SPORTS NOTES EXTRA EXTRA - 4 IRELAND 4 YEARS 4 NOTHING

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The Henry touch will go down in history along with Maradona's hand of God. The difference being that was then and this is now with the emergence of technology that could eliminate such injustices as France advancing to the World Cup while the hard fighting Irish go home with only their blood, sweat and tears. - FIFA TOP 10

Saturday November 21, 2009

IRISH EYES AREN'T SMILING

When it comes to dedication and commitment national team players give it their all over a four year period of competition to earn a spot in the World Cup competition. For Ireland it all came crashing down with a slight of hand from France's Thierry Henry. The soccer world was aghast at what he had done by guiding the ball within six yards of the goad to a waiting William Gallas on the opposite side of the box. The goal was good tears were shed and Herny was vilified.

His Wikipedia page was vandalized his sterling reputation soiled and many of his French countrymen are ashamed. So who really is to blame? Let's start and end with the good old boy network….FIFA.

The organization is falling on its sword by not bringing the rules of the game up to 21st century standards. Its archaic ideas have failed to come up with a solution for the out of control salaries that are ruining the integrity of the game. Basically it's about the rich and well connected get richer and the poor get poorer.

The Henry touch will go down in history along with Maradona's hand of God. The difference being that was then and this is now the emergence of technology that could eliminate such injustices as France advancing to the World Cup while the hard fighting Irish go home with only their blood, sweat and tears. Instant replay technology would have resolved the problem and there would be no controversy.

The Irish FC requested a replay which would have to be approved by FIFA and the French FC. FIFA put an end to it by stating there would be no reply and a decision by a referee right or wrong is final. Henry said after the decision there should be a replay. Too little too late from Henry is the opinion of many.

In fairness Henry said his touch of the ball was an instinctive reaction. The replay partially supports that but in slow motion he did touch AND GUIDE THE BALL WITH THE PALM OF HIS HAND which is slightly more than an instinctive reaction.

Henry has been an exemplary figure for football and though he now is apart of one of the biggest controversies in football history his being branded a cheat is viewed by many in the game as uncalled for. The bottom line is FIFA needs to get on its game and get up to date with technology and rules that will take the so called beautiful game forward and not keeping it stagnant and hitting every bump in the road.

For France it is four years for nothing and it will take another four years of success before they have a chance to be in the same position again of trying to be involved in the World Cup competition. The question is will instant replay technology be approved and in place to prevent this same nightmare again?

FIFA TOP 10 - Spain regain leadership from Brazil

Play-offs have major impact on ranking - A total of 104 “A” international matches have been played since the October edition of the ranking, taking the number of matches evaluated in the ranking this year to 805

The leadership of the FIFA World Ranking has changed hands following the completion of the preliminary competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with European champions Spain overtaking Brazil , who had been at the top since July. Portugal (5th, up 5) and France (7th, up 2) have benefited greatly from the results of the World Cup play-off matches, which are valuable in terms of points, while the teams that qualified in October, Argentina (8th, down 2) and England (9th, down 2), have lost ground.

This month’s winners also include Cameroon (11th, up 3), Greece (12th, up 4) and Uruguay (19th, up 6), the last two also thanks to a massive gain in points from the play-off matches. Of the top 20, only Croatia (10th, down 2) and Russia (13th, down 1) will not be taking part in the finals in South Africa and only four of the qualified teams do not feature among the top 50 (Korea Republic, New Zealand, Korea DPR and South Africa).

Togo (70th, up 10), Mozambique (72nd, up 12), Zimbabwe (108th, up 23), Swaziland (138th, up 10) and Comoros (178th, up 21) can also be proud of their recent haul of points. Côte d'Ivoire (16th, up 3), Algeria (28th, up 1), Latvia (45th, up 2), Burkina Faso (49th, up 6), Benin (59th, up 8), Montenegro (73th, up 2) have also reached their highest ever position since the world ranking was introduced in 1993.

A total of 104 “A” international matches have been played since the October edition of the ranking, taking the number of matches evaluated in the ranking this year to 805. In all, 22 matches, including 12 play-off matches, were held to bring down the curtain on the preliminary competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 13 qualifiers for the next AFC Asian Cup.

The detailed criteria to determine the seeded teams for the Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa will be confirmed at the next meeting of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup in Cape Town on 2 December 2009.

If the criteria to determine the seeded teams were to include, as in the past, the FIFA World Ranking, then it would be the October 2009 edition of this ranking which would be considered, and this for sporting reasons. In fact, using the November 2009 edition would create an uneven situation, specifically for the European zone, where the play-offs involving the eight best runners-up led to an imbalance in the number of qualification matches played between the teams.

* Leader Spain (1st, up 1)

* Moves into top ten none

* Moves out of top ten none

* Matches played in total 104

* Most matches played Kuwait, Singapore (five each)

* Biggest move by points Portugal (up 139 points)

* Biggest move by ranks Zimbabwe (up 23)

* Biggest drop by points Barbados, Fiji (down 117 points each)

* Biggest drop by ranks Suriname (down 29)

* Newly ranked teams none

* Teams that are no longer ranked none

* Inactive teams (not ranked) São Tomé e Principe

FIFA TOP 10 for November, 2009

Rank -- Team -- Points

1. Spain - 1622

2. Brazil - 1592

3. Netherlands - 1279

4. Italy - 1215

5. Portugal - 1181

6. Germany - 1170

7. France - 1122

8. Argentina - 1085

9. England - 1063

10. Croatia 1050

The next FIFA World Ranking will be published on Decemmber 16, 2009

FIFA

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