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Thursday, September 17, 2009
Georgia Tech at Miami: Former heavyweights look to regain relevancy
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Week 1 stinkers: NFL players who need to panic after lousy opening outings
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog |  |
| Photo: Diego Maradona Gets A Brazilian Posted: 14 Sep 2009 02:30 PM PDT Sincerest apologies for any mental images that may conjure up. Late last week someone hacked the Argentina FA’s website and placed a (hopefully) Photoshopped pic of their coach on the site - more precisely, that one right there - with the words “A picture says a thousand words” underneath. This would imply that Diego is running the Argentine national team into the ground as though a Brazilian double agent. Which he is. (The running into the ground part, not the Brazilian double agent.) As you might guess, this did not go over well. The website has since been hurtled into oblivion and may never return. Much like Diego, if rumors persist.        |
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Sporting News Today: Can the Angels extend their streak of A.L. West dominance?
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Monday, September 14, 2009
World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog | |
| Top 10 Players Who Never Made A World Cup Posted: 13 Sep 2009 06:14 AM PDT
And while both Messi and Ronaldo have played at World Cups before, I thought it would be a timely reminder of ten players who weren’t lucky enough, for whatever reason, to play in the biggest tournament in World Football. It might be because they played for a country who never made it, or because they fell out with management, or because they had somebody better than them ahead of them. But food for thought - Stéphane Guivarc’h has played at a World Cup, and none of these players have. 10 Abedi Pele A World Cup in Africa, so its only right we start with the player who bought so much prominence to African Football in the first place. The three time African Footballer of the Year had success in Germany and Italy, but mostly in France, where he was an instrumental part of the Marseille side that picked up a Champions League medal (against a formidable AC Milan side, no less) unfortunately, despite the dual talents of himself and Tony Yeboah for Ghana, they never made a World Cup. 09 Johnny Giles and Ryan Giggs The two have a number of similarities. They played completely differently - Giggs known for his silky skills and speed, Giles known for his win-at-all-costs mentality, but they both helped to define clubs that dominated eras in English Football, Giles as part of the 1970s Leeds United team that won a number of titles and Giggs as part of Man United’s 1990/00s teams that won everything there was to win. Neither made it to a World Cup though - Giles Republic of Ireland never making the cup, exactly as Ryan Giggs’ Wales never did. 08 Matthew Le Tissier One of the best footballers of his generation, it remains a little bit of a mystery why Le Tiss, never made a World Cup although there are a couple of reasons. First, no-one knew exactly where he played, sometimes as an attacking midfielder, sometimes a forward. Second managers tended to want to play him in midfield, where England already had Paul Gascoigne, a national treasure and as big a talent. Lastly, he loyally spent his entire career at Southampton, meaning he was never tested on as big a stage as he should have been. 07 Eric Cantona He might have defined the Man United team of the 1990s, but he never made it to a World Cup for France, despite being first capped in the late 1980s. He had fallen out with management before the 1990 World Cup so wasn’t selected for France’s Italian adventure, he was apart of the squad that failed to make the 1994 World Cup, and he retired in 1997, a year before France won the World Cup. He probably wouldn’t have been picked anyway. 06 Duncan Edwards Speak to absolutely anyone of a certain age in England, and they’ll tell you how good Duncan Edwards was. Bobby Charlton called him the best player he ever played with. There is very little footage left of Edwards, who was killed in the 1958 Munich Air Disaster, but if he’s a tenth as good as people say, its a massive shame he never made a World Cup. 05 Valentino Mazzola Similarly to Edwards, was killed before his time. There was a time in Italy, where Juventus were not Turin’s most talented team. Torino snatched Mazzola during the war from under the nose of Juve, and he led Torino to league title after league title as they dominated the post-war Serie A. Sadly, the entire team was killed in an air crash leaving one of Italy’s most talented players with just 12 caps. 04 Bernd Schuster Voted second best player of the 1980 European Championships (which Germany won), Schuster sensationally retired from international football aged 24, after repeatedly falling out with the German FA. He decided to go home and see his baby son be born instead of playing for his country, which caused a national scandal and he walked away from the chance to play at any World Cup for his country. 