An interesting look at refereeing at this World Cup.

World Cup saga: Crime and punishment - International Herald Tribune

Link to full article.

Still on the World Cup, get a load of this clown:

BEIJING - The “hysterical” ranting of China’s most popular soccer commentator on live television during the broadcast of a World Cup match this week has sparked an outpouring of emotion in a nation where strongly felt opinions usually are sublimated.

Popular soccer commentator Huang Jianxiang lost his cool during a match between Italy and Australia, shouting himself hoarse in an outburst seen by millions of people.

“Italy is victorious! Long live Italy! . . . Great Italy!” Huang shrieked during the match broadcast by state-run China Central Television early Tuesday morning as Italy won the game on a dramatic penalty kick. “I don’t like the Australian team,” he shouted, adding with glee that it “should go home.”

..

Huang described the Australian team as “full of naturalized Australians who play and live in Britain. I don’t want to see Australia have good results in the World Cup.”

I think someone is a little worried about Australia playing in the Asian Cup next year, and from there onward. Someone whose team came second at the last Asian Cup. Someone who sees a whole new world of football pain just around the corner. See ya in 2007.

UPDATE: The rant has now been released as a ringtone, Reuters reports.

The full version went like this:

“Goooooal! Game over! Italy win!. Beat the Australians! … Italy the great! … Happy birthday to Maldini! Forza Italia!”

“The victory belongs to Italy, to Grosso, to Cannavaro, to Zambrotta, to Buffon, to Maldini, to everyone who loves Italian soccer!… (Australia) should go home. They don’t need to go as far away as Australia as most of them are living in Europe. Farewell!”

I didn’t realise crack was such a big problem in China.

Australia Vs Italy: 0-1

Awesome spirit from the Soccerroos, fantastic defence from the the Azzurri. One bad ref decision against the Italians, one against the Aussies. On the day luck was not on our side. But the Socceroos gave it everything and then some. Well done.

Football has just gotten a lot of new fans, and this truely is the beginning of world class football in Australia. There is a feeling hanging around that glory was snatched out of our hands and Australia was left with a hangover of an unsatisfied hunger for victory. So where to now? Well, now it is on to winning the Asian Cup next year. I’ll make the bold prediction that we have that one in the bag. The Asian Cup will be held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam (first time several nations are sharing in the hosting) and this will actually be the first time Australia will play in this tournament, after joining the Asian Football Confederation on January 1, 2006.

The final qualifying round is under way and we’re playing in group D with Kuwait, Lebanon and Bahrain. We have to play each of the teams in our group once at home and once away. So far we have won the away game against Bahrain (played on 22 February this year), 3-1. We have the following games coming up:

• 16 August 2006:  Australia - Kuwait, Aussie Stadium, Sydney, Australia
• 1 September 2006: Australia - Lebanon, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia
• 6 September 2006: Kuwait - Australia, National Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait
• 11 October 2006: Australia - Bahrain, Aussie Stadium, Sydney, Australia
• 15 November 2006: Lebanon - Australia, Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon

Quick look at the teams we’re playing in this round:

Bahrain are ranked 54th in the world and came 4th in the last Asian Cup in 2004.

Kuwait won the Asian Cup once in 1980 and are ranked 74th in the World.

Lebanon has never qualified for the World Cup, and only once qualified for the Asian Cup, in 2000 and are ranked 122nd in the world.

The strongest teams in the Asian Cup are Japan (18th in world), who won the last two, Iran (23rd), South Korea (29th), Saudi Arabia (34th), all of whom just played in the World Cup without making it through to the final 16.

So onward and upward Australia! Asian Cup 2007. This truely is just the beginning.

For more World Cup coverage see the links in this previous post.

Click to read more.

..and this time they are talking about the World Cup.

“The idea that these Australians could eliminate us from the World Cup seems a joke,” La Repubblica newspaper told readers yesterday on the news that Italy would face the Socceroos in the World Cup round of 16 match in Germany.

“Here’s some advice: for Australians, sport is a calling, practised en masse,” the paper said. “They have as many sporting fields as we have churches.

“They are born athletes who get better as they grow. They can excel in any discipline; all they need is someone who can teach them how to play. And in soccer, Guus Hiddink is that man.”

Hiddink, the celebrated Dutch trainer who is coaching the Socceroos, is renowned in Italy as “The Beast” - a reputation earned after coaching South Korea’s team, which knocked Italy out of the World Cup at the same stage in 2002.

Thats right. You should be scared.

UPDATE: Australians may be supermen in an unholy alliance with The Beast.. but the word has gotten out that the Italians have a few evolutionary advantages up their umm.. pantleg to boast about also.

Centre-back Alessandro Nesta - the linchpin of the team’s much-vaunted defence - injured a groin in Italy’s 2-0 win over the Czech Republic on Friday (AEST). Team doctor Enrico Castellacci said Nesta would not play against the Socceroos, with Italian radio reports also confirming Nesta was out of the game.

Surely he can spare one to injury, the rest of us only have one to start with, damn it.

Very clever PsyOps, Italy. But we ain’t falling for it.

UPDATE 2: This is starting to get a little creepy, but the love just keeps flooding in. Send a few cases to the Italian football team, Nicole. They’re gonna be needing it.

Australia Vs Croatia: 2-2

This gives Australia 4 points, which is 2 more than Croatia and enough to get Australia through to the next round.

All’s well that ends well, I say.

We now have a second-round tie with Italy, whom we are going to play in Kaiserslautern next Monday, 26 June.

UPDATE: The time for the game is 1:00am EST 27 Jun (Monday night)

If you just can’t get enough World Cup, here are some sites to check out:

Click to read more.

From the BBC Sport online:

“Tim Cahill’s equaliser was Australia’s first ever World Cup goal. Cahill is the fourth player next to Miroslav Klose (Germany), Omar Bravo (Mexico) and Paulo Wanchope (Costa Rica) to score twice at the 2006 World Cup.

Australia is the first team at this tournament, to come back after being 1-0 down, and Cahill (twice) and John Aloisi became the second and third substitute to score at the 2006 World Cup. No other team has scored three goals in the last seven minutes in World Cup history.

Japan, who put out their oldest ever starting line-up at a World Cup, are yet to win their opening match of the tournament. In 1998 they were beaten (1-0) by Argentina. Four years later they were held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium.“

The trivia was tacked on to their commentary on the Australia vs Japan game, with linked video footage, here.
Their photos from the game are here.

And here’s the official Football Federation Australia website.

What a way to finish! Tim Cahill scores both the first and the second goals ever for Australia in a World Cup. And in its first ever World Cup victory, Australia, ranked 42nd, beat the 18th ranked Japan, 3-1. I’ll leave the comments and criticism to those in the know. Well done to the Aussies! See the SMH site for Australian coverage of the World Cup. Check out this Japanese site for a photo special on the game.

UPDATE:

Football combines the two worst features of American life.
It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.
— George F. Will, “Men At Work: The Craft of Baseball”

Yeah, I know he is referring to another kind of football. Just thought I’d throw that one in.