A string of passes into the penalty area, the striker turns, shoots and ... it's another advertisement.
Era network's exclusive 64-game coverage of the early World Cup rounds on MUCH (channel 37), Era News (50) and Azio (37) has been miserable.
Once again it has been broadcasting advertisements during the matches and reducing the game screen to a blimp at critical moments.
Hence, in the highly entertaining game last week between the Netherlands and Ivory Coast, two of the three goals could hardly be seen.
Clearly the person responsible for introducing advertisements and reducing the game screen doesn't have a soccer brain and does this at the worst possible times. It was so bad that it seemed deliberate in the Dutch-Ivorian showdown.
This was exactly the same situation in 1998 and 2002 and despite intense criticism it's another unpopular repeat this year. Previously, Star Sports covered the Cup domestically.
The good news is that, as in previous years, Era will stop broadcasting ads during games in the later rounds.
Also, to be fair, frequent reruns of games on Era channels mean that missed matches can be watched again.
LESS TROUBLE
One of my predictions before the World Cup was that there would be more crowd trouble than so far seems to have been the case.
This is perplexing to someone who has witnessed at first hand violent rivalries between supporters on the Old Continent. Soccer, sun and beer is usually a surefire cocktail for violence.
While there were few disturbances in Japan and South Korea, a World Cup in Europe is home turf for most hooligans.
A policeman was beaten to a pulp by German yobs at the World Cup in France and at the 2000 European Championship there was rioting in Charleroi and Brussels.
Apart from clashes between Poles and Germans before their game and some disorder from English fans there has been relative international harmony.
Confiscating passports of known offenders, increased border controls and effective policing seems to have contained problems so far.
Don't rule out some trouble in later rounds, however, when games become more tense and fans of losing teams express their frustration.
CROSSROADS
Asian soccer is at a World Cup crossroads with South Korea and Australia the most likely teams to make it through to the second stage.
Of the teams from the Asian Football Confederation, Saudi Arabia and Iran are taking the proverbial early bath and will be going home after lackluster displays.
In Group F, Japan has a statistical chance of making it through tomorrow night but will be hard pressed to get the result it needs against Brazil. In seven previous games, the "Blue Samurais" have lost five.
In the same group the Socceroos have a difficult game against Croatia and need at least a draw to pull through.
The do-or-die Croatians will be dangerous if the Aussies' game plan is to defend, but top coach Guus Hiddink will be aware of this potential pratfall.
South Korea has made steady progress with a draw and a victory. Still, only a win against current Group G leader Switzerland on Friday will guarantee advancement if France beats Togo by a big score.
Zinedine Zidane picked up a second yellow card and will not play against the "Sparrow Hawks." But maybe "Les Bleus" will be forced to dig deep and be a better side without, arguably, their best player.
On Sunday, fans of the "Selecao" at the newly opened Brazilian restaurant Oi! Ge! (No. 3, Alley 40, Lane 216, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei) were relatively happy with their team's progress.
The 2-0 spanking of Australia was convincing, even though everyone was saying the best is yet to come from the world champions.
The thinking goes that since Brazil won the World Cup in the US in 1994 with Bebeto and Romario it should easily do so this time around because it has even better players.
It's hard to disagree, but certainly Germany, England and Spain have also improved.
The Netherlands, Argentina, the Czech Republic and even Italy are also capable of upsetting the Brazilians.
The round of 16 is about to begin and the lottery of extra time, golden goals and penalties will start to determine winners.
This gives the underdog teams a better chance of a turnover and it will ramp up the excitement factor. Expect more thrills on the pitch and some spills off it.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set