THE BEAUTIFUL GAME - SPAIN SHOCKER

Spain tagged as favourite in this year World Cup was STUNNED by the Swiss in a group H match last night. I would like to add some comment on the team performance. Previous comment click here.

Team : Spain
Group : H
Played against : Switzerland (16th June 2010)

The Spaniard conquered the game and put together a great passing game earlier on. The Swiss had hardly kick a ball for the first 15 minutes! At some point, Spain possession of the ball is calculated at more than 70%. However, they failed to convert the possession into total domination where there was lacked of goal mouth action. The first half action continued in similar fashion and the score stayed at 0 - 0.

Spain came out for the 2nd half full of determination and with purpose. More and more pressing to the Swiss goal but to the Swiss credit, they held their nerved and defends in number. The moment of the goal is a 'route one tactic'. The excellent goalkeeper, Diego Benaglio, kicked the ball high up field and met by Eren Derdiyok, who, with a slice of luck, took the ball pass Puyol and towards Spain goal. Iker Casillas got on the way of Derdiyok's attempt on goal, but the ball fell into Gelson Fernandes path. His shot was brilliantly blocked by Pique but bounced of the defender awkwardly in the penalty box. Gelson Fernandes took a gamble and reacted the fastest to poke the ball into the empty net. GOAL !

Spain 0 - 1 Switzerland, although the scoreline is hard to believe.. the match ended with the Spaniard ponder how on earth did they'd lost that match!

In my opinion, the problem with Spain is too much passing outside the penalty box, and lacked of goalmouth action. The choice of using David Villa as a lone striker had not worked out the way Del Bosque intended it to be. I believed, they should have Llorente (because Torres was not 100%) partnered with David Villa. Llorente would cause the Swiss defender problem in the air and allow Villa some space to be exploited. Instead, Del Bosque had choose David Silva, Villa's teammate at club level, to roaming in the 'hole'.

The vulnerability of Spain's defends is always a suspect. The team is full of stars, but they lacked calibre in the centre of the defend - Puyol & Pique are not the best of centreback partnership around. They have Machena and Albiol in reserved, but, I don't really rate both of them highly. Puyol & Pique choosen ahead of Machena & Albiol possibly due to the fact, they played together at club level.

What when wrong ?

1) Tactic. Spain should play a 4-4-2 setup and provide David Villa with a strike partner in order to opened up some space for him. Since Torres is not 100%, they should go with Fernando Llorente instead. He will cause some problem to the Swiss defends on the air and the gap would be Villa's to exploit. Del Bosque had choose David Silva instead to roam across the hole behind the main striker. The 4 in midfield should be Busquets (defensive midfielder), Xavi (midfielder - playmaker), Iniesta (left midfield) and David Silva (right midfield). Xabi Alonso should be left on the bench (although his performance is actually no that bad).

2) Passing game. They had over-done it ! The majority of the passing game were on the midfield area orchestrated by Xavi, Alonso & Iniesta. The pass more to the sideways rather than forward where it can hurt the Swiss guard for opportunity on goal. Having said that, afterall, they only have David Villa to aim for in the box and he's not the best of a header. In addition, the Swiss penalty area already being crowded by the excellent, well discipline Swiss defender and there is hardly space to maneuver. The Spaniard should shoot on goal more often to put some nervous moment into the opposition defender.

This is not the end of Spain though. There are two more, certainly, win-able games against Honduras & Chile. They have no choice now, they have to win both games if they are to be the first Spaniard to win the World Cup. It is time for Spain to step up and live up to the expectation.

V.I.V.A B.R.A.S.I.L

Note : Hats off to the Swiss..

Picture source : ESPNSoccernet & ESPNStar

JOM MAKAN MAKAN - BIHUN SOTO

Makanan kalau sedap mana2 pun orang tetap akan cari, betul tak ? Ok, this time around I would like to write about Husin Soto.

Lokasi : Menara Telekom Malaysia
Kedai : Husin Soto
Specialty : Segala jenis soto (Bihun, Mee, Nasi Impit)

There are only two type of everything dijual di sini. "Biasa" & "Special". For this entry, the focus will be the Bihun Soto.

