Other football - 2017/18 edition.

[Trumo]

The officials have the use of VAR and still get it wrong. In the Confederations Cup match on now between Germany and Cameroon, Emre Can and the Cameroon right back both went for a bouncing ball with their foot raised high. Can got the ball just before the Cameroon player caught him on the knee. At worst, it was just a yellow card for the Cameroon player because it was mistimed rather than malicious. The ref took his time before heading to the touchline to view the incident, then went and pulled a red card out for totally the wrong player, who understandably was not impressed. The ref then went and reviewed the footage again before showing the Cameroon full back a straight red card (the wrongly carded player presumably has the slate wiped clean). It was never a red, and the referee is like the clown who was in charge of the Copa America final last year when he randomly waved cards and let more deserving fouls go unpunished.

[Chip Butty]

Agree, what the fuck was he going on about there, saying Can's foot was just as high. That's because Emre was winning the ball and the other lad was trying to snap Can's knee ligaments you daft twat.

 

It was genuinely was mind boggling then, trying to comprehend what the fuck that massive cock head was on about.

In his world taking the ball out of the air with your foot, and raising your foot and clattering it all the way down an opponents leg, are one and the same thing! 

[Arl arse]

It was genuinely was mind boggling then, trying to comprehend what the fuck that massive cock head was on about.

In his world taking the ball out of the air with your foot, and raising your foot and clattering it all the way down an opponents leg, are one and the same thing!

 

Yeah, just confirmed to me what a fuckin massive whopper he is.

[Arl arse]

Thank fuck we didn't sign Ter Stegen, wrists made of Jelly.

[Arl arse]

Good goal Werner

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40379715

 

 

El Hadji Diouf is a hero in Senegal. Everywhere he goes, he is mobbed by fans both young and old. His countrymen are still grateful for the stellar role he played during the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

But in England, he is remembered more for his controversial antics than for his football talent.

It is a trait that followed him in the English league clubs he played for - from Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers to Bolton Wanderers, with a spell for Rangers in Scotland as well.

Diouf was aggressive, spat at opponents and confronted match officials as well as opponents.

But now in his retirement, he is telling his story.

'I am a bad loser'

"I am a lion, I am a bad loser and it's not wrong to be a bad loser," said Diouf of his often combative mood during his playing days.

"I have got character and I want people to respect me."

Diouf, who has moved back to the Senegalese capital Dakar, says he was often misunderstood during his playing days in England.

He said: "I am an easy target. It's easy to talk about El Hadji Diouf and I let them talk but I know in my heart I am a good guy. My family know, my population knows, my continent knows I am a good guy and that's the best thing. The rest is not my problem."

Despite this defence, Diouf admits he has done some bad things.

When asked why, for example, he used to spit at opponents, he said: "Maybe they used to tell me something I didn't want to hear. I did that, I paid and now it's finished."

The Senegalese legend had a drawn-out row with former Liverpool team-mates such as Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard.

Even today, Diouf and Gerrard continue their feud through the media. So what exactly is the problem?

"I have no problem with him," Diouf said. "He [Gerrard] is a strong character and I am a strong character.

"'Stevie G' was a very good player. People like him in Liverpool but he never did anything for his country. I am Mr El Hadji Diouf, Mr Senegal but he is Mr Liverpool and Senegal is bigger than Liverpool and he has to know that."

Diouf is working in Senegal as a government goodwill ambassador. He is President Macky Sall's adviser on sport as well as running his own sports newspaper business in Dakar - and is often mobbed by young people when he visits his gym in the city.

"My life is about sport but the government cannot do everything alone, they need help from people like me," Diouf said.

"The president believes in me and that's why when I finished playing football, he called me and told me he wants me to help because the young generation believe in me. I am an example to them."

Asked if he would consider a role in politics, Diouf said he was concentrating on helping to develop his country - but could not rule out entering politics in future.

He said: "I am interested because we have to make things change. People like me can make things change.

"We have a country to build, a continent to build and why not be involved in politics tomorrow?"

'We put Senegal on the world map' Twice presented with the African Footballer of the Year award by the Confederation of African football (Caf), Diouf was part of the Senegal side which reached the last eight at the 2002 World Cup, beating defending champions France along the way.

He describes that period as the greatest achievement of his career - putting it on a par with Diego Maradona's World Cup-winning achievements with Argentina.

"We put Senegal on the world map," he said. "Before the World Cup nobody knew Senegal, but after the World Cup everybody wanted to know where Senegal was.

