David Beckham fails to make Britain’s soccer team for London Olympics
WARSAW, Poland — Former England captain David Beckham has failed to make the British soccer team for the London Olympics.
The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder made Britain coach Stuart Pearce’s shortlist of 35 but wasn’t selected for the final 18-man squad as one of three players over the age of 23 allowed to compete in the games. ...
See the full story here, courtesy of the Washington Post.
Kicking Back Comments: I feel for Becks a bit. This would seem to be an unceremonious end to a good career.
Have no fear, MLS is very good at keeping "geriatric" players going, and I am certain Beck's will be a fixture for some time to come.
In a recent post, I gave several bullet points that were the key findings and observations from a recent high level amateur tournament. (See Kicking Back, June 25, 2012) Here is a broader explanation of some of these points and more importantly, what the assembled assessors were looking for:
Overall read of the game was lacking - Referees were struggling with anticipating the play and what was going to happen next. This effected everything from their positioning to what fouls were called to the ability to deal with more serious incidents as they occurred. If referees could not anticipate the play, they were often left playing catch-up in their managing the game. They were reacting to things instead of preventing them.
No urgency in movement and action when the game required, and an
inability to read the warning signs and lend a presence to the situation
- Somewhat related to the above, but specific to the more serious incidents that needed attention, referees were not showing the ability to 'smell out' and get to the spot of trouble. Ideally the referee anticipates when the problems may occur and gets there ahead of time, but in these games some referees were not even recognizing the problems after they happened!
Effort level and an inability to sprint as needed for 90 minutes - To be clear, referees do not need to sprint for 90 minutes. But they do need to be able to sprint in the 90th minute! Climate did not play a part, as the temperature was low 70s. It is also worth noting that no referee worked more than two games on each day, and had plenty of rest time in between assignments.
Dealing with serious challenges the first time they occur - Referees were often seeing serious challenges and allowing them to go unchecked. Players became emboldened and the level of violence often escalated and/or retaliation was seen. This left referees having to pull a game back under their control, and few were capable of doing so once the horse had left the barn.
The referee's personality (response) often did not match the situation, and/or referee's body language sent the wrong message - Referees need to think more about the messages they send with facial expressions, arm position, posture, even tone of voice. Referees were often seen to be issuing serious warnings with smiles on their faces, or scowling at players when only a gentle prodding was needed. (The suggestion was made to have a friend video-tape a referee in action.)
Foul recognition and foul selection was below par - This was most surprising given the experience of the referees at this event, but there was a lot of unevenness to what was called and what was let go, even within the same game. Where this most became an issue was in games involving teams of totally different styles and sizes, such as a predominantly African team playing a team comprised of Northern Europeans. Referees struggled to recognize the tactics and reach an acceptable level of foul recognition.
Granted the standards were high for this event, but these are the expectations for referees wishing to work in the professional leagues. In a future post I will discuss some of the suggestions for fixing these problems.
Mia Hamm voted top female athlete of past 40 years
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2012 - American soccer great Mia Hamm was voted No. 1 in espnW’s Top 40 Female Athletes of the Past 40 Years, beating out No. 2 Martina Navratilova and No. 3 Jackie Joyner-Kersee. espnW, in conjunction with SportsCenter, over an eight-week timeframe, revealed one athlete per day culminating with Hamm on Friday, June 22. The countdown has been part of ESPN’s recognition of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, signed June 23, 1972. It was announced this morning on espnW that Hamm was voted No.1. ...
See the whole story here, courtesy of the Washington Times.
Kicking Back Comments: A good choice to be certain. For me personally, I was more in the Michelle Akers camp, but, a good choice. Chris Evert too would have made the tops of my list, but I am picking nits.
One thing I did find curious however, is that all (24) voters were women. That by itself was not curious, but that the vote was taken to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX, designed to end discrimination, was a bit ironic to me.
Chief Justice Roberts said it best in that "If we want to end ... discrimination, we must stop discriminating ... ." Well ... what a better way to celebrate the ending of discrimination against women (not in sports by the way as the initial legislation targeted education), but by getting votes from a broad base of experts ... of both women and men.
After two hours of goalless soccer, Spain defeated Portugal today 4-2 on penalty kicks to advance to the finals of Euro 2012. The match was quite disappointing. I never imagined that two teams this good could produce such a poor contest.
