The French Football Federation has handed down a stiff punishment to the leaders of the French National team who were  blamed for the inappropriate behavior at the World Cup.  The FFF suspended striker Nicolas Anelka for 18 matches, former captain Patrice Evra for five matches, Franck Ribery for three matches and Jeremy Toulalan for one match.

Sources say Anelka and former coach Raymond Domenech were involved in a heated exchange in the locker room at halftime of the 2-0 loss to Mexico.  Domenech and the FFF decided to send Anelka home while the majority of the players disagreed with the move.  The French players chose to skip the following day of training in protest and were sent home after the knockout stages from the Cup.

New French manager Laurent Blanc, dropped all 23 players from the World Cup roster in a friendly against Norway, which they lost 2-1.  Blanc has extremely talented players at his disposal in France but needs to get his players on the same page. Only time will tell if this overhaul of the national team will do any good.

Give us your comments and tell us what you think.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is considering eliminating all ties in group play at the next World Cup in Brazil.  FIFA is looking at sending the draws straight to penalty kicks or a sudden death overtime period to determine a winner.

This is a great idea to get these group games to be more entertaining.  At the World Cup this summer there were many 1st round matches that  were played with the mentality of  “not to lose.”  This change would open up the games and allow more attacking play to take place.

Blatter is on the right track on improving the sport looking at all options to garner more interest.  Getting rid of ties in bracket play is a great idea and should be put into place.

Leave a comment and tell us what you think about the change.

Like most of the Bay Area, here at Livethepitch.com we woke up feeling screwed over. So we went straight to the organization who put on this “great” event.  After speaking with a representative from El Mexicano Presenta, I was told that they WILL be giving refunds for the tickets.  Parking will be another issue and I have yet to get in touch with the parking company at this time.

Here is what to do as of right now:

Call El Mexicano Presenta at 408-960-2700 and ask to speak with someone about getting a refund for your tickets.

Let them know your story and they will ask you for your name, telephone number, the number of tickets you purchased and how much you spent on the tickets.

We will continue to call until we are reimbursed for this terrible experience and keep everyone updated on our progress.

Please let us know if you have any problems or concerns.

When the announcement came that Real Madrid was playing Club America in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park a few months ago all of us here at Livethepitch.com were stoked about seeing some of the best players in the world in our own backyard.  As we waited for weeks for this great event, the excitement was through the roof.  Until game day.

We purchased our tickets through Ticketmaster.com and were thrown off a little by the fact that we couldn’t print the tickets from home like all other Ticketmaster.com events.  We purchased three tickets through the site for a total of  $170.00.  A little expensive, even though these were the cheapest tickets available.

As we drove down the 101 from the city towards Candlestick, we quickly realized that this could be a challenge to get into the match on time.  Traffic leaving the city was bumper to bumper as it took us over an hour to get to the stadium from the Hayes Valley neighborhood.

When we finally arrived at the stadium we waited again just to get into the parking lot for a $30.00 fee.  While walking towards the stadium we were instructed by security to head to the gate A for will call. After waiting in line for a few minutes there, we overheard that the wait was over an hour and to head to gate B. (I don’t think gate A was even will call even though there were signs).

While walking around the stadium we realized there  was going to be a problem on the horizon.

As we made the turn around the stadium to get to gate B we witnessed complete pandemonium.  I would estimate around 5,000 people in numerous lines with four windows handling tickets. Police standing by looking like they were ready for a riot.  It was now past 8:00 as we found ourselves sitting in a line that was not moving.  Sitting in the same spot 10 minutes later, 20 minutes and after 30 minutes of waiting in line we bailed. At the pace we were moving, we probably would have made it to our seats just as the referee blew the final whistle.

To top it off, the parking company wouldn’t refund anyone that couldn’t get into the game. We pulled over and argued with them for a few minutes with another pissed off fan. He is an attorney and says he is going to file suit in small claims against City Park in the morning. Not sure if that will go anywhere, but I gave him an email address to contact us and will post an update if I hear anything.

We weren’t the only unhappy fans:

@drewmwilson “Real Madrid at Candlestick is a mess. Waited an hour in line only to discover credit card machines are down. Failed. Going home.”

@aaaaaalexandra Trying to get through the will call line at candlestick park… this is the most disorganized event I’ve ever been to

@gerardramos went to candlestick for realmadrid v clubamerica. stood in line at willcall with thousands then left. can’t believe I’m missing this game.

@nickmyer5 “Could get in candlestick to see real Madrid. Will call fail.”

@guitarchitekt “Who else got screwed by Ticketmaster at the Candlestick will call tonight? Truly backwards and evil company”

@Rikusl “Will call for a soccer game at Candlestick? Absolutely pathetic. Been in line for an hour with no progress.”

What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments.

ESPN announced Thursday that Juergan Klinsmann will join the broadcast team for this summers World Cup.  The former German star led Germany to a third place finish four years ago at the 2006 World Cup.  Klinsmann will be used by ESPN as a studio analyst.  This a great addition to the commentary field by ESPN.  Klinsman has extensive knowledge of the International game and will provide great insight to the matches.

Here is the full story from ESPN.com-ESPN to use Klinsmann’s expertise