This past Wednesday FIFA President Sepp Blatter was re-elected to his office in an uncontested election that left the controversial chief executive of soccer's governing body, in charge for four more years.
It is a crying shame to have to shift our attention from the glorious spectacle of FC Barcelona winning the Champions League on the pitch, to having to deal with the scandalous machinations of Blatter and FIFA off the pitch. There was a time when I thought Sepp Blatter was good for football, with this mantra of bringing the World Cup to new countries and all. I was quite concerned when South Africa was announced as a host, but I was wrong and it came off beautifully.
However, I'm afraid that I must draw the line at the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. From the day it was announced, the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar smelled fishy and was regarded even by FIFA's executive committee as 'High-Risk. The reason why Blatter's re-election was uncontested, was because Mr. Mohammed bin Hammad of Qatar, the President of the Asian Football Confederation, was disqualified at the last minute due to a corruption investigation launched by CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer, regarding bribery and vote-selling for the FIFA Presidency and the 2022 World Cup Qatar bid as well. Coupled with the English FA President David Bernstein's principled stand against the Qatar 2022 award and the ongoing smell of corruption at FIFA, the result was the re-election of the most roundly disliked figure in International Football today. Thus has Sepp Blatter astonishingly retained control of the helm of Football's worldwide governing body.
Despite Blatter's claim that the Qatar 2022 World Cup award was "not touched" by the Blazer investigation or Bernstein's opposition, and despite Qatar's furious rejection of any corruption allegations (were they going to admit it, do you think?), the visible facts are quite damning: Qatar, holding the Presidency of the Asian Footbal Confederation, was awarded the World Cup amid allegations of corruption and vote-swapping, leading to Hammad's subsequent disqualification from candidacy for the FIFA Presidency for vote-buying, and the re-election of the scandalous Sepp Blatter. It all looks very irregular.
Meanwhile, in Australia Senator Nick Xenophon iurged the Government to demand that FIFA reimburse Australia the $45.6 million dollars they spent on their 2022 World Cup bid, since it is now painfully clear that the vote was fixed and Australia never had a chance. This seems quite reasonable to me, since the presumption of any bid committee is that they will compete on a level plaing field, which it clearly was not. Since the vote was fixed, the money was wasted, so I think FIFA should pay Australia back. I also think the USSF should do the same if the Qatar 2022 World Cup award is not voted on again.
Under Sepp Blatter's administration, FIFA has become a morass of collusion, corruption and insider deals. The 'beautiful game' deserves so much better than what we are getting from this crew, and the sport is ill-served by these insider deals and acts of collusion under Sepp Blatter's administration. Sepp Blatter needs to go, and the Qatar 2022 World Cup award should be re-called and voted on once again. Immediately.
“LIKE A JEDI KNIGHT— no, better than that— A TEMPLAR KNIGHT. This is a FLASH OF PURE INSPIRATION, and let me tip my hat to the genesis of this goal: Ibarra. Lionel only absolutely LIGHTS IT UP here, he LIFTS OFF IT, FLAMETHROWERS IT PAST poor Reny Vega. It’s just as well Reny didn’t get a hand to that because it would have TAKEN IT OFF HIS WRIST. Superlative football and an out of this world BERNINI SCULPTURE of a finish." GOL TV Commentator Ray Hudson
Friday, June 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
United Wins, Strikers Tie
After all the wonderful buzz and glow of FC Barcelona's scintillating victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final this past weekend, we now return to the less poetic realities of American soccer. Mercifully, this past weekend our beloved DC United snapped the Portland Timbers home winning streak 3 - 2, while our favorite Division 2 side Fort Lauderdale Strikers took one point in the standings from a 0 - 0 away tied match against the Montreal Impact. It was a dramatic outcome for the weekend, given the immensity of the Jedi Soccer match happening across the pond at Wembley Stadium.
United showed up in Portland already banged up from the early season. Charlie Davies had a hamstring, and Josh Wolff a strained groin; Goalkeeper Steve Cronin was home with his wife expecting a baby, and former Timbers player Dax McCarty was sidelined with injuries. Despite these limitations, United struck first in the 13th minute, when Chris Pontius launched a beautiful long volley from the left sideline into the box, where Brett Brettschneider received it and flicked it over to a crashing Perry Kitchen, who calmy punched in the first score of the night. Just before the half, a goal by the Timbers was dissallowed for offsides, allowing United to take an uncharacteristic lead into halftime on the road.
