World Cup 2010 Blog: “World Cup 2010 Jerseys: Ghana.” plus 9 more

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• World Cup 2010 Jerseys: Ghana.
• Where Will He Live: One Fan Chooses Home By The World Cup Winner
• Daily Dose: May 18th, 2010.
• Toulon Tournament 2010: The Future Is Now…Right Now.
• Sensationally Saucy Spanish Strikers: David Villa & Fernando Torres.
• England Will Win World Cup 2010, According to Questionable Quantitative Analysis
• 10 World Cup Questions: Denmark
• World Cup 2010 Jerseys: Chile
• No More Paradinha At The World Cup
• World Cup Squads Are Getting Whittled Down, World Cup Winners Are Getting Cut

World Cup 2010 Jerseys: Ghana. Posted: 19 May 2010 03:10 AM PDT Another day, another brilliant Puma kit for the African nations. Ghana’s nickname doesn’t have quiet the ferocity of an indomitable lion, the mystical grandeur of an elephant of the precociousness of a fennec – in short, they ain’t an animal – but Puma has still done more with a simple black star than most kits at the World Cup have done with twice as much. Want one? Buy the Ghana World Cup home shirt in our store. Early admission: I’m a big fan of black and white. Therefore, this was always going to sway me well in favor. However, it’s even better than I thought in all its full glory when viewing the total kit. The big change from the last go ’round is obviously the removal of that phenomenal graphic from the front, but it looks equally as good in its simple white with the faded black star in Puma Territory™ (that’s what we’re renaming the right shoulder of the African kits). The black outline of the sleeve leaves is a simple touch to keep it from becoming too…simple. Is simple times two less simple, or more simple? The built-in abs and left nipple are also a nice change of pace. Moving on…there is one thing which will standout on this kit through the South African winter – the sleeves and Puma Territory™ appear to be damn near mesh. A mesh which will become much less apparent with sweat, and therefore the shirt may resemble something closer to a toga by mid-second half. Maybe Greece will be borrowing them when Ghana are done? Have to cut corners somewhere. And I think we can say that this kit wouldn’t look nearly as good on, say, Denmark – fashion encompasses all. Want one? Buy the Ghana World Cup away shirt in our store. Less a fan of this if only because it looks like the fashion lovechild of the Cameroon and Ivory Coast away kits. Yes, it’s a line, but there are too many similarities to the two, and they could’ve gone with something radically different – maybe an actual toga this time. Still, it’s a nice African design with the handpainted design, full with handpainted numbers and names, and that raw, rough feel of Africa. The article matches the customer, so it’s something of football’s haute couture.

Where Will He Live: One Fan Chooses Home By The World Cup Winner Posted: 19 May 2010 01:10 AM PDT It sounds like a decent concept – that or a drunken bet – doesn’t it: promising to live in the country which wins the World Cup. The World Cup would become part insanity, part crippling fear – as if it needed to add any more to the laundry list of mental anguishes. One man from Portland, Oregon is doing it, which sounds like fun until you consider he doesn’t particularly want to move. Therefore he just might be the biggest US fan on the sphere come June 11th. Barry Biechner is that man: So on July 11th 2010 I will learn what country I will be moving to. Yes, that’s right. I have decided to move to the country that wins this years World Cup. After the completion of the tournament I will have until the end of the year to get my things in order and move to the winning country. It may be earlier but it must be by the first of the next year. During an interview he makes his stance known – God bless America…and its national team. Although he's trying to stay neutral for the sake of the blog, Biechner is rooting for the United States. "But I don't think they'll win. History has at least shown that. It would certainly be the most convenient [if the United States wins]," he says. Biechner says he will try to follow through on his promise even if the winner is a country where he doesn't want to live. He mentioned North Korea, which is also in the tournament. "No one wants to live there [but] I'd embrace it as just an experiment and do the best I can.” North Korea have politely declined Barry’s presence in their country. At first, it sounds like absolute absurdity; the type of thing which will see Barry enter the Witness Protection Program by the knockouts so that he doesn’t have to go through with it. But then you have a little think as to where he’ll actually be moving. Barring an enormous upset, he’ll either be moving to Western Europe – Spain, England, Holland, Germany, Italy, France, etc – or Brazil. Maybe Argentina if Diego gets his shit together/forgets to show up. To be honest, that doesn’t sound so bad. In fact, Barry might just be starting the biggest trend since social networking – and this is one I can actually get with.

