PENS GET HOSTS OUT OF THE WEBB

What a great World Cup so far. It can get better of course but this first knock out tie has kept us glued to the set. Casualty viewers will be down. So the hosts are still in, just, and Howard Webb's correct but controversial decision over Hulk's goal may well be forgotten. With the memory of Howard's performance in South Africa still fresh in our minds, he really did not need another issue. But all credit to our man from South Yorkshire (see previous blog!!) and his team; he kept 22 men on the pitch and the game did not end up in a brawl. Great opener and will Brazil go much further without a proper goal scorer?

FREE SCORE IN KNOCKOUT DRAW

As the World Cup gets to the interesting, knock out bit, England is not involved. Its group D, contributed fewest goals (only 10) to what is a free scoring competition. 22 goals were accumulated in Group B with Spain suffering a 5-1 defeat. 5 is the highest individual country's score (Netherlands v Spain) and 7 the highest total in a match (France 5 v Switzerland 2). 

Here are some other highest scores and margins of victory from past World Cups:-

Biggest score by a country in the main competition:

Hungary (9) vs South Korea (0), 1954;  Yugoslavia (9) vs Zaire (0), 1974;  

Hungary (10) vs El Salvador (1), 1982.

Biggest margin of victory, qualifying match:

Australia (31) vs American Samoa (0), 11 April 2001, 2002.

Most goals scored in a match by one team:

10 by Hungary, vs El Salvador, 1982.

Most goals scored in a match, both teams:

12,  Austria (7) vs Switzerland (5), 1954.

Highest scoring draw:

4–4,  England vs Belgium (AET), 1954, and  Soviet Union vs Colombia, 1962.

Largest deficit overcome in a win:

3 goals,  Austria, 1954 (coming from 0–3 down to win 7–5 vs Switzerland) and Portugal, 1966 (coming from 0–3 down to win 5–3 vs North Korea).

Largest deficit overcome in a draw 3 goals:

Colombia, 1962 (coming from 0–3 down to draw 4–4 vs Soviet Union) and Uruguay, 2002 (coming from 0–3 down to draw 3–3 vs  Senegal).

England managed 2 goals in Brazil.

THIS WAS THE RETURN OF DRACULA-La Gazetta Dello Sport

A kid from the streets, it is part of his life that he has to defend himself when he is threatened. Luis Suarez has certainly stirred up the world of football.

Earlier this year, an American sportswriter, Wright Thompson, went to Uruguay, to find more about Luis Suárez. Thompson had heard of one story from Suárez’s childhood, of him being sent off in a youth match and then head-butting the referee. He wanted to know if it was true.  Thompson went to Montevideo and spent weeks searching but everywhere he went people defended Suárez. He tracked down Enrique Moller, a local who reviewed all youth league disciplinary problems. Moller remembered an incident involving the 15-year-old Suárez, but said he had no details. At Nacional, where Suárez played his youth football, they told Thompson all the records were lost. Thompson felt that people did not really appreciate him, a foreign journalist, asking questions about a guy they felt was persecuted outside their country. A couple of English journalists found out recently when they travelled to one of the team’s press conferences where Suárez was due to talk, three security bouncers made it clear they were required to leave.

He met Martinez Chenlo, one of the sports editors of a Montevideo paper. Chenlo told him the same as everyone else; it was garbage. He rang Ricardo Perdomo, who had coached Suarez, who explained what had happened. Suárez was 16, not 15. Nacional were playing Danubio, another local team, and it was not a head-butt. He was simply protesting about a referee’s mistake, and who doesn’t do that? Sure, his head hit the referee’s face, but not on purpose. He fell and one thing you learn about Suárez, he does a lot of falling. 

“Note in the film footage from his game against Italy, how Suárez stumbles after jumping for the ball and how his face hits the shoulder of the Italian player,” one report from Uruguay described. Another report said "the only people who cared about the biting were English". “There was no single picture to prove there was a bite,” according to El Observador, questioning whether the photographs from foreign news agencies had been altered. El País reminded its readers that the English press “harassed the Uruguayan after the bite on Branislav Ivanovic”. Últimas Noticias noted: “Nobody talks about how Suárez was injured in the jaw and the eye”.

Cathal Kelly, a sports columnist for the Toronto Star, wrote about Suárez in December 2013. “He will do something insane at this summer’s World Cup – mark it down. Afterwards, he will prompt an ugly transfer saga for a world-record fee.”  It is certainly true that a less talented player would have been kicked out of the sport or push to the edge. 