Portugal deployed superstar Ronaldo in basically a free lance attacking position, apparently not asking him to do much defensively. But Spain gained little advantage from this decision because, fearful of Ronaldo, their right-back Arbeloa rarely joined in the attack as he did so effectively against France. So Ronaldo was contained, but Spain lost an attacking option.
Spain decided to start a true center forward instead of six midfielders. However, Negredo, the center forward selected was largely ineffective. Spain replaced him with a sixth midfielder, Fabregas, after 53 minutes. Unfortunately, Spain didn’t improve during the next 37. ...
Platini: Introducing goal-line technology would be a historical mistake
The clamor for confirmation over whether a ball has crossed the line has grown following Ukraine’s ghost-goal against England, but the UEFA chief is strongly against any changes
UEFA president Michel Platini believes FIFA would be making a “historical mistake” if it introduced goal-line technology, following growing calls for its introduction after Ukraine was denied a goal against England in its Euro 2012 Group D clash. ...
Kicking Back Comments: I think thou protest too much Mr. Platini. While I agree with his position, and even the reason he states for it in this article, I'm not quite sure this is his only reasoning.
He was the inventor of EAR's (I call them AAR's) and frankly would not look great if they went by the wayside in lieu of GLT.
I'll be honest, I don't see the benefit given the cost. Given the amount of controversy a referee can inject into a match, and the given number of decisions they make, or can help get right, I'm not seeing it.
I think at the highest level it makes sense ... more eyes are better. What has been forgotten is that more referees == more controversy, and the Ukraine v. England match was no exception. The EAR should have called the goal as I wrote earlier.
Believe me, I don't like the ideas of EAR's, or the idea of GLT. Then again, you are listening to a guy who still wears long sleeves when he referees.
FIFA's Director of Security Mutschke "Our objective is long-term success"
With Ralf Mutschke less than a month into his new role as FIFA's Director of Security,FIFA.com spoke to the former INTERPOL director about the diverse range of tasks he now faces.
FIFA.com: This week you're flying to Brazil, hosts of the next FIFA World Cup™. What are you expecting from your first visit to the country?
Ralf Mutschke: The World Cup is one of the main topics I'm dealing with. That's why I'm happy to be going to Brazil for the first time next week with FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke. I'll meet our partners over there in order to establish an integrated security plan together. A lot of progress has already been made on that front and we need to put it into practice. But it's difficult because there are so many organisations responsible for security in Brazil. The national government, the host cities and regions, the Local Organising Committee (LOC), a special security taskforce (SESGE), the various state security authorities, the military and even private security firms are involved and we need to coordinate them all. That will keep me very busy. ...
See the whole story here, courtesy of boxscorenews.com.
Kicking Back Comments: Now there is one person's job at FIFA that I would not want. Talk about "boiling the ocean!"
The following were some key findings and observations from inspectors and assessors at last week's USASA Region 1 Championships. This tournament featured a very select group of 20 top-level referees in the Northeast US, all grade 5 or above. The observations were made by no fewer than eight high level Inspectors and National Assessors sent by the Federation, including Brian Hall from CONCACAF. There was no debating the credentials of the observers or the validity of their comments! Some of the findings are sobering considering the assembled officiating talent.
Positives:
Crews felt empowered by referee
Good communication from referee to ARs
Overall focus and quality of ARs was good
Referees were following USSF directives
Things to work on:
Overall read of the game was lacking
No urgency in movement and action when the game required, and an inability to read the warning signs and lend a presence to the situation
Effort level and an inability to sprint as needed for 90 minutes
Dealing with serious challenges the first time they occur
The referee's personality (response) often did not match the situation, and/or the referee's body language sent the wrong message
Foul recognition and foul selection was below par
Action plan for all referees:
Improve yourself by searching out more matches
Watch more matches to see what top referees are doing
Professionalism – always be prepared!
What is significant about these findings is that they were universally shared by all of the observers. In most cases, there is some disagreement even among experts as to the relative strengths and weaknesses of any individual referee or group of referees, but at this tournament the consensus was entirely unanimous. Obviously we have some things to work on at the higher levels if our amateur referees desire to turn pro.
I will talk more about some of these specific bullet points in a future post.
Four years ago, while Lionel Messi was preparing to light up the FIFA Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Beijing 2008, FIFA.com drew inspiration from the Games and ran a piece on the multi-talented footballers who have managed to pursue professional careers in other sports (see link on the right).
