Showing posts with label world cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world cup. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2009

World Cup Football 2010 in South Africa

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Highlights of World Cup 2010 Qualification: March 28 - April 2, 2009


With the conclusion of FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifiers yesterday we move one step closer to determining which thirty-one other countries will be joining host South Africa to contest for the globe’s biggest sporting honor. A slew of matches across the world at all time zones really reinforces that no sport can dare rival football for supremacy in popularity but also, unfortunately, in tragedy.

That point was underscored by the tragic deaths of 22 fans in Cote D’Ivoire as a result of a stampede. Their memories were honored in midweek qualifiers where a minute of silence was taken before kick-off. Organizers from South Africa had to reassure fans and FIFA that no such repeat would happen at the World Cup Finals. While there was a measure of somber from this news, there was plenty of interesting takes on the matches over the past five days.

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

South America

In South America there is one large group with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup and the fifth place team will play off against the fourth place CONCACAF Qualifier. They have already played 6 of the 18 matches in this group, and there have been a few surprises to date. The largest has been how Brazil have struggled under Dunga: they are currently sitting in fifth place and facing criticism in the media after being beaten by a 10 man Paraguay. Paraguay have been the other surprise story in this group, as they currently sit in first place. FIFA has also repealed its ban on high altitude games, which should benefit Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, who play some or all of their home games at high altitude. This leads to a lot of home wins and away losses for these teams. I can not imagine a scenario in this group where Brazil and Argentina do not qualify… though the way Brazil are going, they could end up in fourth. Colombia have been playing well; I see them qualifying for the World Cup. For the last two spots, I see a battle between current front-runners Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Venezuela. I don’t think that Bolivia and Peru are in contention. I think that Chile has enough strength to hold off the others, and Paraguay will ride their early success to secure the playoff spot. This would set up a playoff between Cuba and Paraguay, from which I see Paraguay coming out on top.

World Cup Qualifying Round Up

To wrap up the World Cup: the only team currently qualified is South Africa, as hosts. The five other African spots will go to the winners of the five groups of four teams that have yet to be drawn. It will be exciting to see which teams are drawn together. The twenty teams that I think will be in these groups are: Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Zambia, DR Congo, Guinea, Angola, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Egypt, Tunisia, Swaziland, Libya, and Cape Verde. Europe has thirteen places up for grabs, 9 for group winners, who in my opinion will be Portugal, Israel, Czech Republic, Russia, Spain, England, France, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. The eight best second place teams will be drawn in playoffs against each other. Here are my picks for the nine second place teams: Denmark, Greece, Poland, Germany, Turkey, Croatia, Romania, Italy and Scotland. Asia is down to two groups, and the top two teams from each advance. I think these will be Australia, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. Then the two third place teams will meet in a playoff; I see this as Japan against Iran, with Japan winning. Japan would then meet the Champion of Oceania, whom I see as New Caledonia, with Japan winning again to qualify for the World Cup. With the Americas, in the North the top two teams from the three preliminary groups make the final group. I think these will be the USA, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. The top three teams from this final group will then qualify for the World Cup. My prediction is Mexico, the USA, and Canada, with Cuba finishing in fourth to obtain a playoff spot against the fifth place South American team. I predict this being Paraguay, who will defeat Cuba to qualify for the World Cup. Now that you know my fifth place pick from South America, I view the top four, who all qualify automatically, as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. So there you have it: a clearer view of the World Cup qualifying, complete with the teams to watch. I hope that you enjoy the matches - I know I will!
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Asian champions

This brings us to Asia, the land of upsets, where the 2007 Asian champions, Iraq, have already been sent packing along with China. The focus of this final stage of Asian qualifying has to be the presence of the small nations from the Arabian Peninsula: Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. They have been playing some good football to date, and are deservedly in the last ten teams. These ten teams are divided into two groups, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the World Cup. The two third place teams will play each other in a playoff, the winner of which will take on the Oceanic Champions for a spot in the World Cup. In case you missed it, after the last World Cup Australia joined the Asian Football Conference.

