You might remember that Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic was given a straight red card for swinging at a Quito player at the Club World Cup final back in December. The problem for Man U is that the Club World Cup is a FIFA event, as is the UEFA Champion's League, and the rules say that any suspension at the Club World Cup would carry over to other FIFA competitions.
I was convinced that FIFA would find a way around suspending Vidic from the Champion's League. It's already difficult to convince European clubs to be all that enthused about schlepping to Japan (or Abu Dhabi) mid-season for a relatively pointless competition. Ah, but FIFA are nothing but sticklers for the rules: Vidic has been suspended one game, meaning he'll miss the first leg of Man U's Round of 16 against Inter.
That serves United right for winning the Champion's League last year.
photo: Sky Sports
Friday, January 30, 2009
So the Club World Cup Does Matter Afterall
Thursday, January 22, 2009
In Canada Brain Damaged Cops Beat Up Other Parents at Soccer Matches
Tempting to think that a story that starts with the sentence, "A Hamilton police officer who punched a man at her child's soccer game could face a temporary demotion under the Police Services Act," has pretty much topped out.
But no, there are Canadians involved and apparently at least one of them is on a mission to be every bit as awful as an over-involved American parent. Yes, America our monopoly on shitty parenting vis a vis child athletics is coming to a cruel end at the hands of one Wendy Bromfield.
This story gets a little dense (either that or Canadian names all sound the same) but the incident dates back to August of 2006.
Bromfield was attending her child's soccer match. At the match, Bromfield complained to the ref that a player on the rival team was "roughhousing" and the ref subsequently ejected that player. Apparently "roughhousing" is a straight red in Canadaian U13 girls soccer.
After the match a teammate of the ejected girl approached Bromfield and called her a narc and hateful bitch for getting her friend ejected.
Okay, that's probably embellished with colorful language but Bromfield does claim that "the child spat at her and used several expletives." So Bromfield grabbed the expectorant child and brought her to the coach. That's when she got into a melee with that child's father.
That's not even the best part. Bromfield does face a possible demotion and reduction in pay at the police force when she returns to work. And she hasn't worked since May 2004—yes, that's four and a half years (and predates the incident in question by two of them)—as a result of a motorcycle accident. "That collision left her with a host of injuries, including a ruptured bladder, a broken pelvis, a broken spine and several crushed vertebrae and brain damage."
Hey, when you nationalize healthcare, recovery times go up a skosh. But repeating, in Canada brain damaged cops do indeed beat up other parents at soccer matches, little girls' matches at that.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Terry wins red card appeal
Despite being sent off for Serious Foul Play and not for a Professional Foul, England's Brave John Terry had his red card suspension overturned by a board of appeals. Oddly, they cited that there were teammates behind him on the replay, and that he was not last man back.
One hopes the board enjoy their all-inclusive Russian vacations.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
In defense of Didier.
Amid all the storylines generated yesterday -- Terry's miss, Anelka's miss, Ronaldo's relative disappearance in yet another big game -- by far the most interesting talking point involves everyone's favourite petulant Ivorian striker, Didier Drogba.
While the game took place around him, leaving him largely as a bystander [except for a sublime shot that rattled the bar in the 80th minute or so], Drogba was instrumental in the match's most important moment. His slap on Vidic late into the waning minutes of extra time spoke louder than any of his goals this season. On the world's biggest stage, Didier lost the plot. And it might well be the last time he gets to do that in a Chelsea shirt.
So why am I picking on him this morning? I should be happy that he's the scapegoat for an unlucky defeat, shouldn't I? Well, I thought I'd try and defend the miserable cunt, because if we're honest, if he was still on the pitch, John Terry wouldn't need to take any penalties, would he?