The Timbers came out of the half on the attack, placing Bill Hamid under great pressure. Cooper's header goal for Portland in the early half was again dissallowed for offsides, and United dodged another bullet. Then, in the 60th minute an extraordinary series of events took place, when Cooper was dragged down by Dejan Jakovic in the box, leading to customary Penatly Kick for naughty behavior. Astonishingly, Bill Hamid made two consecutive saves but each time was ruled by the Referee to have come off his line early, leading to a third try for Portland which was taken by Jewsbury, much to Cooper's frustration. As the saying goes, 'third time's the charm' and Portland finally pulled even of DC United.
But in the 75th minute, Timbers defenseman Chara was called for a handball in the box, and Chris Pontius calmly scored for DC United on his first try without any additional chances, giving United the lead. Ten minutes later the game was sealed when United substitute Josh Wolff made a daring and successful solo run into the Timbers defense, giving United the go-ahead goal that sealed the match. So ended a dramatic and ultimately successful road foray for DC United, who continue to run hot-and-cold this season. If they can simply stay hot for the next few matches, it would be so much better.
In NASL action, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers were also on the road at Montreal against the Impact. The match was an exercise in mutual respect, as each side seemed to be playing in fear of their opponents and hence not generating much sustained offense. Each team blew a point-blank shot during the game-- Idriss Ech Chergui hit the Strikers crossbar for Montreal in the 48th minute, while in the 71st minute Strikers forward Martin Nunez sailed his point-blank shot over the crossbar, and that was the match highlight reel. Still, a point in the standings from a scoreless tie on the road is not a bad outcome for the Strikers, placing them just ahead of Montreal, third from the bottom of the league standings. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers have the dubious distinction of having tied more matches (five) than any other NASL side this season. Change three of those five ties into wins, and the Strikers would be in third place in the league and in the hunt.
United showed up in Portland already banged up from the early season. Charlie Davies had a hamstring, and Josh Wolff a strained groin; Goalkeeper Steve Cronin was home with his wife expecting a baby, and former Timbers player Dax McCarty was sidelined with injuries. Despite these limitations, United struck first in the 13th minute, when Chris Pontius launched a beautiful long volley from the left sideline into the box, where Brett Brettschneider received it and flicked it over to a crashing Perry Kitchen, who calmy punched in the first score of the night. Just before the half, a goal by the Timbers was dissallowed for offsides, allowing United to take an uncharacteristic lead into halftime on the road.
The Timbers came out of the half on the attack, placing Bill Hamid under great pressure. Cooper's header goal for Portland in the early half was again dissallowed for offsides, and United dodged another bullet. Then, in the 60th minute an extraordinary series of events took place, when Cooper was dragged down by Dejan Jakovic in the box, leading to customary Penatly Kick for naughty behavior. Astonishingly, Bill Hamid made two consecutive saves but each time was ruled by the Referee to have come off his line early, leading to a third try for Portland which was taken by Jewsbury, much to Cooper's frustration. As the saying goes, 'third time's the charm' and Portland finally pulled even of DC United.
But in the 75th minute, Timbers defenseman Chara was called for a handball in the box, and Chris Pontius calmly scored for DC United on his first try without any additional chances, giving United the lead. Ten minutes later the game was sealed when United substitute Josh Wolff made a daring and successful solo run into the Timbers defense, giving United the go-ahead goal that sealed the match. So ended a dramatic and ultimately successful road foray for DC United, who continue to run hot-and-cold this season. If they can simply stay hot for the next few matches, it would be so much better.
