Left field

from Photographers Blog:

Saving the Canon 400mm f2.8

By Murad Sezer

All photographers make plans to deal with possible clashes. They are ready to protect themselves and their equipment when covering a potential riot (or a May Day demonstration as I did a few days earlier). But you don’t expect to be doing that before a soccer match, or any other sports events.

While covering the May Day protests I don't carry a camera bag or a laptop. I head out with my two camera bodies, spare memory cards, a gas mask and a wireless lan transmitter attached to the camera body to file my pictures - that’s all.. It's more comfortable and easy to cover if any riots break out. But to cover a soccer match is a different story. If it's a cup final or a decisive match like last Saturday's Fenerbahce - Galatasaray Turkish Super League Super Final, we bring along much more equipment. I pack a hardcase with a laptop, 3 camera bodies, four lenses including a 400 mm f2.8 super telephoto, remote control devices to set up a camera behind the goal, network cables, a mini tripod etc. And usually we don't even think about the safety of ourselves or our equipment. Normally during half time or at the end of the game we set our cameras down and rush to file pictures from the field or in the photographers’ working room.

SLIDESHOW: SOCCER FANS GONE WILD

However, in the shadow of the season-long match-fixing scandal, tension was high before the Fenerbahce vs Galatasaray derby. Fenerbahce had to win, while a draw was enough for Galatasaray to lift the championship trophy. Remembering when fans rioted two years ago after Fenerbahce missed out on the league championships at home, all the photographers were worried about the end of this match. But I didn’t see any photographer friends take any precautionary measures. It looked like they had no plan B, but I had one. My plan B was a padlock! The game started. It was a rough-and-tumble season finale. The two teams did not score and in the five minutes of injury time I felt that the match would finish 0-0. That would mean Galatasaray would become the 2011-12 Turkish champions, which may trigger some violence by disappointed Fenerbahce fans both on and off the pitch.

Boca put River in their place

By Rex Gowar

The result of the year’s first “superclasico” was logical with first division champions Boca Juniors beating second-division River Plate 2-0.

But Wednesday night’s friendly – an unprecedented clash with one of the two giants of the Argentine game in the second tier — was also something of an anti-climax after the massive build.

Argentina’s biggest soccer rivalry, whether they are playing an off-season warm-up as in this case or a decisive Libertadores Cup clash or anything in between, puts all others in the shade.

It was played in the steamy northern city of Resistencia in the sub-tropical Chaco province with massive police control to keep the hard-core element among their fans, bitter enemies, to their word that there would be no trouble.

As it happened, one of River’s senior players, former Russia-based midfielder Alejandro Dominguez, could have sparked trouble with his insulting gestures to Boca fans as he eventually and reluctantly trudged off following a red card.

“Chori” Dominguez, who should have known better, lost his self control and reacted badly to a booking, clamouring about Boca fouls and accusing the referee of bias which earned him the dismissal.

from Mark Meadows:

Real’s psychological barrier key to Barca’s 3-1 win

By Drazen Jorgic

Annoyingly for Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, the supposed plot line of  El Clasico on Saturday did not follow the script. The much-anticipated power shift from Catalunya to Madrid did not take place and his team are back to the drawing board as far as playing against Barcelona is concerned.

Mourinho blamed bad luck for the loss, as you would expect, but a lot of the press have zoomed in on Real's psychological barrier when it comes to facing Barca.

These things are always difficult to quantify but the awe-inspiring Real team that crushed everyone so far in 2011 simply crumbled when Barcelona reversed a one goal-deficit and went 2-1 up.

Even Mourinho conceded the third Barca goal was a 'psychological blow', though I would argue it was the second goal that mentally defeated them.

Perhaps the players -- a bit like many of the Madrid fans -- had that feeling of 'here we go again'. The doubts crept in, slowly but surely, and Barca took what is now their customary control of latter parts of El Clasico clashes.

Real Madrid began to play like a team that was facing an opponent who had whipped them in six of the previous seven encounters under their current coach, including a 5-0 drubbing.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

FIFA takes agenda by scruff of the snood

There will be a lot of fashion-conscious footballers holding their breath for item “V.1.b” at the International Football Association Board’s annual meeting next month.

Forget goal-line technology and positioning of goal posts and the other very sensible items on the agenda, the one sure to get a few people rather hot under the collar is the “wearing of snoods” – those snugly neck warmers much loved by the likes of Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri.

Soccer’s rule makers will determine whether the fluffy accessories are a safety hazard in the “Any Other Business” section submitted by FIFA.

