FIFA’s official analysis of the World Cup seemed incomplete to most viewers that had actually watched the event this summer. The document highlighting the summer’s tournament seemed to overlook many of the mistakes made by the officials and several of the referee blunders left multiple teams prematurely removed from the Cup this summer. But nowhere in the detailed statement was even the suggestion that the poor officiating alone marred the event and needed to be corrected immediately.

But FIFA was quick to praise Spain for winning the title and claimed that the side might be the best team of the century. Of course in 2010 there is still a lot of time for La Furia Roja to be outdone, but their “fantastic, highly attractive football” was the highlight of the Cup according to the official analysis. “Xavi, Iniesta and Xabi Alonso in midfield cover huge amounts of ground but play fabulous football too — it looks pretty and even playful, but it’s actually very hard work indeed” claimed the released document.

As for the final the only negative statement made was that the match was “littered with fouls, mainly by the Dutch”. There was no mention of the Nigel de Jong’s kung-fu kick to the chest missed call in the match or the fact that there were a record number of yellow cards handed out, but simply that there were many fouls all together. But then again Frank Lampard’s no goal call was merely described as the Three Lions “thought they had equalized but the goal was not given.” They “thought” they had, why not just admit that they had beyond any doubt and were ripped off? As for Mexico there description regarding the blatantly offside goal scored by Argentina in the initial knockout round of the playoffs, the mistake was described with even less pity claiming that they “were somewhat unfortunate to fall behind”.  “Somewhat unfortunate”? Why not just admit that they were completely robbed by a terrible call? And of course the Slovenia-USA officiating blunder was not even mentioned at all in the document.

In fact no officiating mistake was completely apologized for at all, as I previously stated, and it seemed as if FIFA had a fascinating linguistic way of explaining the horrific called matches. Also the jubalani ball received little criticism from the organization that installed it claiming that it did possess “incredible speed”, but the analysis seemed to blame the poor keeping rather than the shifty object. FIFA claimed that the goalkeepers were “not consistent” and suggested that several of the bizarre goals were scored due to the keeper playing out of position.   

FIFA did admit that several “errors” were made this summer, but claimed that the errors were “neither covered up nor justified but are meticulously analyzed to learn from them and improve future training plans”.  Perhaps the most comical thing coming from the analysis was that FIFA rated 142 of the 145 goals scored were called correctly making no true apologies for any of the goals that should not have counted or any of the goals scored that in fact did not end up counting.

photo credit: fdecomite

Portugal national team coach Carlos Queiroz will apparently be suspended six months by the nation’s Sports Institute for aggressive behavior the coach displayed when the country’s anti-doping agency visited the squad prior to the World Cup. No player tested positive during the visit, but Queiroz has been accused of disrupting the test due to his aggressive behavior towards the testers and foul language.

The former Manchester United assistant claims that the reported ruling is “totally wrong, harsh and unfounded.” And the coach was also not too pleased to discover the supposed suspension through media reports rather than first hand from the committee:

According to some reports, the anti-doping agency has found proof – unlike the federation – of breach and disturbance of anti-doping activity and has determined a six-month sentence. Neither I nor my solicitors have received any notification of this, making the media the first to be informed of the decisions, ahead of the accused. As for me, what matters is not the decision, but the lack of any wrongdoing (as was recognized by the federation). I confirm that I will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I will request that the decision be suspended until the appeal is heard.

And Queiroz had already been suspended for a month by the Portuguese Federation for the same incident and if the ruling were to stand it would likely end the manager’s reign of the squad considering he would be absent for the beginning stretch of Euro 2012 qualifications.  

Queiroz came under serious fire this summer when his side was bounced from the second round of the tournament and even his star player Cristiano Ronaldo suggested that the early exit was the manager’s fault although the Real Madrid man would later deny the accusation. Queiroz though, is obviously upset over the ruling considering the country’s federation had already claimed prior to his previously announced suspension that the coach did not interfere with the testing, but merely acted out.

Queiroz admitted that he was angry with the anti-doping agency for bothering his team during an early morning training session and did admit to using inappropriate language during the incident, but plans on appealing the ruling as soon as it is officially announced.

And in my opinion the case would really have to come down to proving that the coach physically disrupted the officials from testing the players. Using foul language and throwing a tantrum is one thing, but if the coach physically harmed an official then that would be a whole other legal matter. Personally, I think a bar of soap in the mouth for a few hours would be plenty of punishment for the coach, but then again I wasn’t there and do not know how far Queiroz took the matter.  

photo credit: schreiblockade

This summer’s transfer dealings did not have the bang to it as last years when Ronaldo,  Kaka and Ibrahimovic all jumped to La Liga. But that does not mean that there were not some important dealings this summer.

