tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155172302012-02-17T05:42:54.709Z2010 World Cup football news, views, World Cup betting tips, opinion plus results from the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa.mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.comBlogger3391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-10802758321382203372010-07-08T17:22:00.002+01:002010-07-08T17:30:40.290+01:00

OK, so my semi-final predictions were, er, 100% wrong. That is the reason why I'm not a professional gambler. At least Uruguay gave it a go, though. What was up with Germany - it was like they didn't realise they were in semi-final and just couldn't motivate themselves. After the first 20 minutes or so, I could see the game only going one way. Although I was surprised it took Spain until 70-odd

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-50604750268462725752010-07-05T19:37:00.008+01:002010-07-05T19:50:00.479+01:00

So, we're down to the last four: Holland, Spain, Germany and Uruguay.Frankly, I was expecting at least one other South American side to be here: most likely Brazil, but what do I know.The thing is, though, that only one of these teams has shown any real consistency so far in the tournament and that is: Germany.While, admittedly, they did lose their second match, Joachim Loew's side have shown

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-11594240237103055202010-07-03T16:26:00.002+01:002010-07-03T16:29:13.212+01:00

OK, another brief post.Argentina are currently 2-0 down to Germany in the quarter final. Carlos Tevez is trying to win it on his own for Maradona's side. But, better than all this is the BBC commentator who has just said: "look at Tevez, on his own, like a one man battleship". Er, what?Also, nice to see Germany back in their historic black shirts. Couldn't resist that one. Sorry.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-16477124416355755682010-07-03T15:51:00.004+01:002010-07-03T16:00:28.940+01:00

Very short post today. Almost a micro-blog. It's just a shame that no-one has invented some kind of micro-blogging service ;)Anyway, right now, I've particularly enjoyed the colour co-ordinated Germany bench. Loew wears blue t-shirt under dark blazer...everyone wears blue t-shirt under dark blazer.Second, Bastian Schweinsteiger. He's starting to resemble a young Dean Windass.As a comparison:Dean

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-67294705672558123202010-06-28T14:56:00.002+01:002010-06-28T15:00:51.254+01:00

So, England crashed out 4-1 to a lean, young, hungry looking Germany side. And with that, the hopes of a nation are dashed. Such a shame.The problem is, though, not that England got well and truly beaten. The problem is with the whole 'hopes of a nation' thing in the first place.The simple fact remains that a few players aside, England just don't have that strong a squad. They're just not that

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-38776153921256300852010-06-26T08:15:00.003+01:002010-06-26T08:29:48.663+01:00

The Group stages finished last night with Spain's 2-1 win over a 10 man Chile side, so now would be a good time to look back on the highs and lows of the 2010 World Cup so far.The Hosts: South Africa got drawn in a very tough group but can hold their heads high after a solid draw with a good Mexico side and, of course, after putting France out of the competition in the final group match. Their

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-61936302507389075292010-06-23T13:27:00.050+01:002010-06-23T16:51:11.896+01:00

16:50 - Even more excitingly, USA have scored against Algeria via Landon Donovan and will win the Group. Rock and, indeed, roll.16:48 - England are on the verge of the knock out stages. The fans are so, so loud. And that's it - England are through. Thank God for that.16:46 - Slovenia break through but a fantastic last ditch tackle from Upson ensures that this match is still England's to lose.16:

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-6880898121392086452010-06-22T17:37:00.003+01:002010-06-22T17:45:54.352+01:00

I've never done a live blog before, but as I'm doing some consultancy work tomorrow (or today, depending on when you read this) and will be working from home, I'll be live blogging the England vs Slovenia match.If you happen to work for the company I'm doing the consultancy for and are reading this, then forgive me but I don't doubt you will all be watching the match too. Anyway, come back here

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-24263869140696626012010-06-21T14:07:00.003+01:002010-06-21T14:18:47.278+01:00

'The mission, should you decide to accept it, is to infiltrate a national football squad of your choosing, and render them next to useless.'Unfortunately, this mission seems to be not so much impossible, but ridiculously easy. France, England, even Italy have all imploded at this World Cup Finals.By far the best example, though, is France. The players have long been dissatisfied with coach

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-12748521697274471922010-06-19T11:05:00.002+01:002010-06-19T11:15:35.380+01:00

Well, I guess I should start with England vs Algeria. But luckily - due to a winning combination of drunkeness and boredom - I really can't remember anything about it. I think there was the occasional pass that actually reached another England player, but I might have dreamt that. I do remember a forward run, but that could have been Algeria. Let's move on from the paucity of England's

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-5057142097218654502010-06-16T09:44:00.002+01:002010-06-16T09:57:40.984+01:00

Did anyone else see North Korea's press conference on Monday? For me this has been the highlight of the World Cup so far because, Germany aside, the standard of the matches has been dismal.It started with a question from a journalist about North Korea.The response from coach Kim Jong-hun? :"There's no such country named North Korea.’ Next question."And it got better. When questioned about naming

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-89100916262262245592010-06-14T17:42:00.002+01:002010-06-14T17:53:10.767+01:00

Legendary British comedians Morecambe and Wise used to have a running gag that went something like this:Ernie Wise (talking about the show): 'So, what do you think of it so far?'Eric Morecambe: 'Rubbish!'.And, frankly, that's how I feel about the 2010 World Cup Finals so far. I'm writing this before Italy play Paraguay, but so far only the opener between South Africa and Mexico and last night's

