The Soccer Thread (Part III)

Sepp Blatter is at his normal self. First he says something completely normal: FIFA has enquired with three National Associations to see if they would be available if South Africa can't handle it.

Then he says Manchester United should let Cristiano Ronaldo go if he requests a transfer, and calls the present transfer system a type of modern slavery.

How the hell does this guy stay as head of FIFA? The guy wasn't forced to sign a contract, and you, Mr. Blatter, should be just as for protecting clubs from players who decide they don't want to fulfill their contracts as you appear to be for protecting players.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=554459&sec=world&cc=5901

 

" ... if a natural catastrophe forces it away from South Africa."

So does the stupidity of putting it in SA in the first place qualify as a natural catastrophe?

 

Sepp Blatter is certifiably nuts.

 

Chelski will have to find someone else for the Carling, GB. Apparently Sidwell's heading to Villa:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/7497536.stm

 

Now that really is "inarguable among the sane."

 

It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but taking the long view now, somewhere like Egypt would almost certainly have been a better choice.

South Africa staged a perfectly successful Rugby World Cup in 1995, played in fantastic stadia, including four with 50,000 seat capacity, and another two with 35,000+ capacities.

Three of those stadiums are being used, but they're all being 'upgraded' for the World Cup. They're also building a new stadium on the place were one of the 50,000 capacity RWC stadiums used to stand.

I don't get it.

 

Well-played.

 

I'm guessing that means Liverpool's about to up their bid for Barry, and Villa's going to accept. Apparently, Liverpool would also like to get David Villa so they can have the matched pair up front with Torres.

 

It will cost 'em a lot, but adding Barry and Villa to Gerrard and Torres could be monumental.

 

He did make a good move by declining to name the three. You gotta figure the U.S. is one; England might well be another, and you'd have to think he'd still prioritize putting it in Africa, so the third is probably Egypt. Didn't Morocco bid a few times, as well? Trouble with so many African countries is even the stable ones are never that far from anarchy, Kenya being a prime example.

SA was never a good idea. As far as the country's come, and it has, I just don't see how it can cope with such a large event. The RWC was big, but it's nothing compared to this.

 

Talk about never walking alone. That would be a formidable foursome.

 

Villa's somewhat small, so he might have to adapt to the EPL, but with his speed and skill, I don't think he'll have many problems.