the result.




























PADRE MOURINHO





6/30/2010 -
   - 
  






Mourinho defiende a Cristiano: "Yo no haré caer sobre él toda la responsabilidad"



"En mis equipos, cuando ganamos, ganamos todos. Cuando perdemos, pierdo yo. Por eso Cristiano puede estar tranquilo y disfrutar sus vacaciones", dijo.






José Mourinho, nuevo entrenador del Real Madrid, salió en defensa de Cristiano Ronaldo tras las críticas que ha recibido por su comportamiento tras el partido frente a España. También lanzó un dardo al seleccionador, Carlos Queiroz, al sugerir que dejó caer sobre el crack del Madrid todo el peso de la derrota.



"Soy el entrenador del Real Madrid y Cristiano Ronaldo es mi jugador. Tengo el derecho de hacer lo que no hice desde el inicio del Mundial, un simple comentario: en mis equipos, cuando ganamos, ganamos todos. Cuando perdemos, pierdo yo. Por eso Cristiano puede estar tranquilo y disfrutar sus vacaciones, porque la próxima temporada no dejaré que nadie ponga sobre él todas las responsabilidades de un equipo", dijo.



"Los grandes jugadores marcan la diferencia, porque son mejores, pero los equipos son el soporte de todo. Portugal perdió porque España fue mejor y punto", concluyó.

























HOW MANY ENGLAND PLAYERS WOULD MAKE LA ROJA?





6/24/2010 -
   - 
  









After the Swiss aberration, Spain are back to where they belong: the best team at this World Cup. Their standard of play against Honduras was back to its usual height and had Fernando Torres been a touch sharper, they would have scored five or more. While Argentina and Brazil have been impressive and Portugal thrashed seven past the North Koreans, that Spanish attacking performance was a defining moment of this World Cup. It set down a marker.



What must have been particularly discouraging for the rest was the depth of talent available to Vicente del Bosque. Andres Iniesta was out with a thigh strain but the Spain coach could still afford to use Cesc Fabregas and Juan Mata off the bench.



With Fabio Capello trying to find players capable of freshening up his team for the crucial game with Slovenia it made for a depressing comparison. England’s squad looks desperately thin.



Spain have been the best international side in the world for the last three years – ignore the Fifa ranking of Brazil as No1 – and their first team is formidable. How many English players would make that XI? Ashley Cole for sure, but it is hard to make a case for anyone else.



What was driven home on Monday night, though, was how few English players would have a hope of making the Spain squad, let alone the team. Here’s the Spain squad and here’s the England squad. If you go through it systematically, like-for-like, you’ll see what I mean.



Not a single one of our three goalkeepers would make it. Spain’s No3, Victor Valdes, would easily be England’s No1. One England insider said to me before the tournament that Spain’s seventh-choice goalkeeper would be England’s first choice. He was only half-joking.



Spain’s only weak position is left-back, where Joan Capdevila is capable but not brilliant. Ashley Cole is certainly the superior player. But across the rest of the defence it looks less convincing. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry are not the players they were and Glen Johnson is miles behind Sergio Ramos at right back. You would probably take Terry ahead of Carlos Marchena as a back-up centre back to Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique.



The strength of the Spanish central midfield is ludicrous – Xavi, Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Fabregas and Sergio Busquets. Steven Gerrard would get in ahead of Javi Martinez but that’s it. None of the English wingers are better than David Silva, Jesus Navas or Mata.



In attack you have the superb pairing of Torres and David Villa to contend with. Then Pedro Rodriguez provides real pace and trickery and can also play out wide. Wayne Rooney would go ahead of Fernando Llorente, the Bilbao target man, but I can’t see any of the other three – Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey – making it.



So out of the 23, if you go on a like-for-like basis, I reckon only four players – A Cole, Terry, Gerrard and Rooney – would make the Spanish squad. That’s the gulf in class Capello has to contend with.

























FREE AT LAST





6/21/2010 -
   - 
  























CR9 has broken his drought of almost two years of not finding the back of the net for A Selecção. Exploding onto a defense splitting pass, beating the goalie, albeit slightly fortuitously, and prodding home an acrobatic goal into the wide open net. How does that nursery rhyme "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" go? This is exactly what I thought of when I saw this wonderful goal!




















































































SPAIN VS HONDURAS WITH PEÑA MADRIDISTA NYC





6/19/2010 -
   - 
  









Meet other Real Madrid Fans in NYC!

We are recognized by Real Madrid as an official Real Madrid supporter's club.

Real Madrid NYC is a not for profit club, our only mission is to share our passion for Real Madrid and building a large New York network of fans and friends.

You can now find us on Facebook: Peña Madridista NYC Facebook 

Our official headquarters (nuestra casa) is:


Mr Dennehy's 


 63 Carmine St 


New York, NY 10014



An awesome place to watch the game!













Spain vs Honduras 

Monday, June 21, 2010 at 2:15PM











Honduras is our next rival and despite being the group’s cinderella, they only lost 1-0 to the other “roja” of the group (Chile), which proved there is no easy opponent in a World Cup.

Passing to the next phase now seems a diffifult task for Spain after the dismal display against Switzerland. We cannot lose any points if we want to be with the big boys. World Cup history has proven that unless you are Brazil, Germany or Italy, being considered the heavy favorite into a tournament normally ends up in disaster…let’s prove the theory wrong!!! 







Phantoms of underachievement have set again in Spain’s camp, we must send those away and the only way forward in winning, I do not care how, using tiki-taka, the old Furia or “a la italiana” but winning is the only way to redemption!

As Nadal would say…Vamooooooos!!!!! 







See the full event details, including location, at http://www.meetup.com/realmadridnyc/calendar/13844508/.







I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE :) 





























SERGIO'S PREDICTION





6/10/2010 -
   - 
  






Sergio Ramos has tried to ease the pressure on his Spain team-mates by dismissing the idea they should be considered favourites to lift the World Cup.



The European champions boast a formidable record in international football over the last three years and are widely favoured in South Africa. But Ramos believes there are several teams who can challenge over the course of the next few weeks.



"Well, I think in these kinds of events you always have a surprise," the Real Madrid defender said.



"Obviously the favourites are Italy, Brazil, Portugal, Holland... in this year's tournament we will see so many good players which make the World Cup so interesting and exciting. So, we pass the status of being the favourite to the other teams.



"We do not like to be seen as favourites but of course we have a strong team and if we do the things well as we did in the European Cup, step by step and respecting every team, we will play an important role. I would be happy reaching the 11th of July, the day of the final."



Ramos' Madrid team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa is likewise looking at others to carry the weight of expectation.



"Well, for me favourites are Brazil," he said. "They have a lot of experience, the team which won the most titles, they are a team which are always dangerous and to be considered. Furthermore everyone talks about us, Spain, but this in the end does not help. I think Spain and Brazil are the favourites.



"Italy are always very strong, although it does not look like this before the tournament. England with Capello are very good. Then teams like France, Germany and Portugal who have great individual players and, yes, Argentina, why not?"




Guardian
























LA COMODIDAD DE LA ROJA





6/08/2010 -
   - 
  










Los jugadores de la Selección se hospedarán en un complejo a estrenar en la ciudad de Johannesburgo (Sudáfrica). Todo está a punto en el hotel, lleno de comodidades para los internacionales. Dispondrán de una pequeña cocina, una sala de estar e incluso una sala de juegos para los momentos de relax. Los organizadores quieren asegurarse de que todo está en orden y los operarios se afanaban en dar los últimos retoques. El autobús de la Roja, además, luce un nuevo eslogan: 'Ilusión es mi camino, victoria mi destino'. Sudáfrica espera a España.