2010 World Cup - Most popular for 2007
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Talk about a great honor!
Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o was unveiled as the face of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa on
Friday.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Friday unveiled the poster for the first tournament to be staged in
Africa.
An image of the Cameroonian striker about to head a football, his face and neck superimposed on a
map of Africa, will form the center piece of the publicity campaign for the tournament.
It might seem like it is a long way away but there is still a great deal happening in preparation
for 2010. Here is just some of the news about the biggest single sport event in the world.
The big news is that optimism in South Africa is growing that they will be ready to host the
finals, with 70% now believing it will happen. However, only 52% think the country will be able to
meet the electrical needs of the tournament.
The 2010 World Cup qualifying draw is over and the US men now know just what their opposition looks
like as they will need to survive three rounds of play to make it to the finals in South
Africa.
The first round match will take place in June of 2008 as they will face either Barbados or Dominica
(these two play a home-home series earlier in the year to decide who will advance).
Today, the draw for the qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup will take place. It will be beamed
to 173 countries, and FIFA's General Secretary Jérôme Valcke will be centre stage alongside Sepp
Blatter. Yet less than twelve months ago, Valcke, then FIFA's marketing director, faced ruin
following the finding of an American court that [.
So the preliminary qualifying draw's almost here. What's in store for the teams on Sunday in
Durban, South Africa?
FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke is the Master of Ceremonies for the event, which begins with
the Stage Three draw for the Asian Zone. The North, Central America and Caribbean Zone is the next
confederation to come under the spotlight, with the first three stages of their preliminary
campaign decided upon in Durban.
The US men now know their schedule for the semifinal round of World Cup Qualifying, provided they
make it past Barbados or Dominica in the second round (games to be played in June).
In the semis, the team will play a round robin format against three other teams, for a total of six
games.
Could it really happen? Could an American citizen be named Iran's next national team coach? In the
current geopolitical environment, it seems a bit off, but Afshin Ghotbi might change that.
Ghotbi was born in Iran, but lived outside the country (mostly in the US, where he become a
citizen) for 30-years. However, he returned to Iran in August to take over the coaching job at one
of Iran's biggest clubs, Persepolis F.
According to my eyes and ears in Africa, Mr. Mark Gleeson (respected Reuters journalist and African
football scribe, a.k.a. Man I'd Like to Become One Day) South Africa will become the first World
Cup hosts in more than 70 years to participate in its own qualifying competition, although they
will play in the finals regardless of their performance, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Maybe Sepp Blatter couldn't shut up with his ridiculous blathering this weekend because he hoped to
occlude some bad news from both South Africa and Brazil. There have long been concerns about the
safety and infrastructure in both places ahead of the World Cups in 2010 and 2014 respectively, and
those were seemingly amplified this [.
FIFA held the preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup this past weekend, and Canada's first
CONCACAF hurdle in qualifying for 2010 is now known. Canada (FIFA rank: 54 overall, 4th in
CONCACAF) will be facing the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent/Grenadines (FIFA rank: 77 overall, 9th
in CONCACAF)) in a 2 leg aggregate [.
So the FIFA 2010 World Cup Preliminary Draw is over and we're seeing some interesting groupings.
Let's get to it and give some initials reactions on the Road to 2010 ...
First off: Africa, consisting of 12 groups of four. Winners and the best eight runners-up will
advance to five final groups of four.
I've started a group in Facebook called Canada and the 2010 World Cup. if you are in Facebook, pop
by and take part in the community and discussion.
African countries will have to play their first four qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup on
successive weekends, FIFA said last Friday.
The first group phase of the qualifiers begin at the end of May and conclude in September.
The four weekends of June will be used for the first four rounds of group matches, presenting a
potential logistical headache for teams having to criss-cross the continent.
FIFA, world football's governing body, is expected to announce the site of the 2014 World Cup
October 29th.
Brazil is widely expected to be named the hosts.
Considering they're the only country in the running, I'd say their shot at winning selection is
pretty good ...
FIFA is trying to introduce a rotation policy to hosting the World Cup between the 6 regional
confederations.
Three tidbits on the world of African football from your hard-working friend at this blog, who's
still wondering how he'll end up in Johannesburg for the Final.
- The crime situation in South Africa continues to be an issue as the World Cup Finals approach in
three years time.
Data from the South African Police Service released on Tuesday showed murders, carjackings and bank
robberies rose in South Africa in the past 12 months, dealing a blow to efforts to reduce one of
the world's highest crime rates before the country hosts the Finals.