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-61708009483356130212010-06-07T19:10:00.002+01:002010-06-07T19:26:40.119+01:00

A very short post for you today, but certainly one that brought a big smile to my face.Those cunning/inscrutable/mysterious (delete to find your favoured Oriental cliche) North Koreans thought they could put one over the, er, mighty FIFA by registering striker Kim Myong-Won as their third goalkeeper. This would mean those crafty Koreans would go to the World Cup Finals with no less than six

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-70794900988276655712010-06-05T13:03:00.002+01:002010-06-05T13:11:29.432+01:00

Well, the first match of the 2010 World Cup Finals is just under a week away, but already key players are dropping like flies.Just to keep you all updated: Rio Ferdinand suffered an injury in a collision with Emile Heskey that will mean he misses the World Cup.Nigeria's Jon Obi Mikel also misses out as his knee injury hasn't cleared up sufficiently for him to play any part.Ivory Coast striker

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-60632305749207399682010-06-02T17:40:00.004+01:002010-06-02T17:52:05.312+01:00

I suppose I really should have an opinion on yesterday's England world cup squad announcement. Frankly, though, there's been too much written about it already, so I'll do what most bloggers do (and what I hate to do) and that is: comment on the commentary on the story.Firstly, there's been a lot of complaining among the media because the FA delayed the official announcement until 4pm GMT. By this

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-90430319124864212462010-05-30T20:01:00.004+01:002010-05-30T20:09:55.526+01:00

Manchester United's second top scorer - 'own goal' - made a timely appearance in England's clash with Japan, scoring 2 goals. This saved everyone's blushes in a very unconvincing 2-1 victory for England.So, it is with relief that I note that every other World Cup bound side who played a friendly today was also rubbish. Well, except Mexico who gave Gambia a 5-1 thrashing.You can see the full

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-11242138080810776172010-05-28T17:54:00.003+01:002010-05-28T18:03:37.884+01:00

It's hardly surprising, I admit, but the United States government are paranoid. Presumably, it's because they know someone is genuinely out to get them.Anyway, this paranoia has prompted the US State Department to issue a travel warning to American citizens thinking of travelling to the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa."There is a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-43615711484494164482010-05-26T09:41:00.005+01:002010-05-26T15:15:33.237+01:00

Remember South Korea at the 2002 World Cup Finals? Did well, didn't they? Home advantage; some lucky decisions: yup, these things played their part. But, to my mind, the reason for South Korea's success was clever management on the part of then boss Guus Hiddink.Realising that the South Koreans were a) awful and b) not going to play a competitive match ahead of the 2002 World Cup, Hiddink

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-48059603337534181992010-05-24T11:26:00.002+01:002010-05-24T11:33:04.911+01:00

Leaving aside the question of just how Raymond Domenech is still manager of France, you have to question his judgement when he is allowing injured players to mess about in Dune buggies in their time off.Particularly when they, as defender William Gallas did, might crash the damn thing. Luckily Gallas was OK, but seriously - it's not a very good idea to let professional footballers undertake

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-76602511630927892642010-05-20T12:58:00.003+01:002010-05-20T13:12:51.343+01:00

Not content with leaving Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti out of his provisional World Cup squad, Diego Maradona has gone one further in his single-minded attempt to prove to the world that he is, frankly, as mad as a box of frogs.Yesterday, Maradona announced his twenty three man squad and -bizarrely among those to make the final cut - were old time and frankly rubbish striker Martin Palermo

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-34440661982989120722010-05-18T11:22:00.004+01:002010-05-18T11:37:56.841+01:00

After Chelsea and Germany midfielder Michael Ballack was ruled out of the World Cup Finals, after a tackle by Pompey's Kevin Prince-Boateng, it has all kicked off.There have been claims and counterclaims that Boateng set out to deliberately injury Ballack, with even Boateng's own father claiming that there is some 'history' between the two players dating back to when Boateng was playing for

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-26766518747319428652010-05-14T11:16:00.002+01:002010-05-14T11:28:22.358+01:00

Danny Shittu. He plays for Nigeria, you know. He also sits on the bench for Bolton Wanderers.Lionel Messi. He plays for Argentina, you know. He also wins Champions League titles with Barcelona.No contest, right. So, it is with great joy, that I draw your attention to this interview with Shittu in The Daily Telegraph where he says, and I quote, "It is about going out there, having a good time and

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-26251397345902049932010-05-12T14:44:00.002+01:002010-05-12T15:01:51.724+01:00

I woke up this morning and found that everything I knew was wrong. I had gone to bed under the mistaken impression that Fabio Capello was an extremely able and - most importantly - successful coach that knew what he was doing. Maybe it was the 4 Serie A and Champions League titles with AC Milan, the two La Liga titles with Real and a host of other trophies that gave me this false impression.Cos,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-90720429891882994852010-05-10T17:52:00.002+01:002010-05-10T18:31:51.243+01:00

I don't know if you saw this, frankly ludicrous story in the Daily Star last month? I somehow missed it, which is a shame, because I would have ridiculed it at length on this very blog.Basically, the gist of it is that there's going to be an earthquake during the 2010 World Cup Final in South Africa.However, close reading of the story suggests that, well, there isn't going to be an earthquake

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-67835863046013915522010-05-07T17:58:00.002+01:002010-05-07T18:06:31.750+01:00

