Last week the list of referees, who will be officiating the matches in South Africa, was announced. 30 FIFA category referees from all continents will be there, with Europe being the most represented with 10 officials.
The name that most boldly sticks out is Swede Martin Hansson. The man, who's been a FIFA referee since 2001, was the man who "helped" France to the World Cup, suffering momentary blindness at Stade de France when Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball. Here's hoping there won't be any similar mistakes by him in South Africa.
But he's not the only controversial character in there.
Malaysia's Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh once got his red card stolen Paul Gascoing style. The incident happened when the 43-year old took charge of 2007 FIFA U-20 World Championship match between Chile and Portugal. Portugal's Zéquinha snatched the card from Mr. Salleh's hand, when the referee sent off his compatriot Manu. Another red card of course promptly followed and before the end of the match there was also time for a third.
Benito Archundia from Mexico has a reputation of missing out clear goals. Even though he's been involved on the international stage since 1993, the competence of his ability has been questioned on various occasions. And for some reason often in matches involving Canada. Guess, in that sense, this year's Winter Olympics hosts can count themselves lucky not to have qualified for South Africa 2010.
Carlos Amarilla missed out on the knock-out stages in Germany 2006 thanks to consistent mistakes in the group stage, but he's also in South Africa. A well known strict referee.
Jorge Larrionda was once suspended by the Uruguayan FA with corruption charges. This was way back in 2002 though and currently he's rated one the best referees in the world. Even though the Yanks probably won't agree with that with Larrionda allowing real savage like tackles on the USA players by Italians at Germany 2006.
Massimo Bussaca, who does have a very good reputation in Europe, for example he refereed the UEFA Cup final in 2007 and the Champions League final in 2009, was pictured showing his middle finger at the crowd during a Swiss Cup match between FC Baden and Young Boys. The man has also allegedly urinated on the pitch during a match in Qatar.
The other referees, some who might hope the leave a mark of themselves in South Africa (and no doubt some will), are:
Asia
Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)
Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)
Africa
Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)
Koman Coulibaly (Mali)
Jerome Damon (South Africa)
Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)
North America, Central America, Caribbean
Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)
Carlos Batres (Guatemala)
Marco Antonio Rodriguez (Mexico)
South America
Hector Baldassi (Argentina)
Pablo Pozo (Chile)
Oscar Ruiz (Colombia)
Carlos Simon (Brazil)
Oceania
Michael Hester (New Zealand)
Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)
Europe
Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)
Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Stephane Lannoy (France)
Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
Wolfgang Sttark (Germany)
Alberto Mallenco (Spain)
Howard Webb (England)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The men in the middle
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Spain Stay Top, Indonesia down
Top Ten Fifa Ranking (Released, February 3rd, 2010)
- Spain With 1627 Poin
- Brazil With 1568 Poin
- Dutch With 1288 Poin
- Italy With 1209 Poin
- Portugal With 1176 Poin
- Germany With 1173 Poin
- France With 1117 Poin
- Argentina With 1082 Poin
- English With 1076 Poin
- Egypt With 1609 Poin
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Fraud About World Cup in The Facebook Group
The group named "COCA-COLA DAN SONY BAGI-BAGI UANG TUNAI TIAP MINGGU LEWAT FACEBOOK" (COCA-COLA AND SONY FOR CASH-FOR EACH WEEK THROUGH FACEBOOK), gives the lure of free World Cup tickets and the chance to take photo with the World Cup Trophy.
Does not stop there, other bids in the form of cash, where the Facebook ID numbers 100 are entitled to a cash prize each week that will be announced every Monday.
To follow this promo, Facebooker required to have at least 100 friends, then invite friends to join this group, and download five picture provided sponsorship. 100 friends will 1ID rated, 500 for 5 ID and so on and then drawn for the prize fight.
This group seemed successful enough gain followers, as evidenced when I join in this group Friday (February, 5th 2010: 10:45 AM in +7 GMT), the number of members had reached the 9942 facebooker.
