Countries
Mon, June 26th 2006
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
Eriksson to make change to formation for last 16 game
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.
Thu, June 22nd 2006
Italian football heavyweights Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina will all face a sports court over allegations of corruption in the game.
Twenty-six unnamed people - but no players - are also set to stand trial.
Hearings will begin next Wednesday, with those found guilty facing the prospect of fines, bans and relegation.
From: BBC
Italy’s football federation are to the name the clubs and individuals to be charged with match-fixing.
Any clubs charged face trial at a sports tribunal in Rome next week and could face bans, fines, relegation or be stripped of any trophies.
Champions Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina have been investigated.
The announcement is set for today when the Italian stock market closes (4:30pm BST), ironically coinciding with the end of Italy’s match against the Czech Republic.
Related: Italian FA placed under administration
Wed, June 21st 2006
Tony Blair today condemned violence against England supporters in Scotland after incidents at the weekend in which a boy and a disabled driver were assaulted for wearing England shirts.
From: The Guardian
A statement from the Football Association read: ‘Following his injury in last night`s match with Sweden, Michael Owen had his right knee scanned today and it has now been confirmed the injury will prevent Michael playing any further part in the World Cup and he will return to England immediately.
Tue, June 20th 2006
England 2 - Sweden 2
Sven might have seen this game as a good opportunity to try a few different things out. He started with Rooney and Owen up front, but any chance for the 2 of them to show how they could link up were wrecked when Owen was stretchered off in the 1st minute with what appeared to be a tournament ending knee injury.
‘In the two matches we have played there have been three decisions (by referees) which have clearly penalised us,’ Domenech told a news conference.
‘We cannot accept repeated refereeing mistakes going against us,’ he added.
From: ESPN
The French manager went on to suggest that decisions had favoured group G rivals Switzerland, pointing at a penalty decision that Togo were not awarded in Monday’s game.
Mon, June 19th 2006
Harry Kewell could miss Australia’s crucial Group F game against Croatia after being charged by Fifa with insulting referee Markus Merk.
From: BBC
Merk gave 25 free-kicks to Brazil, compared to 9 to Australia, and the Australian squad felt before the game that the Brazillians had exaggerated the Socceroo’s combative style of play by demanding protection by referees before the tornament began. Brazil won the game 2-nil, but again looked unconvincing, and for a spell the Australians looked capable of creating scoring chances at will.
Post-match Kewell went on to defend the referee, saying: “It was a hard match to referee, and he did a good job.”