Life has once again intervened in my blogging endeavors.
But I'm back with some updates on South Africa's progress on the Road to the 2010 World Cup.
World Cup organizer Danny Jordaan (above) briefed the South African High Commission in London a few
days back and said the state of tournament organization is very good. Everything is on track for a
successful World Cup come 2010.
Both Sportsnet and The Score have some fine Canadiana soccer related content on their site this
week. First off, check out Gerry Dobson's blog posting about being Loud n' Proud. I, for one, had
no idea that in the 2000 WC qualifying run Canada were such gracious hosts. I mean, yes, we don't
have to [.
If you don't have to pay to get into the World Cup, life's grand!
South Africans are learning this today after FIFA announced they will give 120,000 free tickets to
South African residents for matches in the 2010 World Cup finals, FIFA general secretary Jerome
Valcke said at a news conference on Saturday.
Football stars past and present will be on hand in Cape Town, South Africa next Wednesday for the
"90 Minutes for Mandela" match to be played in honor of the great Nelson Mandela's 89th
birthday.
The match will feature an African XI tackling a World XI and feature the likes of former South
African captain Lucas Radebe, three-time African footballer of the year Samuel Eto'o, former
European player of the year Ruud Gullit, and former Spanish star Emilio Butragueno (also known as
"The Vulture").
Concacaf has announced their qualification structure for the 2010 World Cup and it is remarkably
similar to the one used for 2006.
The top 13 teams, based on FIFA's May rankings, in the region get an automatic bye in the first
round. These teams include the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago,
Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Canada, Guyana and St.
More news on the 2010 World Cup qualifiers as FIFA announced the African schedule today.
In October, Africa will be staging their first knockout matches - the first step on the road to
South Africa 2010. Since the host nation South Africa have qualified automatically, there will be
52 countries taking part in three qualifying rounds, all of them hoping to secure one of five spots
up for grabs.
Back in 1930, Uruguay hosted the first ever World Cup and they want to do it again 100 years later.
However, they realize that the current version of the finals is a bit too big for them to do it
alone, so they have joined with neighbors Argentina for the right to host the 2030 World Cup.
AFA president Julio Grondona expressed his desire to help Uruguay host the event
through a formally written letter that was sent to the AUF headquarters in Montevideo earlier on in
the week.
Here's the Asian results. The top two teams in each group advance to the final stage, which will
feature two groups. The top two in those groups qualify directly to the World Cup and another team
will face the Oceania winner for another spot.
Group 1
Australia
China
Iraq
Qatar
Group 2
Japan
Bahrain
Oman
Thailand
Group 3
South Korea
North Korea
Jordan
Turkmenistan
Group 4
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
Lebanon
Singapore
Group 5
Iran
Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
Syria
An update on our post of a few days back about Mozambique and their statewide development ahead of
the 2010 World Cup.
Reuters is reporting that the World Bank agreed on Monday to give Mozambique $100 million in credit
to help upgrade its road network, most of which was damaged and neglected during a 17-year civil
war that ended in 1992.
I found these political cartoons on the Project 2010 website, one of our friends from South Africa
actively promoting the good of the game pre-2010.
They're by an artist called Jonathan Shapiro, also known as Zapiro. He is an
internationally-respected cartoonist who has won numerous top awards. His satire highlights
numerous social issues in South Africa and around the world.
A few days ago I posted about the greatest African player ever. A post like this gets noticed and
many people commented with their opinion.
I also managed to get readers from the Big Soccer forum and Xtratime.com community.
Here, I share some of the best comments.
Reader Chxta said: 'As with most things African, this is a topic that would be quite
controversial, for example a lot of the titles won by Egyptian clubs have always been hotly
debated.
I found this article on the South African Times website.
It's written by Mninawa Ntloko and deals with the view the world community has of the South African
World Cup. Many see South Africa as a violent country, full of murder and anarchy. Ntloko points
out that this view of South Africa and the constant apologizing they do on the world stage is
'utter rubbish'.
The 2010 World Cup officially got underway this weekend in Samoa, where 34 goals were scored on the
opening day of the South Pacific Games.
Eight of the 10 teams competing in the Games' football tournament, which serve as the first stage
of Oceania's qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, made their bow
on the first day of a competition which runs through to September 7th.
South Africa's working hard to get itself ready for the 2010 World Cup.
The last thing the organizers need is a lack of focus from their partners.