Daily Dose: May 18th, 2010. Posted: 18 May 2010 08:10 PM PDT Chelsea players continue to get buried inside a Tesco’s by mothers. The best goals in Serie A this year. (Italy Offside) This year’s Barca better than last year’s. (Zonal Marking) An interview with Sid Lowe. (European Football Weekends) FIFA wants a Lord Triesman sequel. (The DA) The Panini of USA ‘94 in all its glory. (Football Spotter) Another cast who should be playing a year for free. (Soccer Training Info) The best names in football history. (Midfield Dynamo)

Toulon Tournament 2010: The Future Is Now…Right Now. Posted: 18 May 2010 06:40 PM PDT Damn the World Cup, it’s the best tournament of the summer, maybe the best of them all. It’s not sanctioned and the teams are far from a smattering of the world’s best, but it’s everything football is supposed to be: fun, youthful and not taken so damn seriously. It’s the Toulon tournament. The World Cup is all sorts of wonderful and all joking aside, the best of the best, but the Toulon tournament ignites a wonderful feeling for many; a feeling which is almost unique in today’s game. A trophy does lie at the end of the rainbow, but it’s about so much more than that. Oftentimes the players, with it being the u20 team, are a peg down in quality, and that’s part of the allure – many are playing for simple joy. Something we could all use for the next few weeks before the therapy bills get out of hand. One of the best and worst parts of the Toulon tournament is how little exposure it gets. Take, for example, the fact that it began today and it only came across this radar because the scores nestled into some interwebs cruising. The scenario is likely different in southern France, but that doesn’t really help the rest of the world trying to get a glimpse of the next global big thing. The basics: - It is held in and around Toulon, France, in stadiums which often look like the naval warships for which the city is known. - Seven under-20 teams are invited every year, with France filling out the eighth spot as a participating host. - The teams rotate, even though some may play in back-to-back tournaments. The holdovers are defending champs Chile (in their third straight) and Qatar (plus France). - There is a group stage made up of two groups; the top two teams then participate in a one-legged semifinal before the final. - The halves are only 40 minutes since most players are gassed from sitting on the bench for the last 9 months. - France have won 11 titles of 36, including a four-peat in the middle of this decade – which sounds like Raymond Domenech is doing something very wrong. - Many, if not all, of the games are streamed on MyP2P.eu (bookmark that link – it’s exclusive to the tournament). - It is awesome. (That last one is actually fact as well.) This year’s gig runs from May 18th (today) to the 27th, which the groups structured as such: The schedule: As you can see above, they got started without us. France, through Morgan Schneiderlin and Lynel Kitambala, set the bar high early. For anyone who’s seen it, the tournament needs no marketing; but for the rest – it’s more than worth your time. It really is one of the best things this sport has to offer.

Sensationally Saucy Spanish Strikers: David Villa & Fernando Torres. Posted: 18 May 2010 05:10 PM PDT David Villa & Fernando Torres are two of the world’s premier strikers. They both play for Spain. Thirty-one defenses just dribbled in their pants a little. Clubs David: Valencia Barcelona Valencia* Fernando: Liverpool * – Subject to change by the time you’ve scrolled to the end of the page. Age David: 28 Fernando: 26 Caps David: 55 Fernando: 71 Nickname David: El Guaje (The Kid) Fernando: El Nino (The Kid) Could moonlight on the other side of the law as... David: Stealth assassin. Fernando: The Heidi Fleiss of in-demand manwhores. If he were a superhero, he would be… David: Batman – Ruthlessly efficient, clinical, omnipresent, wears a bat symbol most days. Fernando: Superman – faster than a speeding bullet and often saves the day, but with dodgy legs for kryptonite. Better, unofficial nicknames… David: Smooth Criminal Fernando: Fernando – Hey, if you can do it, do it. Current legacy David: Most complete striker in world football. Fernando: Somewhere between the top six and top half-dozen strikers in the world. LOLSpeak David: I can haz golz Fernando: Z.O.M.G. Has a soft spot for… David: Sporting Gijon Fernando: Atletico Madrid Defining hair characteristic David: Questionable use of the soul patch Fernando: Flowing golden locks tragically obstructed by an Alice band. Fangirl attraction, scale of 10 David: 6.5 Fernando: 10.5 Best accessory… David: David Silva Fernando: Olalla If he were stranded on a desert island and could bring one life-saving device, he would bring… David: Xavi Fernando: Xavi If a daughter brought him home, her mother would… David: Concede two before the main course Fernando: Faint before hors d’ouvres Most likely World Cup legacy…. David: Scoring whichever goals Fernando didn’t score. Fernando: Scoring whichever goals David didn’t score. |Part of our series A Casual Guide to World Cup 2010|

