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The 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa promises to be one of the best in soccer history with fantastic teams such as Spain and Brazil favourites to win the coveted trophy.

Let’s look at some of the contenders and the pitfalls they face if they want to reach the final.

Spain have a wonderful team and should cruise through their group but will face a very tricky second round match as they will face Brazil, Ivory Coast or neighbours Portugal. If Spin progress in round two I expect them to reach the final.

Brazil are always one of the favourites but they need to get off to a good start as they are in the group of death with some good teams.

England have some players like Gerrad, Lampard and Ferdinand competing in probably their final big tournament so I expect them to cruise past their group but might face the Germans in the second round and possibly Brazil in the semi finals so it’s a tall order to see them winning the world cup. The fitness of Wayne Rooney is sure to be key.

France were awful in the qualifiers and players such as Henry are past their best so I don’t expect them to go far, especially with their eccentric manager who is not rated even by the French public!

Italy and Holland have decent teams but it’s unlikely either will feature past the semi final stage.

Argentina have the worlds best player in Lionel Messi but will Maradona get the best out of him in his defensive formation? A dodgy qualifying campaign suggests they will not win the world cup?

And outsiders Portugal have a gem in Ronaldo but rarely do one man teams win the trophy?

The FIFA Under-20 World Cup has been around in various forms since the year 1977. As we know it today, 24 teams with 21 players each, born on or after January 1, 1989, are eligible to compete. The Championship takes place every two years, with Argentina holding the record with six titles. Though, sadly enough, they failed to qualify this year. Brazil follows with four titles and Portugal with two titles. Spain, Germany, and the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have won one title each.

Without Argentina to defend its 2007 title, the title could belong to anyone, though bookmakers consider Brazil, Germany and Spain as favorites. But Egypt, who automatically qualify as hosts, Ghana and Italy cannot be ruled out to deliver a surprise! Spain, Venezuela, Ghana and Uruguay have six points each from two matches, so their place in one of the top two spots in their respective groups is secure. While Germany, Italy and Paraguay have four points each from their two matches. Now, the battle is on for the remaining places.

Here’s a look at the groups: In Group A, there’s Egypt, Paraguay, Italy and Trinidad and Tobago. Group B has Spain and Venezuela through to Round 16, with Nigeria beating Tahiti in a not so impressive game, though keeping their hopes alive. The situation in Group C seems tighter, as both Korea Republic and USA bounced back in style. The Koreans managed to draw against Germany, and the US crushed Cameroon 4-1. Group C sees Germany securing 4 points to make it to the knockouts, with the US, Cameroon and South Korea in need of victories to make it.

Group D comprises of England, Uruguay, Ghana and Uzbekistan, out of which Ghana and Uruguay convincingly sealed their berths in the last sixteen. Ghana’s Black Satellites, who won the 2009 African Youth Championship, are in good playing form, so watch out for them! Both Ghana and Uruguay have secured six points and can no longer be dislodged. The defeated teams, England and Uzbekistan, will now meet in the final group match, with England hoping to salvage its pride and avoid elimination.

The action now shifts to Group E and F, with Brazil, Australia, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic in Group E. This Group remains open since Brazil failed to beat the Czechs, ending in a draw, resulting in both teams going through to the knockouts. Group F has South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Honduras and Hungary, with UAE going into the last Round 16 after defeating Honduras. Favourites Brazil are looking to claim their fifth title, and as usual, expectations are high. It remains to be seen which team takes centre stage wearing their national youth soccer uniforms with pride in the finals on October 16 at the Cairo International Stadium.

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.