Monday, June 15, 2009

World Cup 2006 Blog

World Cup 2006 Blog

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Confederations Cup: Great Start for Spain and Fernando Torres, Not so Much for South Africa and Bernard Parker

Posted: 15 Jun 2009 01:10 AM PDT

The 2009 Confederations Cup finally kicked off yesterday in Johannesburg. Highlights of the opening ceremony in the stadium formerly known Ellis Park (now Soda-Pop Park) are above.

Gives us a nice little preview of what the 2010 World Cup will look and feel like, no? And have to say it’s got me more than a little excited. Though not as excited as Sepp Blatter, apparently.


The opening game didn’t quite match the occasion. Hosts South Africa were held 0-0 by a non-too-adventurous Iraq in front of 52,522. It really should have finished 1-0 to Bafana Bafana, but Kagisho Dikgacoi’s 84th minute goalbound header was blocked on the line by Bernard Parker. In case you can’t tell from the name, Parker does not play for Iraq.

Parker was admirably philosophical afterwards, telling reporters:

“I can’t turn back the hands of time. I’ll just have to put it behind me and focus on our next game. But when the ball hit me, I just wanted to drop dead on the spot. It happens, it’s football.”

Although somewhat predictably, only the sensational part about him wanting to drop dead made the headlines. I wonder what Benni McCarthy - left out of the Confed Cup squad by coach Joel Santana - thinks about South Africa’s failure to score…

Spain found it a lot easier to put ball in net in yesterday’s second Group A game, routing New Zealand 5-0 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg (start learning these stadium names people, you’ll need them next summer) as Fernando Torres helped himself to a 17 minute hat-trick, the fastest in Confederations Cup history:

Cesc Fabregas and David Villa also got on the scoresheet. Plus Spain’s kits looked super-cool, so good day all around for the Spanish.

Only downsides were:

1. Andy Boyens fail to let Villa score (1:30 in the above vid), and

2. Just 21,649 people in a 45,000 seater stadium, despite some tickets costing just $8.75. Too early to worry about World Cup crowds just yet though (because I wouldn’t pay to watch New Zealand play either).

Things get a lot more exciting today, as Group B (the one with the proper teams in it) begins. It’s Brazil vs Egypt in Bloemfontein (4pm local time, 3pm UK time, 10am US Eastern) followed by Italy vs USA in Pretoria (8:30pm local, 7:30pm UK, 2:30pm US Eastern).

[Parker block vid and Spain 5-0 NZ vid via 101GG]
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SN Today: Lakers' Bryant, Jackson add to legacies with title

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

World Cup 2006 Blog

World Cup 2006 Blog

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Chile Win the Toulon Tournament

Posted: 13 Jun 2009 05:10 PM PDT

This goal from Gerson Martinez was enough to beat France 1-0 and win the Toulon Under-21 Tournament for Chile.

If you’re unfamiliar with The Toulon Tournament, it’s basically a non-FIFA U-21 tournament with invitational teams. Despite (or maybe because of) it’s unofficial stratus, teams still take it pretty seriously.


Great week for Chilean football, as the senior team won both its World Cup qualifiers are now sits second in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. (If you’re interested in blogging about La Roja here on WCB, then give this a read.)

Argentina finished third in Toulon, beating the Netherlands in the third place playoff with this free kick from Diego Buonanotte:

Buonanotte (of River Plate) and Martinez (of San Luis) finished the tourney as joint top scorers with four each.

The more official UEFA Under-21 European Championship kicks off on Monday, June 15th.
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SN Today: Missing minicamp won't help Favre if he wants to play again

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Saturday, June 13, 2009

SN Today: With Cup in hand, Penguins are poised for dominant run

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Friday, June 12, 2009

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Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Photos: One Year From The Big Day…..

Posted: 11 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT

It’s June 11th 2009 and on June 11th, 2010, the World Cup will kick off in South Africa. Thus the South Africans decided to throw a little soiree for the one year countdown at Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town. South African prez Jacob Zuma was there, along with various dignitaries and people who either put up the money for the tournament or stand to make money from the tournament. Or both. And somehow, things are looking up, with stadiums appearing capable of completion within the year.

