AoS at 1006 CDT: title changed. We can speculate but I don't think the fact that the ref is Muslim has anything to do with his obvious incompetence. I watched the match live; the call was idiotic. If anything the US should have been awarded a penalty kick for an clear pull-down. But I'm wondering if the ref regretted the free kick and had decided in his mind to do a give-back, as it seemed that he whistled it very quickly.
#2
The goal probably shouldn't have been disallowed, and the decision was particularly cruel after the US team had clawed themselves back from being 2-0 down. They can still qualify for the next round if they beat Algeria on Wednesday...
#5
No great loss. Bad ref decisions are made and then another four years pass.
Then before you know it Maradonna is manager :/
You may not be a fan of football like iblis but soccer is cheap to participate in and is enjoyed by young people in all countries around the world. Because of that it makes the football/soccer world cup event something special; I guess this concept is little understood by material minded people though.
#6
It's a general problem with soccer that far too often questionable referee decisions determine the outcome of a game. It happened last night when the referee awarded a penalty and sent off Australias best player for an accidental handball.
#8
I was at a bar yesterday with a bunch of English guys. They actually were sympathetic to the U.S., and to a man told me that we'd been robbed. When the red card was given to the Aussie, a near-riot almost broke out.
How is getting hit in the arm, when it's next to your body and just where the Ghana player hit it, an intentional foul? A penalty kick AND a red card? Horseshiat.
The ref is from Mali. I doubt the "Muslim" factor entered into it. This ref made a really bad call against Egypt in their continental tournament. He is, though, obviously incompetent.
But that might have been the 2nd biggest screw job of the U.S. in international sports, the 1st being the 1972 Olympics men's basketball game.
Too bad. That goal had me screaming like a wild man for about 5 seconds. It could have really ignited something for casual U.S. fans.
#10
soccer is cheap to participate in and is enjoyed by young people in all countries around the world.
Like head lice.
Posted by: ed ||
06/20/2010 9:49 Comments ||
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#11
I am surprised to learn here that the refs play such an important role in soccer. Another reason to ignore it.
American boys drop it as soon as they hit puberty; testosterone and the beautiful game don't mix.
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/20/2010 10:02 Comments ||
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#12
Eric Wynalda demands an investigation accuses Koman Coulibaly of taking money or being otherwise motivated to cheat the US out of a win
(flash video at Link)
#13
I like footie a lot, but sometimes you have to wonder how much you can trust a sport where nobody falls on a loose ball.
If this has happened to England, the UK would have nuked Mali. They still might, just on general principles.
If this had happened to Italy, all sixty million Italians would have fallen down clutching their legs, ribs, or heads. ("Ooh, the breeze blew! I am in agony! But will feel better if you give that guy a red card!")
If this had happened to Brazil, it wouldn't have mattered because they would have been up by three goals and would have just politely suggested that the Malian ref have intercourse with a piranha.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/20/2010 11:21 Comments ||
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#14
Too funny, Matt. You are right, the Italians would have taken the boats out of Venice and mounted an amphibious assault of Mali. The Irish would have swam to Mali and drowned everyone in Guinness.
#15
True, but if it had happened to France there would be a statue of the Malian ref up on half the street corners in Dublin.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/20/2010 13:16 Comments ||
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#16
Soccer is a great sport.........................for 12 year old girls.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
06/20/2010 13:32 Comments ||
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#17
You are watching soccer now? Seriously?
What happened? I thought it was so boring?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/20/2010 14:54 Comments ||
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#18
To be honest, I just tune in for the vuvuzela horns.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/20/2010 15:16 Comments ||
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#19
But seriously... none of you guys has obviously played adult soccer (football in the civilizes world). Except for rugby I can't think of a tougher sport.
When I was 20 I played soccer in the highest German amateur league, and anyone who'd go home without serious bruises didn't play seriously. Getting kicked in the ankle while running full speed, getting a nasty knee kick in your upper thighs (referees usually don't see this) is painful.
Yes diving happens (and Italians are experts in studying lawns) but most of the time a player looks like he is in pain he REALLY is.
Soccer requires the best level of fitness a human can achieve.
As for rge World Cup. The first round is always tactical and not very pretty. Once the elimination rounds start things get interesting.
And soccer needs bad referees to be blamed. The guy from Mali was egregiously bad, but so was the guy from Spain who carded almost half of both teams in the match Germany vs Serbia for un-serious fouls.