However, this promo was pointed aka hoax deception. This could be a form of phishing via Facebook by using the World Cup 2010 moments and use the name Coca-Cola and Sony. The goal, scooped Facebook user personal data for crime. Therefore, Facebook users should be wary.
If you want to know this group.. Click here
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Italy & the U.S. Headquarters Nearby
Pretoria - Italy and the United States will stay close during the group phase of World Cup 2010. Both teams chose two hotels in the city near Pretoria Irene as his headquarters.
Reporting Goal, FIFA has approved the request for the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to select the Southdowns College Irene as his headquarters. As the inn, selected Leriba Lodge.
Southdowns has also been the headquarters of Italy during their Confederations Cup followed in 2009.The failure of the Azzurri in the competition did not seem to affect FIGC decision in the election headquarters.
In fact, the U.S. team's first wanted Southdowns College as his headquarters, but the Italians who finally got his wish.
U.S. do not have far to find the headquarters despite Italy incarannya taken. 'Uncle Sam' Team will still be headquartered in Irene, precisely at the Irene Country Lodge Hotel, and will practice at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.
By choosing Irene near Pretoria, Italy seems not think much about the distance. Because, Gianluigi Buffon et al just do not have agendas play in Pretoria. Three Italian Group F action will take place at Green Point (Cape Town), Mbombela (Nelspruit) and Ellis Park (Johannesburg).
While for the U.S. Team, this option is practically put them in the middle of the fight three Group C. Bob Bradley's squad that care will be played at Royal Bafokeng (Rustenburg), Ellis Park and Loftus Versfield located in Pretoria.***
NB: image From www.italianbusinessguide.com
Monday, January 4, 2010
Korea DPR bag a trophy
Korea DPR have a won a 4-team tournament. The tournament, which took place 28 December until 3 January, took place in Doha, Qatar.
The team, which in this years World Cup is in the "Group of Death", group G were joined in the tournament by local side Qatar, Mali and Iran.
Korea DPR won their opening match against Mali 1-0 with one of their few players, who's playing their club football in Europe, FC Rostov's striker Hong Yong-Jo grabbing the only goal on 55. minute. The Asian side was the better team through out the match and fully deserved their win with manager Kim Jong-Hun yet again impressing how he has set up his defence, which at times seems unbreakable.
1-0 was also the result in the Koreans second match. This time it was Choe Chol-Man, who's goal sunk the opposition on 59. minute. It was again a solid defensive performance by the Koreans and they took their chance in the attack.
Again the score was 1-0 in Korea DPR's final match, but it was a lost game. Mehrzad Madanchi scored his 7th goal for the Iranian international team. That result didn't have any effect on the tournament outcome though and Korea DPR finished with 6 points ahead of Qatar and Mali's 4, with Iran finishing bottom on 3 points.
Next up for the North Koreans, is Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup in Sri Lanka next month, where the winners will qualify for Asian Cup 2011.
It is interesting to note that their last match, the 1-0 loss to Iran, was their 11th match that has had 2 or less goals since the beginning of 2009. Manager Kim Jong-Hun really likes his side to play defensively solid football. Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast, who today play one of their two warm-up matches for African Cup of Nations versus Tanzania, have to be vary of the hardworking Asians.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Bayern send Toni home
After a two and a half year stay in Germany, the Italian target man Luca Toni will now hope to rediscover the form, which lead him to be Europe's most feared striker, at AS Roma. A 6-month loan deal has signed with a view on a permanent transfer.
Big question marks on how Roma will now cope with two super egos. Francesco Totti has got used to being the go to guy for the club ever since he's break through to the first team in 1994, now he's got competition.
Toni's playing style is somewhat unique. He seldom works for the team and expects everything to be delivered to him on a silver plate. And it works incredibly well, when he's in from, sadly if he's not then the team suffers greatly.
