FIFA World Cup: Time to embrace technology

The match between England and Germany in the second round of the World Cup yesterday has provided some quality of excitement to the game and hopefully, as the tournament progresses, the fans can enjoy such quality in this beautiful game.

The hottest topic about this game is most probably not the victory of Germany but the shot by Frank Lampard which hit the goal bar that bounced down and back up off the bar again. An almost instant replay during the live telecast clearly showed that the ball has indeed crossed the line. To the horror of all, from the the Englishmen to the football fans, the referee waved to play on as if he has not seen it. If the referee is 'blind' or being blinded, how about the linesmen?

It is indeed pitiful that England has to relive the equally controversial shot by Geoff Hurst during the 1966 World Cup. Many has argued that the ball has crossed the line and to this day, it is still being debated. Unlike today, where video technology is in such an advance stage, whereby any shots can be replayed almost instantly from any angle and in HD too! If such technology is available, shouldn't FIFA embraced it to be used in future tournaments so that there is some fairness?

Since the controversial goal by Thierry Henry in the return leg playoff between France and Ireland, I have blogged about the use of video technology and how it should be implemented.

Kindly read here for the proposals.

Maybe for once, FIFA should listen to an outsider.

FIFA World Cup: Let's hail the Yankees!

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is already half-way through and the tournament is anything but exciting to-date.

We have witnessed how the top teams like England struggled to survive in the Group matches and the biggest shocker must be the elimination of Italy and France who are the defending champion and runner-up respectively in the last World Cup. Then there is Spain, which is the favourite to win the Cup by the pundits, is hanging precauriously for survival in the last group match. These countries are supposed to be the top teams in the world and they have the biggest and richest professional leagues. The players are being paid incredulously high which at times looked so outrageous that I wonder if football is being played by one or two players only. And it is for this reason, where monetary rewards overtake pride and dignity for the game, that I am never interested in any of the professional leagues, especially the English Premier League.

In the United States where the American football and basketball supersede all other sports in popularity, one cannot help but wonder how they managed to qualify for two consecutive World Cups and has now qualified for the Group of 16 round by beating Algeria. It is indeed delightful and exciting to watch the Americans attacking relentlessly in the match against Algeria with their never-say-die attitude. Ultimately the winning goal came, at the last minute of injury time. If only luck is not against the Americans, the score could be easily 3-0.

If the United States wins the World Cup, the booster dose for the popularity of football will be tremendous: both in the US and the world. Maybe for once, the cup should be won by an 'outsider' team so that it can breathe new life for the next World Cup.

Possibly related post: here