Right now my bets are on Argentina. The German team is too young still. They probably make the quarter finals and then Argentina (probably) will kick them out).
The U.S. has the fighting spirit, so I'm going to watch them carefully. Quarter finals for them I guess.
Italy, France and England are horrible this year, Brazil is boring (which is a shame).
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/20/2010 15:26 Comments ||
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#20
No, I didn't play soccer, but my son has played many games in goal, and if I had a Euro for every time I saw him get kicked in the head, I'd have a lot of Euros. Not that that would do me any good.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/20/2010 15:50 Comments ||
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#21
I played soccer all the way up to the university level (it was club teams at the time in the old Big Eight), and I quit after all those years. Because, like European Conservative said, getting kicked in the ankles running full speed was no fun. There were some days, even at 18, that I couldn't get out of bed the next day. I decided by degree was more important.
Kaka just got booted, which means Brazil won't have him against Portugal. It may not matter. They just hammered the Ivory Coast, which was supposed to give them a game.
The Group of Death is looking more like the Group of Disinterest.
Check out Ivory Coast's goal, though, if you have a chance. A nicer headball you'll never see.
#22
Second Brazilian goal should not have been allowed though (played hand two times).
Yes, injury risk is very high, and that match showed how dangerous fouls can be.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/20/2010 16:40 Comments ||
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#23
I'm saying its likely he was just a crappy ref - the goal callback was just the final straw, there was the card for the legal header in the box and he was dealing yellows like blackjack to Slovania players leading up to the tie score.
Americans cannot stand a poorly officiated game. Soccer more than any other major sport is overly dependent upon the mood of the officials.
Meterball is tough. My ankles are phuged from my college level time, also reaping the rewards of that time. Some sports do not translate well through the TV, and soccer is one of them. With the camera tight there is no concept of formations, people just appear out of nowhere and passes look random. Even with the camera out the viewer only sees a small portion of the whole field and if a person does not know where players are or are not supposed to be it looks like a flail, so don't press that material minded shit on me. Simple fact is that for a lot of Americans at the age of 10 most kids either stop playing checkers or learn to play chess. For a lot of others, watching grownups run in circles is boring but every 4 years the Olympics is on.
The traditional Euro powers look like crap. Really, what the hell France? If y'all were just gonna bitch then should have let someone take their slot. I'm keeping an eye out on Uruguay, see how Mexico fares.
#24
I played soccer in middle school, and in the Marine Corps as an adult. I played football at a small college. Soccer's definitely a tough sport but I also play hockey and find that even harder than any other sport I've ever done. I like to coach my kids' soccer teams and always find it funny when self-proclaimed baseball fans claim soccer is boring (I played baseball through h.s. as well).
#25
BTW - if anyone's wrestled at the h.s. or college level that's a damn hard sport as well. My biggest bitch w/WC soccer (besides that lame ass gazoo vuvuzela pos) is the diving that a lot of these "grown men" do - pathetically pussy-ish. The commenators today were really lambasting the italians for it during their match w/the Kiwis.
#26
U.S. World Cup Fans Take Revenge on Koman Coulibaly's Wikipedia Page
After blowing a call and robbing Team USA of a 3-2 victory over Slovenia today, Malian Referee Koman Coulibaly -- aka "Sleepy Eyes" -- has already cemented a firm place for himself as one of the great villains in American sports history.
In response, fans immediately defaced Coulibaly's Wikipedia page, AOL Fanhouse reports.
The vandalism that was posted was actually somewhat tame by previous Wikiepdia standards, limiting itself to the slew of criticism that followed from American commentators.
There were, however, several creative flourishes, such as: "Coulibaly is rumored to hate the United States of America with the burning passion of a white hot sun," and "Coulibaly's exploits have drawn comparisons to such sporting pariahs as Jim Joyce, Don Denkinger, Tom Donaghy, and even BP CEO Tony Heyward."
Wikipedia has since restored the page and locked it to prevent future changes.
#27
Ohh agreed BH6, so tough to watch a fancy man, supposedly an apex athlete, roll around on the ground making crybaby faces...then -whoop- as if a phoenix down was played they are up and hauling across the field.
Know what sport is starting to turn into that as well...NBA.
