Mes: enero 2022

Historical Fact

Based on historical data, no team from Europe has ever lifted the World Cup outside Europe. A country from the host continent eventually won every single World Cup except for Brazil in 1958 when they won in Sweden. When the first World Cup on Asian soil was held in 2002 in Korea and Japan, the eventual winner was not an Asian country but Brazil again. Asian countries were not ready to win yet, although S. Korea came close. These are the historical facts of the World Cup for the past 100 plus years. Eight years on, do you think an African country is actually ready to lift the World Cup on their home soil? Foolhardy are the ones who bet against history.

Our approach will be to bet on a South American country to lift the World Cup again outside of Europe, with some money put into an African country to do a first in history.

Analysis of Teams

Brazil has been winning too often and their odds are pretty low at 4.5, but still good. Some money must go to them.

Argentina is the dark horse. Not many people give them a chance because they have a certain eccentric Diego Maradona at their helm. They do have wonderfully talented players at their disposal and I just have this feeling that they will make all their critics eat their words by bonding together despite all their unwanted attention on Diego. Reminds me a bit of Italy at the last World Cup. The Italians had lots of trouble with team spirit, someone dying and so on. But they managed to use that as a bonding tool to get the team together to play effective football to win the World Cup.

England, as usual is over rated. Fabio Capello will only get them so far. History will not be kind to this talented lot of players. Gerard, Rooney, Lampard, Terry will have a good World Cup, but only up to the Semis again. I have a strange feeling that they will go out on penalties again. Guess who will miss the crucial spot kick?

My, famed Portugal will go out in round one this time. Too bad they are in the group of Death. They are too dependent on Ronaldo. I am afraid Carlos is not a Scolari this time round. Anyway, apart from Ronaldo, the other players are all mediocre.

I like the African teams. This World Cup might just be their one. Over the past World Cups they have shown the world that they are talented, skillful and capable of upsetting the best. Remember Roger Milla and the Indomitable Lions. Now with more high profile players in Europe and more importantly, with better technical coaches hired, and on their home soil, this could be the World Cup that new grounds are broken. The first African Nation to lift the World Cup on home soil? It will not be South Africa, not with Piennar type of players. The real caliber players are with Ivory Coast and even Ghana. Players like Drogba, Toure, Kalou, Essien are great players with great experience. They might just take the next great leap for African players.

As for Asian teams, I think they have had their go. It is neither their time nor place to bring in another great performance this time round. Teams underestimated their abilities in 2002. They won’t make the same mistakes again.

Spain. Sigh…. They have the lowest odds. Though talented, they will come up short against the South Americans. Winning the European Championship is one thing. Winning the World Cup against Brazil and Argentina is another. Furthermore, they are not in Europe. Good luck to them.

Germany and Italy? Their era is over. Look at their leagues at the moment. Hard to imagine them coming out with winners away from Europe.

Group Winners and Runners-Up Proposal (1 denotes group winner, 2 denotes runners-up) (Refer to http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/standings/index.html for Groupings)

A1 – France A2 – Uruguay B1 – Argentina B2 – Nigeria C1 – England C2 – Algeria D1 – Germany D2 – Ghana E1 – Holland E2 – Cameroon F1 – Italy F2 – Paraguay G1 – Brazil G2 – Ivory Coast H1 – Spain H2 – Chile

Playoffs Proposal ( http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/kostage.html )

Second Round Fixtures Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final/3rd-4th

France v Nigeria Nigeria Ghana England v Ghana Ghana

Holland v Paraguay Holland Brazil Brazil v Chile Brazil

Germany v Algeria Germany Argentina Argentina v Uruguay Argentina

Italy v Cameroon Italy Ivory Coast Spain v Ivory Coast Ivory Coast

Eavesdrop in the air you will get to hear «Shakira Waka Waka» and a bouquet of allotropic question from every nook and corner of the world. Who will win this long race? Who will be the final rider to this long race? Who will smile at the end? Who will win world cup football 2010?

Now mercury is at the apex among the football aficionados, supporters, spectators, football fans and citizens of the participant countries. When football-fever of 19th FIFA World Cup have pervaded the world-we with our consortium trying to share the warmth of it either from its adjacent or sitting before the television set.

Johannesburg, the city in South Africa, at its Soccer City stadium has witnessed the most awaited spectacular and vibrant opening ceremony with the hullabaloos of 94000 spectators. Other Global spectators enjoyed this splendid sensational moment before television set to arrest it for the next four years.

32 teams from 32 different countries will meet in South Africa to fight for the prestigious Football World Cup 2010 trophy.

Our great expectations were solidified by the mega start between the hosts and Mexico immediately after inaugural ceremony that would continue till July 11 in 64 games.