Starting out at Modena the 1.96 m man looked to fade away in the local lower divisions until his big break at Brescia. Hooking up with Italian legend Roberto Baggio the club recorded it's best ever results in the Serie A. Soon after came a move to Palermo. Toni was even more impressive in the clubs pink shirt recording a unbelievable record of 50 league goals in 80 matches. That prompted Fiorentina, back in the big league after a financial meltdown, to sign the striker.
Bringing back memories of Argentine great Gabriel Batistuta for the Firenze faithfuls, he was one of the most prolific striker not only in Italy, but the whole Europe. Due to he's good relationship with Fiorentina's fans, Toni promised to not sign for another Italian club, when injuries had effected his play and it was time to move on.
FC Bayern in Germany was the next destination. Toni had a dream debut season there, finishing the Bundesliga's top goal scorer and hitting 39 goals in total in only 46 matches. But just like his career in Fiorentina, injuries came to haunt him and soon his stay was again over. This gives you a great idea, who important in Toni's play is his fitness. He's just useless when he's not 100%, but deadly when he is. And poor form and injuries limited him to only 3 league appearances for Bayern this season.
The man, capped 47 by Italy, has all the pressure on him now to perform for Roma. The team currently 4th in Serie A will be hoping a rise in the standings and the fans expect improvement in scoring goals.
This move of course mainly comes because Toni wants to secure his place in the Italian World Cup squad. With competition very fierce there in Marcello Lippi's team, only goals will get him there. It will be seen if Francesco Totti can be the new Roberto Baggio for Luca Toni and lift his career once again.
Nigeria squad for Angola 2010
Nigeria manager Shaibu Amodu delayed announcing his team until the last minute to get the go-ahead regarding the fitness of striker Obafemi Martins. And to his luck, the Wolfsburg marksman passed a late fitness test and is now included in the Flying Eagles squad.
Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel) Bamidele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda, Israel) Austin Ejide (unattached)
Defenders: Joseph Yobo (Everton, England), Danny Shittu (Bolton, England) , Obinna Nwaneri and Yusuf Mohammed (both FC Sion, Switzerland) Taye Taiwo (Marseille, France) Elderson Echiejile (Rennes, France), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Onyekachi Apam (Nice, France).
Midfielders: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth, England), John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham, England) Sani Kaita (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia) Yusuf Atanda Ayila (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Oluwaseyi George Olofinjana (Hull City, England), Kalu Uche (Almeria, Spain).
Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton, England), Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia), Michael Eneramo (Esperance, Tunisia), Obinna Nsofor (Malaga, Spain), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg, Germany).
Key defenders, such as Joseph Yobo and Danny Shittu are also returning from injury. Nwankwo Kanu will be putting his club miseries behind, and it will be his 6th appearance in the African Cup of Nations. The choice of goalkeepers is the same as it was in 2008, even though Austin Ejide is lacking match practise being without a club, since leaving Bastia in the summer.
Other teams haven't been lucky with injuries, though. Cameroon's Benoit Assou-Ekotto picked up a serious injury in the last league game for Tottenham. He's replaced by Neuchatel Xamax's Augustin Binya.
Ghana were dealt a blow when Fulham's John Pantsil got injures. At first he was set to be replaced by Getafe's Derek Boateng, but the club forbid it. Now the replacement is Ransford Osei (FC Twente). Another defender John Mensah is replaced by his namesake Jonathan Mensah. It's worth noting that both Osei and Mensah are U-20 World Champions 2009. So there's now 8 members of the successful team in the senior squad. But with the Michael Essien not yet fully fit from an hamstring injury and the story of Sulley Muntari, it might turn out to be tough for the Black Stars to even get past the group stage.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
World Cup 2010 Coming Soon
The biggest Football event in the word will go on. It is World Cup 2010. This event will confront 32 countries for playing football and only to find one the Champion in the world.
So, by the way who is the Champion in this event?
