World Cup Have Your Say

This Blog is Now Closed

2006-08-08T11:53:39Z

This blog is now closed. Thanks for all your contributions.

The final curtain

2006-07-09T10:27:40Z

The last programme of our 30 day run and a little belter it was too (if i say so myself).
Take a bow William and Anais (France), Emanuel (Brazil), Yaw (Ghana), Stacy-Marie (T and T),Roberto (Italy), Stella (Netherlands),Amanda (Sweden) and Romero (Angola) who joined Mark in the plush surroundings of the Bush House restaurant for a rousing end to a great World Cup (and we still have the final to come).
Topics ranged from who didn't turn up ( Lampard, Ronaldinho and Ibrahimovic may wish to look away now) to what changes should be made for 2010 ("No Diving" signs on the pitch, three yellow cards before a sending-off (tho' Graham Poll has already started that one off) and refs from countries who didn't make the finals were among the suggestions) and abiding memories (the way the Germans did the whole thing with such passion and spirit was a favourite).
Thanks to all of you for your comments which were (in the main) complimentary and encouraging and it'd be nice to do it all again in South Africa in 4 years time.
Also, my thanks to Gill, Martin ("Tommy"), Vera and Peter for being a world-class team.

Sex and football

2006-07-08T09:31:10Z

On the programme today we staged the talking World Cup. For France , Lucian,Nicolas and skipper Veronique took on Italy in the shape of captain Corrado, Barbara and Mimmo.
Possession and goals were given for the best points made.
The discussion ranged around Zidane, the respective passion of the fans, which country was a "proper" footballing place, which team was the fittest and it finished 2-2 at the end of extra time.
Italy scored an early penalty by pointing out that the average Italian makes love more often in a year than the average French person but in the end we wimped out and the programme ended with a 2-2 draw on penalties as well.
It was entertaining stuff and we can only hope tomorrow's match is too.

Last show for us too tomorrow- we've got some of our best fans coming into the Bush House canteen (how glamorous) for a World Cup breakfast. Please join us...

The Dream Team unveiled

2006-07-07T13:52:21Z

Time sure does fly when you're having fun. Only two games to go (and one of those doesn't really matter) before the end of Germany 2006.

]]> We're already getting misty-eyed and nostalgic here in the office and have been looking back at players who really shone during the tournament. Which lead us to ask you for your Dream Team. The question was simple - who do you think are the best 11 players from all 32 sides who took part?

We got together a rather opinionated group of fans from across the world and let them argue it out on air. Presenter Alex was referee and had the final word over who made the team sheet. The selection panel was made up of Lena from Germany, Mona of Togo, Czech fan Terez, Ghana fan Tina and Magali of France.

A few players - Klose, Zidane and Essien - made it without much argument. The rest were up for debate and national bias was rife. Tina argued passionately for Stephen Appiah and Lena got rather frustrated at Michael Ballack being quickly dimissed as a contender. Thirty minutes later the World Cup Have Your Say Dream Team was created.

Lehmann (GERMANY)
Cannavaro (ITALY)
Terry (ENGLAND)
Sagnol (FRANCE)
Lahm (GERMANY)
Zidane (FRANCE)
Essien (GHANA)
Riquelme(ARGENTINA)
Kaka (BRAZIL)
Klose (GERMANY)
Henry (FRANCE)

Can you do any better? Leave a comment below or email us your selection.....

Allez les Bleus

2006-07-06T13:02:24Z

So, France and Zidane did it. They proved all the critics wrong by qualifying for Sunday's final against Italy. And that is exactly what French fan Ian and Portuguese fan Victor joined us in the studio to talk about. And, once again, I'm Martin Vennard not Peter Van Dyk.