The bite is one thing, but it is actually the pretence that it never occurred that tells us more. He did the same after the Ivanovic incident, wanting punishment for the Chelsea defender. More likely, it is deeper than that. 

Suarez is so heavily indulged he has started to believe what he says about it all being the imagination of others. If there is one person around him telling him he needs time with Dr Steve Peters, the psychiatrist at Anfield, we can be sure there are another 100 or so (mainly Uruguayan) will be saying that it is the rest of the world with the problem.

Now, at the Uruguayan camp, they are trying to make a case that Chiellini made it up, that the photographs were doctored and that the controversy is the work of the embittered English. 

So he has a ban and a fine but his colleagues still refuse to admit that this incident happened, despite the appearance of another film footage, showing his attempt to munch Chiellini in the last Confederations Cup.

Brendon Rodgers has to work a miracle again with his failing striker, as he did last season, but not until October. I have not mentioned the abuse!

TEN POINTS TO SUCCESS

It would be tempting fate to say that Roy's young boys are dealing very well with the mighty Costa Rica, but it is only half time and there is time for us to make one error and get punished, despite all our encouraging efforts going forward. It is good to see that Roy is trusting in one feature of Henry Winters's 10-point plan to save the face of English Football. Winter's Point Four is "Trust in Flair". The other nine parts he suggested to improve our standing include;

Point One-Build Burton-the nation now has St George's Park. 

Point Two-Invest in Youth Coaches to work with 5-11 year olds-yes this happens but it is still expensive to join a course and also time consuming for busy dads and mums, our grass roots coaches. You tried to do a Level 2?

Point Three-have a winter break.

Point Five was to appoint more football people to the FA-well?

Point Six-have the incentive of performance related pay. Players need to take more responsibility for their career. They should not be regarded as overpaid prima donnas.

Point Seven-the Government must invest more in school PE and build more 3G pitches.

Point Eight-get more Englishmen playing in the Premier League using a quota system; six plus five adds up.

Point Nine-sell Wembley which is a drain on resources and invest the FA's money in Grass Roots.

Point Ten-embrace tournaments and don't hide away on the periphery. Will the England squad and coaches fly home soon or will they stay to observe the best teams in the world?

TAKE YOUR MIND OFF ENGLISH FLOPS

With England out of the World Cup and likely to be embarrassed by Costa Rica tomorrow, the cricket team at 5 down and 300 needed and despite Andy Murray sailing through his first round at Wimbledon, we know what is likely to happen soon, don't we? We need cheering up. Our government is offering advice by suggesting having sex. You can, if you would prefer, exercise, do something different or sing. Strikes me sex covers all the bases then! Mark Renton famed for the film Trainspotting exclaimed that after sex, he had not felt so good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in the 1978 finals. If only England would score more goals.
Sex as a distraction, might also prevent football fans from over drinking or eating badly. But don't blame everything on poor food, the Department of Health reports an increase of heart attacks by 50% when England lost to Germany on penalties in the 1996 Euros. Sporting failure or even success causes our medical facilities to be over stretched .
Sadly, reported today is another social issue, that is the increase in domestic violence after England's disappointing performances in Brazil this summer. Let's hope that on Tuesday night when our boys are finally heading from Brazil or Headingly, pulses rise in the bedroom and not in the kebab shop.
Come Andy, you can do it for Scotland.

A VITAL CHORD OR TOAD IN THE HOLE

The famous English amateurs, the Corinthians, could lay claim to bringing football to Brazil. Exeter City will celebrate this year, their close link with the World Cup hosts (see previous blog) and in neighbouring countries,  Uruguay and Argentina, European influences are obvious.  In the faces and names of players. Jonathan Liew, the excellent sports's writer from the Daily Telegraph, writes about the first German's to arrive in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's most southerly region from the early 1800s. Shop names and businesses reveal a German foundation in the region's towns, in one case Novo Hamburgo, a town of 250,000 population. More Germans immigrated after the 1914-18 war and now, some 12 million people have German ancestry. Dunga and Scolari both herald from this region. Maicon, one of Brazil's best ever full backs, was a twin and both his and his brother's umbilical chords were buried under the turf of their father's local club in the hope that this would give the children the power to become a proper footballer. It worked, certainly in one case. On other occasions, it has been known that toads are buried under the pitch of a neighbouring rival to bring them bad luck when the local derby is due.