OK, we're now getting down to the serious business of the World Cup with a number of nations announcing their provisional World Cup 2010 squads. To avoid the world's most tedious blog post, I'm just linking to news articles detailing who is in and who is out.Germany Provisional Squad : No Hitzlesperger, no Kuranyi - full details here.South Korea Provisional Squad : Park Ji Sung, that Bolton guy

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-10819213155551594172010-05-06T15:15:00.001+01:002010-05-06T15:15:36.776+01:00

No sh*t story of the day? I'm glad you asked. Well, it's this story on Goal.com in which a former Italy coach tips Italy to win the 2010 World Cup Final. Fascinating.In other World Cup nonsense, WalesOnline seemed very disappointed that Swansea ''keeper Dorus de Vries (no, me neither) didn't make the Holland provisional squad. After all, he had been 'tipped' to get in. And the identity of the man

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-34748319209656510212010-05-04T10:57:00.004+01:002010-05-04T11:24:55.165+01:00

Germany head coach Joachim Low has announced that Kevin Kuranyi will not be part of the 2010 Germany World Cup squad.Although Low denies it, saying that there were "tactical" reasons for excluding the striker, it does look like revenge for Kuranyi walking out of the stadium in Dortmund before the final whistle after being omitted from the matchday squad for the qualifier against Russia in

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-61170362573916177212010-04-28T11:25:00.003+01:002010-04-28T11:45:30.486+01:00

I'll start with a disclaimer. I'm a Tottenham fan and, therefore, have long since known what is becoming apparent to the rest of you. And that is: Ledley King is the best defender in England. Or rather, he should have been, but his chronic knee problems have reduced him to maybe 2nd best defender in England.That's why the report in The Times newspaper suggesting that King will be included in

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-11927272058697968322010-04-26T11:32:00.004+01:002010-04-26T11:43:12.747+01:00

I have to confess that, unlike many Englishmen, I have a lot of time for Michel Platini. He talks a lot of sense about the game and his plans to try to bring some fiscal responsibility to how clubs are run is in the genuine interests of the game in the long run.However, if I was French, I would be rather annoyed with Monsieur Platini right now. Why?Well, because Platini has had the temerity to

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-18043695977666612822010-04-24T09:29:00.003+01:002010-04-24T09:37:22.638+01:00

Totally unbiased and only coincidentally German, a man called Metin Tolan has devised a formula proving that Germany will win the 2010 World Cup Final. The other 31 teams shouldn't even bother to turn up.Tolan, who is a physics professor so surely should know better, explained his formula thus:"The last time we won the World Cup was back in 1990 and there have been four tournaments since. The

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-50564091542322213122010-04-22T12:24:00.002+01:002010-04-22T12:34:35.301+01:00

That bastian of American corporate culture, Coca-Cola are launching a bunch of ridiculous promotions ahead of the 2010 World Cup Finals.My personal favourite, though, has to be the limited edition Coca Cola cans featuring, and I think you're gonna like this, members of the France football squad.Like who, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked that because among others, there's Franck Ribery, Sidney

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-39105928102606775142010-04-20T17:10:00.002+01:002010-04-20T17:28:13.421+01:00

I usually try to keep this blog fairly wry and lighthearted, but occasionally I have to blog about something more serious.And it doesn't come much more serious than allegations that Franck Ribery and a number of other French internationals have been sleeping with underage hookers.The allegation is that Ribery, Sidney Govou, along with Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa all had what are

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-37537287118326545292010-04-17T14:51:00.005+01:002010-04-17T15:01:09.598+01:00

Judging by Germany 2006 and, well, pretty much every other major tournament, the England football team are, um, not very good at penalties. David Batty, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce are all testimony to that fact.So the England team need all the help they can get if it comes down to sudden death at the World Cup 2010.Luckily some sports psychologists with rather too much time on their hands

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-55156176332894351912010-04-14T12:22:00.007+01:002010-04-14T12:47:04.998+01:00

Despite Fabio Capello banning England from recording an official World Cup song (for which, I for, thank him deeply), the tradition of the World Cup song is alive and well.Just check out the prosaicly titled World Cup Song website, which has a bunch of unofficial World Cup songs. View at your own risk, though, as some of them, are, well, shall we say, crap!However, there are some gems -

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-44060652007668836432010-04-12T17:16:00.004+01:002010-04-12T18:29:14.649+01:00

Fabio Capello has proved himself to be a great manager whereever he has been - he's won trophies in Spain and Italy and guided England to comfortable World Cup qualification. His credentials are not in doubt.And part of the reason for his success is not just his ability to mould a squad into winners on the pitch, it's that he takes care of the off the pitch stuff too.More subtle than, say, Sir

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-2257002662865704122010-04-07T13:08:00.003+01:002010-04-07T13:47:12.586+01:00

Most pundits, certainly in this country, seem to think that Argentina and Nigeria are the two teams most likely to qualify from Group B . And on the surface, this appears to be a strong possibility. Nigeria have more 'star' names than either Greece or South Korea and have a number of established Premier League players, such as Kanu and Joseph Yobo.However, Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback (owner of

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-9302591473060195842010-04-06T14:49:00.003+01:002010-04-06T14:57:08.016+01:00