Makup calls are quick way to delegitimize any sport. Its bad enough when a ref regrets a past decision instead of focusing on the now, but then the ref has to make another judgement call exactly matching the advantage of the previous call or else ends up rocking back and forth completely out of whack. Kinda like the baseball all-star game where each team gets a representative, this region got to send a ref IIUC or else there is no other explanation on how he made it to World Cup ref level, unless he is someone's relative.
Could you imagine if during the super bowl the ref throws a flag and moves a team 15 yard penalty but does not explain the call?
Maybe we found a job the president can handle. Instead of poling MLB about how they can run their show perhaps Big O, who seems a little more of a soccer man than a baseball guy anyways, to headon out and solve this high profile international incident.
The sound of an explosion was heard near Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, AFP journalists at the scene said.
The explosion was heard at the Main Press Centre, 400 metres from the stadium, followed by a shockwave, but there was no immediate indication of what was the cause of the explosion.
#1
Update:
The large explosion-like sound heard near Soccer City stadium here on Sunday was due to mining activity in the proximity, World Cup organisers said.
The sound was heard at the Main Press Centre, 400 metres from the stadium, followed by a shockwave.
"There was no explosion. It was only regular mining activities," said local organising committee spokesman Rich Mkhondo.
#3
This is why females around the world need to develop a "female cultural tradition" of carrying bladed weapons. Even the poorest in the world can get a sharp piece of metal or broken glass.
When asked why, they should say that it is something girls do. A female thing. And when men assail them, for the girls to slice them is also a female thing to do.
Importantly, this works on a psychological level even more than on a physical level, because once it becomes widespread, males will know that females are likely armed. From that point, women have the advantages of concealed carry, which are substantial.
That moment of hesitation will do a lot to convince them to not attack in the first place.
China is hunting for bargains in some unlikely corners of the world. Earlier this week, it opened its checkbook to make 14 commercial investments inside Greece, which is struggling to avoid defaulting on its mounting debt.
China's vice premier Zhang Dejiang signed off on each contract, securing deals in major industries such as telecommunications, real estate and shipping during his four-day visit to Greece, which began on Monday.
Chinese investments in Europe have been relatively insignificant in recent years. But its deals with Greece paint a new picture of China's financial landscaping. According to Greek officials, the 14 deals signed this week mark China's largest foray into investment in Europe. And there will likely be many more to come.
China's brokered deals with Greece point to its ulterior power playing and market building strategy. It is getting in on the cheap in a region that's economically depressed and at the same time, it's purchasing a favorable reputation in Europe and around the world. It is making a stealthy land grab.
China has been making stealthy land grabs for the last decade. How much of Canada's oil sands production do they own? How much of Venezuela, of Africa, what did they purchase in Afghanistan by bribing that official?
#1
"How much of Canada's oil sands production do they own?"
So far, it is marginal. They have between 40%-60% (the 60% in two underdeveloped localities) stake in some areas, but these are only selected loci and do not represent an overall acquisition. The main idea behind Chinese investment is to secure an oil supply for China. There was a project that was supposed to provide a pipe to deep sea port to be built in the North Passage that was supposed to be funded 90% by PetroChina, but they withdrew as the regulatory process seemed to be too slow for their tastes and patience.
WMF > GERMAN MEDIAS: CHINA DESIRES A MINIMA OF TWO AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUPS CAPABLE OF REACHING + OPERATING IN AFRICA ZONE, OR IN THE ATERNATIVE "APPEARING" TO BE CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING CHIN-LED MIL INTERVENTION, BEIJING POLICIES IN AFRICA. DESIRE BY BEIJING FOR CHINA TO REPLACE OR SUPPLANT EUROPE'S + RUSSIA'S INFLUENCE IN AFRICA.
* SAME > THE GERMAN KAISER/BISMARCK SPEAKS CHINESE?: CHINA IN NEGOTIATIONS TO ESTABLISH A FORMAL PLAN CARRIER, NAVAL PORT ON THE ENGLISH CHANNEL COAST OF EUROPE?
Africa + Micronesia Colonies, GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET, JUTLAND, DOGGER BANK, ...and all that jazz = BISMARCKIAN "BLOOD + IRON" ala PRUSSIA.
INDIANA JONES-VS-THE-KAISER!?
Once again, all together + wid feeling, SINK THE TIRPITZ, SINK THE TIRPITZ; + THE GORGE-BUSTERS!
#3
OOOOOOOOOO, you just know OSAMA + ZAWAHIRI + ... + MOUD, NASRALLAH, ADAM GADAHN + RISING EURABIA + LONDONISTAN, ETC. will have something to say about the PLAN basing major warships + probally PLAAF, etc. on SACRED EURABIAN SOIL???