LIGHTNING DOES STRIKE BLOG SPOT

After England's issues with lightning, it did for me last week when a thunderbolt took out our local transformer and did for my broadband, supplied by SKY. Apparently SKY only has a certain "capacity" at the exchange and whilst BT subscribers either side of me continued to have broadband and I have to wait until July 7th to get back on line. BT has more capacity at the excahnge and since they own the thing I'm not surprised their customers get preferential treatment. So I made it to a local library and am dealing with a comptuer whose cursor has a mind of its own. I know there are some errors in this but the only way I can get to them is by using the back button.....
Uruguay, Fray Bentos, Suarez-past masters at World Cup football-see 1930s, but England has Steven Gerrard, at 113 caps, two away from Beckham's record. It could rain in Sao (San) Paulo, so Roy Hodgson remarks that it could be just right for the lads from Manchester. Spain are out, England could still qualify if they lose tonight, but we don't need another few days of nail biting. PS The referee is Spanish; he may be smarting from his country's exit or the delight of knowing that back home there is a new monarch.

LIGHTNING STRIKES BUT ENGLAND CAN'T

Lightning certainly struck in Florida last night as England’s match against Honduras was suspended for 40 minutes when a “sub tropical” storm passed over the Sun Life stadium in Miami. This interrupted the pre World Cup friendly and assured that England would not strike accurately and they could only draw with their Central American opponents, 0-0.

In 1998, a game in South Africa between Moroko Swallows & Jomo Cosmos was suddenly interrupted by a blast of lightning striking the pitch, sending players and supporters from both sides scattering. Two Swallows players were kept in hospital with their injuries, whilst the game was understandably abandoned.

In the same year a match in the Democratic Republic of Congo between Bena Tshadi & Basanga in the Eastern Province of Kasai ended in tragedy when a lightning strike killed eleven players, leaving thirty others seriously injured. Football can be a less important matter than life and death.
In 1967, Highgate, from the midland league, played Enfield in the quarter-finals of the FA Amateur Cup. Midway through the first half, which was being played in heavy rain, a lightning strike saw several players collapse. One player, the Highgate centre half Tony Allden, did not recover consciousness and died the next day in hospital. Local professional club, Aston Villa, agreed to host the replay of the game concerned. They donated a new set of Aston Villa kit to Highgate United to use in the match, which ended with a 6–0 victory for Enfield. The replayed game drew an attendance of some 31,000 at Villa Park. He is commemorated by one of the Midland Combination's cup competitions, the Tony Allden Memorial Cup.

HONDURANS LOOKING FOR FIRST WORLD CUP WIN

Honduras, England’s opponents in tonight’s friendly, are coming to Brazil to enjoy, possibly, their first World Cup win. Hondurans are known as Los Conchratos (Catrachos), named after a 19^th century national General. Luis Fernando, a son of French immigrants, recorded that some merchants in Puerto Cortes had given him a football in 1896, and that soccer has been played in Honduras since then. In 1906, the republic's government hired a Guatemalan professor named Miguel Arcangel to teach soccer at a college in Tegucigalpa. Three years later, the Spanish monk Niglia introduced the game at the Instituto Salesiano San Miguel in Comayagua.

With a small population of under 8 million, Honduras is renowned for macaws, coffee and being laid back. Their national squad contains Wilson Palacios from Stoke City, JC Garcia of Wigan, Maynor Figueroa who plays for Hull and Emilio Izaguirre of Celtic. The rest of their players mostly earn a living at home, in the USA and Andy Najar is with Anderlecht. Star player is Carlo Costly of Real Espana who has scored a goal every 3 of his 69 matches for his national side. His father played in the 1982 World Cup for Honduras, when the team reached a high point in its history, getting a point of the Spaniards. This time, they finished third in their group behind the USA and Costa Rica losing 3 times and winning 4 out of 10 games. Once Los Conchratos get past England they meet Ecuador, France and Switzerland.

STONES WANTS TO BE ENGLAND'S ROCK

Local Barnsley boy, John Stones, who is another product of Penistone Grammar School football, made his England debut last Friday playing against Peru at Wembley. Now at Everton, the South Yorkshire defender is hoping for great things in the future. Dave Watson, former Tykes goalkeeper is the national goalkeeping coach so he and Jones had a “Barnsley conversation” at the England traing session recently, sharing their love of the club. A third Barnsley local with the tour party is Barry Taylor, a Red’s director and FA delegate.

Best known Barnsley footballers who have made the grade are David Hirst from Cudworth, playing for his national side in the early nineties, Brain Greenhoff won 18 caps between 1976 and 1980, Gordon West, another Everton player, who played in place of Gordon Banks three times in the 1960s, Tommy Taylor, a legendry international with 16 goals in 19 games but sadly killed in the Munich air crash and ten others dating back to the first ever capped player, Harry David from Wombwell, playing for England in 1903.