File this under 'stupid World Cup promotions....part 1,237'. Words simply faily me when I attempt to sum up my feelings on Walkers Crisps 'Flavour Cup' promotion. In fact, because I first read about it in Charlie Brooker's column, I figured it was satire.But no. It's real. Walkers have released 15 new crisp flavours, tied in with 15 football teams. Some of these teams - not so notably, Scotland

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-79042899958286675322010-04-03T11:31:00.004+01:002010-04-03T12:13:35.569+01:00

After it was revealed that Arsenal's William Gallas will be out for the rest of the season, France coach Raymond Domenech revealed (no doubt with typical Gallic elan) that he was "livid and pissed off" with Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger.Wenger had, for reasons best known to himself, chosen to play Gallas against Barcelona despite the player only having had two training sessions since returning from

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-50653831870044194342010-03-31T11:54:00.005+01:002010-03-31T12:50:03.383+01:00

As you all probably know by now, ex-England and Mexico boss Sven Goran Eriksson will be the Ivory Coast manager at World Cup 2010.I, for one, welcome him back with open arms. I always enjoyed his implacable calm, his over use of 'first half good...second half not so good' and his ability to seduce ladies of all nationalities.And, seriously, I think he is a good manager. His reputation has been

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-3773403491006418202010-03-27T14:04:00.003Z2010-03-27T14:21:56.479Z

I came across a piece on CBC Canada that suggested this world cup will won by an individual or individuals with outstanding skills.This may have been written in haste, in reaction to the unbelievable performances put in by Lionel Messi in the past few weeks, I don't know.The thing is: the argument doesn't really stack up. And it appears that the author, Raphael Honigstein (a man who usually talks

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-21175649398115709122010-03-25T20:53:00.003Z2010-03-26T17:55:29.945Z

I don't know about you but I'm becoming very tired that every single news story about South Africa somehow references the 2010 World Cup Finals.To take just one example, there is this piece in The Daily Telegraph which is nominally about township protests that they don't have access to basic services. The focus of the article, however, is on the potential for violence at South Africa 2010 and of

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-23503979073354206612010-03-23T17:20:00.003Z2010-03-23T17:38:18.517Z

The lovely (and multi-lingual) people at Betsson Sports are giving away some fantastic prizes between now and May 9th, including a World Cup Final package worth around €6k.If you don't already bet at Betsson, we suggest you head over there now and register, because in addition to the grand prize, there are weekly prizes totally €1000.To win, all you have to do is place combi bets of 5 euros or

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-33372204930229165982010-03-22T18:16:00.002Z2010-03-22T18:30:13.068Z

Ahead of every World Cup - in fact, ahead of every major sporting event - there are always doom-mongers bleating on about how the host country will never be ready in time, or doesn't have the infrastructure or doesn't have sufficient toilet paper to meet demand or something.So, with out further ado, I present today's gloom and doom predictions for South Africa 2010.The Times is going with

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-38556802721207352562010-03-20T09:21:00.004Z2010-03-20T11:16:20.411Z

We all love football, right? But sometimes, a little bit of perspective is needed.England, as you no doubt know, is competing with Mexico, the USA and other nations, to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup Finals.Any idea how much such an undertaking might cost the government - or rather us, the taxpayers. Well, this governmental feasability study suggests costs of around £674million pounds.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-28680580404800460692010-03-16T14:52:00.004Z2010-03-16T19:28:25.789Z

It's very easy to fall back into lazy racial stereotypes, particularly when dealing with African nations.However, the fact is that there are still many thousands of people on that continent who believe in the 'old ways' and that includes magic and voodoo.Now, we might very well suspect that host nation South Africa has literally no chance at the 2010 World Cup Finals but, luckily, they have a

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-43071721437857304552010-03-12T11:30:00.001Z2010-03-13T10:12:10.760Z

In a display of mind boggling stupidity, the Argentine government is set to allow several hundred well known football hooligans (called the 'Barras Bravas') to travel to the 2010 World Cup Finals.This, apparently, is their reward for openly supporting the incumbent Prime Minister, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ahead of next year's elections.The justification for this piece of idiocy? It will,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-10101035190789645872010-03-11T13:18:00.002Z2010-03-11T13:55:26.080Z

Not content with sacking a manager who lost only one match in 24, the Ivory Coast Football Federation seems to be making a bit of a meal of appointing a successor.Yesterday, it appeared that leading candidate Guus Hiddink had been named as manager for the 2010 World Cup campaign, but today it appears that this isn't actually the case. And, in fact, there is quite a way to go in negotiations.You

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-51886765574663382262010-03-10T14:14:00.002Z2010-03-10T14:32:29.032Z

Are you a professional footballer? On the fringes of the international squad? Or an old pro who feels he can still 'do a job' for the team?Well, if you are, you might like to take a leaf out of South African defender Nasief Morris' book. Morris fell out with former South Africa coach Joel Santana and has tried to get back into the South Africa squad by begging current manager Carlos Parreira via

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-11037637471393171292010-03-09T15:22:00.002Z2010-03-09T15:32:09.641Z

In a staggering display of pointless-ness, England team sponsor Nationwide have made up the world's largest England football shirt (huh?). And, for reasons that are clear only to their marketing department, they took it down to Portsmouth and displayed it on the flight deck of HMS Kent.I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that they will be showing the shirt (signed by England legends like Peter

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-13121460492406492792010-03-08T10:13:00.003Z2010-03-08T11:07:22.093Z