The Maltese diver injured in the clash over tuna catches on the high seas three days ago is convinced the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was on a mission to harm him.
Recovering at his home in Żurrieq, Reuben Silvio recounted how he was balancing on the tuna cage in the middle of the sea when he decided to stand firm to protect the catch as the Steve Irwin, the society's 59-metre ship, advanced head-on.
"The people on the ship's prow saw me and shouted 'get out of the way', but I decided to challenge them, thinking they would stop if I remained there. But the two-storey vessel kept advancing and when it was 10 metres away from me I knew there was no stopping it," he recalled.
Mr Silvio, 29, jumped into the tuna pen and clung to the plastic pipes encircling the cage, bracing himself for the impact as the Steve Irwin rammed right into the cage, located 35 nautical miles north of Tripoli.
Pulling out a photo taken by the Sea Shepherd that captures the ship slamming into the cages owned by the local company Fish and Fish, he points to the spot where he was hanging on for dear life.
The incident, described as an act of piracy by fishermen, happened on Thursday when the marine conservation organisation rammed the pen in a bid to free the bluefin tuna it believed was caught illegally. On its website, the organisation prides itself on using "direct-action tactics... to expose and confront illegal activities".
The Rural Affairs Ministry has defended the fishing operation, insisting all the paperwork was in order, and condemned the attack.
Fish and Fish director Joe Caruana estimates the activists managed to free 600 bluefin tuna weighing some 35 tons and costing 400,000. Another 200 fish, weighing 30 tons, had been transferred to another cage before the attack.
Mr Caruana calculates the cost of the loss of fish coupled with the damage caused during Thursday's incident will surpass 1 million.
The attack has forced Mr Silvio to reconsider going out to sea on such operations.
"When the ship rammed the cage, it submerged the pipes, dragging me under. I thought that was it. I struggled to hang on, knowing if I let go I would get entangled in the nets. As the pipes bobbed up and down I managed to gasp for air, before being dragged down again," he said.
"This is no way to rescue the tuna. Their actions were intended to hurt, why else would you ram a cage with people on it? There was no other aim but to injure me. This was an act of madness."
This claim was strongly denied by the ship's captain who insisted that it was the Sea Shepherd crew which repelled a "violent assault".
Once the ship stopped, Mr Caruana finally surfaced. As he struggled to catch his breath he heard a splashing sound and saw ropes being thrown down. Believing the activists were trying to rescue him he clung on, only to realise belatedly that attached to the end of the ropes were hooks intended to cut through the net and free the tuna.
When the ship started reversing, the rope tightened and the hook tore the skin off his right hand before he let go.
"I started swimming back to safety when I realised my strength was waning. That's when I realised I was hurt. My skin was ripped and my palm was covered in blood. Seeing the blood, I froze and called to my friends for help," he said, showing where he had 12 stitches.
The nerve on one of his fingers has been badly damaged and he cannot work for a few weeks until the part of the missing flesh on his fingers grows back.
At the time he had instinctively tore his T-shirt and wrapped it round his fist to stem the blood, but it still felt as if "someone was hammering my hand to the beat of my heart".
"We were all alone out there and if we had received protection all this would have been avoided."
Posted by: john frum ||
06/20/2010 14:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
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#1
As with the Somoli pirates, the only good solution for these Sea Shepherd pirates is sinking the ship or hanging the crew. That is, unless we consider sinking their ship AND hanging the crew.
#2
Unfortunately, these "green-fascist terrorist-pirates" have a cable television show where they are hailed as heroes. It glorifies these assaults and indoctrinates young people that violence is acceptable as long as it is against someone you "really" disagree with. These acceptable targets are people who don't share the "green-religion" or are otherwise quite "uncool."
The government can never ever tolerate a situation where Maltese fishermen going about their business according to local and international law are attacked and obstructed, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning.
It was for this reason, he said, that the government had authorised the intervention of the AFM last week in clashes between fishermen and tuna fishing protesters. That intervention had been crucial to prevent further injuries and damages.
Dr Gonzi was referring to clashes which took place in the waters between Libya and Malta between Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace protesters and Maltese tuna fishermen.
"For as long as our fishermen operate according to the law, they will have the protection of the governemnt with all available resources and also the protection of the international community," Dr Gonzi said.
