Diego Maradona Dead at 60

 Argentine great Diego Maradona, who scored one of the most infamous goals in World Cup history, died of a heart attack at age 60 today in Tiegre, Argentina.  Jere  Longman has an extensive obituary in the New York Times.

Maradona ruled the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City, won by Argentina.  In the quarterfinal against England he broke a scoreless tie in the 51st minute by intercepting a pass in the air to British keep Peter Shilton and heading it - or so it seemed - into the net.  Turns out he fisted it into the net and somehow the referee did not see it.  

According to Longman, "Maradona later gave conflicting accounts of what had happened. At first he said he had never touched the ball with his fist; then he said he had done so accidentally; then he attributed the goal to divine intervention, to 'the hand of God.' " Four minutes later he dribbled some 70 yards and scored what proved to be the game winner.

In 2000 FIFA voted Maradona and Pele the two greatest players.  Unlike Pele, Maradona had a long history of drug addiction.  In 1991 he was given a 15-month suspension for a positive cocaine test.  His behavior became erratic, it was said.  In 1994 he was kicked out of the World Cup in the United States after testing positive for various stimulants. 

Health issues included alcohol abuse, treatment for a weakened heart and psychiatric treatment.  He was the father of eight children, including three while he was in Cuba treating for drug addiction.

Argentina has declared three days of mourning.

Jackie Charlton dies. Played In '66 World Cup Final

Jack Charlton, who played 21 years for Leeds United, earned 35 caps for England and later managed several clubs and the Irish National Team, died last week at age 85. The New York Times ran a lengthy obit.  Charlton and his younger brother, Bob, a Manchester United star, were both on the field when England defeated Germany, 4-2, in overtime to win the 1966 World Cup.  

The match was controversial because Geoff Hurst's go-ahead goal 11 minutes into the first overtime, struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced out, but the Swiss referee ruled it a goal after consulting with the Russian assistant referee.  The controversy raged for years in Germany.  

Years later my brother, Gary, took soccer players from the school where he taught to a camp in England and met Bob Charlton.  So naturally he asked Charlton if it was really goal.  "Of course it was, mate," said Charlton who had been in the midfield, who knows how far from the goal at the time. 

Jack Charlton was the 12th member of the 1966 World Cup champions to die.

Le jour de gloire est arrivé! France Wins!

Some thoughts on today's World Cup final:

As usual, the best stateside coverage came from the New York Times.

I'm still not sold on instant replay, known in soccer as VAR (video assistant referee), but I think it helped get one call right today.  I thought it was a hand ball on Croatia's Ivan Perisic (#4) but referee Nestor Pitana originally called a corner kick for France.  After reviewing the play he overruled himself and awarded the penalty kick, which Antoine Griezmann easily converted to put France up, 2-1, in the 38th minute.  The Times questioned whether the call  should have been overturned.

Overall I thought Pitana and his AR's called a good game although I did not think it was a foul on the play that gave France a free kick  that led to the first goal in the 18th minute.

I felt bad for Croatia's Mario Mandzukic, who headed the ball into his own net on that first French goal.  It really wasn't his fault - to me it looked as though he got up as high as he could and the ball deflected off his head.  He redeemed himself in the 69th minute when French keeper Hugo Lloris made a terrible mistake and played the ball to Mandzukic, allowing an easy goal.  Not sure if this is the first time a player has ever scored for both teams in a cup final.

French coach Didier Deschamps (is that a cool French name or what?) became only the third person to win a World Cup as a coach and as a player.  The others were Franz Beckenbauer of Germany and Mario Zagallo of Brazil.  I met Beckenbauer a few times when he played for the Cosmos and I covered them for the Trenton Times.

The French team showed class, forming an honor guard for the Croatians during the awards presentation, and the presidents of France (Emmanuel Macron)  and Croatia (Kolinda Grabar-Kitorovic) seemed pretty classy themselves during the ceremony, which took place in a downpour.  (No one from FIFA thought to have a portable canopy available for bad weather.)

For France in Memory of Louise

As we all know, France plays Croatia for the World Cup later today.

Twenty years ago, when the Cup was held in France, my wife, Louise, came home from work at the Inquirer a few days before the opening games and asked if France was any good.  Um, yes, I replied, they had a chance of winning it all.  The reason for her inquiry was that she had picked France in her office pool.

Sure enough, on July 12 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis outside Paris, the French beat Brazil, 3-0, to win the Cup.  They had edged Croatia, 2-1, in the semi-finals a few days earlier.  Louise brought home several hundred dollars and everyone thought she was a soccer genius.  Truth be told though, she had pulled France out of a hat, but she was honest enough to admit it.