Fabio Capello's England breezed through qualification with a host of genuinely world class players - Rooney, Terry, Gerrard - but now, three months ahead of the finals, the wheels have well and truly come off the England train.Firstly, even when David James is fully fit, England have no truly world class goalkeeper - Robert Green is a pretty solid 'keeper with, crucially, a good record at saving

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-26351673479358279872010-02-27T19:09:00.003Z2010-02-27T19:22:49.217Z

Traditionally, it was the job of the Netherlands to self-destruct at major tournaments as egos, bickering and weak management got in the way of the actual football. Although, to be fair, Spain have been pretty good at this kind of thing too.So, it's nice to see that the 'home of football' - England - are taking this one step further ahead of the 2010 World Cup Final. England have chosen to

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-87562044384106104242010-02-24T12:26:00.002Z2010-02-24T12:33:34.832Z

I'm English and unsurprisingly, want England to win the 2010 World Cup. I do, however, understand that there are other nationalities out there who may not share my view. I don't hate them for it - they're patriotic, I'm patriotic. We all want our national side to win.Which is why I doubt anyone would be offended by the Slanj Kilt company selling t-shirts with the slogan 'ABE : Anyone But England

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-78260932571887086862010-02-21T13:00:00.003Z2010-02-21T13:59:07.707Z

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of Guus Hiddink. Mainly, because I've always backed his teams with cold hard cash and until Russia's failure to qualify for World Cup 2010, he has never let me down.Indeed, I decided against starting at Euro 2008 blog because I was so confident that England weren't going to qualify because they were in the same group as Hiddink's Russia and the

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-73589357085289209212010-02-13T12:20:00.004Z2010-02-13T12:53:40.521Z

How would you like to be at the 2010 World Cup Final in South Africa - with all expenses paid. Of course, you would. So now, in partnership with Windows Casino, you can win two VIP tickets to the World Cup Final.The first prize is:2 VIP Tickets to the 2010 Football Final in Johannesburg, South Africa on 11th of July 2010Hospitality Package for the Match Welcome Gift Drink Reception 4

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-51332780646203145872010-02-12T18:39:00.005Z2010-02-12T19:07:42.512Z

2010WorldCupOnline wants to know why two South American countries seem to be playing in North America.It's a good point. The answer, of course, is for the same reason that Australia has moved to Asia and Israel to Europe. Football, it's the world game, but just not the world as we know it. Maybe it's the world as FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants it to be.And speaking of the always, er,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-20336847296406826842010-02-11T20:33:00.004Z2010-02-11T21:05:21.166Z

Let's face it, Russia's failure to make the World Cup 2010 - mainly, I feel, due to complacency on the part of the players - was a surprise. Most of all to me.I've always backed sides managed by Guus Hiddink to do well and, frankly, he's made me a lot of money down the years by always coming through when I've bet on his teams.His management of South Korea ahead of the 2002 World Cup Finals was a

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-67171913271427513972010-02-10T14:13:00.003Z2010-02-10T14:39:02.231Z

A few things have caught my attention today, but nothing especially worth a full post, so instead I present you with some random thoughts on today's World Cup news stories.Apparently Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has GUARANTEED that 'keeper Chris Kirkland will be in the England squad for South Africa 2010. Martinez said, I quote, "After working with him I can guarantee 100 per cent that he will be

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-28995483495013068552010-02-08T14:33:00.002Z2010-02-08T14:44:33.894Z

If you remember the 2006 World Cup, you may recall that relations between then coach Jurgen Klinsmann and the German Football Association were frosty, to say the least. In fact, despite leading Germany to third place in the Finals, Klinsmann choose not to renew his contract and he walked away.Well, it appears that history is repeating itself. The DFB (German Football Association) have apparently

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-61078958532595956922010-02-07T12:53:00.002Z2010-02-07T13:02:24.193Z

I think, barring injuries and one or two uncertainties - like the fitness of Owen Hargreaves - most of us can pretty much predict the entire England 2010 World Cup squad right now.And, to be honest, it's a squad that looks a little weak in terms of breadth and depth. After the first 11, there aren't too many truly top class players. Wayne Bridge, Peter Crouch - these are good Premier League

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-66504391381452588582010-02-05T19:52:00.004Z2010-02-05T19:55:31.119Z

I'm going to keep this extremely short, but John Terry lost the England captaincy today. It's probably down the back of the sofa along with his sense of decency and his inability to not be a prat.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-70187948757315886432010-02-04T15:45:00.003Z2010-02-04T22:15:52.313Z

The Ghana Football Association have announced that they will have coaches monitoring the other teams in their group ahead of the 2010 World Cup Finals.Quite why this is a big news story, I don't know, as I always presumed that all teams did this.So why am I even mentioning it, you ask yourself? Well, because of this choice line from the president of the Ghana Football Association, Kwasi Nyantakyi

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-42036990252790799492010-02-02T14:23:00.003Z2010-02-02T15:47:38.884Z

Having finished third in the African Cup of Nations, the Nigeria Football Federation obviously felt that Shaibu Amodu was not the man to lead the nation to success at the 2010 World Cup.Here's a nameless NFF to say exactly that."Amodu will not be the man to take Nigeria to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa," he said.A meeting of top Nigerian football officials in Luanda has sealed Amodu's fate.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-15979797863325929852010-01-31T20:01:00.003Z2010-01-31T20:22:49.469Z

