STARTWO, WEdNESdAY 3 NOvEmBER 2010

By IAN YEE

HEY always say in football that it

doesnt matter how you score as long
as you stick that darn ball into the

Controversial goals

against Nani for handball, so he dropped the

ball and took a few steps back so he could
kick it forward.
But referee Mark Clattenburg never blew
his whistle, so Nani ran to the ball and
stroked it past Gomes and into the back of the
net. The Spurs players argued furiously that
Nani had in fact handled the ball, but
Clattenburg allowed the goal to stand.
So, it does matter sometimes how a ball
ends up behind the posts. Here are a few
controversial goals that shouldnt have
been:

Darren Bent
It went down as a goal for Sunderlands
Bent, but it really should have gone to the
beach ball or at least the fan who threw it on
the pitch. Bent had hit a tame shot towards
the goal that Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina
seemed to have covered. However, the beach
ball got in the way and redirected the football
past Reina with a deft flick.
According to the rules, the goal should have
been disallowed because it was scored due to
interference by a foreign object on the pitch,
but referee Mike Jones had no idea and
awarded it anyway.

Thierry Henry

A picture showing Diego Maradonas (left)

famous hand-of-god goal against England
in the 1986 World Cup.

Thanks to Henry, we were all treated to the

pathetic soap opera that was the French
national team at this years World Cup. In
extra time of Frances play-off with the
Republic of Ireland to determine whod make
it to South Africa, Henry controlled a pass
with his arm on his way to scoring the
winning goal. It caused a huge uproar, with

people labeling Henry a cheat and Roy Keane

famously saying what goes around comes
around in a tone that suggested Henry
should and would have a broken jaw and
busted knee a la Alf-Inge Haaland coming
around soon.

John Eustace/referee Stuart Atwell

and linesman Nigel Bannister
They call it the ghost goal, officially
awarded as an own goal to Watford player
Eustace even though the ball had crossed the
line about 1.5m outside the goalposts. It was
really nowhere near being a goal, but somehow, Atwell decided on the advice of
Bannister that the goal was legit.
It happened during a 2008 Coca-Cola
Championship match against Reading, whose
boss Steve Coppell agreed to replay the game
should Watfords request to do so was
approved.
The league decided the 2-2 result would
stand, leading Watford to urge their fans to
lobby for Atwell and Bannister to be credited
with the goal instead of Eustace.

Marc Overmars
The former Arsenal wing wizard bears the
unfortunate title of being the scorer of one of
the most unsportsman-like goals ever, even
though it mostly wasnt his fault.
Arsenal were playing Sheffield United in
the FA Cup in 1999, when United goalkeeper
Alan Kelly booted the ball out of play so that
an injured teammate could get treatment.
The unwritten rule here would be for
Arsenal to give the ball back to United, which
midfielder Ray Parlour tried to do by throw-

ing the ball back in towards Kelly.

But with 10 minutes left in the game and
the score tied at 1-1, Nwankwo Kanu, making
his debut for Arsenal, raced onto the throw in
and crossed for Overmars to tap home the
winning goal. Steve Bruce, Uniteds manager
at the time, was so incensed that he asked his
players to leave the field. But according to the
letter of the law, the referee had no choice
but to award the goal.
Arsenals excuse was that despite having
played at the highest level with Ajax and Inter
Milan, Kanu didnt know that what he did
was considered unsporting behaviour.
But his manager Arsene Wenger knew, and
offered Sheffield a replay, which they also
won 2-1.

Diego Maradona
Maradona handed Argentina a lead, literally, against England in the quarterfinals of the
1986 World Cup when the diminutive genius
clearly punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter
Shilton as they both jumped for the ball.
He said the goal was a little with the head
of Maradona, and a little with the hand of
God. Well, I guess thats one way to call
yourself a god. But Maradona did score a
proper goal in that game. He dribbled past six
England players in a 60m run to score what
would eventually be voted FIFAs World Cup
Goal of the Century.

