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| The Confederations Cup Was Always Too Easy Posted: 30 Jun 2009 03:10 PM PDT
But it’s going downhill quickly and it might take World Cup 2010 with it.
Obviously World Cup 2010 is the least of their worries in these cases, but given the expected boost to South Africa’s economy as well as the country not just representing itself, but also the continent of Africa, this could be a major loss. As it stands, 5 stadiums have yet to be completed and, presumably, countless other details - both big and small - must be taken care of before the World Cup. It’s not as though they were going to finish these things in September and twiddle their thumbs while they await the cavalries next summer. Much like any decent host, they’ll need every moment possible to perfect, assess, perfect, reassess and perfect again. This couldn’t possibly be worse timing after all the good done over the last few weeks, and it certainly seems South Africa 2010 is going to prove just as difficult as expected. |
| Germany Are (Smallish) Champions Of Europe Posted: 30 Jun 2009 06:44 AM PDT Last year was a rough one for Germany. They lost the final to Spain on a Phil Lahm faux pas and then proceeded to send German family counselors scattering abroad for fear of being roped into aiding the crumbling Mannschaft. (Remember that ridiculous meeting to clear the air between Captain Ballack & Jogi Lowe at an airstrip which was all cheesy James Bond? Exactly.) The big boy squad also lost a friendly to England which I’m sure they’d love back, as that was back when England was England, not Fabio Capello’s England. Not quite humiliating, but far from thrilling. So the U-21’s took revenge for the senior team against both yesterday. They won a European final - the Under-21 variety, their first ever - by thrashing England 4-0 (aided by some awful keeping) in a game which doesn’t quite make up for last summer, but is quite a nice consolation prize. |
If you’ve taken to perusing the interwebs for football news with your morning coffee the last couple days, you’ve undoubtedly read about he praise over South Africa’s handling of the Confederations Cup. And in nearly all respects, they’re absolutely right. Not only was the infrastructure largely a success according to those in attendance (Sepp gave it a 7.5 out of 10, which is quite good for what was a first draft with one year left to perfect), but so wasn’t the tournament itself. It had people talking about what is barely more than a glorified run of friendlies.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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