I Think Thou Doth Protest Too Much

Fifa must silence strip-poker 'liar' - Ramos

Spain defender Sergio Ramos on Tuesday urged Fifa to denounce the Brazilian journalist who claimed that the world champions had played strip-poker during an alcohol-fuelled party at the Confederations Cup.

The report, which appeared on website Globo Esporte, said members of the Spain squad had invited women back to their rooms following the opening 2-1 win over Uruguay in Recife on June 16. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of SuperSport.

Kicking Back Comments: FIFA the great protector of rights. Ha.

I think this is a great ploy by Brazil to rattle a few cages before the final. Based on the reaction of Ramos, I think it's working.

50K is not enough ...

Tens of thousands protest FIFA Confederations Cup costs in Brazil

Youths clashed with police in central Rio Monday as more than 200,000 people marched in major Brazilian cities to protest the billions of dollars spent on the Confederations Cup and higher public transport costs.

Rio de Janeiro: Youths clashed with police in central Rio Monday as more than 200,000 people marched in major Brazilian cities to protest the billions of dollars spent on the Confederations Cup and higher public transport costs.

The nationwide demonstrations, the most extensive since the unrest began 10 days ago, were relatively peaceful.

However acts of vandalism were reported in Rio and Porto Alegre. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of NDTV.

Kicking Back Comments: Okay FIFA ... it's your move. You can clearly see how local folks are going to react to you robbing them blind.

Are you ready for some unrest during the World Cup?

1.21 Giga Watts?

Brazil promises speedy internet for fans at 2014 FIFA World Cup

Soccer fans attending next year's World Cup in Brazil will have no problem going online from stadiums, but they might want to use a local cellphone chip to keep their charges low, Brazilian Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said yesterday.

Each of the 12 stadiums hosting the 32-nation soccer tournament will have two separate 50-gigabyte networks connected to Brazil's fiber optic backbone, he told reporters. "I doubt that the stadiums will use one third of the capacity that we are installing," Bernardo said.

"Not even Mr Jerome Valcke will use up all that capacity, though he could if he makes a lot of explosive statements," the minister said in reference to the general secretary of FIFA, the governing body of global soccer. ...

See the full story here, courtesy of Tech2.

Kicking Back Comments: "Doubt that the stadiums will use one third of the (bandwidth)" eh ....
We'll see ... who's betting with me that there will be bandwidth issue?

For those who were wondering about the title, it is from the 1985 movie Back to the Future, and is a classic.

More of the Same in Brazil

Ronaldo denies call to head Brazil World Cup committee

SAO PAULO (AP) -- Retired Brazil striker Ronaldo said Sunday he hasn't received an invitation to replace Ricardo Teixeira as the head of the country's 2014 World Cup organizing committee.

Teixeira, president of the Brazilian football federation, has recently been making changes to how the sport is governed and a Brazilian newspaper said he would leave the presidency of the organizing committee to make way for Ronaldo. ...

See the full article here, courtesy of SI.com

Kicking Back Comments: This is a particularly interesting read (and I recommend doing so) as it continues to paint the picture of who the next FIFA president may be if Brazil 2014 goes well. It also speculates on the level of corruption that is going on within the countries themselves. Take a look at the list of issues and investigations here ... and you start to wonder where there is smoke ... there is a corrupt politician.

Continues to be a sad commentary as to what The Game is about at this level ... $$$

Romario "strikes" back

FIFA must be put in its place, says Romario

(Reuters) - FIFA must not be allowed to ride roughshod over Brazilian law when it stages the 2014 World Cup, former Brazil striker Romario, now a federal Congressman, said Monday.

Romario told reporters that Brazilian laws which guarantee half-price entry to football matches for the elderly and ban on alcohol in stadiums should not be swept away for FIFA's benefit.

"If FIFA is not put in its rightful place, FIFA will soon have more power than our president and the World Cup will be the way FIFA wants it and not the way we should do it," Romario told reporters. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Reuters.

