World Cup 2010 Blog: “Nigeria World Cup 2010 Team Profile” plus 3 more

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• Nigeria World Cup 2010 Team Profile
• Tricky Dick Goes On, Takes The Money And Runs.
• Greece World Cup 2010 Team Profile
• Just Another Day In The Life Of FIFA

Nigeria World Cup 2010 Team Profile Posted: 16 Apr 2010 04:10 AM PDT Nigeria can boast something only a half-dozen other teams in the world can right now: they’ll be playing the World Cup on their home continent come June. Beyond that, they can’t boast much because they don’t know much. The uninspiring performance at the African Cup of Nations saw Shaibu Amodu relieved of his duties atop the Nigerian coaching pyramid and Lars Lagerback rewarded for not taking Sweden to the World Cup with an all expense paid trip to that same World Cup. So they’re in a bit of transition right before summer festival. So maybe a shake-up will be good; or maybe a shake-up will be just that – a shake-up. Nickname: Super Eagles Group: B; Argentina, Greece, South Korea FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: 22nd Coach: Lars Lagerback. Fresh off their lackluster showing at the African Cup of Nations, they “reassigned” Shaibu Amodu in February, naming Lars Lagerback in his place for the summer. Lars is also coming fresh off a disappointing set – failing to get Sweden, his post for the last ten years, to South Africa. This means his first official game of the stint will be against Argentina. Joy. Key Players: The big names are concentrated towards the front, with a blend of speed, strength and size providing a bounty of physical gifts. Yakubu is nicknamed Yak because his shoulders dwarf most of the bovines (no other reason, swear); Obafemi Martins has pace and skills for days on end, ditto (to a lesser degree) for Victor Obinna; Chinedu Obasi provides something of a tall, speedy, skillful wild card; and beanpole captain Nwakwo Kanu is still going strong at 87…oh, only 33. (Seriously – he’s been around forever.) There’s little to go on in midfield with the new gaffer in town, but most will know Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel (or Mikel John Obi, or…however you prefer) and Ayilla Yussuf is no small talent currently catching his checks in Kiev. In the back Joseph Yobo is the central leader, with Chidi Odiah, an attacking fullback, on the right and Taye Taiwo, a tank with implanted cannon for a left leg, on the left. In net will be the quietly impressive Vincent Enyeama, who doesn’t get the pub of some other quality keepers simply because he plays in Israel. (And because he can’t get on most goalkeeper amusement rides – he’s 180cm.) Player with best YouTube video: Back in the day, the bee’s knees aspired to be Nwankwo Kanu. Player with best name: According to Wikipedia he only has one cap, but that cap accompanies what will be the best name by some distance at the World Cup if he makes it: Thankgod Amaefule. (Bit of a troublemaker for such a religious fellow, though.) Player with best nickname: Certain people were obviously born for certain nicknames: Yakubu “The Yak” Aiyegbeni is somewhere up the top of the list. Qualification: It wasn’t terribly easy, and it took a bit of help from Mozambqiue to just squeak into the tournament. Tunisia were ahead by two points heading into a last day, which meant Nigeria needed to get real lucky. They did: they beat Kenya 3-2 with an Obafemi goal nine minutes from time while Mozambique stunned Tunisia seven minutes from time for a 1-0 victory. Fashionably late, but still invited. Interesting: National Anthem: "Arise, O Compatriots" More on the Nigerian anthem here. Kit: The traditional all-green outfit for home. You can buy the Nigeria shirt in our store. World Cup History: Nigeria attained the highest-ever FIFA ranking for an African team at 5th in 1994. Expectations: The buzzword surrounding Nigeria in Angola was “craft” – as in they didn’t have any. They’re physically gifted, but lacking in technical quality, so much so there were rumblings of giving Jay-Jay Okocha a Roger Milla-esque comeback. They’re still good enough to at least scrap for the second spot in the groups, with the added bonus of African soil perhaps setting the bar a bit higher. Squad: TBA Blog: Bc Osunneye runs the Nigeria World Cup Blog. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.

