At 14:09 20/06/2010, you wrote:
>Or maybe they're just rubbish?
>Julian, I have to say you made my day with that excellent satirical sketch
>below - thanks and lols galore.
>
>Sandra
Always happy to entertain - more so as I know very little about
soccer compared to many.
The wish / expectation that we will win the cup is of course
optimism, but the expectation that we could produce a football team
capable of progressing to the knockout stages is not unrealistic and
does reflect the performance of English football both recently (in
qualifying) and the players in their club careers.
Of course the truth dare not speak its name .... often.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/bungs-and-bribes-football-cant-kick-this-habit-1611274.html
(Note this article refers to many instances of corruption. Those who
wish to focus on Grobelaar will note he was cleared in a criminal
trial, but in awarding him UKP 1 damages against the Sun newspaper
the House of Lords eventually said: "The tort of defamation protects
those whose reputations have been unlawfully injured. It affords
little or no protection to those who have, or deserve to have, no
reputation deserving of legal protection. Until 9 November 1994 when
the newspaper published its first articles about him, the appellant's
public reputation was unblemished. But he had in fact acted in a way
in which no decent or honest footballer would act and in a way which
could, if not exposed and stamped on, undermine the integrity of a
game which earns the loyalty and support of millions.")
In Germany there are problems:
http://arthurzbygniew.blogspot.com/2010/02/european-football-murders-and-bribes.html
which quotes articles from Spiegel.
From this year there is also:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2917932/Chelsea-caught-in-7million-bribes-storm.html
There is also an article in the rag below, but whether it is worth
even a single electron I would not speculate:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1280581/Lord-Triesmans-World-Cup-bribery-allegations-backed-Russian-player.html
I think the cameraman in the recent England match was excellent and
in a couple of shots focused on really specific things that looked
odd, not simply players playing below 100%.
But hey, what do I know?
Julian
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