Which World Football League Is The Best Of The Best
Serie A, La Liga and the Premiership all voice strong claims to be the finest football league in the world today. However, which of these has the most genuine claim. The recognition of being the best is an honor that dictates not just bragging rights, but also the ability to draw the finest players and sponsorship contracts to secure the mantle yet further. There are countless factors to consider; the players the leagues have now, the trophies won by their clubs, the quality of football played and the stature of their various sides. Does that tactical catenaccio of the Italians outweigh the physical pressure of the Premiership? Would the top-heavy flair of La Liga continually overcome the strength of an English midfield? How do the Mediterranean cousins compare?
In comparing these various brands of ‘the beautiful game’ we must consider the many factors that make them great individually. The history, the present and the future are all crucial in contrasting these various brands of and eventually building a perception of whether one does stand above the others.
Players
The first and often the most favored way of fans comparing championships, who has the best players? The natural assumption following this is that Spain hold the upper hand in this argument; especially given that both World (Ronaldinho) and European (Fabio Cannavaro) Players of Year play in La Liga. Also Spain can boast many other great talents; Madrid have van Nistelrooy, Raul, Robinho and Beckham, Barca can boast Ronaldinho, Deco, Messi, Eto’o and Zambrotta. Other clubs have similarly immense performers, David Villa and Joaquin Sanchez at Valencia, Riquelme at Villarreal to name but a few.
Italy can boast a similarly impressive list of galacticos, however, possibly due to the more pedestrian nature of Serie A the players have a tendency to be of a slightly more advanced age. Internazionale (or Inter) boast the most impressive roster; Crespo, Ibrahimovic, Veron, Stankovic, Figo and Samuel all ply there trade for the Nerazzurri. Their city rivals Milan also have a cornucopia of stars; despite losing their talisman Andriy Shevchenko to chelsea in the summer, they have one world beater in Riccy Kaka’. Also players as renowned as Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta and Alberto Gilardino front a cast that contains talent enough to challenge for any trophy. Also worth mentioning is that the Milan rear-guard still contains the legendary Paulo Maldini as captain. With the shadow of Calciopoli hanging over the Italian top flight, what should be mentioned is the exodus from Serie A that occurred over the summer saw many of their finest individuals leave the division.
Zambrotta and Thuram left Juventus for Barcelona, likewise Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson joined their Bianconieri coach Fabio Capello in Madrid, and former Serie A favourites like Alessandro del Piero, Gigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet have all decided to stay loyal to the old lady and ply their trade in Serie B for a season. As mentioned, Shevchenko also left the Rossoneri for chelsea.
Whilst discussing Chelsea we must clearly outline that they are the major player in European football today. The premise that currently exists in football is that, when it comes to the transfer market, the Premiership champions are the team that all others must follow. Due to the seemingly unlimited funds stumped up by their Russian oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, Chelsea have amassed a team of stars to match any other club in the world. With Terry and Lampard already present prior to the Russian benefactor’s input, players like Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba, Joe Cole and, as discussed, Shevchenko. The Premiership can also boast some of the world’s finest players in Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas at arsenal; Rooney, Rio and Ronaldo at manchester united and liverpool’s talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard.
The important thing to outline when comparing the undoubtedly huge talents on show in these various leagues is that although we are examining them from the perspective of now, the future is also a vital factor. As we discussed Serie A does tend to boast more seasoned galacticos whereas the Premiership can argue that, in Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas, they have some of the most promising talent. Spanish football could also argue that their spread is encompasses youth, with youngsters such as Sergio Aguero and Fernando ‘el Nino’ Torres at Atletico, Lionel Messi at Barca and one name to watch in Matias Fernandez, a Chilean playmaker due to join Villarreal in January.
Marketing
Football in the Twenty First Century is far more than the game it was in previous decades. It is now a business, and one of the world’s biggest at that. Transfer prices are now such that it appears any ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ is worth £15 million. Player’s wages have also experienced astronomical rises. This is to the extent that £3 million per year is not considered to be a completely outrageous wage for a top international player. With the costs to clubs continually rising, somebody is required to fulfill these extravagant fiscal demands.
Sponsorship, television rights and marketing revenue are now utilized by top clubs that are now selling a ‘brand’ rather than a sport. From product association to shirts emblazoned with trade names, the marketing aspect of major clubs and leagues is paramount to the strength therein.