Tricky Dick Goes On, Takes The Money And Runs. Posted: 16 Apr 2010 01:10 AM PDT There was breaking (sort of) and surprising (not really) news that Dick Advocaat left one of his coaching spots (he’s still filling in at AZ) as Belgian gaffer less than one year after taking the reins, with the good money saying he did so to take the big money with Russia. Fret not, you are not suffering through a bout of déjà vu. In 2008 he signed on with the Soccerroos, only to cancel the deal when his current club offered him a mammoth new contract. How do we know? Dick told us: "I couldn't refuse this offer. It was quite a lot of money, to be honest. It was not double, it was more. Much more." So between this and hist recent highly successful stint with Zenit in Russia, it’s pretty easy to put one and one together to make rubles. The fact that no reason was given makes it even more likely. However, there’s potentially more lurking behind the scenes, as Dick isn’t the first one to resign from the current constitution Belgian national team. The medical staff resigned last year because, as they say, they’re Europe’s “childish snobs”. Seemingly unable to gel, the dressing room has reportedly ”divided into factions”. Newspaper La Dernière Heure was told last month by an ‘insider’ that: “There is the [Daniel] van Buyten clan, the France-based players, the trio of [Timmy] Simons, Sonck and [Stijn] Stijnen, the guys from Amsterdam, the guys from AZ, and then, of course, the Standard and Anderlecht factions.” The fall-out from the reigns of Vandereycken and Vercauteren also saw the entire medical staff resign. ”The mentality of some of the players is deplorable,” former national team doctor Marc Goossens told the Guardian. ”We got fed up with the many intolerable things that made it impossible for us to do our jobs… they are pseudo-stars… with the sick attitude of childish snobs.” The appeal of the Belgian nat’l team is and was massive; there’s a tremendous generation of young talent coming up, including Defour, Hazard, Verthongen, Fellaini, Witsel, Vermaelen, etc. The only apparent problem is they know it. And really, self-realization is the diciest of dice rolls. So if/when Dick is named the next coach of Russia, we can be damn sure he checked the checks first, but also knowing he likely got a convincing helping hand. Hopefully then he’ll reveal the offer to have been triple, too. Until then, let’s petition FIFA for a rule which states every time Dick emerges from a tunnel, it must be accompanied by his soundtrack:

Greece World Cup 2010 Team Profile Posted: 15 Apr 2010 03:06 PM PDT We all know that Greece won Euro 2004, but did you know the team has appeared in only one previous World Cup, and is still waiting for its first World Cup goal and win? They stand a good chance of achieving both those firsts in World Cup Group B this June, where Greece will face Argentina, Nigeria and South Korea. Read on for the profile, as well as some excellent YouTubage of Giorgos Karagounis. Nickname: Galanoleyki (blue and white, colours of flag) or, since Euro 2004, To Piratiko (The Pirate Ship) FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: #11 Coach: German Otto Rehhagel is in charge, and has been since 2001. Quite a stint. Rehhagel is apparently a little on the arrogant and/or stubborn side, but is also famed for his motivational skills. He took a lot of credit for Greece’s historic Euro 2004 victory (the Greek fans call him “King Otto”) but also took a bit of criticism for Greece’s defensive tactics throughout the tournament. Those same tactics failed spectacularly at Euro 2008, and to Rehhagel’s credit he innovated during World Cup 2010 qualifying. The current approach isn’t necessarily pretty, as it’s all about getting the ball to the big strikers as quickly as possible, but it’s not as cautious as the Euro 2004 approach. Also, looking at that image, I’m starting an internet rumour here and now that the apparently 71 year old Rehhagel has a portrait of himself looking very very old hidden somewhere in his house. Key Players: The 6′4″ Liverpool defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos is a ponytailed monster in central defence. Kostas Katsouranis does the defensive midfield work, but is no fool with the ball. That said, the playmaking responsibilities will fall at the capable feet of #10 and captain Giorgos Karagounis, who’s now 33 and in his third spell with Panathinaikos, but has also played for Benfica and Inter. He also takes a mean free kick, but more on that later. Going forward, the big men are 6′3″ Angelos Charisteas and 6′4″ Georgios Samaras, but top scorer in World Cup qualifying (not just for Greece, but in all of Europe) was Theofanis Gekas with 10. He’s not big and he’s not fast, but if we judge players solely on goals scored in World Cup qualifying then Theofanis Gekas is better than Wayne Rooney. Player with best YouTube video: Has to be Giorgos Karagounis. Check out this bit of bodyswerving for Inter: Also check out his repertoire of long range shots and scary free kicks. Free kick skills are especially useful if you are (as this video claims) “the best diver in the world”. Don’t judge. Talent is talent. Player with best name: Has to be Avraam Papadopoulos, because that surname is fun to say. Player with best nickname: Greek nicknames are hard to come by. Only player I could find anything for was Giorgos Karagounis, who is apparently known as “Kara” (which is a bit obvious) but also “Typara”. If anyone can explain the Typara nickname then please share in the comments. Qualification: Finished just one point behind Switzerland in UEFA Group 2, scoring an impressive 20 and conceding 10. Second place was enough for a playoff vs Ukraine. A first leg 0-0 draw in Athens was not a great result, but Rehhagel’s men went to Donetsk and won 1-0 away to secure a World Cup spot. Panathinaikos winger Dimitris Salpigidis got the all important goal. Interesting: At 71 years old, Otto Rehegal will be oldest coach of a World Cup team in South Africa. That’s if you believe he’s really 71 of course. He’ll also be the second longest serving coach in South Africa, just behind Denmark’s Morten Olsen. National Anthem: The Greek national anthem is called “Hymn to Liberty”. Kit: White shirt, white shorts, white socks, but with plenty of blue touches. Home jersey looks like this: Like it? Buy a Greece home jersey from our World Cup store. World Cup History: 1994 – Round 1 Expectations: Incredibly for a European Championship winner, Greece has never won a World Cup game, or scored a goal. Qualification for the knockout stage is a possibility, but I suspect that even a first World Cup win would be greeted warmly. Squad: TBA Blog: Peter and Chris are manning the Greece blog. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.

