World Cup News

Just a bit of quick-fire World Cup news from the last week or so... Just to keep you up to date.

GROUP A

The hosts South Africa have released their final 23-man squad for the finals, the main surprise being the omission of their all-time record goalscorer Benni McCarthy. The West Ham striker has been struggling for fitness recently and seems to be a bit out of shape, the team may miss his talismanic goalscoring ability, but it was a brave choice to exclude him.

Meanwhile their group rivals France have made a few surprising choices in their squad selection, leaving out Karim Benzema and Patrick Vieira. Les Bleus forward Thierry Henry has also admitted he expects to feature in this World Cup only as a substitute after failing to get a starting place in France's recent friendlies. The Barca striker said that "the most important thing is the team" and that "we're all in this to go as far as we can together."

GROUP B

Argentina boss Diego Maradona has raised a few more questions surrounding his managerial decisions, as he is choosing to go with four natural centre-backs as his defensive line for this year's Finals. Velez Sarsfield star Nicolas Otamendi is expected to be forced to play as a right-back. Maradona also chose to exclude big names like Riquelme, Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti in his squad selection.

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has been pronounced 'fully fit' and has joined up with the rest of the Nigeria squad. Mikel was feared to be a doubt for his side's opener against Argentina after he underwent knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The Super Eagles have also had their departure to South Africa delayed, after their aircraft at Stansted Airport "developed unspecified problems". They do not know yet when they will be flying out, but the Nigerian government are sending a new aircraft from Paris to fly the team.

There has been mixed news for the Korea Republic, with in form striker Lee Dong-Gook managing to regain fitness in time to be included in the final squad. However defender Kwak Tae-Hwi has had to pull out of the squad with a knee injury.

GROUP C

England boss Fabio Capello has announced his final 23-man squad for the finals excluding Leighton Baines and Theo Walcott. Baines was expected to be in the squad as back-up for Ashley Cole at left-back, but that spot has been handed to the relatively untested Stephen Warnock. Walcott's exclusion also comes as a surprise, four years on from his shock inclusion in the 2006 World Cup squad.

Group opponents Slovenia have instilled an interesting mentality ahead of their World Cup campaign. Forward Valter Birsa believes they have "nothing to lose". The striker went on to say that "all we can do now is carry on giving our all and fighting for every ball, like we have up until now". Team captain Robert Koren is also reinforcing the team spirit in the Slovenian camp, saying the team do not have individual stars, but a strong unit as a team.

GROUP D

Before the World Cup there are always injuries to important players, this year there have been few more important than Germany's Michael Ballack. The Chelsea star was injured in his team's FA Cup victory over Portsmouth and will miss the finals. This adds to the existing injury problems for the Germans, with 'keeper Rene Adler missing out, and midfielder Trasch is struggling for fitness.

Australia's final squad selection included one Middlesbrough player, while omitting two others. Boro 'keeper Brad Jones will be on the plane to South Africa, whilst right-back Rhys Williams and former Celtic striker Scott McDonald missed the cut. Manager Pim Verbeek has blamed Middlesbrough directly for Williams' exclusion, saying that he had been carrying an injury and continued to play for the Teeside club through a series of injections. Verbeek said he "could never train fully", and the manager was disappointed to have to exclude him.

Despite looking like a squad to really surprise everyone at the finals, Serbia's poor warm-up form has drawn its critics. The problem got serious in their friendly defeat against New Zealand, as fans rioted in the stands. Defender Nemanja Vidic had to act as the peacemaker, addressing the fans via a microphone in the middle of the field, asking for calm.

Along with the aforementioned injury to Michael Ballack, Group D has suffered another major injury, with Ghana losing star player, and fellow Chelsea midfielder, Michael Essien. Essien has been injured since January, but he was confident of making a return in time for the finals. After much assessment, Ghanaian medical experts said he would not be fit until the end of July.

Group E

The Netherlands have chosen not to pick striker Ruud van Nistelrooy for their campaign in South Africa, throwing his international future into extreme doubt. van Nistelrooy has a fabulous record for the Oranje, scoring 33 times in 64 games.

