World Cup 2010 Blog: Reasons To Love (and Hate) All the teams in South Africa

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Reasons To Love (and Hate) All the teams in South Africa Posted: 24 Apr 2010 06:26 AM PDT So with the World Cup coming up, many of you will be looking for a team to follow either as a second team when your team inevitably gets knocked out in the Quarter Finals on Penalties (perhaps that one is just me) or because your team didn’t make it to South Africa. Either way, at some point you are going to need someone to follow. Often this is irrational and you just like a team. Sometimes you need a reason, sometimes you just inexplicably hate someone, or maybe they have a player you like from the club you follow. Either way, you need someone. And what follows is a simple print off and then cut out and keep and lose it and wish you’d never printed it off in the first place guide to all the teams in South Africa and reasons why you should love them, and hate them. Please bear in mind this is a bit of fun, and if this causes people to be outraged and start serious arguments, I may lose my faith in humanity altogether. Group A South Africa Love them Becuase: They are the hosts, and it is always quite nice when the hosts don’t lose interest in the tournament they are supposed to be hosting in the first week. Loathe Them Because: They’re already really good at Rugby and Cricket, they don’t need another string to their bow. France Love them Becuase: This whole World Cup thing was largely their idea in the first place. Loathe Them Because: How they got to this World Cup for starters. Never mind the whole Franck Ribery et al affair rumbling on at the moment. Mexico Love Them Because: They managed to get to the World Cup despite Sven. Loathe Them Because: No-one can resist caricaturing a Mexican while they’re playing. (Again, maybe just me?) Uruguay Love Them Because: They can forever hold the fact that they won the first World Cup over Brazil and Argentina. Loathe Them Because: When was the last time you won one guys? Resting on your laurels a bit there. Group B Argentina Love them Because: Messi. Simply he’s the best player on the planet, and a nice lad. Loathe them Because: Maradona. Simply, he’s the worst manager on the planet. And not a nice guy. Nigeria Love Them Because: They gave us Jay-Jay Okocha. Loathe Them Because: Jay-Jay Okocha has retired. South Korea Love Them Because: They made one of the great small team stories of recent times in 2002. Loathe Them Because: Spain and Italy fans won’t need reminding how everything seemed to conspire for them in that World Cup. Greece Love Them Because: In 2004 they topped South Korea’s little team story by going on to win the Euros out of absolutely nowhere. Loathe Them Because: They played the most teeth grindingly dull football doing it. Group C England Love them Because: This beautiful game (and its spread all over the world) is an English invention. Loathe them Because: The less than cuddly squad includes Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, John Terry etc etc U.S.A Love them Because: It would be a success story if Football actually made it over there. Loathe them Because: Frankly 99% of America doesn’t care, and likely never will. Algeria Love them Because: They produced one of THE qualifying moments to get to this tournament. Loathe them Because: They did sort of get battered by Egypt in the African Cup of Nations, which doesn’t bode well. Slovenia Love them Because: Best shirt at the World Cup. Loathe Them Because: Everyone who doesn’t know much about football (but mysteriously becomes an expert by June) will constantly mix them up with Slovakia untill you literally throttle them. Group D Germany Love them Because: Secretly, they have a wicked sense of humour. Loathe them Because: They always win on penalties. How are you doing it Germany? Holland and England would love to know. Australia Love them Because: They are called the Socceroos. Which is amazing. Loathe them Because: See South Africa. Serbia Love them Because: They qualified ahead of France, which for a shiny new country is marvellous. Loathe them Because: France not winning the group led to that whole Thierry Henry thing. That did get annoying quickly. Ghana Love them Because: Its an African World Cup, lets get behind the African teams, and Ghana are possibly the best hope. Loathe Them Because: How many minutes before you feel really sick watching the team run around in these? Group E Holland Love them Because: They invented Total Football and gave us, Cruyff, Neeskens, Van Basten, Guillit, Rykaard, Bergkamp. And they’ve still never won it. About time eh? Loathe them Because: Still complaining about 1974? Its time to move on guys. Denmark Love them Because: At Euro 92, they managed to win a tournament without even qualifying. That’s quite special. Loathe them Because: They days of the Laudrups and Schmeichels is well over alas. Japan Love them Because: If their team goes out, they choose another one and get behind it. Which is sort of the inspiration behind all this. Loathe them Because: They are playing a match approximately every 17 minutes in the run up to the World Cup, which may mean you are bored of them by then. Cameroon Love them Because: With Roger Milla, they got the ball rolling for African sides on the big stage. Loathe them Because: Their kit this time is surprisingly not controversial. Group F Italy Love them because: They are (mostly, sorry Rino) all really good looking with really nice hair. Especially Pirlo. Loathe them Because: They have (mostly) all already got a World Cup winners medal. They don’t need another. Paraguay: Love them because: The underdog factor – they’ve never been further than the Round of 16. Loathe them Because: José Luis Chilavert, the worlds most entertaining goalkeeper, is now merely a coach. Presumably a free-kick coach. New Zealand Love them Because: The extreme underdog factor. If they win anything in South Africa it’ll be a massive success. Loathe them Because: Like Australia and South Africa they already dominate other sports, particularly Rugby in this case, where they are comparable to Brazil. Slovakia Love them Because: Its their first world cup as an independent nation, which is reason to cheer them, I think. Loathe them Because: See Slovenia. Group G Brazil Love them Because: Well, England might have invented the game, but no-one perfected it like Brazil. Loathe them Because: They are a bit show-offy. And they’ve won it plenty of times before. And their players do insist of wearing gloves if the temperature drops below 70 degrees. North Korea Love them Because: Because of their status politically, there is a number of teams it would be really funny for them to meet. Loathe them Because: Because of their political status, it would be a nightmare logistically for them to meet any number of teams. The Ivory Coast/Côte d’Ivoire Love them Because: They are, on paper Africa’s best chance at the World Cup. Loathe them Because: They showed at the African Cup of Nations they don’t like it when the going gets tough. Which it will. Portugal Love them Because: In Ronaldo they have one of the best players on Earth, and that is what the World Cup is all about. Loathe them Because: In Ronaldo they have one of the most annoying players on Earth, and that is not what the World Cup is about. Group H Spain Love them Because: They play beautiful football no doubt, and have a mouth watering attacking line. Loathe them Because: No-one wants anyone to get too far ahead of themselves, eh? Switzerland Love them Because: They had a really miserable time hosting Euro 2008. They could do with something to bounce back with. Loathe them Because: That damned neutrality. You know they wouldn’t pick a team when theirs gets knocked out. Honduras Love them because: They need all the help they can get against Spain. Loathe them because: That away kit. Chile Love them Because: If they get through, they may face Brazil, and everyone loves a big rivalry on the big stage. Loathe them Because: They might not want to play Brazil considering what happened in 1998.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: Podcast: World Cup 2010 Group F Preview: “But Did He Ever Play for Wolves?”

