A CREDIT TO THE CARD SHARP TOM SHIELDS SPORT DIARY

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Jul 9, 2006 | by Tom Shields

IMPORTANT lessons we have learned from the World Cup: 1) Referee Graham Poll is not an innumerate tube but is a visionary. With yellow cards being distributed like confetti, his unilateral decision to increase the value of the red card from two yellows to three was, in hindsight, a masterstroke. Sepp Blatter, after initial criticism of Mr Poll not being able to count up to two, advocated that it should be three accumulated yellows and not two before a player is banned from the next match.

2) Not all that Sepp Blatter says is bollocks. The Fifa president has been talking about women's football. He said the game would attract a bigger audience if the ladies wore more feminine apparel such as tighter shorts. It springs to mind that if it were anyone but the Fifa president who came out with this stuff about the ladies' kit, they would be up the road for sexism. But, then, Mr Blatter is a former president of the Worldwide Society of Friends of Suspenders. That's suspenders as in ladies' stockings and not suspenders as in ageing Fifa officials who ban players with two (or three) yellow cards.

3) If you think ITV and BBC are bad for anglo-centric coverage, they had a strong rival with Five. The channel devoted a sizeable chunk of one World Cup report on how difficult it would be for England to beat Brazil in the semi-final. This was just before Portugal and France put the respective teams out.

4) There is always time to get in one last mention of 1966, even if England are long gone from the competition. Italy's Simone Perrotta was born in Ashton-under-Lyne. If he wins a medal tomorrow, The Nation can bask in reflected glory.

And, what a coincidence, one of the last Englishmen to win a World Cup final, Sir Geoff Hurst, was also born in Ashton-under- Lyne.

HOME DISCOMFORT

FOR the first time ever, I found myself supporting England in last week's quarterfinal. This was by default since my new benchmark when it comes to rooting for a team in an international match is Anyone But Portugal. They have been nothing short of scandalous in this tournament.

Figo applying an ice-pack to a non-existent facial injury.

Maniche collapsing and clutching his face when the re-run shows the opponent merely placed a hand on his shoulder. Ronaldo demanding the expulsion of Rooney after his clubmate had inadvertently rested his foot on Carvalho's groin.

The Portuguese victory was all the more galling since England clearly had players of quality capable of winning the match. Sven, you let The Nation down.

SMALL CONCERNS

IT will not be long until Scotland is back playing football with the best in the world.

The rather competitive group we find ourselves in for the Euro 2008 qualifiers offers a feast of football.

It may be daunting that we are up against both World Cup finalists, France and Italy.

But we have beaten winners before. (I apologise to English readers for that gratuitous reference to Wembley 1967; England 2, Scotland 3; scorers Law, Lennox, and McCalliog).

Ukraine only made it to the quarter-finals in Germany.

Georgia and Lithuania are there for the taking, home and away. It's just that game away to the Faroe Islands that has got me worried.

WAR GAMES Awebsite called birdiesforthe brave. org offers golfers the opportunity to help victims of the Iraq war. The brave in question are soldiers from the land of the free who have been disabled in the conflict.

Birdies For The Brave also helps families of servicemen who have been killed.

The leading light behind the charity is golfer Phil Mickelson who donates dollars-100 for each birdie and dollars-500 for eagle he scores in tournaments.

Golfers of the world are being asked to make contributions for each of Mickelson's underpar performances.

I have every sympathy for American soldiers fighting a pointless war, if not for their commander-in-chief. But British golfers may care to donate to a charity helping British victims in Iraq and Afghanistan. The more radical among you might even send a donation to an anti-war campaign.