Wed, June 28th 2006
Johan Cruyff has blamed Holland’s World Cup exit on the country’s immigration minister for not allowing Ivory Coast-born Salomon Kalou to become a Dutch citizen.
Not being allowed to include players from another country, is quite some excuse…
See: BBC
Puyol, Aragones and Spain were unhappy at the free-kick awarded to Thierry Henry that led to France’s decisive second goal.
The striker [Henry] was angry at the referee for not taking action over the rough treatment he received from Puyol in May’s Champions League final in Paris, which Barcelona won 2-1.
After the match, Henry said: “Next time I’ll learn to dive maybe, but I’m not a woman.”
From: BBC
It was a stupid, unnecessary foul by Puyol, but it was hugely disappointing to see Henry go down holding his face when he clearly was not struck there.
There are beginning to be too many sour tastes being left in the mouth after games in this World Cup.
Tue, June 27th 2006
Mon, June 26th 2006
The problem, in essence, is this. Fifa has encouraged referees to brandish yellow cards whenever possible at this World Cup but refuses either to have a post-match court of appeal where poor decisions can be overturned or retrospective punishments handed out
The result is a cheat’s charter.
From: The Guardian
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has hit out at referee Valentin Ivanov’s handling of Portugal’s match against Holland.
Ivanov did not have a good game, but the players from both sides need to be condemned too. Holland and Portugal showed a great deal of indiscipline, and both teams were guilty of atrocious play-acting
(or ‘simulation’ if FIFA would prefer it called that) and some horrendous fouls.
The referee was strict from the outset and some players tried to abuse that by diving and feigning injury. If the 2 sets of players choose to try and out-cheat each other, then they must accept culpability as well.
Sun, June 25th 2006
England 1 - Ecuador 0
England continued to do the minimum necesary to qualify for the quarter finals. A David Beckham free kick providing the only goal of the game.
Sat, June 24th 2006
Reports in the news today suggest Sven Goran Eriksson is to switch to a 4-1-4-1 formation against Ecuador on Sunday. It is closer to the formation that many feel he should have been playing prior to the World Cup, but he risks the allegation that he is trying to pick the best players and then fit a formation around them.
Fri, June 23rd 2006
The League’s deal with ITV digital collapsed when the TV company went bankrupt. This left many clubs without money promised to them, which many clubs had already budgeted towards playing costs and ground improvements.
English referee Graham Poll booked one player three times but forgot to send him off until after showing him a third yellow, blew for full-time just as what would have been Australia’s winner was crossing the line, and also missed a blatant Croatian handball in the penalty area.
From: The Guardian
Wed, June 21st 2006
Fifa are understood to be furious with Merk for allegedly telling Kewell that the player’s World Cup was over as he and the match officials left the pitch. The comment, heard by a number of Australia’s players, left the referee open to accusations of premeditation in naming Kewell in his post-match report.
From: The Guardian
Kewell faced a ban from Australia’s crucial final group game against Croatia after referee Markus Merk claimed the Socceroo had verbally abused after the final whistle.
Related: Kewell plays down row with referee
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