Kicking Back Comments: Romario for President! I am with him. As I noted here, this policy from FIFA not only abridges the sovereign law of the land ... but its really crappy public policy from FIFA ... you guessed it ... for a buck. Well $100,313,600 to be more precise. Chump change for FIFA in light of what they make on World Cups. They use the excuse of "investing it back into football", which some of it likely does ... but please ... give us a break with the PR rubbish. Let the elderly see the matches at 1/2 price ... after all, they help build the game that you have the luxury of governing now.

Simon Says ...

... get something back.


So what do I mean by that?


I mean if you give a caution to a player, you better get something back for it.


Simon did ... lets see how.


Take a look at the official match report, you can get it here. There are a couple of things that stand out. First, there were what I would call an "average" number of fouls for the matches played so far. We will see in the month ahead if that stays true to form. Second, we saw with (6) cautions what is an "above average" number of cautions thus far ... in fact this now places FRA, ENG, and USA in a tie for 1st for cautions. Were so many needed? Lets review what they were. 


In the 26', MILNER was booked for Persistent Infringement. Did anyone catch the referee holding up two fingers when he was booked? He was letting everyone know this was his second foul, and as it turned out, his last of the match.


By the way, did anyone catch who he fouled? It was CHERUNDOLO. Hang on a sec, that's important.


In the 39', CHERUNDOLO was cautioned. Sound familiar? He committed that one foul and that was it.


So, Simon says stop with a caution to (2) players, and neither commits another foul in the match. I would say he got something for those.


In the 47', DEMERIT knocked down a ball with his hand and got exactly what he deserved, a caution. That as cautions go, was an easy one. But note, if Simon does not give that one, his World Cup experience I predict would have ended early.


In the 60', CARRAGHER landed a nasty over the ball tackle on FINDLEY. While the caution was warranted, I was wondering if Simon was thinking red given the challenge. Remember who was fouled here too.


In the 61', GERRARD goes over the ball onto the knee of DEMPSEY (the goal scorer).


By the way, after these cautions, neither player committed another foul the entire match (keep in mind they still had 30' to go plus stoppage time). Not bad ... certainly got something there.


Even Harkesy when calling the match on ABC was saying after the GERRARD foul, that it changes the mindset of the defender after a caution ... the part he did not say was if the caution was the right decision, and was delivered with effect.


Finally, in the 74', FINDLEY (the recipient in the 60') finds GERRARD with a tough tackle, and yes, that too was his last foul called of the match, but I am sure wanted it to count on a guy that just really tackled one of his own.

So in looking over the cautions that Simon gave, he got something back for each and every one of them. He either got (a) that player to stop, (b) set an example for OTHER players to stop, (c) did not allow retaliation to go unpunished so there would not be more, and (d) protected the integrity of the game from silly stuff.

So, the next time you are ready to raise a caution in the air for all to see, stop and think ...

What are you going to get out of it that will help your game that day?

If the answer is nothing, don't even take it out of your pocket, it would be meaningless.

Do you know this man?

Match: ENG v. USA

If you don't, you should. His name is Carlos Simon, hails from Brazil and will be the referee for the ENG v. USA match.

Here is the whole story about the match:

Match Date: 12-JUN-2010
Match #: 5
Venue City: RUSTENBURG (RSA)
Group: C



Referee: SIMON Carlos (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: HAUSMANN Altemir (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: BRAATZ Roberto (BRA)
Fourth Official: MAILLET Eddy (SEY)
Reserve Assistant Referee: MENKOUANDE Evarist (CMR)

His "official" stats can be found here from FIFA.

What else do we know?
Well, this is Mr. Simon's 3rd FIFA World Cup, which by any standard is pretty amazing. He apparently is currently a journalist (some report formally), and a former trade union worker.

He has come under recent fire in Brazil for a local match between Vasco and Botafogo where, as record has it, both coaches went to the Brazilian authorities regarding his performance with the denial of an injury time penalty to one team. Also, from the last World Cup, he was sharply criticized regarding a end off of Teddy Lucic from Sweden in their second round match against Germany.

While no referee is without controversy, this man is considered one of the most seasoned Brazil has to offer, and will be a treat to watch him as he begins what is certain to be his last FIFA World Cup.