Record and surprise in Group A

Tournaments are often notably hard to predict, and Group A in this World Cup was notably difficult. After the opening match between Mexico and South Africa it was impossible to predict the strength of those two sides: Mexico won 2-0 against a very poor South Africa, and the home side only started showing their true strength when they defeated South Corea 1-0. Today Mexico were fantastic: 3-0 over a Czechia side that only played decent football during the first half hour, on goals by the Alkmaar defender Mateo Chavez, Julian Quiñones and Alvaro Fidalgo. 

Czechia proved to be one of the poorest side in the tournament, but that does not take away the fact that Mexico, for the first time in their World Cup history, won three matches in the group stages and progresses with a score of 6-0. The Mexican side, managed by the experienced Javier Aguirre, have shown that the doubts about the side were baseless, and that they are a side that aims to get far in the tournament. 

Any team that will face Mexico will struggle, not only against a great team, but also with an incredible local support.

We will see who they will play in the next match soon! 

In the meantime, everyone underestimated South Africa (including myself), most notably the South Coreans, whom everyone was expecting to go through on second place after Mexico. All the Asians had to do was tie South Africa. Instead, the South Africans won 0-1 on a goal by Thapelo Maseko, and they take second place in the group (and will be facing Canada next). It is a huge surprise, given how they played in the first match, and the fact that they only managed to tie Czechia (again: perhaps the poorest sides in the tournament). 

South Corea, who looked so good in their first match, and played a good match against Mexico, can only be disappointed as they are now on the verge of being eliminated. They can still hope to go through as one of the best third-placed teams, but with only three points and a score of -1, this would be incredibly lucky indeed!

The best tournament teams do not underestimate anyone, and pace their tournament. Mexico and South Africa perhaps paced themselves after the opening match, but now they are both deservedly celebrating that they are through to the last-32.

First day in Guadalajara

 If Denmark had qualified for the World Cup, they would have played South Corea in Guadalajara yesterday, and let me be blunt: Denmark would have lost bigger than the fighting Czechs, who are also very dangerous on set-pieces.

I was a bit disappointed about the atmosphere which was nowhere as electric as other matches. South Coreans far outnumbered Czechs, and Mexicans far outnumbered everybody in a beautiful Akron stadium that despite it all was not at full capacity…

The first half of the match was somewhat disappointing. South Corea had the ball and the chances, but appeared too elegant to be able to strike against a Czech side that were surely on the defensive, but played with heart. Ten minutes into the second half came the shocker for the Coreans: Ladislav Krejci brought the Czechs on 0-1 on a header, following one of the Czech specialties, namely set-pieces.

The Coreans were not stunned though, and scored a goal based on patience; they passed the ball around, almost making the stadium and Czechs falls asleep, until the explosion came. A pass to Hweong In-beom in the area and he skillfully cheated two defenders and the goalkeeper. 

Corea were the better team, but the Czechs played their chance. They pressed high and was dangerous with long balls, also seeking their dangerous set-pieces, and in fact appeared to have scored on one when the referee gave an apparent free kick to the Coreans. Instead, Oh Hyeon-gyu gave the Coreans the lead on a perfectly timed attack.

The final minutes of the match Czechia pressed and in fact managed to stress the otherwise better team of Corea, and came very close to an equalizer.

But Corea won, just as Mexico had done earlier in the day, 2-0 against South Africa in a sorry to say very poor match, where South Africa were not at any quality level of what you would expect of a World Cup team. So it is basically impossible to say anything of Mexico’s level on the basis of that match, and the real test will come in the next matches.

The World Cup is on. There is no magic; quite on the contrary, and as it has started, I find it hard to be in the slightest excited about it.

