The USA World Cup team is experiencing mixed success and a controversial decision from ref Kouman Coulibaly without an explanation to disallow a third US goal against Slovenia - FIFA photo

SPORTS NOTES EXTRA EXTRA - WORLD CUP FLIP FLOPS

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The USA World Cup team is experiencing mixed success and a controversial decision from ref Kouman Coulibaly without an explanation to disallow a third US goal against Slovenia - England favored by many is on the edge of disaster - Lakers Win NBA title UGLY

Monday June 21, 2010

TWO DOWN ONE TO GO?

With England being one of the favorites to win the title and Argentina a side that many felt wouldn't do well is now a tough team to deal with is making a good showing. During the first 10 days of competition there have been some major flip flops and some teams thought to be flops are flipping to the top of the might go through list.

New Zealand has caused the greatest on field surprise with heir strong defensive strength in their 1-1 draw against defending World Cup champions Italy. The result gave the side two draws from two games in the competition and a chance to go through to the next round as they are tied with Italy for the second position in Group F each with 2 points. Thus far New Zealand is a flip and Italy is a flop.

Off the field France is gaining the most attention with their refusal to train in protest of Nicholas Anelka being sent home for unsavory remarks he made to manager Raymond Domenech. The team's problems with Domenech have been an ongoing affair well before the World Cup began. The 1998 World Cup champions are in danger of being sent home from their miserable performance on the pitch.

For many fans France shouldn't be in the tournament at all due to a controversial victory in the qualification round. In the second leg of the play-off between France and the Republic of Ireland, French captain Thierry Henry, unseen by the referee, illegally handled the ball in the lead up to a late goal. The goal enabled France to qualify for the final 32 teams instead of Ireland. The incident spurred widespread debate on how matches should be refereed at the highest level. FIFA rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to replay the match, thus a widely reported later request by Ireland to be included as an unprecedented 33rd World Cup entrant was later withdrawn. Thus far France is a flop.

England with two draws is now considered a flop and in danger of not going though to the next round. The England camp in also in disharmony with players disgruntled with their performance and concerns bout the side's tactics. That load is dumped on manager Fabio Capello who is criticized for not being close to the team. At a press conference former captain John Terry was the spokesperson for the team and not current captain Stephen Girard. The side was in heaven as they breezed through qualifications with a 9-1 record losing only their final game after they qualified. After being championed by the British press during the successful period Capello's job is said to be on the line and his media watch rating has gone from hero to zero. Thus far England is a flop.

Argentina ranked seventh in the FIFA World rankings is surprising many of the pundits and fans with strong performances while their manager Maradona continues to cause fury with his explosive comments. The squad is gaining respect and many pundits now feel they are performing and mentally fit enough to win the title.

The USA is a team that has earned respect particularly with their 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup success and their 2-0 victory over World Cup favorites Spain. After an opening match 1-1 draw with England their 2-2 draw with Slovenia in this World Cup was both disappointing and encouraging.

The disappointment was they didn't win over Slovenia a team they were expected to conquer. The good news is they should have won on a third goal in the 86th minute that was denied without an explanation by referee Kouman Coulibaly. Replays showed that the goal was good and there was no foul. That was a game that would have given the US four points and most likely enough to go through to the next round. Now they and England are in a must win situation.

Against Slovenia the US had a rough start and seemed out of rhythm. Trailing 2-0 they started to come together during the later stages of the game with their energy, synergy resulting on their goals. Their hart is there, their consistency is not.

The media are having a field day with the report that angry England fan busted into the England dressing room and created a disturbance. David Beckham who is with the team as more or less moral support said the incident was blown out of shape. He noted that a fan came into the dressing room and said a few words to him but was not rude or disorderly. When asked to repeat what the fan said Beckham with a smile refused.

The BBC interviewed a fan who said he went into the dressing England room mistakenly looking for a bathroom. He said to someone that England fans paid a lot of money to come and see England in the World Cup and asked what were they going to do about it (their poor showing). He said nobody said anything negative to him and a FIFA representative came up to him, shook his hand followed by showing him where the bathroom was for the fans.

Part 2 - LAKERS WIN UGLY