World Cup 2010 Blog: “Nigel de Jong Is The New Zinedine Zidane” plus 6 more |  |
- Nigel de Jong Is The New Zinedine Zidane
- Transfer Talk: The Post-World Cup Meltdown
- International Football Tournaments Between Now and World Cup 2014
- Nigel de Jong is Now Coaching Girls Youth Soccer…
- Fernando Torres Takes Out The Cynics By Taking Himself Out
- World Cup 2010 Social Media Stats
- FIFA World Rankings July 2010 (Can You Guess Who’s Top?)
| Nigel de Jong Is The New Zinedine Zidane Posted: 14 Jul 2010 06:00 PM PDT Well that sounds awfully wrong, doesn’t it? But it’s true, at least in one sense: Nigel’s taking over YouTube with his kung fu kick on Xabi Alonso’s xiphoid process. It’s garnering the same type of treatment that Zizou earned when he thrust his shiny dome into Marco Materazzi’s sternum. The YouTuber variations are coming in slowly – it’s only been 3 days after all – but it at least seems everyone is in on the Street Fighter bit. Plus little girls are already copying his every move. Nigel de Jong’s mysterious training in youth: Nigel defends Sparta: And of course, the highlight reel from years gone by: In about 3 weeks, Nigel will have a similar YouTube video to boast of. It must be good to be YouTube king.
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| Transfer Talk: The Post-World Cup Meltdown Posted: 14 Jul 2010 03:40 PM PDT
Welcome to the most infuriating window in football: the post-big tournament transfer season. There is nothing more nauseating, unsettling or frustrating than watching rumor after rumor spill out onto the pages as journalists do their best to match which successful tournament performance matches with a particular team. Often, it’s simply an exercise in insulting our intelligence. So come be infuriated with us. Along with captaining World Cup winning nations, Iker Casillas also moonlights as Ashley Cole’s Mr. 15% – and he’s thisclose to joining up Real Madrid’s payroll: “From what I am hearing the signs look good,” the Sun quoted the 29-year-old as saying. “I have only briefly spoken to people at the club but I am confident he can be a Real Madrid player next year. I think it will be the right move for him both professionally and personally. A clean break from England is hopefully something he is very interested in. It will be his last big contract and who better to sign for than his old coach Mourinho at Real.” So much like Titi Henry, he will escape English shores to Spanish sunsets in the wake of a public divorce. Rumors are already circling Iker has proclaimed Cashley will look to complete this career route with a move to MLS in 3-4 years, where he’ll be looking to become “the rich man’s David Beckham”. Luis Suarez isn’t universally beloved by fans, but he is universally loved in sporting director offices across the globe, so Ajax will be fielding calls left and right and eventually will have no choice in selling him on, the only matter is when. He’ll happily take the well-traveled and well-compensated route to the Prem, naming Manchester United and Tottenham in his little diary. There were a number of coming out parties at the World Cup, but perhaps none quite so large as Mesut Ozil - Thomas Mueller enjoyed his in the Champions League – so, of course, big teams are banging on Werder Bremen’s doors. But he’s looking to remain in the German north for at least another year, which is wonderful; what’s less wonderful is that he has one year remaining on his contract, and though he hasn’t ruled out an 11th hour extension – which Aaron Hunt did last year – they could lose him for nothing more than a thank you note next summer, while receiving many, many treasure chests this summer. It’s quite the predicament – and the fans are split. Conveniently, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona will be ready to foot the inevitable Bremen hierarchy’s therapy bills. Keisuke Honda is the new face of Asian football, and as such he’s a very popular man – like head-cheerleader-with-questionable-morals popular. And despite only being on the books of CSKA Moscow for all of 11 games, his agent is still running out that trusty old line: “He is currently under contract with CSKA Moscow and there has not been any serious offers for Keisuke, only inquiries.” Which is agent code speak for… (Wait….wrong Jerry Maguire clip.) Arsenal and Liverpool have been rumored – and the latter was rumored back when Keisuke was still fielding honeymoons at VVV. I suspect they’d love a time machine right about now. In other CSKA-related news, the Muscovites would like to move Milos Krasic to Man City. Well, why would they ever want to do that…. Milos, however, only wants Juventus. Smells like an impasse; do you fancy the lightweight winger or the Moscow football club part-owned by the Russian Ministry of Defense? Thought so. Crunch master extraordinaire Alexis Sanchez has been dubbed the second coming of Cristiano Ronaldo, but Udinese DS Giampaolo Pozzo seems to think he’s the Second Coming: “Alexis will return to Udine and will remain here,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Next season will be the year of his consecration. Perhaps he will play as a playmaker in order to be closer to goal.” In other words: hands off, ManU, Roma, etc. Luis Fabiano has been at Sevilla for five years and rumored to be leaving for six. Now he wants to stay, despite the annual interest from Milan. You have to wonder how he stays so productive through the constant rumors – apparently the man can juggle. And finally, the obligatory Transfer Window 2010 capper: Cesc. Arsenal. Barcelona. (Noticed anything? Club football. The Offside. Do it.)