"What Maradona did for his country is what I did for Senegal. I was one of the biggest men at the 2002 World Cup.

"We were colonised by France. Most of the businesses are run by French people here and to beat them was a big thing for us.

"Before the game, they used to say, 'The reserve team is going to play against the first team' - because most of the players used to play in the French league.

"I used to be at Lens, Salif Diao [was at Sedan], Khalilou Fadiga [was at Auxerre], most of the players played in the French league but we used to say: 'Be careful before you kill the lion.'"

Diouf says he would like to do more to help develop football on the African continent, but feels structural changes need to take place.

"Fifa has changed and now it's time for African football federations to change too," he said.

This is the first in this week's Where Are They Now? series by Stanley Kwenda, looking at what some of Africa's ex-football stars are doing after hanging up their boots. He will also speak to Salif Diao, Peter Ndlovu, Benni McCarthy and Nwankwo Kanu.

 

Hahahahaha. Tit.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40371643

 

Frank de Boer to Palace.

[Kevin D]

N

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40379715

 

 

 

Hahahahaha. Tit.

Nobody is bigger than the club.

 

Not Moses, not Winston Churchill, not Nelson Mandela, not the Beatles, not Beyonce and not singer/songwriter Nick Cannon.

 

Nobody is bigger than this football team.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Neville Southall's giving it a bloody good go though.

[sir roger]

He's a good skin for a blue is Nev.

[Bjornebye]

Diouf is a fucking rat

[joe_fishfish]

He's still so hung up on Gerrard because Gerrard figured him out for the shit cunt he is after about five minutes.

[3 Stacks]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40371643

 

Frank de Boer to Palace.

 

Not really a fan of him but it'll be good to see a mid-table English club try to play more possession based football. This league needs it. 

[joe_fishfish]

We need it too, we batter teams who try and play possession footy.

[Paulie Dangerously]

Just spotted this on the Guardian and think it's an interesting concept.

 

Basically in a cup competition the lower ranked team gets a Penalty they can use for every league they are below their opposition.  Certainly an interesting idea which adds a little equality to the competition and although I doubt it would ever be implemented in the FA or League Cup for the low levels of none league football I think it'd be great. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/jun/24/swedish-cup-teams-bonus-penalties-orebro-county

 

 

 

One day during my debut season playing for the Swedish fourth-tier club Karlslunds IF HFK, I was left baffled by a set of footballing circumstances I had never encountered. This sporting riddle was indigenous to Orebro County – a relatively well-populated region nestled into Scandinavia’s forested heartland. There’s a proud football tradition out here. But on this day, after this match, in this competition, I felt like I’d stumbled into another sporting universe. The riddle went something like this: a referee blows his whistle to signal half-time with the away team, my Karlslunds, two-nil up. The opening 45 minutes’ only goalscorers are my team-mates Nabil Osman and Carl Grundel. Yet when the second half kicks off, eighth-tier Hidingsta are back in the game and the scoreboard reads 2-2. How?

Football rule-makers to consider reducing games to 60 minutes

 

Read more

“How?” I asked my room-mate Alex, an American goalkeeper, when he returned from the match. I had been rested for the midweek cup tie and was bemused as I followed the game on Twitter. Karlslunds ultimately triumphed 5-2, Twitter reported, but the events surrounding half-time remained a mystery.

Here is what didn’t happen: no underhand tactics occurred during the interval. No bribery or intimidation. No honest officiating mistakes, either. The volunteers working the Hidingsta scoreboard were not guilty of sneaking a pair of goals in the home-team column as the crowd queued for their half-time meatballs. Everything was above board and within the rules. Yet somehow the scoreline going into the second half was legitimately 2-2.

Welcome to the Eksjohuscup. It’s here, within this competition’s quirky rulebook, we find the answer to our riddle and perhaps, to some degree, within the Swedish sporting psyche too. You see, the Eksjohuscup is a knockout cup unlike any other and has a genuine claim to be the most bizarrely formatted tournament in world football. In each fixture, to counteract a bigger club’s natural advantage, the lower-ranking team is awarded a series of bonus penalty kicks.

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Sweden: land of the midnight sun and fairness for all. But does equal opportunity really translate into competitive sport? In a knockout football tournament pitting top-flight professionals against non-league amateurs can fairness truly be achieved?

It is said dodgy pitches and snarling crowds are “great levellers” when Premier League sides draw non-league minnows in the English FA Cup. But out here in Orebro County, equality is more quantifiable. At least according to this radical tournament format.

