Random News

I've been away for the last month or so mainly due to Ramadan. Frankly it's difficult enough to work let alone blog as well. Hopefully now I can be more active.

I thought I'd start off with some random local and international news.

Apparently Roma's former first choice keeper Doni was the one to recommend the man who replaced him, current number one Julio Sergio, to the club. Doni is now the third choice keeper. I guess that's why they say silence is golden.

Zamalek technical director or whatever the translation of "Modeer Kora" is, Ibrahim Hassan has discovered the reason for his teams poor run of results. Black Magic. No it's not a typo, he believes a scratch in the wall of the clubs changing room revealed incantations of some sort. Yeah that makes perfect sense. The outrageous answer would be that his brother, Egyptian Legend Hossam Hassan, the manager of Zamalek sucks.

On the other hand Hossam Hassan blamed the referee and his players. He also proceeded to blame Israel, Global Warming and the Panda:P

Yesterday's Champions League game between Real Madrid and Ajax was entertaining enough with Madrid grabbing a deserved 2-0 win thanks to Higauin. What was shocking however was the status of the pitch. For those of you who don't know Real Madrid had recently captured the groundsman of Arsenal for a substantial fee. He is hailed to be one of the best around. I guess there might be a job opening at Madrid if the pitch continues to look like that. Check out Paul Burgess's story here

Egypt's Assistant coach Shawky Ghareeb admitted that there were selection mistakes following Egypt's humiliating draw with Sierra Leone in Cairo. Finally, I thought. An Egyptian owning up to his mistakes... he then followed by blaming the players lack of fitness. There you go that's better.

It was never really Shawky or Hassan Shehata's fault it was the player fitness. At the end of the season it's exhaustion, away from home it's the referee or the pitch and when all else fails blame Algeria.

Speaking of Algeria. Rabeh Sadaan resigned as coach of Algeria following a similar humiliating draw vs Tanzania at home. The man who beat Hassan Shehata to send his country to the World Cup admitted he had nothing more to offer and resigned. I bet I'd die before I see a government employee of any kind resign let alone Egypt's national coach. Then again why would he. He is getting paid more than 100 Thousand Egyptians pounds a month and does not even care enough to attend league games. He actually watches them on the tele!

How do I know? He said so. A couple of months back the National team staff refrained from adding new players to a player gathering because a lot of the games were not aired on TV....duh!

According to a friend of mine the mystery regarding AC Milan's spending spree is out in the open. Berlusconi after selling the Van Gogh "Poppy Flower" painting reportedly worth 55 million dollars (Stolen from Egypt last month) can now afford to buy players for Milan again. God Bless you Minister Farouk Hosny and your broken 50 dollar security cameras. Forza Milan!

Finally I would like to congratulate Zamalek fans on the upcoming return of Mortada

Mansour. God Bless him.

Cesc to Stay at Arsenal

Eat this Barca!

Barcelona as a whole have really rubbed me the wrong way during all of this! The players calling out Fabregas to go home and asking Arsenal to let him get his dream move. Then the administration publicly saying that they want him. At the same time they are cheap enough to offer less than 40 million Euros although they forked up something similar fro a 28/29 year old David Villa.

I'm glad this ordeal is over for now and if they want Arsenal's captain they might as well pay up for one of the best midfielders in the world. And yes he's only 23!

Hats Off to Mr. Wenger for coming out on top in this ordeal and I'm sure his closely knit relationship with Cesc was key in convincing the Spaniard to stay

Cesc Said this earlier:

"Firstly, I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment"

"I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me.

"This was the club where I learnt my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing.

"There are not many players in the world who would not want to play for Barcelona.

"I have had many conversations with Arsene Wenger both in person and over the phone over the last few months and although the content of those conversations will remain private, the conclusion is that Barcelona have had two formal offers rejected by Arsenal."

"I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about. I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me."

"I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal's prerogative not to sell me," he added.

"I owe a lot to the club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal."

Come on Arsenal

Probably the Worst TV Interview Ever

Thiery Henry is getting interviewed in a New York morning show after joining the MLS's New York Red Bulls

Hats off to Henry for Keeping his cool with these clowns interviewing him!

Deutschland Uber Alles and the rest

I would be lying if I said I wasn't loving this World Cup. Not only have most of the teams I dislike or don't fancy been knocked out, my top favorite teams have made it to the semi finals in Germany and Holland (or Netherlands). Also seeing Germany pre-tournament I had said to a number of people that they play an exciting brand of football, imagine my pleasure to see them deliver the best brand of International football seen in a world cup for years! Without a doubt Germany have been the team of the tournament thus far.