In the meantime, Argentina’s legendary former striker Gabriel Batistuta has taken up polo and ex-France full-back Bixente Lizarazu has become a European champion of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, while stars from other sports have been trying their hand at football, such as 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro, who signed for Spanish third division football club Coruxo. ...
Kicking Back Comments: A very good article and a excellent reminder that players, and referees are more than they appear. While we all play roles, we are often much more than the role we play.
... and by the way. Oscar Pereiro was actually 2nd in the 2006 TdF, to American Floyd Landis ... until he flunked several doping tests. (source)
Fifa chief expects goal-line technology approval in July
Warsaw: Fifa president Sepp Blatter revealed that he and Franz Beckenbauer are “on the same page” over goal-line technology after the two met in Zurich on Thursday.
The Swiss reiterated the need for technology to be introduced after Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine were denied a goal against England in their decisive Group D fixture on Tuesday, after television replays showed that the ball had crossed the line. ...
Kicking Back Comments: Like I said the other day, not a shocker given the recent events in the Euros. My question is ... will the technology even work?
Also of interest are some of the other matters Sepp & Co. are considering tinkering with. Interesting times as (IMHO) we see a swing away from the referee having the discretion and authority they once did.
So as I wrote about this last weekend, I was out riding as a domestique for Team Schneider Electric for the 2012 MS150 in Rhode Island.
Great weekend for cycling and aside from a minor calf strain and damage to my "secondary hull", all came away unscathed and in good spirits.
One thing that kept happening over the ride was that people kept calling me by the name on my jersey, "Schneider Electric", and asking me questions about the company.
I'm not complaining, as that is why I was there wearing the jersey, which was to be a brand ambassador, and let people know our company was involved in community outreach as well as "business as usual."
What you wear says a lot about you ... at times when you least expect it.
In my example, I obviously knew what I was doing and also made sure I acted appropriately. Now if I saw someone
zipping by on a bike wearing the jersey at left, I would know it was Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss National Champion ... again.
If I saw someone wearing a US Soccer referee program shirt, I would imagine they were a US Soccer referee.
If I saw that same person entering an establishment of questionable moral fiber (as defined by the individual observer), I would take note if they were wearing a US Soccer polo of some type.
So what's the message?
If you want to go out after a day on the fields, don't wear anything (anything!) with a soccer logo of any type (not just your FIFA warmup), and stay out of trouble. There is nothing wrong with legal relaxation, so long as it does not get out of hand.
The quote from the TFC coach (Paul Mariner, the former England International) is excellent and spot on. From the article:
"I think it doesn't matter whether it's basketball, ice hockey or whatever sport," said Mariner, a former England international. "I've been a professional athlete myself and you're held to a higher level of order because you're in the spotlight and you're living in a privileged position of being a so-called elite athlete."
Let me add to that as well. This is true for athletes for certain ... it is even more heightened for those who judge these elite athletes. Trust me folks, a referee can lose a badge over something like this ... so just don't do it.
Maybe it was luck ... maybe it was poor refereeing ... maybe it was mana from heaven where the "Soccer Gods" smiled on England for a change in this regard.
In any event, I think sadly, it made goal line technology a lock for future matches.
Before I make my primary observation, here are some background opinions on the whole thing to set the stage.
I believe the USADA has a useful overall function in keeping young, amateur, developing athletes away from medication that will ultimately hurt them.
I believe that the CEO of the USADA, Travis Tygart, is wrong to go after Lance Armstrong. I will expand on why in a later post tentatively titled "Ahab and his Whale."
I believe Lance Armstrong is a "clean" rider, yet recognize the mounting amount of what I would consider circumstantial evidence to the contrary.
I have spent much of my youth, and all of my adult life trying to stop cheating inside soccer fields across the US and internationally on a more limited basis.
Now ... come in the wayback machine with me to 1986 in Mexico. Anyone recall this:
As a young referee with aspirations of becoming FIFA, I was furious. How could such cheating be left without being punished? How could someone who claimed to have respect for The Game cheat so blatantly?
How dare they!!
I instantly became an anti-fan of Diego Maradona, and while I have tremendous respect for his ability, I personally do not believe he has any respect for The Game at all, and should be punished as a cheater, when he demonstrated such.
