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Soccer Break Wednesday
Now the international period is over we can focus on domestic issues again, or can we?
Tuesday’s matches provided plenty of drama, from the battles Spain and the Netherlands had to fight to get through tricky Euro 2012 qualifiers, to Ghana’s lighting up of London, to Australia’s World Cup revenge against Germany in a friendly.
Brazil’s two-goal hero against Scotland continues to grab the headlines. Would you be interested in signing the talented 19-year-old Neymar?
For two of Europe’s biggest clubs there is bad news. The strike that could have seen the cancellation of La Liga matches this weekend has been called off, so Real Madrid must play three days before their Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur.
Staying with a North London theme, Arsenal could be without striker Robin van Persie after the Netherlands forward was injured against Hungary in the 5-3 thriller. No doubt Arsene Wenger will have something to say so keep your ears open.
And what about Jens Lehmann? Gunners fans…would you trust him in goal over Manuel Almunia?
Some good news now. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says the game is developing well in the United States, though there’s always a flip side. After the encouraging 1-1 draw against Argentina on Saturday, the U.S. lost 1-0 to Paraguay on Tuesday.
FIFA’s World Cup decision day — live
We’ll be following all the presentations and the vote itself as FIFA’s executive committee decides on the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Spain/Portugal, Russia, England and Netherlands/Belgium are the four rival bids for 2018, while Australia, South Korea, Qatar, United States and Japan battle it out for 2022, with the vote to come on Thursday.
Follow it all here live…
Premier League season needs a grand finale
The English Premier League has always reminded me of eating out at McDonalds. I always hope for something new but then end up getting the same as last time.
The new season hasn’t even kicked off yet, but if the experts are right, it’s already as good as over for nearly all the teams.
In the past 14 seasons, only three clubs have won the title with Manchester United, the Big Mac of English soccer, claiming nine championships, leaving Arsenal (three) and Chelsea (two) as the Quarter Pounder and Cheeseburger.
In the last four seasons, those same three clubs plus Liverpool, have filled the top four places to qualify for the lucrative European Champions League, leaving the remaining 16 teams* just hoping to avoid relegation.
While the matches themselves are anything but dull, there’s no escaping the growing realisation that the championship is too predictable.
Manchester City loom as the team most likely to challenge the big four this season after opening their purse strings yet are still listed at odds of 15-1 to win the championship.
British bookmakers Ladbrokes are offering odds in excess of 150-1 for any other side winning with more than half the 20 teams at odds of more than 1000-1 and three clubs listed at 10,000-1, about 10 times longer than the odds on Elvis being found alive.
I am a big football fanatic and i never missed the EPL indeed there are some favorite sports stars in the teams We have possibly the most exciting league in the world, granted Spain now has messi, ronaldo, ibrahimovic and kaka but these players are only in 2 teams which will no doubt make there league even more predictable than the EPL
Oceania needs a rethink after New Zealand thrashing
In the previous post, Martyn Herman looked at soccer’s international minnows while here Mark Gleeson discusses the particular plight of New Zealand.Oceania, as a confederation, threatened to disintegrate under the weight of a quick fire Fernando Torres hat-trick on Sunday night.The match-up in the Confederations Cup between European champions Spain and New Zealand, who represent FIFA’s smallest and least competitive confederation, was almost as one-sided as any major international in decades.As Torres banged in three goals in the first 17 minutes, so the legitimacy of the 11-member confederation came under a stark spotlight.Fortunately for Oceania’s cause, the Spanish managed just two more, albeit one profiting from a schoolboy error, but there will surely come a time when the gulf between the collection of Pacific island nations and the rest of the footballing world no longer produces a remotely equitable contest.Despite their best lobbying effort, Oceania are repeatedly denied a direct berth to the World Cup on sporting grounds. Their best team must playoff, usually against a South American country, or in the case for 2010, an Asian side, to qualify.Australia moved from Oceania to Asia because they felt it was uncompetitive and not advancing the standard of their game. Now New Zealand, where football is hoping to evolve from its current status as a minority sport, rules the roost against the islands, often barely breaking a sweat to dominate the confederation’s competitions.On the evidence of Sunday’s performance, New Zealand football would do well to join the Asian confederation too. They frankly need more exposure.Indeed Oceania’s collective cause is best served by folding into the Asian confederation where the island teams will find many other countries of the same footballing pedigree and have more competition too.Already Asia have created two tiers to accommodate its less proficient members and end years of ridiculous mis-matches.As Torres was riding roughshod in Rustenburg, I wonder whether that thought crossed the minds of any of FIFA’s top leadership.PHOTO: Spain’s Fernando Torres (C) rises above the New Zealand defence to score his third goal during their Confederations Cup soccer match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg June 14, 2009. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
As a Kiwi, I beg FIFA to disband Oceania. It is a footballing black hole. It would be much better for both the domestic reputation and profile of our national football team as well as the quality of our football development to be playing regular, meaningful, competitive matches against Asian countries in Asian tournaments and qualifying competitions. We might even win occasionally. A handful of games against island nations and then three confed cup matches every four years is a recipe for going nowhere and getting an embarrassing hiding every time we sneak onto the global stage.I think NZ footballing authorities are beginning to realise that being a big fish in a backwater puddle is hopeless. The fans knew that long ago. The obstalce now will be Asia though. They dont want us. Sepp would need to roll them.