Brazil, Argentina, Spain, England, France are ahead in favorite list to win the mega-marathon race and Lionel Messi (Argentina), Wayne Rooney (England), Steven Garrard (England), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Kaka (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Fernando Torres (Spain) are among the top seeds.

Brazil or Argentina? How England will finish? Messi or KAKA? Fernando Torres (Spain) or Rooney (England)? Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal) or Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)?

Who will write the epilogue of this mega-marathon event? We have to wait till the final scene at Soccer City Stadium – Johannesburg. 10 stadiums around South Africa will personify the greatness of heroes coming from 32 countries.

There is a feeling that this World Cup can have a profound impact on how the continent of Africa is perceived by the millions watching from abroad. Here remained our great expectation that we will find rewritten football records in the lexicon of football history after the end of this two months’ mega marathon workshop.

As we know that in 2010 there will be great football event, which is FIFA World Cup that will be held in South Africa next June and July. Then what will happen in 2012? Maybe our first mind when hearing 2012 is the movie entitled 2012. As we know that this movie is about the forecast of the end of the world that will happen in 2012. Maybe it will become true or not, but it’s a really great public opinion.

In the movie, we may show that there will be great catastrophes in the world that will kill the majority of the people. Although it is just a movie, but some believes it as becoming reality since the Mayan Forecast says about this. Some people believe about this thing since the some of Mayan forecasts are relevant. But I don’t think that will be great matter to debate whether this will become true or not. Just take it calmly since it’s just a movie. But it’s OK if you believe this.

Back to world cup 2010, the event is attracting great attentions from the football lovers in all over the world. The greatest football event in the world becomes the event to show which team is the best. Some known big teams with good football traditions like Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Italy will show their best performance to become the king of the world’s football.

In my analysis, the two big teams from Latin America, Brazil and Argentina will easily step forward to the next phase. It’s very realistic since both teams have great talented players. Some of them are young talented players like Lionel Messi from Argentina as the best player of 2009, and Richardo Kaka from Brazil that also has good performance. Meanwhile, in Europe, I see that Italy, Spain, Germany, and Portugal have the same opportunity as Brazil and Argentina. It’s reasonable since they have also great players on the team. The big event of world cup will be great football show that will attract the world’s attention. Finally, my conclusion is that in both years, there will be great events (or just imagination in the case of year 2012) that will make the world influenced.

Hungary

Did you know- Ferec Puskas, one of the most brilliantly shining stars of the football history, participated twice at the World Cup. He competed for Hungary in 1954 and then played for Spain in 1962. Puskas also took part in the Games of the XV Olympiad in Finland in 1952, where the Hungarian squad won the gold medal. From 1945 to 1962, he scored more than 750 goals. On the other hand, Hungary is the most successful squad in the men’s soccer event at the Summer Games, having won gold three times.

Portugal

Did you know- Portugal’s athlete Eusebio was one of the top-ranked players at the VIII World Tournament in the mid-1960s. Eusebio hails from Mozambique, an African republic which has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup.

Switzerland

Did you know- Switzerland is the smallest nation ever to hold the FIFA World Tournament. Between June 16 and July 4, 1954, this European country, more than twice the size of Hawaii (USA), hosted the universal tournament. Sixteen teams participated in 1954: West Germany (winner), Hungary (runner-up), Austria, Uruguay, Switzerland (host nation), Brazil, England, Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia), France, Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Mexico, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Scotland and South Korea.

Turkey

Did you know- Surprisingly Turkey, traditionally a wrestling power, won the bronze medal at the FIFA World Championship in Germany in 2002 in South Korea and Japan, behind Brazil and Germany. This was Turkey’s second World Cup appearance. Between June 16 and July 4, 1954, the country made its World Cup debut in Switzerland, where it finished 11th.

Ukraine

Did you know- Between 1956 and 1990, Ukraine competed in the global event under the Soviet flag.

USSR ( Now Russia)

Did you know- The FIFA Under-20 World Championship was held in Moscow -host of the 1980 Summer Olympics– in the mid-1980s. Sixteen teams competed in Moscow, Soviet Union/USSR (today Russia). The champion was Brazil, followed by Spain (runner-up), Nigeria (third), Soviet Union (fourth). The People’s Republic of China ranked fifth; Bulgaria, sixth; Mexico, seventh; Colombia, eighth; Saudi Arabia, ninth; Australia, tenth; Hungary, eleventh; England, twelfth; Paraguay, thirteenth; Ireland, fourteenth; Tunisia, fifteenth; Canada, sixteenth.

Yugoslavia (Now Serbia)

Did you know- At the FIFA World Tournament in Rome, between June 8 and July 8, 1990, Yugoslavia, present-day Serbia, was one of the six best teams on Earth, behind West Germany, Argentina, Italy (host country), England, and Czechoslovakia. The last time an Communist nation advanced to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup was in July 1982 when Poland won a bronze medal in the global event in Spain, at the expense of France and Brazil.