The viral effect

By NIKI CHEONG

Look ma, Im
famous: Frame
grabs showing
Ghyslain Raza
goofing around and
doing a Star Warslike mock battle
using a golf ball
retriever as a light
saber in 2002.

nik
i@t
he
sta
r.c
om
.m
y

EIGHT years ago, before YouTube even existed (hard to believe, huh?), Ghyslain Raza
became famous around the world because a
video of him on the Internet went viral.
Granted, it was the sort of fame he didnt
seek. The video depicted the then-high
school teenager (hes a law student now)
wielding a golf club and spinning it around
as if it was a double-bladed light sabre from
the Star Wars movies.
His classmates got access to the video and
distributed it online via peer-to-peer
networks causing it to spread like wildfire
via e-mail and forums.
His parents sued the classmates families
and took the poor boy out of school to get
psychiatric help. They settled out of court
but Ghyslain remains locked in Internet
history as the Star Wars Kid (http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=HPPj6viIBmU).
Last week, the Star Wars Kid made a
comeback (probably not sanctioned) in the
form of a parody of another teenager who
probably wouldnt mind a viral video or two.
The video was a parody of the trailer for
teenage sensation Justin Biebers new movie
(in 3D, no less!) called Never Say Never. You
can watch the parody video here: http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUX6RHRVJGs.
These days, many are creating videos
hoping that they will go viral. These include
companies hoping to sell a product, market a
campaign or just talented individuals aspiring to be like Bieber, or Malaysias own Zee
Avi, and get discovered on the Internet.
From the links shared on social networks
like Facebook and Twitter daily, it would
appear that it is quite easy for your video to
go viral. After all, we watch so many new
ones each day, right?
Wrong. There really is no formula to guarantee that a video goes viral. You may be the
funniest person on Earth, or the most talent-

ed, but theres no

guarantee that the
particular video will
resonate with online
users.
That said, the CEO of
social video advertising company
Sharethrough, Dan
Greenberg, recently
shared on social media
blog Mashable three
elements that a video
needs to have to go
viral: psychological
share motivation, easy
shareability and a
data-driven strategy.
With the first point,
he says that there are
a few reasons why
someone decides to
share a video
emotions, identity and
self-expression, as well as to share information. In short, this person needs to identify
with the video; its not good enough to just
have a well-shot one.
Easy shareability is self-explanatory and
almost a given, considering how social the
Internet has become over the last couple of
years. Now, all you need to do is upload a
video which fulfils the main criteria to
YouTube and share it on Facebook, Twitter
and your blog, and hope that people will
pass it on (retweets also help).
The last point is probably one that is not
often considered. While you have good
content and great platforms to share, you
also need to look at distribution strategy.
Greenberg suggests asking yourself:
What sites generate the highest amount of
sharing for the type of content you are
making? Which users? What time of day do
they share content most often?

T

ianyee@thesta
r.com.my

goal.
But as with so many of those over-used
sayings in football like, I want a transfer
because the club cant match my ambitions,
or England should be good enough to beat
their up-coming opponents, its not really
true. Tottenham Hotspur fans, for example,
wont be endorsing that view after Nanis
controversial goal against their team last
weekend.
After Manchester United had a penalty
appeal denied, Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes
thought the referee had given a free kick

R.AGE

Now, if you are hoping to create a viral

video whether to get discovered, sell a
concept or if youre just attention seeking,
those are some good advice to follow. Or you
could watch some of these favourite viral
videos I asked some fellow Twitterers to
share.
Never Say No To The Panda
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=X21mJh6j9i4
I dont think this video a video montage
of a series of cheese commercials from
Panda was intended to make such an
impact online but that goes to show that
luck plays a part in getting your video viral.
Star Wars: A Tribute To John Williams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_
OSsawz4
Corey Vidal, who features in this video

was already an online video sensation but

this tribute has to be the highlight of his
YouTube. He lip-syncs to a song by a capella
group Moosebutter but many who didnt
read the description to the video thought he
was singing to it himself, and layering his
voice over another.
Social Media Revolution
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
As part of the marketing strategy to sell
his new book Socialnomics, author Erik
Qualman released a video online which
captured the growing trend of social
media, complete with images, quotes and
numbers.
The video was a hit, especially among
public speakers, so much so that he updated
it earlier this year with new statistics.