Bihun Special

Bihun Special come with chicken drumstick or chicken wing, telur (yang belum keluar daripada ayam lagi - if you got what I meant - refer picture), pedal ayam, taugeh, daun sup.. of course. Served with kicap and cili padi tumbuk for those yang suka pedas. Beza antara "Special" dan "Biasa" cuma pada bahan2 yang disediakan bersama2 bihun tersebut. Kalau "Biasa", Bihun come with shreaded chicken and taugeh only.

Based on my observation, ayam tu direbus didalam sup tersebut.. berapa lama, tak sure. Resepi rahsia (tak tanya pun). The taste is just nice, terasa sup nya tapi tidak terlalu berminyak. Chicken nya easy to peel off from the bone possibly due to telah direbus lama-lama. Sup bukan jenis masam (macam Thai style) dan most people suka tambah kicap banyak2.. itu, kena ikut citarasa masing2 lah.

Oh ye, the "Special" is limited dependent on how many drumstick(s) and wing(s) they got at that time. Husin Soto hanya buka pada sebelah pagi dan ditutup pada sekitar jam 12 tengahari, before lunch time. So, if you happened to be around Menara Telekom why don't you give it a try.

My Rating (I am not an expert. This is just based on my opinion) :






Note :
1) Taste & Service - More stars the better
2) Price - Less star the cheaper

VUVUZELA AT WORLD CUP 2010

An annoying plastic trumpet ? Well, it depends on where are you coming from. Anyone who enjoy watching the Football World Cup 2010 would certainly being bothered by the "non-stop-loud-horn-like" sound that being produced by the Vuvuzela. It make the match day atmosphere feel weird and out of this world, that is, if you are coming from outside of Africa.

Personally, I found it irritating. Furthermore, the commentator nowadays work alone (possibly due to budget issue) and the tendency to get bored is very high due to no variation in voice as other noises from the stadium being swamped by the Vuvuzela sound. We hardly can hear the spectator's voice, the song they sung, the 'Uuuhhhh' & the 'Arrhhhh' when the player misses good chances. All that can be heard, constantly, is the 'vuvuzela' sound.. like a bzzzz of millions of bees!

Hey, wait.. how loud actually this Vuvuzela is ?

Gordon Bell of Reuters write :

"......The tests, conducted late last month in a sound-proof studio, found the vuvuzela emitted 127 decibels, more than the air horn -- 123.5 decibels -- and the Brazil's samba drums. A referee's whistle was fourth while the cowbell, a favourite in Switzerland and Austria, trailed at 114.9 decibels."

Info from Wikipedia said :

"A new model, however, announced on 14 June 2010, has a modified mouthpiece which is claimed to reduce the volume by 20 dB."

Be it 127 decibels or reduced by 20 decibels, the noise is unbearable and to be honest the atmosphere doesn't sound good in the television! Aren't they even get tired trumpeting for the whole 90 minutes ?

Wonder how much does it cost to make such a noise ?

A quick checked on the merchandise website selling the Vuvuzela, it priced at as high as 60 Rand = RM 25.59 per unit !

Complaint all you might, after all, this is the African World Cup. What make it an African World Cup if the local tradition being omitted ?

Therefore, let's just enjoy the football game..

Note : Right now, Portugal vs Ivory Coast..

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME - WORLD CUP DAY 2

The tournament had kick-off nicely as written in my previous entry . To date, no big upset just yet and too many draws. I would like to comment on selected team. Bear in mind that I am only a fan, not the expert. Therefore, my comment is based on my guts feeling as a fan.. of course it may include some simple stats I picked from the footballing sites.

Team : England
Group : C
Played against : USA (12th June 2010)

The game was setup nicely for England when they had their break on the 4th minutes courtesy of neat interchange play between Heskey and Gerrard at the edge of USA penalty box. Excellent finishing by Gerrard with some composure.

The USA strike back on the 39th minutes when a shot by Dempsey bounds off Green's palm and the ball agonisingly rolled over the line to make the scoreline 1 - 1. And, that is how the game finished.

Overall, the England team was not playing as fluently as expected. The choice of Green (keeper), Milner (Left Midfield) and King (Centreback) has backfired.

1) Green. Made a bad mistake when he should be shielding the ball by his body if he got a good body positioning behind his pair hand. Should the ball skidded pass the gloves, it should hit the body as to prevent the ball from rolling into the empty net. Although, he made an excellent save in the later stage of the game, it cannot redeem the mistake earlier. The damaged was already done. He seems shaky from the starts.