Ah, what joy. Today, we can highlight a couple of instances of idiocy at a level that, frankly, beggars belief.Firstly, CAF have chosen to ban Togo from the next two African Cup of Nations tournaments for, presumably, disrespecting the competition by having some of their players shot and staff killed. How dare Togo withdraw from a competition for such a trivial reason as coming under terrorist

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-6405289925148260982010-01-30T19:19:00.003Z2010-01-30T19:28:45.795Z

Because of the sheer size of South Africa as a country, internal flights are going to be critical for fans attending the 2010 World Cup Finals.To give a simple example : Cape Town to Johannesburg is a 17 hour drive and let's face it, no one wants to drive for 17 hours when there's football to be watched and drinking to be done.While it's only to be expected that hotels and other businesses will

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-52466003829012721892010-01-29T19:40:00.003Z2010-01-29T19:47:13.591Z

I took time out from my busy schedule of pretending to work on my websites to watch Egypt demolish Algeria in, typically, controversial fashion last night.I also caught the highlight (there was only one) of Ghana's victory over Nigeria.And the conclusion I came to? The only consistent team in the whole competition (Egypt) aren't even going to be at the 2010 World Cup and the others are, well,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-31647035239507277692010-01-26T19:11:00.002Z2010-01-26T19:24:54.984Z

Regular readers of this blog might know that I like to mock the whole corporate sponsorship culture that surrounds the World Cup Finals.Personally, I don't really care that an Indian IT company wants to pay £32 million to be a World Cup 'sponsor'. It's their money; they can piss it up against whichever wall they choose. And, before the World Cup 2010 starts, I will be mocking the whole concept of

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-66029953072324915092010-01-25T21:58:00.002Z2010-01-25T22:03:33.636Z

Paraguay international Salvador Cabanas was shot in the head in Mexico in an apparently unprovoked attack.Cabanas, who - as Wikipedia will tell you - has scored shitloads (technical soccer term) of goals in both Paraguay and Mexico, apparently "responded well to questions" but is in a critical condition in a Mexican hospital.There's not a lot of details about this, but what's known is right here.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-86492420829703538552010-01-25T18:36:00.004Z2010-01-25T19:13:04.116Z

Some of Europe's more football loving nations, including Germany and England, have announced figures regarding how many tickets for the 2010 World Cup they have managed to sell so far.The English F.A have said they have had to send back 6,000 of their 29,000 ticket allocation, while the German F.A have apparently sold only 1,916 of 21,000 tickets.Predictably, and - on the surface - understandably

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-88049277768612877512010-01-23T13:01:00.002Z2010-01-23T13:15:14.309Z

Good to see Carlos Tevez and Gary Neville doing their bit to improve Argentina - England relations. No love lost between the two countries, either in the football sense or politically, but I have to say that Carlos Tevez certainly came out best in that little contretemps.Speaking to ESPN Argentina, Tevez is quoted as saying:"He [Gary Neville] acted like a complete boot-licker when he said I

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-25880473247361411092010-01-20T15:21:00.004Z2010-01-20T15:39:12.280Z

It was to no-one's surprise at all that FIFA chose not to suspend Thierry Henry for the handball that saw France through to the World Cup Finals at the expense of the Republic of Ireland.The FIFA Disciplinary Committee could not suspend Henry because handling the ball to help your team score is not a 'serious infringement' of the rules and therefore cannot be punishable by suspension.Fair enough,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-88391201764980059612010-01-19T14:35:00.002Z2010-01-19T14:55:04.692Z

South Africa's Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira has come out and said that the South Africa World Cup squad will be largely made up of locally based players.He is quoted as saying:“The team that will play in the World Cup will be made up by 65-70 per cent of locally-based players. This is largely because the overseas-based players are not regulars in their teams. But the door will always

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-84123041279633327932010-01-18T18:20:00.002Z2010-01-18T18:27:18.910Z

I found this extremely interesting article on how African nations use over-age players in tournaments. The author thinks this is preventing the development of players and could be the reason why African countries seemingly underperform at major tournaments.The argument he puts forward is that: because African nations use overage players in Under 21 and Under 18 tournaments, they are not

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-82974307312546455462010-01-16T17:28:00.002Z2010-01-17T12:24:22.273Z

You'll hear ex-players, with their cushy jobs as 'state-the-bloody-obvious' media pundits, bang on and on about needing experienced players in national squads who know what to do when the team is up against it.And, I concede, it's a fair point. However, what often happens is that managers end up playing safe and picking players that are way past their prime. I expect this World Cup Finals to be

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-22901973886377013952010-01-15T17:47:00.002Z2010-01-15T17:58:29.922Z

So, the African Cup of Nations is well underway and, in between pretending to do some work, I've been watching a fair bit on Eurosport TV.And the conclusion I've come to so far: I don't think any of these teams is consistent or, frankly, good enough to even reach the quarter finals of the World Cup.Every time a World Cup Finals comes around, there is always media speculation about the potential

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-64009200613620588182010-01-14T18:08:00.003Z2010-01-14T18:51:49.012Z

Forgive the headline, please. It's just that, on occasion, it's nice to pretend to be writing for the Daily Star. In fact, that's probably preferable to actually writing for it, which, I would imagine, would be soul destroying.I digress.So, what could derail England's fledgling World Cup bid, I hear you ask? Well, how about the fact that the Museum of Football in Preston will be closing down at

