Test of body cams during friendly brings divided response

Quick, shaky pictures but a new perspective - the use of body cams on players in Saturday's friendly between Cologne and AC Milan was met with a mixed response, reported dpa.

While referee Sascha Stegemann rated the 'ref-cam' as "very helpful" for the officials, the pictures delivered from players were rather underwhelming.

"All I see is some hands swinging in front of the camera," tweeted one fan about a video showing Olivier Giroud scoring the first of his brace of goals in a 2-1 win for Italy's champions. "What the hell is this," tweeted another.

The cameras were part of new technologies used in the so-called 'Innovation Game' included in the Telekom Cup friendly tournament. The television broadcast featured live statistics and several new camera perspectives.

Cologne's Timo Hübers and striker Tim Lemperle wore body cams, while others were wired with microphones or had special soles in their boots to capture various tracking data.

"Wearing the bodycam took a bit of getting used to, it was quite warm underneath. It didn't restrict me, but you could tell you were wearing it," said Hübers.

Defender Kingsley Ehizibue said he "didn't feel the microphone I was wearing. I think some of the innovations today are quite interesting for the fans."

Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart had expressed doubts before kick-off, calling himself a "traditionalist" and club chief executive Christian Keller also said he was sceptical.

Baumgart, however, did acknowledge that seeing things from the persective of the referee was "interesting."