The Comeback Group Winners

Things have looked against Ghana in this Africa Cup of Nations: they started losing 1-2 to Senegal on a last minute goal. They then barely managed to defeat Algeria in the last minute. And today at first half, they were 0-1 down against South Africa. With Algeria leading 1-0 against Tunisia, it looked as if Ghana would end at the bottom of the group.
But Ghana have shown that they are a great side with a lot of routine by their ability to come back when things look the most difficult: with 17 minutes to go, and after intense pressure on the South  Africans, John Boye managed to equalize. With seven minutes to go Andre Ayew scored what would be the winner for the Ghanaians.
And with Algeria winning 2-0, the Black Stars moved from last to first in the group of death, ahead of the Algerians. Senegal, for whom everything looked so good, are out. So are South Africa, who played well, but who were up against a strong Ghana side that can still go all the way!

The Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers

The Africa Cup of Nations will take place in Equatorial Guinea in January, and the last qualifying matches took place today. One major surprise is that the defending champions from Nigeria failed to qualify: they needed to win at home, but only managed to draw 2-2 against South Africa. As Congo beat Sudan 0-1, they follow the Bafana Bafana to Equatorial Guinea. It will be great to have South Africa back among the best in Africa, although it is disappointing to see Nigeria out; the team was again hit by allegations of corruption and conflict prior to the match, and changes may be coming.
Another of the great African sides will not be there: A disappointing Egypt had already been eliminated before losing their final match to Tunisia, who won the group ahead of Senegal. In the meantime, the splendid Algeria that thrilled all of us at the World Cup lost 2-0 to Mali, but had already booked their place, while Mali will follow the North Africans with their victory. The giants Ivory Coast and Cameroon both made it to the finals by tying 0-0, while Ghana sealed their qualification with a 3-1 victory over Togo. In Ghana's group Guinea took the second spot by defeating Uganda 2-0. They were playing in Morocco because of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. The same Morocco who forsook the tournament because of Ebola....
All in all, these are the 16 great sides that will compete in Equatorial Guinea:

• Equatorial Guinea: the hosts
• South Africa
• Congo
• Algeria
• Mali
• Gabon
• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• Ivory Coast
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Cape Verde
• Zambia
• Tunisia
• Senegal
• DR Congo

It could be a great tournament, hopefully not to be overshadowed by fear of Ebola, where big European clubs will not let their players join because of pure ignorance.

Ghana and Mali in the semifinals

In 2005 I was in Ghana when the Black Stars defeated Cape Verde 4-0, and with that result qualified for their first World Cup. Today, I wore my Ghana shirt as I watched Ghana take on a Cape Verde side that has surprised everyone in this their first Africa Cup of Nations. Ghana were obviously favourites against the first-timers, but this could not be seen. While Ghana dominated the early stages of the match, the Cape Verde team was the best side all in all, and even though I am happy Ghana won, I cannot help but feel a bit sorry for Cape Verde, who deserved better. Ghana was saved by their goalkeeper Abdul Dauda, and two goals by Wakaso Mubarak, one on penalty, and one in an empty goal when Cape Verde had thrown every many forward for a corner kick.
I have no doubt that overall Ghana is a better team than Cape Verde. But Ghana must play better if they are to win the tournament! They cannot rely just on Dauda and Wakaso!
In the other semi-final South Africa was full of expectations to the Bafana-Bafana, only to be disappointed again. 1-1 after extra time against Mali, who won the penalty kicks 3-1 after South Africa missed three penalties in a row. While South Africa are disappointed, this victory is surely another boost for Mali!

African Quarterfinals

With the time difference I have not had much chance to watch the Africa Cup of Nations. A couple of days ago I saw Nigeria's two penalty victory against Ethiopia in Group C that put the giants in the next round. Nigeria is eager for a success that has eluded the African giants for years, but their team is not looking that strong. The real surprise in group C was Burkina Faso. With 0-0 against the defending champions of Zambia they both won the group and eliminated the champions, an admirable feat, and it will be interesting to see them in the quarterfinals, where they will be up against Togo, while Nigeria will have it difficult against the favourites of Ivory Coast.
As expected Ivory Coast won their group D ahead of the Togolese. For Togo a 1-1 tie with Tunisia in their last match was enough, given Tunisia's bad score against the Ivorians.
My unapologetically favourite side is Ghana, whom I really hope to see lift the trophy. They were efficient in winning their group B, and will now face one of the surprise teams of the tournament, namely Cape Verde.  They were followed by Mali, a country with a strong team and full of hope given the difficult situation in the country. Mali will have it difficult in the next round as they will face the South African hosts, who won their group A. South Africa has not looked strong though, and that will be Mali's chance.
As mentioned, Cape Verde were a surprise. After ties against South Africa and Morocco, a 91st minute goal by Heldon Ramos put them in the quarterfinals in their first African Cup of Nations ever, a great feat by the small island nation!
The quarterfinals this weekend look as follows:

• South Africa-Mali
• Ghana-Cape Verde
• Ivory Coast-Nigeria
• Burkina Faso-Togo

South African excuses

I am not going to join the choir criticizing South Africa's Football Association (SAFA) or coach for their inability to qualify to the African Nations Cup. No, instead I am going to commend the coach, Pitso Mosimane, for his apparent strategic abilities: knowing (or thinking....) that 0-0 against Sierra Leone was enough to qualify, he decided to play on the result rather than a victory against a team most people would think would be easy for the Bafana Bafana to defeat.
Modern football. Why win (at home) when you can tie...?
Turns out 0-0 was not enough, since in case of point-equality, the rules were unfortunately misinterpreted: in case of point-equality, the first criteria to decide who is first, is the mutual encounter between the two concerned teams, and not the score. With this calculation, South Africa was out, and Niger was sensationally qualified.
So what did Pitso Mosimane do? Complain that the rules had not been clear. And in such situations, where a coach has not qualified and is proving somewhat controversial, other football associations might distance themselves from their man.
But not SAFA! No, these guys supported their coach, and were apparently not aware of the regulations either, and lodged a complaint to SAFA about the rules.
Stand by your man! Even when it means making a fool of your footballing system! That is what team sport means!
South Africa will not be going to the African Cup of Nations. But Niger will be great to see there.

You gotta be grateful that the same people running South African football are not running the rest of the country...

The best and the worst from the world cup

The 2010 World Cup is over. I feel it was a wonderful World Cup; much better than the disappointments of 2002 and 2006! The following is a top ten of the best and the worst respectively, starting with the bad things:

10) Petty nationalism: Many people only interest themselves in football every four years for the World Cup, as the nationalism and stereotypes appeals to them. They don't watch it for the football. At the same time, the results on the pitch are interpreted to confirm all types of stereotypes and situations in the world, and any comment about a play is interpreted as an insult of a nation. When France's team strikes, it does not mean all French are arrogant and selfish. When we say that the Dutch played like animals, it does not mean that we don't still love the Netherlands. When I say that the Spanish team deserved to have their air down against Switzerland, it does not mean that I find that all Spanish are arrogant....

Football is passion, but people who don't watch it often should learn to relax: it is only football!

9) People who kept complaining about the vuvuzelas: the vuvuzelas rocked!

8) Some empty stadiums: Incredibly, there were some empty stadiums in the first rounds, and I am certain that they could have been sold out. Why!?

7) Defensiveness: In the first round in particular too many teams are more afraid to lose than prepared to win. The few goals scored in this tournament are also an expression of a tournament where most teams are not prepared to take risks. Fortunately, the winners were not one of these (although being very inefficient up front, Spain relied strongly on its defense to win).

6) Some referees: In general the referees were quite good, considering the lacking assistance they get from FIFA and from players. However, still some referees were appalling, most notably Mr. Webb in the final, who allowed too much from the violent Dutch.

5) African sides: The first World Cup in Africa, and all but Ghana were eliminated in the first round. In particular Nigeria and Cameroon were hugely disappointing. Even in the long-term, Ghana remains the most likely African World Champions.

4) The Netherlands: To reach the final the Dutch were stable and efficient, as well as outright nasty (notably Van Bommel should have gotten a red card many times during the tournament). It (almost) worked, but many people miss the beautiful and entertaining football that has made the Dutch admired and respected.

