2007/2008 European football thread

[bababui]

Report: Materazzi discloses his World Cup insult


Associated Press


MILAN, Italy -- Italy defender Marco Materazzi finally disclosed what he said to Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final that provoked the French star to retaliate with a head-butt.

"I prefer the whore that is your sister," Materazzi said during an interview in next week's edition of Italian magazine TV Sorrisi E Canzoni, according to Italian news reports Saturday. He previously acknowledged he had insulted Zidane's sister.

Zidane head-butted Materazzi in the chest with 10 minutes left in last year's final. He was sent off for violent conduct, ending his stellar career with a red card.

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by bababui

Report: Materazzi discloses his World Cup insult


Associated Press


MILAN, Italy -- Italy defender Marco Materazzi finally disclosed what he said to Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final that provoked the French star to retaliate with a head-butt.

"I prefer the whore that is your sister," Materazzi said during an interview in next week's edition of Italian magazine TV Sorrisi E Canzoni, according to Italian news reports Saturday. He previously acknowledged he had insulted Zidane's sister.

Zidane head-butted Materazzi in the chest with 10 minutes left in last year's final. He was sent off for violent conduct, ending his stellar career with a red card.

not bad

[redmarkYankees]

Manchester City vs Manchester United

Teams:

City

GK 19 Schmeichel

RB 16 Corluka
CB 02 Richards
CB 22 Dunne
LB 24 Garrido

RM 08 Geovanni
CM 21 Hamann
CM 06 Johnson
LM 15 Petrov

ST 11 Elano
ST 29 Bojinov


United:

GK 01 Van der Sar

RB 06 Brown
CB 05 Ferdinand
CB 15 Vidic
LB 03 Evra

RCM 16 Carrick
CM 04 Hargreaves
LCM 18 Scholes

RW 17 Nani
ST 32 Tevez
LW 11 Giggs


Be interesting to see City live for the first time this season. United look unbalanced to me, but Hargreaves could be a big improvement in the middle.

[redmarkYankees]

SPOILER


First quarter of the game - mostly United, though fairly scrappy. A few chances for United, though nothing unmissable, a couple of good saves from Kasper. 0-0. Hargreaves giving them a better balance in the middle, but United still look less than fluent.

Excellent... 1-0 City .

[redmarkYankees]

SPOILER


City with a touch of confidence now, passing the ball around leisurely. Scholes and Giggs have both made naughty off the ball challenges in the last few minutes, unnoticed by the referee, born out of frustration.

39 minutes.

[redmarkYankees]

SPOILER


Half time, City 1-0 United.

Vidic awful for the goal, didn't close down the shot, turning away as though he was scared of a shot in the balls, deflection off his calf. United lack tempo: which is what you get with Carrick in a team. Looks pretty, no game intelligence ('nice feet, no brain').

[bababui]

The Liverpool match has been very entertaining going into the half. Its as if someone told these two teams its OK to play their hardest against each other.

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by redmarkYankees

SPOILER


Half time, City 1-0 United.

Vidic awful for the goal, didn't close down the shot, turning away as though he was scared of a shot in the balls, deflection off his calf. United lack tempo: which is what you get with Carrick in a team. Looks pretty, no game intelligence ('nice feet, no brain').

This was a very disappointing match. United has plenty of opportunities but made some really poor passes in and around the box. How Tevez managed to put that header wide in the final minute, I'll never know. You can't leave 7 points on the pitch, even early in the season. The quality is going to be too good at the top of the table to realistically have a chance at catching up.

To say that Ronaldo and Rooney were missed would be a massive understatement.

[darkenigma510]

Reading 1, Everton 0

[theasfl]

I absolutely love seeing Man U in 16th place. I'll be enjoying the moment while it lasts.

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by darkenigma510

Reading 1, Everton 0

Reading off to a decent start with 4 points. Of course, stealing points away from Man U in week 1 was unexpected.

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by theasfl

I absolutely love seeing Man U in 16th place. I'll be enjoying the moment while it lasts.

United has to start watching out for possible relegation.



I have noticed this the more that I play Football Manager. When I watch real matches now I keep having FM match commentary going through my head.

[Raderick]

[Raderick]

It's pretty obvious that United lacks a striker who isn't afraid to go inside.

[LFC1892]

SPOILER.............







Twelve man Chelsea steal a point.

[mlyons]

Nice goal from Torres, though, huh?

[LFC1892]

I hear it was good....I havent been able to see the damn thing yet as virtually no coverage over here and all the Youtube ones were taken down as a result of copyright infringements....I'll keep looking.

[LFC1892]

Well that didnt take long...found it. Yeah, nicely taken.

[edrooney]

Rob Styles, the referee in the Pool-Chelsea match having seen a replay of the non-incident, has stepped up and apologised.

While I applaud that, it's not enough. It's not like this was one of those decisions where a decision needs to be made, and it could go either way, and only on slowing down of the replay can you see that the decision was wrong. This was entirely wrong in every way, and nobody, at any speed, from any angle, could come to the conclusion that there should be a penalty.

While not in the laws of the game, it is generally considered - and I think rightly - that to give a penalty for a foul in the box, there needs to be a higher standard of 'evidence' of a foul. That mirrors the seriousness of the decision. If this decision had been given in midfield, there would have been a few annoyed people, me included, but no great inquest. In the box, it's a potentially game changing decision, so a higher burden of proof is required.

In the middle of the field, a referee can see a player on the floor, assume that a foul has occurred - or not - and whistle accordingly. Again, not the laws of the game, but generally accepted that this is what happens. Referees cannot personally see every incident where a player goes down - not in games that involve Chelsea certainly.

In the box, the referee absolutely has to positively see the foul to give the penalty. He has to see it, and it has to be conclusive, again because of the consequences of giving it. But countless replays, angles, and watching it live real time, there was nothing to see. So clearly he gave a penalty based on something that he thought he saw, or something he assumed to have happened. Neither of which is remotely acceptable.

This was such an egregious example of bad refereeing, and in an important game between two of the top teams in the league in the 'showpiece' game of the weekend. He should be suspended from refereeing in the EPL for at least 3 months, or until such time that he can give a reasonable explanation for giving the decision.

(It's possible that if it had been a different referee, my indignation would be lesser, as I've never been able to stomach Rob Styles, with his disastrous greasy hair and childcatcher smile.)

[Russ]

That's just karma rearing its head.