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| Diving was once known as the sport where participants jump off the platform or the springboard headlong into a pool of this blue substance called chlorine.
Now, diving takes on a new meaning; my guess is if you ask people like Arjen Robben, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and El-Hadji Diouf, they'll tell you what it means (off-the-record), and how to do it too!
The more appropriate term would be simulation; that is, to act as though something is real to fool someone (in this case it would be the referee), when you know it isn't.
Lucas Neill, Wayne Rooney, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Marco Materazzi, Zinedine Zidane and Ricardo Carvalho have all been victims of simulation. Oh well, referees are humans too.
They can fool the referee, but they can't fool the millions of viewers watching a particular match from the comfort of their pad. The thing is, referees have to make split second decisions, which is almost a recipe for errors.
Which is why video replays should be introduced. In an effort to reduce refereeing errors, FIFA have chosen, instead, to put another referee on the field. What an irony, considering the number of refereeing errors may increase instead!
At the moment, it's a foregone conclusion. Only FIFA know why they still haven't introduced this, and until they do, be content with watching Oscar-winning performances on the pitch. Pity though, Laureus won't be giving out any awards for this! | | |
| It's back to school for the man-in-the-middle
Never one short of controversies, the 18th edition of the World Cup in Germany will probably go down in history and best remembered as the tournament with too many yellows, too many reds, and a couple of refereeing blunders.
With almost 30 red cards flashed and a record-breaking 300 plus of yellow cards, this should not come as a surprise, as FIFA have told the match officials to come down hard on players with bad discipline. But perhaps they may have been a little too hard on the players.
The number of yellow cards is more than double that of the figure four years ago in South Korea and Japan. And if you thought the refereeing farce was extremely bad there, the disease this time around would prove to be even more chronic.
If the star of the previous World Cup was Byron Moreno, the referee who controversially didn't give Italy a penalty and sent Francesco Totti off, the spotlight this time came on to Graham Poll and Valentin Ivanov.
Poll completely lost his head in the Croatia vs Australia fixture, when he apparently flashed three yellow cards in Josip Simunic's face but forgot to send him off. But if I remember correctly, I saw Poll showing a red before a yellow. Talk about losing your head. Mine just got twisted.
Ivanov, meanwhile, completely lost control of the second round match-up between Portugal and the Netherlands, when he sent off four players (two from each team) in a highly pulsating match that saw Cristiano Ronaldo taken off with a damaged thigh. In all, 16 yellow cards were shown, an unwanted tournament record.
While three out of the four reds were justified, the rest came down to excessive playacting on the part of the players, and bad refereeing on the part of the official. Players who became a little hot-headed were also not spared.
FIFA then took their turn and 'clamped down' on these two referees, by barring them from refereeing in the later stages of the World Cup. Not sure what effect it had on Ivanov, but Poll will definitely not be involved in international matches anymore, that's for sure.
The red card for Wayne Rooney also became one hot issue; even more so with the involvement of his club teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. But in this case, Ricardo Carvalho would be the more likely culprit. Come on, how much influence can Cristiano Ronaldo have on Senor Elizondo? Even if that were the case, then Senor Elizondo's credibility as an outright referee would be questioned, no doubt about that.
And what a way to close the World Cup: Zinedine Zidane red-carded for headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi, who in turn was not doing a favour for himself by uttering words such as "Dirty Terrorist" (Zidane is of Algerian parentage). Looks like he was really looking for a headbutt. Who would've known, the World Cup would culminate in such a manner, with Italy winning it too!
Our eyes will take a break for a month or so, before the regular footballing season resumes in August. Eyebags will NOT be in fashion, so please, go get back some sleep. Time to recuperate from the World Cup fever into the working fever.
OFF YOU GO: Portugal's Costinha is given his marching orders by match referee Valentin Ivanov for a second bookable offence in the Portugal-Netherlands encounter. He subsequently sent off three others: Portugal's Deco, along with Dutchmen Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
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| Roger powers his way into tennis history
World No. 1 Roger Federer joined the ranks of Andre Agassi and Bjorn Borg after picking up his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title in a tough finale against claycourt specialist and world no. 2 Rafael Nadal yesterday.