3) The soap operas of the European sides: The most pathetic display came from the French side, but also England, who had a humilliating World Cup suffered from internal dicussions, pressure from the press, and so on. Finally, Italy grossly underperformed, perhaps due to a coach who still lives in 2006...

2) Paul the octopus: Who came up with this stupid idea of a psychic octopus...? Granted, it is funny, but as the tournament progressed the octopus got more attention and I personally got increasingly annoyed that it kept making better predictions than myself... Why not just cancel the next World Cup and let it make predictions - imagine how much money, time and nerves will be spared!

1) FIFA and technology: FIFA is a powerful and conservative organization that does not accept any criticism. Its stance on using some technology to improve the game is outright stupid: Lampard's goal against Germany was seen by the entire world, including the referees, within seconds of it happening, but still, the referees could not change!? I understand it is a more complex discussion, but intransigence to consider it in a game that moves billions, is stupid.

I must admit that I did not have an easy time thinking of ten bad things! In any case, it is much easier to mention the good things:

10) Andrés Iniesta: In my humble view, the King of the Tournament.

9) Diego Maradona: the most controversial person in football, and many would surely not put him on this list. But I do: he has been as refreshing as controversial, has tackled the pressure well, and made Argentina play good offensive football. In spite of Argentina falling apart against Germany, he remains one of the great memories of the tournament. Viva Diego!

8) Larissa Riquelme: Why one would unconditionally support Paraguay!

7) Uruguay: To many Uruguay were the surprise of the tournament. However, the small giants have an excellent team and a great history. The fact that they returned in Africa forty years after their latest semifinal also carries the symbolism that they were the first team to use black players nearly 100 years ago!

6) New Zealand: With three ties the Kiwis were in fact the only undefeated team of the tournament! Bravo for a team nobody expected anything from!

5) The finalists: The Netherlands played their third World Cup final while Spain played its first. Although both teams are giants, this was an unusual final, as it is the first final ever without the participation of Brazil, Italy, Germany or Argentina.

4) Ghana and their fans: Ghana is the best African team, and showed it again, being just one kick away from being the first African semifinalists ever. That they didn't make it was heartbreaking, partly for the team, but mostly for all Ghana's fans, who are surely the best fans in the world! The World Title for best fans went to Ghana!

3) Germany: Germany broke a lot of stereotypes with a young team that any football fan should look forward to seeing in the future. I was not expecting much of them, but was impressed by the German youngsters (notably Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller) who with style, pace and efficiency became the most scoring team of the World Cup.

2) Spain: World Champions for the first time ever, and breaking a longtime curse for the Spanish side. It has been amazing to see how they have united an otherwise disunited country, and knowing Spaniards, I am sure that the party was epic! Cheers!

1) South Africa: the country and people of South Africa silenced all critics (including myself) hosting a marvelous tournament, welcoming the world with hospitality, smiles and a gorgeous country. There are many world champions from this tournament, but South Africa is surely the foremost!

On a personal note, I had the privilege of watching the world cup in five countries, continuously travelling, with friends, family, plenty of beers, smiles, laughs, frustration, disappointments, happiness.... This is what football is about! Still, I have to go cold turkey on this football overdose for now!

Cheers!

Farewell France and Bafana Bafana

As Uruguay defeated Mexico 1-0 to take the first spot of group A, South Africa remained with a chance to qualify for the last-16 if they could defeat the hapless Frenchmen 4-0. It went well, 2-0 up, but it was not to be as the Bafana Bafana only managed to win 2-1.

South Africa is now the first host ever to be eliminated in the first round, a not too flattering historical first for the first African hosts of the World Cup, but not too surprising: the fans have been charming, and South Africa deserves all the best, but South Africa is simply not a football nation (or soccer, as they apparently insist to call it in South Africa...), and their national side in this World Cup was mediocre at their best, not worth a dime at their worst. In particular Uruguay managed to expose them as the poor side they are, and indeed the Bafana Bafana are light-years away from making it in any World Cup.

