http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1222270/index.html?cid=widgets&att=latestnews_en#record+night+bafana+mokoena
It was a record night for South Africa and captain Aaron Mokoena on Monday as the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ hosts outclassed Guatemala 5-0 in a warm-up match.
The winning margin was the biggest since Bafana Bafana (The Boys) returned to international football in 1992 after 28 years of apartheid-induced isolation, bettering four-goal margins against Chad and Thailand. And it came on the day centre-back Mokoena became the first South African footballer to win 100 caps and wore those figures on the back of his shirt just in case anybody was unaware.
The victory also stretched to 11 matches the unbeaten run of the host nation in friendlies since Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira returned last November for a second spell in charge. Katlego Mphela converted a penalty in each half and Reneilwe Letsholonyane and second-half substitutes Surprise Moriri and Bernard Parker were the other scorers for a team that led 2-0 at half-time.
Though with Guatemala ranked 114 today's opponents are a different proposition to Group A rivals Mexico, Uruguay and France, all top-20 nations. "Technically we were not brilliant but our attitude was very good. Our opponents often had nine men behind the ball so it was good to score five goals," said Parreira.
"I am not in a very good mood, however, as tomorrow I trim my squad from 28 players to 23 and cut some dreams. For three months I have seen wonderful commitment from all my players and I thank them."
South Africa are ready for the World Cup and can defeat Mexico in the opening match. The stage is set for Bafana to have a good run.Guatemala coach Francisco Melgar
Caretaker Guatemala coach Francisco Melgar said: "South Africa are ready for the World Cup and can defeat Mexico in the opening match. The stage is set for Bafana to have a good run." Guatemala lie 31 places below South Africa in the FIFA pecking order suggesting they would struggle to contain the home team and so it proved with early pressure yielding a 12th-minute goal.
Unadventurous full-backs have clipped the attacking wings of South Africa in previous warm-ups and it was pleasing for Parreira to see left-back Lucas Thwala create the second goal with a run and cross that Letsholonyane fired home. The second half was just three minutes old when Moriri added a third, firing past substitute Marvin Barrios from close range after Mphela set up his Mamelodi Sundowns team-mate.
Guatemala were awarded a penalty for handball but captain Guillermo Ramirez made a hash of the spot kick, timidly striking the ball to his right and Josephs guessed correctly to parry a shot that was cleared. The home side had their own penalty on 56 minutes and Mphela sent Barrios the wrong way.
Steven Pienaar struck a post from a free-kick before Parker snatched the record fifth goal eight minutes from full time by unleashing a rising shot from the edge of the area that flew into the roof of the net.
Showing posts with label Soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soccer. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Mexico Blows Beyond Gambia [FIFA]
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1221548/index.html?cid=widgets&att=latestnews_en#mexico+blow+past+gambia
Manchester United-bound striker Javier Hernandez and Adolfo Bautista each netted twice as Mexico completed their FIFA World Cup™ preparations with a hansome win over Gambia in Bayreuth, Germany.
Having lost successive friendlies to England and the Netherlands, Mexico needed a morale-boosting result and delivered in emphatic fashion.
Gambia kept the deficit to 1-0 at half-time, Hernandez's 18th-minute opener the only goal, but there was a rush of activity in the second period.
Ebrima Bohna made it 3-1 after Hernandez's second and Bautista's first had swelled Mexico's advantage.
Alberton Medina wrapped things up nine minutes from time, shortly after Bautista completed his brace.
Manchester United-bound striker Javier Hernandez and Adolfo Bautista each netted twice as Mexico completed their FIFA World Cup™ preparations with a hansome win over Gambia in Bayreuth, Germany.
Having lost successive friendlies to England and the Netherlands, Mexico needed a morale-boosting result and delivered in emphatic fashion.
Gambia kept the deficit to 1-0 at half-time, Hernandez's 18th-minute opener the only goal, but there was a rush of activity in the second period.
Ebrima Bohna made it 3-1 after Hernandez's second and Bautista's first had swelled Mexico's advantage.
Alberton Medina wrapped things up nine minutes from time, shortly after Bautista completed his brace.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Soccernomics
Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
Nation Books, New York, 2009, 336 pp., $14.95 (paper).
Are you getting ready for the soccer World Cup in South Africa this summer? Did you know that a nation’s income, population, and soccer experience are the main determinants of a team’s survival of the first round of the World Cup? Don’t rush off and check where your favorite national team stands. These three factors explain only 25 percent of the variation in goal differences; the remaining 75 percent is unexplained random noise or sheer luck—all courtesy of the power of econometrics.
This and many other surprising facts about the world of soccer are discussed in Soccernomics, by Financial Times writer Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, a leading sports economist. They weave academic analysis and anecdotes from individual players, managers, and teams across the world into a highly readable and entertaining book about the most popular sport in the world. It would have been more fun in undergraduate economics to learn game theory through penalty kicks or regression analysis through soccer examples.
What do large financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers and soccer clubs have in common, and how do they differ? Both are subject to moral hazard (risky behavior is not penalized), because they are usually bailed out. Alas this not always the case—as the example of Lehman Brothers recently showed—but, surprisingly, soccer clubs seldom disappear. Yes, some clubs might go bankrupt (for example, Fiorentina, Leeds United), but according to Kuper and Szymanski, soccer clubs are among the most stable businesses around. Even the few that are not bailed out often reappear with a new name, money, and the same fans and swiftly move up the ranks to the highest league again (Fiorentina, for example). Although banks make enormous profits in good times, soccer clubs are in general unprofitable. The authors find no correlation between league position and profit. Yet, interestingly, soccer players’ salaries explain almost all the variation in English Premier League positions. But the next time your favorite English team announces a multimillion-pound “transfer deal of the year,” don’t get too excited: spectacular transfers do not necessarily correlate with the team’s subsequent league position in the standing.