03 George Weah Another case of the most talented player in the world playing for a country - Liberia - that were never good enough to make the cut. Weah mesmerised Europe, especially when he did things like this for AC Milan, and he won World, European and African footballer of the year. In 1994 there was undoubtedly a feeling that one of the best players in the game was not at the World Cup. 02 George Best Possibly the most famous big name never to make a World Cup, Best played for Northern Ireland, who never made the World Cup. You probably don’t need reminder of his ability on the ball though, as he lit up English football (and picked up a European Cup with Man United) for years and years. Eternal proof that you can’t qualify (let alone win) a World Cup with just the best player in the world playing for you. 01 Alfredo Di Stefano Described by Pele as better than a certain El Diego, and yet bizarrely, the Real Madrid legend never played in a World Cup. The reasons though, are more complicated than some of the others above. Born in Argentina, he played for his country, but they didn’t play in the 1950 World Cup. He then became a Colombian international, and never made a World Cup. He became a Spanish National in 1956, but the Spanish didn’t qualify for the 1958 World Cup. Finally he led them to the 1962 Finals, but he got injured before the tournament and couldn’t play.   |
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The NFL is back: 19 pages of Week 1 coverage
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sporting News Today: 31-page college football extra
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog | |
| Why I Want Diego Maradona to Succeed Posted: 11 Sep 2009 08:58 AM PDT
Understandably, Argentina fans are not happy. To quote Julian D from the Argentina blog “I’m just as angry and annoyed as anyone here about Maradona. I now also want him out.” Rather than getting into whether El Diego should resign or be fired (neither looks like happening), I’ve been thinking about why I’d prefer to see him succeed. There are all kinds of reasons to dislike Maradona (Hand of God, etc) but I’d really much prefer to see him a) not get fired, and b) qualify for the World Cup with Argentina. As I understand it, Maradona is a national institution in Argentina. As the greatest ever player in a football obsessed nation, how could he not be? He’s the man who won the 1986 World Cup in glorious fashion, and that can’t ever be taken away from him. But failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup would go some way to tarnishing his achievements. Not everyone (both inside and outside Argentina) approves of the way El Diego conducts himself. But until now that hadn’t mattered. He always had that legendary football career to bolster his reputation. No matter how many times Maradona fired an air rifle at reporters, he was still a footballing genius. And though playing football and coaching football are two very different things, in terms of reputation it’s the same thing. So if Maradona fails to get Argentina to South Africa, then that will be one of the things he’s remembered for. There will be some younger Argentina fans for whom this is their Maradona memory, which would be a shame. Of course, much of this is Maradona’s fault for thinking he was capable of coaching the Argentina national team. Even when his (very short) track record suggested otherwise. But from where I’m sitting, the Argentina FA are equally to blame. It was a shamelessly populist move from Julio Grondona and co, so they must share responsibility. But mostly I want Maradona to succeed because it will make an excellent story next summer. Can you imagine? A Maradona-led Argentina team in South Africa will provide all kinds of highs, lows, drama and entertainment. I also suspect that the team has a better chance of performing under Maradona in a tournament situation, where it all plays out in one intense month, than over the course of a season. But unless Argentina qualify, we’ll never know.   |
Diego Maradona’s spell in charge of Argentina is not going well. The albiceleste are fifth in CONMEBOL qualifying right now, and could very well wind up in a playoff game vs the fourth place CONCACAF team for a World Cup 2010 spot. Or they could finish sixth and just be eliminated.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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College football Week 2: 11 pages of Top 25 previews, predictions and player diaries
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Friday, September 11, 2009
World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog | |
- Germany Continues Stacking European Trophies
- The WAG Circus Is Not Welcome In South Africa
- Photo: The Brilliance of Blur.
- Predicting the World Cup Lineup of 32
- World Cup Champions for a Day
| Germany Continues Stacking European Trophies Posted: 11 Sep 2009 04:10 AM PDT England must loathe coming up against Germany in European finals these days. For the second time in two months, a UEFA final was won by Germany over England by a rather not close four goal margin. Four to nil was the score in the U21 final in June, and six to two was the final in yesterday’s title game for the Weuros (that’s Women’s Euros in Offsidespeak). Having perused the highlights, I’ve decided this was an Eredivisie game: some nice attacking and technical abilities on show, but defense off on holiday somewhere. The scoreline even matches up nicely with the typical weekend Dutch encounter. And if you can only do one highlight, make it Melanie Behringer’s goal at 1:10. Eat your heart out, Cristiano.   |
| The WAG Circus Is Not Welcome In South Africa Posted: 11 Sep 2009 12:10 AM PDT
Rio decided to put football first by launching a digital magazine which focuses on what people are wearing and where they’re going. Anywho, WAGs 2.0, the new batch which will overtake South Africa, will only do so for one day at a time.