In the next two World Cups in 2002 and 2006 we joked about France being Louise's team and rooted for France if they were not playing the United States or Germany.  But like defending champion Germany this year, they did not make it out of the group stage in 2002 and in 2006 they lost to Brazil in a shootout in the final in Berlin.

Sadly, Louise did not live to see another World Cup.  She passed away on December 11, 2006, shortly before what would have been our 37th anniversary.  Today I will be remembering her team and hoping France can win another World Cup for her.

A World Cup Story Only An Insurance Agent Could Love

We're all focused on the games at the World Cup - I am still recovering from yesterday's dramatic Germany-Sweden thriller.

What most don't think about is what goes on behind the scenes to make an event of this magnitude work.  PropertyCasualty360.com, an insurance industry website, has an interesting (to some who deal with insurance anyway) article about the many types of insurance needed for the Cup, ranging from event cancellation to terrorism.

Better Late Than Never: Germany Beats Sweden Seconds Before The End

Toni Kroos saved his best shot for last.

In what will surely go down as one of the great games of this and many other World Cups, Kroos drilled a curveball into the upper right corner moments before time expired to give the Germans a much-needed 2-1 victory over Sweden.

After a shocking 1-0 loss to Mexico in the opener, a loss would have eliminated Germany and a tie would have made advancement difficult in light of Sweden's defeat of South Korea.  

Although Germany dominated much of the play in the first half, they were down, 1-0 and it could have been worse.  Antonio Ruedinger got away with a foul in the box on Marcus Berg in the 12th minute.  The Swedes screamed - rightfully so in my opinion - but no call.  After Ola Toivonen put Sweden up 1-0 in the 32nd minute, Manuel Neuer made a spectacular save on a header by Berg just before halftime.  

Germany played with 10 men for about five minutes in the first half when Sebastien Rudy took an accidental boot in the nose and began bleeding profusely.  Finally Coach Löw decided to send in Ilkay Gundogan for Rudy. 

Germany scored its first goal of this World Cup when Marco Reuss caught a cross from Timo Werner with his knee and knocked it in.  

Although a draw would have kept German hopes of advancing alive, the three points obviously would have enhanced their chances and kept up the pressure after Reuss' goal and had several good chances.  Sweden, sitting on 3 points from its win over South Korea, was content to play everyone back on defense.  

Germany appeared to take a hit in the 82nd minute when Jerome Boateng was sent off with his second yellow.  But it did not seem to hurt.  Sweden needed a spectacular save by Robin Olsen on a header from Mario Gomez, to remain even.  

In stoppage time, Julian Brandt, who had just come on minutes earlier, hit the post with a shot, just as he had done against Mexico.  In the 5th minute, Werner came down the left as he had so many times before, and was fouled just outside the box.  Kroos touched the ball a yard or so to his right where Reuss put is foot on top of it and Kroos stepped up and drilled a curve ball into the upper right corner.  As brilliant as he had been, Olsen had no chance on this one.

Now Germany and Sweden are even with 3 points and a zero goal differential each.  Germany takes on South Korea Wednesday while  Sweden will face first place Mexico two hours later. 

Walt Bahr, 1950 World Cup Star, Dies

In 1950, the United States pulled off one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history when it defeated England, 1-0, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  This week, Philadelphia's Walt Bahr, who assisted on the lone goal, died this week at age 91 in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

The 1950 U.S. team was the subject of a film called "The Game of Their Lives,: which I have yet to see.

Both the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer have quite good tributes to Bahr, and his passing was announced on U.S. Soccer's website.  That site posted a tribute with numerous quotes from the soccer community the following day.

Bahr was quite a guy: 19 caps, captain of an Olympic team (in 1948), assist on the lone goal in an historical upset, husband and father, coach at Frankford High School, Temple and Penn State and member of the Soccer Hall of Fame.  He came from Philadelphia soccer hotbed Kensington and played at the famous Lighthouse Boys Club there, then for local club and pro teams.

I met Bahr once although I can't recall where or the occasion, only that he was personable.  I do recall him telling me that Gaetjens, who was born in Haiti but had begun the process to apply for United States citizenship, disappeared somewhere in that country.  ESPN.com ran a lengthy story about Gaetjens in 2010 and describes his presumed death in 1964.

I played against Bahr's oldest son, Casey, when he was at the Naval Academy, a team we had no business playing.  My senior year as a fullback he scored three goals against us as Navy beat us by, shall we say, a lot.  This was before fullbacks were fast and would attack.  I later met Casey when I was covering the Philadelphia Atoms of the North American Soccer League, for which he played while stationed in New Jersey.  I reminded him of the game and he was very gracious.

