It had to happen, hadn't it? Shades of 1996 all over again? Some sort of sick German vindication? Those thoughts went through everyone's mind as the referee overruled Frank Lampard's perfectly legitimate goal against Germany at Bloemfontein. A section of the England fans will argue that the match could have swung in England's favour if that goal had stood.

If you're like me, you've already had the calendar out to plan the family vacations.

And, since you're reading this, there's a good chance that when and where World Cup games are going to be on TV plays a key role in your travel plans.

For U.S. viewers, it breaks down like this:

Friday, June 11

Group A – (Johannesburg) South Africa vs.

Sad but true...unless your not English in which case it's probably fairly amusing.

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Germany ace Thomas Muller believes England had too many alpha males in their failed World Cup bid.

The political situation in Honduras right now is, shall we say, messy. But the football team has probably never been better. Honduran players are gaining respect in leagues like Serie A and the English Premier League, and in they have a Colombian coach who seems to know his business.

Yet probably because Honduras hasn't qualified for a World Cup since 1982, they seem to be the underdogs in World Cup 2010 Group H, where they'll face Spain, Switzerland and Chile.

At least it's not going to be hot and smoggy in South Africa, though:

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico is a longshot to win the World Cup, though the country's national team has one factor going for it that few others can match.

Many of its players have already acclimatized to playing at altitude, growing up at 7,400 feet in Mexico City or Guadalajara, which is located on a plateau at 5,000 feet.

El fixture completo y todos los resultados de la Copa del Mundo Sudáfrica 2010.
Grupo A11/6 - Soweto: Sudáfrica 1 - 1 México
11/6 - Cape Town: Uruguay 0 - 0 Francia
16/6 - Pretoria: Sudáfrica 0 - 3 Uruguay
17/6 - Polokwane: México 2 - 0 Francia
22/6 - Bloemfontein: Sudáfrica 2 - 1 Francia
22/6 - Rustenburg: México 0 - 1 Uruguay
Grupo B12/6 - Port Elizabeth: Corea del Sur 2 - 0 Grecia
12/6 - Johannesburg: Argentina 1 - 0 Nigeria
17/6 - Soweto: Argentina 4 - 1 Corea del Sur
17/6 - Bloemfontein: Nigeria 1 - 2 Grecia
22/6 - Polokwane: Argentina 2 - 0 Grecia
22/6 - Durban: Nigeria 2 - 2 Corea del Sur
Grupo C12/6 - Rustenburg: Inglaterra 1 - 1 Estados Unidos
13/6 - Polokwane: Argelia 0 - 1 Eslovenia
18/6 - Johannesburg: Estados Unidos 2 - 2 Eslovenia
18/6 - Cape Town: Inglaterra 0 - 0 Argelia
23/6 - Pretoria: Estados Unidos 1 - 0 Argelia
23/6 - Port Elizabeth: Inglaterra 1 - 0 Eslovenia
Grupo D13/6 - Pretoria: Serbia 0 - 1 Ghana
13/6 - Durban: Alemania 4 - 0 Australia
18/6 - Port Elizabeth: Alemania 0 - 1 Serbia
19/6 - Rustenburg: Australia 1 - 1 Ghana
23/6 - Soweto: Alemania 1 - 0 Ghana
23/6 - Nelspruit: Australia 2 - 1 Serbia
Grupo E14/6 - Soweto: Holanda 2 - 0 Dinamarca
14/6 - Bloemfontein: Japón 1 - 0 Camerún
19/6 - Durban: Holanda 1 - 0 Japón
19/6 - Pretoria: Dinamarca 2 - 1 Camerún
24/6 - Cape Town: Holanda 2 - 1 Camerún
24/6 - Rustenburg: Dinamarca 1 - 3 Japón
Grupo F14/6 - Cape Town: Italia 1 - 1 Paraguay
15/6 - Rustenburg: Nueva Zelanda 1 - 1 Eslovaquia
20/6 - Bloemfontein: Paraguay 2 - 0 Eslovaquia
20/6 - Nelspruit: Italia 1 - 1 Nueva Zelanda
24/6 - Polkwane: Paraguay 0 - 0 Nueva Zelanda
24/6 - Johannesburg: Italia 2 - 3 Eslovaquia
Grupo G15/6 - Port Elizabeth: Costa de Marfil 0 - 0 Portugal
15/6 - Johannesburg: Brasil 2 - 1 Corea del Norte
20/6 - Soweto: Brasil 3 - 1 Costa de Marfil
21/6 - Cape Town: Corea del Norte 7 - 0 Portugal
25/6 - Durban: Brasil 0 - 0 Portugal
25/6 - Nelspruit: Corea del Norte 0 - 3 Costa de Marfil
Grupo H16/6 - Nelspruit: Honduras 0 - 1 Chile
16/6 - Durban: España 0 - 1 Suiza
21/6 - Port Elizabeth: Suiza 0 - 1 Chile
21/6 - Johannesburg: España 2 - 0 Honduras
25/6 - Pretoria: España 2 - 1 Chile
25/6 - Bloemfontein: Suiza 0 - 0 Honduras
Octavos de final
26/6 - Port Elizabeth: Uruguay 2 - 1 Corea del Sur
26/6 - Rustenburg: Estados Unidos 1 - 2 Ghana
27/6 - Bloemfontein: Alemania 4 - 1 Inglaterra
27/6 - Soweto: Argentina 3 - 1 México
28/6 - Durban: Holanda 2 - 1 Eslovaquia
28/6 - Johannesburg: Brasil 3 - 0 Chile
29/6 - Pretoria: Paraguay 0 - 0 Japón (5-3 en penales)
29/6 - Cape Town: España 1 - 0 Portugal
Cuartos de final
2/7 - Port Elizabeth: Holanda 2 - 1 Brasil
2/7 - Soweto: Uruguay 1 - 1 Ghana (4-2 en penales)
3/7 - Cape Town: Alemania 4 - 0 Argentina
3/7 - Johannesburg: Paraguay 0 - 1 España
Semifinales
6/7 - Cape Town: Holanda 3 - 2 Uruguay
7/7 - Durban: Alemania 0 - 1 España
Tercer puesto
10/7 - Port Elizabeth: Uruguay 2 - 3 Alemania
Final
11/7 - Soweto: Holanda 0 - 1 España