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Podcast: World Cup 2010 Group F Preview: “But Did He Ever Play for Wolves?” Posted: 23 Apr 2010 12:19 PM PDT It’s Friday, so it must be World Cup preview podcast time again. This week we look at Group F, which features Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia. Your four co-hosts debate the merits of each team in various categories (some serious: Best Coach, some not so much: Best Celebrity Spokesperson) and then add up the points to see which two teams go through. This sixth episode of the Total Football Soccer Show’s World Cup previews was originally broadcast Thursday, April 22nd on WRIR 97.3, and is now available as a podcast. Questions raised include: Does Ricki Herbert sleep? Did Marcello Lippi play for Wolves? Why won’t Robert Carlos apologize for Brazil’s actions in the 19th century? So… Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia. Which two of these these four fine football teams will make the grade? I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that there’s a dramatic finale featuring a tie-braker to decide who takes second place. Click play below to listen. - You can download the mp3 here and you can subscribe via iTunes here. - More World Cup 2010 preview podcasts.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “The Great World Cup Worrydown Commences” plus 4 more

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• The Great World Cup Worrydown Commences
• Slovenia World Cup 2010 Profile
• World Cup Moments: Zidane’s Other World Cup Final Headers
• England World Cup 2010 Team Profile
• France, Thierry Henry & The New Calciopoli

