World Cup 2006 Blog

Weekend Predictions: Victory for El Diego, Frustration for France, Survival for Sven Posted: 27 Mar 2009 04:00 AM PDT Very little club football this weekend, it’s all about World Cup qualifying. Below are my picks for three games, one from COMNEBOL, one from UEFA and one from CONCACAF. And I dare you - make that double dare you - to leave your own predictions in the comments. Argentina vs Venezuela (March 28th, Buenos Aires, 19:10) Diego Maradona started with friendly wins over Scotland and France. Which are all well and good… but now it’s time for the real deal. This is El Diego’s first “proper” game in charge - a World Cup qualifier - and also his first game on Argentinean soil. The albiceleste sit third in the CONMEBOL Word Cup qualifying table. Top four make it, fifth goes to a playoff. So Diego’s team are in a decent position, but after his very public row with Juan Roman Riquelme he needs a performance to convince everyone it’s all good. If this doesn’t go well, questions will be asked. As for Venezuela? Fifth place isn’t impossible (only three points out) but it doesn’t look all that likely either. Prediction: A convincing Riquelme-less 3-0 win for Argentina. Odds: Argentina 1-6, Draw 11-2, Venezuela 12-1 3-0 to Argentina: 11-2 Leo Messi first goalscorer 7-2 Sergio Aguero first goalscorer 4-1 More odds at PaddyPower Bonus Prediction: Maraguero will need burping at halftime. Lithuania vs France (March 28th, Kaunas, 21:45) How Raymond Domenech still has the French job is anyone’s guess. But if France’s cringeworthy Euro 2008 performance didn’t get him fired, then this WC2010 qualification campaign definitely will. It started with a defeat to Austria, picked up a bit with a win over Serbia and then sank down again with a draw against Romania. A win over surprise second placed team Lithuania would work wonders for Domenech’s job security, a draw would leave him wobbly. A defeat would see Arsene Wenger’s phone ringing. Prediction: A 1-1 draw, that Lithuania will be very happy with. France not so much. Odds: Lithuania 5-1, Draw 13-5, France 8-13 1-1 draw: 11-2 Karim Benzema to score first goal: 5-1 More odds at PaddyPower Bonus Prediction: Patrice Evra will not be signing autographs. Mexico vs Costa Rica (March 28th, Mexico City, 17:00) Sven Goran Eriksson is very much the Mexican Domenech. Or the Swedish Domenech. Either way, he’s not popular with El Tri fans right now. Mexico are bottom of the CONCACAF hexagonal after just one game - that 2-0 defeat to USA, while Costa Rica are top. The intriguing thing about this game isn’t just the gigantic sword dangling over Sven’s shiny sloping forehead, it’s the fact that Costa Rica are the only team ever to win a WC qualifying game at the legendary Azteca - the famous Aztecazo of 2001. Will history repeat itself? Prediction: Probably not. Sven might not be the most gifted of international managers, but he was always lucky. I see a poor performance but a 1-0 win. Odds: Mexico 4-7, Draw 5-2, Costa Rica 9-2 More odds at PaddyPower Bonus Prediction: Someone will arrange a special playoff match between Mexico and France, on neutral territory. Winning manager gets to keep his job. Pay Offshore Oscar a visit on Bet Offside, to see who he’s backing in Wales vs Finland, Ireland vs Bulgaria and Paraguay vs Uruguay. Time for a look at last week’s predictions. Here’s what I went with: Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa Roma 1-2 Juventus Houston 2-0 Columbus Here’s what actually happened: Liverpool 5-0 Aston Villa Roma 1-4 Juventus Houston 1-1 Columbus So I score four points in total. One each for having the correct winner of the ‘Pool and Juve games, another for predicting Villa going goalless, and one more for predicting Roma’s single goal. (Is everyone happy with the scoring system by the way? Haven’t heard any feedback since we changed it. Basically the old one was one point for correct result (W,D,L) and two extra points for correct score. New one is one point for correct result, one bonus point for home team correct score, one bonus point for away team correct score). Incredibly, four points is enough to give me the win. My first ever. But congratulations also to Helge and Jem who both got three points, as well as Javier, Drabik and Revalesq who all got two points. So, what do you think for this weekend’s games? Argentina - Venezuela Lithuania - France Mexico - Costa Rica