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| International Football Tournaments Between Now and World Cup 2014 Posted: 14 Jul 2010 02:40 PM PDT
There are some obvious big ones in there. Euro 2012 stands out, as does Copa America 2011. The double does of 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations should be fun too (I think that’s happening so that the tournament can start playing in odd numbered years to avoid scheduling future tournaments the same year as World Cups, in case you were wondering). The Asian Cup is next January too (and thanks to Aidan for pointing that out). So have a look at the international soccer tournaments below, and let us know about any we missed in the comments.
2010July 13 – August 1: U-20 Women’s World Cup 2010 in Germany 2011January 7 – January 29: Asian Cup 2011 in Qatar 2012January/February: Africa Cup of Nations 2012 in Gabon & Equatorial Guinea 2013January/February: Africa Cup of Nations 2013 in Libya 201413 June – 13 July: World Cup 2014 in Brazil Of course there’s more to life than international football. There’s club football too. Read The Offside blogs for club football coverage, including this list of European league kickoff dates.
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| Nigel de Jong is Now Coaching Girls Youth Soccer… Posted: 14 Jul 2010 01:10 PM PDT
He’s not really of course. The World Cup Blog/Offside legal team has asked me to state very clearly that Nigel de Jong will be playing for Man City next season, and will definitely not be coaching girls to execute dangerous high kicks on opposition players. That’s more of a World Cup final move than a youth soccer move. However, you should keep an eye De Jong by reading our Man City Offside blog. Just in case.
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| Fernando Torres Takes Out The Cynics By Taking Himself Out Posted: 14 Jul 2010 12:10 PM PDT
At the end of the final with seconds waning and the Spanish celebration looking the part of a formality, Fernando Torres pulled up lame running after a ball down the wing and immediately went to ground. The cynics in the crowd were calling diving, time wasting and general cheating, even though it looked like a very real injury. And given the nature of today’s game, in which embellishment and the sort are very much a part of every team’s arsenal, they can be forgiven (somewhat). But he was very genuinely hurt: torn thigh muscle.
Between this and his play, which earned him a spot on the bench in the final, it’s hard to imagine this summer having possibly gone any worse for Fernando. You know, save for that whole “winning the World Cup” bit. Meanwhile the hits keep coming for Liverpool, who must be collectively muttering, “How much were Chelsea offering again?”.
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| World Cup 2010 Social Media Stats Posted: 14 Jul 2010 09:32 AM PDT
As predicted before the tournament, World Cup 2010 was a tweet-tastic social media behemoth. Huge. Online PR & social media people Simply Zesty picked out some of the relevant social media related statistics, especially those related to World Cup sponsors, and compiled the numbers into the infographic you see above. Some interesting stats in there, particularly the pre-World Cup PR success of both Nike and adidas. The infographic may look like it came from a children’s school textbook, but it’s filled with information to make you go “hmmm”. That’s what I did anyway. Of course, I can’t write a social media post without promoting our own. What would the people at Simply Zesty think of me? So take a look at The Offiside and World Cup Blog Facebook page, and follow both The Offside and World Cup Blog on Twitter.
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| FIFA World Rankings July 2010 (Can You Guess Who’s Top?) Posted: 14 Jul 2010 08:36 AM PDT
FIFA has released its first post-World Cup 2010 rankings, and – as you’d expect – there’s been plenty of movement. Nnew top dogs are World Cup 2010 winners Spain, obviously, with losing finalists the Netherlands in second. Former #1 Brazil is now third. The big big movers are Uruguay, whose run to the World Cup semifinals was worth a jump of 10 places to 6th in the world rankings. Welcome back to the big time Uruguay. Germany’s third place finish saw them jump a couple of places to fourth, but the real story is the World Cup losers. Cameroon’s three straight defeats in South Africa resulted in a 21 place plummet to #40. Not what Samuel Eto’o had planned. Similarly, Italy dropped out of top 10, and France fell all the way out of the top 20. Possibly the strangest mover was Egypt, who didn’t compete at World Cup 2010, but somehow climbed three places to ninth. I’m sure there’s a mathematical reason for this, and I’m sure it has something to do with ranking points gained from winning the 2006, 2008 and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, but the timing seems a little odd. Maybe Egypt secretly played at World Cup 2010?
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World Cup 2010 gets a little smaller in the rear view mirror every day now, and the next big show isn’t until 2014. But if you find yourself in need of an international football tournament fix, then don’t worry. There are plenty of events scheduled. Below you’ll find an extensive (but not complete) list of the international tournaments happening between now and Brazil 2014.
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