In NASL action, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers were also on the road at Montreal against the Impact. The match was an exercise in mutual respect, as each side seemed to be playing in fear of their opponents and hence not generating much sustained offense. Each team blew a point-blank shot during the game-- Idriss Ech Chergui hit the Strikers crossbar for Montreal in the 48th minute, while in the 71st minute Strikers forward Martin Nunez sailed his point-blank shot over the crossbar, and that was the match highlight reel. Still, a point in the standings from a scoreless tie on the road is not a bad outcome for the Strikers, placing them just ahead of Montreal, third from the bottom of the league standings. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers have the dubious distinction of having tied more matches (five) than any other NASL side this season. Change three of those five ties into wins, and the Strikers would be in third place in the league and in the hunt.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
90 Minutes of Excellence
With a 3 - 1 score and goals by all three forwards-- Pedro, Messi and Villa in that order-- today FC Barcelona again confimred why they are the Best Team in the World, with a dominant performance over Manchester United to win their third UEFA Champions League trophy final in six years, and their second trophy of the 2010- 2011 season. With three Spanish League trophies to their credit in three years, and now this, football commentators are at last beginning to speak openly of FC Barcelona as the Greatest Football Team Ever.
Barca forward Pedro opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a low shot that drilled past Man U Keeper Van der Saar for the opening score, and for a moment it appeared that an early rout was in the making. To their credit, Manchester United held their composure, leading to a sizzling curling shot by English playmaker Wayne Rooney that flew into the top left corner of the goal, equalizing the score and giving the Man U faithful hope that their side might yet prevail. With each side having a goal, the half ended 1 - 1 and it appeared that a football match was on.
But as we have seen so many times this season, in the second half it was all Barcelona. Playing their patented tika-taka style of ball-control football, the time of possession and shots on goal decisively shifted in favor of Barcelona. In the 52d minute, superstar Lionel Messi, AKA 'Messi Wan Kenobi' scored his 53rd goal of the season (tying him with the obnoxious Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo for the most goals this season), giving the Blaugrana a 2 - 1 advantage... and now, the rout was on. In the 69th minute Barca striker David Villa emulated Rooney's curling shot and sent the ball past Van de Saar into the top right corner of the net, and that was the final score, as Barca now cruised to a famous victory.
How dominant was Barca's performance? According to ESPN, "The performance was so comfortable that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was able to bring on regular captain Carles Puyol for the last few moments, giving the injury-hit defender the chance to play a part in a memorable triumph.
But in a gesture symbolizing Barcelona's team ethic, Puyol handed the armband over to Eric Abidal. His place on the team had been in doubt after he had surgery this season to remove a liver tumor -- and the France defender lifted the famous trophy."
And from The Telegraph in London, comes this: "Inspired by an exhilarating Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola’s team swept past Manchester United in a thrilling performance and, with their third title in the last six seasons, they earned the right to be called one of the very greatest club sides in the history of the game...
This, in 90 minutes of excellence, was the consummation of the Dutch philosophy imported to the club by Johan Cruyff two decades ago, refined by Frank Rijkaard and now perfected by Guardiola. The Barcelona manager was on this pitch when his club won their first European Cup back in 1992 but not even Cruyff’s dream team are a match for this gifted group. "
Indeed. With 70 % of the total ball-control possession and an overwhelming advantage of shots-on-goal, what may be the most surprising fact of the night, is that Barcelona did not score even more goals.
So, my friends, a round of applause, and cheers and salutes to FC Barcelona, the ultimate Jedi Soccer team and now definitively the Greatest. Soccer. Team. Ever.
May the Force be With You!
Barca forward Pedro opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a low shot that drilled past Man U Keeper Van der Saar for the opening score, and for a moment it appeared that an early rout was in the making. To their credit, Manchester United held their composure, leading to a sizzling curling shot by English playmaker Wayne Rooney that flew into the top left corner of the goal, equalizing the score and giving the Man U faithful hope that their side might yet prevail. With each side having a goal, the half ended 1 - 1 and it appeared that a football match was on.
But as we have seen so many times this season, in the second half it was all Barcelona. Playing their patented tika-taka style of ball-control football, the time of possession and shots on goal decisively shifted in favor of Barcelona. In the 52d minute, superstar Lionel Messi, AKA 'Messi Wan Kenobi' scored his 53rd goal of the season (tying him with the obnoxious Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo for the most goals this season), giving the Blaugrana a 2 - 1 advantage... and now, the rout was on. In the 69th minute Barca striker David Villa emulated Rooney's curling shot and sent the ball past Van de Saar into the top right corner of the net, and that was the final score, as Barca now cruised to a famous victory.
