Thursday, June 17, 2010

Sports World

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Spanish WAG takes the World Cup blame Posted: 17 Jun 2010 07:15 AM PDT Goalkeepers have been in the spotlight so far in this tournament, but spare a thought for Spain's Iker Casillas who, after making his blunder, was confronted by his girlfriend. However, this was no domestic dispute but, in fact, a post match interview. Casillas' partner, Sara Carbonero, is a TV reporter and after Spain's shock 1-0 defeat to Switzerland she asked him: "How did you muck that up?" Casillas, perhaps shocked at the bluntness of the question, refused to answer and simply walked off. However, before the incident Carbonero had managed to get some comments out of the Spain keeper who said the "dressing room was fed-up" after the defeat. That's probably to be expected - prior to the game the World Cup odds made them favourites for the tournament, afterwards they weren't. However, it seems the Spanish don't believe the defeat was down to footballing reasons. The reporter's presence in South Africa has already caused controversy in Spain - the wives and girlfriends of players were banned from attending the tournament, but Carbonero's presence was unavoidable. Before the big kick off many Spain fans had suggested that she would somehow distract Casillas and, after his blunder which allowed Switzerland to score the winning goal, they claimed to have been proven right. There's no doubt that the keeper was at fault for gifting the Swiss a gilt-edged chance - he made a half hearted attempt to challenge for the ball near the edge of his area but missed, leaving the goal completely undefended. However, to suggest that the presence of Carbonero somehow put him off is as ludicrous as suggesting the ball was responsible for Robert Green's error against the USA. In both cases the keepers made basic errors and in both the two players were punished for doing so. You don't get to the World Cup football final with a dodgy keeper between the sticks. The reporter herself has already dismissed any concerns about her presence. She said: "Can I destabilise the team? I think it's nonsense." If Spain are to recover from the disappointment of their first match, they need to stop looking for excuses and get on with the football.

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