"We respect the NGOs but no one can justify his cause through illegal means".
Posted by: john frum ||
06/20/2010 14:15 ||
Comments ||
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[4 views]
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#1
Attacking both Greenpeas vessels with aircraft and naval artillery sounds like a necessary sterilization of piratical actions to me, fully justified in any court of law. The only way these people will be stopped is to make it too dangerous for them to continue.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/20/2010 22:16 Comments ||
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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The ACLU and a group of southern Nevada Democrats and businessmen have sued over a proposed voter initiative that would establish tough new immigration laws in Nevada similar to those in Arizona.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A senior Iranian cleric has decreed dogs are "unclean" and should not be kept as pets -- a move aimed at discouraging Western-style dog ownership in the Islamic state, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Dogs are considered "unclean" under Islamic tradition but, while relatively rare in Iran, some people do keep them as pets.
By issuing a fatwa -- a religious ruling -- Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi has sent a clear message that this trend must stop.
"Friendship with dogs is a blind imitation of the West," he was quoted as saying in Javan daily. "There are lots of people in the West who love their dogs more than their wives and children."
Guard dogs and sheep dogs are considered acceptable under Islamic law but Iranians who carry dogs in their cars or take them to public parks can be stopped by police and fined.
The Quran does not explicitly prohibit contact with dogs, Shirazi said, but Islamic tradition showed it to be so. "We have lots of narrations in Islam that say dogs are unclean."
The interpretation of religious rules on personal conduct is a constant source of debate and potential conflict in Iran which has been an Islamic republic since a revolution ousted the Western-backed Shah in 1979.
In a television interview last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad weighed in on the issue of the Islamic dress code, saying women who fail to cover their hair completely should not be harassed by the police.
Morality police are conducting their annual crackdown and women who reveal strands of hair are liable to be stopped in the streets for failing to respect the dress code, or "hijab".
Ahmadinejad's surprisingly liberal view was condemned by fellow hardliner politicians and senior clerics "I wish he had not said those words about the hijab," Grand Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told the faithful during the week's Friday prayers, in a rare criticism of the president.
"We are grappling with many problems including economic and political ones but the issues of morality and ethical security are among the important issues that cannot be ignored," he said.
Tehran University has set up a think-tank "to investigate the problems related to hijab", the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the university announced on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I say Iranian top clerics are unclean as pets.
Posted by: Rin Tin Tin ||
06/20/2010 2:10 Comments ||
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#2
I say Iranian top clerics are unclean as pets.
Fixed it for ya, RTT
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/20/2010 2:43 Comments ||
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#3
"There are lots of people in the West who love their dogs more than their wives and children."
#4
Seen plenty of evidence that Muslim men love neither their wives nor their children; or at least that their priorities rank as:
1. self
2. local imam/firebrand
3. Islam
4. buddies
5. male children
6. dead wives
7. youngest wives
8. other wives
9. female children.
#11
Well, coming from a group that has contempt for the many wonders and pleasures of life and only beholds the Koran in high regard (which prescribes and proscribes against the many wonders), is anyone surprised?
#13
Two kinds of people in the world, those who love dogs and those who don't. Isn't it interesting that Muslims and Asians in general fall into one category, and most of the Western World falls into the other?
Personally, if you don't like dogs, I generally find I don't like you because, if you reject a creature that loves unconditionally and is loyal beyond all reason, then you clearly lack a genuine soul!
MCLEAN, Va. and HAWTHORNE, Calif. â June 16, 2010 â Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) are pleased to announce that the Falcon 9 will be a major provider of launch services for Iridium NEXT, Iridiumâs next-generation satellite constellation. The $492 million contract, while being the largest single commercial launch deal ever signed, nonetheless represents a new benchmark in cost-effective satellite delivery to space.
. SpaceXâs Falcon 9 launch vehicle will carry multiple Iridium NEXT satellites per vehicle, inserting the satellites into a low-earth orbit (LEO) as Iridium replaces its current satellite constellation. The Iridium NEXT satellites are set to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California between 2015 and 2017.
The contract stipulates that SpaceX will provide launch services to Iridium over a two-year period starting in early 2015. Iridium is also in discussions with, and expects to contract with, at least one additional launch services provider.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A senior Iranian cleric has decreed dogs are "unclean" and should not be kept as pets -- a move aimed at discouraging Western-style dog ownership in the Islamic state, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
