Dropping Like Flies...And It Hasn't Even Started Yet

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 Didier Drogba fractured his elbow in a friendly against Japan and is currently rated doubtful by manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

Italy's Andrea Pirlo suffered a calf strain and will definitely miss their opening match.

Also injured are USA striker Jozy Altidore, who has an ankle injury and Brazil 'keeper Julio Cesar who has back problems.

We haven't even played a match yet. God only knows what the injury list will look like then!

Danny Shittu vs Lionel Messi

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 making something of yourself, so I am looking forward to it."

I'm not sure that playing in the World Cup Finals is really about "having a good time", but I suspect it will be Messi not Shittu that has a good time in the Argentina v Nigeria Group B opener.

See: I managed to get through that whole post without making any snide references to Shittu's last name.

Concerns For Nigeria Ahead Of World Cup 2010

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 one of the world's finest names) is concerned that his main players are not starting enough matches for their club sides and therefore won't be up to speed at the 2010 World Cup Finals.

Strikers Kanu, Yakubu and Obafemi Martins are not getting regular starts with their clubs, and the problem isn't just limited to their star names.

This concern is compounded by a feeling that, because the Nigeria domestic league isn't producing sufficient talent for the national squad, they will fall foul of Greece - half of whose squad comes from the Greek League. Indeed, six of Greece's squad come from Panathinaikos.

That argument is put far more persuasively than I can right here and if you are a Nigeria fan (or a gambler looking to bet on them to qualify), then I suggest you read it and think again.

Hiddink Could Make The World Cup After All

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 masterclass for any international manager. What he did was take a worse than mediocre side and turn them into a competitive team.

Because South Korea had no competitive games before the 2002 Finals, Hiddink lined up a succession of friendly matches over a period of eighteen months against teams from around the world.

After drubbings by France and the Czech Republic among others, by the time the 2002 World Cup Finals rolled around, they were hammering Scotland and drawing with England.

And, of course, he steered Australia to the second round in 2006 and got Russia through to the Euro 2008 finals at the expense of England.

Having left his post as Russia manager, Hiddink has already, very wisely, turned down an approach from North Korea to manage them at South Africa 2010. But, it appears the Dutchman may be interested in taking over coaching duties with Nigeria.

Interestingly, Nigeria's World Cup group includes his old side South Korea, but - if he takes the job - you would definitely back Hiddink to get Nigeria through to the second round and possibly the quarter finals.

Nigeria Look For A New Coach...But Forget To Sack Their Old One

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. They have even spoken to Egypt coach Hassan Shetata about taking over the position.

Here's what Shetata had to say, when speaking on Egyptian TV programme, Modern Sport :

“It will be a great honour for me to work in the World Cup, but the Egyptian FA will have the final word on whether I could work with Nigeria on a temporary basis.”

The one thing the Nigerian Football Federation seem to have forgotten is to actually sack Amodu. Oops.

It's probably best if you actually fire the one manager before you try to hire his replacement. Just a thought.

African Cup of Nations : What The Hell Is Going On?

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, either shockingly badly or surprisingly good on a match-by-match basis.

Unfortunately, one team's 'surprisingly good' has all too frequently coincided with another's 'shockingly bad'. Witness Algeria's 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast as an example.

Frankly, the 2010 Africa Cup Of Nations has left me utterly confused about the quality of African teams. But I am willing to bet that none will get further than the second round at World Cup 2010 - teams like Italy and Germany show that consistency is what wins big tournaments and none of these sides has that quality.

Reserving Judgement on the African Teams At The World Cup

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 of an African team to do well. Even more so this time as the competition is in Africa. However, every time, the major African teams - Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon - flatter to deceive.

While all of these teams have some exceptional players, what they seem to be lacking is a sense of identity as a team. They've got the pride and the skills, but they just don't seem unified. At least, on the evidence of the AfCON so far, that's how it appears.

I'm just wondering if it's a lack of top level coaching, or if the facilities and background organisation let these teams down. Could it be that because their best players all play in Europe, there is a lack of cohesion as a national unit?

Whatever it is, I hope what I'm seeing at the Africa Cup of Nations doesn't translate into South Africa 2010 because, once again, the African sides will all get knocked out in the early stages.

No Ireland...So Guinness Are Sponsoring Who?!

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 yourself.

Well, Nigeria, of course. Seriously. Nigeria.

