Legendary Arsenal FC goalkeeper Bob Wilson explains why goalies have the loneliest job in soccer. Video by Andre Andreev for The New York Times
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Meet the 2018 World Cup football.
“This year’s World Cup ball is called the Telstar 18, a nod to the original design. While the panels have changed to just six propeller-shaped pieces to make the ball even more spherical, the black-and-white checkered design is back.”
A Vox video.
More:
“Satellites and microchips: the surprising tech behind the World Cup ball,” Marc Chacksfield, TechRadar
“From Russia With Lough: Adidas Telstar 18 Is Specifically Designed to Stop Dip & Swerve,” Sports Illustrated
“World Cup 2018: Adidas boffins produce ball specially designed to stop Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kicks,” Duncan Wright, The Sun
“Fifa World Cup 2018 ball: Adidas Telstar 18 football ‘a problem for goalkeepers,'” Jamie Teather, Evening Standard
“Telstar 18: From satellites to microchips – The tech behind FIFA World Cup 2018 ball,” Manas Tiwari, Financial Express
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Two former officials of the South American soccer association were found guilty in U.S. Federal Court on Friday of accepting millions of dollars in bribes. The jury will deliberate on a third defendant next week. 24 other people tied to FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, have pleaded guilty, and 15 more charged in the racketeering and money-laundering probe are fighting extradition to the U.S.
More:
“2 Top Soccer Officials Found Guilty in FIFA Case,” Rebecca R. Ruiz, New York Times
“Fifa trial: two ex-soccer officials found guilty on multiple charges of corruption,” Oliver Laughland, The Guardian
Update:
“Fifa trial: ex-president of Peru soccer acquitted of corruption charge,” AP via The Guardian
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Last Friday evening in Paris, 80,000 people watched France play Germany in a friendly soccer match at the Stade de France. Spectators included French President François Hollande and his guests, relatives of people who died in a German plane crash in the French Alps in March. 15 minutes into the game, President Hollande left to take a phone call and learned that a loud noise outside the stadium was caused when a man, stopped as he tried to enter the packed Stade de France, exploded his suicide vest. M. Hollande consulted the Interior Minister and a sports official and decided to keep the news from other spectators, avoiding panic and mass injuries. Elsewhere in Paris, as the game continued, over a hundred people were shot to death as they sat in cafes and restaurants and at a concert.
While French midfielder Lassana Diarra ran up and down the pitch his cousin Asta Diakite was killed in one of the fusillades. “She was like a big sister to me,” he later tweeted. His teammate on Les Bleus, striker Antoine Griezmann, later learned that his sister was one of the hostages who escaped from the Bataclan theater, where 89 people died. Neither man learned about their family members until hours later, early Saturday morning.
By the second half most spectators had learned about the terror attacks through social media, and players on both teams were informed at end of the match and asked to remain in the heavily guarded stadium instead of venturing onto the streets. Mattresses were found, and players and coaches slept at the Stade de France until a team bus arrived for Germany’s Die Mannschaft at about 2 AM.
Oh, France beat Germany 2 to 0.
Zurich’s Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, recently reelected President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), will be leaving that position in a few months — if he is not arrested first. On Thursday, investigators from the Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) quietly initiated criminal proceedings against Herr Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement under Articles 158 and 138 of the Swiss Criminal Code. On Friday they surprised him at FIFA HQ, interrogating him and other top soccer execs, looking into the specifics of the 2005 TV rights deal Herr Blatter cut with Caribbean football chief Jack Warner and his $2 million payoff to underling Michel Platini in 2011.
Herr Blatter has ruled the international sports empire since 1998 and has helped FIFA bring the lucrative World Cup matches to places like Russia and the North Pole Qatar. His resignation followed news that Herr Blatter’s top assistant, Jérôme Valcke, was involved in a questionable $10 million money transfer.
Zurich’s Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, recently reelected President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), will be leaving that position in a few months, if he is not arrested first. Herr Blatter has ruled the international sports empire since 1998, and has helped FIFA bring the lucrative World Cup matches to places like Russia and the North Pole Qatar. The abrupt resignation followed news that Herr Blatter’s top assistant, Jérôme Valcke, was involved in a questionable $10 million money transfer.
Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft, the German national football team, has won the 2014 World Cup, defeating Argentina 1 – 0.
At the Vatican, Argentina’s Pope Francis will now retire and Germany’s Pope Benedict XVI will return to the Papal throne for the next four years. Consult L’Osservatore Romano for details.
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The big Sunday news: Today’s World Cup Final is a match between Argentina, home of His holiness Pope Francis, and Germany, home of retired Pope Benedict XVI. Good Lord!
More:
“World Cup final? No, it’s battle of the Popes,” Sophie Gadd and Martin Belam, Daily Mirror
“World Cup 2014: Battle of the Popes,” Terry Elkady, Global News
“World Cup: Germany, Argentina each have pope in corner,” Eric J. Lyman, USA Today
“World Cup final: It’s Pope versus Pope,” Daniel Burke, CNN Belief
“Who has God on their side? Popes to battle it out in World Cup final,” Carey Lodge, Christian Today
Note: The referee? Italian, naturalmente.
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The sixth and last Clericus Cup is underway, the annual football contest between seminarians in the colleges of Vatican City. This will be the final year of the competition. Just as the championship series began, the Church and Sport Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity gave the contest last rites, citing a decline in sportsmanship, a loss of mission, and the rise of naughty Latin chanting from the sidelines.
UPDATED here.
The final match of the 2010 World Cup will be played shortly. The competitors, The Netherlands and Spain, have a history. Lots of history, chiefly the overtime contest called The Eighty Years War or Tachtigjarige Oorlog (1568–1648).
The war began under the leadership of coaches William of Orange on the Dutch side, with Philip II coaching Spain. The outcome? Hint: the struggle is also called the Dutch War of Independence.
Back to today’s match: neither side has won the World Cup in the entire history of FIFA competition. How long is that? Eighty years.
Image (William of Orange vs Philip II) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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