Bahr's other two sons played in the NASL but became more famous as kickers in the NFL and kicked in the Super Bowl.  His daughter, Davies Ann Desederio, was no slouch as an athlete either as she was an All American gymnast at Penn State.

Over the years I have occasionally read suggestions that Gaetjens wasn't an intentional shot but rather bounced off his head at an odd angle past the British keeper.  Bahr described the play in a 2010 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News

Ed McIlvenny threw the ball in from the sideline to me. He was my midfield playing partner. He threw the ball in about 35 yards out from the goal. I collected it, pushed it forward a bit, and took a shot from about 25 to 28 yards out.

If you took the 6-yard line and extended it out to the 18-[yard line], and then extended it out a little bit further, that’s about how far I was off the right-hand post. I took my shot and I hit it fairly well.

Bert Williams, the English goalkeeper, had to move to his right to get my shot. Which most likely he would have gotten. Somehow, on the flight of my shot, Joe Gaetjens got through traffic, and got a piece of the ball — a deflection, that’s the best word — it was a deflection that went to Bert Williams’ opposite side. He [Williams] was leaning right, and the deflection sent it back to his left and he just couldn’t react fast enough.

Bahr was the last surviving member of the 1950 U.S. team.

VAR, er ... Instant Replay, Is here

More than eight years ago - on March 10, 2010 to be exact, I wrote here  that it was good that instant replay would not be used in soccer. Would slow down the game, I said.

Well, instant replay, known as VAR for video-assistant-referee, is here as reported in today's New York Times. Although the English Premier League and UEFA which runs the Champions League, have not used VAR, it is at the World Cup in Russia. And Christopher Clarey writes in the Times article, "There will be bumps, maybe even an occasional accident, but the use of replay in critical situations, which is what V.A.R. is to be limited to, is still the best chance to make the World Cup and the sport a fairer proposition."

Clarey says that a study by Italy's Serie A showed that compared to the previous season, referee errors dropped from 5.78 percent of decisions to less than 1 percent. Expulsions were down 7.1 percent. And on a particularly encouraging note, simulation, also known as diving, was down 35.3 percent.  Meanwhile, the amount of time when the ball was actually in play during a 90-minute game increased by an average of 43 seconds to just over 51 minutes. 

The article recognizes the argument against replay: that unlike sports such as baseball and American football, there are not natural stoppages and that to hold up a game for replay would disrupt the flow of play, one of the sport's attractions.  I agree.  The counter to that is that there are indeed stoppages for throw-ins, corner kicks, injuries, substitutions and arguing with referees.  Generally none of these take as long as the replay review.

What is interesting is that under VAR the referee on the field makes the replay call, that is has the right to overrule himself. as happened in yesterday's France-Australia match in the World Cup in which the referee aid he had missed a foul in the box and awarded France a penalty kick, which proved to be the decisive in a 2-1 win.

I'm still not convinced that VAR is good for the game, but as Clarey writes, There is no going back now. In a world where fans are already reviewing every big decision on their screens, referees deserve the best possible chance to get their decisions right."

Catching up

Since my last post, Hamburger S.V. was relegated to the 2md Division of the Bundesliga for the first time in history, the World Cup started, FIFA announced the 2026 Cup will be held in North America, the Union advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, and Germany lost the Cup opener to Mexico today, 1-0.

Sports Illustrated  and ESPN: The Magazine both had World Cup issues, with SI doing stories about why U,S, fans should root for each of the countries that (unlike us) are playing in Russia.  First choice: Iceland, which has a population for less than Philadelphia.  How can you not like a national team coached by a dentist?

Iceland lived up to its billing as a team that can play rather than a novelty when it tied Argentina, 1-1 yesterday as the keeper saved a penalty kick by Lionel Messi.  Speaking of billing, Cristiano Ronaldo lived up to his as the greatest player in the world by registering a hat trick in Portugal's opener against Spain.

When the World Cup reaches North America there will be 48 teams - an increase over the current 32.  Most of the games will be in the United States with some in Canada and Mexico.  We'll have to wait and see if Philadelphia gets may games.  Surely New York (Met Life Stadium is actually in New Jersey) will but Boston and Atlanta are East Coast candidates with many other cities competing.

The last time the men's Cup was here was 1994.  I was lucky enough to score tickets to the quarterfinal and Scott and I watched Germany lose to Bulgaria at what then the Meadowlands and is now MetLife.

