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Thursday Kickoff: Premier League picks Hawk-Eye; Lucas signs new contract; and more

FrankLampardGomes1 (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Tennis technology will soon be coming to the Premier League.

After a meeting between shareholders of all 20 Premier League clubs, the league agreed unanimously to install Hawk-Eye as the method of goal-line technology at each Premier League stadium. It makes the English league the first in the world to use goal-line technology.

Hawk-Eye will be using seven cameras positioned around the stadium to detect whether the ball had crossed the line. The Britain-based company beat out GoalRef and Cairos for the Premier League contract.

The upcoming Community Shield match at Wembley in August will be the first time that goal-line technology will be used in a match between top tier clubs.

Here are some more stories to get your Thursday started:

LEIVA SIGNS EXTENSION

Having enjoyed a good run of form, and a long span without injury, Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva was awarded some more good news this week as well.

The Brazilian signed a new contract with the club he’s been with for the last six years, committing likely the rest of his playing career to the red side of Liverpool. Lucas has made 18 Premier League starts this season, already eight more than last year’s injury ravaged campaign.

“I am really delighted to have the opportunity to play for this club,” Lucas told the Liverpool FC website. “It’s where I think I belong and where I wanted to stay, so I am very happy and looking forward to a few more years here.”

Since moving to Liverpool in 2007, the 26-year-old has suffered injury after injury, but yet has still made 208 appearances for the club in all competitions.

XOLOS DEFEAT MILLONARIOS, FINISHES SECOND IN GROUP

Club Tijuana broke a winless streak with a last-gasp goal in injury time to defeat Millonarios in the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday evening.

Xolos last win before Wednesday came on March 6, when they defeated last years champions Corinthians. Since then, but in domestic and international play, the darlings of Mexican soccer have come back down to earth.

Fidel Martinez was the hero for Xolos, controlling a long cross from Raul Enriquez, before slotting home past the opposing goal keeper Luis Delgado in the 93rd minute to give his side a 1-0 win over Colombian club Millonarios. It was Martinez’s third goal of the campaign, helping Xolos finish in second place in Group 5, and going through to the knockout stages.

Around the continent, Real Garcilaso of Peru, founded just three years ago, defeated Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño 5-1 to know them out of the competition. Corinthians of Brazil defeated Bolivian club San Jose 3-0, while Brazilian sides Gremio and Fluminense played to a goalless draw.

QUICK KICKS

Cruz Azul won their first trophy in 15 years by beating Atlante in penalties in the Copa Mexico Final. (REPORT)

Eintracht Frankfurt have been fined €100,000 by the German soccer governing body for fan trouble during the course of this season. (REPORT)

Bayern Munich have opened talks with Toni Kroos and David Alaba to keep them at the club for the long term. (REPORT)

Scotland manager Gordan Strachan believes that Rangers and Celtic will leave the SPL for another European league within the next ten years. (REPORT)

Valencia center back Adil Rami is interested in a move to England. (REPORT)

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What do you make of these reports? Do you think Hawk-Eye can make the transition to soccer? Do you believe Lucas can help bring Liverpool back to the top four? Do you see Xolos going far in the knockout stage?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I thought the barrier on the Glasgow teams forever threatening to leave the SPL was that UEFA/FIFA wouldn’t stand for non-grandfathered cross-border leagues. You know, the teams like Derry City, Swansea, Cardiff, etc., tend to be long-term grandfathered exceptions.

    But then, they allow Wellington Phoenix of Oceania and New Zealand to play in the A-League of Asia and Australia, so nothing’s in stone.

    Reply
      • Strachan’s prediction of the Old Firm leaving the SPL wasn’t to go to England or any other current domestic competition. It was to join a newly created European League with somewhere around 38 clubs: 2 divisions with 19 teams each. Basically, all the usual Champion’s League clubs, just drop out the small country champions who don’t generate as much revenue and add an extra 2 or 3 from England/Spain/Italy/Germany each.

      • MLS is the FIFA recognized top-flight league for both Canada and the US. That is a big difference than this scenario.

      • I think the Canada explanation would be the history of a North American league, NASL, A-League, plus the absence of first division ambitions by the CSL, which did not consider itself superior to the pro Canadian teams even when there were none in MLS and it was all minor league there. So that may be like Monaco which is technically a separate state but plays in France because there is no Monaco first division and they’ve been “French” since the 30s.

        Although, if you drop down to the minors, you could make interesting arguments about PR islanders, Antigua, and Bermuda, which play in the minors here. PR on and off has its own league. Part of the reason Antigua was stout in WC quali is they have a big chunk of players from the same club team.

        I think if you look at the list of examples most are there because of long history, absence of a domestic league, or being so small they are harmless. There are actually a ton of UK teams if you find a list, it’s just most are down in some semi-pro level unlike Cardiff so you never hear of it.

        The two that strike me as exceptional are TNS in Wales — I think technically they house themselves in England now, but they routinely represent Wales in Europe — and Wellington, because it’s a new team in a country where there is a first division that routinely makes it to the Club World Cup.

