Pajtim Kasami Came on as a sub tonight in Switzeland's 1-1 draw with Gabon. From all accounts showed some decent touches and one good effort on goal. However after the Swiss had a player sent off he was forced to play deep and from then on was "quiet".
As this thread seems a more appropriate place for this... The noise the BBC plays for replays during Olympic football is one of the most annoying things ever. Even more so than the number of British players who didn't sing the -British- anthem.
The tactics & selection from Pearce was poor. Sturridge wasn't fit and shouldn't have played - that decision meant a wasted substitution and led to having to keep Giggs on for 90 minutes. In fact why waste an over-23 pick on Giggs, who can't even play 90 minutes? There was no urgency for the first 85 minutes and Senegal deserved to win.
Yeah, it's the official British National Anthem, but let's face it - it's an English song. The fact that there's a verse (not sung these days) about crushing rebellious Scots gives the game away on that one. If I was from one of the other parts of the Union, I wouldn't be keen on singing it. I don't think the Welsh players should be criticised. It's an appallingly inappropriate song to be the British anthem, and I'm not talking about the Olympics in particular. Good job this is an 'off the beat' thread. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get some disagreement on this one. I'm off on holiday tomorrow, so if I don't reply to any comments on this that's the reason why - please don't think that I'm stirring up controversy and then not bothering to respond to anyone who disagrees.
Yup, Billy Connolly has the answer though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nnnM-__JQ&feature=player_embedded Have a great holiday
Just as well there's no Scots in the team then On the choice of Giggs as an over-23 choice, it is curious that a player could be included who is a bit old to be playing 90 minutes, but who else is there? The best players went to the Euros and can't be played. Giggs is a good choice as an older head, which would come in handy in a team of under-23s. Have a good holiday, Capitano.
I did silkship. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised; it wasn't half bad, although a few things were irritating. I like the fact we went for meaning rather than spectacle; we could never compete with Beijing for funding.
I thought the opening ceremony was excellent - the chimneys coming out of the ground, the forging of the rings, the beautiful torch, Rowan Atkinson and most of all the Queen as a bond girl!
Agree with Penguin. Thought it was brilliant. Loved the music section as well. Thought Billy Bragg's comment on Twitter was amusing. He said, the Beijing Opening Ceremony was good but they did have any great pop songs to play though, did they?
Totally agree Penguin and I thought Emeli Sande's "Abide with Me" really stirring. Seeing the icon Mohamed Ali stirred a bit of moisture as well. Went to my first event this evening - Women's foil (fencing) the semi's and final. Not a sport I know anything about and some of the referees decisions had me confused (should be used to that) but have to say it was pretty dramatic and exciting even. The only downside was that both finalists were Italian so I didn't know who to support. A plus side was the organisation and presentation - first class. Well done Olympic 2012.
Although I enjoyed the ceremony, and parts were exceptionally good, I did think that the amount of time severely limited how much of a representation we could offer. Empire wasn't touched, despite that being an aspect of British history that has probably had the most bearing on many of the participating nations. My own feeling is that, if the time doesn't allow for it, don't try and tell a story which you can't finish because it ended up being a very selective presentation of history which didn't really do anything toward changing the overseas perspective of us. Watching it with foreigners, I think they got a few things, but as the Washington Post wrote, it did seem like a big inside joke- which is really quite rude given that we are the host. I think in trying to show how much of a contribution to the world Britain has already made (Beijing seemed to point to the impact China would go on to have), we maybe lost sight of all the other nations being there, coming together in celebration. We ended up with a mad-cap (and undeniably enjoyable) ceremony that tried to display soft power in an unsubtle way. Having said that, although I think Boyle's overall vision was slightly off, individual components were fantastic. The idea behind the Olympic torch was great and I really liked Beckham's contribution- it was a nice touch to have him bring the torch down the river to East London. I think the moment that best summed up my feelings was when they brought in the inventor of the worldwide web with the quote "this is for everyone". At that moment it struck me that this scene, and much of the ceremony, wasn't for everyone- it was for Britain, self indulgent and smarmy. I'm not too critical of Boyle though, it was a tough job and people were always going to criticise him regardless. Personally I think this was the time to address Empire; to acknowledge the wrongs that were committed and the resources plundered, whilst also showing the new England, populated by many people from the old outer-lying territories, now guiding its future. I think it will be interesting to see what happens when the games closes- it's been an action packed summer for sport and ceremony, once it's all done what is there to do next?
