The Word on the Street
29 Jun 2006World Cup gaff takes toll on Poll
English referee Graham Poll revealed on Thursday that he has retired from officiating at international tournaments after he showed Croatia's Josip Simunic three yellow cards before finally sending him off during a 2-2 Group F draw with Australia.
'I was the referee that evening, it was my error and the buck stops with me."
"I've had a week to reflect. I've had the first two nights completely sleepless, it's been something that has hurt me deeply.
"It's about being open and saying to people I got it wrong, I'm sorry and it's time to move on."
Poll, who had been a mooted candidate for refereeing the final after 26 unblemished years as the man in the middle, claimed that FIFA president Sepp Blatter personally asking him to reconsider.
He will however return to English Premiership refereeing next season.
Lucky my left foot says Italy coach
Italy coach Marcello Lippi responded with heavy irony to suggestions that Italy have been very lucky to reach the last eight.
"Yeah, I've really had a lot of luck," he said.
"I lost Francesco Totti three months before the World Cup began and we weren't sure if he was going to recover in time.
"Then we lost Gianluca Zambrotta for 15 days, and then Gennaro Gattuso and Alessandro Nesta got injured. This kind of luck is unprecedented."
Italy qualified for the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Australia after Totti converted a penalty in the last minute of the match.
Maradona visits Argentina squad
Diego Maradona visited the Argentina squad here on Wednesday night just two days before they play hosts Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in Berlin.
Maradona, with two friends, had dinner with the players following training, though he made no comment to the press as he entered the team's hotel.
Former Barcelona and Napoli star Maradona, who captained Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986, had previously visited the squad just before their opening match, a 2-1 victory against Ivory Coast on June 10.
Beckham has no plans to hang up boots
England and Real Madrid star David Beckham says he plans to play for "a few more years" and suggested he could end up in the United States.
"Only time will tell how physically I feel playing at the highest level but I've always said I want to play at the highest level for a few more years yet," said the 31-year-old Englan captain.
"I've got that planned out and going to America is one of the ideas I've thought of in the future.
"But at the moment I'm a Real Madrid player, playing for England in the World Cup and it doesn't get much higher than that and I am enjoying my time at the moment."
Beckham will lead England out for a quarter-final against Portugal on Saturday
Kaiser rules out FIFA bid
The chief organiser of the World Cup, Franz Beckenbauer, said on Thursday he was not interested in becoming FIFA chief but said he would be interested in taking over the UEFA presidency.
The current FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in an interview with a German newspaper on Thursday that Beckenbauer "does not want to and cannot be" FIFA president.
"He is right in principle," said Beckenbauer, who is known as the kaiser. "I do not have time in my schedule to do that job and the need to be multi-lingual is also a problem.
"I speak German and a bit of Bavarian and my English needs to be vastly improved, so I leave this job to a talented person like Sepp Blatter."
"I am interested if Lennart Johansson (UEFA president) wants to step down. It all depends on that, let us wait until he makes his decision.
Blatter blasts England tactics
FIFA chief Sepp Blatter has taken a swipe at England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson for playing with a sole striker in the 1-0 second round win over Ecuador.
Eriksson sent Wayne Rooney on alone up front against the South Americans in front of a five-man midfield.
In an interview Thursday with the Tagesspiegel newspaper Blatter said he had been disappointed with the England game-plan.
"I am happy that the play is very offensive. The only exception is England who fielded just one striker in their second round match," he said.
"That is not the kind of offensive football you would expect from a title contender."
Pessotto tragedy overshadows Buffon's World Cup
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has admitted he is struggling to concentrate on the World Cup following the apparent suicide attempt of his Juventus team-mate Gianluca Pessotto.
"I'm finding it difficult at the moment, almost impossible, to talk about football or matches and all the emotions that you're supposed to feel at a World Cup," said Buffon.
"My thoughts go out to Luca, my friend and companion of many battles, and to his wife and children."
Former Juventus and Italy defender Pessotto is in a serious but not life-threatening condition after jumping from his Turin office window on Tuesday.
Shevchenko ready for Italian job
Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko insists the World Cup debutants can pull off an upset by reaching the semi-finals at Italy's expense.
"Italy will be a tough nut to crack but we are confident we can produce a surprise," said Shevchenko, whose teammates redeemed him after he missed a spotkick in the Ukrainians' shootout win over Switzerland in the last 16.
"The Italians have won the tournament three times and they are a step up on anything we have faced to date, but I'd say we have an even chance.
"That's what we are telling ourselves," the new 30-million-pound (54.5-million-dollar) Chelsea striker told reporters at the team's training headquarters in Potsdam near Berlin.
Spanish fans 'shameful' behaviour inspired France
France say the way Spanish fans whistled during the playing of their national anthem the Marseillaise before Tuesday's last 16 game only served to give them added incentive to win the match
"When they whistled at our national anthem they didn't understand that it would only make us even more motivated," said Juventus defender Lilian Thuram.
Striker Thierry Henry described the rival supporters' behaviour as shameful.
