Archive for June, 2010
Saturday, June 12th, 2010
Ghana
Qualified: Winners of Group 5 (in second round), Winners of Group D (in third round)
Best World Cup finish: Last 16: 2006
FIFA Ranking: 32
Odds for 2010: 100/1
Ghana successfully negotiated two rounds of qualifying to secure their place in the first ever African based World Cup and also a place at their second consecutive tournament following their run to the last-16 of the 2006 tournament before being eliminated by five time winners Brazil.
Like Germany, Ghana have been robbed of their star player, the versatile Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who will miss the tournament having sustained a knee injury during ‘the Black Stars’ African Cup of Nations campaign in January 2010, an injury that ruled him out of the rest of his club’s domestic campaign and which ultimately ended his World Cup chances, with a recovery estimated for late in July.
In his absence, the responsibility of his role in the side will be spread across the rest of the side, with Essien’s all-round midfield contribution regarded as almost impossible to replace. (more…)
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Tags: Appiah, Australia, Black Stars, Boatang, Bresciano, Cahill, Essien, Ghana, Kewell, Moore, Muntari, Neill, Schwarzer, World Cup
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Friday, June 11th, 2010
Germany
Qualified: Winners of European Qualification Group 4
Best World Cup finish: Winners: 1954, 1974 (as West Germany), 1990.
FIFA Ranking: 6
Odds for 2010: 14/1
Germany cruised into their 15th consecutive World Cup finals with an unbeaten qualification campaign that was clinched with an impressive one-nil victory over Russia in Moscow.
Dropping just two points in the whole campaign, the Germans had the two highest scorers in their group with Miroslav Klose’s seven goals just edging him ahead of frontline partner Lukas Podolski who notched six.
So the Germans, perhaps inspired by Bayern Munich’s impressive run to the Champions League final, marched into South Africa with a spring in their step, confident of at least a semi-final finish.
However, their optimism was surely rocked with the news that Captain Michael Ballack will miss the tournament courtesy of an injury picked up in the FA Cup final thanks to a tackle from Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boatang – suffice to say it didn’t take long for the conspiracy theorists to clear their throats. (more…)
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Tags: Antic, Ballack, Germany, Ivanovic, Jovanovic, Klose, Lahm, Loew, Ozil, Podolski, Serbia, Stankovic, Vidic, World Cup, Zigic
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
The tournament’s second group boasts a bunch of past champions of their respective continental championships within the last 20 years – and South Korea. (more…)
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Tags: Argentina, Group B, John Obi Mikel, Lars Lagerback, maradona, messi, Nigeria, World Cup
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
South Africa – Entering the tournament as the lowest-ever ranked host nation, little is expected of Bafana Bafana and we can see why. Uninspiring in failing to qualify for the African Nations Cup, they missed their chance to test themselves in readiness for the big stage. Although unbeaten in seven months, they ambled to draws against Jamaica and Namibia, before beating Jamaica 2-0 in April. Beyond Steven Pienaar, their only top-level player, there is little quality in the side. Benni McCarthy, well known to English fans, was dropped from the final squad amid concerns over his form and weight. With the exception of captain Aaron Mokoena and Kagiso Dikgacoi of Fulham – hardly a regular – the squad lacks experience in competitive European Leagues, with a few members plying their trade in Greece and Germany having been omitted. World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called on a large group of domestic-based players who we can know little about. Nevertheless, he has been unbeaten in 11 games, upon being named coach and we can be sure to expect that the strong team spirit that has been fostered will do their nation proud. (more…)
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Tags: Caceres, Cavani, Lodeiro, pienaar, South Africa, Uruguay, World Cup
Posted in South Africa, Uruguay, World Cup | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
France – Where to begin with this most disjointed team of mavericks? Coached by Eugene Levy of American Pie fame (or is that Raymond Domenech?), the French always seem to be there or thereabouts in the final reckoning.
More questions have been realised since Lassana Diarra was ruled out – they could probably have replaced this Claude Makelele lookalike with, well… Claude Makelele. No one would have been the wiser. However, a re-jig has seen Florent Malouda introduced into a three-man central midfield alongside the outstanding Yoann Gourcuff, with anchorman Jeremy Toulalan holding it together. Clearly it can be argued that this system restricts Gourcuff, an attacking midfielder by nature, by placing too much defensive responsibility on him. With Malouda the other forward-thinking player in the three, the more harmonious trio of defensive Toulalan, creator Gourcuff and multi-tasking dynamo Diarra it seems, will be missed. (more…)
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Tags: Aguirre, Anelka, Domenech, France, Gourcuff, Group A, Hernandez, Lloris, Marquez, Mexico, Ribery, Vela
Posted in France, Mexico, World Cup | 1 Comment »
