Konferenz is the future of TV football in England (isn’t it?)

Whilst fans in Germany watch the football, fans in England watch ex-footballers talk about the football

As an Englishman who has always valued the sacred kick-off time of 15:00 every Saturday afternoon it also seems that the English football authorities value it in much the same way. Throughout England at that time every weekend the whistle sounds and the action kicks off in many stadiums throughout the country. That’s great, yet for those who can’t go to the match or would like to watch it on television it’s ironic that the most popular time for football in England is the one time that you can’t watch any of it live on English television. After my many recent trips to Germany in the last couple of years it is more obvious than ever that the German tradition of allowing fans to watch the action live on the “Konferenz” channel is exactly what the English football fan needs more than ever, especially when one looks at the alternative.

The main argument from the English football authorities for the lack of TV action every Saturday (from 15:00-17:00) is that most matches in all four English professional divisions begin at this time and to have significant television coverage of the Premier League will have a detrimental affect on attendances in the lower divisions. For me there are two arguments against this. Firstly loyal fans will always go to the games whether they are live on TV or not, unless they’re unable to buy a ticket for a sold out game. Secondly, in this age of technology and greater media influence within the game of football, how difficult can it be for Sky Television or ESPN (the broadcast rights holders for Premier League matches) to have cameras at every game showing viewers the action live on Saturday? The cameras are there in any case for various highlights packages within the UK and for live screening of such games to overseas markets. After all Sky TV has been able to manage this perfectly on the final matchday of each Premier League season. Even then they only show one or two main games and show goals in a tiny section of the screen when goals are scored elsewhere. It would be great if this approach could be further enhanced every week on English screens by replicating what German television does every Saturday from 15:30-17:30 (their sacred football kick-off time).

In Germany the broadcast rights holders of the Bundesliga (ironically Sky has just acquired the rights in Germany too) have a service which allows TV viewers to either pick the game of their choice (like Sky TV in the UK allows for the Champions League) or, if you’re a neutral who just wants to see bits of each match, you can see the goals and other major events as they happen on the “Konferenz” channel. The coverage will start at what the broadcaster deems to be “Das Spiel des Tages” (Game of the Day) and from there the coverage will switch from game to game depending on when goals are scored or other significant events happen (e.g. a penalty kick given; a red card shown to a player etc). This is especially a great way to watch the day’s events unfold when there are goals flying in all over the place. Any argument that this would affect attendances is countered by the fact this coverage exists in a country which has consistently had the largest crowds in Europe for the last six years. As an added bonus for fans of lower league teams there are similar Konferenz shows at various times on any given weekend which are dedicated to the second and third professional leagues. Therefore if the English authorities were to learn from their German counterparts then they can spread the fixtures out more evenly over the weekend and give each division its own time slot(s).

In Germany this has helped maintain excellent coverage with an even spread of airtime for the lower divisions as well as the top flight. With the money and TV coverage in England at an all-time high at the same time as attendances have stayed consistently high since the Premier League began, then the notion that Saturday afternoons should be a football-free zone on television is clearly not in keeping with modern trends. However what Sky shows in Germany is in stark contrast to what Sky UK shows at the same time, a service going from game-to-game as events happen (sounds familiar?) but, instead of actual football action, we see four ex-professional footballers commentating on games that the viewer can’t see on their screens. Listening to these ex-footballers, whilst being deprived of the action, sounds more like a conference than a Konferenz.

FIFA World Cup draw – The Verdict

Charlize Theron hosted the World Cup draw in South Africa

The draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday. Presented by Charlize Theron (pictured) and including a host of figures from the football world including FIFA president Sepp Blatter and perhaps  the most recognisable sporting icon in the world David Beckham, the draw did throw up some intriguing individual ties and some interesting groups. “Stoppage Time” assesses the groups and the matches that should shape the fortunes at the beginning of the tournament:

GROUP A: SOUTH AFRICA, MEXICO, URUGUAY, FRANCE

The host nation should find it very tough in a group which looks like it will be very close. The French will be favourites to go through but their clash against Mexico could decide who wins the group. However the South Africans may harbour hopes of surprising Mexico in the opening game of the tournament. Uruguay, with their deadly strike force of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, will certainly fancy their chances of finishing in the top two. Their final group game against Mexico could be amongst the most intense of the championship.

GROUP B: ARGENTINA, NIGERIA, SOUTH KOREA, GREECE

Almost an exact copy of Group D in the 1994 FIFA World Cup (Argentina, Nigeria and Greece played in a group that contained Bulgaria instead of South Korea). Despite qualifying the tough way Argentina should top this group quite comfortably, the opening match against Nigeria will probably be their toughest assignment. However the Greeks may wish to spring a surprise in much the same way that they did in EURO 2004 when they became European Champions. South Korea can only expect to finish bottom.