Group 1 – Australia, Bahrain, Japan, Uzbekistan, and Qatar
Japan is the top ranked team in Asia at the moment, but I am worried about them in this group. They had some disappointing results on the Arabian Gulf, losing in Bahrain and drawing in Oman. With two of their opponents from that region, Japan are going to have to find a way to get results in the Gulf if they want to make it out of this group. That is something that I don’t think the Aussies will have a problem doing; they have been playing well, though a side filled with reserves was defeated by China in the last round. I see the Aussies winning the group and making their second straight World Cup. Uzbekistan have had a strong campaign thus far, suffering only one away defeat to Saudi Arabia. It remains to be seen how they will deal with teams like Japan and Australia, or how those teams will deal with travelling to Uzbekistan. I think that the fight for second place will be between the Japanese and the Uzbeks, with Qatar in 4th and Bahrain in 5th. I was impressed by the Uzbeks in the last stage and I think they have what it takes to knock Japan into third.

Group 2 – Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North), Republic of Korea (South), Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates
Iran, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea are the teams to beat in this group. It will be a big upset if North Korea or U.A.E. qualify. I think that South Korea and North Korea will draw both of the matches between them just as they did in the previous qualifying round and in most of the matches that I can recall between them. If South Korea are able to get a result from one of these games, then I see the Taeguk Warriors winning the group; if they are both draws, as I predict, then I have South Korea advancing in second place behind Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia are playing well at the moment and I see them making it back to the World Cup for the fifth time in a row. I think that Iran will draw too many matches and end up in 3rd place, setting up an exciting playoff with Japan. North Korea will finish 4th, with UAE in the last spot. Frankly, I think UAE will be lucky to get more than a few points in this group.

Asian Summary
I have Australia, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea advancing to the World Cup, with Japan and Iran competing for the playoff spot against the winners of Oceania. I think that Japan will emerge as the Asian playoff team and most likely defeat the team from Oceania, but in a playoff anything can happen.
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Bolivia vs Argentina Highlights Video | World Cup Qualifier Highlights


www.lovefooty.net — Watch all the Bolivia vs Argentina highlights online from their world cup qualifier. Bolivia - Argentina World Cup Qualifying Highlights Wednesday 1st April 2009 Bolivia vs Argentina highlights video here after the match.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

SA football upbeat about 'Amajita'



When Carlos Alberto Parreira, Joel Santana's predecessor, was in charge of Bafana Bafana, he stressed time and time again that it was important to build from the ground up, with football at under-20 level being particularly important.

Parreira said South Africa needed to be competitive in youth championships, and now the country is performing at that level.

In January, the South Africa under-20s played in the African Youth Championships in Rwanda.

Known as "Amajita" - meaning a group of boys - the team booked their place in the finals by thumping Reunion 8-2 on aggregate in the first round of qualifying, followed by a 3-0 aggregate victory over Botswana.

Tough group

In Rwanda, where only the top eight teams contest the finals, South Africa was drawn in a tough group featuring Nigeria, Egypt and the Ivory Coast. Undaunted, South Africa's under-20s beat the Ivory Coast 1-0 in their first outing.

In their second match they made people sit up and take notice when they beat Nigeria, traditionally a bogey team for South African sides, by two goals to one.

Egypt defeated South Africa 2-1 in their third and final group match, but the previous two victories were enough to see Serame Letsoaka's charges through to the semi-finals as second-place finishers in the group, behind Nigeria on goal difference.

Semi-finals

That meant South Africa had to face Group A winners Ghana in the semi-finals. In a high-scoring contest, Ghana secured a 4-3 victory.

Nigeria, meanwhile, went down 2-0 to Cameroon in their semi-final, meaning they would take on South Africa once more for third place.

This time around the Nigerians won 2-1. Ghana went on to clinch the title with a 2-0 win over Cameroon.

Fifa under-20 World Cup

Despite finishing fourth, by reaching the semi-finals South Africa booked a place at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup, which takes place in Egypt from 25 September to 16 October 2009. It was the first time they had qualified for the World Cup in 12 years.

The big name to emerge from the under-20 side of 1997 was striker Benni McCarthy. A year later, in the 1998 African Cup of Nations, he was joint-top scorer alongside Egyptian great Hossam Hassan, with seven goals. That mark has been bettered only once in the history of the event.

McCarthy has gone on to become the highest scorer in Bafana Bafana's history. He has also played club football in Spain, Portugal, and England, for Celta Vigo, Porto, and Blackburn Rovers respectively.

A generation of stars?

