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Goal of the Week: Scorpion Kick!

Editor — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:02:28 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

23-year-old forward Erlan Gastón Mealla of the team Nacional de Potosí scores the first of his two goals against Bolivian capital La Paz side The Strongest with a flying back heel volley (or scorpion kick) from outside the box. Nacional de Potosí won the game 2-0 in the first match day of the Bolivian Torneo the Clausura 2012 on Sunday, January 29.

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FIFA ready for more Champagne?

Editor — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:33:25 +0000

By Andreas Selliaas in Norway (translated by Pelle Kvalsund)

The day after. Sunday 15 January, 2012, I received an email from the former director of FIFA’s international operations, Jerome Champagne. Receiving the e-mail on that particular Sunday was a bit odd since I had been to a champagne party the night before and the desire for something that had to do with champagne was very minimal. Attached to Mr. Champagne’s e-mail were three documents: a 25-page memo on how Champagne wants to reform FIFA, a press release from FIFA in 2010 on Champagne’s departure from FIFA, and a newspaper article from Le Monde the week before where Champagnes outlines the main points in the lengthy memo. The same e-mail was sent to all 208 members of FIFA and people attending the Play the Game conference in Cologne in October 2011. The memo is interesting in several respects.

Champagne’s-CV. Jerome Champagne is significant in the FIFA context. He was, as mentioned, head of their international operations for many years. He has been credited for shaping the new international transfer system for footballers and praised for FIFA’s assistance to the Football Federation of Kosovo, for bringing together football leaders from the Greek and Turkish sides in Cyprus, and for his assistance and on-going commitment to Palestinian football. A former French diplomat, Champagne held a key position in the organizing committee for the 1998 World Cup in France. He also has worked as a journalist. The reason for his departure from FIFA in 2010 is unclear. It is believed that he was sacked, but the real reason for his sudden departure is still unknown.

Silence in Cologne. Jerome Champagne was one of the speakers at Play the Game conference in Cologne last year. When he was asked why he had to depart from FIFA, he would not answer. He also refused to share any written material after his lecture to foreign sports journalists, sports academics and stakeholders in sports. Champagne is still silent about his sudden departure from FIFA, but has finally been willing to share his views on FIFA reforms in written form. And some of his views are quite controversial, possibly explosive.

7-11. In his documents Champagne lists seven problem areas for FIFA:

1. Amateur football and professional football
2. Club football and national team football
3. European football and football in the rest of the world
4. Clubs and players
5. Relationship of football with money between the need of it and the dangers of its excesses
6. Autonomy of football and dialogue with its environment, specificity and ordinary justice
7. Globalization, identity and imbalances

He also has 11 proposals for changing FIFA:

1. Revive the democratic debate within the football pyramid
2. Increase even more development programs with new solidarity mechanisms
3. Restore the role and the centrality of the FAs while clarifying the relations with the confederations
4. Involve leagues, clubs and players in the decision-making process
5. Adjust FIFA to the evolutions of today’s world to reflect them better
6. Reshuffle the power responsibilities between the FIFA President, the Executive Committee and the Associations
7. Strengthen FIFA’s governance structures
8. Reform FIFA’s administration
9. Modify the insulation of refereeing debates
10. Define and implement a more comprehensive notion of autonomy
11. Reconnect FIFA with the “people of football”

208-club. In Cologne, he surprised many observers when he said that Sepp Blatter was not the problem in FIFA. This from a man who was allegedly sacked? Champagne believed that the FIFA president had too little power, but that the Executive Committee (ExCo) — consisting of 24 persons (when no one is suspended) had too much power. His proposal was a democratization of FIFA in which all 208 member nations have more of a say in the choice of World Cup hosts, for example. Increasing the power of each member nation would circumvent the power of the continental confederations such as UEFA and CONCACAF. If such a change will lead to less corruption in FIFA is uncertain. The acclaimed journalist Steve Menary — who sat on the panel “FIFA under fire” I was leading during the Play the Game conference — is of the opinion that more power to each nation, and especially the smaller nations, would open up opportunities for more corruption through the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme (FAP). Nevertheless, if more power is given to each nation, the game of power and positions change dramatically in FIFA.

English misery. Champagne also criticizes the English FA and says that they should lose their “Home Nation” privilege, which allows the United Kingdom to have four member nations (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) and a vice-presidency in the FIFA ExCo. Champagne believes that this is old fashioned and do not serve British interests. He further claims that England would have been a far stronger nation in FIFA without an automatic pass into the ExCo. He suggests that the power struggle between the four associations in the UK sharply curtails the British ability to influence FIFA in the way they want. Whether the removal of Home Nation privilege would have given England a better opportunity to get the World Cup in 2018 I’m not sure, but one can speculate . . .

Champagne FIFA president? There are many interesting ideas in Champagne’s memo and many of them would help FIFA be more up to date and more transparent. But the question that arises is why he has suddenly reappeared with his reformist ideas and without criticizing FIFA-president Sepp Blatter. Further, why does he send these documents to me (and other hand-picked people)? Jerome Champagne was one of the most powerful people in FIFA and he has never been accused of being corrupt. He does not attack Blatter, instead he indirectly supports him. It almost seems like he is defending Blatter as a person and as FIFA-president. The question is whether this intervention is really an attack on UEFA president Michel Platini, the man most observers believe will succeed Blatter as President of FIFA. After all, changing the power structure in FIFA and devolving more power to each association at the expense of the confederations, would probably make the election of the FIFA President in 2015 a lot less predictable than it appears today. My sense is that Champagne will be one of the candidates.