Eric Blenkinsop won 26 caps in the 1920s, four as captain, and was originally bought by Hull City from Cudworth Village FC for £100 and a barrel of beer! He ended up making his way into the national XI with Sheffield Wednesday. Rather like the Welsh, all you had to do was shout down a  mine shaft and up would come a decent footballer.

THREE LEGGED MANX MAKE WAY IN CONIFA CUP

So the Isle of Man has found itself making progress through the semi-final of the ConIFA World Cup, held in Sweden this year. Known as Ellan Vannin, the IOM team represents a strong IOM FA which administers football on the island. There are plenty of competitions to occupy the Manx inhabitants including several male and female winter and summer  leagues, cups, juniors events and futsal. ConIFA is a tournament for staes not affiliated to FIFA.

This year’s ConIFA contestants come from Occitania language speakers from Italy, France and Spain, Kurdistan, Padania (a northern Italy region), The Sapmi (northern European tribes in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia), Zanzibar, Armeneans and Syrians from the heart of Mesopotania, Nagorno Karabakh in South Caucasus, Quebec, Abkhazia in European Georgia, Catalonia, Dafur (W Sudan) and Tamil Eelam (Sri Lanka). I wonder if there is a common language? Having mentioned Rapa Nui in a previous blog, they are entitled to join in the tournament but declined this time.

CF Rapa Nui is the association football team from the Chile which represents the territory of Easter Island.

The team played two unofficial games against a team from the Juan Fernández Islands in 1996 and 2000, before playing its first official match on 5 August 2009, in the first round of the Copa Chile 2009; CF Rapa Nui lost 4-0 against Colo-Colo.

For its game against Colo-Colo the team was coached by former Chilean international Miguel Angel Gamboa, who spent several weeks honing the skills of the local players, as well as teaching them the basics of heading, shooting, and positioning. 

While mentioning unusual nation states and footy, why not read “Up Pohnpei” by Paul Watson published by Profile Books, about leading a Pacific Island to World Cup glory!

RAHEEM JOINS THE GREATS

PLAYERS SENT OFF REPRESENTING ENGLAND
This is quite a Hall of Infame! is it the commitment?

England did not have a man sent off until their 424th international match in 1968.

05-Jun-68            Alan Mullery       0-1 v Yugoslavia, Stadio Communale, Firenze

06-Jun-73            Alan Ball             0-2 v Poland, Stadion Śląski, Chorzów                  

12-Jun-77            Trevor Cherry     1-1 v Argentina, Estadio La Bombonera, Buenos Aires  

06-Jun-86            Ray Wilkins         0-0 v Morocco, Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey              

30-Jun-98            David Beckham   2-2 v Argentina, Stade G.Guichard, Saint-Étienne, France 

05-Sep-98           Paul Ince             1-2 v Sweden, Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Stockholm 

05-Jun-99            Paul Scholes        0-0 v Sweden, Wembley Stadium, Wembley                    

08-Sep-99            David Batty        0-0 v Poland, Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warszawa

16-Oct-02            Alan Smith          2-2 v FYR Macedonia, St Mary's, Southampton                   

08-Oct-05            David Beckham  1-0 v Austria, Old Trafford, Manchester                               

01-Jul-06              Wayne Rooney  0-0 v Portugal, Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany                  

10-Oct-09            Rob Green         0-1 v Ukraine, Dnipro Arena, Dnepropetrovsk                   

07-Oct-11            Wayne Rooney  2-2 v Montenegro, Stad Pod Goricom, Podgorica, Montenegro

11-Sep-12            Steven Gerrard  1-1 v  Ukraine, Wembley Stadium           

04-Jun-14             Raheem Sterling 2-2 v Ecuador, Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida,USA

ECUADOR TO PLAY IN NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

Bad behaviour at yesterday’s one day cricket match between England and Sri Lanka, when there was a “run out” issue, rates small when compared to England’s next football opponent Ecuador who had their entire team sent off in 1978 in a bad tempered international match.  England play Ecuador in a World Cup warm up at the Sunlife Stadium in Miami, giving our national squad a chance to play in humid conditions. we hope there will be Corinthian behaviour.  I know, but will not name, the first Corinthian Casual (the club regarded as the bastion of fair play) to be sent off in an Isthmian League game, and by the time he got to the home changing room, his clothes were presented to him and he was asked to leave the ground immediately. Never darken our doors-mind you the Casuals never had a home ground at that time, so this rule would not stand up. Alan Mullery (Tottenham Hotspur) became the first English international to be dismissed when he saw red in a European Championship semi-final against Yugoslavia in 1968. Ray Wilkins was our first red card player in a World Cup match in 1986 against Morocco. Ramon Moya, manager of CF Hospitalet lost control when his team scored a last minute winner in a French second division match that he kissed the linesman and was dismissed for “ungentlemanly behaviour” or was it violent play?