Now, enter Lance, and his current controversy. I have to be honest, I don't feel the same way ... even if there is a "smoking gun" of evidence found showing he doped during his (7) Tour victories.
I had to stop for a second and really think about why that was. Why isn't a cheater (like Maradona) a cheater (like Armstrong)?
Was it that Maradona's multitude of incidents was just so off the reservation that put me to a point of no return? If true, why didn't Lance doping for (7) years get me to the same place?
Is it that Maradona has not made much of an appearance on the charity circuit as opposed to Armstrong's notable Livestrong Foundation? Not sure if that is true either as Maradona has done charity work for UNICEF, as well as a variety of other causes.
So what is it?
As scary as this might seem, I think for me it comes down to likability. While I have not met (for any length of time) either man, I just like Lance better than Diego.
One is a cheater, and one may soon be proven to be one which theoretically makes them equivalent.
In the eyes of a referee, they should be punished the same as we are not in the business of determining why a player did what they did, but rather responding to the actions they took.
There are always nuances and extraordinary factors to be sure. Do we think however that a player received a caution because you "knew they were going to be trouble", not by what they actually did? Or the opposite of "she's really nice most of the time", so was not sent off today.
It's hard to drop a bias and be completely objective, if that is even possible. As a referee however, we have to dump the baggage, and act on what we see.
As sad as that is to me, Diego and Lance would be one in the same, if Lance is found to have doped.
Palestine: FIFA urged to cancel European football tournament in Israel
Palestine football leaders have urged UEFA to remove Israel as the 2013 European Under-21 Championship host nation for jailing Palestinian national team players without trial.
Palestine federation president Jibril Rajoub wrote to UEFA President Michel Platini to say that Israel's government is in "direct violation of FIFA regulations." ...
See the whole story here, courtesy of The Muslim News.
Kicking Back Comments: I would have the same warning for UEFA as I did for FIFA the other day ... be very deliberate if you want to get involved in this one or not.
On another note, I find it interesting (that is to say odd) that as "punishment" for allegedly jailing individuals of a particular citizenship, a soccer tournament is proper to be taken away.
I don't know, even in the extreme, one would seem to far outweigh the other.
Haebous Corpus ... soccer tournament. Not a tough choice, for me anyway.
I'm at it again folks in the 2nd ride of my "spring classics" with "Ride the Rhode", a 150 mile, 2 day stage ride supporting the National MS Society.
Serving as domistique for Team Schneider Electric, this ride looks to be fantastic with an opportunity to cross both the Newport and Jamestown bridges on Saturday.
I'll be in the saddle for these two days, but will be back at you on Monday with a road report, and other goings on in the football world.
As many have heard me say here, the Needham Invitational Tournament is one of the very best the US can offer as far as youth tournaments.
While not my first tournament I ever refereed in (this was the Framingham United Memorial Day Tournament), it is certainly unparalleled among showcase tournaments, and one that I love to work at.
Don't believe me, let the 2012 numbers speak for themselves:
774 Teams participated
Over 500 referees from all parts of the United States from California to Maine and international referees from Canada, Australia, and England.
Needham is now second largest tournament in United States with US cup being first.
Over 84 soccer fields were used from Braintree to Lancaster, Massachusetts.
There were over 40 mentors throughout the tournament to help develop referees.
Specialized ladies tournament academy was held second year in a row.
Can you imagine that ... 500 referees?
What an amazing effort.
If you are a young referee looking to do some quality matches next year at Memorial Day, I would strongly consider seeking out this tournament. It is simply one of the best in the country.
FIFA concerned about detention of Palestine players
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed grave concern over reports that several Palestine players have been illegally detained in Israel.
Blatter had written to the Israel Football Association and asked it to draw the attention of Israeli authorities to the matter, FIFA said in a statement.
“FIFA President Joseph Blatter expressed today grave concern and worry about the alleged illegal detention of Palestine football players,” the statement said. ...
See the whole story here, courtesy of Al Arabiya news.
Kicking Back Comments: Please let me be clear, my ONLY comment here is FIFA may want to seriously rethink getting involved in this one. I recognize that we are dealing with football players here and FIFA feels the need to get involved. I don't need to say that there is a much wider canvas to this particular issue, well beyond football, and it is my sense based on FIFA's bungling in the past, they should just sit this one out and let the two countries sort it out themselves. They eventually will.
Does Sepp really think, really, any of the involved parties are going to listen to him on this one?
