The Word on the Street

20 Jun 2006

Acting up?

Italy star Andrea Pirlo says Czech rival Pavel Nedved of Juventus is "an excellent footballer" but also "a good actor."

Says Pirlo: "He goes down a lot and exaggerates fouls against him."

Nedved will get the chance to defend - or enhance - his standing in Pirlo's eyes when the two meet Thursday in a match both sides need to win to assure qualification from Group E

Arena fears Essien threat

USA coach Bruce Arena believes Ghana's Michael Essien could destroy American World Cup dreams when the two meet on Thursday.

A victory over the Americans would send the Africans into the round of 16, possibly against reigning champion Brazil.

"We will go for a win against the US team," Essien said. "And our chances are good I think."

US coach Bruce Arena agrees, seeing the control of Essien as a central factor in a game the 2002 quarter-finalists must win for any hope to advance.

"Essien is one of the top players in this tournament. He not only organized their attack, he played well on defence," Arena said.

"He's a player who is brilliant. We can't let him do what he wants for 90 minutes or we're going to lose."

Blair bid to help ticket scam children

While Tony Blair is trying to help 350 schoolchildren who fell victim to an alleged World Cup ticket scam, others in government can see organisational problem.

Blair said Monday that getting the heartbroken British pupils back to Germany to watch another match was "something we need to work on to make sure they can get out there".

"I don't know what exactly can be done, but obviously for them it's terrible."

"Usually there is a very strict boundary (between sport and government) but on something like this we will try to do what we can to help."

But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) felt it would not be possible.

"It will be very difficult to find 400 tickets," a spokesman said. "But we are going to try to do our best.”

Croatia coach Kranjcar wants to stay

Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar wants to stay in charge of the national team even if they fail to make the second round of the World Cup, he said Tuesday.

"I have a contract until 2008 and I'm going to start preparing a team for Euro 2008 once the World Cup has finished," said Kranjcar who has been in the hotseat since 2004.

Croatia, with just one point so far at the World Cup, have to beat Australia on Thursday to have any chance of making the next stage.

Fans flood into Berlin for Germany game

An estimated 700,000 people were expected to take to the streets of the German capital on Tuesday when the host nation plays Ecuador in the World Cup.

Hours before the 1400 GMT kickoff, thousands of fans wearing the white shirt of Germany were making their way to special areas around the Brandenburg Gate where giant TV screens have been erected.

City authorities said they expected half a million people to have congregated there by the time the match started.

All 72,000 tickets for the Olympic Stadium are sold out, including 4,000 for fans from Ecuador.

Germany and Ecuador have already qualified for the next phase of the World Cup, but Tuesday's match will decide who finishes top of their Group A.

French players wrong to snub fans

The French team were wrong to walk off the pitch after Sunday's 1-1 draw against South Korea without acknowledging the support of their fans, coach Raymond Domenech admitted.

Domenech said: "At the end, the players should have gone over to them because we have to give something to the supporters. In this case I plead guilty, the team pleads guilty.

"We will try to ensure this doesn't happen again. If we made one mistake in this match it was really that," added Domenech.

"I'm sorry for it but at the same time I can understand the players' disappointment.

"But there are no excuses. For me it's not normal, there are people who have travelled miles to get there. There were a lot of them, they were noisy and made a contribution."

German police detain England fans

German police detained 15 England fans who clashed with police overnight Monday ahead of their country's World Cup match against Sweden here.

All the fans were later released, although six have been banned from re-entering Cologne, police said.

The violence was sparked by a group of drunken England supporters who attempted to climb a statue to drape it with England flags after a day of drinking in bars and pubs in the western city.

When one fan fell, police used pepper spray to disperse other supporters who began to throw bottles. Several police officers suffered cuts from glass.

Six were arrested in that incident, while others were picked up around the city.

Merkel's emotional football metamorphosis

The World Cup is challenging Germans' image as reserved people, in particular that of Chancellor Angela Merkel who has turned into a committed cheerleader for the national side.

"It was a wonderful match, may it continue like that," she said.

But Merkel's most prominent display of emotion came in Germany's nail-biting clash with Poland in Dortmund.

Merkel gasped, mistakenly cheered, and then threw her arms in the air in despair as the Germans hit the crossbar twice. When Oliver Neuville scored the winner in stoppage time, she jumped out of her seat.

"It's great to see how thrilled the chancellor was. I can't remember the last time I saw her so emotional as when we scored that goal against Poland," German captain Michael Ballack said.

Press calls for Togo chiefs to go

The embattled Togo Football Federation (FTF) received no respite from the domestic press on Tuesday the day after the national side had been knocked out in the first round of the World Cup following their 2-0 defeat by Switzerland.

All the papers called for the federation to be radically reformed and for it to become a democratic body after the farcical row over player's bonuses which saw coach Otto Pfister walk out only to return and then the team threaten to boycott the match with Swiss.

"The Sparrowhawks (the team nickname) could not possibly have beaten Switzerland, because they did not have good enough morale," was the opinion of the daily 'Le Republicain'.

"The Togo football chiefs did not create the right conditions for the players.

"Beleagured in the bonuses affair, the Sparrowhawks did not play well. We are sick of it in Togo and all that went on in Germany is the reflection of this country unfortunately," the paper went on, adding that the FTF directors should resign en masse.

Viduka appeals for 'common sense' referee

Captain Mark Viduka has appealed for common sense refereeing from Englishman Graham Poll in Australia's potentially stormy World Cup clash with Croatia which will decide a place in the second round.

Poll has a reputation of communicating with the players during his games, but Viduka urged him to referee with intelligence.

"I hope it won't be a rough game, it don't think it will be, but there is a lot of stake for us on Thursday night and for them," Viduka said Tuesday.

"Sometimes these games can get fiery, everybody wants to win, we both want to win and a little bit of common sense is needed."

"It's a very special game because first of all we can go further in the World Cup, secondly, obviously because of my heritage, but for me the most important thing is (the team) going forward to the next round," he said.