England Will Win World Cup 2010, According to Questionable Quantitative Analysis Posted: 18 May 2010 04:10 PM PDT The financial experts at J.P. Morgan took time out from computing the value of stocks and shares recently and applied their quantitative analysis technique to World Cup 2010. Using data like FIFA ranking, World Cup fixtures (ie route through the tournament), historical results and World Cup betting odds, they calculated that England will win World Cup 2010 by beating Spain in the final, with the Netherlands taking third place. First, some sarcasm: It’s nice to know that the world’s economy has made a full recovery, freeing up financial analysts to spend their time speculating about the World Cup. The people of Greece will be relieved. Second, some more sarcasm: What a massive surprise to learn that the London branch of JP Morgan calculated a World Cup win for England, thereby guaranteeing maximum publicity for their prediction. Maybe you have your own esoteric mathematical model designed to produce a populist outcome. Or maybe you just watch a lot of football and have a gut feeling about who will win World Cup 2010. Or maybe you just want to take a stab in the dark. Any method is welcome in our World Cup bracket competition, where you predict how the groups will finish and then who will win each knockout game.

10 World Cup Questions: Denmark Posted: 18 May 2010 02:40 PM PDT If you're unfamiliar with World Cup Blog, then allow me to explain: The blog you're reading now is the front page, but the core of WCB is the multitude of team specific blogs, including one for each of the World Cup 2010 teams. The authors of these team blogs have forgotten more about their sides than I'll ever know, so I decided to tap that knowledge by asking each of them a set of 10 questions. Today it's the turn of Cerberus from Denmark World Cup Blog. Read on to learn about Olsen’s Elleve… 1. Who is Denmark’s best player? Well, in terms of raw ability, it would have to be the world’s most underrated striker, Nicklas Bendtner. He’s been in blistering form with Arsenal as of late, oftentimes being the hardest working player on the field and being the source of several last gasp chance-saving goals. In the recent Arsenal-Barcelona clash, people were referring to him as “Mess-lite” as if it were an insult to be comparable to a player of that shocking quality. I think he’s going to shock a lot of people who haven’t been paying attention. Though, while I say that, if we’re talking indispensability to the squad, it’d have to be Juventus defensive midfielder, Christian Poulsen. The way the Denmark national team plays relies on the long-haired prowess of Poulsen to police the back and make sure any counter-attacks can be stopped good and dead before they begin. The last friendly against Austria showed the sudden dearth of quality that can occur when he’s not on the pitch. 2. What do you think of Denmark’s coach? Anytime your coach is included in the nickname of the squad, something is going right. Morten Olsen has been the head coach since Euro 2000 and has coached over 100 games for the squad. Before this campaign, he was planning to retire after World Cup 2010 qualifying, but he’s extended up to and including Euro 2012. He’s currently also heavily involved in the youth national team, so he’s pretty well connected to what will be the Danish football philosophy for years to come. He’s stated that he wants to be succeeded by Danish legend Michael Laudrup and anytime you tease fans with a dream like that and they still chant your name as the nickname to the team, you’re doing something right. 3. What do you think of Denmark’s World Cup 2010 kits? Interestingly enough, I’ve really been a fan of Denmark in spite of their kits. To me, red and white feel very common and pedestrian, probably because of the large number of club and national teams that decide to rock one or the other on their home or away jerseys. This is especially evident when you live in Denmark for a little bit and see how colorful their generic towns and street clothes are in comparison. That all said, I really, really like the middle of the shirt in the adidas design for this world cup. The way the white lanes move and stretch create a really interesting effect that distracts me from the “meh” of the traditional sleeves and collar. The away kit is traditional. As good as you can do with mostly white and only red for the highlights. Overall, I imagine many fans will love both, as they are a step above what we often wear. 4. What is Denmark’s biggest strength? Flexibility in midfield and attack. Olsen’s Elleve like to play almost a version of Total Football Lite in the mold of Barcelona or Arsenal. I’m not entirely sure at times if the setup is meant to be 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 and it can be really easy to lose track of who’s got the ball in the midfield because players will overlap and switch spots on the attack and defense, relying on Christian Poulsen to cover any exposed holes. The overall effect is one that really creates some beautiful flowing football and allows Denmark to create opportunities for a break anywhere either down the sides for the cross or up the middle to Bendtner. A close second would have to be our secret weapon in our goalkeeper, Thomas Sørensen. Possibly one of the best penalty stoppers in the world right now, he provided key penalty saves in several of the Qualifying matches and given the amount of World Cup games decided in penalties, that skill could be key to Denmark’s chances. 5. …and biggest weakness? It’s really two things. First, long balls and crosses. We’ve got great flowing play and we get a lot of chances, but we often end up shotgunning the chances with many many breaks, until everything clicks and the ball is in the net. We waste a lot of chances on bad balls through that we could end up ruing against a more methodical team. And secondly, depth. Our first XI has surprising quality and definitely has potential as a dark horse candidate. However, when you peel that back, injure a few players, the replacements we can offer for any spot are not as strong. A bad injury spell before or during the Cup could strangle Denmark’s chances before they even begin. 