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-27570259800214706012010-01-13T13:17:00.002Z2010-01-13T14:08:27.234Z

It is, it seems, a competitive business trying to persuade FIFA to bestow their munificence upon a nation and condescend to allow them to host a World Cup.That, presumably, is why each country rolls out a host of big celebrity names to 'back' their bids. What this means is that the FIFA delegates get to meet the aforementioned celebrities on one of their many all-expenses paid jollies.But,

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-58680286303501595672010-01-12T14:56:00.002Z2010-01-12T15:44:30.059Z

England have a friendly match lined up against Egypt as part of their World Cup preparation. They've chosen Egypt because they are supposed to be on the same level and have a similar style to Algeria, who England will face in their World Cup Group matches.However, having watched African minnows Malawi demolish Algeria 3-0 on Eurosport yesterday, I have to confess I have no idea how Algeria

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-8266689422367131452010-01-11T13:38:00.003Z2010-01-11T13:53:06.024Z

Over the last couple of weeks, bunches (that's the technical football term, OK?) of matches in the top tier of English football have been postponed.Luckily, I'm not the guy that has to reschedule them in a season that already ends earlier than usual due to the World Cup Finals. The plan was to finish the English season a couple of weeks early in order to give players more time to prepare for the

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-12016874921880779152010-01-10T18:48:00.005Z2010-01-10T19:04:12.305Z

Let's be honest, no matter how much certain journalists keep writing about him, Michael Owen is not going to make the England World Cup squad. This is because he's lost his pace, his eye for goal and is, frankly, rubbish these days. It's not, as professional Yorkshireman and ex-cricketer Geoff Boycott would like you to believe, because Owen hasn't spent enough time feng shui-ing his living

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-3411426955113178412010-01-09T16:18:00.003Z2010-01-09T17:05:37.646Z

In the aftermath of yesterday's events in Angola, some journalists have, typically, raised question marks over the security surrounding this year's World Cup Final in South Africa.Let me just say this is the kind of tabloid nonsense that we just don't need at the moment. Angola is not South Africa. Cabinda, where the shootings took place, is disputed territory and, because it is oil rich, there

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-6831221124167830902010-01-08T20:21:00.002Z2010-01-08T20:29:47.061Z

Usually, I try to keep this blog pretty lighthearted, but occasionally serious stuff gets in the way.So, the news that gunmen fired on the bus carrying Togo footballers , including Emmanuel Adebayor, is pretty shocking. Particularly as the driver was killed and some of the players were wounded.Apparently, Togo were supposed to be flying to the Angola capital, Luanda and from there to Cabinda for

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-46546255220657132462010-01-08T10:46:00.004Z2010-01-08T11:32:35.651Z

There's no doubt there will be some incredible talent on show at South Africa 2010, but - as with every World Cup - there are some players who are going to miss out. And here are our top five, complete with the obligatory YouTube videos showing how fantastic they are.5: Edin DzekoBecause Bosnia lost their play-off match against Portugal, the 2010 World Cup will be without Europe's top striker.

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-56984457921253482332010-01-07T15:15:00.004Z2010-01-07T17:03:33.636Z

While the focus is, as it should be, on Spain or Brazil as potential winners of the 2010 World Cup Finals, it appears that no one is really touting the Netherlands as possible victors. So, allow me to step in and say: I think the Dutch could win the 2010 World Cup.Now, like anyone who has watched football for more than about ten minutes, I know that the Dutch regularly shoot themselves in the

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-37826200469117821932010-01-06T14:39:00.003Z2010-01-06T14:42:51.285Z

Very strange article in The Guardian yesterday that I couldn't quite get my head around. The essence of it is this: because Johannesburg didn't put on a New Years Eve party on Dec 31st, 2009, the whole nation of South Africa isn't up to delivering a decent 2010 World Cup Finals!You can read it here. Frankly, if you have a better explanation of the point the journalist was trying to make, I'd be

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-20540602430107544762010-01-06T13:53:00.003Z2010-01-06T14:18:24.249Z

While scouring that new fangled interweb thing for interesting 2010 World Cup news, I came across this piece on GhanaWeb.com.In it, the author suggests that the fact that many of Ghana's key players - Michael Essien and John Mensah among them - are injured for the African Cup Of Nations is, in fact, a very good thing for Ghana.His argument is that the absence of these players means that scouts

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-7771001556949472592010-01-05T13:23:00.003Z2010-01-05T13:26:34.725Z

If you're going to see James Cameron's clunky, moralising, overblown sci-fi epic 'Avatar', may I be so bold as to suggest you keep hold of those stupid 3D glasses you need to watch the film.Because those (cough) innovators in sports television, ESPN, are going to be showing 3D matches, starting with what is sure to be a riveting tie between South Africa and Mexico at the 2010 World Cup Finals. I

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-66223714739597081422010-01-05T13:14:00.004Z2010-01-05T13:32:35.355Z

Thanks to the hand of Henry, the Republic of Ireland won't be at the 2010 World Cup Finals, which is a shame as brewers Guinness were hoping to sponsor the team.Luckily, they have followed in the grand old tradition of ridiculous World Cup sponsors from days gone past and found another team to sponsor.So, which lucky side could best represent hundreds of years of Irish brewing history, you ask

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-66220580709377753572009-10-28T18:53:00.002Z2009-10-28T19:02:02.876Z