        I don’t know if FIFA wants to encourage big name teams breaking off from their home country leagues and trying to start some rogue international league, for economic reasons. Since that is the perennial justification for Glasgow teams, I think it’s a non-starter for the foreseeable future.

      • There’s at least one other precedent for a team breaking away from a local league because it was too good for the league, and that team clearly isn’t so small as to be harmless in the league system it moved into. DPMM FC, perennial champions of Brunei, left the Brunei league in 2005 to compete in the Malaysian league system. The club won promotion to the top flight in its first season in Malaysia and stayed there through 2008, when it switched leagues again to compete in Singapore. DPMM then won the Singapore League Cup in both 2009 and 2012, and placed 2nd in the S-League in 2012. Perhaps the S-League is too small for FIFA to care much about, but if FIFA were to be consistent, it would probably have to allow teams to play in cross-border leagues.

    • Maybe that is another reason Sep has issues with MLS (cross-border league).
      Since both Australia & the US were passed over as potential hosts for the 2022 WC, maybe this was one of their excusses (cover the bribes). As I truly believe that Most people/fans would prefer to visit Australia or the US for the tournament over Qatar.
      Then again if it’s played in winter….like they’re now talking about….maybe I’m wrong in my opinion. Just don’t see a good turn out to view matches when it’s 120 degrees and there is no BEER.

      Reply
      • Qatar has previously claimed that they will make the middle east summer palatable through technology such as this:

        http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9435035.stm

        At the size necessary to help cool a stadium, this would have to be a materials and technology marvel. They would have 9 more years to make this happen, since the tournament isn’t for years.

        I have seen articles earlier this year suggesting they were open to moving the tournament to winter but were deferring to Qatar on the decision. With 9 more years to go — two intervening tournaments left — they probably won’t make the decision any time soon. Presumably, they will make every effort to make their technology solutions work over the next several years, and probably only back off til winter if the technology fails and a summer tournament would be more embarrassing than moving toa face-saving winter solution. I doubt they’d back off now because it would make them look like the bid as packaged was a fib, and encourage the claims the process was rigged.

        I think Qatar took advantage of a very soft set of bidders, the US, Japan, and Korea had just held tournaments. I personally am a big fan of emerging Australian soccer, where they have built up a league similar if slightly inferior to MLS that is attracting players like del Piero. Australia should have gotten the tourney.

  2. “It’s a good thing you have a nice body, nurse, otherwise they’d get rid of you quick.”
    – Hawkeye, Mash (movie).

    Oh, they bought some other Hawkeye. Oops.

    Reply
  3. “Having enjoyed a good run of form, and a long span without injury.”

    Not disputing, but a serious question: How long has he NOT been injured? The long span is curious to me. Are we talking THIS YEAR as the long span?

    I like Lucas but the guys is always injured.

    Reply
    • Always injured ? He’s had one ACL injury and a thigh injury after they brought him back too quick from the ACL. What other injuries are you talking about ?

      Though I certainly agree regarding the “long span” comment. He’s still got a ways to go to return to the form he showed before his ACL injury. He was leading Europe by a fair margin in avg tackles per game at 5.7 before then.

      Reply
  4. what other league could Rangers/Celtic leave for? Obviously the PL. It would be insane if they went to the Norwegian league or joined Serie A

    Reply
    • I think it’s ridiculous if they leave their own country/league.

      THEY, along with the rest of the league owners should work on some type of revenue sharing system or general structure for to improve the quality of the entire league…then they don’t have to leave.

      Reply
    • I think the point he was making is that moving into the English league pyramid would involve joining somewhere below the championship (my guess would be League Two). They won’t have to start in a league like the Huddersfield and District Association Football League, but they aren’t going to just get entry into the EPL because of their fanbase and tradition. They’ll have to work their way up to the top just like every other team (and like Rangers is currently having to do after the financial mess they got themselves in).

      Reply
  5. Wow pretty shocked with Brazil dropping that much even though FIFA Rankings are pretty much a joke. I’m going to guess this is the lowest they’ve been in years?

    Reply
  6. Brazil at 19?

    That’s what happens when you host the WORLD CUP. You play in tons of pointless friendlies for years that no one cares about

    Reply
  7. Lucas played well last 3 years, while injury free. I wonder what the longterm plans are for D-mid with Liverpool. Is it Jay Spearing? He did not impress last season at all, I see he is a consistent player for Bolton on loan but I dont know if that D-mid spot is his natural spot. I dont know if there is another D-mid in the academy or cheap/young/talented enough for Liverpool to spend the money on.

    Alot of fans want Alonso back (I dont know if hed come or if its worth spending 8+ million pounds on a 32 year old) he can play next to Lucas and take over for him if need be but next to Lucas and a little advance is where Rodgers likes to play Gerard I dont see us going 4-3-1-2.

    Maybe Wanyama but I suspect he has better suitors.

    Reply

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