Annually an accountancy firm called Deloitte release details of top European club’s financial incomes over the previous season. Essentially a ‘rich-list’ of sides, comparing their viability and market strength in today’s football world. The most recent edition of this list is from the 2005 season and the zenith of the list is almost totally dominated by our ‘big three leagues’.
The 2005 rankings dictate that the world’s market leader in football terms is now Real Madrid. The previous years had been dominated by the manchester united marketing machine; however the Castilian club took the mantle from their English rivals. Much of this change in fortunes has been put down to the ‘David Beckham factor’.
Former England skipper David Beckham is as famous for his private life as he is for his football. Married to a ‘Spice-Girl’, the midfielder looks more like a pop star than a footballer, sporting numerous tattoos, continually outrageous hair styles and a multiplicity of product endorsement contracts. Described as being the ‘most photographed sportsman ever’, Beckham is worth his weight in Euros to his club side. The fact that Manchester United, who previously topped the rich-list, were dethroned by Beckham’s new club Real Madrid is regarded as proof of the man’s value from a marketing perspective. However, it is worth mentioning that Madrid’s on-field performances have declined while their finances improved, and a more recent list may also hint at Beckham’s own on-pitch decline as a force in world football.
The top ten teams in the list are, with the exception of Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, all from Spain, Italy or England. The majority is dominated by the Premiership as we see Manchester United (2nd), Chelsea (5th), liverpool (8th) and arsenal (10th), this is followed by three Serie A clubs in Milan (3rd), Juventus (4th) and Inter (9th) and Spain’s La Liga only has two top ten entries, despite Real topping the list being followed by rivals Barcelona in 6th. In viewing these figures, we must firstly emphasise that they are not as up to date as we would like, also should a more recent list be compiled we would surely see the effect of Calciopoli on the Italian sides.
Style
The extent to which a league entertains depends vastly upon how you like your football. The three brands all vary in their traits greatly and taste is a vital factor within this, after all, one man’s pineapple is another man’s poison. Main differences in these leagues are inherent of the style of football played in each respective country. Although on the surface this may seem obvious, but when we consider the extent to which domestic football has become incredibly multicultural, it is positive that these leagues maintain their own identity despite this.
The brand of football played in the leagues differs greatly. As mentioned earlier, the Italian game is one based around technique, control of possession and patience. The cattenaccio of today’s Italian game is not as negative as that of sides during the mid-twentieth century, wherein five defenders would be used to enforce a stringent man marking system with a ‘libero’ slotting in behind as a ball-playing sweeper. Unfortunately the system in its original state is now outdated, given that both the zonal marking system has almost uniformly become the status quo of the modern game and that sweepers are now very scarcely employed. However, the football played in Serie A today is one that echoes this system.
Calcio is often regarded by those in Northern Europe as being dull, but those closer to the Mediterranean as being a purists game that encapsulates a higher standard of football than any other. Football in Italy has been likened to a game of chess, with a more systematic approach than that of other countries. Defenders are often as gifted in possession as any other position, a trait not found elsewhere in football. The style football played uses lots of short passes designed to open pockets of space, rather than longer balls targeting taller forwards. The game requires a very high level of technical ability, with the art of controlling and passing paramount.
Detractors of the Italian game often point its lack of pace and time-consuming attacking play as its flaws. Goals are notoriously hard to come by, a fact further embellished by examining Luca Toni’s impressive thirty-one goal season last year, the first player to score over thirty goals in Serie A for forty eight years. As such many prefer the hustle and bustle of leagues like the Premiership.
The Premiership is a very fast and furious division; emphasis on strength, pace and drive. This is not withstanding the fact that a very high standard of football can be seen in England’s top flight, however by and large the game is dictated in a very physically demanding manner. English football was much maligned in the eighties and nineties for a predominance of ‘long ball’ football. The theory being that long, direct passes into forward areas would create chances for purposefully employed big, physical strikers. This style was often considered to not be graceful and was lambasted by critics. Despite the fact that the English league has developed since, similarly to the catenaccio roots of Serie A, this style still exists to some extent today; even league champions Chelsea have been criticised for employing such a style. Despite not being as higher level of technical level, the Premiership is often billed as being ‘the most exciting league in the world’ due to its non-stop action-packed intensity.
