I have been amiss in not thanking all the regular posters and from what I have seen a good number of new ones. I am constantly amazed the number of posts the blog receives and the quality.
If it wasn't for you the blog would not exist.
Yesterday's offside decision
On the day 3 blog and on a number of other websites there seems to be a lot of folks quoting the Laws of the Game (or rules as many are stating) and Advice to referees.
The only reference to defenders leaving the field of play that I can see in the July 2007 version (page 102) is:
“If
a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an
opponent in an offside position, the referee shall allow play to continue
and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of
play without the referee’s permission when the ball is next out of play.”
So are the laws as posted by FIFA outdated? If so where is the current version? And finally for a UEFA official to say that the rule interpretation is not widely known by the players is a disgrace. It is up to the governing body to ensure that if a law is to be interpreted differently then the players should be told.
Day 4
Spain 4-1. Russia
It looked as if Guus
Hiddink decided that the best way of hiding a porous defence was to go after
the Spanish backline. Hiddink’s decision to play an open game certainly created
some chances for his Russian side. However, the Russian strikers failed to take
advantage of the opportunities that came their way and instead Russia were left
open to the sort of swift counter attacks that Torres and Villa feast on.
The opening goal was Torres
at his best. The ball played forward into space, Torres outmuscles a Russian
defender and then slips it to Villa as he arrives in the penalty area. The second
a killing pass from Iniesta and a wonderfully timed run from Villa.
Aragones was quick to ring
the changes in the second half but it did little to change the pattern of the
game. Two goals down Russia had no plan B and continued to press forward at
every opportunity. The result was the same with Villa notching his hat trick and in the process adding $10M to the price
that Real Madrid will pay for him later this summer.
A silver lining for Russia - admitedly a very small one - was Diniyar
Bilyaletdinov who proved to be a continual irritant to Sergio Ramos. Meanwhile the rest of
the Spanish back four looked none too comfortable either. But it took until
later in the game for Russia to score and even then Spain countered to make it
4-1.
The
Spanish off to their usual fast start while it was clear to see why Guus
Hiddink has spent so much time talking down Russia’s 2008 chances. Spain cannot
expect to be given as much space as they were granted today so I’m not sure
that this result tells us anymore about Spain’s chances than we knew before the
tournament.
Greece 0-2 Sweden
If you recorded this game with
the intention of watching it later then do yourself a favour and fast forward
to the 67th minute. You can see Ibrahimovic scoring a cracking goal
and you will have also captured the only high point o####ame that never threatened to
rise above the level of mediocre.
Greece inspired by Claude
Makelele’s ability to spray immaculate 10 yard passes left and right but never
forward showed no interest in making this match even remotely interesting to the
neutral fan. Long diagonal “passes” played in behind the Swede’s right back Alexandersson
and a few meandering runs by 2004 hero Charisteas was the limit to Greece’s
attacking intent.
Sweden at least made an
attempt to go forward although their execution was often poor. Just after Ibrahimovic’s
out-of-nothing goal defender Peter Hansson added another to put the game way
beyond the reigning champs after some comedy-defending from Greece.
Comment of the Day
“We’ll only miss the English when it comes to penalties.” - Lothar
Matthäus.
For those of you who enjoy more statistics with your game Castrol is sponsoring a web page as part of UEFA.com.
It was funny to see that Derek came to the blog and counted how many people did not pick Spain to advance out of the group stages.
Oh and if anyone is unsure about the offside rule, please check out the previous day's blog and see LosAngelesChelseaFan's post. It clears everything up.
I was watching Football focus on BBC yesterday morning and they were interviewing some croation fans and one of them said that there is an ongoing joke in croatia about the england team:
Bobby,
This may have been asked already and while it isn't a Euro question it is a soccer question....
The USMNT played to a draw with Argentina (Thank you Tim Howard). There were some noteable performances. However, the Freddy Adu substitution raised the energy level and the ability of the team to move the ball through the middle of the midfeild. If you're the Gaffer at the USMNT does Freddy start the next match?