Repasa también los 145 goles marcados en Sudáfrica 2010.

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Switzerland Vs Honduras Live Streaming & Match Preview
FIFA World Cup 2010 – Switzerland Vs Honduras Live Online Click Here
Friday, June 25th 2010
Kick Off : 19:30 BST
Venue : Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein South Africa

The World Cup Group H game between Switzerland and Honduras will take place at the Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Stadium on Friday 25th June 2010, kick-off set for 7:30 PM.

Bit of an anti-climax from the former Stamford Bridge man.

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Joe Cole wants to sort out his club future sooner rather than later after claiming an unhappy final season at Chelsea was down to "political rather than footballing reasons".

An inept lacklustre catastrophe. Apart from that...
England 1-4 Germany (27:06:10)
EFW missed out on the misery back home as we where were out in Madrid. There we inadvertently found ourselves celebrating with thousands of Argentinians in Puerto del Sol following their win over Mexico.

International friendly - England v Hungary, Wembley, Weds 11th Aug 8pm
Three major European nations came a cropper in South Africa.

Italy's ageing heroes went down fighting to Slovakia but could not stop the holders going home after the first round.

Bafana Bafana is going to get in one good match before they come home from the training camp in Germany. They are going to play Jamaica.

After the disappointment of China canceling the international friendly against the South African Football team at their training camp in Germany because of the volcanic ash, the Jamaican team (Reggae Boyz) have come to the party and they care due to play Bafana Bafana on Wednesday (28 April) at the Offenbach Kickers FC Stadium in Frankfurt, Germany.

Below you'll find the schedule for World Cup 2010. Every World Cup match, in the order they'll be happening, organized by date and kickoff time. It's not as pretty to look at as our two World Cup 2010 wall charts, but it does contain a lot of useful information and will hopefully help you plan your time from June 11th to July 11th.

Bafana Bafana will be playing four international friendlies before the first match of the World Cup against Mexico on 11 June, to get the team into shape. They kick off with a match against Thailand on 16 May.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has reached an agreement with the Thailand Football Federation to play an international friendly match.

"¿Para qué sirve estudiar dónde queda Lesotho?", se preguntaba en la escuela secundaria Ariel Abramovici, hoy publicista de la agencia Santo Buenos Aires. Su trabajo le dio la respuesta. "Hablando sobre la ventaja que representa para una selección el hecho de ser local, nos pusimos a pensar cuál era la mejor manera de agrandar nuestra hinchada en el Mundial.

I'll have a complete season review up sometime in the next few days, but to tide you over until then, here is next season's schedule. For obvious reasons, only league games are listed, as Champions League, Coupe de France, and Coupe de la Ligue dates haven't been decided yet. Also to be determined is Lyon's summer schedule.