While the fans will be missed, the South African team will not. That said, it is clear that already empty stadiums will be even more empty, and that is only FIFA to blame for putting the World Cup in a country that is more interested in cricket, and where the people who are actually interested, cannot afford the prices of a match.

France have been the joke of the tournament, and will exit the tournament almost as pathetically that they entered it. They are undoubtfully one of the most talented sides in the world, but they are an example that a team is not just about good players, but more about having a harmonious side. Raymond Domenech has surely been a disaster as national team coach, and one may hope that this leads to his replacement that will put the outstanding French sides back on the top of the world stage where they surely belong.

In any case, neither South Africa or France belong among the world's 16 best teams and it is fully deserved that Uruguay and Mexico are there.

Bafana Bafana badabam!

What a pity to see South Africa lose 0-3 today to Uruguay, mostly because of their amazing fans (and the vuvuzela!). However, the side is not that strong, and they now very much run the risk of being the first host nation ever to be eliminated in the first round of a World Cup. France will not make it easy for them...
Uruguay on the other hand has confirmed that they have come to South Africa with one of the strongest teams they have had for many years, and it should come to no surprise that they are now very close to advancing to the next round for the first time since 1990. Whether they are strong enough to make it further is a big question, but surely possible with their attacking power.
In any case, even if Bafana Bafana is eliminated, South Africa remains the winner of this World Cup because of its fans and people!

I want a Vuvuzela!

I think the vuvuzela rocks!
And that is one reason to cheer for the Bafana Bafana to progress to the next round, besides the fact that South African fans rock!
I would love to have a vuvuzela!

On the way to South Africa 2010

After this weekend's interesting qualifiers for the World Cup i South Africa, we had more countries qualify, so that we now know eight of the nations that will surely be in South Africa next year.

The Asian countries qualified in June , and the only pending issue is the match between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, about who will get a play-off match against New Zealand:

• Australia
• Japan
• South Corea
• North Corea

In South America, after defeating Argentina away 1-3 (Argentina's only second home defeat in World Cup qualifiers ever), the five-time champions have qualified:

• Brazil

In the meaintime, Chile and Paraguay are just one step away from qualifying: Chile will be playing Brazil next, while Paraguay will face Argentina. Argentina is still in fourth place, but is increasingly being threatened by the fifth place, where four teams are nevertheless contesting the post: Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela. The ending of the South American qualifiers will be a drama!

In the CONCACAF region no team has qualified for sure yet. USA defeated El Salvador 2-1, Honduras trashed Trinidad and Tobago 4-1, while Mexico defeated Costa Rica 3-1. After this results, the three teams going to South Africa will surely be either Mexico, USA, Honduras or Costa Rica, while one of these teams will get a play-off match with South America's fifth.

In Africa, the hosts are of course qualified, by one team qualfied this weekend after defating Sudan 2-1, namely the great West African nation of Ghana, who will be going to its second consecutive World Cup:

• South Africa
• Ghana

In the meantime, Ivory Coast is just one match away from qualifying, while Tunisia is also very close to booking their tickets.

In Europe only one team has qualified, as they have been awesome in their group:

• Netherlands

In the meantime however, other teams have been as awesome as the Dutch! The European Champions of Spain have won all their matches, lately 5-0 against Belgium, but are still theoretically not certain to qualify directly. However, with one more victory they will book their tickets. England has also won all matches, and a victory against Croatia on wednesday will put them in South Africa.

France tied 1-1 with Romania in Paris, and it is looking difficult for them to catch Serbia, who can qualify if they defeat France in Belgrade on wednesday.

