DORTMUND, Germany
Things are getting pretty tense here as we count it down to tonight's semifinal, or as they call it on the continent, the Half-Final. So tense, in fact, that home-country fans have planned some pretty heavy retaliatory strikes after Sky Italia TV footage out of the Argentina-Germany aftermath resulted in a hasty FIFA railroading disciplinary hearing and a suspension to key Mannschaft midfielder Torsten Frings (if that punch could have broke a pane of wet kleenex, then I'm Diego Maradona's love child). They're actually considering -- get this -- phoning local Italian restaurants at the 9 p.m. kickoff and placing large orders! Like Rooney, I'm gobsmacked.
Here's some excerpts from Der Spiegel Online's World Cup blog (no permalink, alas), one of the millions of news organizations here that have added blogs (but not this one, I assure you. JABS was barely ticking over well down the road to mediocrity adulthood long before this World Cup was even a gleam in Juergen Klinsmann's eye):
Andreas Wenzel has announced the games of the German national team for the past 13 years. But he was briefly suspended by FIFA for not remaining neutral when addressing the 70,000-strong crowd in Berlin's Olympic Stadium last Friday. As Germany was trailing Argentina 1-0 in the second half, Wenzel announced a substitution in English. However, as he repeated it in German, he apparently couldn't keep himself from telling the home crowd that "our team could use your support right now." The seemingly harmless comment got a response from the fans and, naturally, FIFA.
(Snip)
But what will happen at tonight's match-up? Earlier today I got a forwarded e-mail from my friend Maike, which ordered fans of the German national team to dial the number of their favorite Italian place promptly at first whistle at 9 p.m. and place a large order. The spoiler tactic is a small measure of revenge for FIFA's decision to bar German midfield star Torsten Frings from tonight's game -- a decision some Germans believe was set into motion with the help of TV footage helpfully provided by broadcaster Sky Italia.
"No Frings? No watching the game together Squadra Azzuri!" went the spoilsport e-mail.
It all comes full circle. Totti gets caught by the Danes. Frings gets caught by the Italians. Who's next? Once things like this start, it doesn't stop.
Posted by: Ido Visentin | July 04, 2006 at 08:21 PM
Good catch, Ido. I tried to find a clip of that footage from Euro 2004 re Totti, but didn't. if you can find it, send it along. I wonder why FIFA doesn't do something along the lines of what the NHL does, with every camera angle available to their officials. Leaving it open so that broadcasters can bring in their tapes opens a real can of worms.
Posted by: cy | July 05, 2006 at 01:11 AM
*Leaving it open so that broadcasters can bring in their tapes opens a real can of worms.*
Like the PGA had not long ago when television viewers phoned in a rules violation, which got someone (Paul Azinger?) disqualified.
Sounds like you're having a great time, Chris!!
Posted by: Sean | July 05, 2006 at 09:43 AM