Paraguay World Cup 2010 Preview #23 (Group F) is a post from: Just Football

Paraguay World Cup 2010 Preview

Appearances at World Cup finals: 7

Best ever performance: Round of 16 (1986, 1998, 2002)

Famous moment in WC history: Taking hosts and eventual winners France to extra time in the Round of 16 in 1998.

Monday 14th June NETHERLANDS V DENMARK, Johannesburg, 12.30pm The Dutch are usually fast out of the blocks, so the Danes could be in for a spanking in Johannesburg. And not the Voorburgwal variety. Prediction: 3-1 JAPAN V CAMEROON, Bloemfontein, 3pm How many Japanese defenders will fall on their swords this afternoon?

>> Click Here To Watch Japan Vs Cameroon Live Now <<

Japan Vs Cameroon Live Streaming & Match Preview
FIFA World Cup 2010 – Japan Vs Cameroon Live Online Click Here
Monday, June 14th 2010
Kick Off : 15:00 BST
Venue : Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein South Africa

The second match of the Group E of the World Cup between Japan and Cameroon will be played at the Free State Stadium on Monday 14 June 2010, kick-off set for 3:00 PM.

Japan vs Cameroon
Group E, 2010 World Cup
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Sunday, 14 June 2010
Kickoff: 14:00 GMT, 16:00 Local

It's always nice to read about whatever team is in the spotlight (i.e. England and Robert Green), but somtimes I find it nice to look into the less popular teams to get a good grasp on what else is going on in this tournament.

In corso a Johannesburg il debutto della talentuosa Olanda (citiamo, tra gli altri, Robben, Sneijder, Van Der Vaart), contro la Danimarca dell'ex milanista Tomasson (che sostituir l'infortunato Bendtner, stella dei Gunners), nella gara valida per il girone E del Mondiale sudafricano.

Ladies and gentlemen we have our first upset of World Cup 2010. Cameroon were (and maybe still are) many people's pick to take second place in Group E and advance to the knockouts. Almost no one picked Japan, in part because the team had never won a World Cup match outside Japan. But all that changed today as the Blue Samurai beat the not so Indomitable Lions 1-0 in Bloemfontein.

14.06.2010 - Calígula - GRUPO E / PARTIDO Nº 10 - Con gol de Keisuke Honda (´39), Japón venció a Camerún (1-0) en el Free State (Mangaung / Bloemfontein) en lo que es su primera victoria mundialista fuera de su país, para igualar en puntos (3) a Holanda en el Grupo E.
Si bien el partido empezó en análisis mutuo, ciertos aires exóticos podían amenazar con situaciones emotivas, pero sólo fueron deseos encubiertos: las imprecisiones e inconexiones volvieron a ser la estrella.

14.06.2010 - Calígula - GRUPO E / PARTIDO Nº 10 - Con gol de Keisuke Honda (´39), Japón venció a Camerún (1-0) en el Free State (Mangaung / Bloemfontein) en lo que es su primera victoria mundialista fuera de su país, para igualar en puntos (3) a Holanda en el Grupo E.
Si bien el partido empezó en análisis mutuo, ciertos aires exóticos podían amenazar con situaciones emotivas, pero sólo fueron deseos encubiertos: las imprecisiones e inconexiones volvieron a ser la estrella.

Good afternoon all, and welcome once again to the daily World Cup column on Soccerlens, where you can sate all your World Cup needs in one easy-to-swallow dose.

Here's the best of today's South African-hued tidbits...

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Greece Vs Nigeria Live Streaming & Match Preview
FIFA World Cup 2010 – Greece Vs Nigeria Live Online Click Here
Thursday, June 17th 2010
Kick Off : 15:00 BST
Venue : Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein South Africa

This fixture for the group B of the World Cup between Greece and Nigeria will take place at the Free State Stadium on 17 June 2010, kick-off set for 3:00 PM.

Por Martín Rudistein
Nueva Zelanda 1 - Eslovaquia 1
En un partido muy cortado pero en el que tuvo supremacía Eslovaquia, este y Nueva Zelanda empataron 1 a 1 con goles de Roberto Vittek y sobre la hora de Winston Reid para los de Oceanía.
Era un partido clave para los dos, jugaban con el resultado puesto de Paraguay e Italia y si ganaban se ponían al tope del grupo, pero sobre todo Eslovaquia (para mí) no pudo demostrar que es más equipo en cuanto a individualidades que los neocelandeses y quizás por no poder cerrar el partido se llevó un punto que sabe a poquísimo si los dirigidos por Vladimir Weiss tienen intenciones de pasar a octavos.