6. If you could steal one player from any other World Cup 2010 team, then who would it be and why? Well, I’m sure everyone is putting Messi for obvious reasons, but I feel what we could really use is his Barcelona teammate Xavi. As I said earlier, we’ve lost a lot of chances to inaccurate long balls. It hasn’t mattered so much because we like to create so many shotgunned chances that the missed opportunities don’t hold us back, but I shudder to think what the score lines would look like with Xavi’s inch-perfect precision passes. I think he would raise the quality of everyone’s game and move Denmark from strong-looking dark horse to strong contenders or potential favorites. 7. Tell us one thing about your team that the rest of the world might not know… Hmm, if you’re talking team history, it’d probably be that a country of 5.5 million produced arguably the greatest goalkeeper of all-time in Peter Schmeichel, who not only had a ludicrous number of clean sheets, but scored 11 goals as a goalkeeper and that’s without being a Brazilian penalty specialist. Modern days, I think the trivia I found the cutest is that Olsen is having everyone he selects for the 23 man squad make a trip back to their childhood club and/or their primary school in order to promote worldwide education for charity and to inspire the next generation of footballers. A good idea and a good cause and definitely something that could add a different happier element to World Cup preparations outside the usual club versus country whining and the like. 8. What would you consider success/failure for your team at World Cup 2010? To tell the truth, Denmark is not expected to be here at the World Cup. They were seeded third in their group for qualifying and managed to top the group, only losing at the final throwaway game. To me, the strength of qualifying means they could bottom out the group and I’d still be proud of them. Beyond that, Denmark when they have qualified have had a good track record of getting to the Second Round and I’d love to see that tradition continue. Anything more than that and I’ll be ecstatic. 9. What are you most exited about at World Cup 2010? Call me insular, but I’m really interested in what Olsen’s Elleve pull out. Not only has the team been greatly overlooked, but the individual players have often been written off before they begin. I’d like to see if Bendtner continues his Arsenal form, whether the strong defense can contain the strong attacking mindsets of the Netherlands, Japan, and Cameroon, and whether or not Denmark end up being the Turkey of this tournament. I think Denmark has an opportunity here to utterly confound the announcers and betting tables if they can manage it and I’d love to see if that comes to pass. I think also Group E will end up the most exciting to watch as all of the teams are much more balanced than a lot of the groups (underdog to be group of death) and feature a lot of teams that love to play free-flowing attacking football which is great to watch. 10. Who do you think will win World Cup 2010? It’ll totally be Denmark… Not buying it? Well, worth a shot. In general, I’m not sure. The big names are always favorites, but the level of quality on their squads also often lead to major problems when they fail to gel. Spain certainly looks the best, but I’m not sure that’ll be enough to see them through. In general, I tend to root for underdogs. I’d love to see an African team reach the finals. I’d love some of the other looked over teams like Slovakia or South Korea to prove their prowess on the world stage. Basically, I don’t want another boring France/Italy stumble through competition won on dodgy penalties and random luck. >> Supporting Olsen’s Elleve in the World Cup? Put on your Denmark jersey, get your Denmark World Cup tickets, and get to the stadium! If you’re watching from home, keep up to date with Cerberus’ Denmark World Cup Blog, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook

World Cup 2010 Jerseys: Chile Posted: 18 May 2010 01:40 PM PDT Last week we reviewed the Honduras jerseys, and I thought the Joma jerseys were a departure from the usual big three sports manufacturers. But Joma is still a soccer manufacturer, and makes kit for multiple teams around the world. Brooks Sports on the other hand is not. Brooks focus is running gear, and they make soccer jerseys for just two teams. One is Sri Lanka. The other is Chile. Only 50% of those teams will be at World Cup 2010, so read on for a review of the Chile jersey: Chile Home Shirt Want one? Find your Chile World Cup home jersey in our store. First thing first: Brooks need to learn a little something about presentation. When you’re photographing a football shirt, you need to remember that football is played by humans, the majority of whom have arms. The flappy arm display technique does not do your product any favours. But we’ll try and look beyond that. Couple of good things: According to the Brooks blog, the 2010 Chile jersey is a deeper shade of red than ever before. A strong copper colour accent has also been added “to celebrate Chile's rich natural resources”. There’s also an inscription inside the neckline reading "Con Futbol Todos Ganamos" ("With Soccer Everyone Wins”), which is hard to argue with. So there are some plus points. But… …it’s not great, is it? With no template to constrain the designers (which you sometimes suspect is the case with Nike, adidas and Puma), Brooks could have done anything with this jersey. Instead it’s just a red football shirt. If I was Chilean, I’d be wanting something a little more. Chile Away Shirt Want one? Find your Chile World Cup away jersey in our store. The away shirt is an improvement. Still very basic, but the white with red trim gives it a bit more shape. I like that the red trim extends up and gives the collar some shape (which is lacking in the home jersey). That’s my take on the Chile World Cup jerseys. What do you think?