The rules are these: in each tie the lower-ranking team receives the same number of bonus penalties as the number of league divisions they are below their opponents. Four tiers separated Karlslunds and Hidingsta, so our opponents received four spot‑kicks. The lower-ranking team, who also enjoy home advantage in every Eksjohuscup fixture, can choose to take these penalties before the match kicks off, immediately before the second half gets under way or, in perhaps the most bizarre twist of all, a combination of both. Hidingsta shot all four spot-kicks – which can be taken by one or multiple players – after the half-time interval, converting two. Ergo, the head-scratching 2-2 scoreline I saw flash up on Twitter and the answer to our riddle.

It’s a bonkers competition but kind of brilliant too. Teams from Orebro County’s top nine tiers enter and matches are typically played in high spirits. Sponsored by the local housebuilding company Eksjohus, the cup exists partly to offer smaller clubs the opportunity to claim valuable prize money, which is awarded after each round. Thanks to the unconventional format, all teams have a realistic chance of success. And bizarre situations abound.

Depending on the draw, up to nine bonus spot-kicks can be awarded, although a maximum of three converted penalties count. So the greatest advantage a lower-ranking team can enjoy over superior opponents is a three-goal head start. Still, any ambitious amateur side would fancy themselves defending such a lead. Quite often, they succeed. The revolutionary 1-10 formation is particularly popular with Eksjohuscup minnows. Or parkera bussen as they say in Sweden.

The Joy of Six: Short-lived football rule changes

 

Read more

Unlike in traditionally formatted knockout cups, the best teams on paper do not necessarily go into any tie as favourites, and lower-league sides regularly lift the trophy. Last year, sixth-tier Scandinavian toppled fifth-tier Bosna in the final, assisted by one freebie spot-kick. In the quarters, Yxhults, also of the sixth tier, knocked out the tournament’s single Allsvenskan (Swedish top flight) club, Orebro – a team once managed by Roy Hodgson, who remains revered in the region. Having won the previous round 11-2, Orebro scored three goals without reply against Yxhults during their 90 minutes of quarter-final action. However, before kick-off, their clinical opponents had bagged a maximum head start. So the match ended 3-3 and progressed to a shootout. Yxhults banged in five more penalties to eliminate the Allsvenskan club and advance to the semi-finals, a few thousand Swedish kroner bolstering their club kitty. All eight goals conceded by the Orebro keeper that night came from 12 yards.

As my team’s penalty taker, I dream of scoring the quintessential Eksjohuscup hat-trick one day – three goals after zero minutes. But in both my seasons here I’ve watched Karlslunds cup runs end against lower-league opponents buoyed by bonus spot-kicks. In our experience, the competition’s rules effectively offset the gulf in talent. Losing always stings, but on each occasion it hasn’t felt unfair.

It’s a funny old tournament but in an era when inequality defines top-level football perhaps this kind of lateral thinking has some merit. Last season, four of England’s top five teams contested the FA Cup semi-finals. While Orebro County is a world away from Wembley, maybe, just maybe, as the old domestic trophy loses some of its former lustre, exporting this brilliantly bizarre competition format from the Swedish forest could be one way to bring the magic back.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Nah. It would mean they could stick 11 players in their own box for 90 minutes from the first whistle. Which doesn't suit us at all. No thanks.

[an tha]

We should get given the penalties against lower division clubs.

[aRdja]

Anyone watching the U-21 semifinal? This Selke lad looks a handful for Germany.. Max Arnold looks a classy player too.

[jimmycase]

Yeah england just equalised.

 

That chilcott at left back looks shit. Cant defend, gets forward then does fuck all with the ball. Hope we've lost interest in him.

 

Oh and that manc cunt showing his badge to the tv can fuck right off.

[aRdja]

Will Hughes looks a very good player too.

[jimmycase]

hughes has disappeared from the game since he got that booking on 10 minutes. Did look good up to then.

[jimmycase]

Good assist from hughes as england make it 2-1.

[aRdja]

hughes has disappeared from the game since he got that booking on 10 minutes. Did look good up to then.

 

Quite easily England's best player... brilliant work for the goal then.

[Stickman]

Thought Pickford should have saved the header to make it 1-0 for Germany....Or maybe I'm just being biased....?

Nah fuck it he should have saved it looked like his feet were nailed to the floor.

[jimmycase]

2-2, slack marking by holgate.