]]> Ian said that despite his age - 34 - Zinedine Zidane had proved that he was still a great player. And Ian said that he was happy that the French team contained so many players of African and other origin. In his view the booing of Portugal's Ronaldo that came from the crowd in the stadium on Wednesday night came from England fans or was provoked by the English press who wanted revenge for Ronaldo's alleged hand in Rooney's sending off against Portugal.
Victor - who comes from the same Portuguese island as Ronaldo, Madeira, and who looks like him - said Ronaldo was the type of player who thrived under such pressure and that it had not affected his game.
Was it a penalty? Yes, Henry was brought down by Ricardho Carvalho, but he made a meal of it, people thought.
Was Ronaldo trying to get a penalty by throwing himself to the ground? Probably. Is Barthez a good keeper, despite his fumbling attantics? Ian thought he was and that he was also chosen to play because of his team spirit and heart.
We were joined on the phone by Portuguese fan, Joao Duarte, who said he had watched the match in a bar in central London, with fans of many different nationalities, including French, and that the atmosphere had been good.
And Portuguese fan Jean-Pierre Ribeiro, who called from Paris, said that he watched the match in a squash club bar in the French capital, surrounded by French fans.
We were having a few problems with the phones this morning so we didn't get through as many callers as we would have liked, but Italian fan Giancarlo Pelati, called to talk about the final on Sunday. He's hoping for a good match.
Is

We got the following text messages:

Do teams end up playing in a style that reflects their manager's temperament? Portugal were demonstrative, feisty and volatile; England were low-key, understated and overly-defensive; Trinidad and Tobago were wily, spirited and lively; Germany were full of self-belief, efficient and optimistic.

Richie wrote:

Ronaldo (and a few others) in the France game was throwing himself around trying to get penalties even though the non-football fraternity could see that he was cheating?

Shaimy wrote:

winner - france most entertaining team - errr spain biggest flop - czech rep biggest fluke- portugal going through funny moment- Bartez trying to catch the ball.

Dream Team

2006-07-05T13:24:32Z

Well they were impressive last night weren't they? The Italians played with power and pace to upset the hosts and they weren't bad goals either. Food for thought for the French and the Portugese before tonight's other semi.
We had fans from all the four semi-final countries on this morning (and a few neutrals). Thomas- a Germany fan- described the mood in his country as one of "pride and disappointment" (which is more than England fans feel). pride because of the brilliance of the World Cup and the performance of their team, and the disappointment- well, that's obvious having come so far.
Two French fans (with precious tickets for the game) Gabby and Adrian- sparred with Alfredo (a Portugal fan) - and the tone of the conversation from the other fans suggests that Portugal are the least popular team still in it.
So tonight, we either say goodbye to Zizou or Figo , and it's fair to say they've been two of the players who've lit up this tournament. Which leads us to your Dream Team. If you could pick 11 players from all the 32 teams who took part who would be in it? Who would be in goal for a start...? -Lehmann, Buffon, Ricardo? and would you find room for Drogba, Rosicky, Klose, Hargreaves,Toure, Torres, Robben, Ronaldo or Tevez?
Let us know and we'll chew over your suggestions on Friday...

The men in black

2006-07-04T10:55:21Z

Due to popular demand we talked about refereeing today and the text messages and phone calls flooded in to the programme, which played host to former English premiership referee Jeff Winter. We were also joined in the studio by another Yaw, not the Yaw who came to see us on Monday, but another Ghanaian, Yaw Adu-Larbi. By the way, this is Martin Vennard writing again and not Peter van Dyk, who is working on another project..

]]> Jeff Winter said the refereeing in the early stages of the tournament was very good, but the players' behaviour, and not the referees, has been getting worse.
But Mick in Australia said the referee had been terrible in his adopted country's games and video technology would have changed the names of the teams in the semi-finals.
While Theo in Athens believes that while the referees did well at the start of the tournament, they've been losing control.
Yaw said the decisions suggest the referees aren't allowing the game to flow.
Jeff said that as a referee he just took any big match as a game of football and that he would not discuss controversial decisions with the teams straight after matches as emotions are running too high.
He said fans get swayed by their emotions and don't see things clearly.
Mick said the last-minute penalty in the Australia-Italy match should never have been given, but Jeff said that even if the Australian defender had shown no intent he had still impeded the progress of the Italian striker and that that was a penalty according to the rules of the game.
Zeljko in Croatia said the fans there had been more annoyed by their team's performance against Australia than by the mistakes by referee Graham Poll, who gave three yellow cards to a Croat player before finally sending him off.
Portugal fan Alfredo stood up for the refs, who don't have the benefit of seeing incidents from several angles, while Rob in Holland said the Russian referee Valentine Ivanov lost the plot while refereeing Holland against Portugal. Tusang in Zimbabwe also defended the refs.