The Great World Cup Worrydown Commences Posted: 23 Apr 2010 03:40 AM PDT As the World Cup comes closer, there’s a palpable excitement which can be felt across all the seas, all the world. It’s called the vuvuzela, and its palpability is that feeling in the ass of your chair as the buzz rocks the globe off its axis. But really, good times are a-comin’ for many, and there’s little which can detract from the swell of excitement which is due as the world’s greatest tournament inches closer. Unfortunately for some, that “little” has come: injuries, and they’re rocking some national teams off their axis like a planetary vuvuzela. This is the point when normally mundane injuries become a fight for fitness, and even a fight for a place. Some coaches would shun their own superstar children if not of the required fitness, so fitness is not merely desired, but necessary for a ticket to South Africa. So from here on out, every injury to a prospective member of South Africa’s fines is worth viewing in the Hubble telescope. Today, sadly, Ivica Dragutinovic was removed from the World Cup by a torn Achilles in training with Sevilla. In fact it’s the same injury suffered by notable absentee David Beckham, which he’ll have operated on by the very same doctor. They’re also both 34, which means the law of three states another 34 year old on the outs of his international career will suffer a torn Achilles before the World Cup. Prayers and requests should be sent to your local shaman. Michael Essien has put his status up in the air with his Chelsea season – a title-chasing season – now over, and the race for fitness now beginning. Spain will be sweating over the fitness of both Cesc and Fernando Torres, though both are likely to show, and likely more sweat in the case of the latter. Del Bosque and Co. want not for midfield creativity and can afford to throw on, oh, I don’t know…Andres Iniesta. Who, speaking of, is also nursing a ‘niggling’ injury which keeps popping up and is worth watching for the tournament. There are plenty others now, too many to list, but we’ll just leave you, and football clubs all over the world, with this: Striker Fernando Torres has denied putting country before club after having a second knee operation which ended his Liverpool season. There will be lots of injuries, and every single one of them should, and likely will, put the World Cup ahead of their clubs. Lead the line, Fernando.

Slovenia World Cup 2010 Profile Posted: 23 Apr 2010 01:10 AM PDT We might be able to toss Slovenia in the “happy to be here” category. For firsts, they have a very humble, and short, World Cup history which consists of three losses and nothing else. Of course making World Cup 2002 was a miracle in itself and brings their record of World Cup qualifying to 2 in 4, a damn fine record for country of their size (2m) and birth date (1992). For seconds, and for bigger, they pulled off perhaps the upset of qualifying by beating Russia, or Guus Hiddink, or Guus Hiddink’s Russia, over two-legs in the second-placed playoffs. It was something incredible, really, because it was almost an “afterthought” goal in the 87th with Russia cruising 2-0 in the first leg. A 1-0 home win later, and the World Cup has no Russia, but Slovenia. This is a fairytale – their fairytale. Nickname: Currently taking suggestions. Group: C; Algeria, England, USA. FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: 29th Coach: Matjaž Kek Not likely to be well-known outside of Slovenia, he’s very much a man of two teams: Slovenia and Maribor. Incidentally, he’s from Maribor, Slovenia. In 2000, after playing for Maribor, Slovenia’s top team, over much of his career, he coached them for six years. He took over a couple of Slovenian youth sides, before being handed the senior side reigns and masterminding victory over one of football’s masterminds. Key Players: One name has continually crept up as possibly turning in World Cup 2010 as its continental arrival: keeper Samir Handanovic. Only 25, he’s been a pillar at Udinese for what seems like ages, and he deserves the ticket to a big club he’s likely to earn in South Africa. One of Europe’s next top keepers. Handanovic, much like this team, is young. Valter Birsa is their precocious and highly gifted winger with pace and skill, while Milivoje Novakovic, a slightly older 30, is the third-leading scorer in national team history with a very modest 14 and will play the point off Slovenia’s Energizer bunny, Zlatko Dedic. The rest of the midfield, with Birsa, is likely to be made up of captain Robert Koren, Andraz Kirm and the desperately in need of a nickname Aleksandar Radosavljevic. The kid to watch is Inter’s Rene Krkhin, 19 years old and 3 caps to his name. The defense isn’t exactly household, but Bostjan Cesar does tower above the rest – at least as his 6′5 frame goes. Player with best YouTube video: This won’t win any cinematography awards, but Samir Handanovic is incredible. Player with best name: Mirnes Šišić. Disregarding the actual surname itself, look at the structure of it – it’s artistic. Each character has a mark of some sort above. Genius, like little brush strokes. Player with best nickname: We’re going to need help with this one – there just aren’t any for the picking. Qualification: A healthy lead into second in the initial stage saw them finish just behind Slovakia, and then a 2-2 away goals win versus heavy favorites Russia won them a second trip to the World Cup. Interesting: There’s every chance Slovenia will have the tallest team at the World Cup – and by some margin. Only four players on their recent call-up list under 180cm. They must be giants. National Anthem: "Zdravljica" ("A Toast") Kit: The away strip, which slightly resembles Charlie Brown’s outfit, gets more pub, but the home strip is refreshingly crisp and clean. You can buy both Slovenia shirts in our store. World Cup History: Expectations: Most of the English speaking world likely considers England and the US the favorites for passage, but Slovenia are very much capable, and very well might, pip that second spot. They have a solid squad, a solid coach and, above all, no weight of expectation. (Which is their expectation, really.) Squad: TBA Blog: Zala covers the Slovenia World Cup Blog. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.