Just Another Day In The Life Of FIFA Posted: 15 Apr 2010 12:10 PM PDT As is often the case with FIFA, they mucked something up initially. Unlike FIFA, they actually admitted the errors of their ways and righted a wrong. Previously, World Cup tickets in South Africa were only available through the internet or a complex computerized system which was, among other things, so off-putting hundreds of thousands of tickets for the world’s biggest sporting event remained unsold. With the tournament now less than two months away, they made tickets available “over the counter”, payable with cash. Cue bedlam. This was supposed to be a good thing – and judging by the reports of 500k sold for 500k available tickets, it was a wild success…unless you’re treating those numbers with a healthy dose of skepticism – but it appears to be a clusterfuck in typical FIFA fashion. From the BBC’s report: Thousands of fans who queued overnight in South Africa finally got their hands on World Cup tickets, but scuffles broke out as computers crashed. Some 500,000 tickets were sold at various venues on Thursday. But police used pepper spray to control frustrated fans and in Cape Town a 64-year-old man died from a heart attack. BBC Sport’s news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said Fifa’s integrated ticketing computer had encountered problems, resulting in long waiting times for queuing fans. After three and a half hours in Cape Town, only 32 people out of a crowd of about 1,000 had managed to buy tickets. “No one’s informed us about what’s going on. No one’s directing the public outside,” said Theo Spangenberg, who had been waiting for 16 hours and still had not made it inside the newly opened ticketing centre. “For a World Cup, an international event of this nature, it’s a really, really bad show.” The death is tragic but there’s little to say it had anything to do with the sales; pepper spray, however, leads one to think their planning was not in tip-top form. The AFP’s news report, sadly unembeddable, shows a bit of the atmosphere in the midst of technical and tactical difficulties. It sounds like in the end the tickets might just get sold and the stadiums might just fill up on gameday, but the journey to success was rendered a trudge through quicksand thanks to FIFA. Just another day in the life of football’s governing body. (If you’re feeling particularly anti-FIFA today, Unprofessional Foul has a nice look on keepin’ it in the family.)

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “World Cup Moments: Diego Maradona and the Hand of God” plus 1 more