The USMNT are a bit confusing. They lose to a england team that cant qualify for the euro out of a relatively weak group as compared to others, they also lose to a spain side with eleven spaniards who each dont seem to be able to win anything when they are playing with 10 other spaniards on their team and then they hold the worlds #1 team to a draw. Go figure
aldoray, Julie Foudy is the former captain of the US Women's team. Either way, you shouldn't be shocked that ESPN doesn't employ competent analysts for soccer...after all, they don't employ competent analysts for their more preferred sport offerings.
bobby and the offside crew, as people who know refereeing and have no affiliation with UEFA have also come out saying that the ruling is correct, can't you re-examine your opinions? Although whether you agree or not, the fact that a controversial call went against Italy for once put a smile on my face.
neophyte, I'm not sure you can say that Adu having a good effect as a sub is reason enough to start him. It very well could be that he had fresh legs versus some tired ones that he was able to heighten the energy level.
aldoray, the fact that the game was "at home" and Bradley played a stronger lineup couldn't have anything to do with the better performance. Also, Howard was amazing or else Argentina would have won. Seriously, a defense containing Onyewu makes the Dutch defense look unbeatable.
granted the Argentina game was at home. but argentina are a far better side than england or spain. and i dont believe that if the US played all 3 at haome the outcome would be different. their defensive options are terrible and that josh wolff guy is Absolute Rubbish
Onyewu could not cut it with newcastle and i dont think he has gotten any better.
While we r on the topic i believe this rossi kid needs to open his eyees and take the US call up he would be an instant starter. and he does not seem to be on the radar of Donadoni or he would have gotten a call up at some point already
Spain is in the same situation I felt Portugal was at the start of the tournament. Favorite of the group but the 3 teams they are drawn against are not pushovers. Spain has to come out and want to win not expect to win. A slow start against Russia would be blood in the water for Greece and Sweden to feel like they can upset them.
edit: I wish the worst for Aragones for not starting Cesc ;P
I didn't see the USA - Argentina game and as a rule I don't take too much interest in friendly international games. There is a reason that they are called friendlies.
Bobby, you're on the show to make a difference. Dishwater journalism doesn't cut it. And that's what you delivered - again, I'm sad to say - on a controversial issue. The right call was made and you and your panel of yes-men simply glossed over it.
Enough. You have a platform, you have expertise. Kindly use them to our benefit.
Otherwise, there's no point in watching your show.
UEFA saying the offside call is correct is like when FIFA said that Hugh Dallas got the non-handball correct in the Germany vs US QF match in the 2002 World Cup.
Starting Iniesta instead of Fab? Its only six minutes in and Iniesta has lost the ball twice already. Of course things could change but looks to be a bad choice.
Jay: Are you as massively disappointed as the rest of the Popgun world over the new playing kit? Even as someone who dislikes Ar5ena1, I have to say it's an abysmal choice. Here's an excerpt from the Telegraph's survey of gooner fans' reactions"
'While it is not unprecedented for a club to launch new first and second choice kits in the same season, and there is nothing forbidding it in the Premier League regulations, the move was criticised by Arsenal supporters groups.
Mark Brindle, spokesman for REDaction, said: "Fans were pre-warned a couple of years ago but that doesn't make it any better. I've got two young boys who support Arsenal and what with the credit crunch, it is not the best of times. It's all about selling shirts in the Far East.
"But my strongest objection is that the home kit does not have white sleeves. That is the Arsenal tradition. Can you imagine Nike messing about with Barcelona's shirt or Man United's shirt? We will look more like Charlton Athletic next season." '
On more immediate matters, this Russia-Spain game is a sizzler. Looks like it could be a 5 or 6 goal thriller.
Reminds me of the 01/02 kit which was my first shirt so I don't mind it at all.
http://the-cannon.com/kits/
I got the 07/08 kit last year on sale at Winners for $50 so I dunno if I will bother getting a new one or just trying to find a spot to add a name to my current one (was going to get Flamini on the back of it truthfully if he resigned maybe I'll just leave it blank in protest). The shirt quality is great though amazing fits. Same as my Nike Fit Portugal white jersey.
Its all about money though. More new shirts more money and Arsenal are in good financial standing but not a Barca situation where they go off and give Unicef free add space.
Poor Russia. They try and come out and play exciting football and reality bites them proving defensive is always the safer bet.