2) Milner. It seems that he has no clue of what his role is on the field. Milner is predominantly right footed and always plays on the right side of the field when featured for his club. At 23, may be he hasn't been matured enough to take the responsibility of playing out of position. Rarely got a ball. Foul as much as he touch the ball. Nothing of his play on that night worth remembering. In single word.. ineffective

3) King. A good player he is but the trouble with injury is well documented. Capello take a gamble on him and it had backfired immediately. He suffered another injury blow and will keep him out for some time. As good as gone. He should not be picked in the first place. I believed, England do have many talented centreback who are ready to step up. Like Gary Cahill (Bolton) and Phil Jagielka (Everton). I was surprised that neither made to the squad. Not even the provisional 30!

Suddently, England had a gapping hole to be filled in the centreback area. The choices are Upson, Carragher & Dawson. They are all of the-John-Terry-kind of centreback. Non is like the Ferdinand type (the closest is King, but he got injured now). Most probably, Upson will got the nod ahead of the others. They also had problem (always does) with the left midfield position. For sure, Milner & SWP were not a natural there. In fact, none of the England squad is a natural left midfielder! The closest they got are Joe Cole and of course 'the man in a mission' Captain Courageous Steven Gerrard. Even those two are not a natural left midfield player. Not to mention the dilemma the coach facing for the goalkeeping position. Is Mr-Calamity-James really the answer ? or should Capello gamble with the inexperience Joe Hart ? or stick with nervous-errorred-prone Green ?

Having said all that, where is the-boy-wonder-the-best-England-striker Mr Rooney been in this game ? Possibly, the USA had a good game plan in curbing Rooney threat that his name was hardly being mention by the commentator. And, the worrying fact is ESPNSoccernet had given the Man-of-the-match to Emile Heskey. The striker whom does not score enough goal himself. Even Lampard-the-midfielder scores more goal for England than Heskey-the-striker.

Whatever it is, the campaign is already look steep and England will struggle to match their fans' expectation to bring back the Cup they solely won on their home soil 44 years ago!

V.I.V.A B.R.A.S.I.L


Note : For latest news.. click here

MY HANDPHONE EVOLUTION

H.A.N.D.P.H.O.N.E

Most working adult has, at least, one handphone for communication purposes. The era of fixed home telephone line is declining and rapidly being replaced with handphone. I believed handphone nowadays is a necessity rather than a luxury.

My handphone evolution :

Year : 1998
Brand : Nokia
Model : tak ingat la (refer picture)

My first handphone was a Nokia (tak ingat model). The phone doesn't use the sim card as at that time I am using the Mobikom 018 service in which the line was activated centrally by the mobile operator. At that time, most of my friend had some difficulty to accept that the phone does not use the sim card as the way theirs is. Mobikom 018 was not a popular choice at that time. I end up showing them the proof by switching off the handphone and let them have a closer look on the phone. There is an advantage by having this feature. One of it, the phone can be deactivated remotely by the mobile operator in the event it lost or got stolen and cannot be activated back.

The phone end of life occurs in tragedy! In one fine morning, while rushing for work I had unintentionally.. repeat.. unintentionally left the handphone on top of my car. And, you could imagine what had happened next. The handphone goes flying and never recovered.

Year : 2001
Brand : Motorola
Model : tak ingat la (refer picture)

In desperate need of new lease of life, I grab whatever handphone available at home. This handphone was not mine, of course, but I quickly proclaim the ownership once I got my hand onto it. As it is considered as a 'second hand' phone.. the condition also is bad. First, it is bulky. Second, the battery lock had broken and it need to be tied with a rubber band in order to put it in place!

As desperate people does desperate thing, I took the 'challenge' and use the handphone. I choose a DiGi 016 as the service operator. They are offering the prepaid services. The worse part of having DiGi 016 is, the signal is hardly at 2 bars (2 out of 5) at my workplace, a factory in Sg Choh, Rawang. The area was best served by Maxis 012.

