England’s Jamie Carragher believes Germany gained a huge World Cup advantage by ensuring their players had four months to get used to the ball they banged into the net four times against Australia.
The controversial Jabulani balls were introduced by Bundesliga clubs sponsored by their German-based manufacturer Adidas in February and Carragher believes that has given Germany an edge that was apparent in their impressive 4-0 win over the Socceroos on Sunday.
“That is exactly what we were saying as we were watching,” Carragher said. “It gives them an advantage anyway. Certainly, that is true. It is obvious. The ball is very different. Every training session we do, we always start with a ball between two, passing 30 or 40 yards to each other just for that reason alone. I am sure it has helped them.”
FIFA and Adidas insist that any difficulty players have encountered with the balls is down to the effect of altitude.
That stance has been disputed by numerous players and Carragher believes designers will always try to tweak the specifications of balls to generate more goals.
“When you are making a ball for the World Cup the idea is to create more goals I think, and get it to do strange things to make it a more exciting tournament,” he said. “But every cross I have seen has been overhit. It goes over the back post. I haven’t seen anyone get a free-kick over the wall yet. It just seems to sail straight over the bar. Looking at the start, maybe it is not doing what people expected.”
Despite his criticism of the ball, Carragher said nothing should be taken away from an impressive performance by Germany.
“They played so well. I am not looking for an excuse. You are trying not to hype them up too much because of how well they played. It is something to cling to, that they might have been playing with the ball [for longer]. I have had two or three texts about it,” he said.
Germany’s Thomas Mueller, who scored the third goal in the rout of Australia, said any extra practice the Germans had with the Jabulani has made only minimal difference.
“Any game starts with 0-0 and many teams were given lots of chances to practice with the Jabulani at other Adidas clubs,” he said.
“If you get a few months practice with the ball, I think it gives only a minimal advantage, if any,” he said. “I think teams complaining about the ball, shouldn’t be.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5