tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155172302009-07-14T18:46:16.128+01:002010 World Cup football news, views, World Cup betting tips, opinion plus results from the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa.mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125This 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-59955913685707328662009-07-14T18:40:00.002+01:002009-07-14T18:46:16.141+01:00

Shunsuke Nakamura, recently of Celtic and now at Espanyol, has been told by Japan head coach Takeshi Okada that he must feature regularly for the Spanish side in order to be considered for the World Cup finals in South Africa 2010.While I'm all in favour of giving players an incentive to perform at their best, is Okada really trying to convince us that he will leave out the man who is by far

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/07/nakamura-must-play-regularly-to-get-in.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-10923020735389137102009-07-12T09:35:00.002+01:002009-07-12T09:50:27.983+01:00

Regular readers of this blog will know that I always enjoy the African qualifying groups a great deal. This is mainly because of the big teams ability to mess things up (see Cameroon this time around and Nigeria last time out), because of the frequent accusations of collusion and cheating; and, of course, the general air of chaos that surrounds football in Africa.So, here's a quick round up of

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/07/african-qualifying-round-up.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-32047059332252556902009-07-12T09:24:00.002+01:002009-07-12T09:34:10.706+01:00

Let's be honest, we're all armchair managers. It all seems so clear when you're sitting in the stands or watching on TV just exactly what the manager needs to do to win a game. Why the managers themselves can't see what you can see is, of course, one of the enduring mysteries of football.That's why I particularly enjoyed this piece in the South Africa Times giving the South Africa national coach

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/07/score-more-concede-lessits-easy-this.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-42615976980495735882009-06-30T14:12:00.003+01:002009-06-30T14:26:22.230+01:00

Sometimes; well, often really, I want to weep. Not, as you might think, because of all the suffering that goes on in the world or because I've stubbed my toe getting out of bed. Not even because I've been listening to Johnny Cash singing 'Hurt' - although that does get me every time.No, I mainly want to weep when people who should know better make outrageous claims for their products. I'm not

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/world-cup-will-cause-world-peace.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-77274226106433964172009-06-30T13:56:00.002+01:002009-06-30T14:10:35.390+01:00

It's been a quiet week in football in general, apart from the USA's sterling performance against Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final.So, bored journalists do what they are best at and that is : make something up.Take this headline in the Daily Mail from a couple of days ago:'We fear England could ruin our World Cup chances, reveals Brazilian superstar Kaka'Wow, you think. Kaka must have really

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/theres-no-newsso-lets-make-something.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-52861564844957323512009-06-23T18:19:00.002+01:002009-06-23T18:26:00.913+01:00

Would it be possible, do you think, to build twenty or so hotels in nine months? How long does building a hotel actually take, because if I could do it, then I would.I figure that if I can get 20 hotels open in nine months, that will leave me three months to market them to the hundreds of thousands of football fans that will be coming to the 2010 World Cup.Y'see, right now there's a slight

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-going-into-hotel-business.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-88908290993256604342009-06-23T18:08:00.002+01:002009-06-23T18:14:55.674+01:00

OK, so Barack Obama is going to attend the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup Finals. Nice of Sepp Blatter to announce this way, way in advance, so that security - already a contentious issue for these finals - can be compromised still further.And it gives any potential terrorist plenty of time to put a plan in place. Good thinking, Mr Blatter. I for one am in awe of your great generosity of

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/security-what-security.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-12928815728208796102009-06-23T17:59:00.002+01:002009-06-23T18:07:12.601+01:00

Well, after an impressive performance against Brazil and an even more impressive performance against Italy, Egypt somehow contrived to get knocked out of the Confederations Cup by being soundly beaten by USA.Worst still, some of the team were apparently robbed after celebrating that 1-0 win over Italy. Robbed, you say? By who?Well, if South Africa paper Sunday World is to be believed, they were

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/oopsi-spoke-to-soon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-14120338853835732012009-06-20T16:50:00.002+01:002009-06-20T16:59:50.644+01:00