We also learn that hosting the World Cup or European Cup reduces suicides in European countries, Norway is apparently the most enthusiastic soccer country in Europe, Iraq is among the best overperformers in world soccer, and 50 percent of British ticket holders don’t take up their seats the next season. While bank customers usually stick with their bank unless there’s a bank run, soccer fans don’t seem to be very loyal. In addition, hosting large sports tournaments doesn’t yield any profits or many economic benefits, but it does increase people’s happiness—a finding drawn from the influential field of happiness economics. So even though South Africa is likely to lose money on the forthcoming World Cup, it might be a happier nation this fall—not to mention all the other participating African countries that could reap empowerment, pride, and happiness from the South Africa–hosted World Cup.
What are some of the limitations of the book? The empirical evidence is at times overly focused on England. Economists tend to be a skeptical species (except maybe when it came to rational expectations or efficient markets), so more evidence from other countries would certainly help generalize some of the findings. Also, in general, the explanation of why poor countries do worse at sports—poor nutrition, exposure to disease, lack of networking, and organizational issues—is compelling. But it does not explain why African countries do so well in the FIFA Under-17 and Under-20 soccer World Cups. Nigeria is the most successful U-17 team besides Brazil, with three titles, and the current U-20 world champion is Ghana.
One question for globalizers is when countries such as China and India will make their mark in the soccer world. Brazil, one of their cousins in the so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—has the best national soccer team in the world; the other, Russia, made it to the European Cup semifinals two years ago.
Finally, a word of caution to any soccer manager with a large budget: don’t buy the stars from the World Cup in South Africa. They tend to be overvalued. Buy players in their early twenties and players whose personal problems you can solve (both tend to be undervalued).
Soccernomics is highly recommended not only for soccer fans but for anyone who is interested in how economics tools apply to the wonderful world of soccer.
Heiko Hesse
Economist, IMF; former professional soccer player for Borussia Dortmund; and featured in the German documentaries Die Champions and the forthcoming HalbZeit
Nation Books, New York, 2009, 336 pp., $14.95 (paper).
Are you getting ready for the soccer World Cup in South Africa this summer? Did you know that a nation’s income, population, and soccer experience are the main determinants of a team’s survival of the first round of the World Cup? Don’t rush off and check where your favorite national team stands. These three factors explain only 25 percent of the variation in goal differences; the remaining 75 percent is unexplained random noise or sheer luck—all courtesy of the power of econometrics.
This and many other surprising facts about the world of soccer are discussed in Soccernomics, by Financial Times writer Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, a leading sports economist. They weave academic analysis and anecdotes from individual players, managers, and teams across the world into a highly readable and entertaining book about the most popular sport in the world. It would have been more fun in undergraduate economics to learn game theory through penalty kicks or regression analysis through soccer examples.
What do large financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers and soccer clubs have in common, and how do they differ? Both are subject to moral hazard (risky behavior is not penalized), because they are usually bailed out. Alas this not always the case—as the example of Lehman Brothers recently showed—but, surprisingly, soccer clubs seldom disappear. Yes, some clubs might go bankrupt (for example, Fiorentina, Leeds United), but according to Kuper and Szymanski, soccer clubs are among the most stable businesses around. Even the few that are not bailed out often reappear with a new name, money, and the same fans and swiftly move up the ranks to the highest league again (Fiorentina, for example). Although banks make enormous profits in good times, soccer clubs are in general unprofitable. The authors find no correlation between league position and profit. Yet, interestingly, soccer players’ salaries explain almost all the variation in English Premier League positions. But the next time your favorite English team announces a multimillion-pound “transfer deal of the year,” don’t get too excited: spectacular transfers do not necessarily correlate with the team’s subsequent league position in the standing.
We also learn that hosting the World Cup or European Cup reduces suicides in European countries, Norway is apparently the most enthusiastic soccer country in Europe, Iraq is among the best overperformers in world soccer, and 50 percent of British ticket holders don’t take up their seats the next season. While bank customers usually stick with their bank unless there’s a bank run, soccer fans don’t seem to be very loyal. In addition, hosting large sports tournaments doesn’t yield any profits or many economic benefits, but it does increase people’s happiness—a finding drawn from the influential field of happiness economics. So even though South Africa is likely to lose money on the forthcoming World Cup, it might be a happier nation this fall—not to mention all the other participating African countries that could reap empowerment, pride, and happiness from the South Africa–hosted World Cup.
What are some of the limitations of the book? The empirical evidence is at times overly focused on England. Economists tend to be a skeptical species (except maybe when it came to rational expectations or efficient markets), so more evidence from other countries would certainly help generalize some of the findings. Also, in general, the explanation of why poor countries do worse at sports—poor nutrition, exposure to disease, lack of networking, and organizational issues—is compelling. But it does not explain why African countries do so well in the FIFA Under-17 and Under-20 soccer World Cups. Nigeria is the most successful U-17 team besides Brazil, with three titles, and the current U-20 world champion is Ghana.
One question for globalizers is when countries such as China and India will make their mark in the soccer world. Brazil, one of their cousins in the so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—has the best national soccer team in the world; the other, Russia, made it to the European Cup semifinals two years ago.
Finally, a word of caution to any soccer manager with a large budget: don’t buy the stars from the World Cup in South Africa. They tend to be overvalued. Buy players in their early twenties and players whose personal problems you can solve (both tend to be undervalued).
Soccernomics is highly recommended not only for soccer fans but for anyone who is interested in how economics tools apply to the wonderful world of soccer.
Heiko Hesse
Economist, IMF; former professional soccer player for Borussia Dortmund; and featured in the German documentaries Die Champions and the forthcoming HalbZeit
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