iHooligan

The African Football Confederation (Caf) has made a stupid and callous decision to ban Togo from the next two Africa Cups of Nations after the Togo team pulled out of the competition when their bus was attacked by a separatist group called the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda.

Three people died from this shooting and the team were understandably shaken up. Still, Caf has decided that because the government of Togo recalled the team after the tragedy that this somehow represents political interference from Togo on the competition itself. Fucking ridiculous.

Sure, ban the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda from ever fielding a team in the Cup but Togo? Why punish the players for being shot at by a rogue separatist group? This borders on the bizarre.

Perhaps this is a result of Caf having the same president for 20 years in the form of Issa Hayatou and he and his minions are out of touch dictators rather than leaders?

Last year Barcelona advanced to the final game of the Champions League after a last minute goal against Chelsea by Andres Iniesta. Nine months later a study shows that the birth rate in Barcelona has jumped to 45%. It would be interesting to see if the same could be said of Euro 2008 or how regional birth rates in Spain fared during the 80 years of La Liga. And what if they win their first World Cup this year?

Meanwhile Portsmouth, far more worse off than merely struggling with relegation this year, are in danger of being liquidated by the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs department for being 97.2 million dollars in debt. As well as not being able to pay their players they had to shut down their website, at least temporarily, after being unable to pay their service provider. One senses a lot of laser tattoo removal in the future.

They are not alone at any rate as Crystal Palace has also entered into bankruptcy .

In the tabloid round up – Wayne Rooney generously recognized that there are ten other men on the field with Him .

Father of the Year John Terry as been been accused of having an affair with the ex-girlfriend of former Chelsea team mate Wayne Bridge.

And Sir Alex Ferguson is calling out Manchester United fans for taunting Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger with a chant that involves the word  ‘paedophile’  in it.  Now is that because he has such a young team?

It is hard to write anything football related with all the grim stories pouring out of the tragic earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The AP has reported that at least 30 members of Haiti’s soccer federation have died as a result of the quake.

In another former French colony a small tragedy played itself out last week when the Togo national team had its bus fired on in Angola as they made their way to the African Cup of Nations resulting in three deaths. Togo pulled out of the competition at the behest of their government and later tried to reenter but were denied. One can only hope that doesn’t send a signal to other fans that they can use deadly force to prevent competitors from making it to the event. Togo’s star striker and Manchester City player Emmanuel Adebayor has been traumatized from having his friend and press officer die in his arms and City is unsure when they will see him back in the Premier League again.

Meanwhile Adebayor’s former team Arsenal is in the ascendancy as they rose to the top of the EPL table after beating Bolton 4-2. Chelsea and Manchester United should have been looking over their shoulders.

On a brighter note, Brian Philips has a preview of his new project – something, I think you’ll find, to get excited about.

The Fifa World Cup draw had an estimated audience of 200 million as the eight groups were unveiled in Cape Town, South Africa. Some of the luminaries at the ceremony were a 91-year old Nelson Mandela, Portuguese football legend Eusebio and South African native Charlize Theron.

Time now to reflect on the countries which will be battling it out in these early matches and the star players staring each other down on the pitch.

The US will be pitted against England in Group C but considering Slovenia knocked Guus Hiddink’s Russia out of World Cup contention they should not be taken lightly. Watching the two halves of the Beckham Experiment face off after the last summer of conflict and redemption between Donovan and Beckham should prove interesting. And with several Americans in the US team playing in the Premier League the English tactics won’t come as a surprise. In fact, if the US plays anything like they did in the Conderferations Cup and our defensive line doesn’t fall asleep as they did in the second half of the Brazil game then the US team could pose a great threat in Group C. However, get used to seeing the words, “England will have the easiest route to the second round,” anytime you read about this group.

If Spain plays anything like they did in Euro 2008 they could have a feastival on their hands in their group, going “nom nom nom” on the likes of Honduras, who have been off the world stage for 28 years, and the two teams most likely to battle it out for survival in this group while Spain moves on, Switzerland and Chile.

Group G has become the Group of Death and death will probably come swiftly for North Korea being the lone weakling in this group although who knows what the North Korean papers will be saying about it (or should I say, paper, singular). A likely result from this will be Spain and Brazil clashing in the second round.

The Unknowns

Since Honduras hasn’t been in this competition in decades and New Zealand last qualifying for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain, you could call both these teams unknowns, certainly underdogs and possibly cannon fodder. It would be interesting to see the All Whites get to a confrontation with the Socceroos because who doesn’t love a Pacific rivalry? However, New Zealand will be facing down Italy, ouch, and Paraguay, which finished one point behind Brazil, so unless I am proved awesomely wrong, I think the Kiwis will get rofflestomped.

