Who will replace Amodu?

Finishing third at Africa Cup of Nations wasn't enough for the Nigerian FA to keep hold of Shaibu Amodu. The man, who's now combined been in charge of the Flying Eagles 4 separate terms, already had his chair shaking before the tournament and with the team not reaching the final in Angola, offered the FA the chance to finally get rid of him.

With the qualifying process being surprisingly tough for the teams, names were already popping up near the end of last year. Roberto Mancini looked like the most certain one the succeed Shaibu, but the Italian as we know has now taken the reigns at Manchester City. So who could be the man to lead Nigeria in South Africa?

Guus Hiddink

Of course every time a reputable managerial post opens up the Dutchman is the first one to be linked with it. He' s got a good record with international teams, having lead South Korea and Australia in past two World Cups, but he's still under contract with Russia. The Russians didn't qualify for South Africa and whilst Hiddink might enjoy the challenge of again trying to mould a mediocre side into challengers, it's highly doubtful he will be relived of his duties for Russia, even if it only would be on a temporary basis.

Hassan Shehata

The man behind Egyptian success. The Pharaohs of course didn't make it to South Africa, missing out dramatically against Algeria, and the door might be open for Shehata to leave as his so called mission is completed. Shehata has even said on record that he actually has already been contacted by the Nigerian FA about the job.

Bruno Metsu

The Frenchman, who's currently in charge of the Qatari international team, was the man behind Senegal's success in 2002 quarter-finals place at the World Cup and runners-up place at the Africa Cup of Nations. He's also guided the Guinean international team, so you'd think he might be tempted by Africa once again.

Ratomir Dujkovic

Serbian U-21 manager, was the man who lead Ghana to Germany 2006, where they got past the group stage, even the reign in general was quite shaky and always surrounded by speculation of him getting the sack. After leaving Ghana the Serb lead China at the Beijing Olympics and past summer accepted the post of Serbia U-21 manager. That could lead to be the major obstacle, as the job might have been looked as a long-plan assignment and Dujkovic wouldn't want to quit the post.

Herve Renard

Renard got his not so very good Zambia side through from the group in Angola, so he must have some quality. The man also has said he's already been tracking by bigger and better teams, could Nigeria be one of them?

Jay-Jay Okocha

The former Bolton star and the symbol of Nigerian football could be a very good motivator for the team and no doubt would be a approved appointment by the public, but it's probably too soon for him to enter management. Okocha himself has also said that he's more interested in an administrative job .

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.

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"

Hitzfeld has won everything else, will he win the World Cup?

Ottmar Hitzfeld is one of the most successful managers of modern day football. The former striker built a dynasty at Bayern Munich, delivering 5 league titles, 3 cups and also once repeating his success of a Champions League, which he also won with Dortmund Borussia. He's rated as the Bundesliga's best ever manager. Will he now bring success to Switzerland?

Hitzfeld appointment as a manager of Switzerland was a bit of a surprise, as the man hasn't previously been in charge of a international team and nearing 60, with already having achieved everything a top manager can't, contemplating retirement.

The Swizz have been a side of potential recently though, and that's probably why Hitzfeld saw enough motivation to give a go.

After co-hosting EURO 2008 with Austria, the game has really grown in the nation. Players are getting noticed by Europe's bigger clubs and young talent has emerged.

As a result of this, a impressive qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010 is behind their backs.

Switzerland only lost 1 match during the whole process, a surprise defeat at home to minnows Luxembourg, conceding on of the fewest amount of goals with only 8.

The previous results at the World Cup are pretty good for a nation not mainly known of football. 8 finals places in total, with three quarter-final places.

Germany 2006 was a big success. The team went down as the only one, who didn't concede any goals during regular play, only losing in the second round of the tournament to Ukraine on penalties.

While the team has changed since then, some of the key players still remain. Hakan Yakin, Tranquillo Barnetta and top scorer Alexander Frei, who this summer returned to home, to Basel, where he is one of the top scorer of the Europa League.

There's also an emergence of young talent. Gelson Fernandes got his big move to Manchester City and while he's now at Saint-Etienne in France, his talent is remarkable. Arsenal's Phillippe Senderos is a rock in the defence, alongside fellow-Gunner, Johan Djourou. Valon Behrami, the local David Beckham, and Johan Vonlanthen, who's the younest ever scorer at European Championships, offer attacking flair from midfield.