The South African under-20 side impressed in Rwanda, and some are suggesting that a generation of stars is on its way. Yet stars are only determined by results and performances, so the team's showing in Egypt will go some way towards revealing just how good the SA under-20s are.

South Africa's under-20 coach Serame Letsoaka, in an interview with Fifa.com, said: "We are a good side, but it's always good when we go to these tournaments as underdogs. That way we can surprise people.

"We have exciting players," Letsoaka said. "I'm sure they want to lift their hands up and persuade the senior team coach that they are ready for the big stage."

Bafana coach Joel Santana has taken note of some of the under-20 players, including stars performers, such as Masibusane Zongo, Ramahlwe Mphahele and Phumelele Bhengu.

With some of the Bafana Bafana squad heading towards the end of their international careers, Santana will need to keep his eye on the talent that is emerging at age-group level.

Well known players

Many well known names in South African football have passed through the under-20 ranks. Some of them have secured big money moves overseas, although now, with the Premier Soccer League now the seventh most lucrative league in the world, staying at home is a more attractive option than it used to be.

Among those who have won contracts abroad are:

Matthew Booth, who recently returned to Mamelodi Sundowns after stints at FC Rostov and Krylia Sovetov Samara in Russia
Delron Buckley, with German clubs Vfl Bochum, Arminia Bielefeld, Borussia Dortmund, Mainz 05, and Swiss side FA Basel
Bradley Carnell with Vfb Stuttgart, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Karlsruhe
Lance Davids with TSV 1860 Munich and Swedish outfit Djurgårdens IF
Thembinkosi "Terror" Fanteni, with Maccabi Haifa
Benni McCarthy, with Celta Vigo, Porto, and Blackburn Rovers
Nasief Morris, the most capped player at under-20 level with 25 internationals, at Aris FC, Panathinaikos, and Recreativo Huelva
Steven Pienaar, with Ajax Amsterdam, Borussia Dortmund, and Everton
Elrio van Heerden, at FC Copenhagen and Club Brugge.

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Mafikeng adopts Obama's team


The strains of "The Star Spangled Banner" were heard at Redibone Middle School in Mafikeng, North West province on Friday as South Africa's "My 2010 School Adventure" campaign arrived at the school.

The campaign, which aims to promote both education and participation in football, has seen schools in all nine of the country's provinces "adopting" teams participating in the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup.

Along with the rest of North West province, Redibone Middle School - whose under 14 boys and girls teams won the North West region's Confederations Cup schools tournament, which also part of the campaign - have adopted North American Concacaf champions the United States.

"I am very excited about South Africa hosting the Fifa Confederations Cup and the 2010 Fifa World Cup, as it is such a world-spanning tournament and the first time the African continent is hosting such an event," US Consul General Andrew Passen said as he addressed 1 000 pupils at the school on Friday.

"You are not only a school of champions," Passen told the children. "You are in fact a school of double champions. I really hope I get to watch my province become the national champions," Passen added, referring to the upcoming national finals of the schools tournament, which will see the four finalists from each province battle it out for the title of national champions in May.

"I felt so good when we won, but we are now training very hard for the national finals," said Reginah Olehile, a member of the under-14 girls team.

"It is great to have won, because I want the opportunity to play as much football as I can, I want to play professionally, I want to play for Bafana", said Omphile Lemphane, a forward for the under-14 boys team.

A total of 8 349 schools across South Africa are participating in My 2010 School Adventure, which also sees pupils learning more about the culture, football, history and language of Confederations Cup contenders Spain, Italy, Brazil, Iraq, New Zealand, Egypt and South Africa.

"I am learning so much about America, and now I want to go there myself," Lemphane said. "I want to meet Barack Obama."

The programme is a partnership between the Department of Education, the Department of Sport and Recreation, the 2010 Fifa World Cup Local Organising Committee, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

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Construction workers 'real 2010 heroes'


South Africa's successful bid to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup has proven to be a major catalyst for positive development in country - particularly for the construction industry.

As South Africa gears up to host the biggest single-code sporting event in the world, the construction work is ever increasing.

From upgrading the country's transport infrastructure, hotel and accommodation facilities to creating 10 world-class stadiums which are either being refurbished or built from scratch in nine host cities, local construction companies and their workers are receiving a major boost in tough economic times.

