Who can wait a month? I had to speculate the pots and make my own groups:
GROUP A -- South Africa, Greece, North Korea, Paraguay GROUP B -- Brazil, Slovenia, Honduras, Nigeria GROUP C -- Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay GROUP D -- Spain, Slovakia, USA, Ghana GROUP E -- Argentina, Netherlands, Mexico, Cameroon GROUP F -- Italy, Serbia, South Korea, Chile GROUP G -- France, Portugal, Australia, Algeria GROUP H -- England, Switzerland, Japan, Ivory Coast
If you haven't seen it already, Eboue scored a goal for Ivory Coast in an international friendly
against Germany yesterday.
The goal was brilliant showing he may very well be the perfect striker: the strength of Drogba,
the creativity of Henry, and the finishing of Owen. He's the complete package, folks.
Now that we have the official list of thd 32 nations taking part in next summers World Cup
Finals, all eyes are on the draw December 4th and how teams will be seeded for that draw.
There will be eight groups of four teams, so FIFA needs to split the 32 countries into 4
categories. According to FIFA's regulations:
"The FIFA Organising Committee forms groups for the final competition by seeding and drawing
lots whilst taking sports and geographic factors into consideration, as far as possible.
Yes, that was a handball. Deux handball, no less. Thierry Henry's
last-gasp equalizer sent the French through to South Africa and sent Ireland scrambling to try to
force a replay "in the interests of fair play."
I agree that's the fair thing to do. I don't think there's any way in hell it'll happen.
Yesterday, the World Cup field was finalized. There were 6 play-off games that were all pretty
exciting. My favorite was Algeria sending Egypt home. I'm also glad that Ireland were eliminated on
such a controversial goal. I've never liked them.
The 32-team field is set for the 2010 World Cup and for the next two weeks until the World Cup
Draw on Dec. 4 you will see plenty of sample draws to give soccer fans around the world a sense of
where teams just might wind up.
The 32-team field is set for the 2010 World Cup and for the next two weeks until the World Cup
Draw on Dec. 4 you will see plenty of sample draws to give soccer fans around the world a sense of
where teams just might wind up.
In yesterday's friendly match between Ivory Coast and Germany, Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Eboue
was lucky to escape unhurt after being hit in the stomach by German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who was
trying to clear a ...
With Uruguay seeing off Costa Rica, the field for World Cup 2010 has been completed.Africa -
Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South AfricaAsia - Australia, Japan, North Korea,
South KoreaEurope - Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, SwitzerlandNorth America - Honduras, Mexico, United
StatesOceania - New Click to continue reading...
As a fan it was hard to go back to watching the German national team get back to playing football.
It brought a smile to my face, however, when the Ivory Coast came out of the dressing room
reminding us all of the common noble spirit of football and human Click to continue reading...
No more. Done. Finito. Acabou. The fight for the 32 golden spots to play the most
exciting football (and sports) tournament on the planet has ended. Some big ones almost did not
manage. And some return after 24 years.
Today was the day for the last 6 squads to qualify. The brave (or lucky?
The following is an excerpt from a letter addressed to Robert Enke from the national team before
the match with the Ivory Coast... Wir spielen heute für Deutschland, wir spielen für die Fans.
Aber wir spielen vor allem für Dich. Für einen guten Freund, durch dessen Tod wir alle noch ein Click to continue reading...
Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou and Abdoulaye Meite were both in the Ivory Coast squad to face
Germany in Wednesday's international friendly (2-2 draw). Neither was available for Saturday's
World Cup qualifiying win over Guinea after the two went all hyphy on each other in training. The
two have since made up (awww).
Six teams qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa today, finalizing the field that
will compete in the first World Cup in African soil.
France, Slovenia, Uruguay, Portugal, Greece and Algeria advanced to the finals ending the dreams
of Ireland, Russia, Costa Rica, Ukraine and Egypt in the process.
It is the last international match day of the year and we will be treated both to some decisive
World Cup qualifiers as well as some quality international friendlies.
You already know about today's qualifiers, but there are also some great friendlies, including
Germany-Ivory Coast, Italy-Sweden and Netherlands-Paraguay.
There are a number of international friendlies on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. Many of the top
countries who have qualified for next summer's World Cup Final include Spain, Italy, Netherlands,
Germany, and the United States. Our other site, Free Live Sports TV, will be providing live
coverage of the matches at the links below.