Some conclusions on this Confederations Cup

The Confederations Cup has ended with a great match between Brazil and the surprising US, and I guess it is time for some conclusions:

• I have to admit that the tournament was not such a bore as I had initially predicted it would be. There were some very dramatic matches, surprises and good goals, promising well for the World Cup. However, I would insist that quality is generally low.
• Refereeing was good, but still, FIFA refuses to introduce use of visual aids for the matches, something that could surely improve refereeing. In the final, Kaká scored a goal that only TV saw in. A minimum could be the introduction of goal-referees?
• Spain is not as good as we (or they) thought. Although they are now the most unbeat team in history, they displayed some of their traditional tournament weaknesses in this tournament: not playing to level when it counted against teams they should be far superior to.
• USA is better than everyone thought, confirming the upward trend of US football over the years. I don't understand why anyone would still underestimate them after a World Cup quarterfinal in 2002!? No matter my personal view on it, the US is a football power, and many new young players will be supplemented by some of the more experienced players that didn't play in this tournament. On Danish TV last night, Ove Christensen said that the US should be considered outsiders for the title next year, and I totally agree.
• Italy's World Champions had a poor show, and the team needs renewal and spirit. They no longer seem to be up to defend their title next year, and the performances against Egypt and Brazil were simply pathetic.
• Brazil was outstanding, and it seems that Dunga has managed to incite the ever-talented Brazilians to play as a solid team, confident of their individual abilities and true to their status as the mightiest football nation in the universe.
• Egypt had charm and good players, but showed poor discipline and no winner mentality like the USA. It is no loss at all that they will not be at the World Cup next year.
• New Zealand doesn't belong at this level, while Iraq seems on its way up, but won't be at the World Cup anyway.

More specifically in regard to the World Cup:

• This was a test for South Africa, and they largely passed it, making it to the semifinals, where they played a fine game against Brazil, and an entertaining third-place match against Spain, although this latter match is pretty useless for both. I still believe that South Africa will be the weakest host in the history of World Cup football - they are a rugby nation!
• The rugby nation status was seen with the state of the pitches, that were generally in a much poorer state than is expected from a World Cup...
• There was some amusing discussion on the vuvuzela, horns used by South African fans during the matches, that sound like a long mosquito buzz. It certainly sounds horrible, but banning them would be ridiculous, and is outright hipocritical considering the many instruments used in other parts of the world! Of course football fans have the right to make all the noise they want!
• At least if the vuvuzela can make South Africans more interested in the World Cup... Stadiums were not full, and FIFA had to give away tickets to boost attendance. Well, South Africa is a cricket-nation, so it should not surprise.

So all in all, the tournament turned out better than I had thought. Still, I believe that South Africa was the wrong choice to host the World Cup.

Confederations Cup semifinals

Brazil destroyed Italy's world champions 3-0 last night, and thus prevented us from seeing a dramatic semifinal between the eternal rivals of Italy and Spain. The world champions are out, and the United States surprisingly took the spot in the semifinal against Spain by defeating Egypt 3-0.
Egypt were a huge disappointing after their first two extraordinary matches against Brazil and Italy, and one would have them suspected of falling in the common trap of excited arrogance that often affects small teams that manage to pull off good results against bigger teams, but then flop against smaller ones.
With the two semifinals being Brazil-South Africa and Spain-USA, things should be set for a super final between Spain and Brazil, that would see some of the best players in the world, and surely a prelude to a world cup classic!
That is, if neither Spain or Brazil messes it up, because that would be the only reason that they don't defeat such second-rate teams as South Africa or the USA.

Prelude to boredom

The Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa started yesterday with two matches in group A: South Africa-Iraq and Spain-New Zealand. The most characteristic thing of these two matches was how boring they were, and although there is nothing else to watch, this does not make one feel like watching football!
It is quite notable that the home-side, the cricket-nation of South Africa, cannot even fill their stadium for an important match. Is this really a football nation that will host a world cup!?!? And furthermore, that they proved unable to score against an overly defensive Iraqi side (who is unlikely to qualify for the World Cup), just shows that we are talking second-rate football.
There was not so much second rate about the Spanish European champions against the third-rate New Zealanders. It was barely 17 minutes into the match when Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick, and Spain barely broke a sweat in the rest of the match to win 5-0.
Spain has not lost for 33 matches and is looking very strong, so it is perhaps unfair to compare them to such a country as New Zealand. But truth is that watching these types of matches is as exciting as watching Sdr. Omme's 12-year old girls's side play against FC Barcelona. The difference is simply enormous!
The more interesting matches are only bound the be the ones involving Brazil, Italy and Spain. The rest of the teams in the Confederations Cup are just there as well-paid spectators.