I would love to see some real financial analysis on shirt sales world wide though.
We always hear those supposed reports that Real made back the cost of Beckham in 0.5 seconds of signing him with shirt sales but honestly with such differences in income and counterfeits as you go east it all seems like fudged numbers to me. If the numbers are anywhere close to accurate though you have to figure the 60m+ pounds bid rumors for Ronaldo hold some water as you gotta wonder what kind of shirt sales Real would see from a 23 year old player of the year.
Jay: I expect Ar5ena1 will want to hear from you, then. You may well be the first - and only - gooner to like the jersey.
Can't say I'm totally happy with Spurs. They've gone back to their standard blue shorts, but they've followed Ar5ena1 down yellow brick road with the goofy striped socks.
And, apparently, they're signing Anton Ferdinand. Guess Titus Bramble was spoken for.
(this excludes Arsenal, they are not signing a striker or paying highly for one)
Don't really mind that Cesc is starting from the bench it happens in the international game that certain countries are just stacked at certain positions. Nani and Quaresma cant start for Portugal. Gutti, Raul and Trez cant even get call ups. The only 4 Polish players I can name are all GK's and 1 isn't even in the current squad. If Cesc was more versatile and could play the wings also then maybe it would be an argument but he really is a down the gut midfielder. (I type this as Alonso comes on as a sub, quality player and his spot for Spain is butt on the bench)
g44 if I was Roman I'd be looking to outbid Liverpool. ;D
and before we crown Spain the champs. 4 goals in a game against a team that was willing to go back and forth with them. Great start but also the ideal situation for them.
I just saw the new arsenal kit and sorry to say i am very disappointed- looks more retro than new to me. Its almost as bad as our new kit, I hate it. Arsenal had one of the best home kits for the past two seasons and one of the first 2 jerseys i ever bought in my life- i will be buying no more
Great game by Spain today. Glad to see Aragones going with David Villa + Torres on top, instead of just Torres... They were much more effective this way. 4-1 is a bit flattering, Russia could have easily had 2-3, but Spain were by far the better side and deserved all the points.
Never got to make my predictions before the game, but had Spain winning 2-0... Greece over Sweden 2-1 in the second game...
Terry, mon petit. Until Fabregas scored, he really didn't do much other than take up sensible positions on the pitch. but good for him. I don't hate Ar5ena1 players, just the culture that surrounds the team. Snobby and supercilious.
I didn't make formal predictions, but I'm one of the few on here who spoke out in favour of Spain coming into this event. They didn't do anything today to alter that opinion. Would have to say the soccer world is now David Villa's oyster.
England, wearing their customary whites with blue shorts, don't wear their flag colours either.
If you're watching the Euros on Canada's TSN network(our ESPN) you not only get to avoid the tragically inept commentary from ESPN, you get to see some intesting commercials.
Loved those Jose + 10 commercials adidas used to run. This year, they've got an ad which concludes with an older Jose, Mourinho, talking about being a top player, a top man. What's most interesting in them is that adidas have managed to poach away one of the top players who normally wears a Nike jersey with his club - Lionel Messi.
Fabregas was clearly offsides when he scored his goal, no big deal, whether the goal stands or not isn't really going to effect anything, Spain already had the game won.
As far as RVN's goal yesterday... I still stand that the line judge who allowed it should be left refereeing in Cyrpus or something, that's just an aweful decision.
ESPN just did another post mortem on it and Andy Gray claims that everyone he spoke to in the UK says it was not a goal including refs. They better revisit the rules.
It's irrelevant now and it certainly does not take away from Holland's decisive and brilliant win.
Spain were terrific. Villa and Xavi were outstanding . The CB's still aren't in synch.
When Torres starts scoring look out!
Oh and Cesc scores.
Last edited by gongatore on June 10th at 11:23 AM.
Anyone else find that sports radio and talk radio in general have to talk so much that sometimes they just lose their minds.
Just turned off WSD after they started having a debate over who will be the England captain. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Minor compared to when Kenny? implied Flamini would be replacing Kaka because he might be off to Chelsea and a certain someones describing Portugals chances and repeatedly mentioning Maniche's role a player not even in a squad that was named several weeks before hand.
