World Cup 2010 Blog: “Quelle Surprise, BBC’s Doc Exposes FIFA Corruption” plus 1 more

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Quelle Surprise, BBC’s Doc Exposes FIFA Corruption Posted: 30 Nov 2010 11:00 AM PST The much anticipated BBC documentary detailing the probe into FIFA’s handling of World Cup bids was finally aired, with some unsurprisingly surprising results: they’re quite dirty. The man running the show is the rather infamous Andrew Jennings, who earned his fame by running afoul of FIFA, writing a book on their dabblings on the wrong side of integrity. Though informative, unfortunately we can only assume nothing will change, as this is FIFA, and FIFA’s been doing whatever it wants for years. Still, however, a good watch. [Via 101 Great Goals]

Soundoff: Who Will Host the 2018/2022 World Cups? Posted: 30 Nov 2010 10:01 AM PST The clock is tumbling down on the World Cup 2018/2022 bid process, now at less than 48 hours. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably heard every rumor imaginable, and that everyone outside of The Betherlands (a portmanteau seemingly too good to pass up – even Nelgium works – but they will) and South Korea (which will be placated by the 2018 Winter Olympics), has been tipped to receive the tournament. However, a key piece of info has arisen: England and the U.S. are the only countries bidding to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 that can meet FIFA's revenue targets, a study commissioned by soccer's governing body said. Sure, any study can be mangled to fit any desired outcome, but how many of those studies make their way into the hands of FIFA? That’s all that really counts. This isn’t some extraordinary news nugget, though. England and the US have been the on-paper front runners forever, providing safe, reliable, plain Jane bids in the face of allegation after allegation of FIFA misconduct. Which makes it unlikely one or both will get the bid for the simple fact that these things never turns out as it should. FIFA’s about money, yes, but it’s about legacy building too. Oh, and corruption, which is a major consideration. So here are the bidders… 2018: England Russia Sportugal (Spain-Portugal) The Betherlands (Belgium-Netherlands) 2022: Australia Japan Qatar South Korea US I’ll happily concede England are USA are the favorites…and then pick Sportugal and Qatar. Because that’s just how FIFA works. So who do you think will host the 2018 & 2022 World Cups?

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “2011 Women’s World Cup Draw” plus 1 more

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2011 Women’s World Cup Draw Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:01 PM PST While FIFA’s busy blocking punches from all angles like a jelly-legged prizefighter with the 2018 & 2022 World Cup decisions on Thursday, they’ve done with the business of getting the 2011 Women’s World Cup draw done without so much as a peep that it was dirty – filthily dirty. So there’s that going for them. UEFA’s done a favor for those of us completely unfamiliar with the Women’s World Cup (aye, guilty) and whipped up a primer in a jiffy for next year’s big tournament in Germany. The numbers in brackets are their current FIFA rankings, which we know are nothing to stand on, but hey – you take what you can get. Group stage draw (26 June-6 July) Group A: Germany (2), Canada (9), Nigeria (27), France (8) Group B: Japan (5), New Zealand (23), Mexico (22), England (10) Group C: United States (1), Korea DPR (6), Colombia (32), Sweden (4) Group D: Brazil (3), Australia (12), Norway (7), Equitorial Guinea (62) Quarter-finals 9 July: Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B (1) 9 July: Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A (2) 10 July: Winner Group C v Runner-up Group D (3) 10 July: Winner Group D v Runner-up Group C (4) Semi-finals 13 July: Winner quarter-final 1 v Winner quarter-final 3 (1) 13 July: Winner quarter-final 2 v Winner quarter-final 4 (2) Third-place play-off 16 July: Loser semi-final 1 v Loser semi-final 2 Final 17 July: Winner semi-final 1 v Winner semi-final 2 Past winners (hosts) 2007 Germany (China) 2003 Germany (United States) 1999 United States (United States) 1995 Norway (Sweden) 1991 United States (China) So Group C looks like the Group O’Death and Group B the weakest of sauces. Which means New Zealand is clearly going to go undefeated for the second World Cup in a row. But in seriousness, Germany’s won the last two and now hosts the tournament. That betting line must be so even it doesn’t even show on the page.