GROUP C: ENGLAND, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ALGERIA, SLOVENIA

Almost after the draw had finished the English media were in overdrive, hyping up their country’s chances of winning the 2010 World Cup. It’s true that they should expect to top this group with relative ease. The only match of real interest is England’s opening clash with the USA, a game that throws back terrible memories for the “Home of Football”. If the Americans can repeat their 1-0 victory in the 1950 World Cup (so unbelieveable a result in those days that the English media initially reported a 10-0 victory for England!) then it would leave the group wide open. The match will have a personal edge involving the LA Galaxy footballers David Beckham and US Captain Landon Donovan, a war of words between the two earlier in the season may add a bit of extra spice to this match. Algeria and Slovenia will be fighting to avoid the wooden spoon.

GROUP D: GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, SERBIA, GHANA

Not as easy for Germany as it may appear on paper. The Australians were very unlucky to lose to the Italians in the 2006 World Cup (a dubious penalty tucked away by Francesco Totti five minutes into stoppage time) and they will hope to put up a challenge for the top spot in this group. Serbia are competing in their first finals as an independent nation and have a leader in Manchester United player Nemanda Vidic. Ghana could be a team that plays open, attacking football but their defence will concede plenty of goals. Germany are quietly optimistic that they can go far in this tournament. The matches between themselves, Australia and Serbia should determine the outcome of the group.

GROUP E: NETHERLANDS, DENMARK, CAMEROON, JAPAN

This group looks to be a fairly comfortable one for the Dutch. As I reported in my blog “FIFA World Cup draw preview – Part Three” the Dutch had a very easy group in qualifying and they will look to take that form into this group. Cameroon will be a strong contender for second place and with players like Samuel Eto’o and Geremi can give the Danes a tough challenge when they meet in their second group match. Japan have improved as a nation in the last decade but won’t be expected to trouble the other three too much.

GROUP F: ITALY, PARAGUAY, NEW ZEALAND, SLOVAKIA

The current world champions Italy won’t have too much trouble getting through this group. The opening group game between themselves and Paraguay should be among one of the better ones in the group stages. Slovakia are a tough team on their day and won’t go down without a fight. However they may be just a little too inexperienced at this level and will find it tough to get to the Round of 16. New Zealand will be ecstatic to be in South Africa but their squad is very limited, therefore expect defensive tactics from a nation that will want to avoid embarrassment in this tournament.

GROUP G: BRAZIL, NORTH KOREA, IVORY COAST, PORTUGAL

There’s a 1966 World Cup feel to this group; it was Portugal who, literally, kicked Pele and his great Brazilian team off the park (Goodison Park to be precise) and it was Portugal who had to come back from 3-0 down to defeat the surprise package of the tournament North Korea 5-3. This time, though, matches in this group involving North Korea should be more clear-cut as they’re the outsiders of this tournament. The Ivory Coast, involved in a tough group including Argentina and Holland in the 2006 World Cup, will be expecting as tough a time in 2010 but some will feel that they can beat Portugal, whose qualification for the World Cup was only confirmed via a play-off. If the Ivorians can get three points against Portugal in the opening group match then they should reach the second round.

GROUP H: SPAIN, SWITZERLAND, HONDURAS, CHILE

The current European champions Spain are currently the favourites to win the FIFA World Cup and they will be encouraged further having seen the draw. They should easily overcome the challenges of their group rivals leaving the rest to fight it out for second place. Honduras qualified thanks to events elsewhere (see blog “FIFA World Cup draw preview – Part One) but aren’t expected to get through this group, therefore the match between Switzerland and Chile (both teams’ second group match) should prove to be amongst the more important.

FIFA World Cup draw preview – Part Three

Fabio Cannavaro lifts the World Cup for Italy in 2006

In the final part of our build up to tomorrow’s FIFA World Cup finals draw “Stoppage Time” looks at those teams that qualified from Europe:

DENMARK – Winners of Europe Group One; FIFA World Ranking = 26*

The Danes qualified from a tough group including Portugal, Hungary and arch-rivals and neighbours Sweden. Although not expected to win the competition Morten Olsen’s men will prove tough opponents and history has proven that anybody that takes the Danes lightly does so at their peril.

