The past seven days have seen some major ooohs,aaahs,wooows and even mtcheeeews from sports fans and these are some of the reasons why:
Wayne Rooney sparked life,wonder and amazement into onlookers when he decided to defy physics to score an absolutely beautiful bicycle kick to settle a mentally draining Manchester Derby at Old Trafford. What a sight it was and for many Ghanaian fans,it was the perfect warm up for the local Black Stars' last group game against Niger in the ongoing CHAN in Sudan.
However,it turned out to be more of the same as a defeat was what Herbert Addo and his charges could give all of us.A brilliant replication of our first two group games against South Africa (a developmental side,I might add) and Zimbabwe,wasn't it?
Off the pitch,the GFA got another thumbs up from FIFA as the fourth installment of the FIFA Goal Project was earmarked for construction.Good job,lads.I only hope that all these projects will score the goals they are supposed to.
The GFA weren't the only ones getting huge plaudits,mind you.My senior from secondary school and a soul brother (we share the same birthday),Asamoah Gyan got a lovely handshake from Glo as he became their newest ambassador.What more can you wish for as a young player?Scoring goals in the EPL and being $130,000 richer every year.Life must surely be good for the 'Baby Jet'.I only hope his lyrical prowess gets sharpened along the line.Just kidding,folks.
Of course,we can't forget North London's exploits in Europe as Spurs stabbed AC Milan and that pushed Gatusso into disturbia and hysteria and of course,the ''Miracle'' that Arsenal performed at the Emirates by beating everybody's favourite enemy and second favourite team,Barcelona.
The Black Princesses need rememberance especially after beating Liberia 4-0.Great start and it should lead us to great things.
How could I have forgotten the ''No Congo,no Wembley'' chant making the rounds?We'll see how that pans out especially after Plavi had a chat with the Bison.
An interesting week,folks.Enjoy the sporting week.Cheer on!!!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Back to basics
After seeing Louis Saha's goal against Arsenal last night,I began wondering how complicated the beautiful game had become. The rules which are to simplify the game are rather causing so many gray areas,the fun and excitement is giving way to controversy and conflict.
I remember when the offside law used to be so simple to grasp. If you were closer to your opponent's goal than the ball and the last defender, you were flagged offside. Juxtapose that to the modern versions of the law and there's a huge gap in difference.
''A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball
touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee,
involved in active play by:
• interfering with play or
• interfering with an opponent or
• gaining an advantage by being in that position''
So from a simple issue of postion on the pitch, the law now talks about what you do and don't do even in a seemingly offside position. Tough work for the brain,isn't it?
Sadly,it's the defending team that suffers from FIFA's constant tinkering of the law and one can only wonder what their motivation is.
Lauren Koscielny's attempted clearance gave Saha the right to score even when youngest of football fans could see he was offside.Tough but that's what modernity has done to football. The smart ones will now all the right to find the loopholes and build castles in them.
Another example of a similar goal happened in the 2006 World Cup in a game involving South Korea and Switzerland when Frei scored following a deflection off a Korean defender even when Frei was virtually living in an offside position.
If that is far fetched, Tom Huddlestone scored for Spurs at Fulham this current season in England but the key moment was when Gallas blocked the sight of Schwarzer and even flicked a leg at the ball on its way into the goal. The surprising part of the story is that the officials allowed the goal. Yes, they did when they rules work with tell them and all of us that when players do what Gallas did, they are ''interfering with play or interfering with an opponent'' and they should flagged offside. One can only sigh at all these complications and wonder where all these things came from to live with us.
However,for all those players who have escaped the flag and scored or helped in a goal for their teams,I can only see how smart they were and their prudence further highlights how tough the rules have made it for officials, players,journalists,pundits,commentators and everybody who's linked with the game. Ask Andy Gray and Richard Keys.
Finally,let's pray for Mr. Sepp Blatter since it's his ideas like the modern offside law that are leading this game into an era where all understanding will taken away from all of us and we'll have to keep the law by our sofas and in our bags just to keep up with the evolutions of football.
I remember when the offside law used to be so simple to grasp. If you were closer to your opponent's goal than the ball and the last defender, you were flagged offside. Juxtapose that to the modern versions of the law and there's a huge gap in difference.
''A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball
touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee,
involved in active play by:
• interfering with play or
• interfering with an opponent or
• gaining an advantage by being in that position''
So from a simple issue of postion on the pitch, the law now talks about what you do and don't do even in a seemingly offside position. Tough work for the brain,isn't it?
Sadly,it's the defending team that suffers from FIFA's constant tinkering of the law and one can only wonder what their motivation is.
Lauren Koscielny's attempted clearance gave Saha the right to score even when youngest of football fans could see he was offside.Tough but that's what modernity has done to football. The smart ones will now all the right to find the loopholes and build castles in them.
Another example of a similar goal happened in the 2006 World Cup in a game involving South Korea and Switzerland when Frei scored following a deflection off a Korean defender even when Frei was virtually living in an offside position.
If that is far fetched, Tom Huddlestone scored for Spurs at Fulham this current season in England but the key moment was when Gallas blocked the sight of Schwarzer and even flicked a leg at the ball on its way into the goal. The surprising part of the story is that the officials allowed the goal. Yes, they did when they rules work with tell them and all of us that when players do what Gallas did, they are ''interfering with play or interfering with an opponent'' and they should flagged offside. One can only sigh at all these complications and wonder where all these things came from to live with us.
However,for all those players who have escaped the flag and scored or helped in a goal for their teams,I can only see how smart they were and their prudence further highlights how tough the rules have made it for officials, players,journalists,pundits,commentators and everybody who's linked with the game. Ask Andy Gray and Richard Keys.
Finally,let's pray for Mr. Sepp Blatter since it's his ideas like the modern offside law that are leading this game into an era where all understanding will taken away from all of us and we'll have to keep the law by our sofas and in our bags just to keep up with the evolutions of football.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