Here are some texts we got:

Biran Saine:

I think the game of football is becoming more difficult for referees to umpire so I'll recommend that referees should view a video play back of critical scenes before taking a decision.

From Australia:

I hope Australia and Ghana make it back to the World Cup next time to show the referees, Fifa and the world what they are missing in total football.

David Marshland:

Ghana were treated very badly by the officials in their game against Brazil. Makes me wonder if there is one law for the europeans and south americans and a harsher one for the rest.

Red card or right on?

2006-07-03T08:14:33Z

Since the first day of World Cup Have Your Say one issue has dominated your comments, emails and text messages. Referees. It seems most of you have an opinion - sometimes good but mostly bad - about the men in black.

]]> So as we're here to serve you we've decided that tomorrow we're going to dedicate an entire programme to referees.

That's your cue to get your voice heard now. What have you made of their performance in the tournament? Red card or right on?

For many games the post match analysis has involved more chat about the refs than the players. A couple of fixtures that spring to mind include Portugal v Holland (remember those 16 yellows and four reds) and Australia v Croatia (Graham Poll losing count).

Is it time Fifa turned the spotlight on the officials or do refs get a tough ride as teams increasingly turn to gamesmanship? (Some of you may say cheating but I'm willing to give players the benefit of the doubt.)

As a special treat tomorrow we've booked former top referee Jeff Winter to take your questions and give the ref's version of events. Leave a comment below or email us your question or comments and we'll put them to Jeff from 0800GMT tomorrow (Tuesday) on World Cup Have Your Say.

The greatest sporting event on earth

2006-07-02T10:26:07Z

Just what is it about the World Cup? Why does it inspire people to travel around Germany in a smelly campervan for a month throwing personal hygiene to the (down) wind?

]]> Why do fans die their hair their national colours and wear silly costumes? Surely that chainmail worn by England fans dressed as St George must chafe?

I've spotted several examples of people acting rather strangely and explaining it away with: "It was the World Cup that made me do it." Grass verges across Germany have been littered with slumbering fans prepared to crash anywhere just to be there. One guy got so swept up all the emotion that he proposed to his girlfriend in a motoway layby in Germany live on UK radio station BBC Radio Five Live.

We want to hear from you about what you've been through in the name of the World Cup whether you've travelled to Germany or have been watching it at home. What is it that makes the World Cup the greatest sporting event on earth and what lengths have you gone to to make sure you've taken part?

Have you wrestled the television remote control from your other half to watch that absorbing clash between Switzerland and Ukraine? Or just how much money have you been prepared to pay for a ticket to see your team?

We're on the final stretch of the tournament now - just four matches to go then it's all over for another four years. So we're also interested in finding out how you'd improve the World Cup to make it better for South Africa 2010. Some rule changes perhaps? More teams or maybe fewer?

Email us or leave a comment below.

If I was in charge FIFA.......

2006-07-01T10:32:26Z

I don't know about you but some things have really got on my nerves during the World Cup. Nothing more so than players patting referees on the back after he's made a decison in their favour.

]]> The worst incidence of this happened during Germany v Sweden way back in the now distant days of the second round. In the 35th minute Sweden's Teddy Lucic got a second yellow for tugging on Klose's shirt. But he was only booked after Brazilian referee Carlos Simon was surrounded by German players brandishing imaginary cards. Eventually he did what they wanted, waved the red and as a reward received a pat on the back from Podolski.
This has inspired me to come up with a new rule. If I was in charge of FIFA the only players allowed to approach the referee would be the team captain. If anyone else tried to talk to him they'd be instantly booked. What do you think?
We'd like to hear your ideas to improve the World Cup - both rules and beyond. More qualifying teams perhaps? Retrospective bookings for players feigning injury? Better ticket allocation? (I think we'd all to see that happen).
Pretend you are Sepp Blatter for a few moments (don't worry you don't need to do it for very long) and put your thinking caps on.
Email us your ideas or leave a comment below.