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Del Bosque extends his Spanish stay
The man, who's celebrating his 59th birthday today, will now stay at the helm of the Spanish international team until the end on EURO 2012. The previous deal was set to expire after World Cup 2010 finals, but the Spanish FA have now made the sensible decision and cleared any danger of Del Bosque leaving after the tournament as there will be a number of club sides looking for a new manager in the summer.
Del Bosque's reign has been very impressive with only one loss suffered. That came in past summer's Confederations Cup and the performance at the tournament was a bit from the Spaniards, crashing out in the semis, but other wise the two and a half year progression under Del Bosque has been very impressive. With the team nr.1 in the FIFA rankings, they are the marking point of every other team. And maybe 2010 will be the year when they'll finally end their big tournaments failure and go all the way.
Monday, December 21, 2009
No surprises as Messi is named FIFA World Player of the Year
Back to the FIFA awards ceremony. Puskas award, named in the honour of legendary Hungary striker Ferenc Puskas, was announced for the first time ever and it was awarded to the best goal scored during the year. It was voted by fans and Cristiano Ronaldo's 40-yard screamer versus Porto was the winner.
England line up Egypt friendly
It has been announced that a friendly match versus Egypt will be England's first match of 2010. The match will be played on 3 March at Wembley and it will be Egypt's first trip to England. It will only the third match in history between these two. In 1986 the Three Lions won easily 4-0 in Cairo, but only a single goal separated the two at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, with England winning 1-0.
The match is seen as a perfect opportunity for England to test their skills and tactics versus a side similar to their group C opponents Algeria. Algeria of course pipped Egypt for a spot in the 2010 World Cup finals in dramatic style with a 1-0 victory in a winner takes all match, after the sides finished level on every accounts in their qualifying group.
Meanwhile, a lot of England's stars will be sweating for their place in the finals squad. Manager Fabio Capello has said before that he will only takes fully fit players to South Africa, but a number of potentially key players are currently struggling with fitness.
Owen Hargreaves, who could fit into the England line-up to let Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard loose and attack, has been out of action for 15 months now. But the 26-year old has been nearing a comeback and Capello has offered him some hope of regaining his place. "I spoke to him two months ago, I met him in Manchester and he was just ready to start training. But now he is not fit. He has six months to recover his good form but he needs to play. I will choose players that will be fit in May, the players that play all the games", has the Italian recently said.
Another Manchester United player, who hopes to be part of England's squad in South Africa, is Rio Ferdinand. The laid back central defender, who's been ever present in the first IX for nearly a decade now, has been struggling with back spasms and different niggling injuries for a couple of years now, and it's limited the player to only 7 appearances this season. The man himself is very confident, saying: "I'm confident I'll be fit. There's no question I'll be ready for next summer. The treatment on my injury is going well. It's been quite slowly slowly but we're getting there. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel". But you have to wonder in what condition will he be come May and June.
Then of course, there's Michael Owen. The man would no doubt be useful for England, and has impressed recently, but his playing time, or the lack of it, at Manchester United could see him miss out. "I saw the last game he played, on television, and he scored three goals in the Champions League but the next game he did not play. For this reason, I ask myself why? Why Wayne Rooney plays always and Owen not?", asks Fabio Capello.
So a lot of questions over a number of important players' heads, but only a few answers. And will Capello's strict policy of definitely not selecting a player when he's not fit in time, really be the only correct answer? Only time will tell.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Theofanis Gekas to join Hertha
Greece's star striker Theofanis Gekas will join Bundesliga's whipping boys Hertha Berlin in January. The team, which has failed to deliver in the Bundesliga this season, secured qualification in the Europa League yesterday with a 2-o win over Sporting, signed Gekas on loan for Leverkusen for the rest of the season.
Gekas, a one time Bundesliga top scorer (season 2006/07), is a key figure in Otto Rehhagel's Greece team. We all remember what Angelos Charisteas did in EURO 2004 as a target man, and now the same hopes are on Gekas.