Here's the thing : seeding in football - or any other sport for that matter - is a fair and reasonable thing to do.Otherwise, you might end up with a World Cup 2010 qualification group that consisted of Germany, England, Spain and Russia. And, yes, while that may be more exciting than the World Cup itself, it's not unreasonable to keep the best teams apart in order to ensure a thrilling and

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-27139288597811254412009-08-16T12:39:00.004+01:002009-08-16T12:48:45.254+01:00

This week, three days before the Scottish Premier League season started, Scotland had to play a World Cup 2010 qualifying match against Norway. They got hammered. 4-0 to Norway.Also in World Cup Qualifying action were France, Croatia and Germany, not to mention San Marino. I said : not to mention San Marino.The leagues in France and German started the week before, while the new Croatian season

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-44224749973027196552009-08-08T10:43:00.002+01:002009-08-08T10:50:16.761+01:00

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is a man who has more than his fair share of ridiculous, unworkable and spurious ideas. But his latest is also possibly his greatest.The, um, 'great' man has suggested using cruise ships as alternatives for hotels at the 2010 World Cup Finals to overcome the shortage of hotel rooms in South Africa.Just one teeny, tiny problem. The South African government doesn't want

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-62610961487435173362009-07-29T14:40:00.002+01:002009-07-29T14:54:52.587+01:00

No sooner has Sulaiman Al Fahim taken over at Portsmouth, than rumours start linking Argentina legend Diego Maradona with a role at the club.Al Fahim, you will remember, was the face of the group that took over Manchester City. He was the man that declared City would sign Cristiano Ronaldo for £134m and other similarly ridiculous things. He was soon sidelined by the group behind the Manchester

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-54569783165401393552009-07-24T12:31:00.002+01:002009-07-24T12:38:49.059+01:00

Following the collapse of a stadium that was 1,500 over capacity for Ivory Coast's World Cup qualifier against Malawi in March, the head of the Ivory Coast Football Federation and another man, who was responsible for ticketing at the match, have both been jailed.20 people died and over 130 were injured following a stampede caused by overcrowding and poor safety measures.While this is clearly a

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-48180238276704962662009-07-24T11:58:00.002+01:002009-07-24T12:28:11.809+01:00

Serious stories only, today, I'm afraid.There is a very real concern that the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will become a magnet for Africans looking to escape the troubles and economic hardship of their own countries.With up to 5 million illegal immigrants among a 45 million population, this is already a serious problem for the country and is one that needs to be addressed in the run up to the

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-107936574530975712009-07-22T17:03:00.002+01:002009-07-22T17:08:29.476+01:00

England, and more recently Mexico, fans will both remember the reign of Sven Goran Eriksson as manager of their national sides with something less than fondness. To be fair to the guy, he did pretty well with England before it all imploded.However, to see him back in English football with...wait for it...Notts County, just makes me want to laugh out loud.Those of you from outside of England who

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-55369661874834534552009-07-19T15:10:00.002+01:002009-07-19T15:20:55.393+01:00

ITV are lobbying the government to ensure that all World Cup and European Championship qualification matches involving the 'home' nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland be added to the list of sporting events that is protected for 'free-to-air' broadcasters such as, well, them.Obviously, if this were to happen, it would diminish FIFA and UEFA's ability to profit from such

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-59955913685707328662009-07-14T18:40:00.002+01:002009-07-14T18:46:16.141+01:00

Shunsuke Nakamura, recently of Celtic and now at Espanyol, has been told by Japan head coach Takeshi Okada that he must feature regularly for the Spanish side in order to be considered for the World Cup finals in South Africa 2010.While I'm all in favour of giving players an incentive to perform at their best, is Okada really trying to convince us that he will leave out the man who is by far

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-10923020735389137102009-07-12T09:35:00.002+01:002009-07-12T09:50:27.983+01:00

Regular readers of this blog will know that I always enjoy the African qualifying groups a great deal. This is mainly because of the big teams ability to mess things up (see Cameroon this time around and Nigeria last time out), because of the frequent accusations of collusion and cheating; and, of course, the general air of chaos that surrounds football in Africa.So, here's a quick round up of

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-32047059332252556902009-07-12T09:24:00.002+01:002009-07-12T09:34:10.706+01:00

Let's be honest, we're all armchair managers. It all seems so clear when you're sitting in the stands or watching on TV just exactly what the manager needs to do to win a game. Why the managers themselves can't see what you can see is, of course, one of the enduring mysteries of football.That's why I particularly enjoyed this piece in the South Africa Times giving the South Africa national coach

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-42615976980495735882009-06-30T14:12:00.003+01:002009-06-30T14:26:22.230+01:00

Sometimes; well, often really, I want to weep. Not, as you might think, because of all the suffering that goes on in the world or because I've stubbed my toe getting out of bed. Not even because I've been listening to Johnny Cash singing 'Hurt' - although that does get me every time.No, I mainly want to weep when people who should know better make outrageous claims for their products. I'm not

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15517230.post-77274226106433964172009-06-30T13:56:00.002+01:002009-06-30T14:10:35.390+01:00

It's been a quiet week in football in general, apart from the USA's sterling performance against Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final.So, bored journalists do what they are best at and that is : make something up.Take this headline in the Daily Mail from a couple of days ago:'We fear England could ruin our World Cup chances, reveals Brazilian superstar Kaka'Wow, you think. Kaka must have really

mark_shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943304823090212030noreply@blogger.com0