Daily Dose: March 26th, 2009. Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:00 PM PDT Stuff to read while you watch prisoners punished by facing Zizou…… Somebody stole all of Kenya’s kits and 2,000 balls. (Football 365) UEFA names the match-fixing club. No, you’ve never heard of them. (uefa) Robinho & Adriano have learned…precisely nothing, party all night. (The Spoiler) A two-week odyssey of Bayern v Barca previews. (Dreams Of My Tiger) Fred Rutten of Schalke sacked and…is that Ollie Kahn’s theme music? (ESPN) How to @#$5 up the Cruijff penalty, by Portugal U-21’s. (Off The Post) Your daily dose of schadenfreude: Jimmy Briand’s knee meets wood chipper. (101 Great Goals)

Maradona May Get His Mug On Money Posted: 26 Mar 2009 04:00 PM PDT What do you do with a known drug-addict, an admitted adulterer, a glutton, the provider of the sport’s greatest moment of cheating, a man of wildly controversial political views and one who serves as a laughing stock for many outside your country? You put him on money, of course. Argentina is considering putting El Diego on the face of some currency as a way to honor their national coach for his services to football and….late night television? The irony is thick, too, as many in the newer generations will think of Diego more for his stupid comments, (formerly) bloated belly and cocaine addiction rather than his exploits as a fantastically gifted footballer. And what better way to honor one’s image of Diego than snorting coke through a rolled bill with his mug on the front? Could Diego resist that temptation? No holes in this theory. None whatsoever. Nope. According to the founder of the Circulo Filatelico and Numismatico de Santiago del Estero (a monetary organisation in Argentina), Juan Carlos Barron and Maradona could be appearing with the liberator of Argentina, San Martin, for tourism purposes. As Dirty Tackle points out, the last time I looked at a bill and was so inspired by the historic face that I decided to book a vaca was…ummm…never. The strangeness doesn’t stop there, as the competition is quite stiff, too: Whilst Maradona’s inclusion is not certain yet, the Central Bank are known to be considering using writers, Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, and Nobel Prize winners, Luis Federico Leloir and Bernardo Houssay. How, in the name of all that is holy, could they consider using Maradona in lieu of an esteemed writer or Nobel Prize winner? These cats actually contributed something to society. Maradona is, all his extracurricular shenanigans aside, just an athlete. A great one, but still just an athlete. Then again, there may be more to this than meets the eye. Diego reportedly owes the Italian government a tidy sum in back taxes (like a tidy €30m), and one needn’t a wild imagination to see Maradona handing over a fresh stack equating to half the sum and saying, “it’s worth twice as much because it bears my face, see”. Diego always was a cunning bastard, wasn’t he.

Portugal vs Sweden: It’s Do or Die (or Dive?) Posted: 26 Mar 2009 10:16 AM PDT Big game in UEFA World Cup Qualifying this Saturday. Portugal and Sweden are the type of teams that can reasonably expect to qualify for the World Cup, or at least come very very close. But it’s not looking good for either of them in Group 1, where they’re fourth and fifth respectively. All respect to Albania, but you can’t finish below them in a qualifying group and expect a trip to the World Cup. The two teams meet in Portugal this Saturday (March 28th) and defeat for either would be a disaster. A draw wouldn’t be great either, since surprise group leaders Denmark have an easyish game against Malta (and second place Hungary also play Malta three days later). Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suspended for Sweden, but his replacement will be a 37 year old Henrik Larsson. And the formerly dreadlocked striker must have one eye on a managerial career, because he’s already started with the mind games. “I intend speaking with the referee before the match to warn him about Ronaldo diving,” Larsson told the Daily Mail. “We must be careful, as a team, not to get caught out by that, but so must the referee. I will be having a word with him and telling him to keep an eye out for it.” Larsson has seen Ronaldo up close and personal while on loan at Man Utd in 2007, but that was 2007. It’s now 2009, and even the harshest C-Ron critics will have to admit that his diving has improved. And by improved I mean he does it a lot less, not that he’s getting really good at it.