Child's Play

2006-06-29T11:00:57Z

We thought it was about time we heard from the kids on World Cup Have Your Say.

Of course at the World Cup the closest kids get to the game is being mascots (no, I'm not talking about Theo Walcott), and I'm sure none of them are complaining, but we want to know what children think about football.

If like me, many of your early memories are of football matches, you'll remember the thrill of the crowds, playing your first game, the exotic countries you saw on tv at the World Cup. So how do today's children see the tournament, and the game of football?

]]> We'll be bringing together students in Asia, Africa and Europe (sorry, at 0800 GMT it's tough to get anyone in the Americas on the programme, but if you want to take part, let us know) to talk about playing and watching football.

How do they feel about diving? It must have been a part of the game ever since they started watching, not some new(ish) blight on our memories of bygone times.

And we'll want to know what they think about the quarterfinals. And of course what you think...

Withdrawal symptoms

2006-06-29T06:59:38Z

A day without World Cup football. How did you survive. How will you survive - it's still more than 24 hours until the next game (but what a game!).

Here at World Cup Have Your Say, we're getting our footy fix by talking statistics. Shots, passes, saves, tackles - it's all recorded these days. But what can you really tell from all the information?

We're asking the experts, but in the meantime, here are some stats to get you going...

]]>

Swiss Referee Massimo Busacca speaks the most languages - Italian, English, French, German and Spanish.

Most fast break attacks - Ivory Coast (27) followed by Germany and Poland on 26

Dirtiest player - Mark Viduka -16 fouls

Most Fouled Suffered - Luis Figo - 19

Most Saves Joao Ricardo (Angola) and Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Japan) 21

Portugal are the dirtiest team - 18yellows, 3 Reds - 96 Fouls committed

Cleanest team is Brazil with just 35 fouls!

Top Tackler - Anatoliy Tymoschuk - 24 tackles

Long Ball tactics - Ukraine (465) and England (434)

USA has the least shots on goal with just 4!!!

Henry and Viduka have been caught offside the most with 9 each

Frank Lampard has had the most shots with 21

The Swiss were knocked out in the second round despite not conceding a goal in the whole tournament - a first

The Swedes have had the most corners with 30. T & T had just 5 - no wonder they didn't score a single goal

The Swedish wide men have been the busiest - 126 crosses into the box. Tunisia must play through the middle as they only managed 36. Even Brazil is only on 59.

Graham Poll is the biggest porker in black - weighing in at 88kg

Africa day

2006-06-28T11:05:42Z

We held an African football summit on Thursday, with our resident Ghanaian, Vera Kwakofi, Nigerian and African football expert Osasu Obayiuwana, and Angola fan Romero all in the studio. We were also joined from the Ghanaian capital, Accra, by football journalist Durosimi Thomas. By the way, this is Martin Vennard writing and not Peter.

]]> We think we made the right choice of subject given the huge number of texts and calls we received in the programme.
Nigeria and Ghana, in the form of Osasu and Vera, agreed that an African team would eventually win the World Cup and make Pele's prediction come true, if a little late, as long as African administrators get their act together.
Romero said African teams were always let down at the big tournaments by their countries' governments and football associations.
Durosimi said that despite Ghana going out to Brazil all was not doom and gloom in Accra. Ghana fans were consoled by the fact that they went out to the best team in Germany.
Ivory Coast fan Pascal said his team went out due to lack of experience, but that the Ivorian system of football academies was an example for the rest of Africa to follow.
Vera said Ghana had to learn to keep its concentration until the end of a match, unlike what happened against Brazil, while Romero said Angola's problem was that the team just couldn't score.
Dutch fan Stella phoned in to rubbish Johan Cruyff's claim that the Netherlands would have done better in the tournament if the Dutch immigration minister had granted Dutch citizenship to Ivory Coast winger Salomon Kalou.
Pascal said they would welcome him back into the Ivorian fold despite the fact that he wanted to play for the Netherlands. Romero said that one of Angola's problems was losing its Portuguese-based players to Portugal.
We also had a call from Cameroon fan Alex who said his country only had itself to blame for failing to qualify for the World Cup. Vera said he was one of the few Cameroonians to admit it.