Former Celtic icon Shunsuke Nakamura has recovered in time from an ankle injury to be fit for Japan's World Cup squad. After missing the friendly defeat against England, it was feared that the player (now at Yokohama Marinos) could miss out on the final squad selection due to injury.

Cameroon star man Samuel Eto'o had threatened to pull out of this year's World Cup, after national legend Roger Milla had criticised his performances for the national team. Eto'o has since been named in the final squad and will be taking part at the Finals, but this latest scandal is one of many which could unsettle a talented Cameroon side.

GROUP F

Giuseppe Rossi and Mattia Cassani were surprise exclusions in what is an otherwise very strong Italy squad. However, Rossi and Cassani had both been expected to make the final squad, with Rossi's place taken by Giampaolo Pazzini of Sampdoria, and Cassani being dropped in favour of extra striker Fabio Quagliarella of Napoli.

GROUP G

On Tuesday 11th May, Brazil coach Dunga announced his seleção, sparking many debates all over the world. First of all, there was no room for fantastistas Ronaldinho and Adriano, after they both failed to impress for the national team in recent times. Secondly, Dunga refused to give in to national pressure and select the Santos duo Paulo Henrique Ganso and Neymar. Thirdly, there was surprise inclusions for Wolfsburg striker Grafite and Flamengo midfielder Kleberson (formerly of Manchester United), and surprise exclusions for AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato and Juventus midfielder Diego.

Now, there are a lot of talking points here, and I'll go through them a bit here instead of writing a new article.

I am very pleased with Dunga's selection. The main way he has chosen his team is by those who have impressed when given the chance for the national team. This explains the exclusions of everyone mentioned there. On the other hand, when called upon by the national team, players like Grafite, Josue, Julio Baptista and Kleberson have really impressed.

However there is one player I'd probably have picked instead. Hernanes of Sao Paulo is a 25 year old defensive midfielder, a truly fantastic player, I've always said he could walk into most squads in Europe. Unlike other prospective picks like Pato and Diego, when Hernanes has been called upon for Brazil (2008 Olympics squad) he has really impressed. So my only change would be Kleberson out, Hernanes in. Feel free to suggest your own changes.

GROUP H

Spain's striker David Villa has said that he will happily play on the wing for the European champions if it means he will get a spot in the starting line up. This follows the news of Fernando Torres' return to fitness and the general consensus that El Nino of Liverpool will get the starting spot up-front. New Barcelona signing Villa says that "the important thing is to play".

Tips for success Chile are sweating over the fitness of their top striker Humberto Suazo. Suazo is suspected to be suffering from a muscle injury, and would prompt significant changes in the Chile system. However some people in the know are putting this down to Coach Marcelo Bielsa's mind-games, trying to get teams to change their strategy to playing a team without Suazo. Such doubters are confident Suazo will not miss any games, should be interesting to see how that plays out...

So that's it for now, just to keep you all up to date on what is happening around the nations. Its only 8 days away, and I'm sure that like me, you can't wait for it to begin.

WC2010: Who's going? (part one)

OK as you may or may not have noticed, I haven't posted much here at all recently. My job isn't really leaving me enough time to write, but after a half-day today due to a server shutdown, I'm here with a new post about the World Cup finals in 2010.

Basically what I want to do over the next wee while, is discuss the teams that have made it so far, pass on a bit of my own knowledge (players to look out for etc.) and basically get some response with people's ideas on who's going to do well, who's going to struggle and all that jazz.

It might take me a while to get through them all, but just bear with me as I'll try to post some other stuff in between. So without further ado, in alphabetical order, let's get on with the show.

ARGENTINA

The Argies have been all over the news recently after just scraping through the qualifying stages, so I won't go in to why that is or anything as you all probably know. Despite the problems though, Argentina still have the quality in their squad that could essentially go all the way. Even though I don't think they will, with the best player in the world (Leo Messi in case you didnt know) and players like Tevez, Aguero and Mascherano in their squad, they can rival any team they come up against in the World Cup.

If Maradona can fashion a proper team out of the talent he has, with a good spine and a team ethic, then yes he could take them to the quarters or semis. Worst case scenario? They draw a tough group and fall at the first hurdle.

