Italy’s second round exit at the hands of South Korea in the 2002 World Cup saw the Azzurri’s chickens come home deliciously to roost. Offside decisions may have played their part but after decades of shirt pulling for both club and country, an Italian player was finally penalized; it being significant that this would be at the highest stage. Hence, yesterday’s tug on Daniele De Rossi by Tommy Smith was rightfully punished, even if the former, a man with a dark side to make Dr. Jekyll blush, added to his nefarious reputation in World Cups with a blatant plunge.But Smith’s…
All posts tagged World Cup
The Thursday Preview: Australia Vs. Ghana
I cannot be the only person to be distinctly undrwhelmed by the design of Rustenberg’s Royal Bafokeng Stadium. As each major tournament goes by, we are treated to an ever more impressive array of space age arenas, but there always seems to be one stuck in the Dark Ages, a venue that breaks all the rules laid down in Simon Inglis’s seminal The Football Grounds of Europe.More commonly than not, it’s England who are consigned to a competition’s least impressive outpost. In 1990, it was Cagliari, part of a plan to restrict the hoolies to Sardinia where the authorities could…
The spirit of Chollima lives on Teesside
Before my fellow blogger Lanterne Rouge diverts our attention back to the previous season, a brief Championship related missive from the World Cup. Few Cocaleague-hosting towns will have divided loyalties during tonight’s game between Brazil and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but fans of a certain vintage on Teesside may well be rooting for a draw. While Boro’s contemporary links with the land of Samba have been well documented (even if some of the individual imports turned out to be more Mr Benn than Jorge Ben), memories of North Korean football’s finest hour-and-a-half still linger on the housing estate…
The Monday Profile: Kevin Prince Boateng
Sporting a name by which one is not usually referred to on one’s shirt – witness “GAMST” and “JONAS” - is not a habit of those prone to introversion, but rarely has this provided such an accurate view into the mind of the wearer than yesterday in Pretoria – the simple legend “PRINCE” providing all one could wish to know about the mindset of Kevin Boateng.Having finished the season at Portsmouth, the former Hertha Berlin man is a Championship player of sorts although one suspects that he sees his future away from Glanford Park and the New Den come August….
The Thursday Preview: Algeria Vs Slovenia
Last week, we previewed a friendly international involving a clutch of Championship-tinged stars and in the end, it was Robert Koren and Slovenia who prevailed, with a 3-1 win over New Zealand in Maribor.Hence, the Slovenes will go into their first World Cup finals match for seven years with confidence. Laying in wait are the Desert Foxes of Algeria; the match taking place this Sunday in Polokwane, the capital of Limpopo Province, a venue to put alongside Orlando, Saitama, Seogwipo and Uddevala in a roster of obscure host cities.Slovenia would appear to lie in the category of low hanging fruit…
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