World Cup: Drama Drama Drama

I trawled the internet looking for international fan reactions from yesterday's matches and found that there was some unexpected and expected fallout. 

UNEXPECTED:

England striker Wayne Rooney was startled by the England fans' negative reaction to yesterday's match vs Algeria.  He  snarled at an ITV camera man: 'Nice to see your own fans booing you. If that's what loyal support is.... For ****'s sake.'   Here is another look at it courtesy of The Sun newspaper, a British tab.
Clearly Wayne was not happy to hear the boos and jeers from the England fans.  He's not used to booing after a game in Manchester, as the fans always clap the team off the field.  You could make the argument that these fans paid thousands of dollars to attend the matches with the hope that England would progress quite easily.  The media had hyped this (and Wayne is also in the fabulous Nike advert as the savior of England) to the hilt.  But United fans pay thousands of dollars to see them play and they never boo.
Wayne has always had a spot of temper and there is nothing more humiliating than to be a "favorite" and then limp home to a 0-0 draw.  As a sports fan I would NEVER boo my own team.  I have that opinion for several reasons.  First, I was an athlete myself.  I can't imagine anything worse than being on the playing field and hearing those boos.  Everyone has a bad game and yes, England has had two in a row for the WC, but booing them will only make them feel worse and possibly affect them for the next match.  England still has a very good chance of going through, thanks to the US's draw with Slovenia.  Second, the booing has a wider affect, in that it will make it into the international press and other teams will hear about it.  You know that Slovenia has heard about it (as they were reading about their "gifted" win this morning) and that gives them hope that England is falling apart internally, which can translate to the pitch.  Third, it's just plain rude.  If you think that your arse can do any better, then fine...boo all you want.  But I seriously doubt that ANYONE watching the England match yesterday in the stadium (except David Beckham) could have done any better.

To top off the on-pitch fan dissent,  the press were reporting that an irate fan had broken into the England dressing room after the match and came face to face with team mascot David Beckham, who was "startled" to be confronted by the fan.  The worry was that the fan had been there just after Princes William and Harry had visited the team to give them their support.  But today Becks and the princes claimed that the whole thing was blown out of proportion.  The fan merely came in and said "hello."  He didn't comment on England's play and was quickly ushered out by FIFA officials.   England has lodged a complaint with FIFA over the breakdown in security.  The fan did not have any official credentials but was wearing an England kit (shirt).
Prince William, who is president of the FA, joked at a reception later that night that, "Harry and I left the door open, that's why it happened, it was our fault."

 
EXPECTED:

Chief sports writer for The Sun, Steven Howard, wrote an alliterative masterpiece for the opening of his column about England's match:

"DRAB, dreary, depressing, disjointed, at times desperate and, overall, dull as ditchwater.

Thanks, England.
No wonder you were booed off the pitch by your own fans last night."

 I also searched the internet for the international sports press' reactions to the USA vs SLOVENIA match and found that there wasn't a single news outlet (although I don't speak Slavic so I could be wrong) in the world that thought the Malian referee called a good match and was right in pulling back the United States' goal by Maurice Edu.  Here are some of the reactions:

CONTROVERSY!
The Malian referee made a mistake and canceled the game-winner by Maurice Edu.
There was no offside or foul by Edu, which was what the referee called.  Moreover, penalties could  have been considered for a couple of grabs by Slovenians in the area.
AS--Spain

The Yankees (authors of 14 shots against only 7 for their adversaries) would  have won if the referee, very poor on Friday, had not refused the perfectly valid  goal of Edu (85th).
L'EQUIPE--France

"Things would have been a lot worse for Slovenia but for Coulibaly's extraordinary decision to rule out a third USA goal five minutes from the end.
With Slovenian defenders grappling and holding on for dear life, Maurice Edu powered his way into the danger zone to volley in from Donovan's free-kick.
But Coulibaly astonishingly ruled Edu had committed the offence and awarded a free-kick to the Slovenians."
The Sun---England

And the headline on the front of La Gazzetta della Sport from Italy:  Regrettable goal annulled. Bradley, the good son gifts one to the U.S.

The referee who made the grievous error today is no stranger to controversy.

QUOTES FOR THE DAY:
"This team has shown it keeps fighting to the end," added Bradley. "It's a credit to the mentality of the players, that they are willing to fight for 90 minutes. There was one moment in the second half it seemed like one point gained, and another when it felt like two points lost."


"I don't think the referee influenced the result." Matjaz Kek...manager of Slovenia

FRANCE...AU REVOIR
Football is hard when you can’t play together. Those were the words of Yoann Gourcuff after sitting on the bench for France’s humiliating 2-0 defeat by Mexico on Thursday night. A simple statement, but one that seems to sum up Les Bleus’ situation rather well.

The Bordeaux midfielder, dropped after France’s dismal opening draw against Uruguay, said his team-mates did not follow the instructions of coach Raymond Domenech.

Gourcuff, 23, said: ‘It was a collective failure. The guys didn’t do what the coach asked them to do. We were supposed to play on the counter-attack, but every time we regained possession we only had three players going forward. You can’t score playing like that against an organised team.’
Adding to their problems is the issue of Nicolas Anelka.  He apparently yelled obscenities at manager Raymond Domenech during the first half of their match with Mexico, when Domenech berated him for drifting out of position and threatened to take him off if he didn't comply with his wishes.  "Go screw yourself, you dirty son of a b****!"  but in French, so... "Va te faire encule, sale fils de pute!"  It seems Wayne Rooney wasn't the only one having a moment on the pitch.  But Nicolas squared off with his manager at halftime...and was replaced for the second half.  Refusing to publicly apologize for his profane rant, he has been sent home by France so he will not play the third match (as if it matters...he was ineffective for the first two).  Others think he should have been sent home earlier:

"What bothers me is Nicolas Anelka's performance in the first half. I saw a player strolling ... strolling in the World Cup!" former French player Bixente Lizarazu said. "He wasn't aggressive, wasn't interested in the game. Domenech took him off at the break, but should have done so before. You shouldn't play in a selfish manner, you have to show you're up for it."

He plays for Chelsea, Bixente...what do you expect?  This was Anelka's first call-up for the French National Team...and most decidedly his last.

Many comments from press and fans in France and beyond have wondered why the French federation did not replace Domenech before the World Cup.  The rationale by the federation at the time was, "don't upset the apple cart."  Hindsight is 20/20 of course and now that attitude seems rather...stupide.

Anelka returning to France

PHOTO OF THE DAY:

.....no words...