All in the Game

A World Cup miscellany compiled by MARY HANNIGAN

ORANGE AMBUSH CRUSHED: Spare tickets: Earle sacked by ITV after Fifa rules breach

ITV is a World Cup pundit short after the channel announced the sacking of Robbie Earle yesterday. The former Wimbledon and Jamaica midfielder was found to have “passed on” between 35 and 40 tickets given to him for the Holland v Denmark match to a Dutch beer company for an “ambush” marketing effort.

Thirty-six women in orange mini dresses were ejected from Soccer City during the game when Fifa officials decided they were part of an organised marketing scheme.

An ITV spokesperson said: “Following claims by Fifa that official World Cup tickets may have been used for ambush marketing, ITV has reviewed its entire ticket allocation for the tournament.

“Investigations indicated that a block of ITV tickets would appear to have been used for unauthorised purposes during the Holland v Denmark match. Further enquiries have revealed that a substantial number of tickets allocated to Robbie Earle for family and friends have been passed to a third party in breach of Fifa rules.

“As a result, Robbie Earle’s contract with ITV has been terminated with immediate effect.” A spokesman for Earle’s agent said they had no comment at this stage.

PLUG IN, TUNE OUT: Vuvuzela-gate: Earplugs are selling quickly - but so is app

THEY can’t, by all accounts, keep up with the demand for the Vuvu-Stop in South Africa this weather, the ear plug – that supposedly reduces the noise of Vuvuzelas by 31 decibels – selling out fast. The label on the packet, we’re told, reads: “Highly effective noise reduction. Uses include soccer, rugby, or for couch potatoes to block out your wife’s moaning.” May the manufacturer do himself some damage by sitting on one.

Of course there are obviously plenty of people who love the sound the plastic horns make with news that the vuvuzela has become a runaway hit on the iPhone, with an application that mimics the incessant blasting having been downloaded more than a million times.

“It’s the Vuvuzela jackpot,” said Dutchman Jeroen Retrae, co-designer of the app.

Ironically, the the Dutch have been the most vociferous in their disdain for the vuvuzela, with coach Bert van Marwijk banning them from his team’s training sessions and striker Robin van Persie blaming them for his inability to hear a referee’s whistle.

World Cup Legends: Whatever happened to Harald 'Toni' Schumacher:

AFTER HE knocked Patrick Battiston unconscious in the1982 World Cup semi-final

the German goalkeeper held off the challenge of Adolf Hitler in a French poll to determine the nation’s most hated man.

Battiston was left with broken front teeth and a damaged vertebrae after Schumacher crashed in to him when he had been put through by Michel Platini.

“He had no pulse, he looked so pale,” said the French captain, who at first feared that Battiston was dead.

Despite having made no effort to win the ball, going in high and hip-first on the French player, Schumacher wasn’t even booked, the referee awarding a goal-kick to Germany – who went on to win the semi-final on penalties.

“If that’s all that’s wrong with him I’ll pay for the crowns,” said Schumacher on being told that Battiston had lost some of his teeth, but in later years he was marginally less obnoxious about the incident, insisting that he was right to “come off his line” like he did, but regretting showing no concern for the player while he was being treated.

After his retirement Schumacher (now 56) went in to coaching but since 2004 he has been running his own consultancy agency, SportsFirst, the German FA among his clients. Battiston (53), who recovered to play four more years for France, is the reserve team coach at Bordeaux.

Playing Ketchup: The condiment king

March 2010

“He told me that goals are like ketchup. Sometimes, as much as you try, they don’t come out, and then they come all of a sudden.”

– Argentina and Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain.

June 2010

“Goals, as a football legend once told me, are like ketchup. Sometimes, as much as you try, they don’t come out, and when they come, many come all at same time.”

– Portugal and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Who’s the ketchup king?

Ruud van Nistelrooy. Five years eating Manchester chips drowned in red sauce must have inspired the analogy.

That's my boy: The man who helped make  Bastian Schweinsteiger

' SCOUTING REPORT: HERMANN GERLAND:Bayern Munich's youth coordinator from 1990-1995 and 2001-2009BASTI was one of Germany's brightest skiing talents when he came to us as a 13-year-old from 1860 Rosenheim, but football quickly won out.

Five days a week he would get up at six, take a train to school, then a bus to Munich to train with us. By half-eleven he was back home. He didn’t mind.

The youth teams always had Wednesdays off but Basti never took a day off, he was always on the pitch. He was obsessed and eager to learn. His talent was exceptional. He had the stamina, the technique, he had a good shot, only his heading was a problem.

I sent him to train with a pendulum for hours in order to improve that side of his game.

He was a bit of joker and did some stupid things as a young professional (e.g. a night guard caught him with a girl in the training complex Jacuzzi). But I knew he had his heart in the right place and I don’t mind that he can be a bit mischievous off the pitch. I was less happy about his penchant for pulling up his socks over his knees – I thought he looked like a woman. He grew out of it, eventually.

It’s wonderful to see him play so well these days. In his position at Bayern, defensive midfield next to Mark van Bommel, he has become world-class. Maybe he’ll be able to make the next step in South Africa, go all the way with Germany. He’s got the goods to achieve that.

People ask me if I’m proud of “my” players. I tell them that pride is the wrong word: when you’re working with exceptional talents, it is your duty to make them succeed. I’d say I have done my bit to mould Basti, I’ve been his guide along the way. But I’m only one of many people who have helped him.

Shockeroos: Aussie press show typical restraint

THERE WAS a nice, calm reaction in Australia to the 4-0 trouncing by Germany, the tone being along the lines of “just being there is enough”. Kidding.

"'Complete, utter disaster for the Socceroos" ( Sydney Morning Herald) was the gist, with coach Pim Verbeek well and truly pilloried.

Only three players were given more than five points in the Herald's match ratings, with Lucas Neill and Scott Chipperfield having to settle for three. Verbeek's tactics "reeked of desperation" and most of the players have "passed their use-by date".

“The red card for the talismanic Tim Cahill hurt most,” wrote Greg Baum, “because it was the massacre of hope. Beneath the croaking of the vuvuzelas, there was now a hush. Even the German fans appeared shocked. The sentiment trapped inside the stadium now was more like a fart.”

The wind, it seems, has been taken out of their sails.