Study Gets No Kick Out of Penalty Kicks
A report in the British Medical Journal has recommended, not altogether tongue-in-cheek, that soccer should abandon penalty kicks as a method of settling ties because they are bad for fans’ health.
Researchers at the universities of Bristol and Birmingham who studied the effect of England’s 1998 World Cup games discovered that heart attacks increased by 25% when England lost to Argentina in a penalty shootout after a tense, two-hour game.
They blamed tension among the 24 million British television viewers who watched the game.
“These findings support the view that heart attacks can be triggered by emotional upset, such as watching your football team lose an important match -- particularly those in which there is a penalty shootout,” the Journal stated.
“Aside from the issues of sporting fairness, perhaps the lottery of the penalty shootout should be abandoned on public health grounds.”
Matthaeus Apology
Lothar Matthaeus, Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning captain, has apologized for calling the Austrian club Rapid Vienna “a snake pit” in a magazine article published shortly before he was fired in May after coaching Rapid to its worst record in 103 years.
Matthaeus sued the club, claiming unfair dismissal. That suit was settled out of court in Vienna on Thursday for an undisclosed sum but with Matthaeus’ public apology a part of the bargain.
Abreu’s Escape
Sebastian Abreu, Cruz Azul and Uruguay national team striker, escaped serious injury but his unidentified passenger was killed when the pickup truck Abreu was driving skidded off the road in the rain in Montevideo and struck a light post. Abreu, 26, suffered minor head and shoulder injuries, police said.
China 2003
The field for the fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup, in China next year, grew to 10 teams with the qualification of Ghana and Nigeria.
Ghana edged Cameroon, 3-2, in overtime in the semifinals of the African Women’s Championship to secure its place. Nigeria romped past South Africa, 5-0, in the other semifinal.
Brazilian Change
The Brazilian national championship, which has experimented with various and often bizarre formats, will adopt a conventional league system starting next season, with the 24 clubs playing each other home and away and the team with the most points being declared the champion.
Colombian Wait
Medellin, which has not won the Colombian league championship since 1957, is within one game of claiming the title. A goal by defender Robinson Munoz and an own goal by Julio Valencia earned Medellin a 2-0 victory over Pasto in front of 45,000 fans at Estadio Atanasio Girardot in Medellin in the first game of the two-game title series.
The second game is scheduled Sunday.
Chilean Range
Long-range shots in the 49th minute by Marcelo Espina and in the 86th minute by Ignacio Quinteros beat Universidad Catolica’s American goalkeeper, Jonny Walker, and gave Colo Colo a 2-0 victory in the opener of the two-match Chilean league championship series in front of 40,000 at Estadio Monumental in Santiago, Chile.
Broadcaster Dies
Georgian broadcaster Kote Makharadze, who achieved fame throughout the former Soviet Union during more than 44 years as a soccer commentator, died at 76 after suffering a stroke.