This week, a scorching document proclaiming South Africa's inability to stage the 2010 World Cup,
which supposedly emanated from Europe's football governing body UEFA, was denounced as a forgery by
Local Organizing Committee CEO Danny Jordaan.
Sorry about the disappearance over the last couple of months. Lots of changes in my offline life,
and not as much time as I'd have liked to keep the blog updated. I might have to change the style
of the blog over the next while, with shorter entries and not that much info in regards to upcoming
games, but at least I'll try to show up more regularly.
And here are the results from our neck of the woods, well, at least for many of us.
Group 1A
Dominica v Barbados
United States v Winner
Group 1B
Turks and Caicos Islands v Saint Lucia
Guatemala v Winner
Group 1C
Bermuda v Cayman Islands
Trinidad and Tobago v Winner
Group 1D
Aruba v Antigua and Barbuda
Winner v Cuba
Group 2A
Belize v Saint Kitts and Nevis
Winner v Mexico
Group 2B
Bahamas v British Virgin Islands
Jamaica v Winner
Group 2C
Dominican Republic v Puerto Rico
Honduras v Winner
Group 2D
Canada v Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Group 3A
US Virgin Islands v Grenada
Winner v Costa Rica
Group 3B
Suriname v Montserrat
Winner v Guyana
Group 3C
El Salvador v Anguilla
Panama v Winner
Group 3D
Nicaragua v Netherlands Antilles
Haiti v Winner
The US could send a third-string side and still beat Barbados or Dominica.
You'll notice by the long title of this post that I've a lot to cover ... let's get to it.
- Item: Mozambique eyes World Cup tourism windfall
We all knew the World Cup would help out the country of South Africa.
What wasn't as evident was how the tournament would help out the rest of the continent.
Sure, it would instill a sense of confidence & pride.
If FIFA has their way, I may have to 'suggest' I'm going to South Africa for some big event and not
out-and-out say I'm off to the FIFA World Cup.
This smells of censorship ... A report in the Times of South Africa states that the world football
governing body has ordered about seven websites to shut down or face legal action.
Seems FIFA said organizing the 2010 World Cup is "extremely expensive" and that its successful
staging hinges on the significant financial investment from their sponsors and licensees.
We all know the World Cup is coming to South Africa in 2010.
What we don't talk much about is the South African domestic game.
The South African season opens on August 4th with the Charity Cup, an exhausting four-team event
that traditionally attracts crowds over 70,000.
Four clubs, voted for in a month-long telephone poll, will compete in two morning semi-finals with
the winners given just a short break before returning for the final, later the same day.
The Road to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa begins in earnest Saturday afternoon when nine
countries in the Oceania confederation set out on the long road in Apia, Samoa, where a football
tournament at the South Pacific Games serves as the first step in the qualifying campaign.
Two matches will kick off simultaneously on Saturday on adjoining fields in the Samoan capital,
marking the start of a worldwide qualifying campaign that is only
set to be completed by November 2009.
The US men will get a sneak peak at the 2010 World Cup on Saturday, November 17th, when they travel
to Johannesburg to take on South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup.
This will mark the US men's third trip to Africa with the last game coming eight years to the day
before this one. In that 1999 game, they lost 2-1 against Morocco.
This, an interesting, thought-provoking article from the BBC about Africa's expectations regarding
the World Cup.
Pundits have long said it was a mere matter of time before an African nation lifted the World Cup
trophy. But so far, expectations haven't been met.
No one's really sure why.
So I'm waiting with mild anticipation to find out the preliminary draw results for the 2010 World
Cup.
I ran across this to remind me that while the tournament should feature good soccer, it's one that
I'm definitely watching from afar.
A quick update on comments made earlier by Sepp Blatter regarding crime and safety in South
Africa.
Seems the Austrian tourist killed this weekend in Durban and mentioned near the bottom of my
earlier post was former soccer player Peter Burgstaller.
German newspaper Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung reported on its web site that the murdered ex-SV
Salzburg goalkeeper had been invited to the preliminary draw in Durban this weekend by Germany's
Franz Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as a player and coach.
Interesting piece by Reuters' Mike Collett about Danny Jordaan, the man leading the South African
charge towards 2010.
Jordaan's had to face a lot of challenges as the chief organizer of the 2010 World Cup. From work
stoppages at stadium sites to incessant questions about his country's preparedness for the
tournament, Jordaan has handled all inquiries with class and style.
