RoboCup 2010, a six-day event in Singapore during which robot geeks from around the world let their robots play soccer against each other, ended last week with a German triumph. In the final game, the Darmstadt Dribblers from the Technische Universität in Darmstadt beat the FUmanoids, a team of robots developed at Freie Universität in Berlin 7:1. → Read More
Fifa President Sepp Blatter has apologized (!) for the terrible referring that led to Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany on Sunday. Even bigger than Sepp Blatter admitting fault, which is huge in and of itself (it’d be like Apple saying sorry over the iPhone 4 fiasco), is the news that Fifa will once again investigate the possibility of goal-line technology at a board meeting on July… → Read More
Kobe Bryant, fresh from bringing another championship to Los Angeles, is in South Africa enjoying the sights and sounds of the World Cup. Even if Team USA is out, there’s still plenty of reasons to celebrate, chief among them that my fantasy team’s captain, Holland’s Wesley Sneijder, scored another goal. Beyond that, though, Kobe, a longtime soccer fan (remember when he visited FC Barcelona?), has… → Read More
Fifa , world soccer’s organizing body, has responded to requests for goal-line technology (among other technologies) with a non-response. Said the organization, by way of spokesman Nicolas Maignot, at a media briefing earlier today: “The International FA Board, which Fifa is a member of along with the four British associations, dealt with this topic in March. A clear decision on the use of… → Read More
Dear Fifa, Please wake up and smell the coffee: we need goal line technology, and we need it now. England’s Frank Lampard just had a 100 percent legitimate goal stricken from the record by some dunderhead linesman. DOES HE EVEN HAVE EYES? The integrity of the sport is at stake here. I’m not asking for instant replays for outfield play or anything, but we need a camera on that goal… → Read More
Sitting here watching Uruguay’s Luís Suárez bury the ball into the back of the net (his second goal = !!!), I’m thinking to myself: “Boy, he sure didn’t seem to have any problem controlling the Jabulani.” But never mind, for FIFA, world soccer’s generally inept governing body—remember, this is the same body that refuses to allow goal line technology!—has finally come out and said… → Read More
It was only a few days ago that I mentioned that Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, now ready to face Spain in the next round of the World Cup, was about to re-launch his Web site, bringing together content from his various online, um, presences. Photos, video, and tweets from the likes of Facebook and Twitter, etc. Well, it’s now live! → Read More
Whew! Day One of the World Cup is now behind us, and I wanted to take a moment to point y’all in a particularly awesome direction. The Guardian, one of my recommend sites from yesterday’s catch-all post, has a truly amazing Twitter mash-up that needs to be seen to be believed. What it does is analyze tweets that occur during a game, then it creates a dynamic chart that corresponds to said tweets. → Read More
Let’s get down to business. The World Cup begins tomorrow, June 11, 2010. The tournament kicks off with hosts South Africa against Mexico at 9:30am ET/6:30am PT on ESPN in the U.S. (International readers: you’ll have to consult your local listings.) Consider this post a general how-to on making the most of the tournament. Mobile Apps, helpful Web sites, podcasts, etc. Woo~! → Read More
Building robots capable of playing soccer – that’s apparently very hard to pull off, as shown several times in the past. But this new robot, the RoboErectus Jr., is different. Developed at the Robotics Center of Singapore Polytechnic, he looks like he’s a little small, but his moves are pretty cool. → Read More
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… → 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… → 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… → 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… → 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… → 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… → 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. → 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… → 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… → 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
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