And speaking of Germany losing . . . it's not like they didn't have their chances.  But they let Mexico come down the left side once too many times and Hernandez passed the ball out to Hirving Lozano who beat Mesut Özil and fired it inside the near post.  Four minutes later Toni Kroos hit the crossbar with a free kick and in the closing minutes Germany had several good shots.

Next up for Germany is Sweden on the 23rd in Sochi . followed by South Korea on the 27th in Kazan.  Those two teams play each other tomorrow.

World Cup Draw: Germany, Brazil the Favorites

So Iceland is in and the United States is not.  But then neither are the Netherlands, Chile or - to the greater shock of its citizens - Italy.  And now Iceland and the 31 other countries competing in the 2018 World Cup in Russia know who their opponents will be.

The New York Times provided live analysis of the draw from the Kremlin Friday and the day before a team-by-team analysis.

So with no U.S. in the Cup this year, my favorite is of course Germany, which is also the favorite of many bookies - along with Brazil.  Deutschland is in Group F with Mexico, Sweden and South Korea.

The first game is June 14, Russia vs. Saudi Arabia, 11 a.m. Eastern Time.  Germany begins June 17 at 11 a.m. against Mexico.  The final is Sunday, July 15 at 11 a.m.  I hope to be back at the German Society of Pennsylvania watching the finals as we did last World Cup.  Check out the schedule and other World Cup info at the FIFA World Cup site.

A "National Shame": Italy Fails to Qualify For World Cup

By virtue of a scoreless draw with Sweden Monday, Italy failed to qualify for the world Cup for the first time since the Eisenhower administration.  Jason Horowitz described it in a well-written piece in today's New York Times:

"ROME — Many tragedies have befallen Italy in the last 60 years. Dozens of governments have collapsed. Earthquakes and terrorism have shaken cities. The French started adding cream to carbonara.

But the failure of the national soccer team on Monday night to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 seems to be taking a place in the pantheon of Italian disasters."

And speaking of soccer disasters, Iceland is in and we're not!

50% More World Cup

Don't look now, but FIFA appears likely to add to the number of teams in the World Cup finals by as much as 50 percent, going from the current 32-team format to 48.

As reported by the AP on ESPN FC, a FIFA study has said that while the current format produces the highest quality soccer, 16 groups of three would be more profitable. The 2026 World Cup is the earliest any change could be implemented.

The AP says that FIFA's ruling council will vote on the proposed changes next month, but quoted the organization as saying "it should not be a financial decision" and that "the goal of expanding the World Cup is to further advance the vision to promote the game of football, protect its integrity and bring the game to all."

I liked the comment posted on the website by a Mike Lee of UC Berkeley:  "Not a fan of expansion, but I don't hate it. But The 3 team group format is awful. I would love a 40 team cup with 8 5-team groups. and would be okay with a 48 team cup with 12 4 team groups, with half advancing. Then the top 8 group winners get a first round bye. 3 team groups are the worst: it becomes even more about the draw and arbitrary tie breakers will decide several groups."  Maybe FIFA will read it.

Klinsmann Gets the Boot as MNT Coach

To the surprise of few - except maybe himself - Men's National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired today, after the team dropped its first two World Cup 2018 qualifying matches.  Sam Borden has a comprehensive article on the New York Times website.

Klinsmann, a former German international player and coach who saw time as a player and coach at Bayern München and as a player at Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs, began his tenure in July 2011 and compiled a record of 55-27-16.  Perhaps his biggest achievement with the U.S. men came in 2014 when the team advanced out of the "Group of Death" into the Round of 16 where it lost in overtime to Belgium.

The official U.S. Soccer announcement sounded lie any other press release when a coach is fired: thanking him for a great job but we need to go in another direction.

According to Borden, former U.S. coach Bruce Arena is the top candidate to take over the team for the remainder of this World Cup cycle.

Kaine's Jet Does No Better In Post-Campaign Use

The New York Times reported that the aircraft that carried Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine around the country has been "re-purposed" and was used to fly the U.S. men's national team to Costa Rica for a World Cup qualifying match, which it lost, 4-0.  At least Kaine and running mate Hillary Clinton received more votes than their opponents, Donald Trump and Mike Pence.  Too bad they don't have an Electoral College in the World Cup.

And speaking of the men's national team, Sam Borden reports in the Times that after the Costa Rica defeat, which came on the heels of a 2-1 home loss to Mexico, coach Jurgen Klinsmann's job is in jeopardy and that a change could be made this week.