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World Cup Moments: Diego Maradona and the Hand of God Posted: 14 Apr 2010 04:10 PM PDT This may be the most controversial goal in World Cup history. It’s from the 1986 quarter-final between Argentina and England, a game Argentina won 2-1 with Maradona scoring twice. We all know about his second goal, so this post will focus on his first. The infamous “Hand of God” goal. In the 51st minute, with the score at 0-0, Maradona played a ball out wide to Jorge Valdano. England’s Steve Hodge managed to dispossess Valdano, but could only kick the ball high into the air, back into the heart of the England penalty area. This set up an aerial challenge between England goalkeeper Peter Shilton (height: 6′ 1″) and Argentine attacking mid Diego Maradona (height: 5′ 5″). Shilton’s ball, yes? No. Because Diego Maradona beat Shilton to the ball, extending his left hand and punching it past the England keeper and into the net. 1-0. Shilton and the other England players complained, as you would, but Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser had failed to spot the handball, and so the goal stood. Obviously people in England both were and are very very upset about this goal. In the interests of full disclosure, I should make clear that I’m an England fan myself, and would prefer that this had never happened. When you see an opposition player clearly cheating and somehow getting away with it, and then winning the game (a World Cup quarter-final no less) as a result, it’s perfectly reasonable to wish bad bad things on El Diego. However… it’s been 24 years since the “Hand of God” goal. Very nearly a quarter of a century. Plus, the front page of World Cup Blog is supposed to be neutral. So I think it’s worth trying to look back at this moment as dispassionately as possible. Excuse me while I attempt to compose myself. … One thing I’ve come to appreciate about this goal is the sheer ballsiness of it. I’d imagine most other players placed in Maradona’s situation of challenging a goalkeeper for a high ball, with an eight inch height difference disadvantage (and that’s before you factor in Shilton’s reach) would make a half-hearted jump for a ball they have no intention or expectation of winning. Because no one would blame them for losing that battle. But Maradona wanted it. He wanted it bad enough to cheat. Not only that, he cheated cleverly, disguising his hand with his head at the moment he made contact with the ball. The referee could always disallow it, and maybe even show Maradona a yellow card, but in terms of risk vs reward, you can’t fault the logic behind Maradona’s decision to attempt the handball. It’s also worth considering the symbolism of this moment. This is something I think I heard the BBC’s South American correspondent Tim Vickery explain. Or maybe I read it somewhere, but have forgotten the source. Or maybe I even thought this up myself, in which case well done me. But basically, Maradona is from one of the rougher parts of Buenos Aries, where kids need to use their wits to get by and to get ahead. By fair means or foul. A tiny #10 beating a gigantic goalkeeper through cunning and quick-thinking is exactly the type of street smarts needed to survive. Then there’s the historical and emotional context of this particular game to consider. England fans maybe forget this too easily when discussingh Maradona’s handball, but in 1986 the recent Falklands War (or the Malvinas War), in which Argentina suffered a militarily defeat to the United Kingdom and lost 649 lives, was still fresh in the memory of all Argentineans. Here’s what Maradona himself wrote in his autobiography, describing the build-up to the 1986 World Cup quarter-final: I say a final because for us, because of everything it represented, we were playing a final against England. More than defeating a football team it was defeating a country. Of course, before the match, we said that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas War but we knew a lot of Argentinean kids had died there, shot down like little birds. This was revenge. It was like recovering a little bit of the Malvinas. In the pre-match interviews we had all said that football and politics shouldn’t be confused, but that was a lie. We did nothing but think about that. Bollocks was it just another match! (from “El Diego” by Diego Maradona, pages 127-128) That maybe doesn’t excuse the handball, but it definitely explains some of the motivation behind it. It’s Maradona doing what the Argentinean military couldn’t do, and defeating and bigger, stronger opponent through intelligence and cunning. Let’s move on past the actual handball moment itself, because Maradona’s post-match comments are almost as famous in their own right. When asked about the goal in the post-match press conference, Maradona responded that the goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”. Cheeky, but one of the all time great footballing lines. Obviously Maradona knew he’d handballed at the time. But the Hand of God quote seems to be partially about not wanting to own up at the time, and partially about enjoying sticking it to the English. Here’s another excerpt from his autobiography, comparing the handball goal to his even more famous second goal: Sometimes I think I almost enjoyed that one more, the first one. Now I feel I am able to say what I couldn’t then. At the time I called it ‘the hand of God’. Bollocks was it the hand of God, it was the hand of Diego! And it felt a little bit like pickpocketing the English… (from “El Diego” by Diego Maradona, page 130) I know opinion is strongly divided on Diego Maradona. Both love and hate are regularly sent in his direction. Though as an England fan I still feel cheated by the little man, I also recognize him as one of the all time great characters of the game. Not just for his talents with the ball, which were amply demonstrated later in the very same game (which will be a World Cup Moments post of its own soon) but because he’s one of those guys that creates incident and controversy wherever he goes, and in doing so makes the beautiful game that much more entertaining. - More World Cup Moments here.