“There may be a safety issue – if for example a player was running though on goal and an opponent grabbed his snood, that could pose a potential danger to his neck,” a FIFA spokesman was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Based on that, shouldn’t Andy Carroll’s long ponytail be quickly added to the agenda? One tug on that would also pose “a potential danger to his neck”.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has already said he thinks snoods actually protect against injury.

Players already grab each other by the shirts and shorts – the latter which could have pretty painful results too – so surely nipping at a snood is nothing that really needs discussing.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

Football still offside in attitude to women

The British media furore over two television presenters’ sexist comments over a lineswoman at a Premier League match at the weekend has thrown the spotlight on the subject of women in soccer – be it on the pitch or off.

Sky Sports duo Richard Keys and Andy Gray have apologised for saying female officials “don’t know the offside rule” when they were talking about lineswoman Sian Massey at Saturday’s match between Wolves and Liverpool when they thought their microphones were switched off.

She in fact made the correct call on a big borderline decision that allowed a Liverpool goal to count.

Even if she hadn’t, it wouldn’t be because she was female – or is someone going to tell me it was a woman who missed Frank Lampard’s “goal” that clearly crossed the line but was not given in the England v Germany match at last year’s World Cup?

The notion you need testicles to get your mind around the offside rule is sadly not restricted to Massey’s case, as female soccer reporters like me find out from time to time, even though things have of course improved over the years.

I have yet to be asked to explain the offside rule – although I am quite excited about the prospect I might be. One of my friends, a football reporter on a British national newspaper, was asked a couple of years ago by a Premier League manager at an awards ceremony to do just that.

She actually went along with his request but to this day regrets not thinking of a comeback along the lines of “You don’t understand the offside rule? No wonder your team keep losing!” I have plenty of ripostes up my sleeve for the poor person who tries to ask me.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

Beckham’s value is his values

Harry Redknapp does not need a right-sided midfield player and, with the depth of talent regularly available on his bench, he hardly needs to bolster his squad with a three-month loan signing.

Yet he, and several other Premier League managers, are trying to secure the services of 35-year-old David Beckham.

Many observers are scratching their heads and wondering just what is the enduring appeal of a player clearly several years past his peak.

They point to the unavoidable media frenzy that will come as part of any loan deal arranged with LA Galaxy, if the American club agree to let their number one asset go again after he suffered a serious injury on his last sojourn, to AC Milan last year.

Yet Redknapp, who has seen football from all sides, knows the value -- or more to the point -- values, Beckham brings.

Having served his apprenticeship with West Ham in the penny-pinching 1960s and now overseeing players earning millions of pounds a year, Redknapp recognises that the professionalism and dedication to his art that Beckham shows could help turn some of his “nearly men” into the finished article.

"I am a great fan of his," Redknapp said.

Replays don’t always give the answer

Sunday’s controversial video review decision in the Steelers-Dolphins game should be a reminder to those who support replays that cameras can’t see everything.

The incident and an explanation can be watched in this video here (or you can read about the controversy here )

In a nutshell, albeit quite a large nutshell, the Dolphins were up 22-20 with 2:30 left when Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ran two yards for a touchdown, which Miami head coach Tony Sparano challenged, arguing the ball had been fumbled.

After a review, the referee agreed that Roethlisberger had fumbled the ball before crossing the line. But since officials were unable to determine who recovered the ball, the Steelers were awarded possession and kicker Jeff Reed converted a field goal on the next play to go ahead by a point.

The Dolphins said they had come up with the ball and should have been given possession but the officials said there was no evidence of that on film.

At the time, watching the incident from the press box and surrounded by irate Miami fans, it was hard not to feel that an injustice had been done to the Dolphins. Why hadn’t the officials unstacked the scrum and determined who had possession after the fumble before going to the video replay?

Well the answer simply is that after making an on-field call of touchdown, there was no cause for any ruling on the field regarding recovery of a fumble. Once the decision had been overturned on video review, it was the television images that had to show conclusively if there had been a recovery.

from Photographers Blog:

Yes, my job really is this glamorous

When people ask me what I do for a living, or they hear tales from my wife about me being away at the Olympics or shooting football or golf or a Papal visit somewhere, the usual response is to tell me how glamorous my job is, rubbing shoulders with all these famous sporting and political icons and how lucky I am to get to attend all these events and call it work!

Granted, I am incredibly lucky to have an office that regularly includes Premier League football grounds and other major sporting events, but glamorous......not a word I would often use, and last night was a perfect case in point.