Here is a list of the transfer dealings of the 20 La Liga clubs this summer (amounts in euros, * denotes transfer fee confirmed by club, otherwise based on reports in local media):

Barcelona:

In: David Villa (Valencia, *40 million), Adriano Correia (Sevilla, *up to 13.5 million), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, 22 million)

Out: Yaya Toure (Manchester City, 29 million), Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Shakhtar Donetsk, 15 million), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls, free agent), Rafael Marquez (New York Red Bulls, free), Martin Caceres (Sevilla, loan), Aleksandr Hleb (Birmingham City, loan), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)

Real Madrid:

In: Angel Di Maria (Benfica, 25 million), Pedro Leon (Getafe, 10 million), Sergio Canales (Racing Santander, 4.5 million), Sami Khedira (VfB Stuttgart, 12 million), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea, 8 million), Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen, 15 million).

Out: Christoph Metzelder (Schalke 04, free), Raul (Schalke, free), Guti (Besiktas, free), Royston Drenthe (Hercules, loan), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur, undisclosed), Marcos Alonso (Bolton Wanderers)

Valencia:

In: Aritz Aduriz (Real Mallorca, 4 million), Tino Costa (Montpellier, 6.5 million), Roberto Soldado (Getafe, 10 million), Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray, 6 million), Ricardo Costa (Lille), Sofiane Feghouli (Grenoble), Marius Stankevicius (Sampdoria, loan)

Out: David Villa (Barcelona, *40 million), David Silva (Manchester City, 30 million), Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City, 7 million), Carlos Marchena (Villarreal), Alexis Ruano (Sevilla, loan)

Sevilla:

In: Tiberio Guarente (Atalanta, 5.5 million), Mouhamadou Dabo (St Etienne, free), Luca Cigarini (Napoli, loan), Alexis Ruano (Valencia, 5 million), Martin Caceres (Barcelona, loan)

Out: Adriano Correia (Barcelona, *up to 13.5 million), Tom de Mul (Standard Liege, loan), Marc Valiente (Real Valladolid), Marius Stankevicius (return after loan), David Prieto (Tenerife, loan), Ernesto Chevanton (Lecce), Sebastien Squillaci (Arsenal), Aldo Duscher (Espanyol).

Real Mallorca:

In: Jonathan de Guzman (Feyenoord, free), Fernando Cavenaghi (Bordeaux, loan),

Out: Aritz Aduriz (Valencia, 4 million), Mario Suarez (Atletico Madrid), Borja Valero (Villarreal, loan), Felipe Mattioni (Espanyol), Alhassane Keita (Real Valladolid, loan).

Getafe:

In: Adrian Colunga (Recreativo Huelva, 2.5 million), Angel Arizmendi (Real Zaragoza), Borja Fernandez (Real Valladolid), Ivan Marcano (Villarreal, loan), Victor Sanchez (Barcelona, loan), Pablo Pintos (Lazio).

Out: David Belenguer (Real Betis, free), Roberto Soldado (Valencia, 10 million), David Cortes (Hercules, free), Pedro Leon (Real Madrid, 10 million), Adrian Gonzalez (Racing Santander).

Villarreal:

In: Borja Valero (West Bromwich Albion, loan), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Jozy Altidore (Hull City, return from loan)

Out: Damian Escudero (Boca Juniors), Joseba Llorente (Real Sociedad, 2.5 million), Robert Pires, Ariel Ibagaza (Olympiacos, free), Sebastian Eguren (Sporting Gijon), Ivan Marcano (Getafe, loan), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid, 10 million), Javi Venta (Levante, free), David Fuster (Olympiakos).

Athletic Bilbao:

In: Mikel San Jose (Liverpool, 3 million), Mikel Balenziaga (Numancia, loan).

Out: Joseba Etxeberria (retired), Armando (retired), Fran Yeste (Al Wasl, free).

Atletico Madrid:

In: Fran Merida (Arsenal, free), Diego Godin (Villarreal, 10 million), Filipe (Deportivo Coruna, 12 million), Mario Suarez (Real Mallorca), Diego Costa (Real Valladolid, loan), Tiago (Juventus, loan extension).

Out: Pablo Ibanez (West Bromwich Albion), Mariano Pernia, Eduardo Salvio (Benfica, loan), Jose Manuel Jurado (Schalke 04, 11 million).

Deportivo Coruna:

In: Aythami (Xerez, return from loan), Michel (Valencia, loan), Urreta (Benfica, loan), Saul (Elche, free), Ruben Perez (Atletico, loan).

Out: Filipe (Atletico, 12 million), Sergio Gonzalez (Levante), Brayan Angulo (loan expired), Mista (Toronto), Ruben Castro (Real Betis), Rodolfo Bodipo (Vaslui, loan).