While the team won't be amongst the favorites, Hitzfeld does have a winning experience and that might turn out the be the key for this Swizz side.

Denmark and Greece ready for another surprise?

As we all remember Denmark infamously won the European Championships 1992 literally coming straight from their summer holidays. Greece have done the same. You would've been mad, if you'd predicted that Greece will win the EURO 2004, but they did. Could the two surprise the big guns again?

While Denmark won the EURO 1992, they're not a familiar name in the World Cup finals. They weren't there the last time out, in Germany, and actually reached the finals only 3 times before South Africa.

So you can see the players haven't got a lot of big stage experience, even though they always seem to show impressive play in the qualifying, but often miss out in the end. This time they had a awesome campaign, pushing powerhouse Portugal into the play-off and knocking out neighbours Sweden entirely.

While the players might not be the most experienced ones, the manager is. Morten Olsen himself was part of the Danish side for nearly 20 years from 1970-1989, playing over 100 matches. He's been the manager for quite some time now. 9 years is a lot in modern day football, especially internationally. He's been through thick and thin, seen all the up and down, it's now his duty to mould his side ready to perform in the big stage.

Greece is also lead by a legendary manager. German Otto Rehhagel delivered the EURO 2004 for the nation, not often reffered in a footballing sense, and the man is still in charge. His reign has now also stretch to quite a long one. He was appointed in 2001.

South Africa will only be the second one for Greece. Their debut was in USA 1994, which they ended goalless and pointless.

There's been quite a few changes since the EURO triumph, but there are still players, who were part of the success. Also a number of younger players are starting to make a name for themselves. And if striker Theofanis Gekas, who the top scorer in European zone in qualifying, can deliver the goals, Otto's Greece might surprise once again.

Oranje ready for new success

Even though the Netherlands are one of the smallest countries in Europe it's a nation with great footballing tradition. Even though it's now two decades since their last success, European Championships 1988, Netherlands are always considered as potential favorites.

The Netherlands have never won the World Cup, but they have finished runners-up on two occasions. In 1974 and 1978, lead by the legendary midfielder Johan Cruyff. From recent history their best tournament is France 1998, which they finished 4th, losing to Croatia in the 3rd place match.

They always seem to get past the group stage, no matter how strong the group is, "The Group of Death" in Germany 2006 being a notable success.

Today's team is quite young. A generational change has been successfully made and the team cruised through qualification for South Africa 2010. The only weak point could be the manager, Bert van Marwijk.

Not a very fashionable name, van Marwijk, took over the reign in 2008 from Marco van Basten. While the team has done great under him, there is doubts whether van Marwijk has the experience to lead the team to success in a major competition. The 57 year old has been mostly manager of local league sides, but neither of the bigger ones PSV nor Ajax, and while ha has delivered the occasional trophy, he hasn't been able to build a real dynasty in any of the teams.

But to his credit, one thing that is notable from his are of the Oranje manager, he's brought a tight defensive play to his side. Netherlands have always been a attractive attacking force, but defensive lapses have cost in more than one match. Nowadays the Netherlands rarely seem concede more than one goal, with that only happening twice under van Marwijk, and that might end up being a huge plus, if the side manages to get into tight play-off matches once again.

Antic signs a new deal

Serbia have tied their manager Radomir Antic down for another year. His previous deal was due to run until 2011, but it's now extended to the end of EURO 2012 qualifying. A successful campaign there, would also mean the contract being extended until the end of the final tournament, which is co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

The former Real Madrid and Barcelona manager, took over Serbia at a perfect time you have to say. The current crop of players might be the best since the Second Yugoslavia fell in 1992. Some of Europe's best talent in all departments of the squad and the average age is just perfect - around 25-26.

The qualifying process for South Africa 2010 was impressive. Serbia topped the group ahead of France, picking up 7 wins from a possible of 10. It was a second great World Cup qualifying campaign in a row. Though in, the 2006 Montenegro was still part of Serbia. The team won their group ahead of Spain, with both finishing undefeated.