U.S. Men Keep '18 Cup Hopes Alive

Clint Dempsey started the scoring in the 12th minute and the United States men won going way, 4-0 over Guatemala in Columbus, to move into second place in Group C with two games to play.  The top two teams qualify for the next round, a group of six team with the top three going to the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the fourth entering an inter-continental play-off for a spot.

Just four days ago after the Americans had lost in Guatemala, after a tie with Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago!), there was concern that this would be the first time in eight World Cups in which the U.S. did not qualify.  For now those fears have been quieted and all is well in Planet U.S. Soccer. 

Andrew Keh provides a game analysis in the New York Times.

The U.S. is three points behind Trinidad and Tobago and one ahead of Guatemala.  The next match is not until September 2 against winless St. Vincent Grenadines.

How Did They Do That?

Check out this video to promo McDonald's World Cup app.  All I could think was how many takes did they need for each shot?

Best line from the World Cup

There was a guy watching the recent World Cup final between Germany and Argentina who apparently took some grief from his wife about sitting in front of the TV on a nice afternoon.  Recalling that Pope Francis is both a soccer fan and a native of Argentina, and assuming (correctly from what has been reported) that the Pontiff would be watching the game at the Vatican, he said, "How can I be wrong doing what the Pope is doing?"

Tough to argue with that logic.

Germany's Lahm: Going Out On Top

German captain Phillip Lahm has called it quits at age 30, at least on the international scene, after helping win the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He will continue to play for FC Bayern München where he is under contract until 2018.



Lahm, who earned 113 caps during his career, was my favorite on Die Mannschaft.  For one thing, he's short, only about an inch taller than I am.  For another, his playing style is similar to that of my son Scott: fast, quick play, winning the ball and starting the attack out of the back.  "He may have been one of the smallest players physically, but on the pitch Lahm was always one of the biggest forces," wrote commentator Andreas Sten-Ziemons.

The World Cup victory in Brazil made Lahm the fourth German captain after Fritz Walter (1954), Franz Beckenbauer (1974) and Lothar Matthäus (1990) to hoist the World Cup, and the first to have lifted it for a unified Germany.

The German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (literally, "German Waves) ran this story of the retirement, which it said caught the country by surprise. (The link is to the English version.)  And the Sten-Ziemons piece, also on Deutsche Welle, is here.

The German Soccer Federation (Deutscher Fussball Bund or DFB) expressed its appreciation for Lahm on its website under the heading, "Wir Sagen: Danke Philipp."  (We say, thank you, Philipp.")

Forget 2018 - Take a Look at World Cup 2022

We've barely finished one very exciting World Cup but already eyes are looking not at the next one, but the one after that: to be staged in 2022 in Qatar, the natural gas-rich Persian Gulf state with an average July high temperature of 106 degrees.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, takes an in depth look at Quatar, Hassan Al Thawadi, its British-educated lawyer who heads the country's World Cup Organizing Committee and at the FIFA process that awarded the Cup to Quatar over the United States.

Bottom line: despite the questionable bid process, the extreme heat and Qatar's questionable human rights record regarding migrant workers, Wahl predicts the tournament will be held there, although possible in November -December when temperatures are less extreme.

Immer Wieder Deutschland . . . or The Best Team Won

Die Mannschaft celebrates as Captain Lahm hoists the World Cup.

An  exciting end to an overall exciting World Cup.  Of course it helps if you were rooting for Germany, as Debbie and I and a number of others at the German Society of Pennsylvania were.

There was momentary gloom in the 31st minute when Gonzalo Higuain appeared to put Argentina ahead, only to be called offsides.  Replays showed he was offsides.  Then near joy when Benedikt Höwedes headed a corner towards the goal, only to see it hit the post.  Wouldn't have counted anyway, as Thomas Müller was offsides.

And so it went. Very few real chances, but sharp passing, some key saves by both keepers, momentum swings, superb officiating and incredible stamina from both sides.

Then suddenly it happened.  Andre Schürrle, who plays for Chelsea in the EPL, came down the left side and sent a perfect cross to 22-year old Mario Götze, who trapped it softly with his chest, whirled and vollied a left-footer into the lower right corner in the 113th minute.

Argentina had a last gasp in extra time as a foul outside the box gave a free kick, but Lionel Messi sent the free kick into outer space and Germany were world champions.

Here's the play-by-play from the New York Times.

Germany will have bragging rights for at least the next two years when the European Cup takes place.  Let the celebrations begin . . . or continue, since they started the moment referee Niccola Rizzoli blew the final whistle.

Nur nach Hause, nur nach Hause, nur nach Hause, geh'n wir nicht.