Anyone watching the Confederations Cup over the last week or so can't fail to have heard the continuing, defeaning drone coming from hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic horns known as Vuvuzelas.These are, apparently, extremely popular among South African football fans. However, such is the incessant din produced by this horns, that players (well Xabi Alonso anyway) have complained it knocks

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-vuvuzelas-controversy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-40825563645207462212009-06-15T19:40:00.004+01:002009-06-15T19:54:59.147+01:00

Yeah, I know I should have been working, but I couldn't help but watch the BBC website live coverage of the Confederations Cup match between Brazil and Egypt instead. As well, I mean.Anyway, it finished 4-3 to Brazil and you can check out the highlights here.Brazil just edged it, with a last minute Kaka penalty, but the most impressive thing about it was Egypt in the second half. They dominated

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/egypt-starting-to-look-good.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-82310309722042960442009-06-13T12:55:00.002+01:002009-06-13T13:09:58.912+01:00

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe is not a man noted for having self-doubts. Which, presumably, is why he's hopeful that a number of World Cup football squads will want to base their training camps in what is left of his country.The Unity government is trying to persuade Brazil, Nigeria and England to come to Zimbabwe, in the hope of attracting tourism from neighbouring countries.Tourism minister

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-are-you-trying-to-kid-robert.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-14647492299424066472009-06-10T22:22:00.003+01:002009-06-10T22:39:21.802+01:00

Today's European group qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup football tournament taught us a few things.Firstly, that Carlos Queiroz, the current Portugal manager, is not up to the job. Yeah, OK, it was a friendly and Queiroz rested a few players, but 0-0 against Estonia indicates the man is not capable of leading a talented squad of players to South Africa 2010.Sweden's 4-0 victory over Malta makes

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/russia-looking-strong-portugal-pretty.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-33304531189405128962009-06-10T22:13:00.005+01:002009-06-10T22:22:12.172+01:00

With a tip of the hat to the marvelous Football365 people, here's a - quite literally - Lazarus like resurrection from a footballer.Admittedly, this has nothing to do with World Cup football, but how often do you get to see a professional footballer (albeit a lower league Belgian player) suffer cardiac arrest and then be revived by an internally implanted defibrilator.I know this is prurient to

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/ever-seen-anything-like-thisno-didnt.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-90400545643366535452009-06-09T21:01:00.003+01:002009-06-09T21:13:57.396+01:00

There's always something faintly Xenophobic whenever a major sporting event is held outside of your own country, don't you think?It doesn't matter if you're English, German, American, French or wherever you are from, you will read reports in the newspapers about how everything in that other, somehow alien, country is behind schedule. You'll read about corruption, crime, poor quality of services,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/south-africa-2010-its-all-going-to-go.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-53154192810741630512009-06-07T13:22:00.001+01:002009-06-07T13:26:04.128+01:00

From the Asian groups, Australia, Japan and South Korea all qualified for South Africa 2010. The quality of the football wasn't high, but all three sides did enough to get through.Hardly surprising names, I admit, but that just leaves one place for one of North Korea, Saudi Arabia and, at an outside bet, Iran.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/australia-japan-and-south-korea-all.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-56199940273621805332009-06-07T12:57:00.002+01:002009-06-07T13:21:38.113+01:00

So, with yesterday's 2010 World Cup Qualifying matches out of the way, things are looking a little clearer, especially in the European groups.The Dutch have qualified already, from admittedly the weakest possible Group (Scotland are the next placed team, a mere 11 points behind the Netherlands).Almost certain to qualify now are England, who beat Kazakhstan 4-0 and then saw Croatia and Ukraine

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/its-looking-good-for-someand-terrible.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-32243233723825280482009-06-05T18:21:00.003+01:002009-06-05T18:28:32.264+01:00

Have you heard about the 'bust-up' between England and former club teammates Gareth Barry and Gary Cahill yet?No? I'm not surprised. Because despite headlines in the Sun, Mirror and, yes, The Guardian newspapers, this is a prime example of how NOT to spin a story.What happened is this: Cahill tackled Barry in a practice match. He didn't help Barry back to his feet. Barry got up. Both players