I've been shooting professionally now for 15 years. Being located in the north of England, an awful lot of that time has been spent shooting football, which we all know is an outdoor sport. I've experienced most things that football can throw at you: the thrills, the spills and the bad weather. But I have never been as wet as I was at last night's league cup game between Liverpool and Northampton Town.

The early rounds of the annual cup competitions always throw up the classic David and Goliath contests with teams from the lower leagues drawn against the Premiership big boys,. This one had all the ingredients for an upset, especially when you take into account my beloved Liverpool's off pitch going's on with talk of takeovers and board room splits being rife. So, the game plan had to be to shoot as if Liverpool would lose, after all they are expected to beat a team from the lower divisions with ease, so where is the story in that?

I positioned myself in front of the Northampton fans, knowing that this would usually give me Liverpool's attack in the first half should they run away with it but also give me a picture if Northampton scored and ran to their own supporters in celebration. The only issue with this plan was it was raining, not too badly, but enough to get you soaked and the end I had chosen to sit at offers the photographers no protection.

Liverpool duly scored early on and ran towards me, job done I thought. The floodgates would now open and Northampton would be swept away. But at half time it was still only 1-0 and Liverpool were far from dominant. I would have to file pictures and return to the same end, just in case.

from Photographers Blog:

Samurais in South Africa

I arrived in South Africa with the Japan team filled with excitement and an acute feeling of anxiety. Never mind that I would be on the scene to cover the world's biggest sporting event, and never mind that I would be competing against the top sports photographers from around the globe to get the best pictures. For a Reuters photographer like myself dedicated to a single team, when your team drops out of the competition, you're finished. Like the defeated team, you go back to the hotel, pack your bags and spend the long flight home wondering what went wrong. Based on Japan's lackluster showing in the East Asia Soccer Championship my expectation for Japan was three defeats in a row and no victories. Mine would be a short stay in South Africa.

But during Japan's first match against Cameroon the Samurai Blue seemed to transform themselves in front of my eyes with Keisuke Honda’s goal being the catalyst. Japan was defeated by the Netherlands in their second match but the Samurais demonstrated the unity of the team in their performance and they were victorious against Denmark in their third match. In doing so they completely wiped out the image that I held of the Japan team before going into the competition. I was covering the world's biggest sporting event, and I was going up against the top sports photographers, but in this World Cup Japan's victory meant that the formidable teams of France and Italy and the even more formidable photographers accompanying them were going home. Not me.

On June 29, 2010, Japan faced Paraguay in World Cup match 55. Even after extra time the game remained scoreless and a penalty shoot-out would determine the outcome. I moved into position according to the instructions of Chief Photographer UK and Ireland Dylan Martinez, the leader of the Reuters photographers for this match.

A penalty shoot-out is all about luck. The psychologically intense method of deciding a match seems especially hard on the players, but it's just as tough on the photographers with a split second making the difference between front pages around the world or a postage stamp-sized picture on page S15. Both the players and the photographers tuned out the screaming of the crowd and focused with tense stillness on the battle between the penalty kicker and the goalkeeper. My position was on the opposite side of the pitch allowing me to see the face of the goalkeeper. Japan’s goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, who had saved many shots up to then, clearly showed the strain. Following the two successful shots by both teams it was Yuichi Komano, Japan’s third kicker’s turn.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

England defence crumble in German masterclass

England coach Fabio Capello would do well to take a transcript copy of Germany coach Joachim Loew’s post-match press conference – because in it he would find all the simple reasons why his side were trounced 4-1 and sent packing from the World Cup on Sunday.

In it, Loew rather clinically explained to the international press sat before him that his side were instructed to target John Terry, pull him out of position and pretty much walk into the huge gaps created in England’s snail-paced central rearguard.

It worked. England will forever talk about the Frank Lampard ‘goal’ that, quite incredibly, was not given despite bouncing a full yard over the German goal line with the score balanced at 2-1, but even if they had equalised, the final result would not have waivered.

Germany were breathtaking at times, able to break at will with electrifying pace and switch the play seamlessly from left to right to leave the England defenders in a state of dizziness and goalkeeper David James no chance between the sticks.

Thomas Mueller, Man of the Match and a real find at Bayern Munich, was superb. Playing on the German right wing he decided to cleverly leave England left back Ashley Cole to his own devices and instead cut into the huge space between England’s midfield and defence time and again.

That, combined with Podolski providing width down the left and Klose running England defenders Terry and Matthew Upson ragged, proved all too much for the Three Lions side.