Vasco Pedrina, the Italian-based vice-president of Builders and Wood Workers International (BWI), an international federation that campaigns for fair working conditions around the world, paid a visit to the construction site at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium on the weekend.

"This is my first time in South Africa and this is my first inspection of a South African site, and my impressions of the conditions at Soccer City stadium are positive," Pedrina said.

"In fact the organisation and conditions on site are a lot better than a lot of sites I have been to."

For Crosby Moni, vice-president of the National Union of Mineworkers and an executive member of BWI, the inspection was a showcase of how the world, as well as South Africa, can benefit from the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

"We are not only setting parameters for South Africa, but for events around the world," Moni said. "The standards that will be set in South Africa will be the standards of the world in the construction sector".

BWI regional representative Crecentia Mofokeng said that hosting soccer's showpiece event had permanently altered the construction landscape of South Africa.

"Before South Africa won the bid the construction sector was not doing so well, but the successful bid for 2010 has raised the hopes for construction workers to now get a job".

The trade union delegation was due this week to visit both Green Point stadium in Cape Town, where workers recently started to lift the giant roof into place, as well as the workers at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, who recently completed the iconic arch over the stadium.

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2010 World Cup: 500 days to go


South Africa's preparations for the 500-day countdown to the opening of the 2010 Fifa World Cup are well under way, with a wide range of activities taking place across the country, and a main event scheduled for the Mangaung Outdoor Sports Centre in Bloemfontein on Monday.

"Monday next week will be exactly 500 days to go to the world's biggest sporting spectacle, watched by a cumulative audience of more than 26-billion spectators worldwide, and South Africa's preparations are in overdrive," the 2010 Local Organising Committee said in a statement this week.

Media conference

A media conference will be held in Johannesburg, and will be attended by Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, LOC chairman Irvin Khoza and LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan.

They will talk about the achievements made since South Africa was awarded the right to host the event five years ago, as well as the remaining milestones leading up to the tournament's kick-off on 11 June 2010 at the Soccer City Stadium to the south of Johannesburg.

Host city posters

The mayors from all nine host cities, as well as Provincial and Local Government Minister Sicelo Shiceka, will be at the sports centre in Bloemfontein, where they will officially unveil their respective host city posters.

To kick-off the day's activities, delegates from the Italian Embassy, together with 2010 ambassadors Mark Fish and Philemon Masinga, will visit two schools in the area as part of the 2010 "Adopt-a-Nation" schools campaign, which will be followed by a mini schools football tournament.

Street parade

Ahead of the countdown, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality will mark the day by holding a street parade and a fun walk in the streets of KwaThema, Tsakane and Duduza, before culminating in a massive celebration at the KwaThema Stadium this Sunday.

The event is expected to several senior officials, including Gauteng provincial sports minister Barbara Creecy and Ekurhuleni executive mayor Ntombi Mekgwe, as well as local councillors, community leaders, soccer veterans and members of the public in general.

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

2010: half-a-million ticket bookings


2010: half-a-million ticket bookings

More than half-a-million ticket applications for the 2010 Fifa World Cup have been made by people in over 140 countries since tickets went on sale on 20 February. Attention now shifts to the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup, which kicks off in less than 100 days.
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South Africans: come to the party!

South Africans: come to the party!

There can be no better advertisement for the 2010 Fifa World Cup than full stadiums at its curtain-raiser, the 2009 Confederations Cup. But with just three months to go until the "Festival of Champions" kicks off, the pace of ticket sales is slow. The onus is on South African fans to come to the party.
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SA, Norway clash to reopen stadium

SA, Norway clash to reopen stadium

Rustenburg's new-look Royal Bafokeng Stadium, a venue for the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup, will get its first taste of action when Bafana Bafana tackle Norway in the annual Nelson Mandela Challenge match on 28 March.
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Nelspruit stadium 'will meet deadline'

Nelspruit stadium 'will meet deadline'

Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, one of nine cities that will host the 2010 Fifa World Cup, is 75% complete and will be ready for handover to Fifa in September, South African Deputy President Baleka Mbete was informed on the weekend.
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Video: Engineering a 2010 marvel

Video: Engineering a 2010 marvel

Zoopy TV takes a closer look at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium, a key venue for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, tracing the sequence of engineering marvels that will go into raising the stadium's iconic hanging roof - made up of 37 000 square metres of glass weighing 4 500 tons.
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