Would you watch a soccer game if all of the players were robots? Japanese robotics engineers seem to believe so. Hagime Sakamoto seems to believe so.

The Hajime 33 Soccer Robot

He has created what he calls the Hagime robot (creative) that is intended to be used at the RoboCup Japan Open robot soccer tournament in Osaka, Japan. The tournament brings together scientists from around the world who are using it as a platform for creating and testing new technologies.

The Japanese fascination of robots is complex but what I can say is that if this tournament really takes off it might prove to be less expensive than paying exuberant amounts of cash to star players. Robots might prove to be more entertaining than watching real people making mistakes and faking injuries.

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Ronaldinho may be slowing down as a soccer player but this star still retains one of the industries best gross salary. His reported $33 million paycheck with AC Milan earned him a spot on the Forbes Magazines: The Best Paid Celebs Under 30 list.

Milan's Ronaldinho shown in action during the UEFA-Cup round of 32 match Werder Bremen vs AC Milan at Weser stadium in Bremen, Germany, 18 February 2009.

At just 29 years old he is one of highest paid celebrities under 30 in the world. Other celebs who beat him salary-wise this year were tennis player Roger Federer, Britney Spears, LeBron James, F1 racer Kimi Raikkonen, and Beyonce Knowles. That basically makes Ronaldinho the fourth highest paid athlete under 30 or the highest paid soccer player under 30. No matter how you look at it it’s still impressive.

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Organizers at FIFA headquarters have decided to snub the Los Angeles All-Star soccer event that was to be held last weekend. Everything was in place to host the U.S. MLS All-Star team crew who were to play against a select group of world soccer stars.

France's Patrick Viera in action during the international friendly match, France vs Argentina at the stade de France, in Saint-Denis, near Paris on February 7, 2007.

Players on the opposing team included Italy’s Marco Materazzi and Mauro Camoranesi, France’s Patrick Viera, Spain’s Fernando Morrientes and the Netherlands’ Edgar Davids.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was already reserved for the event and everything was in place before FIFA pulled the plug on everything. No explanation was given and no one was prepared to comment to an angry mob of reporters and fans.

Sounds to me like another successful attempt at stifling the progression of soccer in North America.

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Zidane was going to cancel his game in Vancouver after a back injury on Canada Day, but I guess sympathy for the fans kicked in and he rescheduled it.

Zidane walking with Canadian charity soccer organizers in Montreal, Quebec

The game was supposed to be played at the 59,000 indoor seat B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, but has now been postponed to the smaller 5,000 seat Swangard Stadium for next Saturday July 11, 2009.

8,000 tickets were sold out to the first Vancouver charity match so I’m not sure how they all plan on getting into the smaller stadium. In addition to that little problem, many of Zidane’s players have already told him that they are not able to wait in Vancouver for a week for the game to happen. Others on the team are just taking their time to enjoy the sights. There are lots of places to go and see in Vancouver.

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Zidane was set to play a charity tribute game in Vancouver Saturday, though it seems he will have to sit this one out. He suffered a back injury after picking up his kid as they watched the fireworks display on Canada Day in Vancouver.

Fans from all over the Vancouver area have tickets to see the French living soccer legend, though without Zidane the game must go on.

Zidane was instrumental in bringing France to win the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro Cup. He retired after leading France to the 2006 World Cup finals after being sent off by refs when he head-butted Italian player Marco Materazzi. Zidane later said that he insulted him.

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Is it called soccer or is it called football. Well I guess that depends on where you are from.

I have been getting slack from a few TheFootie readers who dislike the fact that I continue to use the word soccer. While the rest of the world say football, us fans of the game are forced to say soccer because the word football is already taken.

Toronto FC vs Real Salt Lake

We can’t change that fact overnight. If I were to say football all the time people would be confused as to which sport I am referring too. Not to mention the confusions of other readers of EveryJoe.com, TheFootie’s parent blog.

What I am trying to say is that yes I realize the sport is called football but unless everyone else in your community use the term it cannot be used to identify the sport. Let’s also not forget that soccer and football/rugby were essentially the same sport when in the 1800’s two groups couldn’t agree on a specific set of rules. Some believed that only the feet should be used while others believed that a combination of hands and feet are allowed. Rugby of course then evolved into American Football.

If you want to get technical then we should call soccer cuju as it was originally called in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. or call it ‘kick the can’ as it was played in England.

It isn’t important what we call the sport so long as it is played internationally by the same set of rules. It should be a way of uniting the world instead of diving it between the Footballers and the heathen Soccer North Americans.

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In a ground breaking ceremony today construction officially began on the new Hiddink Soccer Stadium in South Korea.

Ground broken for Hiddink soccer center

The stadium will be named after Guss Hiddink (who stands fifth from the left), former head coach of the South Korean national team. Other city officials participated in the ceremony that took place in Incheon, South Korea.

Hiddink was awarded the honour because he is seen as a kind of miracle worker as he lead the South Korean national soccer team to the 2002 World Cup semifinals.

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It was Germany against England in the 2009 Euro Under-21 Cup, and Germany managed to come out on top. Germany forced in four goals and shut-out England at the Malmo Stadium in Sweden yesterday, June 29, 2009.

Germany U-21 team celebrates 2009 Euro Under-21 Cup win.

It was a sold out crowd at the Malmo Stadium in Sweden. English coach Stuart Pearce told reporters that he was disappointed in the loss but that he plans to analyze the game to help improve the team. He was signed for another two year contract with the Under-21 team.

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It certainly has been a strange turn of events. Brazil defeated USA to take the Confederations Cup title for their second year. It was widely believed that Spain was going to win it, but after a disappointing loss against USA Spain found themselves fighting for third.

Brazil celebrates victory over USA in FIFA Confederations Cup final - June 28, 2009

It was within USA grasp, yet they couldn’t quite make the magic happen. The game ended in a narrow victory of 3-2. Donovan lead the USA in a 2-0 lead before half-time, yet by the end of the game Brazil fought back with everything they had. Brazil certainly earned this win, though it was disappointing for US fans who looked forward to their first FIFA win ever. Instead they will just need to be satisfied with the fact that this was the first time ever the United States played in a FIFA final, a title long overdue.

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Zidane got a surprisingly warm welcome in Canada yesterday after playing against the Canadian All-Star team in Toronto, June 25, 2009. The retired French soccer star was asked and accepted to play in Canada for various world charities.

The BMO field was packed with 10,152 spectators who all came out to watch Zidane. The score drew 3-3 after Zidane and Friends couldn’t quite clench the lead. Zidane was scoreless though he did make some impressive passes. One kick failed to connect and another hit the post. Later, Zidane told reporters that he was not used to playing on artificial turf but added that he understands why it’s needed in a place like Canada.

Zidane and Friends will be playing in Montreal and Vancouver before heading home.

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