In a match that lasted almost three hours, Federer was stretched to the limit by Spaniard Nadal, who had surpassed everyone's expectations by reaching his first Wimbledon final. But Federer eventually triumphed 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.
Both players have never met each other on grass, so this match-up between grasscourt king and claycourt king was an encounter not to be missed.
In slightly windy conditions at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Federer breezed through the first set in 24 minutes with Nadal unable to get on board, suggesting that the former may take the championship title comfortably.
But when play resumed in the second set, an early break of the Swiss' serve gave Nadal a glimmer of hope in getting back on level terms.
However, with Nadal serving for the set at 5-4, the youngster was unable to hold serve when an attempted overhead hit went horribly wide. Federer eventually won the second set tie breaker 7-5.
The third set was a much tighter affair, with both players hitting several blistering shots that got the Centre Court crowd at the edge of their seats.
The turning point of the set came when, at 3-2 up in the tiebreaker, a return shot by Nadal caused Federer to hit a backhand into the net. 4-2.
There was no turning back for Nadal in the tie breaker, as he hit a fine and powerful backhand return, well beyond the reach of Federer to make it 5-2, and eventually held serve to take the third set 7-6 (7-2).
But the 20-year-old's comeback was not to be as Federer broke his serve twice in the fourth set, going ahead 4-1, and even though Nadal managed to get one serve back, Federer comfortably served out the set at 6-3, and into the history books for a job well done.
Federer, who had lost six times to Nadal on clay, had never expected the youngster to be in the final, let alone give him such a hard time. This makes victory in one of his favourite tournaments even sweeter.
Nadal's efforts were well appreciated by the crowd, who have come to love this high-octaned, pumped up teenager from Mallorca. Indeed, he has won the hearts of many this Wimbledon, and with time very much on his side, Londoners and many others across the globe will continue to see the presence of this tenacious 20-year-old in future Wimbledons.
THE BEST OF THE REST: Wimbledon runner-up Rafael Nadal
poses with winner Roger Federer.
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| Breaking free...from the bondages that hinder you from realising your fullest potential!
Breaking free...don't be afraid of what your friends might think should you try something new and different!
Breaking free...don't try to be someone you're not. Just be yourself! You are who you are and that's that!
Breaking free...don't let failure get to you. Failure is just a word! Pick yourself up and strive for the better!
Breaking free...don't stick to the usual monotonous stuff. Be creative and crazy for once, coz it doesn't hurt!
Breaking free...stress is just a figment of your imagination. Fill up your idle mind with beneficial thoughts and your idle time with meaningful activities!
Breaking free...learn to love yourself, and never think yourself lesser than anyone else. God loves you no matter what!
"You know the world can see us, in a way that's different than who we are" - Breaking Free, High School Musical
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| Goal: Philipp Lahm (Germany) in the sixth minute against Costa Rica
Lahm cut in from the left and curled in a beautiful shot well beyond the reach of Costa Rican keeper Jose Porras.
Yellow card: Danny Fonseca (Costa Rica) against Germany
Red Card: Avery John (Trinidad & Tobago) against Sweden
He had been booked in the first half for a foul on Christian Wilhelmsson, so after the 2nd half restart, a foul on the same man just outside the 18-yard box was the last straw. The rest, as they say, is history.
Foul: Torsten Frings (Germany) on Walter Centeno (Costa Rica)
Corner: Lukas Podolski (Germany) against Costa Rica
Offside: Lukas Podolski (Germany) against Costa Rica
Free-kick: Ronald Gomez (Costa Rica) against Germany
Brace: Miroslav Klose (Germany) against Costa Rica
Klose found the net twice in this fixture, and another two in the match against Ecuador. He is on a hot streak, similar to his performance four years ago in Korea and Japan.
Hat-trick: Miroslav Klose (GER), David Villa and Fernando Torres (SPA) came the closest, but as yet, this honour is still up for grabs.
