tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155172302008-05-06T10:59:30.952+01:00mark_snoreply@blogger.comBlogger213125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-41757776101867502952008-01-07T16:44:00.001Z2008-01-07T20:13:59.671Z

Here is the first in what should be a regular series of World Cup blog competitions. The Competition: Predict new England manager Fabio Capello's starting eleven for the friendly match against Switzerland on Feb 6th, 2008. Just post your predicted starting eleven as a comment on this thread. The Prize: Two football shirts for any international team in any size delivered anywhere in the World.

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/world-cup-blog-competition.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-84590084429663364162008-01-06T18:01:00.000Z2008-01-06T19:35:07.259Z

The bigger the business we call football has become, the less we see the type of characters that made the game so enjoyable in the past. Luckily, there are still a few eccentric and charismatic characters around - mostly, it seems, coaching teams in Africa. It is for this reason that this World Cup blog would very much like to see both Egypt and Ghana qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/all-these-coaches-deserve-to-reach.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-40943955246773468532008-01-06T11:41:00.000Z2008-01-06T11:58:21.575Z

If you have a MySpace, a Xanga or a Facebook profile or would like to add World Cup news and views to your blog, then our widgets can help you do that. In fact, whatever social network or personal homepage you use (Bebo, PageFlakes, Orkut, Freewebs...the list goes on), you can get a World Cup widget for your site. You'll get all the latest World Cup posts right there on your blog. Can't be bad.

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/world-cup-football-news-for-your-blog.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-57909114575819301292008-01-04T20:57:00.000Z2008-01-05T15:38:38.321Z

Iran's preparations for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers is, by all accounts, in a bit of a shambles already. Because of delays to the Iranian Football Federation elections and the lack of a head coach, they had not submitted a team squad to FIFA by the January 4th deadline. Safaei Farahani, the chairman of the IFF Transitory Board, issued this warning a week or so ago: "I just know that if we do

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/iran-could-be-thrown-out-of-world-cup.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-14490544837179547792008-01-04T17:34:00.000Z2008-01-04T20:51:40.436Z

A lot of commentators here in England think that some of the very much smaller European nations (San Marino, Lichtenstein, etc.) should not even be able to take part in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup football finals. They think there should be a separate qualifying tournament for these countries and only the winners should be allowed to compete in the World Cup qualifiers proper.

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/smaller-nations-must-get-their-chance.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-22142881943260407182008-01-03T20:22:00.000Z2008-01-03T20:33:36.869Z

Having been offered 1 million dollars by the Chinese Football Federation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals, the Chinese national team have taken things one step further. With typically Chinese seriousness, the national team made a public New Year announcement, in which they "pledge to advance to the World Cup". Slightly strange, I'm sure you'll agree. But not nearly as strange as this

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/we-will-qualify-or-um-die-in-attempt.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-30068088308641158242007-12-16T11:40:00.000Z2007-12-16T11:58:18.911Z

One of the joys of every World Cup is the ridiculous sponsors and their equally ridiculous antics. So, it is with great pleasure that I introduce First National Bank's World Cup countdown clocks. These countdown clocks have been unveiled in a number of airports and host cities in South Africa. The first was unveiled in Mpumalanga (which, as we all knew, lies in eastern South Africa, north of

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/countdown-to-world-cup-starts-um-now.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-82696837231503539882007-12-15T15:40:00.000Z2007-12-15T15:52:19.444Z

I freely confess that I'd never heard of this guy but this news piece on Reuters caught my eye. It appears that Singapore's Noh Alam Shah, while being completely banned from any domestic games whatsoever, is still eligible to play for his national side. Alam Shah was fined and banned from his domestic league after attacking Singapore Armed Forces defender Daniel Bennett during the RHB Cup Final

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/attacking-player-is-not-reason-not-to.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-90933835847455971052007-12-13T20:24:00.000Z2007-12-13T20:38:59.732Z

It's looking 99% certain that Fabio Capello will become the new manager of England. Capello, as everyone knows, is a proven, top class manager - winning league trophies in Italy and Spain plus the inevitable Champions League title. But is Capello really a good choice for a nation that rates itself way above the realities of their football. One of the things that has been claimed is that

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-england-bossbut-no-english.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-78334405931065086502007-12-09T21:37:00.000Z2007-12-15T15:31:01.162Z

Africa is a big place. No, really. It's a BIG place. It's so big, in fact, that on maps of the World, they actually shrink it to fit. Don't believe me ? Here's a map showing the real size of the continent. Hopefully, you're now getting the idea that Africa is, um, a BIG PLACE. So, which idiots would put the first four World Cup 2010 qualifying matches for African nations on consecutive

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/who-exactly-organises-this-shambles.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-19230006517679808802007-12-09T20:25:00.000Z2007-12-09T21:23:51.510Z

OK, so The F.A sacked Steve 'What-Do-I-Do-Now' McClaren for proving he is a true Englishman when he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Croatia. Not a real surprise, to be honest. And, of course, the usual high profile casualties of the last round of top level sackings are being considered for the job - Capello, Mourinho, Lippi - you know the names. However, in true English style,

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/great-england-manager-debacle.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-44980762891206968512007-12-09T20:12:00.000Z2007-12-09T20:25:30.520Z

It's good to be back and posting on this 'ere World Cup football blog. It's been a long time. But the draw for the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup Finals has been announced - the complete list is here on the official FIFA site The most notable fixtures thrown up by this draw are the pairing of England with Croatia in Group 6 - Croatia, of course, put England out of Euro 2008. Also in

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/world-cup-2010-qualifiers.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-70482330240484973892007-06-16T12:39:00.000+01:002007-06-16T13:49:16.561+01:00

I haven't posted here in a while. Mainly because, um, there's been nothing to post about : no World Cup football action. But I have been watching the Euro 2008 qualifiers and, um, well, it's not been very good, has it. England, in particular, have been dreadful and my prediction (on the day the qualifying groups were announced) that Russia and Croatia would qualify is looking more likely with

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/06/roll-on-world-cup-2008.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-28604348320026028542007-03-21T23:48:00.000Z2007-03-21T23:52:18.621Z

We seem to be getting a bunch of World Cup rugby traffic to this site right about now. If you want to read our rugby blog click here and if you want to buy rugby world cup shirts, then click here.