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Sporting News Today: Big East beasts motor on in NCAA Tournament

MAMUDU, Your March 27, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue DeCourcy: It's the Big East's world Memphis spotlight on Griffin, Lawson Michigan QB Sheridan sidelined with fracture in leg NFL Draft: SNT scouts rank top 1O inside linebacker prospects MLB: Yankees to try Jeter at leadoff, Damon at No. 2 If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&37547&125185&13191&0000&1236447965&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207

World Cup 2006 Blog

Battle of the Acronyms: UEFA & FIFA Stand Up To WADA Posted: 25 Mar 2009 12:55 PM PDT And the price may be quite high. Since WADA implemented its ‘whereabouts’ campaign - it “requires athletes in all sports to give drug-testers three months’ notice of their whereabouts for one hour each day of the year” - the walls have been shaking with fury. It’s a pretty unapologetic intrusion into the lives of athletes and has been decried as such from all corners - some, many in Belgium, have even begun legal proceedings against the WADA’s conspiracy to take over the world. UEFA & FIFA have agreed and will not comply, but the cost may come in the form of Olympic football. The gist of the two footy associations’ unhappiness looks something like this: FIFA and UEFA say there are “fundamental differences” between an individual athlete training alone and one who spends six days a week training or playing with a team and is “thus easy to locate.” The bodies also called for players to get a special exemption during their offseason, which typically runs from mid-May through the end of June. They said they “do not accept that controls be undertaken during the short holiday period of players, in order to respect their private life.” How would you like to be on vacation and have to give your ‘whereabouts’ three months in advance? Nice, huh? And it’s not as though football is a massive violator in this area, either. From 2004-08 an annual average of 25,000 players were pee tested. An average of 10 were found guilty of unpure training methods. Or 0.04%. This ain’t the Tour de France. The problem comes, of course, in tournaments where WADA wields its overwhelming power, such as the Olympics. If a sport doesn’t comply with the standards WADA has set forth via the IOC, it’s bye bye Olympic participation. “It’s in the IOC charter that any non-compliant federation can be removed from the Olympic program," he said before adding: “If you’re going to be way out in left field you’re going to be pretty lonely.” But would this necessarily be such a bad thing? It’s already been discussed before and Olympic football really doesn’t make a great deal of sense in the grand scheme. FIFA already has a U-20 World Cup, which is essentially what they’re proposing the Olympics become. Or, if they’d like, FIFA could just create a U-23 World Cup (plus lifelines), which is precisely what the Olympics are now. One which doesn’t take place during the beginning of European domestic seasons. And really, wouldn’t putting to bed one of the largest issues permeating club v country do wonders for football relationships and maybe even extend some lives? From a certain perspective, one could actually think of this as something of a “two birds, one stone” situation. Then again, Sepp Blatter is involved, which means there’s only one possible outcome: disaster.

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Sporting News Today predicts tonight's NCAA Tournament winners

MAMUDU, Your March 26, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue DeCourcy: Why Pitt, UConn, Memphis, Duke will win tonight Player diary: Kyle Singler says Duke is ready for Villanova Spring Training: Center field battles at forefront for contenders NFL Draft: SNT scouts rank the Top 10 outside linebacker prospects Magic beat Celtics to move into second in Eastern Conference If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&37402&125001&13138&0000&1236447883&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207

World Cup 2006 Blog

Zidane’s Son To Make His International Debut…For Spain. Posted: 24 Mar 2009 03:00 PM PDT Yes, you read that headline correctly. Now try and soak it in. Try and soak in the fact that France’s greatest ever footballing export will see his son pull on the rival international colors of the hottest car in the showroom at the moment. Enzo Zidane was born in France, when papa was merely a fresh debutant for Les Bleus and still a ways off from being thought of as the (second?) greatest footballer of his generation. When dad moved to Torino and then off to Madrid, Enzo tagged along, as you’d expect. The family still lives in Madrid - eight years now - and Petit Zizou, the real one, is playing for Real’s youth team, and thus Enzo has decided that he would rather play for Spain, the country which produced his maternal grandparents. Now this is only U-15 and there’s nothing to say he’ll actually get the opportunity to contemplate reversing his choice in nationality and if he does get that opportunity, which he would choose as his senior country. There are precedents, of course, but none with a papa of Zinedine’s stature. The closest one can come is actually another Spaniard, Bojan, whose Serbian father played in Spain and whose mother is Spanish. Only difference there is that Bojan was actually born inside the walls, whereas Enzo was born in France. Enzo might turn out to be nothing more than the next Jordi Cruijff - which isn’t all that bad, mind you, but papa he is not - or the next Diego Maradona bastard, but this must still sting a great deal for France as the true heir to the throne as “Next Zizou” and the son of its greatest ever player chooses what is currently the greener grass.