Here are some of the texts we got:

M D Abdullah in Argungu, Nigeria, says:

Government interference in football administration would never allow African teams to prosper in a world cup fiesta

Mark Mkpanam in Ikot Abasi, Nigeria, says:

Africa should forget about world cup until refrees are ready to do well with them.

Another listener wrote:

It is silly to suggest that fifa should somehow try to restrict the movement of talent from africa to europe.

Stat attack

2006-06-27T13:26:43Z

Ever wondered which team is top of the league in the alice band-wearing stakes? Or how about which striker has attempted the most long shots with his left foot?

]]> If so World Cup have Your Say is the programme for you. There's not much going on World Cup-wise this Thursday because of rest days between the quarters and semis. So we've decided to appeal to all you statistics fans out there and find out the real story behind Germany 2006.
We're compiling a panel of experts in all kinds of footy figures to attempt to answer your every question about the World Cup. Be it the team most likely to wear blue boots, the striker who has missed most shots on goal (surely Frank Lampard has a toe-in for that one) or the dirtiest player (currently Australia's Mark Viduka) - World Cup Have Your Say will attempt to find YOU the facts.
It seems some listeners have already their formed their own theories about the secrets behind the World Cup. What about this one about Brazil by Angus in Grenada:

Brazil won the World Cup in 1994. Before that, he had won this title for the last time in 1970.
If you add up: 1970 + 1994 = 3964
Argentina won the World Cup for the last time in 1986. Before that only in 1978.
And 1978 + 1986 = 3964
Germany , though, won the World Cup in 1990. Before that, Germany won in 1974
Look: 1990 + 1974 = 3964
This could lead us to guess the winner of the World Cup in 2002, since it should be the winner of the 1962 World Cup (In fact 3964 - 2002 = 1962).
And Brazil won the world cup in 1962! (And, in fact, Brazil won the 2002 WC)
This numerology seems to work...
And now, who would be the winner of the 2006 world cup?
Let's see, 3964 - 2006 = 1958
And who won in 1958?....
Oh, Brazil did!!!

Can you better that? Any other weird and wonderful theories out there? We're keen to make our panellists work as hard as possible (we're awkward like that) so tell us the question you want answered. I may even be able to convince the editor to dish out a prize for those who leave our experts stumped. (Don't get too excited it may well be a t'shirt or something similar but surely that's better than nothing.)
Check out the BBC website and Statto for inspiration then zip up your anorak right to the hood and leave us a question or comment below.

Africa calling

2006-06-27T11:32:11Z

First there were five and now there is one. Ghana is the only African team to make the last 16.

]]> I was reluctant at first to presume that Africans from other countries would be throwing their support behind Ghana but listeners to World Cup Have Your Say have made me think again.

This morning lovely Ghana fan Yaw came into our studio wearing a huge floppy Ghana hat and a flag draped round his middle. Within seconds of him speaking on air our phones were red hot with calls from all over Africa pledging their support to Yaw and his team. The SMS system kept crashing with messages from across Africa willing Ghana to beat Brazil.

Patrick Mamwa in Nairobi said:

Ghana is out to win so Brazil you better watch out. Go Black Stars - we are behind you.

Clarice from Sierra Leone said:

Congratulations Ghana. You are a winner.

So it looks as if I'm wrong and World Cup virgins Ghana have the huge weight of a continent's expectations on their shoulders.

Pele famously predicted an African team would win the World Cup by 2010. The tournament will be hosted in Africa that year that's for sure. But do you think an African team pull off a victory? Why is it that each World Cup we see a different crop of African teams? In 2002 it was Senegal. 1994 and 1998 it was Nigeria. Why does there appear to be such a lack of consistency? How healthy are the African domestic leagues? Are too many talented youngsters leaving their countries too early headed for Europe? Tomorrow we are dedicating our entire programme to African football and we want to know what YOU think. Please leave a comment below or email us with your thoughts. You never know you might end up on the radio.