World Cup Moments: Zidane’s Other World Cup Final Headers Posted: 22 Apr 2010 05:10 PM PDT For better or worse (probably worse) the one thing most people know about Zinedine Zidane is that he headbutted Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final. But when we asked for your favourite World Cup moments it was Zidane’s other World Cup final appearance that got the most mentions, and what Zizou did with his head in 1998. As we all know, France beat Brazil 3-0 in that game to win their first ever World Cup. Emannuel Petit got himself on the scoresheet (which seems slightly bizarre in hindsight) but the game was effectively over at that point thanks to two first half headers from a(n almost) fully follicled Zizou. Video below: In some ways, those headers mark the moment that a just turned 26 years old Zinedine Zidane made the trasition from talented footballer to global superstar. Football fans were vaguely aware of Zizou in 1998. He was two years into his Juventus career, and had appeared at Euro ‘96 (though I’d completely forgotten that latter fact before researching this post). So he wasn’t a nobody, but he wasn’t world renowned. Those two headers might not be the quintessential Zizou. Neither features a 360° spin. But they were a fitting end to an impressive tournament and ensured that from that point on, everyone would know the name Zinedine Zidane. - More World Cup Moments.

England World Cup 2010 Team Profile Posted: 22 Apr 2010 12:10 PM PDT England have been drawn into World Cup 2010 Group C, along with Algeria, Slovenia and USA. With Italian coach Fabio Capello at the helm, the blind and misguided arrogance of tournaments past seems to have morphed into a more appropriate and more likeable level of quiet confidence. Unless Wayne Rooney gets injured. Then it’s back to panic and patriotism. You already know about the coach and the key players, but read on to see who has the best name, nickname and YouTube video. Nickname: Three Lions. See above. FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: #7 Coach: The very English sounding Fabio Capello. After entrusting the Euro 2008 campaign to Steve McClaren, and that not going so well, the English FA wanted a serious big name coach with a track record of trophies. Capello has won the Champions League with Milan, as well as league titles in his native Italy with Milan, Roma and (sort of) Juventus,plus two La Liga wins in two different stints at Real Madrid. Not too shabby, and Capello’s reputation and serious demeanor seem to have persuaded the big name England players to treat wearing the white shirt as a privilege instead of a right. Key Players: It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of Wayne Rooney, but that won’t stop me giving it a damn good go. Playing “in the hole” behind the much derided but very functional Emile Heskey, Rooney is somehow England’s chief creator and main source of goals. If Rooney is fit and in form, then England could go far. Without him they lack invention. Simple as that. In midfield Steven Gerrard isn’t having his best season for Liverpool, but is still capable of greatness. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard is much more in form. He provides a genuine goal threat from midfield, but is also more important than he gets credit for in terms of his passing and the way he keeps the ball moving through the middle. The fitness and form of central defender and captain Rio Ferdinand is crucial, while the mental well-being of scandal-tastic former captain John Terry will also be a big factor. Player with best YouTube video: Obviously Rooney and Gerrard have a multitide of highlight reels, but I’m going to go with Arsenal right winger Theo Walcott here. Because the kid looks quick, even in slo-motion. Player with best name: Has to be Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey. Just for the Ivanhoe part. I’m also partial to Peter Crouch, just because it’s so oddly appropriate. Player with best nickname: Ashley Cole is still known as Cashley after his big money move from Arsenal to Chelsea. And that’s the polite way of explaining it. Qualification: After the Euro 2008 qualification disaster, England were handed a chance at revenge when they were paired with Croatia again. They didn’t waste it, beating Slaven Bilic’s men 4-1 away and 5-1 at home. England qualified top of UEFA Group 6, six points clear of Ukraine, and didn’t drop a single point until after qualification was secured. Wayne Rooney was joint second top scorer in European qualifying with nine goals. Interesting: You probably already know this, but John Terry was stripped of the captaincy back in February, when an alleged (is it still alleged?) affair with the then girlfriend of England (and former Chelsea) teammate Wayne Bridge was revealed in the press. Bridge is refusing to play for England while John Terry is involved, even with first choice left back Ashley Cole possibly injured, but Capello is sticking with Terry. So Bridge will stay home this summer, while Terry goes to South Africa. Time will tell if that was the right choice. Also interesting (or at least worth noting) - Big names David Beckham and Michael Owen will miss the tournament through injury, but won’t be particularly missed. National Anthem: Not actually the English national anthem, but “God Save the Queen” is always played before England games: More on this national anthem here. Kit: White shirt, white short, white socks. Very white. Buy your England World Cup jersey here. World Cup History: 1950 – First Round 1954 – Quarter-finals 1958 – First Round 1962 – Quarter-finals 1966 – Winners 1970 – Quarter-finals 1982 – Second Round 1986 – Quarter-finals 1990 – Semi-finals 1998 – Second Round 2002 – Quarter-finals 2006 – Quarter-finals Expectations: Even before qualification, the FA set the target of Engalnd reaching the semi-finals of World Cup 2010, and Capello echoed that target in March 2010. Semis would be England’s best performance since 1990, so I’m thinking a spirited quarter-final appearance would be acceptable. Going out on penalties would be a bit too familiar. Squad: TBA. Blog: Matilda, Rob, SoccerLimey and my self run the England blog. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.

