A dark day for FIFA

Today is a dark day for FIFA. In the first game England's second goal was incredibly not called by the referee after the ball hit the top post, bounced nearly 1m inside the goal and then bounced out. In the Mexico-Argentina game, Argentina's first goal was validated even though the scoring player was clearly in offside position (seemed to be at least 2-3 meters). Though it's hard to deny that Germany and Argentina were the better teams in the respective matches and deserved to win, it also cannot be denied that such calls changed the trajectory of both matches in irreversible ways, especially since both calls came at a time when England, Mexico were playing better and had momentum on their sides. These of course are not the only bad calls of this world cup. So far we've had a legitimate goal annulled to the US in their game against Slovenia (for no apparent reason), a mystery red card given to Kaka in Brazil's game against Ivory Coast, and--in a qualification match--the refs allowed an incredible hand aided assist by France's Henri in their final decisive match against Ireland.

The question is--what will FIFA do to rectify this situation? In the past the argument has always been that any type of review would cause an unnatural pause in the game. This argument seems absurd in light of the fact the game is frequently paused when players argue with the refs after making such calls, or when players feign injuries to delay the game, etc. Moreover, today, unlike 20 or even 10 years ago, we have the technology to avoid such bad calls. I have four ideas I think FIFA should consider:

1. Have an extra "video review" ref that is in direct contact with the central ref and could review any play in 1 minute or less.
2. Give all refs a video "iphone" they can carry on their belts at all times to instantly review any call.
3. Install a chip inside the ball that would detect when the ball is inside the goal or out of bounds, etc. Chips in players shoes could also automatically detect when a players in the offside position, etc.
4. Allow for 1 "coach" challenge per game, to be video-reviewed within a 2 minute time limit.

What do you think? Could any of these be successfully implemented? What is clear is that something has to change for 2014.

Latin American Power

Out of 7 Latin American teams in the world cup 6 made it to the round of 16: Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Chile. Only Honduras is going home. Latin Amerian teams ended with a 10-6-2 record against their non-Latin rivals and outscored them 23 to 9. Adding the US, we have 7-8 teams in the Americas that made it to the top 16. Will this dominance continue in the final rounds?

May the round of 16 begin!

Well the first round has ended and now we're on to the final 16 teams! The US and South Korea squeaked by, the first with a 92 minute goal from Landon Donovan and South Korea after Nigeria surreally missed several scoring opportunities. We have some very juicy matches coming up. Will England be able to bring it's pre-cup form up and beat Germany? Will Mexico pull an upset against mighty Argentina? Who will rule the Iberian Peninsula, Spain or Portugal?

Who are your favorites? Who will surprise?

Surprises

Just before the World Cup began my friend Ian foretold it would be one of surprises... well, he's been right so far!

Donovan's is probably more than a surprise, it's a miracle I bet he doesn't even believe...!!

With a heavy heart my sisters and I watched Italy loose today... had they played the full match, and the previous ones, as great as they did the last 20 mins of today's, it would have been another story! And we almost got evicted from my building for being "too loud"! Stefanie, my 6 yr old niece refused to support Italy, because her "favourite color is not blue... it's yellow!"

Keeping my fingers crossed for Brazil tomorrow, though I guess it's probably a safe bet to say they're through to the next round, right?

I'm dreading Sunday's games though, with 2 of my faves playing, surely the laws of the universe will allow at least one of them through? I'm always rooting for the underdogs and it certainly seems that Mexico & England will be the underdogs in their respective matches!

San Temo -- Cuauhtemoc can still kick penalty shots!

San Temo. My cousin sent this to me. Cuauhtemoc is holding Mexico's latest young star, Chicharito Hernandez (who will be playing with Man-U in the fall). Chicharito scored the first goal against France and Cuauhtemoc the second one. A little bit of background here, Cuauhtemoc had a little skirmish with Chicharito after the South Africa game (presumably out of frustration for their inability to score in the final minutes of a dissapointing tie for Mexico). Only fitting that they were the authors of the two goals against France, hope that calmed the waters. BTW-- has anyone ever seen Cuauhtemoc miss a Penalty shot (I must have seen him make 20 of them when he played for America).

A whopping 20K Mexican fans were at the stadium watching Mexico-France yesterday... I think we have to hand it to the Mexican fans as being the most passionate and based on the outfits they were wearing also the most creative : )

Mexico v France

We're all excited for today's match, and since Mexico beat France in the historic Batalla de Puebla (Cinco de Mayo) way back when, many believe it will happen today again!

After Uruguay's defeat of S Africa, the pressure is on for Mexico & France! Hopefully they will play a good game and not rely on pushing and kicking and turn it into a wrestling match... like the France v Uruguay match!

btw, what's your take on the vuvuzela trumpets? apparently England & France have managed to edit out that humming bee noise of the TV transmission, and in other countries people are making it their ring tones!

came ooon!!

When is Spain going to play??

came oooooooon!! all these games have been so boring so far......................... ;) :P

Is Germany the most ethnically diverse team?

Watching the Germany-Australia game today I couldn't help but notice how diverse the German team is. Out of the 23 man roster at least 11 players are non-German born or of non-German heritage.
Miroslav Klose (Born in Poland)
Lukas Podolski (Born in Poland)
Sami Khedira (Tunisian Parents)
Mesut Özil (Turkish Parents)
Cacau (Born in Brazil)
Marko Marin (born in Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Mario Gomez (Spanish Father)

On the bench:
Dennis Aogo (Nigerian Parents)
Serdar Tasci (Turkish Parents)
Piotr Trochowski (Born in Poland)
Jérôme Boateng (Ghanaian father)

In the case of Boateng -- I caught during the Ghana game that he's Kevin Prince brother who plays for Ghana. It would be great to see them play each other. Would this be a world cup 1st -- to have brothers representing two different countries play each other? I can't imagine that this has ever happened before.

1st World Cup weekend

hey All!!! Which games have you been watching?!

Congrats to Ghana, excellent score though I didn't get to watch it... but 6am on a Sunday doesn't exist for me :(

I saw the England v US game, I went with my friends to an Irish pub in Mexico City -- how surreal is that?! We filled 3/4 of the place, and the USA fans where relegated to the corner... sorry!
"Butterfingers" Green (England Goalie) was very generous in giving that goal away!

Which has been your favourite game so far?