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2007/03/rugby-world-cup-2007.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1156246064614065442006-08-22T12:24:00.000+01:002006-08-22T12:27:44.630+01:00

OK, the 2006 World Cup is long over and the dust has settled. It was good to see that England took a slating for epitomising mediocrity during the tournament. It was even better to see the Germans and the German FA admit they were wrong to be so critical of Jurgen Klinsmann and offer him an extended contract. And best yet, Klinsmann - having done as well as Germany could have hoped for -

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/08/as-dust-settles.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1152522820618051402006-07-10T10:11:00.000+01:002006-07-10T10:17:43.730+01:00

It's all over for another four years (I predict England will not win that one either). It's been fun. This blog has been fun. See you all again for the qualifiers for World Cup 2010. Same Bat time. Same Bat place.

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/07/and-nowthe-end-is-near.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1152522628785820532006-07-10T10:01:00.000+01:002006-07-10T10:10:28.800+01:00

After extra time - the highlight of which was a magnificient headbutt by Zidane - and penalties, Italy defeated France to win the 2006 World Cup Final. It wasn't a classic match by any standards, but Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi made it all worthwhile. I know I should be joining in the chorus of 'you just can't do that kind of thing in professional football' and 'what a sad end to a brilliant

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/07/italy-win-2006-world-cup.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1152220045598476742006-07-06T22:02:00.000+01:002006-07-06T22:07:25.616+01:00

Well, the 2006 World Cup Final is on Sunday and then that's it for this blog for another four years. It's been fun though. Quite how France managed to get to the Final is still a mystery to me - they were terrible in the Group stages, lacklustre against Brazil and have never really looked that great to me. Zidane, however, is playing out of his skin and is dragging the rest of the team kicking

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-world-cup-final-italy-vs-france.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1152004813389964732006-07-04T10:07:00.000+01:002006-07-04T10:20:13.426+01:00

OK, I'm back from my holiday in sunny Egypt where I managed to catch the England games and a couple of other matches. And overall...England, like, sucked, man. They thoroughly deserved to lose to Portugal. In fact, England barely looked capable throughout the tournament and only a fortutious run of matches enabled them to get that far. For a team so blessed with attacking talent, the dull,

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/07/england-post-mortem.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1150551282425995382006-06-17T14:14:00.000+01:002006-06-17T14:34:42.446+01:00

Watching Argentina's midfield passing it around yesterday and making Serbia and Montenegro look embarrassingly poor, I found myself thinking 'why the xxxx don't England do that ?' It's not like Argentina's midfield players are that much superior in technique and talent to England's first choice of Joe Cole, Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard. That is an impressive line up, plus England have some

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/06/more-tottenham-less-wimbledon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1150469778213640492006-06-16T15:53:00.000+01:002006-06-16T16:00:46.490+01:00

Argentina: 6 Serbia and Montenegro: 0 Well, I said that "the Argentine steamroller gathers pace"...but they totally demolished Serbia & Montenegro. Crespo scored, Messi scored, Tevez scored...everyone scored, really. I know this blog has a lot of readers from Argentina, so I'll leave it to them to gloat. But I do think I've just seen the winners of the 2006 World Cup.

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/06/argentina-result-6-0-i-think-ive-just.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1150461090921442792006-06-16T13:27:00.000+01:002006-06-16T13:31:30.936+01:00

Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro: Serbia aren't a bad side but expect them to get flattened as the Argentine steamroller gathers pace. Holland vs Ivory Coast: The Ivory Coast and diving gold medalist Didier Drogba in particular were excellent against Argentina. Holland were inconsistent in their first match. I like a draw for this one. Mexico v Angola: Forgive me for not really caring, but I

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/06/todays-matches_16.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1150406495667491952006-06-15T22:17:00.000+01:002006-06-15T22:21:35.683+01:00

Well, the next round of the 2006 World Cup will feature Germany, England and the mighty Ecuador after last gasp wins from Germany (1-0 vs Poland) and England (2-0 vs Trinidad and Tobago). Neither of the two big nations has looked very impressive, although bringing on Aaron Lennon for Owen was at least a good substitution by Sven for once. I'm kinda hoping that Trinidad and Tobago beats

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/06/germany-ecuador-england-through-to.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1150383012793624272006-06-15T15:40:00.000+01:002006-06-15T15:50:12.926+01:00

If you are English and listen to football commentary, you'll have heard the phrase "he's proving his critics wrong" - literally - thousands of times. This happens when a player who has been criticised by the press/fans/commentators actually has a good game. For example, many people think that Peter Crouch isn't a player of international quality. However, he scored 3 against Jamaica. This,

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/06/football-cliches-deconstructed-proving.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1150303264908289742006-06-14T17:36:00.000+01:002006-06-14T17:47:25.410+01:00

Spain demolished a nervy looking Ukraine side 4-0 this afternoon. At least, I think it was Spain. They were wearing Spain's colours, had players with Spanish names, an overabundance of talent on the bench - but they failed to choke in that way Spain are legendary for. In fact, they were good. Really good. Alonso, Garcia, Ramos, Villa, Torres - all great. Should I risk suggesting that "this could

mark_snoreply@blogger.comhttp://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2006/06/will-real-spain-please-sit-down.html