Continuing with our (well, my) nearly non-stop World Cup coverage! Spain beat Poland yesterday 6-0 in Murcia. It was an awesome display, and an illustration of why Spain are the favorites to win the tournament. And yes, there is a tech connection~! That second goal, my word… → Read More
We’re about three weeks away from the beginning of the World Cup. You know this because I’ve mentioned it over and over again since 2008. Fancy Adidas this, super-advanced Nike that. And so on. Today’s edition: a three-minute Nike advert that was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (of “Babel” fame). Even if you have no idea who these people are—didn’t you read Vanity Fair this month?—I dare you to say, “Lame.” Because if you say “Lame” my heart will break into a million little pieces. Something along those lines. → Read More
Close readers will have noticed that A) I write quite a bit about soccer+technology but B) never about Team USA. Messi this, Cristiano Ronaldo that. Well that ends today! Nike recently unveiled the kit that Landon Donovan & Co. will use to get second place in Group C this World Cup. USA, USA! → Read More
A little while ago I brought news of the super-duper technology that adidas’ kits (“jerseys”) will utilize at the World Cup. We all had a good time, yes? Well today there’s news of the boot, the F50 adiZero, that the likes of Leo Messi and David Villa (soon to be teammates at FC Barcelona maybe~!) and Jozy Altidore will use to score many goals. Adidas says it’s the lightest football boot ever produced by man! At this rate, we’ll be zipping around the galaxy using mass relays, knock on wood. → Read More
People who hate to see technology in soccer, rejoice! England manager Fabio Capello has delayed the launch of the so-called Capello Index, a Web site that would have tracked various statistical measures of England players. It was to have started with the World Cup next month and continue into the Premier League season, but the whole project has been shelved for the time being. → Read More
Will technology defeat The Three Lions (that’s England, or course) at the World Cup this year? Maybe, but then again, maybe the injuries to Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, and Wayne Bridge will have a role to play as well. There’s a fun story in the Daily Telegraph that details Algeria’s plan to use technology to defeat England at the World Cup, which begins on June 11. Incidentally, Algeria and England, along with Slovenia, are in Team USA’s group, so put on your Uncle Same t-shirts and get ready to chant USA! USA! till your throat it sore. → Read More
Listen, it’s all well and good that DirecTV gets to make these grandiloquent announcements that it’s going to offer this or that sport in 3D—today’s news is that DirecTV will be the first TV provider to show a Major League Baseball game in 3D with this July 10 and July 11′s Yankees-Mariners clash on the YES Network—but I have one question: why in God’s name is Fox Soccer Channel still shown in standard definition? That’s right, four years after I purchased my first HDTV specifically so I could watch ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD coverage of the World Cup, I’m still staring at SD coverage on FSC with DirecTV. It’s all a little bit stupid. → Read More
Remember the soccer-playing humanoid we’ve shown you Monday? Well, the “RoboCup Japan Open 2010″ [JP] he was taking part in during the last few days ended yesterday, but not before the yet to be named robot showed off his (limited) skills as a goalkeeper. And he faced an (apparently) stronger adversary. → Read More
The “RoboCup Japan Open 2010″ [JP] is currently taking place in Osaka, and the world’s biggest robot soccer tournament has attracted 225 teams from all over the world this time. Started in 1997, the official goal of the RoboCup is to have a team of humanoids play and defeat a team comprised of human soccer players during a “real” world soccer cup sometime around 2050.
But judging from what we can see currently, there is still a long way to go. Take the humanoid you can see on the picture and in the video embedded below, for example. It’s taking part in the RoboCup 2010 Humanoid League‘s adult size class, meaning it competes against other robots that stand between 130 and 160cm tall. → Read More
So that’s what those little latex things are for. (yes, it’s old) [via Afrigadget and Reddit] → Read More
You’re already familiar with the Adidas Jabulani, the ball that will be used during the FIFA World Cup this year. It’s the roundest ball ever created—impressive—and hopefully Messi will score many goals with it. Well, now say hello to the Jo’bulani, the ball that will be used during the final game of the tournament. It seems to be a palette swap of the Jabulani, with gold paint in place of the Jabulani’s green-black. → Read More
More info on Sony and FIFA‘s plan to bring us the World Cup in 3D. It turns out that Sony will only film one game per matchday in 3D. That’s for all 25 days of the tournament, so if multiple games are played on the same day only one game, presumably the highest profile, will get the 3D treatment. → Read More
Call me crazy, but Web sites usually work best when they’re online. Nobody knows this better than we do here at CrunchGear, where the site is down a good 20 percent of the time. But at the very least you’re not paying for our crummy service, unlike the poor FoxSoccer.tv customers. Fox wants $45 per season for online access to a whole host of content, including live games from all over the world. It’s really not a bad service when it works, but when it doesn’t work people freak out, and rightfully so. → Read More
How do you know when you’re a great athlete? Oh, I don’t know, maybe when the top-tier manager of the opposing team calls you a PlayStation! Like, you’re so good it’s almost as if someone goes into Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer or EA Sports’ FIFA, creates a player, than gives said player 12 out of 10 in all the key stats: speed, attack, technical skill, etc. Leo Messi is like a PlayStation. → Read More
More 3D broadcasts are sweeping across Europe. The next countries up are Belgium and Poland. They follow the UK and Germany—oh, and the U.S. → Read More
“The images that I saw here today are fantastic. I’ve seen a lot of developments in TV coverage of soccer over the years. I’m sure that with 3D we’re at the start of a whole new era for TV technology.” Danke, Mr. Beckenbauer. → Read More
Sepp Blatter (left), the FIFA president, has explained why there won’t be goal-line technology at this year’s World Cup, saying he wants the sport to maintain a “human element” and that all levels of soccer, from 6-year-old kids to open-goal-missing Gonzalo Higuaín of Real Madrid, need to be played with the same rules. Whatever you say, Sepp. I hope for your sake a Spain or Italy or Brazil don’t get knocked out of the tournament because of a controversial coal; you won’t hear the end of it. → Read More
The convergence of sport and technology! I don’t know, I think it’s cool. So, here’s another. This is the Finale Madrid, and it will be used at the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid this May. In a perfect world, the game will be played between Real Madrid and Barcelona—I will lose my mind if that happens. → Read More
There’s a myth out there that technology will ruin soccer, what Pelé (and others) once called “the beautiful game.” Let me ask you something: is this Cristiano Ronaldo free kick any less beautiful because he’s wearing the latest Nike boots? Do you have any idea how many hours are spent developing the technology that’s built into things like the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II? Rest assured that Nike pays top-tier engineers a handsome wage to ensure that its boots are state-of-the-art. Should we take away Gonzalo Higauaín’s goal against Germany because he’s wearing Adidas TechFit? Or maybe we should cancel the World Cup altogether because players will be kicking around the Jabulani, a ball that Adidas’ engineers had been working on since the day after World Cup 2006? This fear of technology “ruining” soccer is not only unfounded, but it’s simply ignorant of the fact that technology has always been part of the beautiful game, and it always will be. Arguing that the sport needs to be kept “pure” should result in a direct red card. (See what I did there?) → Read More
Is FIFA the worst organization on the planet? I’d say so. World soccer bigwigs have concluded a meeting in Zurich, and they’ve decided against implementing goal line technology at this year’s World Cup. Yes, why would you want to introduce a legitimately helpful technology into a sport that so desperately needs it? Ridiculous. → Read More
