Quantity over Quality

On Sunday, the US pulled off one of the most imponderable results in international competitive soccer by defeating Egypt 3-0 and taking advantage of a 3-0 Italian defeat at the hands of the Brazilian national team to advance to the semi finals of the Confederations Cup.

At the end of the day, Italy and the US ended up tied in points (3) and goal difference (-2). So how did the US manage to pass through to the next stage?

According to FIFA tiebreak rules in the group stage are as follows: 1) Goal difference in all group matches  2) Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches 3) Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned.

Sound iffy to anyone? What this is saying, setting aside the individual results of this tournament, is that the fact that the US scored one more goal is more important in determining which is a better team than the fact that Italy beat the US 3-1 less than a week before.

How is a head-to-head encounter not the best way to judge which of two teams is better?

In the current case, there’s a sense of redemption since it was an unfair red card in that early game that allowed Italy to take such a strong lead and probably to take a lead to begin with against the US.

Aside from ‘fairness’ and logic  there is another problem with this form of judgment. This tiebreaker gives preference to a style of play.

Without a doubt, and as made clear in this tournament. The importance placed on goals scored gives preference to offensive teams while hindering teams, like Italy that play a defensive style of play.

It seems natural that FIFA would give preference to il jogo bonito of Brazil. Maybe this is a reaction to Italy’s win in 2006 in which everyone was willing to criticize Italy for winning with its defensive, rough and lets admit unattractive style of play while mourning the demise of Brazil’s jogo bonito in the quarters.

Yet, the commentators admitted that while the Brazilians played pretty they did not play well and while the Italians played horrible style football they got the results they needed.

For now, FIFA’s strategy has backfired. The viewership and attendance that an Italy v. Spain semifinal would have garnered would have been infinitely better than a US. v. Spain semifinal.

The only game that had sold out in the group stage was the Italy v. Brazil game. Hopefully this gets Blatter to reassess the FIFA rules and bring some logic and fairness back to the game.

Iran, The Politics of Soccer

The Iranian Soccer team took the Iranian protest of the recent election to a very international level yesterday, when seven players entered their World Cup Qualifier Game against the Republic of South Korea wearing green bands symbolizing their support for reform leader Mir Hossein Moussavi. The protest also extended to the Iranian supporters who were not nearly as subtle as the Iranian players.

The protest, miniscule in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of protesters lining the Iranian streets, has given it an amazing visibility and symbolism especially in light of the growing censorship of local and international media in Iran. While the government can censor the information on their TV it would be impossible to censor the World Cup Qualifier, with soccer being the most popular sport in Iran.

The players were forced to take off their armbands in the second half as they were not part of the official uniform. The game gained even more emotional baggage when a goal from Park Ji-Sung 9 minutes from the end of the game tied the game and ended Team Mellis chances to qualify for the South African World Cup.

The Question is then, who is in a more perilous spot at the moment: the regime or the players?

It’s unlikely that a regime already ceding to some of the pressure would have the audacity, or rather the strength, to go after these soccer players which after yesterday have an even greater superstar status within the country.

This is not to take away from the players. What they did was extremely brave and courageous. It is yet another response from Iran that should give hope and inspiration throughout the world.

The real question is, how much damage can this do to the regime? It’s just armbands, right?

The Iran team, like in many countries throughout the world, holds a symbolic importance within the country that explains the government’s constant control of the team.

Sometimes the policies of the government and the team is hard to differentiate. In 2006, the team was temporarily suspended when from International play when the government backed Physical Education Organization removed Football Federation Chief Mohammed Dadkan due to the teams negative results in the 2006 World Cup. They did not make it past group play.

Dadkan reported that he had been personally abused after the teams elimination and was even called a “Zionist Collaborator”, a strong claim coming form a government that forbids competition against Israeli teams or athletes.

There were many protests prior to the 2006 World Cup calling for the removal of the team from the tournament when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the holocaust had ever happened, calling it a “myth that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets”

These remarks came months after Ahmadinejad had claimed that Israel should be '”wiped off the map”

Ultimately, it was decided that the words of the supposedly democratically elected leader did not represent the opinions of the Iranian people and much les the Iranian national team. A claim that holds even greater importance after the disputed elections and a claim made clear by the green wristbands worn by the players in support of Moussavi.

Geography Through Soccer: Confederates Cup Edition

Most of the geography I know is through soccer. Sratch that. All the geography I know is because of soccer, so I thought I'd share the wealth.

Who said learning couldn't be fun, eh?

In honor of the Confederate Cup that began yesterday, it's time to get to know the countries participating.

1) Brazil (No.5 FIFA Ranking):

Population: 198,739,269
    Official Language: Portuguese
    Capital: Brazilia

Brazil has the most World Cups with five, the last coming in Korea/Japan 2002.
   Known for its production of coffee and more recently the production of ethanol.

2) Egypt (No. 40)

Population: 83,082,869
    Official Language: Arabic
    Capital: Cairo

Egypt's contemporary history is overshadowed by its ancient history. Mohamed Hosni Mobarak has been president of Egypt for 28 years, one of the longest reigning rulers in the modern world.

3) Iraq (No. 77)

Population: 28,945,657
Official Language: Arabic and Kurdish (in Kurdish Regions)
Capital: Baghdad

Iraq, known by the Ancient Greeks as Mesopotamia, is known as the 'cradle of civilization'. Today, it is a parliamentary democracy ruled by Shia PM Jawal Al-Maliki and Kuridsh  President Lalal Talabini. Talabini is the first non-Arab president of an Arab country.

4) Italy (No. 4)

Population: 58,126,212
Official Language: Italian
Capital: Rome

The median age of Italians is 42 years, the fourth oldest in the world. 20% of Italians are 65+ years of age.

5) New Zealand (No.82)

Population:4,213,418
Official Language (s): English, Maori, and Sign Language
Capital: Wellington

The New Zealand Rugby national team has the best winning percentage of any national team. They are best known for the haka dance they perform before games (add link)

6) South Africa (No. 72)

Population: 49,052,489
Official Languages (s): Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu (English it the most commonly spoken)
Capital: Pretoria (administrative capital), Cape Town (Legislative Capital),Bloemfontein, (Judicial capital)

South Africa's wealth depends on its wealth of natural resources, it is a leading producer of precious medals, leading in gold and the fourth largest producer of diamonds.

7) Spain (No. 1)

Population: 40,525,002
Official Language: Spanish
Capital: Madrid

Capital: Madrid

In theory, nudity is legal anywhere in Spain, which means any beach can be a nudist beach although nudists usually congregate in certain beaches.

8) United States (No. 14)

Population: 307,212,123
Official Language: The US has no official language
Capital: Washington, D.C

General Motors, in 1954, became the first corporation in the U.S. to have $1 billion in net income. RIP GM.