How dominant was Barca's performance? According to ESPN, "The performance was so comfortable that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was able to bring on regular captain Carles Puyol for the last few moments, giving the injury-hit defender the chance to play a part in a memorable triumph.
But in a gesture symbolizing Barcelona's team ethic, Puyol handed the armband over to Eric Abidal. His place on the team had been in doubt after he had surgery this season to remove a liver tumor -- and the France defender lifted the famous trophy."
And from The Telegraph in London, comes this: "Inspired by an exhilarating Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola’s team swept past Manchester United in a thrilling performance and, with their third title in the last six seasons, they earned the right to be called one of the very greatest club sides in the history of the game...
This, in 90 minutes of excellence, was the consummation of the Dutch philosophy imported to the club by Johan Cruyff two decades ago, refined by Frank Rijkaard and now perfected by Guardiola. The Barcelona manager was on this pitch when his club won their first European Cup back in 1992 but not even Cruyff’s dream team are a match for this gifted group. "
Indeed. With 70 % of the total ball-control possession and an overwhelming advantage of shots-on-goal, what may be the most surprising fact of the night, is that Barcelona did not score even more goals.
So, my friends, a round of applause, and cheers and salutes to FC Barcelona, the ultimate Jedi Soccer team and now definitively the Greatest. Soccer. Team. Ever.
May the Force be With You!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Ajax Over DC United 2 - 1
On Saturday Eredivisie giants Ajax defeated our beloved DC United 2 - 1 in an international 'friendly' at RFK Stadium, the first of several intenational matches being played this year here in the United States. Despite the loss, DC United looked fairly good against an Ajax side that played 10 of the 11 players who defeated FC Twente 3 - 1 barely a week ago. United head coach Ben Olsen used the chance to give the whole bench a workout, and no less than 18 United players managed to get on the pitch during the course of the match.
Not surprisingly, Ajax dominated possession in the first half, with their 4-3-3 formation giving United great difficulty. In the 10th minute Miralem Sulejmani scored for Ajax, giving them a 1 goal lead that lasted until halftime. The second half was a different story, however, as Olson made no less than five substitutes, and the changes made a difference. In the 58th minute Blake Brettschneider received a beautiful cross from Joseph Ngwenya which allowed United to tie the score. For the rest of the half United held Ajax at bay, until Vurnon Anita stipped United playmaker Fred and slid the ball past reserve Keeper Steve Cronin for the deciding goal.
DC United's play in the second half was both encouraging and a validation of the talent on United's bench, and confirmed the substitution decisions of coach Olsen. It is hard to feel encouraged about a loss but this outcome may be an exception, as Ajax is a world-caliber side and United showed up well against them, particularly in the second half. United's next MLS match in on Sunday May 29 on the road against the Portland Timbers.
Meanwhile, in other Jedi Soccer action, our Fort Lauderdale Strikers earned a point on the road against the Atalnta Silverbacks with a 0 - 0 outcome in NASL action, and the Charleston Battery dropped to 3-4-2 in the USL-PRO League American division after a 3 - 0 loss to the Wilmington Hammerheads.
Not surprisingly, Ajax dominated possession in the first half, with their 4-3-3 formation giving United great difficulty. In the 10th minute Miralem Sulejmani scored for Ajax, giving them a 1 goal lead that lasted until halftime. The second half was a different story, however, as Olson made no less than five substitutes, and the changes made a difference. In the 58th minute Blake Brettschneider received a beautiful cross from Joseph Ngwenya which allowed United to tie the score. For the rest of the half United held Ajax at bay, until Vurnon Anita stipped United playmaker Fred and slid the ball past reserve Keeper Steve Cronin for the deciding goal.
DC United's play in the second half was both encouraging and a validation of the talent on United's bench, and confirmed the substitution decisions of coach Olsen. It is hard to feel encouraged about a loss but this outcome may be an exception, as Ajax is a world-caliber side and United showed up well against them, particularly in the second half. United's next MLS match in on Sunday May 29 on the road against the Portland Timbers.
Meanwhile, in other Jedi Soccer action, our Fort Lauderdale Strikers earned a point on the road against the Atalnta Silverbacks with a 0 - 0 outcome in NASL action, and the Charleston Battery dropped to 3-4-2 in the USL-PRO League American division after a 3 - 0 loss to the Wilmington Hammerheads.
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