Penalty: David Villa (Spain) against Ukraine
Villa scored from a free-kick and another from a penalty in a 4-0 demolition of Sheva and Co.
Own goal: Carlos Gamarra (Paraguay) against England
A David Beckham free-kick from the left did not find the head of Peter Crouch; instead Paraguayan defender Carlos Gamarra headed it into his own net. The only goal of the match.
Substitute: Jervis Drummond for Gilberto Martinez (Costa Rica)
Goalless draw: Trinidad & Tobago vs Sweden
Sweden failed to break down the resilient Carribbean side, even after numerous attacks on Shaka Hislop's goal. Swedish frontmen Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were guilty of missing their chances.
Upset: Trinidad & Tobago vs Sweden
Ah indeed a story that needs to be told. Unfazed by the reputation of their more distinguished opponents, T & T successfully blocked out every attack by the Scandinavians. Even Christian Wilhelmsson's run on the right was dealt with effectively by the Carribbean defence. Even with T & T down to 10 men, the Swedes were still not able to break them down. The repercussions? Fredrik Ljungberg and Olof Mellberg nearly came to blows in the dressing room after the match.
Eliminated: Poland
The Poles had a largely disappointing campaign this time around, only managing three points from their final group match against Costa Rica, and only scoring two goals. Their poor performance, some say, was probably due to the tactics employed by coach Pawel Janas, who opted to play with only one striker up front. A recipe for disaster? Almost.
Qualify (last 16): Germany
The hosts booked their place in the knockout phase, but in less convincing fashion. Touted as the weakest German team in a World Cup, they managed to brush aside Costa Rica 4-2, but not before they let in two goals from Paulo Wanchope.
In the match against Poland, they were frustrated for most of the match; Oliver Neuville scored the winner with not much of the match left to play.
The Germans finally came good in their final group match, beating the Ecuadoreans 3-0. But that was also because Luis Suarez's side was considerably weakened, as he made five changes with the last 16 in mind.
Booked for Simulation: Arjen Robben (Netherlands) against Cote D’ivoire
He scored the only goal in the match against Serbia and Montenegro. But he also became the first player to go into the referee's little black book for a dive in the box. If anything, he should remember what Brazilian football legend Pele once said: "Penalty is the most coward way to score a goal". Take heed, Arjen.
Team with two players red carded in the same match: USA
In the match against the Italians, the Yanks were reduced to nine men when Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope fell foul of the referee's intolerance of harsh tackles. But not before Italian Daniele de Rossi was given his marching orders for elbowing Brian McBride, who required three stitches. Deemed by Marcelo Lippi as the "umpteenth stupid mistake" by de Rossi, the latter could prove to be a liability should Italy advance to the later stages. Credit to the Americans, who stood firm for a 1-1 draw after a Alberto Gilardinho header was cancelled out by a mistake from Italian defender Cristian Zaccardo, who flicked a USA corner into his own net.
Contentious goal: Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan) against Australia
The Aussie back four were adamant that Nakamura's goal should not have stood. When Nakamura crossed in from the right, the ball seemed to elude everyone and fell straight into Mark Schwarzer's net. The Aussies claimed that Schwarzer had been fouled by Japanese defender Yuji Nakazawa. But til FIFA approves the use of video replays in referees' decisions, these will remain as that: claims.
Missed penalty: Gyan Asamoah (Ghana) against the Czech Republic
Asamoah had already shocked the Czechs when he swept in the ball beyond Czech keeper Petr Cech after only two minutes. After countless attacks on Cech's goal, Ghana were deservedly awarded a penalty in the second half, when skipper Stephen Appiah was upended by Tomas Ujfalusi, who was subsequently dismissed after continuing to protest on the decision. Asamoah's spotkick sent Cech the wrong way, but his shot came off the upright and the follow-up fell safely in the keeper's hands. The Ghanaians went on to win the match 2-0, with Sulley Muntari beating Cech at the near post towards the end of the match. A victory to savour, for it was an African team's first win and reignited Ghana's challenge for a place in the knockout. | | |
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