My How I Wasted A Year Writing A World Cup Blog book will soon be available to download.
As a taster I have decided to let you see the Contents before the link goes live:
Foreword pgs 3 - 4
June 2009 pg 5
How it all began on the road to Soccer City
July 2009 pg 7
Lessons from the Confederations Cup, a quick look at the early qualifiers, the best World Cup
goals, the doom-mongering starts, and the phone competition
August 2009 pg 13
The end for Robson, more analysis of the early qualifiers, looking ahead to qualifiers this month
and in September, the phone competition continues, the Weasel War Dance, the view from South
Africa
September 2009 pg 28
Stacks of World Cup qualifier info, inventing quotes from Maradona, Rik Mayall World Cup song
announced, England qualify, beer awaits England fans, Costa Rican coach merry-go-round, England –
South Africa blog link, Martin Peters, cybertouts chased by cyberpolice
October 2009 pg 57
New report on SA raises concerns, news round up e-mails begin, England – Ukraine game internet
horror, final European qualifiers, Maradona is MAD, capitalist pig dogs, pitching bagels, 3D, the
BNP and Lenny Bruce
November 2009 pg 81
Beckham to Milan shock, England v Brazil, death of Germany's keeper, the play offs and final World
Cup qualifiers, Henry's handball, seemingly endless World Cup draw speculation fuelled by obscure
blogs, a guide to staying invisible in South Africa
December 2009 pg 99
The Liam Brady School of Interminable Moaning, the draw for the World Cup finals, US media reaction
to draw, Owen poll, official World Cup trash talk challenge begins, Best World Cup Players Of The
Decade Part 1, football culture around the world
January 2010 pg 112
Capello injures knee, Best World Cup Player Of The Decade Part 2, 3D footy, Special World Cup 2010
marketing edition, Togo team attacked, World Cup ticket debate, Jesus saves, Best World Cup Player
Of The Decade Part 3, Psychic predicts England World Cup misery, Terrorist threat, Best World Cup
Player Of The Decade Part 4, Hooligan threat stories
February 2010 pg 133
John Terry affair erupts and goes on and on and on, UK woman cycles to World Cup, Best World Cup
Player Of The Decade Part 5: the 1980s, Gerrard as second striker for England, Capello and the
English media, Scots upset at chocolate bar, Ferdinand World Cup doubts grow, Ten Top Liverpool
World Cup players, Bridge says no to England
March 2010 pg 153
England – Egypt friendly, why US Soccer fans need to start hating England, Crouch stakes his
claim, England bugging story, Best World Cup Player Of The Decade Part 6, Blatter on goal-line
technology, Beckham out of World Cup, the Best World Cup semis, cheap digs at Eriksson, Rooney
injury scare, crisp manufacturer launches ill-judged promotional campaign
April 2010 pg 182
World Cup promotional campaigns slagged off, murder of right wing supremacist in South Africa,
debate over Rooney's fitness continues, Twitter, Ten Top Manchester United World Cup players,
"Noble England" release, Tevez "close to Messi" controversy, obscure football tournaments from the
past, England goalie urged to wear red, BBC coverage, A Handy Guide to World Cup 2010 Trouble Spots
in London, World Cup predictions, guest article from Neal Collins
May 2010 pg 207
Cabanga!
So it wasn't the classic we hoped for. Personally, I was enthralled from the first minute.
Sure, some of the Dutch tackles wouldn't have looked out of place in a Bruce Lee epic, and how the
red card stayed in Howard Webb's pocket until the last minutes of extra time is a mystery. Still,
there were lots of chances at either end.
Four and a bit weeks have passed since South Africa and Mexico began the World Cup at Soccer City
Johannesburg. Tonight the same magnificent stage brings the finalists together for what promises to
be a fascinating clash of styles. Let's look at what lies ahead before I offer my final thoughts on
the tournament.
Not really, if I'm brutally honest. A match between two sides who didn't reach the final is the
equivalent of two slightly sad men sloping off home, greasy kebabs in hand, after failing to pull
at a nightclub. They're rubbish at finding casual partners and will probably end up in bed together
just because they have nothing better to do.
Pardon me if I don't get too over-excited. This will probably match every other game involving the
Spanish since 2006; they pass the opposition to death before somehow conjuring up a goal and seeing
out the remaining time with little fuss. Don't get me wrong, I like the Spanish; they have some
excellent players and their football is, at times, breathtaking.
Some notions offend my rational enlightenment outlook: the Jeremy Kyle Show, which resembles a
medieval witch court complete with toothless cackling crones intent on revenge or hatred or
whatever motivated them to get out of bed that day; celebrity culture and the seemingly endless
parade of nonentities who are famous for one thing – being famous; the idea that an Old Etonian
can run a 21st century country; the list is, as the saying goes, a tirade against everything I
despise.
It seems English men took solace in the dating game after the recent defeat against Germany – but
women were still keen to follow the remaining World Cup 2010 games anyway.
Online dating site "Singles 365" claims traffic to the site in the aftermath of England's exit was
up over 134 per cent compared with the same day the previous week, and up over 187 per cent during
the following week.
Not so long ago you couldn't do a World Cup 2010 search on Google without stumbling on articles
about South American dominance and how all the likes of Kaka and Messi had to do was turn up and it
would only be matter of time before European teams were genuflecting before them, gasping in
amazement at yet another 70-pass move, and wanting to take them home to meet their mothers.
Argentina v Germany: @ 3pm (Green Point Stadium, Cape Town)Unmistakably the tie of the round, whoever wins this battle between genuine World Cup heavyweights
could prove unstoppable. Can the Germans repeat their mauling of England or will Messi finally
shake off the lethargy which has dogged him thus far in South Africa?
Good to see the English have reacted to the latest World Cup defeat in time-honoured fashion – by
making fun of ourselves and the team. In a hundred years time, historians assessing the period will
conclude that whatever the indignity, however painful the suffering, the English just don't do
revolutions.
No, it's not a new Radiohead anthem for the World Cup, although I couldn't get No Surprises out of
my head last night. It's just a reflection of my mood this morning after the terrible defeat
against the Germans. I refer you to the BBC page for a list of UK newspapers I won't be reading
today.
Meanwhile, the competition continues today with two more last 16 matches:
Holland v Slovakia (3pm)Brazil v Chile (7.
So England are out, once again at the hands of Germany. What went wrong?
The first half could be broken up into two contrasting periods - the first 35 minutes and the
remainder of the half.
The opening half hour or so reminded me of the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.
So it's finally here; another World Cup, another England – Germany clash. I could barely sleep
last night, the anticipation gnawing away at me until I was finally forced to get up at 7am. What
the hell is it about these matches that shreds nerves and causes so much general anxiety?
Well, the history thing doesn't help.
Glad Chile got through yesterday; the Swiss have hardly played since beating Spain, suggesting they
had already exceeded their low expectations and were content to meekly leave, which is exactly what
they did.
And Brazil - Portugal?; while this wasn't the classic everyone was hoping for, I saw signs that
Portugal could cause Spain some problems in the last 16.