In other words: post-game conjugal visits. Of course The WAG Circus will still be doing its rounds, showing off its freak show (hello, Victoria) and not-so-secretly pandering to the paparazzi, but at least they won’t be interrupting the English national team in the process. Good news for England all around. Then again, I’d be much less worried about any pop-ins by Carla or Cheryl than I would about one by Steve or Sven.   |
| Photo: The Brilliance of Blur. Posted: 10 Sep 2009 05:16 PM PDT Caught last night during Brazil’s win over Chile.   |
| Predicting the World Cup Lineup of 32 Posted: 10 Sep 2009 10:37 AM PDT
Asia has been kind enough to do the work for us already. All that’s left is a playoff between Bahrain and New Zealand to determine the final participant from the Asia/Oceania region. New Zealand actually drew defending Asian champions Iraq in the Confederations Cup just this past summer, but Sepp Blatter would never allow a team from Oceania to partake in his World Cup. Predicted: Bahrain CdI is 4-0-0 and in first by a margin of 6 points with 2 games to go. They’re going. Eventually. The three remaining groups up for grabs: Cameroon were always the favorites to go through, and after a slow start (0-1-1) have beaten Gabon back-to-back and look to be back on track. The Indomitable Lions are the likeliest of the first batch. The second group is arguably a toss up, with both Tunisia and Nigeria against Kenya and Mozambique (one home, the other away) in the final two. Nigeria would seem to have the talent, but then Tunisia have the two point cushion. With two games against weaker opposition ahead, cushion > talent. Tunisia it is. And finally, Algeria is going to start making noise on the int’l scene (with phrases which don’t end but born in Marseille). They’re going. Here’s where the real predictions begin. Right now two teams look to be, beyond a collapse, nearing that “effectively qualified” territory: Slovakia and Italy. The former as their qualities are just that good these days and the latter because though they may have their weaknesses, they still won’t go down to Cyprus at home on the last day - should it get that far. The classic doing just enough to win team will do just that (see: Euro 2008 qualifying). Group 1: Denmark’s got Nicklas Bendtner backing up his own lofty expectations these days, which bodes well for the Danes, while the clusterfuck below them should be motivation enough to see them through. Plus they’ve got Sweden at home coming up - this the same Swedish team which only beat Malta 1-0 thanks to a Maltese own goal yesterday. Second? Portugal was always the favorite - nothing’s changed there. Sweden, despite the results, just does not look good enough these days. Earlier in qualifying Switzerland lost quite embarrassingly to Luxembourg in Zurich. The Swiss get them next, and they’ll be licking their chops for some equally humiliating revenge, and 20 points should win this group. For second…Greece and Latvia play each other next while they then finish out with home matches against Luxembourg and Moldova, respectively. This gives an incredible weight to the 2nd v 3rd battle, which takes place in Athens. Advantage: Greece. The Czechs, despite thumping The Most Serene Republic of San Marino to the tune of 7-0 yesterday, are in a “rebuilding by hookers” phase. Slovenia are just building, and doing so quite well. Oh, and they get TMSROSM on the final day. +3 and Slovenia it is. Next game: Russia v Germany in Moscow. Delicious. (They’ll both be going somehow, no matter the second placed team draw in the home-and-away playoff. Germany for now.) 10.9.08: B&H 7 - Estonia 0 Enjoy the holidays, Turkey. Croatia: @ Kazakhstan. Don Fabio won’t yank on the reigns in Dnepropetrovsk and they’re looking quite strong these days, so that result may mirror Scotland v Netherlands. Croatia will be the Snow Leopards regardless of location and the state of Luka Modric’s boo boo, much to Borat’s dismay. Croatia to second. The US is going and with Mexico reinvigorated under anyone not named Svennis, they look to be heading back to the WC. The question becomes 3rd/4th place, as the 3rd goes straight to the party while 4th gets a home-and-away with the 5th place in CONMEBOL for one spot. Looming in 5th for South America right now? Argentina. Costa Rica gets Trinidad & Tobago at home then travels to the US for a game which will likely mean nothing for the Americans. Color them the favorites for third and Honduras…well, good luck with that playoff. That red box is the all important 5th spot, currently occupied by Diego’s massive underachievers. Right now there are six teams clamoring for three spots, with Chile a leg up on the rest and looking very, very likely. Uruguay look unlikely as they haven’t done splendidly away from home and they’ll be greeted by a trip to altitude along with a visit from Maradona’s men. Venezuela get Brazil, so they’re also done. Ecuador get Uruguay in Quito, which should seal the deal for them. Yes, Lionel will be going to South Africa after they beat Honduras. Will Diego? That’s another question entirely.
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| Posted: 10 Sep 2009 07:58 AM PDT While the world fawns over Spain, England and Brazil, decries the state of Argentina, and looks curiously at Portugal, the story of the international qualifiers goes unnoticed. A handful of amateur carpenters, fisherman and laborers, in amongst a few professionals, won a football game yesterday. It wasn’t a big game, or a particularly meaningful one in the grand scheme, but it was an official game, and that’s something. For a tiny island nation of 48,000 it means the first competitive victory since 2001, and one of only a few in their history. And perhaps this is what’s so wonderful about World Cup qualifying: not the promise of the world’s greatest tournament, but rather the fight of the teams with no chance. The teams who will never taste a major tournament, filled with players who will never go on display for that big money move, watched by fans who will never bestow the weight of expectation. For them every game is a singular moment in history, not merely one stop on a lengthy journey. Every single game is their World Cup, and the Faroe Islands are champions for a day.   |
The WAG Squad which hit Baden Baden with a fury in 2006 probably got more pages than half the teams actually participating in Germany. While the tabloids loved it, the WAGs themselves loving the tabloids in kind, it was not seen to be in the best interests of the 
The spaces are filling, the available slots are dropping and the fight is coming to an end. Thirty-one of thirty-two spots (South Africa get the free pass as hosts) went up for grabs at the beginning of qualification and ten have now been claimed, with basic arithmetic telling us twenty-one are still left for grabs. Some, of course, are more up for grabs than the others, but that’s no bother, because we’ll lay out the full thirty-two anyway.
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