It is hard to predict how the home team is going to perform as evidenced by Guus Hiddink’s South Korea in the 2002 World Cup. But you can’t help feeling sorry for Bafana Bafana as they go up against Mexico, Uruguay and France in Group A. I suppose South Africans could always take solace with tissue and popcorn while watching Invictus.

And then there is the US. You never know what the fuck those guys are gonna do. They are sort of like Nixon’s madman theory but without a Soviet Union to actually pay attention.

I can only, like the citizen’s of all 32 countries, hope.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

(1875)

Say what? The MLS Cup is on ESPN1 and not 2 or 3 or Classic? There was a time when ESPN would not have interrupted a log cutting Championship to show a World Cup match. You could have easily lived through the 80s and 90s and never seen a group of people gathered around a television watching a soccer match in North America. But the worm has turned. Tonight the MLS Cup was on ESPN1 and during prime time no less.

The Galaxy have won the championship twice but this was Real Salt Lake’s first appearance here. The huge crowd was chanting “Seattle Sounders” before the match who, obviously, were not appearing in this movie. Certainly the Sounders have the most rabid MLS fan base.

This was the first MLS Cup to be played on artificial turf the venue being Seattle’s Quest field. Both teams had outstanding goal keepers who had every bit as much to do with the teams making it to the final as the midfield and attacking elements.

The slickness of the artificial turf was immediately apparent as players appeared to be having a tougher time with ball control and staying on their feet.

Will Johnson picked up a yellow card by shuttling Landon Donovan off the field without really being near the ball. Beckham caught Morales just moments after and after 2 minutes Morales was signaling for the medical team. Eventually he got back in the game but struggled more and waved to be taken off again and was replaced by Clint Mathis. Poor Morales sat in the sidelines with his head in his hands and apparently in tears for ultimately missing out on the Cup final.

Real were not taking their underdog status lightly and kept pushing the ball over to the Galaxy’s half – giving as good as they got. I kept thinking I would love to get a time machine and be able to send both teams back to play on a natural turf just to see how differently the match would be played.

First strike on goal came at 24 minutes by Galaxy’s Jovan Kirovski. And closing in on 40 minutes the Galaxy started to look a lot more threatening making repeated runs on the Real goal. Finally Beckham fed Landon Donovan the ball who passed forward to Mike Magee who then popped it nicely into the Real goal. This was a big step up for Magee who last year sat on the sidelines while his old team the Red Bulls got seen off by Columbus Crew 3-1.

In the second half Jamaican international Donovan Ricketts collided with both Real’s Robbie Findley and Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez as Rickett’s made a painful and potentially disastrous save. After some time on the turf he got up nursing his right hand and continued play.

At 63 minutes some frantic, Tex Avery like play in the Galaxy box resulted in a goal by Findley who exulted in scoring against the team that had traded him away in 2007. Ricketts turned out to have a contusion on his right hand and left the field right after this goal and thus the Galaxy lost one of its most crucial players.

At this point Real only had the option of becoming even more offensive minded than they already had been while the Galaxy strangely sputtered for a time.

Despite some authoritative and hungry play by both sides in each set of overtime the game went into penalty kicks. And now, I thought, Galaxy might feel the pain of losing their star goal keep even though Josh Saunders had put in a confident performance since he had replaced Ricketts.

Ah, the cheap drama of the penalty shoot out. Mano-a-mano combat. Team mates with their arms over each other shoulders looking on tensely as their lone kickers duke it out with the goal keeps. Ultimately it didn’t come down to Saunders being a rookie since he made some heroic saves but perhaps Landon Donovan putting his penalty kick over the cross bar.

And so the Underdogs took it, Real Salt Lake beating the Beckham experiment in the penalty shoot out 5-4. Nick Rimando took the MVP.

A lively game. Pat yourselves on the back MLS.

Designer Martí Guixé has come up with an adhesive tape called football tape which allows someone to construct a football out of plastic bags and other cast offs.

Soccer—or “football”—is a sport played all over the world, and the ball being kicked can range from top-quality World Cup balls, to handmade plastic or cloth ones. Some DIY soccer ball designs have been leveraged into viable business enterprises creating jobs for stitchers through local production. All DIY soccer balls represent a design achievement in bringing the sport to children who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it. Liza Forester and Marti Guixe focused on the creation of a sustainable enterprise in the development of the conceptual project, Let’s Kick It, which provides women and orphan girls afflicted by AIDS with patterns to stitch fabric soccer balls that are then stuffed with plastic bags and sold. Make your own DIY balls using football tape and recycle plastic bags as seen in the photo above.

Of course, you don’t necessarily need tape as the resourceful kid in this video shows.

Wigan v Chelsea 3-1

And that was the sound of Chelsea’s juggernaut status grinding to an abject halt. Wigan managed to get their first ever victory against Chelsea.

