Goal Line Technology? Were you watching, Mr Blatter?
20/06/12 01:55
Footcall 2012 Day 12...
We did it... England are through to the Knockout Stages, surely we're gonna win the cup? My apologies to those of you playing who are (a) Not English or (b) Don't share my enthusiasm for our chances of success. Either way, the fact remains that England did top the group with their one nil victory over Ukraine but what was perhaps more of a surprise was that France lost 2-0 to Sweden which gifted us a Quarter Final match against Italy rather than Spain.
The England game was indeed classic England. Before the match everyone was tense, nervous and ready to kick ar*e, and that was just the Messrs Chiles, Carragher, Southgate and Keane. All we needed was a draw, surely we could just keep it tight for 94 minutes and we'd be home and hosed? Well not England, we like to do it the hard way! Suddenly we lost the ability to keep the effing ball, surely the boot boy must have put out 22 left boots cos it looked dreadfully uncomfortable out there. Rooney was back with his trademark aggressive style? Clang! Nope even he looked terrified of picking up another card and so we looked like we were playing in to the Ukrainian hands affording them time on the ball and potshots at poor old Joe Hart. Rooney did miss a golden opportunity to head England in front but didn't jump high enough and put it over the bar. Goalless at half time there was a strong sense that maybe Sydsupersoccerstars would be on for some points tonight but soon after the break!
Fortunately one man seemed to understand our plight, no I'm not talking about manager Wroy (although he's doing a pretty good job so far) it was Cap'n Gerrard. Yep Jamie's mate was out there winning the tackles and disrupting the the Ukraine defence and it was Stevieee's attrition that carved out our best chances and in the 48th minute, Gerrard swung in a ball which was fumbled by the keeper right into the path of Rooney and this time his head managed to guide it into the net. Now we had the lead, all we had to do was keep it. Minutes later, Devic managed to evade John Terry's defence and lob Joe Hart to send the ball towards the gaping net. But Devic hadn't banked on Mr Terry getting back up Terminator style to rush back and clear the ball off the line with a desperate swing of his boot. Was it over the line? The referee said no, the linesman said no and the mysterious new touch line assistant (specifically drafted in to look for balls crossing the line) said no! WTF? The instant replay told is it was comfortably over! Why do UEFA and FIFA refuse to implement the technology? You only have to ask any Spurs fan how important it is to have it. There was a rumour that Devic was offside but this certainly wasn't the case. At least this refereeing oversight has balanced out Lampard's goal that wasn't given in Footcall 2010. The game did become a little more open and Smashley Cole had a good effort well saved to be denied his first ever goal in an England shirt. And so it finished one nil to the Eng-er-land and then the news came in that Sweden had doubled their lead against the French after Larsson picked up a deflected bounce off the bar and powered the ball into the roof of the net. This was all nugatory as Sweden were going home no matter what the score but I'm sure Ibrahimovich was well happy with his peachy volley that put his country in front for what must be one of the contenders of goal of the tournament. So France lost two nil, surely nobody predicted that scoreline... or did they?
And so to the Footcall league...
That's it for the Group Stages it's all over for part one of Footcall 2012 and would you believe it, we have a three way tie at the top all with 26 points and all with 6 accurate scores! So Manoj Gupta, Chris and Nick Kotsonis and Steve Goodwin all share the £120 prize money for the top three places. That's 40 quid each and yes, Chris and Nick that is sterling I'm afraid, you'll have to get the best exchange rate you can :-) Close up behind them is Matthew Green claiming £20 who put on a blistering run in the past few days to move into fourth with 25pts and 6 red squares. Finally Paul (Footcall's Mr Consistency) Firmston and 4½ year old Nathaniel Ridley both share the final tenner (that's £5 each) as they both scored 25pts with 5 three pointers, that's more than a pound for every year of Nathaniel's life, I'm sure his dad, James, will put that into a trust fund for him!
Sadly Dan (I can't get enough of this Footcall lark) Schroeck just missed out on a money spot finishing in 7th but Jon (now I'm in contention) Hill raced into 8th with a correct answer tonight. Other correct players include, Nick (Colin? Where are you?) Singleton, Dave (I'm looking but I don't see Les) Herbert, James (I have a fiver) Ridley, buddies Tat Wah and Richard Goodwin, the elusive Angus McPheep, Lucy (only one point after 7 games) Ginger and Colin (here I am Nick you cheeky Footcaller) Jessop also did well. Finley (I'm only three months old) Cowland, Sam (check me out on page one) Ford, Simon (it's not about the winning) Clark and Jill (it never crossed the line!) Fuller all cemented their place on the top page after the Group stages. Alan Church, Nick (it's not been my year so far) Stacey, Kim (I'm sure Graham was around here somewhere) GIlbert, Rennies (Leanne and Lyn), Mick (let's not talk about my position) Mallion, Deano Smith and Paul (how many people do you know called Max) Wakefield all picked up red squares. Neil (strike a light) Larkin was given Norfolk n Chance a week ago but now is up to 91st! Harry Hitch has smashed into the top 100 and Peter Mulvey has edged away from the bottom to leave poor old Simon Jenner rooted to the foot of the table yet again, the question is, can he stay there and claim the vuvu?
But man of the day has to be Dan (better late than never!) Mackenzie who was the only player to score a perfect 6 today even guessing Sweden to win two nil (along with Neil Larkin) it was an impressive haul from Dan who shoots up into 92nd now just a point behind Joanna. But we are still only half way folks!
The following email is your reminder to now go and complete your Knockout Stages form, where there are a massive 24 points available. You have until 1pm on Thursday afternoon to complete your KO form, just login on the home page and click the Make KO Predictions link.
Good luck!
Dj