In contrast La Liga has a style of its own entirely. Borrowing much from a South American ethic of flair football, the Spanish league is famed for its fast, flowing attacking brand of play. Spain’s Primera Division has won many admirers over recent years, firstly thanks to the Zidane inspired galacticos of Madrid and more recently the exploits of Ronaldinho Gaucho for Barcelona. The emphasis in Spain, more than any other in Europe, is on attacking play. Formations are based around ball playing midfielders and skilful wingers. This does produce a very open brand of football; however this does often expose defensive frailties. With the occasional exception (Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol) Spanish defenders are not generally as strong as their counterparts in farther reaches of the game. This combined with the ability of attackers does make La Liga very enticing from a spectator point of view.
Not withstanding the stereotypes that we have examined, there are clear exceptions to every rule, and this instance no different. Despite being usually solid and defence-orientated, Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan have been praised for their attacking football in Serie A. Also, and potentially the finest example of this, there is Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s men continually produce some of the most free flowing football in world football today. However, for obvious reasons, the North London outfit could be reasoned to be the exception to the rule as they have a side almost totally dominated by foreign players. To the extent that, since the departures of Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole, it is unlikely that an Englishman will, should the Gunners be at full strength, feature at all.
Competitiveness
What makes a league exciting is often based around not only the vastness of the occasion or the protagonists involved, but the closeness of the competitors. In all leagues, as with walks of life, there are historically bigger sides with larger financial acumen, but where there is no competition, there is no spectacle.
The Premiership has been dominated by the wealth of Chelsea over the past two seasons, not withstanding the fact that it takes more than just money to dominate a league (although it helps) and it is a credit to both players and coaching staff that they have taken the past two successive titles with consummate ease. This season, however is painting a different picture. The wily old Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is now producing the results that his talented array of stars are capable of, and at this point in time stand a commendable eight points clear of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
Beyond the top two, we see something that has been apparent for some time in the Premiership. The gap between the top teams and the chasing pack could be justifiably described as chasm-like. Previously there was a top four that added Liverpool and Arsenal to the current table-topping rivals, but unfortunately for the neutral this gap has extended to these clubs as well. However, this does create what can be seen as almost a ’second league’ in which clubs behind Manchester United and Chelsea vie for the remaining to places in Europe’s prestigious Champions League.
This chasing pack includes both Liverpool and Arsenal, followed in strength of squad by Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur but effectively any other side that can put together a good run of results can infiltrate the group, as was the case with last season’s surprise package of Wigan Athletic, who almost secured a UEFA Cup berth despite being touted as relegation favorites before the season began.
Spain can also look to the domination of one club over the past two seasons as being the main debating topic. Barcelona’s back-to-back titles have not, however, received anything like the treatment that Chelsea’s similar achievements have. Whilst the ‘boo-boys’ have been out in force ‘pooh-poohing’ the wealth, attitude and style (or lack thereof) the Premiership’s title holders, Barcelona’s success has been lauded as a ‘victory for style over adversity’. From many purists’ perspectives, the brand of flowing football that Barca exhibit is very pleasing on the eye and the fact that Los Cules are considered footballing royalty, rather than the nouveau riche of Mourinho’s men, could be a factor.
The Primera Liga at present still see’s the Catalonian giants on top, a mini-renaissance from their bitter rivals Real Madrid has been temporarily halted as the surprise package of Sevilla look to ‘upset the apple cart’. Traditional bridesmaids Valencia appear to have moved back to a position more akin to an usher as Atletico Madrid and Zaragoza enjoy good form. Unlike the Premiership, La Liga does not usually purvey the gulf between the top sides and their competitors. Such is the nature of Spanish football, that although unexpected, the top teams are more often beaten by their less illustrious competitors.
In the Italian top flight, again the competitiveness is affected by the match fixing scandal. From the season’s opening, it seemed that it would be a two horse race. In previous seasons this has been the case, with Juventus battling Milan for lo scudetto. However, with Milan docked points and Juventus having to cope with life in Serie B, it has left Roma and Inter to battle for the title. Inter, the perennial underachievers of calico, have amassed one of the world’s strongest squads and as such currently stand a clear distance ahead of their rivals. Nine consecutive wins for the nerazzurri (an Italian record) sees Mancini’s men looking down the barrel of their first actual title (they were handed the 2006 title by default of being the highest placed side guilty of no wrongdoing in the Calciopoli scandal) in over ten years.
