I thought you would root for Argentina

Yes, he is there. I think it is good because he proved the quality for half the season in Dundee. He should be No.2 cos Jano Mucha (FC Everton from next season) will not probably allow anybody to replace him. Jano is the best.

good boy ;D

Born to play football!

Really? Didn't know that.. Bad for him
But he's just one man, I'm sure Júlio César, Lucio and Juan would take good care of him

Becks scouting at Yanks victory against Australia

Stop trying to inflict those things on the rest of us.

Is Tevez out for Argentina?

Argentina 1 x 3 Nigeria tomorrow!!

SUCKY REF MIGHT SPOIL US - ENGLAND MATCH

Carlos Simon, the Brazilian referee in charge of England's opening World Cup match, has many critics in his homeland. Photograph: Mike Egerton/Empics Sport

The president of one of Brazil's biggest football clubs has described the referee chosen to handle England's opening World Cup game against USA on Saturday as "riskier than selling sub-prime [mortgages]" and labelled the selection of Carlos Simon for the competition as "unfathomable". The Palmeiras president, Luiz Gonzaga Belluzzo, told the Guardian that the 44-year-old referee had neither "the experience nor the qualities to go to the World Cup".

"It is amazing that he was chosen," Belluzzo said. "In my view he made so many mistakes that I did not expect him to be chosen as the Brazilian referee for the World Cup. He makes such ridiculous mistakes ... and he is a very bad referee. There are so many referees in Brazil who are better than Simon."

Belluzzo, an economist, claimed: "Both teams [England and USA] are at great risk, [they are running] greater risk than those who sell sub-prime [mortgages]. It's riskier than buying Goldman Sachs assets."

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Born in the southern Brazilian town of Braga, Carlos Eugênio Simon studied journalism at Rio Grande do Sul state's Universidade Católica before going on to become one of his country's most controversial referees. He has refereed at two previous World Cups, in 2002 and 2006, largely avoiding controversy. But at home Simon has come under widespread criticism, particularly from fans of Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro and Palmeiras. In 2007 one angry Atlético fan even attempted to sue the CBF, Brazil's football federation, as a result of a clear penalty that Simon failed to give in the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil, Brazil's answer to the FA Cup.

"We have had some extremely unfortunate incidents with him," said Kléber Leite, a former Flamengo president and one of Simon's most vocal critics. "He's a good guy but he has undeniably made some very bad technical decisions, some very crass decisions indeed."

Flamengo's battle with Simon followed the referee's failure to award the Rio club a penalty in a 2008 crunch match against Cruzeiro that resulted in Flamengo missing out on a spot in the Copa Libertadores. In his match report the referee described being surrounded by two furious Flamengo players, Diego Tardelli and the captain, Fábio Luciano, who contested the decision and were subsequently sent off. "At the end of the game the player [Luciano] came towards me and said: 'Simon, you are shameless, you are a shit.' I sent him off immediately," he wrote.

Incensed by Simon's failure to award a penalty, Leite sent a dossier detailing the referee's alleged shortcomings to Fifa. The report accused Simon of "unambiguously inconsistent, unfair and inequitable technical" performances. "Flamengo took action – we collected images from TV channels and sent them to Fifa in order to show them the risks that they were running in using him at the World Cup," Leite said, claiming that during another Flamengo match Simon had also failed to penalise a "fatal road-kill" foul on one of his players. "It was clear, everybody saw it," he said. "Maybe he has improved since then," Leite added. "I hope he has improved since then."

Simon's notoriety spread to São Paulo last November after he disallowed a Palmeiras goal, scored by Obina, in a decisive Brazilian title game that Fluminense eventually won 1-0. Simon claimed Obina had fouled a Fluminense player in the lead-up to the goal. "It was a very strange decision," Belluzzo said. "He [Simon] was going back to the middle of the field and he came back and gave a foul against Obina. It was very suspect and it decided the championship against Palmeiras. There was no rational explanation for that decision."

Meanwhile in Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third-largest city, Simon is widely loathed by Atlético Mineiro supporters. One club official said Simon became a persona non grata in the city after he failed to award Atlético a penalty in the dying minutes of their 2007 Copa do Brasil quarter-final against Botafogo. The decision led to Atlético going out of the competition and resulted in a civil law suit against the CBF in which one Atlético fan demanded damages. Simon later admitted he had made a mistake.

Not all Brazilian coaches have such harsh words to say about Simon. "This is his third consecutive World Cup and this alone shows the quality of his refereeing," Mano Menezes, the Corinthians manager, said. "He has handled nearly all of the decisive games in Brazil and in these games he has got it right far more often than he has got it wrong."

Leite, however, was blunt when asked if he would like to see Simon referee future Flamengo games: "Thanks but no thanks. I'd prefer to avoid him." Belluzzo agreed: "I hope he will never referee a Palmeiras match again. It would be a disaster."

Belluzo is an idiot. He is always blaming other people for hiw own failures.