World Cup 2010 = Beijing 2008? Posted: 24 Mar 2009 10:21 AM PDT With World Cup 2010 getting closer every day, South Africa could do with a bit of good PR. So the global peace conference scheduled to be in Johannesburg this week - to promote soccer and World Cup 2010 as instruments of harmony - probably seemed like a good idea. Until it all went wrong that is. Without getting too much into the politics of it, seems China put pressure on South Africa to deny a visa to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, because (according to spokesman Thabo Masebe) it “would not be in South Africa's best interests.” In response, three of the scheduled guests - Nobel Peace prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and F.W. de Klerk, plus executive director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad - decided it wouldn’t be in their best interests to attend a sham conference. And so the whole thing was cancelled and South Africa has a world of negative headlines to deal with. Good work fellas. The South African - and Chinese - argument is that wherever the Dalai Lama goes, the issue of Tibetan freedom gets attention. And they didn’t want the peace conference being overshadowed by that. But the cancellation has already gotten way more attention than the actual conference would have. So that didn’t work out too well for them. No good can ever come of denying a visa to a Nobel Peace Prize winner (the Dalai Lama won in 1989). And I’ll tell you this: I wanted to use an image of the Dalai Lama looking angry to go with this post. But apparently no such photo exists. The one you see above is the closest I could get. Despite all the sh*t he has to put up with, the guy is always always smiling. Which is pretty impressive. I’m still optimistic about World Cup 2010, and I’m still predicting some outstanding football next summer (we’ll have a better idea in about three months time, when South Africa hosts the 2009 Confederations Cup). But I’m not so confident about South Africa’s political maneuvering. The one thing I remember from the Beijing Olympics 2008 was that it didn’t make China - or the Olympics - look too good. More than a couple of shady things happened, epitomized by the Milli Vanilli trick they pulled with that little singing girl. Let’s hope South Africa learns fast and doesn’t tarnish the reputation of the World Cup with any similar shenanigans.

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Sporting News Today: Labor, player issues persist into NFL offseason

MAMUDU, Your March 25, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue The NFL issues that remain on the front-burner Five individual matchups to watch in Sweet 16 George Kell dies: Fellow Tigers legend Ernie Harwell remembers Hall of Famer NFL Draft: Percy Harvin scouting report Cubs' Piniella still won't tip his hand on closer choice If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&37287&120186&13108&0000&1236447813&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207

World Cup 2006 Blog

Sepp Blatter’s Magical Money Making Machine Posted: 23 Mar 2009 03:40 PM PDT If you’ve been reading the real world non-football news (and I don’t recommend it right now) then you’ll know there’s a whole world of economic bleakness out there. But in FIFA-land? All is sunshine, lollipops and big profits. FIFA announced their 2008 figures on Friday, and… ker-ching! Revenues are up and profits are good. Sepp Blatter and friends took in $957 million in 2008 (compared to $882m in 2007) and spent just $773m (compared to $883m in 2007) for a total profit of $184m. And while most financial institutions were either wobbling or collapsing at the end of last year, FIFA even did some smart financial stuff that I don’t quite understand: “FIFA even made a profit of $16 million in managing its assets last year. Its equity stands at $902 million, boosted by a successful policy of hedging foreign currency.” (Does that mean they dropped foreign currency in a hedge, and then came back a year later to find it was still there, and worth more than when they left it?) In a way, it’s good news that FIFA is doing well. Because if the governing body goes under, that would spell trouble for the beautiful game. But seeing FIFA - which is supposed to be a governing/administrative body and not a for-profit business - make out so well in 2008 while everyone else struggled is pretty remarkable. It basically underlines the idea/fact that FIFA is now a corporate monolith that makes a fortune selling TV licensing, merchandise and sponsorship. The estimated revenue for World Cup 2010 is apparently $3.2 billion. Imagine how many AIG retention bonuses you could pay with that?

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Sporting News Today: Which Sweet 16 players have NBA scouts drooling?

MAMUDU, Your March 24, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue Our 12-man roster of the Tournament's top prospects Xavier has a major issue with 'mid-major'label NFL: Stafford gets stamp of approval from Hall of Famer Handicapping the playoff push in the NHL's Western Conference Is Schilling Hall-worthy? Two peers weigh in If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&37190&119787&13081&0000&1236447752&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207