The tournament itself wasn't very good, with the team losing all of their matches, but the squad was mostly made up from the players, who are also now involved. Only this time, they have more experience in internationals and club football and Serbia might be a surprise package of South Africa 2010. That is, if they aren't considered as possible winners from the start. With players like Vidić, Ivanović, Stanković and Krasić in the side, that prediction might not be too far off.

Maradona's mysterious ways

Appointing Diego Maradona always looked more like a sentimental than a sensible thing to do by the Argentinian FA. The man had no experience of managing at high level, only trying his hand at lower league clubs some 15 years ago. Certainly appointing one of the more experienced Argentine managers, Diego Simeone or Carlos Bianchi, would've made more sense. But it didn't start off too badly.

Maradona was appointed near the end of last year. His first match in charge turned out to be versus Scotland, which the team won. Also wins in the World Cup 2010 qualifying process followed, but it all turned sour in the infamous game versus Bolivia. Argentina lost that match 6:1, which marks their worst defeat in their history along side 5:0 drubbings by Uruguay and Colombia and a similar scoreline defeat by Czechoslovakia in 1958.

Onwards, the campaign was very frustrating. Even though the next match was won, three straight defeats followed. Maradona using a unprecedented 80 different players in the squad didn't help the matter. His tactical choice was also naive, in every game lining up with a stagnated 4-4-2 with no interchange between the wings and little movement, or even no movement in some games, by the main striker. Maradona himself defended his tactics by saying that he's only just learning the tactical plan. But is post as the manager of Argentinian football team really a place, where you should only be learning?

To his luck, Maradona is worshiped in Argentina, in other circumstances he probably wouldn't have lasted until the end of the qualification. And his team did the business in the end. Even though a small miracle was needed against Peru and the win versus Uruguay, which sealed the qualification in the last round, came very hard.

There's no doubt about his motivating skills and effect on players, but he hugely lacks in other departments of what makes a successful football manager. As said, his tactical knowledge is near to none and his selection of players is mystifying. Having a serious lack of experience might be the cause of all of this. Maradona should've probably tried his hand at some Argentinian top club, before putting his name forward for the international team role.

Latest news say, that Guus Hiddink, who this time around with Russia failed to take a team to the World Cup after 3 successful runs, is lined up to somekind of a consulting role for Maradona. In a interview Hiddink revealed: "That would not be a bad idea, would it?
“We know each other well. It even makes me smile thinking about it. But I do have a contract with Russia, which covers the period of the World Cup.’’

And maybe that's what Maradona exactly needs. A more experienced manager along side him, to guide him through the tactical preparations for the match and such. His current partnership with Carlos Bilardo clearly isn't working.

Is Queiroz good enough for Portugal?

In the end Portugal made it to South Africa 2010 with quite comfortable performances versus Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the qualifying process as a whole was a bit of a disaster. The play-off spot versus Bosnia and Herzegovina was only sneaked ahead of Sweden by only a single point. Disastrous form considering Portugal had the chance to rely on FIFA World Player of the Year 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo. To Queiroz's and the teams credit they did only lose 1 match (at home to Denmark), but draws, like a home draw vs Albania were really shocking results, considering the qualify throughout the squad.. And in fact, Portugal needed an injury time goal to beat the Albanians away in Tirana. Luckily for them they had a favorable fixtures list with the last two matches being at home, vs Hungary and Malta, and Sweden bottled it in the end. But even though with a place booked for South Africa 2010, questions still remain over Carlos Queiroz's ability to manage the team.

Queiroz came to prominence with his great work with young players. His been named as the "discoverer" of the Portuguese "Golden Generation" consisting from the likes of 2001 FIFA Player of the Year, Luis Figo and Rui Costa. Mainly thanks to his successful work with the youth teams he was award the senior team's managerial role in 1991, but the former player himself, failed miserably, having not qualified for neither the European Championships 1992 nor the World Cup 1994.

Quieroz then went of to manage Sporting Lisbon. Queiroz had a world class team at his helm, many consider the Sporting team of that time the best ever Sporting side, but he failed again. During his three year stay, Sporting only managed to win one piece of silverware, the Portuguese Cup in 1995.

Reigns at obscure teams followed and Mr. Quieroz would've probably gone down in football history as a quite unknown man if it wasn't for one lucky summer. In 2002, Quieroz, who in the same year had lead South Africa to the World Cup finals, but resigned from the position before the tournament, managed to impress Sir Alex Ferguson and earned himself an assistant manager role at Manchester United.