Euro 2012 Mascots Go On Another Trip Posted: 29 Nov 2010 11:25 AM PST Last, or first, we checked in with the as of yet unnamed Euro 2012 mascots, they were chillin’ in the tropics of Donetsk, successfully avoiding black face and flashing disingenuous permasmiles. Today we have a cartoon of their birth as mascots and football lovers, in which they awake from a slumber in the forest amidst magical footballs and pitches which appear from nowhere as they lie on their backs in nature. All of which I’m 98% convinced is symbolism for tripping mushrooms. [Spotted on Dirty Tackle]

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “USA Women Look to Avoid Massive Upset in WC Qualification” plus 2 more

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• USA Women Look to Avoid Massive Upset in WC Qualification
• Playing The Gender Game In Equatorial Guinea
• FIFA World Rankings – November 2010

USA Women Look to Avoid Massive Upset in WC Qualification Posted: 26 Nov 2010 10:23 PM PST The 2010 World Cup is behind us, but for the world of women’s soccer, things are just now heating up, and after Saturday, the last qualification spot for the 2011 FIFA Womens World Cup will be filled. But Saturday is more than just the final match in a long qualification campaign – it could be one of the biggest upsets in the history of women’s football. The USA, the best team in Womens World Cup history, who have finished at least third in all five previous Cups, has to hold off Italy for the final spot, and the victory is in no way assured. The Americans hold a slim 1-0 lead in the home-and-home series, after an injury-time winner in the first leg in Italy. The Italians have to overturn that, in the US, and every sportbook out there has them as significant underdogs, at least 8-to-1. It won’t help to have their #1 striker out for the match. But if they can do it, it would be an historic win, knocking the US out of the competition before it even begins. No one (aside from the Italy side) would be grinning more widely at this result than Germany, who as hosts this year are already favorites, but who would be even more clear favorites if the US was eliminated. Italy may be a recent world champion in the men’s game, but the women’s side has been significantly less successful. In the five official women’s World Cups, no Italy team has ever gotten past the quarterfinals, and their most successful tournaments have been two final appearances in the European Championships (1993 and 1997), both losses. The match is being held on Saturday November 27th at Toyota Park in Chicago. The match is not being televised on any of the major networks, but will be available on ESPN3. For more on upcoming televised soccer, check out our weekend soccer TV schedule. – This post was brought to you by BetUS

Playing The Gender Game In Equatorial Guinea Posted: 26 Nov 2010 10:00 AM PST The trusty old story that is ‘Equatorial Guinea women footballers accused of being men’ appears to have sprung a new development, and that is the ‘outing’ of the two women in question. Incredibly, it’s because Nigeria, of all places, has lodged an official complaint. You know, that entirely honest and completely transparent Nigerian FA. (Nigeria also beat them in the final, which makes their stance of righteousness even more mysterious.) The two ladies rumored are Genoveva Anonma and Salimata Simpore, and one is reported to be suspected of gender doping. Or whatever it is. The former has already reportedly been gender tested, and one would presume passed. Actually we can all perform a gender test right now and she’ll pass. Therefore we can guess the latter is the lady in question. Anonma: Simpore: This is not going to end well, no matter what. Then again she looks no more a man than Fernando Torres looks a girl, so there’s that.

FIFA World Rankings – November 2010 Posted: 26 Nov 2010 07:30 AM PST Very little movement to discuss on the FIFA World Rankings front this month, unfortunately. Even everyone’s favorite underdog, Montenegro, has stalled on its meteoric climb to rankings glory, gaining a surprising zero places in the last month. Although Egypt did bump up into the most sacred of position, the top ten, despite completely whiffing on World Cup 2010, taking over for Russia, who also whiffed on World Cup 2010, and sliding in right behind Croatia, who also slapped a big fat doughnut on the world’s grandest tournament. The top ten may or may not be calculated by the sum of their Football Manager rankings. In fact, the top fifteen includes five teams who never showed up in South Africa: Croatia, Egypt, Norway, Russia and Italy. Upon further skimming, absolutely nothing of relevance happened, and the biggest move in the top fifty involved Burkina Faso tumbling down four spots. So we’ll have to wait until next month to gush over Montenegro. Or anything at all.

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