The 29-year old was top scorer in the European qualifying process for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, albeit scoring 3 goals versus lowly Luxembourg and Moldova and a hat-trick in one match versus Latvia. But he's a dangerous player with his presence in the Greek forward line. Even if his team doesn't make it through to the next round, Greece's group B opponents defenders will face tough time facing him.
Cristiano Ronaldo dreams come true
Well, at least according to his latest book. As latest because there have been at least two released before that one.
The 80 million man, which is also a title of a previous book about him, was at Santiago Bernabeu in person, when the book was revealed. "'Sueños Cumplidos", which is the Spanish title is a biography of Cristiano Ronaldo written by Enrique Ortego.
Real Madrid have started a book series about it's best players. President Florentino Perez saying: "Real Madrid is on the right path. This club is talent, ambition and sacrifice combined. We have the best. That's what I learned from Santiago Bernabeu. Cristiano is very devoted and has a unique and very special talent. I wish to highlight his hunger for titles and his ambition to improve. He always wants to do his best, something that goes hand in hand with Real Madrid's philosophy. This was born with men like Alfredo di Stefano. This book will reveal why he experiences football like a religion. There are many stereotypes and misconceptions about him that the book clears. Cristiano and the Bernabeu are the perfect match to feed this legend. But the best of all these dreams is still to come."
But the fact that this isn't the first book about Cristiano Ronaldo, shows the magnitude of his influence, not only in the footballing World, but in the World as a general.
I certainly wouldn't thought there would be another brand footballer since David Beckham, but I've been proved wrong. I also wouldn't have thought Ronaldo would ever get this big. He was a talented player at Manchester United and grew in stature, but as a icon? Naah!
The man from Madeira with a difficult past had defied the odds, though. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already passed David Beckham in popularity and it's only a matter of time until he does it financially. And there's a similar pattern. Not only in the way, that both raise to prominence at Manchester United, but the marketing of them. Beckham took the definition of a world class footballer to another level with marketing, which lead him being the best known footballer ever. Even the Yanks recognized him! Ronaldo is following in the same footprints.
Beckham's career is slowly fading away, but Ronaldo's has only just started. He could end up as a synonym of his sports best parts, like Michael Jordan is for basketball or Muhhamad Ali for boxing. A true sporting hero. And a legend.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Learning from past mistakes
In 1998 Nigeria had a great World Cup campaign in France. The Flying Eagles topped their group and played some breathtaking football. It all turned sour soon though. After the group stage, the players started demanding bigger bonus payments for their performance. Focus was lost and 4-1 exit came in the next round versus Denmark.
This time around, the Nigerian FA wants to avoid the same thing happening and talks are already going on regarding the tournament still over half a year away.
Spokesman Ademola Olajire has gone on record saying: "It is crucial to have this meeting with the players to prevent any form of misunderstanding which could derail preparations and execution of this tournament. Unfortunately many people have already started talking about the money and referring to past incidents - but everything will be sorted out before we get to South Africa for the World Cup. This is a positive step forward for a successful campaign".
With players like John Obi Mikel, Yakubu and Yobo, no doubt the side has the quality to go far. Everybody are looking at Ivory Coast to upheld the African honour in the continent's first ever World Cup, but in my opinion, Nigeria are just as capable. If they only could avoid off the pitch distractions, like the bonus payments from disrupting the dressing room.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Ki to join Celtic
South Korea's Ki Sung-Yong will join 42-times Scottish Champions Glasgow Celtic in January.
The 20-year old midfielder, who's voted Asian Young Player of the Year 2009, was granted a work permit and will now player part in Celtic squad in the quest for another league title.
Ki leaves FC Seoul, but he actually grew up in Brisbane, Australia. Being fluent in English will no doubt help his career in Scotland.
The player was ever present in South Korea's qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa and will be hoping to feature in the finals as well.
He'll be greeted at Celtic Park by another Asian, Chinese international Zheng Zhi, who joined the club from Charlton Athletic in the summer.