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/this-is-how-not-to-spin-story.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-1827863921116566872009-06-05T18:07:00.003+01:002009-06-05T18:21:01.427+01:00

England will face Kazakhstan and Wales play Azerbaijan in 2010 World Cup Qualifying this weekend.These matches are part of the European qualification groups. So, there's just one, itsy bitsy minor problem. Both of these countries are actually in Asia. The CIA website , no less, will tell you that Azerbaijan is in Southwestern Asia and even provides you with a helpful map so you can see that it is

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/just-what-part-of-europe-are-these.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-84422060438140498352009-06-04T19:36:00.002+01:002009-06-04T19:42:11.657+01:00

Midfielder Gareth Barry's move from Aston Villa to Manchester City has clearly stunned a lot of people who genuinely thought the guy was about more than just money. And, I admit, I was among them.The self-justification that Barry has come out with subsequent to the transfer has been pitiful really, but the thing that really takes the prize for me is Barry's claim that he moved in order to ensure

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/barry-moved-to-protect-his-world-cup.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-5841850964710897362009-06-04T19:27:00.003+01:002009-06-04T19:34:37.384+01:00

Ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in Kazakhstan, an England fan has been shot in the leg for 'chanting'.Apparently, the fan was in a bar in Kyrgyzstan - which, as everyone knows, borders Kazakhstan. The man was, again allegedly, drunk and chanting the usual witty pro-England songs.It appears that one of the Kyrgyzstani locals took offence to this, probably because he realised that the England fan

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-guess-this-probably-isnt-funny.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-36959207547763361602009-06-02T23:14:00.002+01:002009-06-02T23:25:40.960+01:00

With South Africa 2010 fast approaching and endless, tiresome commercial tie-ups being announced, you just have to love the fact that smart South Africans are getting in on the act.Take this ad on Gumtree that presents itself, shamelessly, as a South Africa Investment Opportunity World Cup 2010 .Essentially, it's a fairly plain looking 2 bedroom flat in Cape Town that is 4 or so miles from the

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/youve-got-to-admire-thisbuy-this-flat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-78400068912934472002009-06-01T21:48:00.003+01:002009-06-01T21:54:06.093+01:00

A couple of World Cup quickies.Ashley Cole thinks that if he scores the winner in a World Cup Final, maybe the fans will love him. No, Ashley, they won't.And in a statement of the bleedin' obvious, journalist Martin Samuel has, very helpfully I think, informed England manager Fabio Capello that if he finds a way to defeat Spain then there's a good chance of winning the World Cup. Thanks for that,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/couple-of-quickies-so-to-speak.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-67949579379869274622009-05-31T17:41:00.002+01:002009-05-31T17:43:41.089+01:00

Man Utd midfielder Anderson has been ruled out of Brazil's World Cup 2010 qualifiers.Two quick thoughts sprung to mind when reading this headline :1) Anderson was actually IN the Brazil squad?2) Was he ruled out because he's actually rubbish?

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/05/anderson-out-of-brazils-qualifiers.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-47501627235460665752009-05-31T17:23:00.003+01:002009-05-31T17:38:49.329+01:00

Quite why Nigeria - who have more talented footballers than is fair - always make such heavy work of qualifying for major tournaments is a mystery to me and it seems to a large portion of the Super Eagles fans who can't quite work out why they self-destruct so frequently.It's always good to blame the manager, though; and Shuaibu Amodu, the current coach, is under a lot of pressure, after drawing

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/05/fun-and-games-for-nigeria.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-25586304822151081032009-05-30T14:57:00.002+01:002009-05-30T15:03:13.327+01:00

Americans are a funny lot. Not funny ha, ha. Weird. Strange. And apparently they don't like football very much. Or foreigners. Or anything that isn't American.At least that's the popular impression of our, um, cousins across the pond. So if all this is true, why is it that more tickets for the South Africa 2010 World Cup have been bought by Americans than by anyone else.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0http://worldcuptoday.blogspot.com/2009/05/thats-that-big-ol-soccer-tournament.html