Sleep well, Mr Blatter

These types of travesties happen at every world cup and there is nothing done to try and rectify the situation so the chances of them happening diminishes (ie. instant replays, transparency at FIFA, etc). But FIFA won’t change on its own and the fans seem indifferent, especially when it happens to someone they hate. If fans stand up against these travesties they are usually called whiners, if they do nothing then, obviously, the status quo remains. Perhaps one day a country will have the guts to stand up and divorce itself from FIFA and its umbrella organizations because of such happenings on the field and the corruption in the back rooms of FIFA. Maybe then that country will be mimicked by others and FIFA will be destroyed. Didn’t something like this happen with the world basketball association?

Posted from  Canada

“The attack on C Ronaldo for instance could have resulted in destruction of capital”

You’re still evading the Dutch side’s responsibility for what happened at that game. Their deliberate and vicious fouling of C. Ronaldo, a cynical attempt to injure him off the field, started the whole thing.

You say ‘capital’ could have been destroyed, but fail to mention by whom, and at the same time you actually COMPLAIN about the carding.

Inconsistent and dishonest.

Posted from  United States

Very good saying Troglodyte. I agree 100% with you. Congratulations for your post.

Posted from  Portugal

Yo Troglo, can I call you Troglo?… you miss the point. There have been several posts already on the Portugal - Holland match and we all know what most think about that faul. So let’s not repeat that here. I am trying to make a point about the way matches are officiated. You can’t ignore the impact of the refs on matches in this WC, be it in the Port - Hol match or any other match. I do feel the faul on Ronaldo was outrageous. I never said it wasn’t. I also feel for the kid, coz I am a fan. Who can’t be a fan of him, as I expect all football fans to have respect for the likes of Van Persie van Nistelrooy. But, knowing Boulah a bit, I also believe he didn’t do it to intentionally hurt Ronaldo. The Australian SBS commentator also deducted from seeing the images that it was a collision. Was it a red card? Could have been. Noone would have complained. But if it is unintentional, a yellow card would be enough pusnishment. How bout Deco’s charge on Heijtinga? It was pure frustration coz Heijtinga didn’t give the ball back to Portugal. In that context, yellow was enough for me. But the charge in itself - not going for the ball but aimed at the guys legs - is red. Dear troglo, the world is not as simple as you think mate…
I just feel FIFA should take their responsibility!!!

Posted from  Australia

Take it easy boys…accept the fate..after all you are used to lose to Portugal, so nothing new..lets keep the good traditions..;)

Posted from  Sweden

http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=341944

jan .. i found this on man utd site. you should check it out.. Its abt Van the Man and whether he will retire from international football.

I just love the ending.. What a great player !!

Posted from  Russian Federation

I thought you all would like this quote by the infamous ref:

“You would expect some dirty tricks from the Portuguese. They are known for time-wasting or hitting from behind,” he said. “But I was unpleasantly surprised by seeing such things from the Dutch. More so, they were the instigators.”

Posted from  Canada

im gona go onto the portugal blog wen england beat portugal and im gona rip the shit outa u portugese losers!! portugal have no real future in the game! they jus dont produce raw talent in their youth systems that holland and england do! they produce bloody ugly players and brazilian players eg deco but nowt else!!

Posted from  United Kingdom

Thanks Rami, that makes me feel much better. Great guy, Ruud. I recently saw the documentary on Ruud by Tom Egberts, Studio Sport. A mate sent it over from Holland. Did you see it?

Posted from  Australia

the biggest thing 2 dissapoint me in this world cup is that i have been raving on about some of these dutch players 2 some of me mates. especially the likes of kuyt, boularouz and sneider coz many people in england do not kno these players as they play in smaller leagues. but unfortunaly none of them really shined at all. and im annoyed at that. i really hope kuyt can move 2 the premiership and show his worth so he can be an integral part at the 2008 european championship. he didnt show his worth at this world cup but i kno he is a good player. even wenger has taken a fancy 2 him. its jus a question of whether feyenoord will let him move 2 newcastle or someone 4 relativly cheap coz people dont seem 2 want 2 pay 10 million 4 him. same goes 4 sneider! and hopefully in a coupla years huntelaar

Posted from  United Kingdom

@mrfocus
You hit the nail on the head with that RvN observation! In a recent interview - posted on the blog - Ruud confesses that he had a screaming row with Van Basten the night before the match. In an other interview he does say that he knew he would come on the pitch and he understood that, since “Kuyt did well and Vennegoor etc. was brought along as supersub. So use him for it…”

Posted from  Australia

@lars
Well, your mates will definitely see Kuyt perform much better. He had a couple of great seasons with Feyenoord, but I do think he was out of form at the WC. Sneijder was just back from injury. He can and will do much better. Boulah played a good tournament, didn’t he?

Posted from  Australia

@Lars, latest news on Kuyt..Wenger confirmed Arsenals interest in Kuyt on frensh tv..i think hell play in England next year…

about the ref. situation: would it be an idear to play on netto time (like basketball), time stops when the game is stopped, and then play 30 minutes per half..sunday the netto-playing time was 53 minutes!!!!

Posted from  Netherlands

Jan - thank you for your efforts to offer balanced commentary. Please accept my apologies on behalf of any PT fan that has insulted your squad. I did not approve of Holland’s behaviour in this game, but I also don’t like seeing PT fans being sore winners. Yes, historically we have the better advantage, but that means nothing. What if the Dutch go on a run for the next 20 years against the Portuguese? Then we will feel stupid! I also think anyone who thinks we don’t have talented youths coming up for PT is in denial. The future is bright for Portugal as it is for Holland, once the dust settles.

Forca Portugal!

