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# Football

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![photo](/mjr2002.jpg)

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## World Cup

From the "well that was always gonna happen" department: [Cristiano Ronaldo up
for auction on the
web](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/05/ronaldo_transferred/). Shipping:
anywhere but Manchester.

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## Hallenfußball and the FA Cup

England's football fans had the pleasure of random football scores last
weekend: the FA Cup. Why is there so much expectation of upsets? I think it's
partly because the match is at an ideal time to help level things out,
especially if it's at a non-league ground:

League clubs

    

  * usually full-time
  * 4 or 5 games over the holidays
  * mostly still negotiating new players
  * some of their players seem to expect it to be easy
  * usually play on expensive, well-kept pitches

Non-league clubs

    

  * often part-time
  * 3 games over the holidays
  * often introduce new players in the cup match
  * many of their players relish playing a top club
  * probably have a pitch more damaged by winter

Meanwhile, the German Bundesliga closed before Christmas for a winter break
until the end of January. During the break, Bundesliga teams take part in
indoor football tournaments, some of which can be seen on
[DSF](http://www.dsf.de/). It developed independently on demand and so the
rules are a bit different to 5-a-side, powerleague or futsal. I still don't
understand them all, but it plays like a cross between ice hockey and
football. I found [a bit about its history in a discontinued Bundesliga
FAQ](http://www.informatik.uni-
frankfurt.de/~wille/BALL/9798/bfaq9802.html#indoor). Once the Bundesliga
restarts, I expect it'll be back on [Sgorio](http://www.s4c.co.uk/sgorio).

Finally, watch English league cup (which isn't FA Cup) semi-finals free-to-air
on German DSF...

## Comments

  * [Dave Briggs on Frank Clark's view of cup upsets](http://davebriggs.net/?p=413)
  * Different kinds of [football equipment](http://www.sports-media.org/websponsor/store/soccer-equipment.html) are out there depending on your needs. [+](../2007/advertising "Advertising conditions" )

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This is copyright 2006 MJ Ray. See fuller notice on [front page](/).