It could've been a real Asian invasion at Celtic, but Japanese star Shunsuke Nakamura left this summer after 4 successful years in Scotland for Espanyol in Spain.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Donovan off to Everton?
USA superstar Landon Donovan has been linked with a loan move to Everton in the English Premier League.
It it thought the forward would be keen on joining Everton to keep himself match fit after the end of the MLS season, like the case with David Beckham joining AC Milan in January.
Everton would also welcome the deal as there's an injury crisis and also star striker Yakubu will join up with the Nigeria squad in January for the African Cup of Nations.
It wouldn't be the first time Donovan would make a switch to Europe. As a youngster he was part of Bayer Leverkusen and past January he was also on loan from LA Galaxy at FC Bayern.
But his adventures in Europe haven't been a great success. Whilst on his day he's a unstoppable player in the MLS, he's struggled to leave his mark in European football. Maybe this time.
Meanwhile Donovan's possible future teammate Joseph Yobo, who recently said the African Cup of Nations is an ideal test before the World Cup, has been ruled out until the New Year with a hamstring injury and is in danger of missing out on the Angola 2010 squad.
Nigeria manager Shaibu Amodu will already have to do without Real Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche, with a host of players, including Wolfsburg's Obafemi Martins, doubtful for the tournament starting on 10 January.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Draw reaction
All the managers from the participating nations, except Diego Maradona, who's banned by FIFA for 2 months, were at the draw and here's what some of them had to say.
Host nation, South Africa's, Brazilian manager Carlos Alberto Parreira thought the draw was very open with no real "Group of Deaths" emerging. About group A and his team's chances he said: "Up against two former world champions – France and Uruguay – I realise that the task ahead looks difficult, but we're ready to tackle it head-on with pride and courage. A tough challenge awaits us, but we're capable of meeting it if we put in the hard work in the run-up."
Mexico's manager Javier Aguirre thinks the host nation might be under incredible pressure to perform, while he believes that his side will be able to good enough to get past the group stage, saying: "I’m not going to label this group either difficult or manageable – I’m going to call it unique, without one clear favourite."
France's Raymond Domenech worried about other things, rather than possible opponents. "We won’t be playing any of our group matches at altitude, which was something I really wanted to avoid."
A topic, which was also in the head of England manager Fabio Capello. "We’re playing the last two group games at sea level, so that’s going to be a different challenge from our opening match in Rustenburg. But I won’t be offering excuses. Every team will have to meet awkward opponents, play in difficult conditions and win matches to win the World Cup", said the Italian.
Contrary to his fellow managers, Marcelo Lippi of defending champs Italy, denied that was going to be a problem.
Nigeria manager Shaibu Amodu, who might not hold this position come next summer, brought parallels with USA 1994: "We are in a difficult group – with Argentina, Greece and Korea. This is a similar group to the one we had at the 1994 World Cup and I don't want to talk about history but people will remember how we performed at that tournament even though people thought we wouldn't do well."
From the most evenly matched group, group D, Germany manager Joachim Low said: "I wouldn't say we were too lucky with the draw. It's not going to be an easy section, but it's certainly not beyond us. What strikes me is that it's a very balanced group. We're looking forward to the challenge and we know that it's going to be important for our confidence to win our opening match against Australia."
While other managers from the teams in that group labelled Germany as clear favorites, with Pim Verbeek of Australia and Milovan Rajevic of Ghana, saying they're one of the best teams in the World.
Same applies with group E. Everyone agreeing it's a tight group, but saying that the Netherlands are the best.
Dunga of Brazil squashed the talks about group G being the "Group of Death" saying: "I don’t like all that 'Group of Death' stuff. If you look at the draw, you’ll see that all the groups, perhaps with the exception of Spain’s, are very even. North Korea are, in theory, a weaker side, but it’s tricky playing against a team you don’t know much about." While also having a pop at rivals Portugal, saying with three Brazil born players in Carlos Queiroz's side, it will be like Brazil versus Brazil B.