PORTUGAL – 2nd in Europe Group One (won in play-off); FIFA World Ranking = 5

Portugal were in danger of not even getting a play-off place after a dreadful start to the campaign. A strong finish saw them placed second, one point ahead of Sweden and Hungary. In the play-off they then beat Bosnia-Herzogovina 1-0 in each leg; Bruno Alves deciding the first game in their favour, Raul Meireles scoring the only goal in the second leg.

SWITZERLAND – Winners of Europe Group Two; FIFA World Ranking = 18

The Swiss qualified fairly comfortably in a group where Greece were the only real rivals for the first place position. Solid if not spectacular, Switzerland will see anything beyond the second round as a successful World Cup.

GREECE – 2nd in Europe Group Two (won in play-off); FIFA World Ranking = 12

Otto Rehhagel steered the Greeks to the World Cup after a two-legged play-off against the Ukraine. The 2004 European champions drew the first leg at home 0-0 but managed to win the away leg 1-0 thanks to a strike from Dimitrios Salpingidis. Like the Swiss not many pundits expect the Greeks to go beyond the second round.

SLOVAKIA – Winners of Europe Group Three; FIFA World Ranking = 34

Slovakia qualified from what was an open group containing neighbours Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland and Slovenia. A 1-0 away win in Poland on the final matchday of the qualifiers secured their place and succumbed Slovenia to a play-off.

SLOVENIA – 2nd in Europe Group Three (won in play-off); FIFA World Ranking = 33

Slovenia surprised everybody by finishing second in the group above heavyweight eastern Europe neighbours Czech Republic and Poland. They surprised everybody again by beating the mighty Russians in the play-offs on away goals. After a narrow 2-1 defeat in Moscow, the Slovenians scored on the edge of half-time in the return fixture in Maribor thanks to Zlatko Dedic and the away goal proved to be the crucial difference between the two teams.

GERMANY – Winners of Europe Group Four; FIFA World Ranking = 6

The Germans remained unbeaten in a relatively easy group although impressive home and away victories against Russia proved to be crucial as they won their group by four points. Joachim Loew will be quietly optimistic about his side’s chances in South Africa. If experienced campaigners such as Michael Ballack and Miroslav Klose can gel with the upcoming talent such as Mesut Ozil, Marko Marin and, if chosen, Stefan Kiessling then the “Nationalmannschaft” could be a real threat in the championship.

SPAIN – Winners of Europe Group Five; FIFA World Ranking = 1

It’s been a vintage couple of years for the Spanish national team, known to all as “La Seleccion”; European champions in 2008, a 100% record in World Cup qualifying and number one in the FIFA world rankings, can they confirm their status as the world’s best team by going all the way in South Africa? Having been written off as chokers in previous tournaments the likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa and Xabi Alonso will be determined to do it for Spain when it really matters.

ENGLAND – Winners of Europe Group Six; FIFA World Ranking = 9

Fabio Capello’s men easily saw off the likes of Ukraine and Croatia in their group and qualified with two matches to spare. Hopes are high that the so-called “golden generation” including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney et al will perform in South Africa but will there be the usual disappointment to follow all the hype? Fabio Capello thinks not and one can say that England are real candidates for the title mainly because of the Italian’s stewardship.

SERBIA – Winners of Europe Group Seven; FIFA World Ranking = 20

Although Serbia could only get one point out of six against group favourites France other results in the group went in their favour and, therefore, they went through by one point against their more illustrious opponents. Will be tough to beat but not expected to go too far in their first World Cup since independence.

FRANCE – 2nd in Europe Group Seven (won in play-off); FIFA World Ranking = 7

“Les Bleus” started the qualifying campaign in terrible fashion only collecting one point in their first three games. In the next seven games they took 17 from 21 points and, though never convincing, did what they had to do to secure a play-off place. France then played Republic of Ireland in the two-leg play-off and despite the controversy that surrounded Thierry Henry’s part in the goal that secured France’s passage to South Africa the French will be considered one of the favourites to provide a strong challenge in South Africa.

ITALY – Winners of Europe Group Eight; FIFA World Ranking = 4

The current world champions (see picture above) were taken all the way by the Republic of Ireland in their group but a late goal in Dublin secured the point that the Italians needed to top the group. If Marcello Lippi can steer his charges to further World Cup glory in South Africa then they will join Brazil as record champions of the competition with five wins each.

NETHERLANDS – Winners of Europe Group Nine; FIFA World Ranking = 3

It’s difficult to judge just how tough an opponent the Dutch will be in South Africa. They qualified with a 100% record from arguably the weakest group in qualifying including Norway, Scotland, Macedonia, and Iceland. Usually the Dutch flatter to deceive in the big tournaments, will they do the same again despite their world ranking?

* FIFA world rankings correct on December 1st, 2009.