Thankfully, this is not one of the Confederations Cup stadiums.

Jacob Zuma throws a bit of confusion into the equation.

Soccer City has some holes….

….ok, a lot of holes.

Your 2009 Confederations Cup Predictions Please…

Posted: 11 Jun 2009 09:40 AM PDT

The 2009 Confederations Cup (too may syllables, can we call it the Confed Cup for short? Or maybe the Con Cup?) kicks off in just three days time. You can see the full fixture list and TV schedule here, and a complete set of squads/rosters here.

No, it’s not the tournament that players all dream of winning. And yes, the trophy itself looks a bit like the World Cup trophy’s inbred cousin. But once we get going on Sunday, you can guarantee that all eight teams will be playing to win. So my big question right now: Who’s going to lift that inbred looking trophy?


The bookies make Spain the favourites, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see either Brazil or Italy walk away as winners. And maybe someone like Egypt or the USA can pull off a shock?

Before we get on with the predictions, here’s a quick reminder of the groups:

Group A
Iraq
New Zealand
South Africa
Spain

Group B
Brazil
Egypt
Italy
USA

I think we can all agree that Spain will win Group A. Only question is by how much.

South Africa’s results have been improving under Joel Santana (Bafana Bafana have beaten both Norway and Poland in friendlies this year) and they’ll want to impress in front of their own fans. I’m backing them to finish second.

I’m hoping/expecting to see Iraq give a good account of themselves and finish third. Winning the Asian Cup in 2007 was a pretty big deal and they beat Australia, South Korea and Saudi Arabia along the way. Keep an eye on striker Younis Mahmoud, the 26 year old wears the captain’s armband and was the 2007 Asian Cup player of the tournament.

Last and least: New Zealand. All the best to the All Whites, but because they’re stuck in Oceania this team very rarely gets to face any decent opposition.

So, for Group A I’m predicting:
1. Spain
2. South Africa
3. Iraq
4. New Zealand

Now for the tough one…

My money’s on Brazil to win Group B (or at least it would be if I had any). After this past week’s wins over Uruguay (4-0) and Paraguay (2-1) they’re riding high at the top of the CONMEBOL qualifying table. There are no semi-fit superstars to worry about, Kaka just got his big move, and even Robinho has discovered his unselfish gene.

I see Italy finishing runners up. Despite Lippi’s return, the Azzurri seem to be in a semi-transition period right now, caught between the old guard and the next generation. And yesterday’s narrow 4-3 friendly win over New Zealand won’t have done much for confidence.

The USA are also in an odd situation. From kings of CONCACAF, to calls for Bob Bradley to go after the defeat in Costa Rica, and then back to normality with a 2-1 win over Honduras. Ultimately the Confed(erations) Cup will be a good chance to play competitive football against the best in the world and see how they match up. I predict they’ll do well (maybe a creditable draw against either Italy or Brazil?) but not well enough to make the semi-fnals.

Finally, Egypt. The Pharaohs made me a fan with the way they won the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, and I’m looking forward to seeing Aboutrika, Hassan and Zidan in action again. But World Cup qualifying final round results have been sloppy, the - 3-1 defeat to Algeria leaving them winless after two games - so this is a team in bad form and facing three tough games.

So, my final Group B looks like this:
1. Brazil
2. Italy
3. USA
4. Egypt

Which means my semi-final matchups would be:

Spain vs Italy
Brazil vs South Africa

I’d back Spain (just) and Brazil (definitely) to win those games, giving us a pretty exciting final of:

Spain vs Brazil

Tough to call this imaginary game I’ve setup, but my gut tells me Brazil will win after an entertainingly close 90 minutes.

So that’s how I see this thing going. How about you? I’ll give you a template to cut and paste so you can leave your predictions:

Group A
1.
2.
3.
4.

Group B
1.
2.
3.
4.

Eventual winner:
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