• BERLIN: The man who first introduced the penalty shootout to soccer had harsh words for two recently ousted World Cup teams, saying Switzerland and England had failed to do his invention justice. “They are complete losers, even a school team would have had better shots than the Swiss,” said 90-year-old Karl Wald in an interview. “It was a disappointment that something like that happened, even for me.” The shootout has played an integral role in this World Cup. Wald introduced the idea in Germany in 1970, and it was first used during the now-defunct Watney Cup that same year. American revolution for Germans • BERLIN: If Germany make it past Italy on Tuesday to reach the World Cup final, Juergen Klinsmann will be happy to share the credit with a pioneering American who was unknown outside Germany until two years ago. Fitness instructor Mark Verstegen was one of the first people hired by Klinsmann when he took over as Germany coach in August 2004. He was charged with revolutionising training sessions, charting the fitness of each player and devising individual programmes for them to follow when they were back at their clubs. “I was proud to get to know Mark,” said Klinsmann, whose home base remains in California. “I could see how good he was to work with. “We are convinced that football will become more and more focused on the individual.” Nakata hangs up his boots • TOKYO: Hidetoshi Nakata, Japan’s best-known soccer player and a veteran of three World Cups, announced his retirement on Monday. “Nakata said on his Internet page that he is retiring. There is no mistake,” an official at his management company said. The 29-year-old midfielder was Man of the Match when Japan drew with Croatia in the World Cup last month but his performance was not enough to help his team advance to the second round in Germany. Where was Walcott?• BADEN-BADEN: Billed as a hot new talent ready to make his mark on the world stage, Theo Walcott instead spent the World Cup twiddling his fingers on the England bench. Sven-Goran Eriksson’s failure to use the 17-year-old suggests that Arsene Wenger’s insistence that Walcott was an old head on young shoulders was off the mark. With the much-ridiculed Eriksson now out of a job, it remains to be seen whether new England boss Steve McClaren will show the same faith or revert to a tried and tested formula. Reports in English newspapers suggest Walcott will remain part of the international set-up, but McClaren may prefer to first wait and see what he can do at the premiership level where has yet to play.