France, Thierry Henry & The New Calciopoli Posted: 22 Apr 2010 08:08 AM PDT All the way back in 2006, there was this thing they called “Calciopoli” whipping up into a furor on the peninsula. It was an enormous distraction, one fraught with harsh accusations against the very core of Italian football, and left the club futures of many in the Italian team hanging in the balance. The players had far more on their plates than merely the biggest football games of their lives. Four years later it feels like it’s just begun, probably because it has (at the request of Marcello Lippi), and the black eye it left on Italy still hasn’t gone away. But strangely enough, Calciopoli wasn’t all bad: it’s widely held as the scandal which won Italy the World Cup. A silver lining quickly turned into gold. And this is where France comes in. Right now there is another scandal whipping into a similar lather involving French football – or at least players involved with Les Bleus. Four players have been accused of hiring a 17yo prostitute for services a prostitute typically provides. (Cheese sandwiches, car washes, bonsai tree trimming, etc.) One of those players happens to be France’s best, Franck Ribery, and right now he’s at least in heaps of trouble with the wife, perhaps the legal system later on. The Guardian: The scandal engulfing Les Bleus, which began when Ribéry was questioned by police in connection with a prostitution ring, also deepened after judicial sources said the 27-year-old had admitted having sex with a 17-year-old prostitute but denied having known she was underage. In France it is illegal to buy sex from someone under 18. The others linked with the case – Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben-Arfa and Sidney Govou – don’t carry quite the same weight of Ribery, but all are a part of the French setup and thus associated. This, combined with Henry’s handball and the lasting image of Zidane in Germany, could, in some strange way, help Les Bleus. France, though they do have the benefit of timing and this could all be cleared up by June 11th, are going to be seen as a villain by many, much like Italy in 2006. The Azzurri were famously unified by Calciopoli in 2006, playing not only for themselves, but playing against the criticisms of Italian football. It, along with the suicide attempt by Gianluca Pessotto, made them a quintessential team, rather than a collection of eleven national team members, and in the process Canna & Co. rode the country’s great scandal to international glory. There is going to be an awful lot of criticism about France this summer, be it about the methods of their invitation or the current scandal which is only gaining steam as more leaks snake into the press. And in the midst of the smoke, it’d be an absolute stroke to embrace this “new Calciopoli” – in stark contrast to the actual new Calciopoli – as their once in a lifetime silver lining. It may sound strange, surely terribly, horribly wrong, and it’s highly advised you don’t use it out of context, but Thierry Henry and a 17 year old hooker might be France’s best chance to win the World Cup.

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