Star Man: Lionel Messi

Needs no introduction, been misfiring a little for his country, but the Barcelona forward is still the best player in the world. Expect a decent tournament, but in a team that are underachieving, he will surely be overshadowed by other players in more successful teams.

Player to watch: Nicolas Otamendi

In a nation where every young player is heralded as "the new Maradona", 21-year old centre half Nicolas Otamendi has been tipped to be the long-awaited natural heir to Roberto Ayala. Argentina's main problems are in defence, and with the unexperienced Otamendi being thrown in at the deep end and expected to perform, he has actually coped very well. He has all the qualities of a classic centre-half, and by the time South Africa comes around, I'm tipping him to be one of the best centre halfs in the tournament.


Prediction: Got the team to make the final, but will have to settle for a Quarter Final exit (maybe semis if they get a good draw).

AUSTRALIA

They gave a very good account of themselves at the finals in Germany in 2006. The Socceroos are a nation who have really increased their worldwide standing in the past few years. Australia were always disadvantaged by losing players that qualified to play for Australia through European roots (most notably Christian Vieri, Sasa Ilic etc.) but thanks to their improved reputation, the Socceroos have managed to keep a lot of their home grown talent. Topping their group in the qualifying stage, manager Pim Verbeek has said they are targeting the Quarter Final stage come 2010.

Star Man: Tim Cahill

Again, really doesn't need much introduction. Cahill is a world-class player in a half-decent team, and I can really see him shining in South Africa. With him bossing the midfield, and pitching in with a few goals, he will be a massive player for the Socceroos.

Player to watch: Harry Kewell

Maybe a surprise choice, but I'm guessing the last time you saw Harry Kewell was when he was a fading light coming off the bench once in a blue moon for Liverpool. But now he is playing for Galatasaray in Turkey and he honestly looks like his old self, the fans love him and he is playing some truly great stuff.

He still has a decent kick of pace, a wicked cross, and is a goal threat anywhere around the area. Get ready for a surprise.


Prediction: Their goal is Quarter Finals, in all honesty that's more of a dream than a realistic goal. Group stage exit or scrape through to the Second Round.

BRAZIL

The most successful nation ever to enter the World Cup are at it again. I'm saying it right now that I think Brazil will win this tournament. Dunga has done a great job with the team, but with the abundance of talent they have, they couldn't really go far wrong. Demolishing Argentina earlier in the qualifying, Brazil sealed their ticket to South Africa early on. I don't really know what else I can say about them, they'll win.

Star Man: Luis Fabiano

One of the top goalscorers in the world right now. I was never that much of a fan of him in the past, his attitude was pathetic but he's sorted himself out and is playing some unbeleivable football. Stick your house on Fabiano taking the Golden Shoe.

Player to watch: Nilmar

As if having Luis Fabiano leading the line wasn't enough, Brazil also have the young Nilmar who I expect will get some playing time. A classic striker, he's got a few years before he will be top drawer, but after making his move from the Brazilian league to Villarreal, hes on his way. Oh yeah and he scores goals like this:



Predictions: WINNERS.

CHILE

Maybe a surprise package for South Africa. Finishing second in the South American qualifying, and with wins over Argentina and Paraguay, they do give the impression of a pretty serious team. Haven't really impressed anyone since 1998, no longer having players of the quality of Salas and Zamorano. But now, with some skilful players like Suazo, Fernandez and Valdivia they look like they might be able to turn a few heads.

Star Man: Humberto Suazo

10 goals in the qualifying says it all. He's a proper goalscorer, and with service from the midfield, he should score a few in South Africa. One of those players that confuses me so much. He has scored 140 goals at club level in the last 4 seasons, he's 28, and he's never seeked a move away from South America.

Player to watch: Matias Fernandez

Mati has always been a player with a lot of potential. He gained several supporters in his time at Colo Colo and had a good start to his European football career at Villarreal. However in the seasons following he found some trouble getting a regular starting place and moved to Sporting Lisbon.

He's always looked good for the national team and if he can have a good season Mati could have a decent part to play in the finals.


Prediction: Second Round exit. Although I wouldn't be surprised if they left at the Group stage, or even progressed further with a nice draw.

More later on.