Ivory Coast's Vahid Halilhodzic was far from a good mood: "To be honest it’s a terrible group. Very, very difficult. Brazil are second in the FIFA World Ranking and Portugal are fifth. It’s hard to imagine anything worse than that. Before the draw I said: “I’ll take anyone except Brazil or Spain.” I think a black cat must have followed me here in Cape Town."
Current European Champions Spain's boss Vincente Del Bosque complimented his opposition: "Before the draw we said that Chile were the side we wanted to avoid but now we've got to go and face them. They're an awkward team with some very good players and they could do a lot of damage. Honduras also had an excellent qualification campaign and they're a very technical side. As for Switzerland, we know them a little better but I don't think we should be either celebrating how the draw has turned out or getting worried"
Friday, December 4, 2009
Draw results
The groups for World Cup 2010 in South Africa were finally drawn today. Watched by an estimated 200 million people around the globe and special quests, including probably World's most well known player David Beckham, the ceremony was very well put together and here are the results.
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
No luck for Ivory Coast again, as Dider Drogba's worst fears came a reality, with the Elephants once again in the "Group of Death", alongside Brazil and the so called "European Brazil" Portugal.
Raymond Domenech once again got lucky as France was drawn into a relatively easy group.
Group D is also tightly contested with all the teams aiming for a top two place. Same with group E, with only the Netherlands being the stand out side.
The defending champs Italy also got lucky, just like the current European Champions Spain, especially considering their fixtures list. The Spaniards might be already qualified by the time they face Chile.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Pots announced
Pot 1: South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England
Pot 2: Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras
Pot 3: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay
Pot 4: France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia
Big talking points are France's and Portugal's placement in Pot 4. Especially France as the 1998 winners and 2006 runners-up. But the qualifying process was taken in account concerning that, and as we all now, both struggled there.
South Africa are in Pot 1 with all the big names as the host nation is always placed there. This will mean South Africa will also avoid other African teams in the group stage. There's actually a big part played by geography as no two teams from the same confederation will be drawn in the same group. Only exception being Europe, as they're the one with the most teams involved (13).
Some really mouthwatering prospects there. USA is no doubt feared from the Pot 2, while Algeria is the only weaker side from Pot 3. And of course Pot 4 with France and Portugal, and lets not forget Serbia either, who might be potential dark horses of the tournament in my opinion.
The draw will be made on Friday 18:45 CET. Two top teams will qualify from the groups for the next stage.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Drogba fears the draw
With the World Cup draw only 2 days away, Ivory Coast star-striker Didier Drogba has come out and said that he hopes his side will get a better draw compared to the one they had for Germany 2006.
Of course, as we all remember, Ivory Coast was part of the tournament's "Group of Death" with Argentina, the Netherlands and Serbia & Montenegro.
Drogba said: "I hope we'll be in a better group than in 2006 when we tried to fight but had no chance to go through. Hopefully we will be more lucky this time. We want to avoid the big teams like Brazil, Germany and England"
Will be interesting to see how far the Elephants will manage to go with Chelsea stars Drogba and Kalou leading the team. The squad definitely has talent and on paper look to be one of the better teams. From Africa at least. Think a lot will depend on how manager Bosnian Vahid Halilhodžić manages to mix the talent with tactics. Start under him was rough, but since taking over in May 2008, the team has only lost 1 match. The very first one under Halilhodžić against Japan 1:0. But recent matches have seen a great performance versus three-times World Champions Germany (2:2) and a draw away in Turkey (1:1).
Africa has been talked about as the potential new continent to take the World Cup title and for me Ivory Coast looks the most likely to challenge. As we all remember, when the tournament was first played in Asia, then the host nation South Korea surprised the World with their 4th place.
There will be no doubt a big part being played by Lady Luck, starting with the draw on Friday.