POSH KIDS MAKE THE GRADE IN GAME FOR TOFFS

Football has been regarded as a toffs game played by hooligans, whereas rugby is a barbaric game played by gentlemen (and ladies).The Independent Schools FA, previously known as the Public Schools FA, is pleased to announce that three members of the England 2014 World Cup Squad are former independent school pupils.

The exploits of Frank Lampard are well documented and he played for Brentwood in the Boodles ISFA Cup. He also played in the ISFA U16 Representative Team in the early 1990s before leaving school to join West Ham United and then Chelsea, whom he captained to victory in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.  He has played over 100 times for England and this will be his third World Cup. Who could forget his “disallowed goal” against Germany in the last finals and of course news of his parting of the ways with Chelsea.  I played against Frank when he as a youngster playing for the Brentwood School  1^st XI and his dad (Frank Snr), also a very good professional footballer, played in an adults XI formed from teachers and West Ham pros, including Billy Bonds!

Fraser Forster was a pupil at RGS Newcastle and also played in both the Boodles ISFA Cup and also for the ISFA U16 Representative Team.  Originally in Newcastle United Academy, he joined Celtic with whom he has appeared in the UEFA Champions League as well as winning three Scottish Premier League titles.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain attended St. John's College, Southsea, which is not currently a member of ISFA but still an independent school.  He attended the Southampton Academy where he broke into the first team before moving to Arsenal where he also has experienced Champions League football.

There are many other boys from ISFA schools who have made their way in the professional game; notable is Will Hughes (Derby County) was a pupil at Foremarke Hall and Repton. He produced an outstanding display for Repton in the 2010 Rensburg Sheppards ISFA U15 Cup Final at Burton Albion and also played representative football for ISFA at U13 level. He left school in 2011 to sign a full time contract with Derby County and made his First Team debut as a substitute at Peterborough United in November 2011. In January 2012, he received his first call-up for the England U17 Squad.  Still only 17, he spent most of the 2012-13 season in the Derby First Team and also made his debut for the England U21 team. Will has made even greater progress this year.

DRUGS, BRIBES AND SKULL DUGGERY

With the Brazilian hosted world Cup imminent and much negative press about locals clashing with the police, drug violence and gangs, it is sad to read to the greatest footballer ever has family problems too. Pele’s 43 year old son, Edinho, has been sentenced to 33 years imprisonment for laundering drug-trafficking money. It seemed like a perfect inheritance when Edinho stepped out to play, as a goalkeeper, for his father’s famous club, Santos, but distractions led him to jail between 2005 and 2006 for drug trafficking and clearly he has not learned his lesson.

With the bribery allegations related to Qatar’s successful World Cup bid, the World Cup is having rocky moments, without a ball being kicked.

The first known betting scandal in football occurred on Good Friday 1915 when Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-0 at Old Trafford, winning points that would help United avoid relegation. The referee noticed that Liverpool players were not trying very hard! Later it was rumoured that a large sum of money had been placed on that result at 7-1 and the FA, after an investigation, uncovered a fix carried out by players from both teams. Jackie Sheldon who had played for both teams master minded it. All seven players involved were banned for life, but that did not seem to matter much, since they all went off to fight in the war. United came third from bottom and Chelsea and Tottenham were "relegated"

ARSENAL DOUBLE ON THE CARDS

Looking for an Arsenal double this year are Arsene Wenger and Shelley Kerr, a Scottish ladies international captain and coach to the Arsenal Ladies team. The Gunners Ladies play in the Ladies FA Cup Final today at MKDons Stadium against two time winners, Everton. A win will make it a third “male/female double” having previously achieved this in 1993 and 1998.  Kerr’s team is also hoping to gain a 13^th cup final win to add to their 9 League Championships. Despite all this success, Kerr is resigning from her post, after this final game, having overseen  a terrible start to this season’s Ladies Super league, where her team find themselves bottom of the league. Top are Birmingham Ladies and it is good to see the ladies’ game spreading in importance, with less prestigious towns represented in the official “national leagues”; Chesham, Keynsham from Bristol, Lewes and Durham. The Ladies game is growing in stature, especially following our international success in recent years and the adoption of ladies teams by our professional clubs, such as SC Albion (WBA) and Chelsea. ARSENAL WON 2-0!