In Conclusion
Upon first attempting to tackle this question, I can honestly state that I did not conceive quite what I was undertaking. All three leagues are packed with all things that make football the worlds biggest, and in my opinion best, sport. Rather than scrutinized with a cynical eye, we should really be embracing these bastions of passion, flair and ability, rejoicing in the pleasure that millions of fans get from these three small collections of twenty teams. However, I set out on a journey, a journey that took longer than anticipated, but a journey all the same to root out which I believed to be the best.
If that assessment leaves all of the leagues attributes equal then the next separates. Money and marketing are bigger in the Premier League than in any other non-American sport and the financial credence there eclipses anything that Spain or Italy can boast. However, the argument in this instance must remain, how important (bragging rights aside) is the money? Which leads us to question, is money not potentially the ultimate undoing of these leagues? Using Italy as a prime example, the great football broadcaster James Richardson cites this as the reason for Serie A’s downturn in fortunes; he believes that money that was spent around the turn of the century was effectively ‘promised’ funds for projected future television rights that sadly never materialized. However, in the Premiership, the money just keeps rolling in.
Finally we draw to the final issue of competitiveness and with Calciopoli forcing Serie A to dismount its jockey leaving a two horse race. In this issue I am setting my stall out early and backing the Premiership. With no disrespect to Real Madrid, but I cannot see Barcelona being usurped this season. From watching football for many years now, you learn to know when a resurgence is threatening, and Madrid’s is not that. Manchester United however is the English top flight, for the first time in a while, looks as though it will draw to a truly nail-biting conclusion.
Overall, as I have mentioned throughout, it is with regret that I concede that Italy, given all of their difficulties, cannot compete. This upsets me, as it was Serie A where I gained much of my development as a football supporter, spending years enjoying the delights of the Mediterranean game, watching exotically monikered players with equally glamorous abilities. It is true that the average Italian top flight footballer is of higher fundamental ability than his English counterpart, but the stigma of scandal is too apparent in the current Serie A climate for them to be considered. It is my hope that we see a renaissance in Italian football and that over the coming decade we see a nation rejuvenated and again rivaling their Spanish and English counterparts.
So it comes to the final two, and in truth it could not be tighter. However, it is the Premiership which I believe to be the best. It is by the width of a flee’s reproductive organs, but the Premiership has the lot. It has, in my opinion, the most exciting crop of young players, the most competitive title chase and the best supporters. It has the biggest worldwide audiences and is (marginally) the strongest nation in the worldwide transfer market. This is not to detract from La Liga, a league of endless attacking improvisation, flair and adventure, a league that has history, has impossibly gifted players, has Ronaldinho, but its flaws are too clear. The hapless defending is one such example of this and too bigger issue to be ignored.
For me, the Premiership has only recently secured the mantle it has sought since its creation. For the Baggios, van Bastens, Papins, Maldinis, Batistutas and friends in Nineties Serie A to the Zizous, Figos, Rivaldos, Ronaldos, Rauls et al of Noughties La Liga, there has always been something to separate English Football from the top of the tree, however now it is clear that the FA Premier League is THE major force in world football today and given the money and following dedicated to retaining that mantle, I foresee that this will be the case for years to come.
The author is David Hardy who writes for http://www.football-rumours.com A large, frequently updated football/soccer web site dealing with all facets of the game. The above article is only half the original due to the 3500 word count of this articles site. This article can be read in it’s entirety at http://articles.football-rumours.com
Polyester Is Making Soccer Uniforms Cool!
Once upon a time, in the 1970’s, polyester was the king of cool fabrics, worn by everyone for every occasion. Soon, however, this synthetic material’s popularity went the way of Disco music and the 8-track player used to listen to it on. On the soccer field, however, polyester lives on, and new ways of weaving this durable fabric have made it the material for designing comfortable, easy to care for uniforms.
Soccer uniforms are not simply color-matched clothes for the team to wear while playing the game. These clothing items should be considered as important as the ball choice and the cleats, since a great deal of the player’s ability to give an optimal performance will depend on how their body is reacting to either the heat or to a cold chill. The correct selection of the soccer uniform can enhance or detract from the team’s overall performance, and therefore deserves appropriate attention.