Part of the Game? So why did I get this e-mail? One reason may be that on a couple of occasions I asked Champagne to send me his Cologne presentation in writing. Another reason could be that he wants to use me to spread his proposal for reform to countries that rarely qualify for major championships (I’m from Norway). The last reason could be that he would like to use me in his battle to become the new FIFA president. You are hereby warned!

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Goal of the Week: Brazilian magic…doubled

Editor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:43:33 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

Although scored a few months ago, these two jewels by new Brazilian phenom Neymar and old Brazilian magician Ronaldinho scored in the same game deserve a spot in the series. São Paulo team Santos hosted Rio de Janeiro side Flamengo for the twelfth round of the Brasilerão on July 27, 2011 in one of the greatest Brazilian games in recent years. Down 3-0 early in the first half, the red-and-black carioca team led by hat-trick scorer Ronaldinho ended up with an amazing 5-4 comeback victory.

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An Armchair Geography (and Preview?) of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations

Editor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:23:41 +0000

By Andrew Guest (drewguest AT hotmail DOT com)

It’s that time again; the biennial opportunity for Africa’s best national teams to compete for the continental championship, and European club management to complain about the audacity of former colonies holding a tournament smack in the middle of the league season — extracting labor in a reverse flow that might promote some useful self-reflection, if not for the blinders fused on most of the professional football world.

It always good fun to watch the machinations, even from a distance — the actual football starts January 21 in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, and ends with the final on February 12 in Libreville, the capital of co-host Gabon. As in 2010 in Angola, most of us will be watching from a distance: the oil-rich states that CAF has recently favored in its hosting decisions are note easy places to get to.

According to trusty web travel agent “cheaptickets.com,” if I wanted to get from my current sabbatical home in Michigan, USA, to Equatorial Guinea in time for the first round my “lowest fare” would be a cool $2506.00; getting to Libreville Gabon, on the other hand, would only set me back $1517—of course then I’d have to work on the visa, the accommodations, and the game tickets . . .

So, as might by now be obvious, I tend to think of the tournament as much as a chance to polish my armchair socio-historical geography as it is a chance to enjoy some good football. A few years ago, when I was regularly writing for the web-site Pitch Invasion, the armchair hobby led me to speculate on a slight but significant “Francophone advantage” thanks to the complicated interactions of football talent flows, colonial history, and post-colonial immigration patterns. Of course, the fact that Egypt and its contingent of mostly domestically-based players and coaches have made a habit of claiming the Cup of Nations for its own (having won the last three in a row) doesn’t help my hypothesis.

But this time Egypt failed to qualify, Anglophone power Nigeria won’t be there, and the socio-historical power dynamics might once again find some space on the pitch. My somewhat miscellaneous tabular preview is below — this time without much commentary, leaving most of the hypothesizing to you (for now). I would just observe quickly that the French influence this year seems ubiquitous; 9 of 16 teams have Francophone history, the largest delegation of foreign coaches are French (4, compared to 7 locals—which is a fairly significant local contingent compared to recent tournaments), and 8 of 15 squads draw more players from French professional teams than from any other foreign league system (the 16th squad — Sudan — has an entirely domestic roster). Whether that proves an advantage or not, we’ll soon see.

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Goal of the Week: Back Heel!

Editor — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:03:12 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

Athletic Bilbao resourceful midfielder Gaizka Toquero scores this brilliant goal against Albacete in second leg of the Spanish Copa del Rey round of sixteen on January 12. The Basque side won the match 4-0 and will face Mallorca in the quarterfinals.

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Goal of the Week: 2012 Kick Off!

Editor — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:06:07 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

A Happy New Year to all football aficionados! We kick off our 2012 collection with a double issue.

Everton’s American goalkeeper Tim Howard scores a spectacular (and lucky) goal against Bolton in the EPL’s first matchday of 2012. Despite this unusual score by the home team, Bolton went on to win the game 2-1.

And then some smiles…

The game saw Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei face Citizen in the Hong Kong First Division on Dec. 16, 2011. Sun Hei’s defender Baise Festus scores with a fantastic reverse scorpion kick . . . but in his own goal. Citizen will go on to win the game 3-2. Image quality of this video is worth bearing the somewhat funny soundtrack.

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Goal of the Week: Indoor Special

Editor — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:33:32 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

As the new year approaches, we leave 2011 and its great goals with this gem by Argentinian player Lucas Emiliano Maina of Rocca Massima Latina, a team competing in the second division of Italian 5v5 (“calcetto”) league.

A Happy New Year to all football “aficionados” with best wishes for a 2012 full of spectacular goals!

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Goal of the Week: Family Jewels

Editor — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:47:06 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

Argentinian striker Maxi Biancucchi, F.C. Barcelona Leo Messi’s cousin, gets on the scoreboard for Olimpia against Rubio Ñu in the last matchday of the Paraguayan Torneo de Clausura 2011. Maxi’s chest control and no-look finish are further proof, if needed, of the football skills running in the family. Olimpia went on to win the game 2-1, which also gave them the league title 3 points ahead of major rival team Cerro Porteño. Dec. 18, 2011.

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Goal of the Week: Coordination and power!

Editor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:06:55 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

Although three weeks old, this spectacular shot by Hannover 96 striker Jan Schlaudraff against Hamburger SV in matchday 14 of the German Bundesliga deserves a spot in the series. Scored in the 79th minute, this marvel of coordination and power equalized the game at 1-1, which remained as the final score. Nov, 26, 2011.

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Goal of the Week: Volley

Editor — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:09:27 +0000

By Simone Poliandri

Dutch striker Robin van Persie finishes Alex Song’s perfect assist with a spectacular left-footed volley in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory against Everton. English Premier League, Dec. 10, 2011.

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