2009 Confederations Cup

It will be a quiet summer with no Euro or World Cup. The only rather meager replacement will be the 2009 Confederations Cup to be held in South Africa as the prelude to next years' World Cup. It is the time for th South Africans to show that they are really up for this, although the World Cup is at a completely different level.
Nevertheless there are some interesting matches in this tournament that has consistently improved since its start as King Fahd Cup in 1992. Most participant countries, notably Spain, are going to South Africa with their strongest team, but also Brazil, Italy, USA and Egypt are showing up with strong teams. Add to this the South African hosts who will want to give their team a good preparation for the World Cup, as well as New Zealand and the 2007 Asian champions, Iraq.
The groups are as follows:

Group A:

• South Africa
• Iraq
• New Zealand
• Spain

Group B:

• Brazil
• Egypt
• USA
• Italy

Although not to be very exciting, it will surely be interesting to see some of the teams play.

Going to the World Cup

The weekend has been full of World Cup qualifying action, and we now have some of the first teams who can book their tickets to South Africa: Australia and Japan have won their group 2 of Asia with points against Qatar and Uzbekistan respectively. In UEFA Group 9 the Netherlands 1-2 victory over Iceland means that they are sure to win the group.

In the meantime, other teams took gigantic steps towards South Africa. In group 1 Denmark defeated Sweden, and is now all but certain to be in South Africa. England, under Fabio Capello also looks udefeatable, and took its 6th victory in a row in UEFA group 6.
In the Asian Confederations' Group II, North Corea, who is trailing their southern neighbors in first place, only managed a 0-0 against Iran, and may be looking worried at Saudi Arabia behind them by one point.

In South America the top four teams have taken a solid lead over the fifth team. Brazil took over first place from Paraguay after trashing Uruguay 0-4 in Montevideo, while Paraguay lost at home to Chile. In the meantime, Chile is increasingly looking like a team to watch; with the victory over Paraguay they are solidly on third place, ahead of Maradona's Argentina, who managed a hard-fought and important 1-0 victory over Colombia in Buenos Aires.
The fifth place gives a play-off match against the fourth placed of the CONCACAF region, and is currently held by Uruguay, but closely followed by Venezuela and Ecuador.

In the CONCACAF region Costa Rica and USA (who played last week, with Costa Rica winning 3-1) have taken the lead on first and second place respectively, and seem like the sure teams to make it to South Africa. In the meantime Honduras and El Salvador are fighting for 3rd and 4th places, with Mexico increasingly facing one of its most disappointing qualifications ever after losing to El Salvador 1-2.

The World Cup is underway. Can you feel it?

The (sorry) road to a South Africa

As we are this week approaching a long list of exciting national qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, I remain unconvinced of South Africa as the venue for the world cup.
The main reason is because South Africa is not a footballing nation and will never really get excited about a world cup (even though they are told they should; whoever gets excited by order!?!?): letting them host a world cup is like giving your best piece of steak to a vegetarian.
However, I must add to this the xenophobia that sadly remains in South African society, together with crime, and now I must add government policy: South Africa refused visa to the Dalai Lama, who was to attend a peace-conference in South Africa, in order not to damage relations to China.
While no direct linkage to football, one is forced to consider what would happen if some country qualifies with whom South Africa doesn't want to damage relations with: Georgia not to damage relations with Russia? Taiwan?

As late as December 2008, there were rumours that due to the fact that South Africa was not meeting organisational deadlines, Spain was being lined up to host the 2010 World Cup instead. Sepp Blatter had to come out and say that this was not true.