Polyester shares the spotlight with no other fabric on the soccer field. It is lightweight, durable and breathable, and allows for very little color bleeding, if any. CoolMax, designed by Dupont, has taken the old stand by of polyester, and created a hybrid, 4-channel spun fiber that wicks moisture quickly away from the body, and dries in an instant, leaving the player cool and comfortable even in the hottest game of the season. Now the old work horse, polyester, performs like a thoroughbred, making even the most inexperienced player look and feel like a champion.
No discussion on soccer uniforms would be complete without considering socks. Socks must be well fitted, and preferably made of one of today’s high tech moisture wicking fiber blends, designed to help keep feet dry and blister free. It would be a shame to afford no time to proper sock fitting since the best cleats money can buy will not be able to compensate for the discomfort a pair of ill fitting socks can cause.
As in the jersey and short construction, polyester and its hybrid cousins stand out in performance and durability. When choosing soccer socks, look for the blend to list polyester first, or highest, among the named components. You will pay a bit more, sometimes double for soccer socks with a high polyester thread count, however choosing the better socks over those made of say, primarily acrylic, will pay off for you in happier player’s feet. In a game where feet are of supreme importance, it is wise to invest a bit in the proper care and comfort of them.
If you are the parent of a youth soccer player, and for financial reasons the least expensive socks are being ordered for the team, it would be very prudent of you to purchase the upgraded polyester blend socks for your child. Just make sure they are an exact match. Ideally, ask the coach or team manager to order them for your child along with the entire uniform order, explaining you are willing to pay the cost differential.
Get all the latest in Soccer know how from the one and only true source at http://www.SoccerDetails.com Be sure to check our soccer uniform page.
Fernando Torres "El Nino" – The Perfect Striker?
Fernando Torres has become one of the most respected of the foreign players earning their living in the English Premier League. Ever since his transfer from Atletico de Madrid in the summer of 2007, El Nino, as he was dubbed early on his career, has impressed English football fans not only with his goalscoring abilities, but by his total attitude towards life in his adopted liverpool.
It couldn’t have been easy for Torres when he joined the Merseyside giants. He was, after all, the undoubted ‘king’ of Atlético; he’d been their youngest ever first team player, youngest ever captain and the talisman of both the team and its supporters almost since his debut in May, 2001. With a following of pop star like proportions, and playing for the team he loved, it was little surprise that he resisted a money-making move abroad for as long as he did.
The time was right, though, in July, 2007, for Fernando to move on. Atlético were in desperate need of money and Torres was beginning to look tired after carrying the burdens of responsibility for so long. July 4th, however, was a highly emotional day when he said his tearful goodbyes to the club he’d loved as a child and for whom he’d scored 91 goals.
It wasn’t straightforward, either, joining a club like liverpool. With a history of great strikers, and a desperation to re-establish themselves as credible championship contenders, Torres would have known that a ’settling in ‘ period would have been out of the question. He had to hit the ground running – and flat out, at that.
To his great credit, that was just what happened. Torres took to the pace of the Premier League game straight away – claiming that it suited his style of play much more than that of La Liga. After opening his league account against chelsea in August, he went on to find the net 24 times in his first season and, despite some niggling injuries, has kept on scoring ever since. At the time of writing, Torres has found the net 60 times for Liverpool in only 96 games – an incredible goals per game ratio that equals anything his illustrious predecessors managed.
Liverpool supporters, of course, think the world of their ‘kid’ – and not just because of the way he brushed Rio Ferdinand aside to score Liverpool’s first goal against manchester united recently. He clearly loves playing at Anfield and has developed a remarkable rapport with the fans, akin to that he had at Atlético. Not that he’s forgotten his former club, or its fans. After scoring the first Liverpool goal in a four nil Champions’ League demolition of Real Madrid last season, Fernando expressed the hope that the Atléti fans had enjoyed watching that match as much as he had enjoyed playing in it!
Let me finish with a little illustration of one reason why, perhaps, Fernando Torres is such a popular figure. In the summer of 2009, he married his long-term girlfriend Olalla in El Escorial, Madrid. This was no elaborate ‘Hello’ celebrity wedding, though. Rather, it was a quiet, dignified, family affair, held without fuss and extravagance. There was only one press photographer there – a local, who was then told by the groom to sell on whatever photographs he wanted to magazines and newspapers.