Espanyol:

In: Jesus Datolo (Napoli, loan), Felipe Mattioni (Mallorca), Sergio Garcia (Real Betis), Aldo Duscher (Sevilla, free).

Out: Fernando Marques (Parma), Nico Pareja (Spartak Moscow, 10 million), Raul Tamudo (Real Sociedad, free), Ben Sahar (Hapoel Tel Aviv, loan), Moises Hurtado (Olympiakos)

Although the Vuvuzelas may have gotten off on a break in South Africa since it was part of their tradition, it seems that no one else is looking to give them a break as UEFA became another organization to ban the instrument.

After having picked up major controversy in the World Cup, the vuvuzela instrument has been banned from a number of organizations including the English Premier League, World Basketball Organization, FIBA and many others. Now comes the words that UEFA will be banning the instrument from entering the stadiums in both National team and Club competition’s.

My guess is that most of the fans are happy with the ban because it was nothing but “annoyance” to a lot of people who were at the World Cup and even to some of the viewers watching from home. Since it would have been wrong to strip the instruments during the World Cup since it is part of the South African tradition, it was only a matter of time before it started to banned from other tournaments.

A UEFA spokesman went on to say the following earlier today :

“UEFA has decided that vuvuzelas  may not be brought into stadiums at matches in UEFA competitions,” it announced on its website. The magic of football consists of the two-way exchange of emotions between the pitch and the stands, where the public can transmit a full range of feelings to the players. However, UEFA is of the view that the vuvuzelas would completely change the atmosphere, drowning supporter emotions and detracting from the experience of the game.”

Happy to hear about the game ? Were you one of the people annoyed by the noise or didn’t mind it at all ? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Follow me on Twitter @Herb_Maldonado

Jose Mourinho has warned Real Madrid fans that he is “no Harry Potter” following Los Blancos frustrating draw in their debut match against Mallorca last week. The Special One stressed the club’s need to work hard and remain patient in order to have success down the road.

photo credit: B Rosen

Some upsetting news at Camp Nou have arrived as their star defender Carlos Puyol well be missing the next 3 weeks after sustaining a muscle injury during warm-up’s in Barcelona‘s clash with Racing Santander. Although the club did still go on to win the match 3-0 against Racing, it still has to suck to see the bench for 3 weeks when the season just got under-way.

Replaced by Spaniard defender Gerard Pique, Barcelona still look very confident on the field and showed a glimpse of many more things to come. I’m sure Puyol is anxious to get back on the field and captain the Catalan club but for now he will just be supporting from the side-lines.

Three weeks may not seem like a long time, but looking ahead at his schedule and realizing all the matches he will be missing not only for his Barcelona but his Country Spain as well, I can only imagine how upset Puyol might be as he is definitely a player who loves to play the game and loves to be on the field.

Expected to be back sometime around September 26, Puyol will be missing a number of matches as he is set to miss matches against Atletico Madrid, newly promoted club Hercules and Sporting Gijon in league play. The 32-year old is also expected to be missing their UEFA Champions League match as well when they take on Panathinaikos.

In addition to having to miss a these games, Puyol was also withdrawn from his Country’s squad when they take on Liechtenesteing and Argentina. Nacho Monreal from Osasuna is said to replace the captain in the defense.

Having to miss all these games, I’m sure it stings Puyol just a little bit as he is a player to be on the pitch but 3 weeks isn’t very long so he should be happy that his injury isn’t anymore serious.

Think Barcelona will do just fine with the services of Carlos Puyol ? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Tom Petty once said that “the waiting is the hardest part.” But in this case perhaps it should be “the waiting is the hardest Vaart.” As in Rafael van der Vaart of Real Madrid.

The Dutch midfielder has been on the La Liga powerhouse’s short list of potential transfer bait players for a few years now since his squad brought in the new era of los Galiticos and dealt away all of his Dutch national team buddies. But van der Vaart has always been the pleasant team player type of footballer that has stressed his desire to remain with Los Blancos and earn first team honors once again.

But in the modern day having a pleasant, team-oriented attitude isn’t always enough and the Dutch midfielder does make a pretty penny. So it appears that the time has come for van der Vaart to make his long anticipated trip to England.

Or uh….. maybe?

Van der Vaart may have and may not have been sold today to the Tottenham Hotspurs and the player will likely know his future sometime tomorrow after all the transfer deadline dust clears the air. Van der Vaart’s transfer paperwork was completed by the English Champions League side right at the deadline and his potential new side is awaiting the confirmation from the Premier League to whether or not they acquired the Dutch star in time before the window officially closed.