Well, I would be if I were one of those players having to play tonight and some nutter came
sliding in towards me with a hard tackle in mind! We cannot afford any more injuries and the loss
of any of the players mentioned below would be just awful. It doesn't even bare thinking about!
Even Sir Bobby Pires is concerned for us, but still believes we have enough strength and depth
to get through this tough time.
The former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o promised his fellow countrymen that he will buy each
of his teammates a £30,000 watch should they qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Last weekend after
their 2-0 win over Morocco, Eto'o made good on his promise and gifted the same watch to all of his
teammates.
Barcelona and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Touré may leave Barcelona for a move to England.
According to his agent, Dimitri Seluk, the 26-year old is wanted by a number of clubs and may opt
for a ... Click to continue reading...
Barcelona and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Touré may leave Barcelona for a move to England.
According to his agent, Dimitri Seluk, the 26-year old is wanted by a number of clubs and may opt
for a ...
Good piece by Henry Winter in todays Telegraph, about how dangerous a First Round Draw England
could get despite the fact that we will almost certainly be seeded (won't be officially announced
untill all the teams are through and FIFA has worked out the best way to get the big teams through
the fairest way for everyone to play against each other.
If it was drama you wanted, African World Cup qualifying was the place to be this weekend. Nigeria
and Cameroon became the latest teams through to the finals - joining Ghana, Ivory Coast and hosts
South Africa - but in very different circumstances. The scene in Cairo. Wednesday's match will be in "nuetral" Sudan. Click to continue reading...
Didier Drogba has had a ridiculous start to the year. Not only has his squad, Chelsea, met
their high preseason expectations and remained the top squad despite some tough challenges, but the
forward has done a great job shaking off the rust from last year's injury plagued season and has
performed up to the peak of his abilities.
According to Football Italia, Samuel Eto'o has cemented his reputation as the Oprah Winfrey of
footballers by giving each and every member of the Cameroon national team, which he captains, a
£30,000 watch simply because they qualified for the World Cup.
Meanwhile, every other national team captain is cursing his name for making them look bad.
Vote for the African Premier League player who has been the best ambassador for Africa here...The
winner will be declared on the 30th of November 2009 Drogba signed a new advertising contract with Pepsi and pledged the entire £3m he earned from the
deal to the setting-up of a hospital and orphanage in Ivory Coast.
The African teams are mostly set. After last weekend's final qualifiers, we know that
Cameroon, Nigeria, and either Egypt or Algeria will join hosts South Africa, the Ivory Coast, and
Ghana as Africa's representatives at the first African World Cup. But those qualifiers also
served to decide the field for a more immediate event: the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by
Angola in January (shorthanded as CAN2010—for the Campeonato Africano das Naçõesem Futebol Angola 2010).
While a few countries still have World Cup Qualification matches left, most are playing
international friendlies during this week. These include some of the favorites for next summer's
world cup such as Brazil who face Oman, Italy v Sweden, Austria v Spain, Denmark v United States,
and Italy v Sweden.
Chelsea will most certainly be without Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole
for their top-of-the-table clash with Arsenal on November 29th. The Ivory Coast International will
in fact be out for three weeks ... Click to continue reading...
Chelsea will most certainly be without Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole
for their top-of-the-table clash with Arsenal on November 29th. The Ivory Coast International will
in fact be out for three weeks ...
Just a few short weeks ago, Chelsea appeared the strongest team at least squad-wise in the
English top flight. How quickly things can change.
Following this weekend's international break, the list of those on the treatment table has grown
exponentially and not simply from lining up for their respective countries.
There it is. I just knew it was going to happen soon. This one problem could derail Arsenal and
Gooners hope for silverware this season. Will the decision not to replace the Togolese idiot come
back to haunt Wenger? Or will someone rise from the misfortune of his team mate and stake a claim
for his place?
Cameroon and Nigeria have guaranteed a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa today.
Cameroon beat Morroco 2-0 (second goal by Eto'o) and Nigeria beat Kenya 3 2.
So far 26 countries are going to South Africa next June: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile,
Mexico, USA, Honduras, Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Slovakia,
Switzerland, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australian, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon,
New Zealand and South Africa.
I'll have much more later but today the US showed that we have a lot of depth on the backline,
but that the loss of Charlie Davies up front could be a fatal blow to our chances to advance deep
in next summer's World Cup.
Brad Guzan made some big saves, and Slovakia looked disinterested at times in the game after
coming through a very strong UEFA qualifying group.
