A Different View of the World' s Greatest Sport!

Posts tagged ‘England’

The Other Side

Have you noticed how there is hardly a football game these days that is played in a fair manner? How everyone loves the team when they are winning but criticizes them for the smallest faults they commit?

Paraguay v Spain

Spain were not that great against Paraguay. For a team with world class players their performance was pretty low. The score line should have read anything but 1-0 to Spain.

To begin with, Nelson Valdez’s 41st minute goal should have been allowed to stand but he was said to be offside. This nonsense of disallowing goals just because they ‘seem’ to be offside has been happening one too many times. We can’t keep blaming referees all the time so I guess goal line technology must be introduced. Then it was the penalty. The referee should have either let Xabi Alonso’s goal stay or he should have made Cardozo take the penalty again because on both occasions when the penalties were first taken there was more than one Spanish player in the box.

That is why I say that the scoreline should have been anything but 1-0 to Spain had the game been refereed well.

Netherlands v Brazil

Robben took full advantage of the situation and the referee was too blind to see it. It is more than likely that the Brazilian left flank began to get frustrated mainly because Robben seemed to be going down with every touch and the referee seemed to believe that the Brazilian left-back was constantly fouling Robben which was not really true. Felipe Melo being a hot-headed individual lost his cool and was thus red carded. Wouldn’t you react the same way if you were in his place?

Yes, the players did not have a great game but how can you forget the times they did play well and the times they did win?

Uruguay v Ghana

Do you really think Suarez ‘stole’ the game? On any other given day it would not have been such a huge issue. Do you remember the group stages when Ghana played Australia. Kewell was red-carded for a deliberate hand ball and Gyan took the penalty, only this time he converted it into a goal. Had the same thing happened against Uruguay nobody would have made such a huge issue about the incident. Suarez did what any other player would have done and hence it is wrong to accuse him of ‘stealing the game’. The grapes were sour for Ghana and hence they made a big issue out of it for nothing.

However, they must be credited for the splendid performance that they put up.

It is NOT Rooney’s fault!

Don’t blame the lad just cause he could not score a goal. Football is a team sport, not a one man show. You need (in most cases) 11 players to win a game. If you have good forwards but bad defence you are bound to lose at some point (Argentina v Germany) and if you you can only defend then, at the most you could take the game into penalties but then you are most likely to lose due to lack of good strikers.

England did not play well on the whole and picking on one player and his club manager is the stupidest thing to do.

Ryan’s England

On how far England can make it in the competition: The final! (if we don’t have to face any penalty shootouts =P)

On which team/player will excel in the competition: Teams: England, Spain, Brazil, the Netherlands.

Players: Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, David Villa, Ji-Sung Park.

On England’s Main Man: Wayne Rooney. He’s one of the best strikers in the world, unstoppable. Rooney’s a real contender for the golden boot

On the Second Favorites: Spain and Brazil are always a good team to watch and any team which has Manchester United players on it. And this year Bafana Bafana as they’re the local team. I hope to see them do South Africa proud.

Yesteryears: Thrashing Croatia 5-1 at Wembley to secured qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Perfect revenge for knocking us out of Euro 2008 contention! The World Cup for England almost always ends in heartbreak. I’m praying this year will be different.

On a Personal Note

The football addict: I love football! Season ticket holder for Manchester United – I follow them all over the country and make my voice heard. This World Cup I won’t miss a game.

Celebration time! Not really. Just jump up and cheer haha.

Role of Football In Africa: It seems to have brought the whole continent of Africa together as one.

Words of Wisdom for the team: Give it all you’ve got. Make England proud!

 * The interview has been taken prior to the World Cup and hence may not reflect the current happenings in the tournament 

An Invitation From The Past