When we were in Moscow, on our way to Korea in 2002, Phil and I went to see a game at the Spartak stadium. After the game, as we were wandering around looking for the way out, we stumbled across a sign overlooking the training pitches which seemed to sum up the spirit of our trip.
At the time, Israel and Palestine were going through a particularly confrontational phase, and we questioned whether such sentiments could be put into practice in the region. Well, it seems like an attempt to do so is underway: Street Football World reports that a Mini World Cup Tournament for Palestinian-Israeli youth will take place on 15th April, 2005. It’s being organised by the Peres Centre for Peace as part of their “Twinned Peace Soccer Schools” project.
How about we use a fair-trade football instead?
In a previous post, I wrote about scientists researching the perfect free-kick. Now, with the rebirth of the video-replay debate as a result of Roy Carroll’s shameless lack of sportsmanship in the Man Utd v Spurs match a week or two ago (where he appeared – to the ref at least – to “save” what was clearly a goal) I thought I’d have a little look at some of the technologies which may be part of high-end football’s future.
There are several competing technologies vying for the attention of football’s rule-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), who hold their 119th annual general meeting in Cardiff on 26 February 2005. From a purely Spirit of Football perspective, I’m interested in this issue because it will also determine the nature of The Ball that travels from Battersea Park every four years.
“This is what we play with. Go and get it!”
That was, apparently, the entirety of the late Brian Clough’s pre-match team talk, once he’d placed a ball on a towel in the middle of the dressing room, according to an article entitled “The Humble Football: A Eulogy” on the British Council’s Football Culture website.
The simplicity and directness of Clough’s message forms the basis for the article, which is worth a read if only because it is the only piece I’ve found which focusses (like we do) on the primacy of The Ball above all else in the game. The author, Pete May, suggests that “next time you see it in action give it a cheer. It is after all, the most important spherical object in the world”.
An article on The Register entitled “Scientists learn to bend it like Beckham” suggests that the sight of our David skying a spot kick over the goal and into the stands may be numbered. “Scientists at Loughborough University have developed a system that will measure a football’s speed and spin, something they say has not been accomplished before”, reports Lucy Sherriff, and suggests that one outcome of this research may be a “perfect penalty-taking cyborg”. Strangely, she goes on to quote a colleague who claims that “in fact the most confusing ball to face, when standing in goal, is one that doesn’t spin at all”.
Well that clears that one up then.
FIFA have announced that tickets for the 2006 World Cup will go on sale on the 1st February 2005. Three million tickets… but just how many people will there be wanting to see the games? A few more than that I expect. Set your alarm on 31st January, folks. Ticket prices in Euros are as follows:
| Category 1 | Category 2 | Category 3 | Category 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening game | 300,00 | 180,00 | 115,00 | 65,00 |
| Group stage | 100,00 | 60,00 | 45,00 | 35,00 |
| Round of 16 | 120,00 | 75,00 | 60,00 | 45,00 |
| Quarter-finals | 180,00 | 110,00 | 85,00 | 55,00 |
| Semi-finals | 400,00 | 240,00 | 150,00 | 90,00 |
| Third place | 120,00 | 75,00 | 60,00 | 45,00 |
| Final | 600,00 | 360,00 | 220,00 | 120,00 |
The tickets seem (dare I say it) quite reasonably priced by comparison to the exorbitant sums that were being charged last time in Korea and Japan. Phew… maybe we won’t need VIP tickets like last time. Despite the endless champagne and canapes, it’s actually a lot more fun to be in amongst the fans.
Edit: the original article seems to have gone, but this video shows the process
I stumbled across this article today – about getting a game together in Burundi. It reminded me so much of the children Phil and I saw all the way through Asia on our way to Korea. They would use anything to improve their football skills – we often saw children playing keep-up at the side of the road with balls made from tightly knotted herbs. Though we got no pictures of them (our driver wasn’t too keen on stopping for anything, even other traffic!) my memories are still vivid. So check out Henri’s photo-story for another example of footballing ingenuity.
Richard sent us a picture from Korea, where he’s currently working. Not the one that hosted the 2002 World Cup, but the one to the north – DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
DPRK v Thailand, Pyongyang
This is the lineup for the DPRK v Thailand World Cup Qualifier at the Yangdakdo Stadium on the 8th September 2004 — sparsely attended by the looks of things. The result… DPRK 4 Thailand 1. “No 10 Mr Hong standing out as North Korea’s answer to Rooney.” reports Rich.
Back in 2002, I heard a rumour that FIFA and DPRK almost reached an agreement for Pyongyang to host one of the 2002 games. I’d have jumped at the chance to see a game there during the tournament, but the plan fell through. Phil and I also tried to arrange a visit enroute to Seoul with The Ball, but neither we nor The Ball made it into the country then either. A couple of weeks ago, however, a copy of the 2002 trip movie (or rather a 55 minute version of it) was hand-delivered to Rich and screened in Pyongyang – a North Korean premiere!
According to this BBC report, England kick off their home campaign to qualify for the 2006 World Cup on 9 Oct 2004 against Wales at Old Trafford. Prior to that there will be away games against Austria and Poland. Check out this BBC article for a full list of fixtures.
The other nations in the group are N Ireland, Azerbaijan, Austria and Poland.
So then, FIFA have made their decision, and have selected South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. Excellent news as far as I’m concerned, because, although I’d have loved to have visited Tunisia or Morocco just as much, the journey to South Africa from London should be a great one.
There’s a curious echo of the trip to Korea, during which I found my grandfather’s grave in a small village in Uzbekistan, in that my grandmother’s grave is at the foot of Kilimanjaro, in a little village called Tengeru, where she, my father and my uncle spent the majority of the war years after their ordeals in the (former) Soviet Union. It’ll be wonderful to see her grave on the way to South Africa, if I can find it…
