''Coming to you live from the Cape Town International Convention Centre'', are some of the most likely words millions of soccer fans around the globe will be subjected to by their respective media beaming the event. Not that they'll have anything to complain about, the prestigious event lined up for 4 December, will undoubtedly etch a mark in their memories - for it is that time again when we gather to see which of the 32 finalists will face each other at the mother of all tournaments.
And on another level it is the venue and its glittering platform that will enrich the experience with an ambient visual fest - and in this regard the South African organisers broke their backs to make it a world class event according to stringent FIFA specifications. Over 3,000 people worked day and night to ensure the stage is set for a smooth and spectacular draw, truly reflective of South Africa and Africa's aspirations and capabilities. Some of the dignitaries expected to attend include coaches of the qualifying teams such as Marcello Lippi (Italy), Vincente Del Bosque (Spain), Dunga (Brazil), Fabio Capello (England) & Carlos Queiroz (Portugal) among others.
With only a week till the World Cup draw, fans around the world are latching onto the thrill of suspense that comes with the WC Draw, from Argentina, South Korea, to the UK and down in the host city of Cape Town jovial anticipation laced with intrigue is reaching fever pitch. The event will take preparations for the major football bonanza to another level as teams will not only know who they'll play but also where they will stay, and in turn it is another logistical action starter for the organisers.
But before the draw can start countries must be seeded and this part is as interesting as it can be controversial, so the burning question is who will be seeded and why?! In the past, perfomances of last two World Cups were put to play, and seven teams will be chosen as the seeds. The most likely candidates being Brazil, Italy, and Spain, the following is how the pots might turn out -
Pot A; Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, France, South Africa, Argentina
Pot B: Paraguay, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Uruguay, Chile, Algeria
Pot C: Portugal, Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia
Pot D: Mexico, USA, Australia, S. Korea, Japan, Honduras, New Zealand, North Korea
Preparations are at an advanced stage for the exciting final draw with changes such as the revamping of Cape Town International Airport into a state of the art, traveller friendly facility. Cape Town as the host of the Draw is in a delirious mode, as it launched myriad celebratory initiatives that include a one week build up to the draw coincided by the switching of the city's festive lights.
Ultimately, it is the Big Day (4 December) that will steal the show and hearts of Capetonians, with all 32 teams having qualified; for it is the nail biting nature of the Draw which will put not only the locals on the edge but the rest of South Africa, Africa and the world. Just before the final draw to be held at held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, FIFA president Sepp Blatter will announce the 2010 Fan Fest venues on the iconic Long Street on December 4.
As the last stage of the 2010 qualifiers came to a close, the final string of triumphant teams have secured their slots with Portugal seeing off Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in Zenica (2-0 on aggregate). Russia let slip their chances following a 1-0 second leg defeat by Slovenia on the away goals rule (2-1 in first leg), while Greece scored the winning goal against Ukraine in Donetsk. Algeria also booked their place as the last African representative in an ill tempered match against Egypt in Sudan.
William Gallas booked France's place at next year's soccer showpiece in South Africa through a controversial goal that cruelly ended Ireland's hopes. A blantant handball by Thierry Henry will become a thorny issue on everyone's tongue as he clearly handled before passing for Gallas to score. This was after the Irish had gone ahead in the 33rd minute through Robbie Keane.
Everything had gone very well for the Irish in the first half as they looked very dangerous, and went on to start the second-half confidently with a few chances to build on; a second goal would have darkened France's hopes. But as the half went on the home team regained the upper hand right through to the end of 90 minutes. Ireland's fate was finally sealed in the first period of extra time.
The Republic of Ireland have turned their encounter against France into an ethereal affair, as they face a battle of a lifetime in Paris and are fully convinced they can conquer following a bitter loss to the French in Dublin. The match is certainly poised to be a scintillating one as both teams aim to throw everything they have at each other, and if Ireland manage to pull a shocker; that will be something for the history books. Taking a look into their 2010 qualifiers record, the team shows an impressive unbeaten away record including an inspirational 1-1 draw against Italy in Bari, but their last hurdle in Paris demands a new high if they are to peep their hosts. On the other hand, France has been vulnerable at the back, conceding a lot of goals from corners and set pieces, Ireland are taking inspiration from this, as they plan for the make or break encounter.