Sorry, but I just don't believe South Africa is able to organise a succesful World Cup, and I sincerely hope the teams that are playing this week will be playing somewhere else in 2010.

And in other news...

While the European Championship in Austria/Switzerland is currently taking much of the news here in Europe, there are still things happening in the rest of the football crazed world, not least of all, qualifiers for the coming world cup 2010 in South Africa.

In the South American qualifying group Paraguay has gone ahead of everyone else on top, after defeating the mighty Brazilians by 2-0, on goals by Roque Santa Cruz and Salvador Cabanas. At the same time, Argentina managed an uneasy 1-1 at home against Ecuador, to remain second in the qualifiers, and Colombia is third, after a tie with Peru.
With Brazil fourth, the match Argentina and Brazil next thursday will be another clash of giants between the two top ranked teams on FIFA's World Ranking.

In the African qualifying zone there were some very surprising results showing that some of the more "traditional" big teams will have difficulty qualifying. In group 5, World Cup 2006 surprises of Ghana lost to Gabon; they are still top of the group, but with Libya and Gabon tracing them in what could become very close indeed.
In group 8 Rwanda defeated Morocco, and is now topping their group, while Cameroun's stars only managed a 0-0 in Tanzania, but is still poised to win their group 1.
Another giant, Angola, lost 3-1 to Uganda in group 3 in a group where three teams (Angola, Uganda and Benin) are tied with 6 points at the top.

Finally, in the Asian qualifiers' group 2 Japan won 3-0 against Thailand, and is now poised for a clash against Bahrain to win the group. Also, poor Iraq, after not being allowed to play temporarily by FIFA, nevertheless managed to rise and win against China, and will hopefully continue to next round together with Australia by defeating Qatar in their last group 1 match (in the Asian qualifiers, as in the African, the top two teams go on to a second group stage).

The World Cup in South Africa is on its way!

South Africa as World Cup host

I have said it before, but here I am going to underline it: am not looking forward to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and I believe FIFA made a great mistake by giving the World Cup to South Africa in its eagerness to give it to some African country.
While I think South Africans current attitude to foreigners is a popular disgrace from a country that should know better (how about some of the neighboring countries having to play there?), I do not believe the South Africans have what it takes to organize a pleasant, world class tournament which welcomes the world, like we have seen in Germany, Japan/Corea, France, USA, etc. The country is gorgeous, yes, but suffering by violence, poverty and corruption. I am afraid that with prices of tickets and organizational issues, we will see as many empty stadiums as we saw during the African Nations Cup in Ghana in January.
And Ghana is a footballing nation, with a talent and passion for the game which is unheard of in South Africa!

It is often mentioned how important it is for a tournament that the host nation does well (that is one of the reasons the hosts don't have to qualify, as well as get an automatically easier draw by being seeded highest), but would South Africa do well...? Although it is hard if not impossible to predict, I think we may be looking at an elimination in the first round: South Africa didn't participate in the 2006 World Cup, they were plainly bad in the African Nations Cup, and talented South Africans players are notably absent from big European clubs where other African players are superstars (a notable example perhaps being the ageing Benny McCarthy in Blackburn?). And while there have been rumours about Carlos Alberto Parreira's resignation as South African coach, the new and relatively unknown Joel Santana does not bode well for the organization of the South African team...

South African sport has always been dominated by rugby (where they are great world champions) and cricket; South Africa is simply not a footballing nation. With a world cup on its door, one can already see the large commercials and promotional posters, but the "fever" which grips other countries is unexistant; it is hard even to find a pub to watch a Champions League game in Johannesburg, and when finding it, one finds that nobody watches it nor cares.

If the world cup must be held in Africa, it should be in one of the many great African footballing nations: Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Cameroun... However, as is true, these countries do not seem to have what is called the "organizational infrastructure".
Apparently South Africa does (just don't walk out at night, specially if you are from a neighboring African country).

Such a great event belongs to real footballing nations and although I have been wrong before, I have very low expectations to a World Cup in South Africa.