His possible new manager Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports News this regarding the bizarre potential transfer deal:

It’s still dragging on. We have been trying to do something. We are just waiting for some clearance. I think he was going to Bayern Munich yesterday for £18 million. He is available now for about £8 million and we thought for that amount of money he is a top player. I’m hopeful, it could happen, honestly I wouldn’t like to say one way or the other. It was a last-minute job. It’s round about £8 million.

And van der Vaart would be joining an English team for the first time after previously playing for German side Hamburg and Dutch side Ajax.

http://www.footiewallpapers.com/pic_upload/Rafael-van-der-Vaart-wallpaper-344.jpg

Well the next World Cup hosting nation has already been decided and the next decade looks to be a big deal in Brazil between the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.

But the 2018 and 2022 World Cups are both still undecided and several respected nations have entered the paperwork to be considered for the honor of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event.

And Spain-Portugal have in a joint effort decided to run together and the two nations look like a significant force considering between the two countries they have seven elite category stadiums including one of the world’s biggest and best in Barcelona‘s Camp Nou. And the Spain-Portugal bid is the seventh and final one in Europe to be inspected by FIFA officials and the organization is currently evaluating the nation’s stadiums, transportation systems, and security plans.  

And the featured cities from the two nations to be considered for the event are Madrid and Barcelona in Spain and Porto and Lisbon in Portugal. FIFA is expected to visit all four cities in the upcoming weeks and all four cities are well respected for their rich football history.

And of the leading candidates to earn one of the two vacant World Cup locations, Spain-Portugal has to be considered near the top of the list. England is among the front runners for the 2018 World Cup, but their bid could be affected by the fact that they recently won the 2012 Summer Olympics although such a notion did not hurt Brazil regarding their dual hosting of both the Cup and the Olympics. The United States is always a reliable front runner as well considering the great number of elite stadiums in the nation with the newest being the state of the art Dallas Cowboys stadium erected in Texas, but the USA did recently host the World Cup in the 1990′s and that could hurt their chances of being awarded yet another World Cup bid. 

But with two football rich cultures, Spain-Portugal seems to have become a front runner for the World Cup at some point down the road.

photo credit: John Lindie

Fernando Morientes  has decided it was time for him to hang his cleats up as he went on to announce his retirement after having played “17 years of elite football”. Having enjoyed playing in Real Madrid and Valencia, Morientes made the switch to French club, Marseille, but unfortunately left the club earlier in the year when both sides agreed to his departure.

Although Morientes was still receiving offers from some other teams, the former Spanish National team player decided it was time for him to settle down and spend some time with his family.

Fernando Morientes went on to say the following  :

“After 17 years playing with the elite of football, I have had three months to rethink my future, and now I want to focus on my family. I have rejected offers from teams around the world, including teams in Mexico, Qatar, Dubai, and also in recent days from Sporting Lisbon.”

Having played with Los Blanocs for 8 years, Morientes hopes that Madrid can retain the title once again as Barcelona are the current champions. However, the former Madrid striker knows that the Catalan club is a bit more organized and favored even after all the spending Madrid has done because Barca are already “well-constructed”.

“Although Barcelona are one step ahead and Real Madrid are a team under construction, they have a line-up of players who are able to compete with their eternal rivals. The project cannot be judged at the moment, but when the results start coming in.”

Feel free to share your thoughts on Morientes in the comments section below.

No longer with Serie A giants, Juventus, David Trezeguet is currently in Spain where he is expected to try and seal a deal with Hercules, a club who has just recently been promoted.  Although the former French striker has recievied a number of offers from better clubs around Europe including Liverpool from the Premier League, Trezeguet went on to say that it has always been his dream to play in Spain.

At 32-years of age, having played for one of the best clubs in the world and also part of the France National soccer team in which they won the World Cup in 1998, Trezeguet is definitely bringing a  lot of  experience  to the newly promoted club and it would really be surprising if Hercules does not finalize the deal with him.

“I want to know the Spanish championship. It was an important objective in my career. It’s very important to arrive motivated like when I signed for the first time in Italy. With the desire and expectations of having a good campaign alongside your teammates.”

Is what David Trezeguet went on to say earlier to the Spanish media.

Having won 4 Serie A titles and known to be a deadly finisher, it was not enough for the French striker to earn a starting sport in the Juventus line-up as the Italian club went on to feel that they were much better off selling him since they did not want to his salary per season which was reported to be at $5.7 million.

Do I think Trezeguet will be a great addition to Hercules ? Of course! With the experience he will be bringing to the team and the knowledge of playing against some of the best football clubs in the world, it’s no question that the new promoted Spanish club will be much better if they are able to sign Trezeguet at the right price. Although I haven’t heard how much the French striker is looking to ask for, I’m sure he will definitely be looking at a pay-cut.

Think it’s a good sign for Hercules ? Does Trezeguet still have enough gas in the tank to be a good player at the La Liga level ? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.