Titus Bramble brought Wigan into the lead by heading a corner kick down to the front of the goal line where it bounced in past Cech who was clear on the other side of the goal. Bramble had not scored a goal in ten months.

Early in the second half Drogba brought the score level again with a cross from Malouda and at this point Chelsea fans were probably not worrying much. Oh, good old Chelsea, giving us all heart attacks until that last minute flick into the goal by Drogba, Anelka, or any of other eleven men. Except, Cech was given a red card for tripping Rodallega in his penalty area and off he went despite the kind of Chelsea uproar that would make G20 protester’s seem like wallflowers.

Chelsea were then reduced to nine men as Ashley Cole went off for an injury and all the Blues substitutes had been used at that point.

At 76 minutes Rodallega zoomed in a penalty kick from 25-yards and another Wigan goal was scored in stoppage time when Scharner punched in a cross from Figueroa. There will certainly be some celebrating in Northwest England tonight.

For a full match report just google ‘Premier League nuclear meltdown or Screams of agony and despair heard in West London.’

It looks like fiery tempered Craig Bellamy got into a fracas with a fan after Michael Owen’s last second goal yesterday. I suppose one should not stage a pitch invasion alone unless naked then perhaps Bellamy would not have gotten near.  As it was he walked well out of his way to do so. You might remember Bellamy attacking his fellow team mate John Arne Riise with a golf club during his time at Liverpool over a karaoke dispute.  Bit of a hot head that one.

Over at Kick the Balls, Alan Black tells of the dark agony of the missed sitter.  And check out his Hooligan Opera while you are there.

Cyrus Philbrick debates the different types of fandom on Footsmoke.

Since all the Craig Bellamy dust up footage has been yanked from the internet almost as soon as it was posted, I leave you with Brian Clough on the attack from a decidedly different era.  Here’s a kiss then.

Manchester United v Manchester City 4-3

Not even two minutes in and Rooney tiptoed through a somnambulistic City defense and scored. Tevez was up field thinking, “Really?” Perhaps he was learning what is means to cry out for a leading role and then getting one while the team you use to play for fires the ball past your mighty expensive team. Is it me or does Man City look like a squad full of more players disgruntled with their former teams than any other?

Of course Man City did without the services of Adebayor due to his three match ban and Robihno and Santa Cruz due to ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Wright-Phllips had a nice run up the left but crossed too far ahead of Tevez for him to take advantage. Wright-Phillips was quick and perhaps too quick for his other team mates. I wonder if he would not be better used as a second striker instead of having Tevez forward all by his lonesome.

Man United supporters started an ironic chant of “Tevez! Tevez! Sign him on!”

Lescott sent a terrible ball forward that ambled into Man United goal keep Ben Foster’s feet who was not at all expecting Tevez to run at him and struggle for the ball but struggle he did. Tevez swiped the ball from Foster, spun around, and passed it over to Gareth Barry who sailed it into a completely unprotected goal.

Then the Man City supporters started singing “Tevez! Tevez! Sign him on!”

Wright-Phillips had another swift run up the right and lobbed the ball to Tevez who couldn’t quite get the angle on it and headed it high over the crossbar

Tevez slid in for a late tackle on Ferdinand and picked up a yellow card for his troubles.

Anderson (that’s Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira to you) fled the scene of his yellow card foul on Tevez but ref caught up with him anyway.

Toure ran the ball up from from midfield where it wound up with Tevez who was so close to a goal but hit the post – beautiful play until the finish.

Ryan Giggs curled a ball into the air where it stayed for quite some time before drifting back as if from a gust of wind where back on earth Darren Fletcher nicely headed it in bringing Man United up 2-1.

Five minutes later Bellamy, who was far out on the left, stormed through the Man United defense and scorched the ball into the far top corner; a beautiful goal for the Welshman.

At 58 minutes Bellamy picked up his own yellow card for fouling Anderson who went down clutching his shins until he was sure the yellow card was lofted into the blue sky by the referee.

The last third of the game saw Given a very busy man as Man United started to hammer away at the City goal. Suddenly it didn’t seem like a 2-2 game as Man United had the wind at their backs and Man City inexplicably deflated.

At 80 minutes, what seemed inevitable at this point, a free kick by Giggs was headed in by Darren Fletcher bringing Manchester United into the lead.

It wasn’t until 8 minutes later that Man City got their first corner compared to United’s ten but they squandered it.

And then. . .Bellamy rocketed up the left side ahead of the Man United defence, outwitting Ferdinand, and slid the ball in with his left foot bringing the match to 3-3.

The announced four minutes of over time began to approach five and then six minutes as City manager Mark Hughes started to short circuit with anger on the touch line.  And he was well to be worried as Michael Owen pounded in a goal in the dying seconds.   Mark Hughes was furious. It was a great, dramatic derby though with a lot of terrific goals.  Tevez managed not to look too terribly dejected as he walked off the field.