IPod makes the save for Manchester United goalkeeper
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Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, a 26-year-old who plays for one of England’s top soccer teams, has the sports world debating whether it’s fair to use an iPod as a competitive edge during a match.
Faced with the always difficult task of defending penalty kicks when Sunday’s game went to shootout, a well-prepared Foster whipped out his iPod to study the tendencies of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara.
Foster watched video of a kick O’Hara took against Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven last year that suggested O’Hara liked to strike the ball to the left of the goalkeeper. He made the same move against Foster, who dove and blocked the shot.
Manchester United goalkeeping coach Eric Steele recommended the digital assist, but it was Foster who took home player-of-the-match honors.
‘They told me for Jamie O’Hara I should stand up and be strong, and he would probably go the way he did,’ Foster told reporters after the game. ‘I have done a lot of research before, but this is an innovation we have brought in at the club.’
The rules of soccer, both in England and at the international level, don’t say much about the use of technology -- let alone an iPod -- by players during matches. British soccer’s governing body, the Football Assn., ruled that because there was nothing inherently dangerous about Foster’s tactic, there would be no disciplinary action.
It’s not hard to imagine professional and national soccer teams throughout the world now loading videos of their opponents on iPods to prep their goalkeepers.
-- Jerry Hirsch