They started out very strong against Australia but for some insane reason people decided to start doubting them after the loss to Serbia. They played the same brand of exciting football with 10 men for almost one hour against a solid Serbian team. It is during this game that it showed how tough they were. They created 2 clear goalscoring opportunity, hit the cross bar and missed a penalty. It remained to bee seen if they could bounce back from the disappointment and they did against strong Ghana. A lot of people are attributing their emphatic wins to the poor form of the opposition. England might have been off form and Argentina tactically naive but no one puts 4 past Argentina and England in recent history.

Joachim Loew dissects the opposition style of play and figures out their weaknesses and then rips them to shreds. His players understand what is required from them and deliver it gladly. They play for their coach and for each other. Players like Klose and Podolski have repaid their coach for having faith in them although they have had their worst ever footballing seasons. Klose is one goal away from tying Ronaldo as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup with 14 goals (he is now level with Gerd Muller). The whole team is enjoying their football and having fun playing. It was obvious England were not. Schwinestieger has stepped up into the role of Ballack brilliantly, he is truly one of the players of the tournament with his dribbling, passing and both attacking and defensive capabilities. The young-lings Khidera, Ozil and Muller have been a breath of fresh air with their direct running and skill. Add a solid defensive unit and you have a got a world class team. Germany is to international football what Barcelona is to club football.

Guess what? Germany are going to be basically playing Barcelona in the Semi Finals. Spain are a great team and Muller will be deeply missed against them. They have a very good coach and technically gifted players. However for some reason they had not kicked into gear yet. They have played good opposition but no great teams, and have struggled. If not for the fantastic David Villa they would not be in the semi finals, ohh and Oscar Cardozo too:P. On the other hand if and when they click they are virtually unstoppable and it remains to be seen if the collective of Germany can exploit the slow rhythm of Spain and their shaky defense.

It has become obvious in this World Cup that you can't possibly go far without having an excellent coach behind the team. Argentina had sadly a clueless Maradona solely dependent on Messi. If Messi creates, Argentina wins but if he is closed down like against Germany, nothing. It is OK to depend on your superstars to unlock games but you should have a system they can work if things don't go according to plan. Maradona played a 4-4-2 diamond of some sort with only Mascherano to provide cover for the back 4, who for most of the game would stand at the back. Diego didn't fear the Germans and he was brutalized. How can Mascherano have a chance against Khedira, Schwinestieger, Ozil, Podloski and Muller? His problems were compounded by a very slow defensive line and Heinze was played off the park by Muller who was quicker and more intelligent. You would have to feel for the Argentine back 4 , constantly put in 5 against 4 and 5 against 5 situations!

Dunga was better than Maradona but seemed to focus more on the defensive aspect. Going forward Brazil looked dangerous but what was their undoing was their extreme lack of discipline. I was shocked to see the whole team start arguing about every ball against Holland. They should have had 2 red cards but got one. Melo must be insane! Dunga surprised me a bit when he was changing players not for tactical reasons but for fear of them being sent off . Is the Brazilian team that indisciplined that Bastos had to be subbed for a player with half his ability? I have never seen a team that wore the yellow and blue crack after conceding an equalizer. You would usually see them punish opposition for such a transgression, not Dunga's boys. They jut faded away. When Brazil needed to attack they had no options on the bench and Dunga reaped what he had sowed. Instead of having Ronaldinho and Pato on his bench, both great talents and game changers he had Nilmar and Grafite, the rest were Central and Defensive Midfielders?

Holland for me have been outstanding. They are solid at the back, although Brazil ran rampant against them in the first half, and have a lot of creativity going forward. They get the job done with out much hassle and seem to be picking up steam and confidence game after game. With the return of Robben to support the magical Sneijder and Van Persie starting to find his touch I don't think Uruguay will be able to beat them especially with no Suarez.

Oscar Tabarez has done an excellent job with Uruguay. The team runs their hearts out and look very dangerous going forward. Yes they were lucky to reach the semis but overall they have been very good and treat each game differently. The Ex-Milan coach has created history for his country by forging a solid back 4 with excellent wing backs a hard working midfield and an attacking extravaganza upfront lead by the majestic Diego Forlan, one of the players of the tournament for sure. As for Suarez I think he has done what anyone else would have done in his position when he handled the ball and the one match ban is fair enough for the incident in my opinion. He should learn to shut up though.