It came in the thick of wave after wave of Chelsea attacks, in a second half where they laid siege to Van Der Sar's goal and thoroughly deserved to win. Indeed, amid the small coterie of rabid alcoholics with whom I watched the match, we all thought the same. This is Chelsea's moment. They're gonna steal this game, smash n' grab. Lampard rattled the bar, Terry made an unbelievable reflex header to divert Giggs' shot just enough that it went wide, and they had the belief to push on and snatch the win. And yet, in the 115th minute, a seemingly benign foul and confrontation between Tevez and Terry turned into a scrum, and as Vidic pushed Didier away, out came the slap right in front of the referee. With the last-minute changes on both sides as they brought on penalty specialists Belletti and Anderson, Chelsea's chart could have looked like this: Of course, this is mere conjecture, and Terry did his best by even having the balls to step up and take the reins, but you have to wonder how different it might have been had Didier not lashed out. In fact, assistant coach Hank Ten Cate even went so far as to spell this out for the hungry media, thus magnifying the issue further. Drogba is an individual. He's a nation without a state. He always has been. Derided in the past for not being more of a team player, he is the consummate professional: show up, do the job, get rewarded for it, and move on. He's made no effort to mask the desire to leave Stamford Bridge in the near future, and while it would be crass and absurd to even hint at the slap being an act of parting sabotage, it fits with the player. It fits with the man. It fits with the actions and expectations we've always had for Didier, both on and off the pitch. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, and yet we're still all rather lost for words. And then, last night, the two fought for 115 minutes, fouling each other and scrapping for every inch of territory. An innocuous argument between other players gave them an opportunity to square up yet again, and Didier couldn't resist. Call it a moment of blind rage, call it playful, call it a sign of respect [did Drogba really think a brute like Vidic couldn't take a gentle tap?], call it what you will. I feel bad for Drogba, albeit in a very different way than I feel sympathy for John Terry, the physical embodiment of Chelsea FC. Didier never recovered from the loss of Mourinho, an obvious mentor and role model to someone who never really had that. Always slighted, always overlooked, always underappreciated, Didier didn't want to play at Chelsea anymore, simple as that. His slap makes for a very photogenic farewell. In that situation, under that scrutiny, and with that well of frustration having failed to get the job done to that point, I might well have done the same thing. I think if we're honest, a lot of us would. After all, it's not every day you get to find brief moments of satisfaction like that, no matter what the context. A difficult evening released in one flick of the wrist to the face of the man responsible for all your toils. The surroundings dissolve as you enjoy the moment, and then reality kicks in. The impact, the consequences, the lack of thought for those around you. Anyone ever been bullied at school? It sucks. It's decidedly not fun. My school bully was a big kid with red hair. He teased me for four years, and then I threw a desk at him. You know the ones: the old-school desks that have a storage bin under the tabletop, made of heavy fucking wood, sometimes with a chair attached? I lost my temper, gained some freak Hulk strength, and broke his fucking leg. Felt great until the adrenaline wore off. Then, I was faced with a long school suspension and his hospital bills to pay. Decidedly not smart. For Didier, I imagine the same principle. Tired and weary of the treatment all day, and he reacts with a passionate, stress-relieving slap. Petty, minuscule, harmless, but, in the eyes of UEFA, it's a fair red. You can't hit players in the face on purpose. Not allowed.
Drogba is a walking contradiction. He is capable of tearing teams apart seemingly at will, and yet, when things don't go his way, he turns in awful performances when his club needs him most. It took him an hour to warm up to the conditions, but he was still ineffective against the serene pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand. The one inch of space he did get, and he almost changed the game with a phenomenal shot that rattled the post and set the hearts of Man United fans racing.
This was it. Drogba's moment of madness, while not leading any of us to believe that Man U would push on and score the winner in the remaining 5 minutes, was crucial. It was the difference. Without their second-best penalty-taker, their superstar do-no-wrong striker, they'd need someone to make up the numbers. Grant did his best, but it was not to be.
Ballack
Belletti
Lampard
A. Cole
Drogba
They might have moved Drogba up a couple of spots, but after Ronaldo predictably missed his penalty [which we all predicted while watching the match], you're on Easy Street. Cole and Drogba left to shoot, and there's no danger of your best goalscorer missing the winner, is there?
So, how can this be justified? It really can't, but I'm going to try.
Just three weeks ago, Drogba and Vidic had a collision in the match on April 26, in which Vidic lost a tooth and needed stitches. Two years before that, in November 2006, Drogba was accused of deliberately elbowing Vidic as they went up for a header, and despite video replays that suggested premeditation, the incident was reviewed and quickly forgotten.
Drogba got his flicker of satisfaction, his brief revenge against that imposing bully, and now he'll probably get the rest in the form of a long-overdue move to Serie A. It's just a shame his teammates go home empty-handed.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Mark Van Bommel Tells The Ref How He Really Feels
I woke up Sunday morning and caught the end of the Carling Cup, which was thrilling in so much as Chelsea lost to Tottenham in extra time, but after that I didn't have anything else to do. I already had masturbated to the Lindsay Lohan pics (NSFW). So, in perusing my channel guide I found the Bayern Munich - Hamburg SV going into extra time knotted at 1-1.
The match ended at 1-1, which is not noteworthy nor entertaining, but there was still some quality entertainment thanks to Bayern's Mark Van Bommel. Hit the video after the jump.
1-1 Bayern Munich vs. Hamburger SV Goals & Red Card The real kicker though was the childish antics of continuing to mouth off as the ref turns away and then the behind the back eff-you gesture right as the ref turns back to award a second yellow. I did that once to my mother when I was young and bratty. I got a good whooping for that. I was quite impressed, and I'm not sure if it deserves positive or negative points, with the swift and industrious manner in which Van Bommel left the pitch. It took only a matter of seconds. He knew he was gone and just jogged right off the pitch. It was the antithesis of a Chelsea send-off. In any other league, Van Bommel would have continued to argue, John Terry would berate the ref and try to grab the card , and Van Bommel would take his sweet time sauntering off.
Uploaded by 90tsunni
I've got to hand it to Van Bommel; that was a great way to be sent off. Frequently, you don't get the opportunity to really tell the ref how you feel about him. First, he went with the always great sarcastic clap for the ref's decision right in his face. Great style points and quite communicative of his true feelings.
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