Apart from being fast, strong, brave and unselfish on the football pitch, Fernando Torres is one of football’s gentlemen off it! He also scored the winning goal for Spain in the final of the European Championships. What more could you want?
Written by Steve Yates. If you want tickets for Liverpool fixtures visit our website. As well as Liverpool you’ll find Premier League tickets for all the top clubs. This article may be reproduced in full providing that the author is acknowledged and the links in the resource box remain intact.
Fernando Torres – Striker’s Liverpool
Fernando Torres – Striker’s Liverpool F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Fernando José Torres Sanz (born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Premier League club Liverpool and the Spanish national team as a striker.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth ranks. He made his professional debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances, earning the nickname El Niño (“The Kid”). Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Liverpool in 2007, after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool’s first player, since Robbie Fowler in 1995–96, to score more than 20 league goals in a season.
Personal information
Full name : Fernando José Torres Sanz[1]
Date of birth : 20 March 1984 (1984-03-20) (age 25)[2]
Place of birth : Madrid, Spain
Height : 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Playing position : Striker
Club information : Liverpool
He is also a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in three major tournaments, UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. He did not score a goal at Euro 2004, but he scored three at World Cup 2006. Torres scored the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the UEFA Euro 2008 Final.
Source: English Premier League Football Clubs, Liverpool F.C., Fernando Torres, Strikers information at wikipedia.org
Freak goal was ‘wrongly allowed’
English Premier League News : Freak goal was ‘wrongly allowed’A former FA Premier League referee says he is “amazed” Sunderland’s winner against Liverpool, which deflected off a beach ball, was allowed to stand.
Jeff Winter told BBC Radio 5 live: “Everyone’s going to have a field day but nobody’s getting upset about it.
“But the laws of the game clearly state that if there’s an outside interference the game has to be stopped.
“The referee and his assistant knew something was wrong, and it should have been a dropped ball.”
The incident occurred when Darren Bent took a first-time shot from just inside the penalty area in one of Sunderland’s first attacks during Saturday’s Premier League match at the Stadium of Light.
The ball evaded Glen Johnson’s attempted block and, at almost the same time, deflected off a large red beach ball at the edge of the six-year box.
Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina found his eyes initially drawn to the path of the beachball and was wrong-footed, in no position to make the save.
Winter said: “Sunderland fans would say it would have probably gone in anyway and that it was a Liverpool fan who threw it [the beach ball] on the pitch.
“But I’m absolutely amazed. It is a basic law in football and the goal should just not have stood.
“I am absolutely amazed that a referee at that level of football, that between him, his assistant and the fourth official they didn’t see what had happened and give the correct decision.
“There would have been absolute ructions at the Stadium of Light because the fans wouldn’t have understood what had happened but I was watching yesterday afternoon and I was thinking ‘hang on this can’t be right’.
“I try to defend referees whenever possible but on this occasion everyone is having a laugh and a joke but this, in terms of interpreting the laws of the game, is far more serous than when a ball crosses a line and somebody doesn’t see it.”
After the incident, Reina was furious and rushed to remonstrate with a referee’s assistant – but the goal stood despite a Fifa law which states: “The referee stops, suspends or terminates the match because of outside interference of any kind.”
Rafael Benitez, Liverpool’s manager, refused to focus his anger on the fifth-minute incident calling it a “a very technical question”.
“It was a special situation but we didn’t play well,” he said.
“The goal changed the game but we made some mistakes and gave the ball away. When we had our chances, we didn’t take them. These things can happen. It’s a bad situation for us that the [beach] ball was in the middle and was influential but again I will say we didn’t play well – that’s the main thing for me.”
His counterpart, Steve Bruce, said he initially thought the strike might have taken a deflection off Johnson rather than the beach ball.
Having found out what had actually happened, he said: “If you really know that rule then you are a little bit sad. I didn’t know the rule that if a ball hit an object it should be a dropped ball, I always thought it’s Sod’s Law and you carry on, but there we are.
“We’ve had a bit of luck there way, it’s one of those things but it’s obviously helped our cause.