MetaFilter posts tagged with sports and worldcup

The Hand of God, Part Deux

lovermont — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:49:12 -0800

The world of soccer has been rocked by a French player's game-defining handball in the much-anticipated qualifier match between France and Ireland. Thierry Henry has admitted to the offense, but said ultimately it is the duty of the linesman to make the call. His action and subsequent admission have drawn strong reactions, including attempts to vandalize his Wikipedia page. This sort of thing isn't new to the World Cup; in fact, Henry's move has been dubbed "Le Hand of God” by British tabloid The Sun, and “Hand of Gaul” by The Australian, both in reference to Argentinean player Maradona's “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match between Argentina and England. Is it time to introduce video replay? Tournament organizer Danny Jordaan says videos wouldn't end these kinds of mistakes. There are others who disagree. In an added layer of controversy, last month, Ireland's goalkeeper Shay Given had voiced his displeasure with FIFA's decision regarding seeding the playoffs; Republic of Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady speculates that seeding decision may have influenced the linesman, something he expressed concern about going in. Despite all the hoopla, FIFA insists there will be no rematch. See Le Hand of Gaul here.

Danish Dynamite

reenum — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:20 -0800

The Guardian recently published a beautiful article about Danish Dynamite, the '80s Danish national soccer (football) squad. Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen write about how the success and failure of the national team highlighted national traits that Denmark has. The writing about the matches is among the most inspired I have ever read. In addition to the film, a documentary about the team has also been made.

North Korea's Soccer Hero

Chinese Jet Pilot — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:46:49 -0800

70 year old Pak Doo-Ik will lead North Korea's prestigious Olympic torch bearers to Beijing this summer. In the 1966 World Cup at Middlesborough, Pak scored the goal that lead his team to a stunning 1-0 upset win over Italy (video). Pak Doo-Ik and the team returned home as heroes, but ultimately fell under the suspicion of North Korean leadership. The team underwent "mental re-education" and were exiled, Pak Doo-Ik spending ten years as a forest laborer. Dear Leader Kim Jong-il later allowed Pak to coach North Korea's national soccer team, and a fascinating 2002 BBC documentary brought Pak Doo Ik back to the international stage.

street soccer and we are homeless, homeless

kliuless — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:42:56 -0800

The Homeless World Cup: "Yes, there is a World Cup for homeless people, made possible with help from corporate sponsors such as Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola and Bank of America."

espectaculares!

CunningLinguist — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 07:06:05 -0800

Jugadas Espectaculares WorldCupfilter: clipshow of some staggeringly fancy footwork. Even non-fans should love this. (youtube)

Sir Clive Woodward to switch from rugby to football?

salmacis — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 05:42:11 -0800

Sir Clive Woodward to switch from rugby to football? Sir Clive Woodward is the head coach of the England rugby union team. Appointed in 1997, he has had stunning success, including winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. On Tuesday, the Daily Mail carried an incredible story: Woodward was planning to turn his back on rugby in favour of association football (soccer). Premiership club Southampton appear to be his next port of call with his ultimate aim, the England football team. Is it possible for a head coach to switch sports like this? Many experts think not. Is there any previous example of a coach switching sports like this?

Sport and Politics

brettski — Mon, 10 Feb 2003 07:25:38 -0800

The Cricket World Cup is turning into a political mess as England boycott Zimbabwe and New Zealand's players refuse to play in Kenya. Meanwhile, Cricket legend, and Pakistani politician, Imran Khan wonders if UK involvement in a war on Iraq should lead to a sporting boycott of England. We've had sporting sanctions on South Africa, Olympic boycotts in 1980 and 1984 - should we ever mix politics and sport?

Wembley's demise

brettski — Fri, 07 Feb 2003 08:00:13 -0800

Wembley Stadium - Arguably the most famous sports ground in the world, host of the 1966 World Cup final and the 1948 Olympics is being rebuilt. Today the famous twin towers go under the wrecking ball. You can see it all on webcam. Sad end to one of our sporting treasures.

( .)(. ) — Sat, 29 Jun 2002 07:46:06 -0800

Ronaldo experienced a seizure on the day of the WC98 final. This is a good background article on the events of July 12th, 1998 in Paris, where Ronaldo was foaming at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably just hours before game time. Also note the various conspiracy theories; from Nike forcing Ronaldo to play, to organizers bribing the Brazilians to lose the game.

brookish — Tue, 25 Jun 2002 17:24:02 -0800

Is Univision's coverage of the World Cup, like, way better than ESPN's or what?

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 20 Jun 2002 01:09:55 -0800

Ready To Rumba? Or Samba? Will England or Brazil go through in tomorrow's crucial World Cup game? Predict at your peril. I'd love Brazil to win but, no doubt influenced by the treacherous utterances of Pele and Jairzinho[see penultimate link], say England will tragically but deservedly win 2-1.

percine — Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:52:15 -0800

World Cup Conspiracy. Here's one for the X-Files. The Azurri believe they were the victims of a conspiracy to oust them from World Cup 2002.

Alessandro Del Piero broke his usual cool exterior as anger seeped through. "In ten years of my career I have never complained," said the Juventus star, "but in four games too many strange things have happened."

arrowhead — Tue, 18 Jun 2002 09:42:11 -0800

Korea 2-1 Italy. A classic World Cup in the making? First it was Senegal dumping out the French, and then the Argies and the Portuguese were left biting the dust. Spain and Ireland fought out a nail-biting penalty shoot-out, Saudi Arabia got hit for eight, and now South Korea continue their miraculous journey by sending Italy home. Next on the cards: let's hope for another classic when England take on Brazil!

twiggy — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 01:33:43 -0800

One of the teams in the Mexico vs. USA World Cup game made history. As of before the game, the USA has never won a knockout game of the World Cup - Mexico had never won a knockout game of the World Cup when not in Mexico. Click the article to see which team made history - or if you don't want it spoiled, don't click at all!

claire — Sun, 09 Jun 2002 20:24:51 -0800

The ugly side of football: man dies in Moscow riots. The World Cup has been great so far, but it was only a matter of time before things got out of control.

dopamine — Tue, 04 Jun 2002 21:15:00 -0800

How two perfect moments in time brought such tremendous joy and pride to a nation. To me, this truly is the world's most beautiful game, if just for moments like these. I wish everyone could feel this kind of passion for something, whether it be football or not. Sadly, we may never experience this kind of a reaction to anything here in the US.

sikander — Sat, 01 Jun 2002 09:30:42 -0800

Check out this soccer/baseball stadium. You can fold the baseball field and roll in the soccer one. Animation here. Amazing.

Voyageman — Wed, 29 May 2002 12:18:59 -0800

World-wide obsession I am told these sports betting sites are readying themselves for an onslaught of World Cup Soccer traffic never seen in history. Will you play? Does it make the sport uplifting or uncouth?

tomcosgrave — Thu, 23 May 2002 06:12:18 -0800

Captain of Irish World Cup squad Keane sent home
This is big news here in Ireland. He's our best player - he keeps the team together on the pitch. But after some incidents in the past couple of days, and some prima donna style behaviour (something he's always been known for), he's been told to feck off. I think the manager did the right thing, but I can't help thinking that our chances of getting out of our group have been diminished...