Chile looking good; Spain, you absolute chokers; Diego Forlorn no more – if he carries on like this I will be forced to call him by his real name, and that would never do. South Africa now need the results to go their way, starting with a draw tonight in Polokwane. Then they must beat the French and hope Forlorn does the job against Mexico.

Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has credited the USA for helping craft his tactical plan that pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in recent World Cup history. This from Yahoo Sports:
It was the most monumental of shocks and lit up what had been a sleepy World Cup. But while Switzerland's dramatic 1-0 victory over tournament favorite Spain took place in Africa, the upset was born in the USA.

Match Details Greece-Nigeria, Group B, Mangaung / Bloemfontein, Friday 17 June, 16.00 (local time) Why Nigeria would win? Nigeria held their own against Argentina and even if they lost the game they stopped a number of goals and contained the greatest player today, Lionel Messi. Nigeria was able to run with these guys, deflect crosses, hold off attacks [.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The favorites of Group B, South Korea and Argentina will square off at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein (7:30am EDT, ESPN/ESPN3.com) A victory would put one of these nations in the driver seat to earn that top spot in Group B.

South Korea was one of the true revelations of the tournament early in their free flowing victory over Greece.

Crestfallen Martin Skrtel has revealed his disappointment after an opening World Cup match draw with New Zealand.
The Slovakian defender was helpless as Winston Reid's 94th minute header cancelled out Robert Vittek's early second half opener to give the underdogs their first ever point in competition.

style="float:left; margin-right:.25em;"Match Details Slovakia-Paraguay, Group G, Mangaung / Bloemfontein, Sunday 20 June, 13.30 (local time) [to be updated prior to game time] Why Paraguay would win? Why Slovakia would win? Key Takeaway FIFA World Cup Shopping - Slovakia US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss [.

>> Click Here To Watch Slovakia Vs Paraguay Live Now <<

Slovakia Vs Paraguay Live Streaming & Match Preview
FIFA World Cup 2010 – Slovakia Vs Paraguay Live Online Click Here
Sunday, June 20th 2010
Kick Off : 12:30 BST
Venue : Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein South Africa

This match for the group F of the World Cup between Slovakia and Paraguay will be played at the Free State Stadium on 20 June 2010, kick-off set for 12:30 PM.

Evenly matched Group F encounter could well end in stalemate.

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Winger Miroslav Stoch is tipped to start for Slovakia after recovering from a minor knee injury.

Paraguay have all but secured their passage to the last 16 team for the first time since 2002 after a convincing 2-0 win against Slovakia in Bloemfontein.

Enrique Vera opened his account for the tournament in the 26th minute, whilst Cristian Riveros sealed it late on.

The White and Red dominated for large parts of this encounter, peppering the Slovakian goal with an impressive forward three of Lucas Barrios, Nelson Valdez and Roque Santa Cruz.

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America reports on the total team meltdown by France.
The French national team was thrown intro disarray on Sunday when it players boycotted a public training session at its base in Knysna in support of Nicolas Anelka, who had been sent home after he insulted Coach Raymond Domenech and refused to apologize.

Zinedine Zidane as he is interviewedAs 2010 FIFA World Cup™ hosts South Africa and former World Champions France prepare to square up in their ultimate Group A match, football legends Lucas Radebe and Zinedine Zidane have both thrown their weight behind their respective countries in what is likely to be fiercely contested game.

Zinedine Zidane as he is interviewedAs 2010 FIFA World Cup™ hosts South Africa and former World Champions France prepare to square up in their ultimate Group A match, football legends Lucas Radebe and Zinedine Zidane have both thrown their weight behind their respective countries in what is likely to be fiercely contested game.

Girone A e Girone B alle battute finali. Oggi in programma quattro gare, due appunto (Francia-Sudafrica e Messico-Uruguay) andranno a chiudere definitivamente il primo raggruppamento, e vanno in scena in contemporanea alle 16, le altre due (Argentina-Grecia e Nigeria-Sud Corea) invece si disputeranno alle 20 e 30 e regaleranno i verdetti finali nel secondo gruppo.

Finally, we can all cheer as someone has administered a good old fashioned World Cup spanking, even it was Portugal; Chile dominated again and fully deserved their three points; and Spain could have had a hatful of goals, which is ironic, because Group H might be decided by goal difference.
Now we really start to sort the men from the boys as the final group matches begin, starting with:
Mexico v Uruguay (Rustenburg) 3pm
Neither wants to play Argentina in the next round, so both teams should go for the win.