If you are a masochist and have a particular desire to read meaningless marketing-speak, go here to learn that a new label "has been created specially to show support for the Super Eagles and the belief that together we can unite in the power of the Nigerian spirit..." and similar nonsense.

More World Cup sponsorship lunacy coming soon, no doubt.

African Qualifying Round Up

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 where things stand in qualifying for South Africa 2010.

Tunisia (Group 2) and Ghana (Group 4) both look in strong positions to qualify. Ghana, on nine points and 5 clear of Mali are pretty much already there, judging by the fixtures they still have to come.

African Cup of Nations Champions Egypt, who got off to an appalling start in qualifying turned things around last week by beating Rwanda 3-0 in their Group 3 clash.

The return match with Zambia, who currently top the group, will probably decide who wins that group.

Nigeria, who are two points behind Tunisia in Group 2, should be very careful. Mainly because they have to beat the Tunisians in September, but also because football legend Pele has tipped them to reach the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup.

Other predictions from the great man including Columbia to win the '94 World Cup Finals, China to qualify from their 2002 World Cup Group (they were bottom with 0 points and 0 goals); Argentina and France to be finalists in 2002 (neither qualified for even the second round). The list goes on and on!

Who Are You Trying To Kid, Robert

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe is not a man noted for having self-doubts. Which, presumably, is why he's hopeful that a number of World Cup football squads will want to base their training camps in what is left of his country.

The Unity government is trying to persuade Brazil, Nigeria and England to come to Zimbabwe, in the hope of attracting tourism from neighbouring countries.

Tourism minister Walter Mzembi commented :

"We have put England and Nigeria on our top three list. When it goes to top five, we have added Cameroon and Egypt. "

If he or his boss really think that the England team are going to go anywhere near Zimbabwe, he's truly delusional. This all smacks of just another Mugabe publicity stunt. Who are you trying to kid, Robert.

Fun And Games For Nigeria

Quite why Nigeria - who have more talented footballers than is fair - always make such heavy work of qualifying for major tournaments is a mystery to me and it seems to a large portion of the Super Eagles fans who can't quite work out why they self-destruct so frequently.

It's always good to blame the manager, though; and Shuaibu Amodu, the current coach, is under a lot of pressure, after drawing with both Jamaica in a friendly and, more critically, Mozambique in a World Cup qualifier.

Nigeria's 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland a couple of days back doesn't seem to have helped any either.

Tellingly, it was not Amodu but Nigeria's sports minister Sani Ndanusa who attended the post match press conference. Ndanusa denied that Amodu had been sacking, but rather drily commented "He was the coach for this match, that is clear".

It's always fun and games with Nigeria and World Cup football, but for that comment alone, you can't help but back them to qualify this time.

So, Africa...What Have You Got For Us This Time

The African qualifying groups for World Cup 2010 are always a particular favourite of mine, as they are rarely predictable and - as things get tense - there are often accusations and counter-accusations of cheating, voodoo and bribery.

Unfortunately, this time around the seeding of the teams will most likely make things a little more predictable.

The seeds for the final group stages are, somewhat predictably: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Egypt.

Of these, Egypt has the easiest group - meeting Algeria, Rwanda and Zambia and I fully expect them to qualify for their first World Cup finals since 1990.

I am hopeful for a little bit of craziness in Nigeria's group (Group 2) as they face Kenya, Tunisia and Mozambique. If there's one thing you can be certain of, they'll make it hard work for themselves as usual.

We'll just have to see how things pan out.

World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

It's good to be back and posting on this 'ere World Cup football blog. It's been a long time.

But the draw for the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup Finals has been announced - the complete list is here on the official FIFA site

The most notable fixtures thrown up by this draw are the pairing of England with Croatia in Group 6 - Croatia, of course, put England out of Euro 2008.

Also in Europe, Greece seem to have been given a free pass to the Finals as their Group 2 opponents include Latvia, Luxembourg and Moldova. Still, the Greeks have been impressive of late and did, of course, win Euro 2004, so good luck to 'em.

In North America, I can barely understand the system. But the end result will be that the USA and Mexico qualify, so I really wouldn't worry about the details.

Elsewhere, there should be typical chaos in the African groups, but expect Nigeria not to mess it all up this time.

Down in South America, the qualification process is already underway with the usual suspects plus Paraguay looking strong.