African teams featuring in this year’s world cup have so far played their first matches in the group stages wining a match (16.66%), drawing two matches (33.33%) and losing three matches (50%). This is not too impressive, considering the fact that Africa has 6 teams taking part in the tournament on her soil.

Only Ghana was able to win her first match; South Africa and Cote d’ivoire each drew their matches while Nigeria, Algeria and Cameroon all lost theirs. To be fair to Nigeria, losing to a great team like Argentina was not a particularly a poor performance. This is because Argentina paraded 4 deadly strikers – Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez and Diego Milito (Remember Messi is the current world footballer of the year). Nigeria actually put up a superlative performance to be able to contain the rampaging Argentine attack. Nigeria’s Goal keeper, Vincent Enyeama was voted «Man of the match» and is currently rated one of the best Goal keepers of the tournament.

Algeria played well against Slovenia, but lost the game after their striker Abdelkader Ghezzal was red-carded for deliberately handling the ball in the second half. The Slovenians took advantage of the one man deficit to defeat the North African team. So far of all the teams that have lost their opening games, Cameroon has disappointed the fans the most, losing 0-1 to lowly rated Japan. That loss to Japan has now dampened their chances of advancing in a group that still has Netherlands and Denmark. Cameroon now needs to win their last two matches or at least win one and draw the other, if they hope to make it from that group.

South Africa started well in their opener against Mexico, drawing against Mexico which had earlier beaten the world champions, Italy in a friendly match prior to the commencement of the world cup. Siphiwe Tshabalala got voted as the «Man of the match». Coted’ivoire also gave a very good account of themselves as they held Portugal to a goalless draw. With Didier Drogba sitting on the bench for a better part of the encounter, the Ivoriens were able to stop the Portuguese (with Cristiano Ronaldo|) from scoring against them.

All hope is not lost for Africa, as the participating teams still have chances to make it to the second round and beyond. All they need to do is believe in themselves and take every game as they come. All kinds of fear must be dissipated; they would play better if they remain comported and fearless against their opponents. The fans are solidly behind them; the environment is friendly for them to perform well. They should also remember that only once has a continent hosted and lost the trophy (Korea/Japan 2002). This might just be the chance for an African team to win the world cup. Best luck to you all.

According to Argentine team doctor Donato Villani, sex forms part of everyone’s social life and in itself is not a problem. The good doctor spoke these words in defence of Maradona’s decision to allow girl friends and wives to accompany the Argentine players to the World Cup.

However, the doctor clarified that it had to be with a stable partner, and that the players should avoid «additives» like champagne or Viagra.

Brazil President Lula Da Silva was critical of the lax atmosphere in the Argentine camp, noting that Maradona was allowing his players access to their wives and girl friends.Lula went on record as saying that he wanted to see the Argentines arrive staggering and exhausted to their games.

In news about England’s team preparations ahead of the event in South Africa, Joe Cole expects to feature in England’s opening match against the United States.

Cole, 28, recently came back in a friendly against Japan, from a knee injury that kept him out of the game for nearly two years.

The Chelsea midfielder is yet to get a regular place in the club side. Following his come back. Cole never considered his injury as career threatening, though he did not expect to recover in time for the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Portugal’s prospects have suffered a blow;Nani is out of the World Cup following a collar bone injury suffered in training in Lisbon.

Nani, 23, played brilliantly for Manchester United in the 2009/10 season, and was a likely star for Portugal in this year’s World Cup. Benfica midfielder Ruben Amorim will replace Nani in the Portugal squad.

Ivory Coast are arguably the strongest African contingent at the forthcoming event in South Africa. But their performance could suffer in the absence of their star striker Didier Drogba.

Drogba is undergoing surgery at the Lindenhof hospital in Berne, and everyone is hopeful of his speedy recovery, after an injury resulting from a collision with Japan’s Tanaka, in a match in Sion, Switzerland.

African Player of the Year, Drogba helped Chelsea to the Premier League and FA Cup Double with his 37 goals, last season.

Ivory Coast’s showing in the world Cup is completely dependent on Drogba’s recovery. Ivory Coast is in the ‘group of death’ with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea. Ivory Coast is the strongest of the five African teams at the World Cup, and quite capable of causing an upset in group G.

In news relating to another African team’s lead up to the Cup, Ghana right-back John Pantsil is optimistic of his team entering the World Cup semi-final. Pantsil who plays for Fulham in the EPL feels an Arican team could become the champion, this year.

Ghana had a brilliant run at the last edition, in 2006, where they beat the USA and Czech Republic, to enter the knock-out round, where they lost to Brazil.

The Black Stars are in Group D a tricky group that has Germany, Australia and Serbia. Ghana will take on Serbia, in their first game, on 13 June in Pretoria.