Posted from  United States

@all, funny…

http://www.valentinivanov.com/

greetz

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE

Posted from  Netherlands

So now that the first elimination round is over, anyone care to make predictions on the second? I went 4 and 4 in the last hope all of you did better than that. I was right on Germany over Sweden, Argentina over Mexico, Ukraine over Switerland, and Brazil over Guana. The games that screwed me were, England beating Equador, France beating Spain, Australia losing to Shitaly, and of course, Holland losing to Portugal? The last 2 were complete shames in my opinion! Those results taint whatever happens next in this world cup.
As for the next round I’m taking:
England over Portugal, not because I think England are that strong but because I can’t put money on dirty Scolari and his band of hooligans.
Then I’m gonna have to go with Germany over Argentina, not because of form alone but because of home field advantage history in the WC, plus European success on European soil, esentially the same thing; who can say either can win but u gotta pick 1 and i will go with Germany
Shitaly has to beat Ukraine, they are just bad, it is unfair that Italy with their cheating win over Australia, get such an easy ride to the semi-s.
That leaves France vs Brazil, I hope France because I love underdogs, but I’m going with Brazil, if Robinho is fit and plays with Ronoldo instead of Adriano they will be even better. What a resserection of form for Ronoldo, he makes an argument for having stayed the course with Ruud! Good luck to all and as so many of u point out my predictions are complete shite! Still hurting for Oranje. Hup Holland

All this crap with poor reffing, diving, and missed fouls can be solved with one extra referee - a video referee with the same voice-link to the head ref as the assistants have. Clear dive? Instant yellow. Flagrant Figo-type foul? Instant red. No committee afterward, no “let’s see about reviewing the ref later on,” it all ends right then and there.

FIFA needs to realize that the hopes and dreams of millions upon millions of football fans hinge on every call they make - there is no technical hindrance to having a video ref to call out to the Field Ref and say “Robben just clearly dived,” or “Figo just headbutted a player”. If FIFA or its referees are too “proud” to have such clear assistance that would remove all 90% of all doubt from iffy or missed calls, then the problem is with FIFA itself.

How much the game would improve the minute that all the play acting and drama-queen nonsense disappeared… FIFA has created the environment for all the diving and the nonsense - let FIFA now clean it up for the good of the game.

Posted from  United States

@Roy
HEAR HEAR!!!

@luis
Thanks for your kind words. Appreciate it, but it’s not necessary. Sport is emotion and I was gutted too, you know. There has been some really nasty and childish posting going on from both ends.

It’s just football, aint it?

Posted from  Australia

Which reminds me of this quote:

Some say, football is as important as life and death. THEY’RE WRONG!

It’s much more important

Posted from  Australia

FIFA will never change because it is a federation of corrupt old men who are driven by the dollar, not by public opinion o the betterment of the game.

Fair play??? My arse!!

If they spent a small proportion of their Billions on re-hauling the adjudication system, implementing new refereeing procedures and new technology then the beautiful game would also become the fair game.

Too often matched are decided by the referee. When i say decided i mean that it wa his decision… eg. a legitimate penalty in the box is decide by the player…. he is the one who conceeded the foul…. whereas, an illegitimate foul in the box is decided by the referee, the ref is the one who decides to give the penalty despite not having seen it properly.

Look at the Aust/Italy match… the Ref determinied te outcome of that game. Watch the replay and it is clear for all to see that Lucas Neil did not commit an offence… there shouldn’t even be an opportunity for Refs to make incorrect decisions…. video refs should be introduced..

Posted from  Australia

Roy great suggestion dude… I wish there would be someway we could be active about it.. introduce it to the media, public sphere, to ppl who can introduce it to fifa..as a much more developed idea and plan..
Because this cant go like this anymore.. And im not saying this becuase of what happened to holland (really over it) but to the whole WC.

Last match’ refereeing between spain and france was exemplary.. In the one earlier between brazil-ghana it was very one-sided.. We already covered the portugal-holland issue and Italy-Australia last minute controversy. I feel that in this 2nd round of 16, the refs were the most important factors of the game. Most of those who proceeded to the quarters are teams that fortunately benefited from mistakes of refs in the round of 16.. This is unacceptable.
Plus, within a time-period of only 1-2 days, you have games that are refereed almost card-free (swiss-ukraine; france-spain) and games that are card-full (italy-aus; ghana-brazil; holland-portugal).. No consistency whatsoever..

Anyway..

Micha.. you got 4 out of 8.. And your semi finalists predictions are also gonna be half successful..
Mine are still 100% accurate..(go back and check)

I repeat them: (semi finals)

Italy-Argentina (yours is Germany-Ukraine right??)

and

England-Brazil

Posted from  Russian Federation

Rami, this post was meant to start that discussion and use other sports as proof that the solution does exist. The only thing we can’t really deal with is the off side judgements… That would kill the game, if every situation was judged, it would take too much time. But if we could handle the rest this way, it would help humungusly. I am writing a letter to the senior editor of the Dutch VI and will ask him to further this point on the (KNVB-) agenda. Something tells me his mates in Spain, Australia and other countries will want to follow suit. I hope. If it doesn’t happen, football will surely die…

Posted from  Australia

Rami, mine are Germany vs. italy, although it is concievable that Ukraine could win. I have that little faith in Shitaly’s ability. And England to play Brazil. But again I have reservations about England they have not looked impressive to me, I wish we were playing them.

Contact FIFA:

Fédération Internationale de Football Association
FIFA-Strasse 20,
P.O. Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel : +41-(0)43 222 7777,
Fax : +41-(0)43 222 7878

Posted from  United States

Thanks Roy….

Posted from  Australia