When is the World Cup 2010 Squad (or Roster) Deadline? Posted: 14 Apr 2010 12:28 PM PDT The World Cup is getting closer every day, and so people are starting to ask the question: When is the World Cup squad deadline? Other people are asking: When is the World Cup roster deadline? Which is just the same question with different terminology. Basically we all want to know when each of the 32 World Cup teams will submit their final lists of 23 World Cup players to FIFA, mostly so we can start judging them. Also because it would make our World Cup team profiles a lot easier to write. Unfortunately it’s hard to get a straight answer on exactly when this deadline is. There’s a May 11th deadline for submitting a 30 man preliminary squad to FIFA, but no publicly available fixed deadline for cutting that 30 man squad down to 23. FIFA’s official World Cup 2010 Regulations document states only that the 23 man squad is required “prior to the kick-off of the opening match in accordance with the deadline stipulated in the relevant FIFA circular.” Presumably this circular has been sent only to football associations and such, but a recent quote from France coach Raymond Domenech would seem to suggest said deadline is June 1st: “They must be clever and forget their ego to realise that the only thing that matters is the team, not them,” Domenech told French daily L’Equipe in an interview published on Tuesday. “If they don’t understand that, I will need a gun. We’re only supposed to give our final squad on June 1.” So there you have it. Sort of. Below you’ll find the relevant section of the official FIFA document: 26. List of players, rest period, preparationphase – final competition 1. Each association that qualifi es for the fi nal competition shall send FIFA a list of 30 players (showing the full last name(s), all fi rst names, popular name, place and date of birth, passport number, club and country of the club, height, weight, number of caps won, number of goals scored) whom it has called up in accordance with the relevant provisions of Annex 1 of the FIFA Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players. The release list of 30 players must be sent to FIFA by 11 May 2010 (30 days prior to the kick-off of the opening match). 2. The release lists of 30 players will be published by the FIFA general secretariat. 3. Each association will then be required to provide FIFA with a final list of no more than 23 players (three of whom shall be goalkeepers). This final list is limited to the players on the release list. The association must send this final list to FIFA prior to the kick-off of the opening match in accordance with the deadline stipulated in the relevant FIFA circular. 4. The final list of not more than 23 players (showing the full last name(s), all first names, popular name, number on the shirt, position, place and date of birth, passport number, club and country of the club, height, weight, number of caps won, number of goals scored) shall be submitted to the FIFA general secretariat, using the official form for this purpose. Only the numbers 1 to 23 may be allocated to these players, with number 1 being reserved exclusively for one of the goalkeepers. The shirt numbers for the remaining two goalkeepers may be any of the numbers between 2 and 23. The numbers on the back of the shirts shall correspond with the numbers indicated on the final list. Only these 23 players (except in cases of force majeure recognised by the FIFA Organising Committee) will be permitted to compete in the final competition. 5. The final lists of 23 players will be published by the FIFA general secretariat. 6. A player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury up until 24 hours before the kick-off of his team's first match. The replacement players do not need to be limited to the release list of 30 players. Such replacements must be approved in writing by the FIFA Medical Committee upon receipt and acceptance of a detailed medical assessment in one of the four official FIFA languages. The FIFA Medical Committee will approve the request if the injury is suffi ciently serious to prevent the player from taking part in the competition. The participating member association shall inform FIFA accordingly of the player's full details (cf. art. 26, par. 4) at the same time as when submitting the request to replace the injured player. 7. All 23 players shall be named on the list of players for each match (11 selected players and 12 substitutes). Up to a maximum of three of the substitutes may take the place of the selected players at any time during the match. 8. Not more than 23 people (11 offi cials and 12 substitutes) shall be allowed to sit on the substitutes' bench. 9. Before the start of the final competition, all listed players must prove their identity, nationality and age by producing their legally valid individual passport with photograph (stating day, month and year of birth). Any player who fails to submit his passport will not be allowed to take part in the final competition. Every player must also sign a declaration of compliance wherein he agrees to submit to these Regulations. 10. To protect players from burn-out before the final competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the following dates shall apply: 16 May 2010 Final match day at club level for the 30 players nominated on the release lists for the fi nal competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. 17-23 May 2010 Mandatory rest period for the players on the release lists. Players of the two teams involved in the UEFA Champions League Final on 22 May 2010 will be granted permission to play, by way of exception, by the FIFA Executive Committee. 24 May – 10 June 2010 The preparation phase for the participating members associations in the final competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Source: Regulations, 2010 World Cup South Africa, pages 33 to 35, retrieved April 14th, 2010. So again, here’s how it seems to work: May 11th is the deadline for preliminary 30 man World Cup squads. If you don’t make this list of 30, you’re basically not going. Deadline for cutting this 30 man squad down to 23 is “prior to the kick-off of the opening match in accordance with the deadline stipulated in the relevant FIFA circular.” The recent quote from Raymond Domenech seems to suggest that said deadline has been circulated, and is June 1st. However, other media outlets disagree. ESPN recently claimed the deadline was June 5th. Seems this Deutsche Presse-Agentur release is where ESPN got the June 5th date from, but said release also believes the preliminary squads will be made up of 35 and not 30 players, which directly contradicts the FIFA doc. So, basically we’re not sure. But “early June” would be a good guess for the actual deadline, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of teams named their squads even earlier than that. Three other thoughts: Why does FIFA need to know every player’s weight? Will they be making a special World Cup edition of The Biggest Loser? The document clearly states that every 23 man squad must contain three goalkeepers. So anyone arguing for their squad to take only two keepers and an extra outfield player should cease and desist. FIFA should just make the final deadline date public. It’s almost as if they’re paying more attention to the coaches and federations than they are to this blog.

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