Sorry guys, but there is no doubt that RVN's goal was good. Rules have always been read that way, no changes are needed.
And Bobby your comment that "the rule interpretation is not widely known by the players is a disgrace" is a farce. Players don't even understand the hand-ball rule properly. How many player know you can stand on the touch line when you take a throw-in? How many players know you can't be offside from a goal kick? How many players know a ref can't play advantage from an improperly taken throw-in?
If you want a complete understanding of the rules, take a referee course.
I'm not sure where you heard that gongatore, but Keith Hackett came out and said that if that situation occurred in England then the ruling should be goal and not offsides. The only think clear on this debate is that the offside rule needs to be clarified even more than before.
it was quite evident yesterday that both Italy and France need to invest in more young talent. i think everybody would agree with me. also coach donadoni shouldn't used the Milan 3 midfielder in is starting lineup. they didn't contribute much to game and that was one of Italy downfall. high praises to the dutch they all play fantastic football constantly running at the Italian who had fallen to fatigue
Last edited by redbull25 on June 10th at 12:17 PM.
croatias performance was quite dissapointing. I dont know if that came down to the lack of eduardo but i expected more. The Russians also let me down i thought they would have given a better account of themselves. Or maybe these 2 teams are just overrated and expectations were too high. What does that say about the england team that got thrashed by these two countries home and away.
Tamerlin - I am still waiting for you or someone else to show me the law or the interpretation/advice to referees in FIFA's Laws of the Game. It seems like a pretty simple request.
As far as your two examples are concerned the answer would be the vast majority that have played at a decent level.
No one's talking about Cesc being offside and the match commentator blowing it by saying essentially 'that the ball hit the keeper so it doesn't matter'?
Thank you very much Shirokov! You were by far Spain's man-of-the-match...
While everyone seems to be praising a 'fantastic' performance by the Spanish duo and Xavi being for Spain what Arshavin should of been Russia... what it all came down to was the Zenit central defender playing like it was a practice match rather than Euro 08.
The first goal was completely his fault, gingerly jogging back to the box while watching Kolodin struggling in a one on one situation with Torres instead of tracking Villa.
One would think that such a soft goal would wake a player up, however he continued to lazily drift around the pitch and be caught out of position.
You could see what Hiddink was thinking; Spain are not a tall team by any stretch and despite Sergei Ignashevich and the twins being far more proven, the quick Shirokov & Kolodin are better suited to handle Torres & Villa. Even with all the errors Kolodin had today, he fared better than Berezutsky would have, particularly since some could be attributed to the rain.
No, the blaim for Russia's dreadful defensive performance today in fact falls solely on the lazy and spoiled Zenit liability known as Roman Shirokov.
Goal #2 came after a horrendous corner kick from Russia. As Spain kick-started their counter-attack, I counted seven Russian players rushing back to defend. Out of those seven, where was Shirokov? He was walking around in no-man's land on the other-side of the pitch! In fact it was the lone striker Pavlyuchenko playing center-back, along-side Anyukov, who thanks to the absence of any other defenders was
Re: Derek. I haven't seen the 2nd half of the Spain/Russian game yet. But if the ball "came off" the keeper, he should have been called offside. If the keeper controlled the ball and then somehow Cesc got the ball, no offside.
[cont.]
caught out, having to cover a large area of the pitch and not being able to commit solely to marking Villa nor playing him off-side.
And finally Goal #3 was probably Shirokov's biggest failure, underestimating a man with two goals already, as a complete amateur. Without a doubt a tremendous move by Villa to bring the ball back, however it was pure sloppiness from Shirokov to give Villa a look at the goal for two full seconds from 10 yards out while stranding his keeper Akinfeev to cover the entire length of the goal.
How Guss Hiddink did not replace him with Ignashevich at half-time I will never understand. I don't care if it is harsh on a player, he had to send him a message, play like that and you won't be playing in this tournament.
Spain's fourth and final goal, was a complete group failure, a result of the loss of will. Being off-side it shouldn't of counted, but the game was long over by then anyway.
If Guss dares to play this man again, I can't wait to see how he does against the likes of Henrik Larson & Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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