Ghana might feel a bit hard done by but they have made Africa proud. Milovan Rajevac ever since his run in the Nations Cup has brought discipline to a talented squad. They are no longer going gun hoe in attack and leaving all kinds of spaces at the back. They were one unit. Gyan missed a crucial penalty but like a friend of mine mentioned he looks to be the new Drogba at just 24. With luck Rajevac could and should have been in the semi-finals.

I'm hoping for a Germany/Netherlands final but after seeing Ghana vs Uruguay and Spain vs Paraguay anything is possible and only in football can you see games turn like that. This is what makes football the greatest sport in the world.

The Germans if they win the World Cup will be regarded as one of the best sides to ever lift the trophy. If they lose it they will be one of the greatest sides not to win like Hungary in 1954 lead by Puskas, Portugal in 1966 lead by Eusebio, Holland in 1974 lead by Cruyjff and Brazil of 1982 lead by Socrates!

Goal Line Technology

Yesterday we were treated to two cracking Round of 16 games. Germany destroyed a poor English side 4-1 and Argentina won 3-1 against a very good Mexico side to set up a mouth watering quarter final clash. The level of football aside the games were marred by two horrendous refereeing errors.

In the Germany game Lampard scored a clear goal off the upright and in that both the referee and linesman failed to see that would have tied the game. Goals make a difference in games although I still think Germany would have eventually won considering the level of play on show. The linesman was actually correctly positioned online with the German defense but he failed to see it, mind you it only takes one second to miss it hitting the ground. The main referee had a very good game overall but missed it as well, both of them should have seen it. Hats of to Neuer though for picking up the ball and proceeding with play as if nothing happened. If only Mohamday could have done the same vs Brazil in the Confederations Cup instead of play acting!

In the Argentina game Tevez scored a clear offside after a Messi pass that put Argentina 1-0 ahead with Mexico having it all to do. I have no excuse for this linesman and he is solely to blame for the error. There was commotion after the goal and conversations between the linesman and the fourth official but the goal stood.

Cries of Goal line technology echoed after the games and the need to use instant replays for incidents like this and so on. FIFA will probably not pay much attention to these out cries and I kind of agree with them. Am I mad? maybe, but lets explore this a bit further.

Using technology and replays for all aspects of the game is inapplicable in my opinion. Imagine having to stop play and contest offsides and fouls not to mention throw ins, corner, handballs and goals. This would ruin the game completely. Yes some would argue that it could be regulated with a limited number of complaints and time outs but this would just turn football into basketball or American football. Stopping the game disrupts the rhythm of play and we have seen coaches using substitutions and players faking injury when their team is on the back foot to waste time and disrupt the other teams play. Imagine playing Algeria and not only are their players faking injury, their coach is calling time outs and seeing replays on the monitors. This wont be the same game we have all come to love. Technology everywhere is out of the question in my opinion. Why not just goal line technology then?

It makes perfect sense to apply that and make it part of the game, so why is FIFA refusing to do that? There is no reason for the football governing body not to want to make matches more fair. They do make a fair argument though. One of the greatest pleasures of football was the ability of all countries and leagues regardless of their level or wealth to practice the game in the same way. How expensive would goal line technology be? How can you force it on all countries? Games would be played differently in richer countries and would cause a void in a sport that unites the globe. Making some countries apply it and others not would not be fair would it? Imagine Egypt playing against Zimbabwe in Cairo having implemented goal line technology and Zimbabwe score a goal missed by the referee but thanks to goal line technology is allowed, fair enough you say...maybe. In the second leg we go to Harary were there is no goal line technology and Egypt have a clear goal disallowed because the referee didn't see it, would it be fair then? People might argue that that's football and it could have been a penalty and referees make mistakes anyways. That is correct, but isn't this the case anyways now? Why are refereeing mistakes acceptable in some circumstances and not others. An incorrect corner could result in a goal, same impact, no?

The fact of the matter is refereeing mistakes are part of the beautiful game. How many hours have we spent debating offsides, goals and penalties among one another? We enjoy doing it too. It's harsh when it happens to our teams and even worse in a World Cup (I feel in a whole club football season decisions for and against teams even themselves out) but it is part of the game.

FIFA have not stood idol. The UEFA experiment in applying a fourth and fifth on field referees in the EUROPA Cup has proved fruitful. Maybe employing these two referees for the sole purpose of the goal line would be a good idea and would minimize such situations. Make no mistake though, they are only human and errors will continue to occur. Frankly I would rather live with those mistakes than have football turn into American football. As for England, 1966 anyone?