Boyle did a good job - So different (and more honest, yes really!) from Beijing. Although, I do wonder what some foreign nations would have made of it, including the various bits of humour, history etc. Evidently, I am not the only Olympophile, or general supporter of sport (evidenced by supporting Fulham when they were 91st, or a current part-time supporter of SurreyCCC) in this country. I was impressed by just how many people (with/without kids) saw the Flame**. Or indeed, how many have watched the the cyling road race - yesterday, I was with over 1,000 people watching in the space of just 500 metres in a corner of Surrey, and then came home to see 10-deep in London. **And that's before we here is that great photo of Michael Johnson at Stonehenge - Superb! End of this short diatribe (with its digressions). Although I may make more postings after Friday and Sunday.
Pajtim Kasami Came off after 85 minutes tonight in Switzerland's 2-1 defeat to South Korea. By all accounts he was, shall we say, a little short of match fitness. Update : Kasami gives his view of the game and a little insight into his Fulham aspirations - http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/4433/2012-olympics/2012/07/29/3273988/kasami-hoping-to-win-fulham-place-with-olympic-form I do believe the man he elbowed in the first minute was a certain No. 7 who for a short time was a bit of a favourite with Mr Hodgson (goodness knows why). Oh, and despite what it says in the report, he came off after 85 minutes.
I'm incredibly jealous, C58. I am a big fencing fan but could only get tickets for the men's sabre (on the plus side, this is my favourite discipline). You won't find many Brits in Olympic fencing though - mainly Italians, Russians and Germans!
It was my daughter who took me (guess who paid?) as she's a fan and kind of knows Anna Bentley of TeamGB. Unfortunately said Anna went out early so we didn't get to see her. It was so good though that since Saturday I've been on the Olympic2012 site regularly trying to get tickets for another session - with no luck so far. Hope you enjoy your event as much.
I did, C58. I was there for the entire of the competition yesterday and it was absolutely incredible. Sadly James Honeybone (the Brit) went out immediately but the standard of the competition was just fantastic. Your daughter has excellent taste!
My old man won tickets to the women's Table Tennis final, and he's taking me to that! Can't wait, actually.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19031156 The last 75m is incredible! It's in the press today following John Leonard's comments about it. He's called it 'disturbing' and goes on to say; "That last 100m was reminiscent of some old East German swimmers, for people who have been around a while. It was reminiscent of 400m individual medley by a young Irish woman in Atlanta.” Oddly, I'd been having a discussion my friend about this not long ago. The performances of the Chinese athletes are so impressive because of the level of training that is put in, not because of doping (in most cases- there may be some guilty parties). The question is really about the method through which the youngsters are trained;, unfortunately from my position it's impossible to make an informed judgement because I'm not privy to the relationships and experiences that each has. From what I understand, based on discussions with a coach who has been out to China, young children who indicate sporting prowess, or whose development suggests they will have the ideal physical measurements for a particular sport, are then put into the training facilities. Most don't attend a regular 'school' and the majority of their training is focused on the event. I'd like to avoid making a judgement on the morality of it- I think I might have enjoyed going into one of the facilities, the rewards are medals and recognition- although I'm not sure I would have been ready to make that decision at a young age- but it should perhaps be recognised. The Olympic ideal is fair competition, realistically though, facilities and funding are limited to a select few countries. The others rely on an exceptional talent coming through and training overseas- where the home athletes will be prioritised. Although I'm completely against doping in principle- I don't think it's the only way an athlete gains an advantage,. The key might be that the other advantages are outside of their control, so can't be held against them- but then we are recognising it isn't a fair competition, so why not allow doping? The completely unenforceable solution is to impose training limits on all athletes, from the earliest age, and only allow the countries who observe the rules to participate. That would then politicise the issue and force the Olympic body to address the moral issue about the intense levels of training from a young age. Would Britain then create a facility?
My son and I were among the near 77,000 (impressive attendance) at Wembley tonight watching South Korea and Gabon draw 0-0. Won't say an awful lot about the game other than the Koreans were at times skilful and pacy whereas Gabon relied on the long ball. Unfortunately both sets of forwards were pretty hapless as suggesed by the score. We had a side interest in a player from each side - Ki Sung-Yueng (our old No 7 as I mentioned before) of Korea and Aubameyang (who I tipped in the 'Papers and Tranfer' thread as a potential signing), the Gabon No 9. Neither impressed tonight though. While that all may sound negative, the evening was in fact great fun. There was a real Olympic enthusiasm in the crowd and the organisatiosize on was terrific. Even the transport was spot on. Well done again Okympic 2012. This was my first visit to the new Wembley. To be honest we only applied for tickets because it was a cheap opportunity (£46 for the two of us) to visit the stadium and now I can't wait to go back on 17th May,