Whenever I am in and around the factory building, the signal is as good as non-existence! If, I really need to make a phone call, I need to get outside of the factory building and searching for the signal manually! (go around the area until the phone register 3 bars signal). Just imagine the hassle

Year : 2001
Brand : Nokia
Model : 3310

Due to the hassle I am facing with the Motorola + DiGi 016, I had decided it is a good time to change to new handphone and subscribing to the Maxis 012 service. No hassle, no rubber band and most importantly.. no more manual signal searching! (go around the area until the phone register 3 bars signal)

Nokia 3310 was equipped with the latest technology at that time, the best newest feature in town.. the vibration! It vibrate when a call being made. They also said that 'it dance'! Place your Nokia 3310 upward and call. The vibration ringing will cause the handphone to twisting right and left as it is performing a dance.

Year : 2002
Brand : Panasonic
Model : tak ingat la (refer picture)

I found this handphone at home lying around 'without tuan'. It quickly put me into interest as the brand is a non-traditional handphone manufacturer unlike Nokia or Motorola. What ? Panasonic ? Are you sure you spell it right ? Well, that's what people may think of it. The handphone is light, robust (drop it so many time, but still 'performed') and it only cause me RM100, made payable to my brother.

Unfortunately, this handphone do have hiccup. It often display a 'No signal' and I had to reboot it when it does. Even with the hassle of rebooting, I still stick to it long enough due to its brand uniqueness.

Year : 2005
Brand : Samsung
Model : tak ingat la (one of the SGHxx model - flip type)

I had set my eyes firmly on Nokia N76 in which at that time price at approx. RM1,400. My wife had decided to trade-in her Samsung in favour of Nokia 6680. Unfortunately, the trade-in price was not satisfactorily enough to persuade her to trade-in. The shop offers RM200 for the Samsung which was purchased less than 1 year before! The market price at that time was somewhere around RM800 - RM900. After a lengthy persuasive discussion, I had decided to buy over the Samsung from my wife at RM450 on 0% interest RM50 per month installment.. haha. She got her new Nokia 6680, and in return I got the Samsung SGH instead of Nokia N76 that I had aimed for.

Honestly, I am never a fan of a 'two-pieces' handphone let alone a flip one. I view it as a hassle and not convenient to have to slide or flip a handphone just to answer a call.

The handphone is equipped with camera and a media playback feature which I like and find it useful. Unfortunately, the handphone don't support external storage card such as the MicroSD. Therefore, it limits the handphone storage capacity.

Year : 2007
Brand : HP (Hewlett Packard)
Model : IPAQ Voice Messenger

A smartphone from HP, again a non-traditional handphone manufacturer. I first heard of the handphone being a gift away for one of the courses conducted by my company.. for FREE! As soon as I heard that, I enrolled myself to the course straight away. It's a 4 days course. To be honest, I don't believed that anybody attending the course for the sake of gaining new knowledge, instead everybody is anxious and eager for the FREE Smartphone only. On the third day of the course, what had we been waiting for finally in our hand.. a FREE HP IPAQ Voice Messenger operating on Windows Mobile OS.

The smartphone got almost everything that suit any gadget hunters requirement out there, except for 3G capability.. That is the smartphone achilles heel! However, I love this smartphone for its uniqueness as not many people are actually think of HP when they considering buying a handphone.

Unfortunately, all good things do come to end. The smartphone accidentally CRASHED into a toilet bowl!! Although it was recovered but its performance was badly degraded in the form of faulty microfon. When I speak, the other person will hear me as if I was 'far, far, far' away. It has became more and more hassle to continue using the smartphone as it cause a frustration to those on the recieving end.

Year : 2010
Brand : Nokia
Model : E72

My new 'baby'. I think it suit my needs the most within my tied budget. Purchased at RM1245 about 2 weeks ago. It had almost every function that I would ever required, not that like I will use them all. It is 'one piece', 3G, Camera equipped, Media playback function etc

With the purchase, I did upgrade my Celcom 013 line to 3G all access which will enable me to sync with office outlook and able to read my office email on the go. What a pleasant convenient!

I am planning to stick to this one for considerable long period of time. Hopefully, no tragedy awaits..

In the end, I realised that My Handphone Evolution is based on the evolution of my personal and working environment needs. Some people may change their handphone out of convenient while some others are just for the sake of keeping up with the technology.

I, personally, think that the ultimate use of a handphone is for communication. What better way to communicate other than talking to each other as we grow old. All those fancy features are only meant to justify for price increment only!

P.L.E.A.S.E. K.E.E.P. I.N. T.O.U.C.H