No More Paradinha At The World Cup Posted: 18 May 2010 12:10 PM PDT No, that’s not one of the Brazilians you missed from Dunga’s callup squad. The Paradinha is The Little Stop, that annoying and typically illegal little stutter during a penalty kick where the taker stops right before the ball and breaks his motion to allow the keeper to dive and thus open up the net for a feast. It’s rather effective, but it’s not quite “sporting”, and so FIFA have banned it from the World Cup and football in general. That sobbing you hear is coming from the general direction of Brazil The move is rather big in Brazil, which is how it earned a Brazilian name, where it’s also perfectly okay. Well, it was perfectly okay – they’ve taken it and slayed it from the rule books just in time for the world’s biggest gala. Therefore they’ll just have to bang it into the back of the net properly. “We saw some video examples, which make it clear it’s very unsporting when the player gets to the end of a run up, feints to kick completely over the ball, the goalkeeper goes in one direction, the player pulls his foot back, and kicks the ball in the other direction,” IFAB member Patrick Nelson told reporters. “It’s clearly unsporting.” One IFAB member added that some of the dummies on the video had the room in fits of laughter. Players who feint as they are about to take the kick will be shown a yellow card. However, feinting during the run-up will be allowed. The new wording of Law 14 now reads: “Feinting in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted, however, feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is now considered an infringement of Law 14 and an act of unsporting behaviour for which the player must be cautioned.” Fairly disappointing they couldn’t have simply gone with one fluid run-up, which means we’re going to be subject to more of these shenanigans from Cristiano Ronaldo: But baby steps are something, I suppose – even if those baby steps include baby steps.

World Cup Squads Are Getting Whittled Down, World Cup Winners Are Getting Cut Posted: 18 May 2010 10:40 AM PDT The 32 coaches named their preliminary World Cup squads just a week ago. Most chose 30 players, and don’t need to name their final 23 man squads until June 1st. However, like over-eager lumberjacks, a couple of those coaches have started making cuts early. Yesterday France coach Raymond Domenech reduced his 30 to 24, with Marseille’s Hatem Ben Arfa being the most high profile player to get the chop. I imagine Ben Arfa and the five other players feel like those singers who get past the early stage of American Idol (where they separate the crazies from the proper singers) but then get voted off at the first proper hurdle. So close, and yet so far. Why make the cuts so soon? Could be that Domenech himself was officially cut this weekend, in a fashion, with the FFF confirming that Laurent Blanc will be Les Bleus boss post-World Cup 2010. So maybe this was RayRay’s way of taking back the headlines? Marcello Lippi’s reductions were arguably even harsher. The Italy coach picked out just two players from his original 30 man squad and told then to pack their bags and go home. The unlucky pair were young Udinese trequartista (on loan at Juventus this past season) Antonio Candreva and not so young Juventus left back Fabio Grosso. Grosso was absolutely integral to Italy’s 2006 World Cup win under Lippi. As well as having an all around impressive tournament, Grosso earned that controversial penalty against Australia to win the game in the second round, scored that curling 119th minute goal against Germany in the semi-final and – last but not least – scored the trophy-winning spot kick in the World Cup final itself. He’s a hero. So you could argue that – more than anyone – the now 32 year old Grosso deserves another go at the World Cup. Marcello Lippi disagrees: “It was tough for me to call him and say he was cut from the team to go to South Africa, as it was tough to exclude 14 of the 23 that were in Germany. But I had to do it,” he revealed in a press conference. “I told everybody that I won’t take someone to South Africa just because I am grateful for winning the World Cup in 2006.” Which actually makes a lot of sense. It’s been four years since 2006, and Grosso isn’t 28 anymore. But still, got to feel bad for the guy. Unless you’re Australian maybe.

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