Season 2002/2003 was greatly successful for United, with Queiroz playing a key role behind the scenes, so Real Madrid came knocking. But again Queiroz failed. Having an all-star squad at his disposal, he failed to deliver the league championship and was sacked after two years. He returned to United and his fate seemed to by as a forever number two.

And that what Carlos Queiroz is - a nr. 2. He's a very good assistant manager, but as a manager he just doesn't cut it. This understanding really hits when you read or listen to his interviews. He's too much of a nice guy, to ever be successful as a manager. Yes, he did deliver silverware for the Portuguese youth teams, but that's the stage, where you teach boys to play football, not instruct men to win football matches. Queiroz is great tactically, huge part of United's success when he was there's was down to his clever tactical choices, but he lacks in motivating players.

The Portuguese FA gave him another chance and they'll probably regret it now, but I expect them to learn from their mistakes. Even though Queiroz signed a 4-year deal in 2008, I doubt he'll still be in charge of Portugal after South Africa 2010. I certainly can't see how the team could be successful in the World Cup finals, and one of the best players of the World, Cristiano Ronaldo, will probably have to wait for another World Cup cycle before going down in history as one of the best players ever to play the game.

Domenech disjointing Les Bleus

Born in 1952, he mostly made his name at his hometown club Lyon. He had a respectable footballing career, which saw him pick up 8 caps for the French international team. After retiring he's worked as a manager at FC Mulhouse, Lyon, French U-21 and now he's the manager of the French senior squad. Who is he? Raymond Domenech.

Before taking over the senior side, Domenech worked with French youth teams for 10 years. He was appointed as the manager of Les Bleus after EURO 2004 when Jacques Santini didn't manage to take the team past the quarter final stage, where the French lost to, eventual champions, Greece. Even though Domenech had been involved with the French FA for over a decade, it was seen as a surprise appointment and that surprise still lingers five years after.

The side struggled right from the off. First match under Domenech was a 1:1 draw at home in Rennes versus Bosnia and Herzegovina, who at that time were far from the quality they are today. Qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2006 didn't start better either. If fact it took over a year to mark the first win at home, 3:0 versus lowly Faroe Islands. And that turned to be one of only 2 wins France managed at home, the other being a 4:0 win versus Cyprus. To Domenech's credit, the side finished their group unbeaten and won it to get direct qualification to Germany 2006, but that was only after Domenech convinced, or rather plead, Zinedine Zidane and some other members of "the golden generation" to return to the international scene.

Team selection had been a major talking point by everyone under Domenech. Being an astrologist, the 57 year old, seems to favour players who have born with the "right" astrological sign. Players like Ludovic Giuly, who at the time when he was in the French international team frame was a important member of Barcelona, and Philippe Mexes have been among the sufferers of this. Mexes' case goes even further, as Domenech has once even gone on record saying that he basically hates Italian football and doesn't want to have anything to do with it, but Mexes, one team being seen as the next great centre back since Marcel Desailly and Laurent Blanc, of course plays in Italy, at AS Roma.

France, after starting poor, went on to get a final place in Germany 2006 and that saved Domenech's job, as the fans had forgotten how miserable the reign had been up until then. And to his luck his team actually started scoring goals in the EURO 2008 qualifying. France went through behind Italy from their group and were touted as potential winner of the finals, as always.

The Domenech syndrome struck again in the finals, though. France managed only 1 goal in three matches, playing awful football with no fluency and didn't make it past the group stage. Reality hit Les Bleus fans, there was some serious unrest with the national team manager, but somehow Domenech held on to his job.

The qualification phase of the FIFA World Cup 2010 started with an embarrassing defeat away at Austria. Through out the process it was an up and down road. There's was even reports about players being unhappy how the manager did his work. France struggled again with Faroe Islands and also Lithuania. That eventually saw them finish second in their group behind Serbia and play-off matches with Ireland. And even though Les Bleus made it in the end, albeit under controversial circumstances, Domenech didn't do his reputation any favours with again an anti approach to the match and especially keeping Karim Benzema on the bench for the entire match, even with the team needing a goal.

"The astrologist" as Domenech's called by many, will probably make it to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, but after that, no doubt he won't be wanted anywhere near Les Bleus ever again.