"I've never seen that before in the World Cup. It's shameful that their supporters reacted like that during the Marseillaise.
"Our fans didn't behave the same way when their anthem was played."
Goals from Frank Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane earned France an emphatic 3-1 win and a date with Brazil in the quarter-finals in Frankfurt on Saturday.
Viduka considers Australia retirement
Australia captain Mark Viduka admitted on Wednesday that he is considering retirement from international football.
Middlesbrough striker Viduka, 30, played a key role as his country reached the last 16 of the World Cup before being knocked out by a last-minute penalty against Italy on Monday.
But the former Celtic and Leeds star believes that defeat could signal the break-up of Australia's squad and he hinted he may join the exodus.
The team's Dutch coach Guus Hiddink has already agreed to join Russia after the finals and Viduka claimed family ties may hold the key to his decision if he does quit.
"I haven't seen much of my kids in the last six months, they don't know who their dad is anymore and that is very hard to take. I love being with my family and I love being with the Socceroos as well.
"I'm going to have a chat with my friends and family, and maybe to myself a bit, and see where it takes me."
Maradona hails Wayne 'Roonino' Rooney
Football legend Diego Maradona has hailed Wayne "Roonino" Rooney as one of the best players in the world, comparing the England star to himself.
The former Barcelona and Napoli star, who captained Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986, said Rooney was "phenomenal" and one of the hottest talents around.
"There is no doubt that Wayne Rooney is one of the best players in the world," Maradona said.
"I put him on the same level with Ronaldinho, (Juan Roman) Riquelme and (Lionel) Messi -- players of immense resource and talent."
"If his name was 'Roonino' and he had a double passport, then I'm sure he would get in our team," he said.
Brazilians seek revenge against France
"Revenge!" bellowed newspapers on Wednesday in Brazil eight years after France trumped world superpower Brazil 3-0 to win the World Cup on home soil.
"Revenge Saturday," ran the front-page headline in the country's leading newspaper Rio O Globo above photographs of Ronaldo's history-making 15th World Cup goal and French captain Zinedine Zidane finding the back of the net.
"Look out, it will be your turn soon," declared popular daily O Dia before adding: "Even if the players deny it, a climate of revenge is expected to account for the defeat of '98."
But while sports newspapers Lance and Jornal dos Sports went further with cries of "Vengeance" and "Thirst for vengeance", others pointed out that Brazil failed to convince against the Black Stars on Tuesday.
"Brazil won 3-0 but ... even Parreira (coach Carlos Parreira) didn't like it," Folha de Sao Paulo reported, pointing out Zidane's goal had resuscitated the fortunes of a French outfit that many had all but written off.
England fan handed suspended prison sentence
An England supporter was given a five months suspended prison sentence on Thursday for throwing a plastic chair and a beer bottle at the police at the England v Ecuador World Cup match in Stuttgart.
The 27-year-old, who has not been named, works as a security official at the British defence ministry.
German police arrested some 300 England fans in Stuttgart on Sunday after they became embroiled in scuffles with Germans, who were watching their team play Sweden, ahead of the Ecuador clash.
Euphoria foiling racists says German minister
The happy scenes of fans from around the world watching the World Cup together in Germany has snubbed out any hopes right-wing extremists had of disrupting the tournament, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday.
A former German government spokesman attracted worldwide media coverage shortly before the World Cup by claiming that dark-skinned foreign visitors risked attack in eastern Germany.
Schaeuble said: "We were not concerned. We were prepared to prevent this phenomenon but the neo-Nazis haven't been able to use the World Cup to spread their ideas because of the euphoria and the atmosphere surrounding the event.
"The World Cup is a wonderful antidote to racism and in favour of integration.
"We will soon have to return to everyday life, but I am convinced that the positive effects will remain," he added.
Argentina, Italy, England and Brazil are favourites
Argentina, Brazil, England and Italy are the favourites to reach the World Cup semi-finals, according to English bookmakers on Wednesday.
Argentina are rated at 6-4 to beat hosts Germany with Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and William Hill.
Italy are 8-13 on to beat World Cup debutants Ukraine, with Oleg Blokhin's side 9-2 to shock the 1982 winners.
England are marginal favourites at 10-11 on to get revenge on Portugal for their defeat against Luiz Felipe Scolari's side at Euro 2004.
Reigning world champions Brazil are 4-5 on to beat France, who are 7-2 to repeat their 1998 final triumph over the South Americans.
William Hill make Brazil firm favourites to retain their trophy at 9-4, followed by Argentina (7-2), Germany (9-2) and England (11-2).
Ukraine are 50-1 outsiders, while Portugal are 16-1, France 11-1 and Italy 13-2.
Maradona vists Argentina squad
Diego Maradona visited the Argentina squad here on Wednesday night just two days before they play hosts Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in Berlin.
Maradona, with two friends, had dinner with the players following training, though he made no comment to the press as he entered the team's hotel.
Former Barcelona and Napoli star Maradona, who captained Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986, had previously visited the squad just before their opening match, a 2-1 victory against Ivory Coast on June 10.