Germany's Thomas Mueller a MIA against Spain cost the Germans their fire power - FIFA photo

Why is Spain's Fernando Torres out of form? - FIFA photo

Does Spain's David Villa have chemistry problems? - FIFA photo

SPORTS NOTES EXTRA Part 2 - GERMANY MISSED (THOMAS) FUELER MUELLER

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Mueller who was ineligible due to being yellow carded in their previous game against Argentina. That bad call by referee Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan was another indication of the need for some sort of instant replay that FIFA prefers to avoid - FIFA'S Broadcast rights and fees - HIV/AIDS

Saturday July 10, 2010

GERMANY'S GO TO GUY MISSED

Now that's it's all said and done with Spain and the Netherlands winning their semifinal games that the final will be an all European affair as all of the five South American teams that emerged from the group stage are finished and as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers sang, (I) ran all the way home just to say I'm sorry.

Spain's 1-0 win over Germany is their semifinal match Wednesday was praised by many while in doing so disrespected the talents of the German side that played without its sparkplug and co-leading scorer (4) Thomas Mueller who was ineligible due to being yellow carded in their previous game against Argentina. The bad call by referee Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan was another indication of the need for some sort of instant replay that FIFA prefers to avoid.

Germany played tired, flat and back on its heels since they lost their fiery go to guy Mueller. The side appeared to simply to have run out of gas OR as we say they missed THEIR FUELER MUELLER. It is also being mentioned that prior to the Spain game Germany ran out of gas scoring their tournament leading 13 goals including their 4-1 victory over England and 4-0 destruction of Argentina.

Now it is being said in a dismissive manner that since they average 25-years of age that they are young and will be the favored team in Brazil for the next World Cup to face Brazil. The 20-year-old Mueller has emerged as their future leader with his energetic play that was severely missed in the contest. He is the main cog in Germany's offensive wheel.

Though praise is heaped on Spain's performance we fail to see what the fuss is all about. They lack offensive fire power and Fernando Torres is not in form. He was not in the starting lineup for Germany game and substituted for David Villa in the 81st minute. Obviously he and Villa aren't functioning together. When they play well together they are dangerous when not it raises the question why all of the fuss about Spain.

FIFA Broadcast rights and fees

In Singapore, FIFA's broadcast rights fees for the 2010 World Cup finals have been described as "exorbitant", with the organization having changed prices according to what it perceived the country's TV operators were willing to pay. When Singapore TV operators SingTel and Starhub joined together to bid for the broadcast rights in late 2009, they were reportedly charged an initial SGD$40 million (about USD$30 million). When the Singapore TV operators refused to pay the initial sum quoted by FIFA, and as time passed, Singapore was faced with the prospect of being one of the few countries not to get match broadcasts from the 2010 World Cup.

With only about a month left before the tournament, FIFA finally relented and reportedly reduced the fee to SGD$21 million (USD$15 million), which was then accepted by the Singapore TV operators. This reduced fee was still significantly higher than the fee that FIFA charged Starhub for the exclusive rights to broadcast the 2006 World Cup in Germany, which was reported to be SGD$15 million (US$11 million).

This increased fee for the 2010 World Cup tournament broadcast rights resulted in the Singapore TV operators passing on the cost to their subscribers, which were then charged a special fee of SGD$94 (US$68) in addition to existing contracts, to watch the tournament's games. This high additional fee was the most expensive in the region, and angered Singapore football fans.

Singapore was more expensive when compared to countries in the region that will either be broadcasting the matches free of charge, as in the case of Indonesia and Thailand; or at significantly lower viewing fees, at US$21 in Malaysia and US$38 in Hong Kong. This fee is also almost four times the SGD$25 (USD$18) special fee that Starhub charged its subscribers for viewing the 2006 World Cup finals matches in Germany.

As a result, many fans decided to protest against the increased fees with a mass boycott of the 2010 World Cup broadcast service by both operators.

HIV/AIDS

South Africans and others have expressed concern that the World Cup would stimulate the illicit sex trade. Football fans are being warned that South Africa has one of the worst HIV infection rates in the world with up to half the country's sex workers HIV positive and the British government has given £1 million to buy 42 million condoms. However, AIDS campaigners have accused FIFA of blocking the distribution of condoms at football grounds.

Part 3 - THE NETHERLANDS