Nigeria's 2010 qualifying campaign was characterized by a less than ideal start and a nail biting home run, the Super Eagles survived the scare of not qualifying as their fortunes hung on a thread in the final stages. In the end, they showed a fighting spirit that champions are made of, by upstaging the Harambee Stars (Kenya) in their hometown of Nairobi, beating them 3-2, following a 1-0 scoreline at half time. Elsewhere, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon qualified for the 2010 WC after beating Morocco 2-0. The rest of the African results are as follows-
Group A
Togo 1 - 0 Gabon
Morocco 0 - 2 Cameroon
Group B
Mozambique 1 - 0 Tunisia
Kenya 2 - 3 Nigeria
Group C
Rwanda 0 - 0 Zambia
Egypt 2 - 0 Algeria
Group D
Sudan 1 - 2 Benin
Group E
Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Guinea
Burkina Faso 1 - 0 Malawi
FIFA has reaffirmed its commitment to stamping out doping in its tournaments in a meeting held between its officials and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). FIFA is particularly keen on ensuring that the 2010 tournament to be held in South Africa will be free of the outlawed practice, and as such invited Wada to send an independent observer mission. This is being done at the back drop of a clean Confederations Cup in which no single player tested positive, during blood and urine tests. FIFA undertook in and out of competition spontaneous testing since 1994 scrutinising some 6,483 players with only three players showing positive results of substance abuse.
The two organisations also agreed to iniate an anti-doping project similar to the International Cycling Union's biological passport program which screens 850 professional riders. Through collaboration with Wada accredited laboratories players will be able to give regular samples of blood and urine to create individual body chemistry profiles allowing scientists to notice any evidence of doping, instead of searching for banned substances. Football in general undertakes some 33,000 doping controls annually with 0,3% failing the tests and the majority of them being as a result of steroids, marijuana, and cocaine.
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The world of women's soccer rarely gets the kind of attention it deserves and has struggled to create ultra famous stars like their male counterparts but in the past few weeks, a new star was unearthed. A young, beautiful and robust New Mexico junior defender who certainly fits into my earlier post on craziest match winning tips as a rough and intimidating sort of player who doesn't take prisoners. This lady of extreme soccer is the new Roughest Player in the World, thanks to her unbridled hair pulling, punching, deliberate collisions, and kicking others in the face!! The women wrestling scouts must be getting their hopes high at the sight of this gem, they should love her work! At the rate she has been going Elizabeth Lambert has managed to gather many male fans (predominantly bastards), with some already asking her hand in marriage, proof of her in-field prowess. Surprisingly, the princess of 'catfight' soccer has been going unpunished until her most recent hair pulling escapades, New Mexico were left with no choice but to suspend the now 'world famous' princess. To cap it all, one wonders if she'll accept any rings from her legion of adoring bastards!?
Europe - Portugal v Bosnia
Greece v Ukraine
Russia v Slovenia
Ireland v France
Africa - Togo v Gabon
Morocco v Cameroon
Kenya v Nigeria
Mozambique v Tunisia
Egypt v Algeria
Rwanda v Zambia
Sudan v Benin
Ghana v Mali
Ivory Coast v Guinea
Burkina Faso v Malawi
Asia - Ocenia
New Zealand - Bahrain
South America -
Costa Rica - Uruguay
The Portuguese team mentor, Queiroz has made public his squad for the November 14 play off against Bosnia-Herzegovina which includes Cristiano Ronaldo despite a nagging ankle injury. The final list is as follows;
Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon), Hilario (Chelsea), Eduardo (FC Braga)
Midfielders: Deco (Chelsea), Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon), Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Duda (Malaga), Tiago (Juventus), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica)
Defenders: Ricardo Costa (Wolfsburg), Bruno Alves (Valencia), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Ronaldo (FC Porto),
Strikers: Nani (Man United), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Edinho (Malaga), Liedson (Sporting Lisbon)
Not very often does one associate a trip to a football stadium, with a lakeside view or experience but the architects behind one of South Africa's World Cup stadiums drank their engineering cups, and got high on technical ingenuity; by the time they were through a very fine stadium stood beside a calm yet reflective lake that seems to envy the grandeur of its glamorous neigbour.
The Nelson Mandela Bay (above) forms part of the stadia earmarked for the ground breaking 2010 World Cup tournament in the Southern African nation of South Africa, built in the lush coastal city of Port Elizabeth this stadium of dreams has recently been announced as 100% complete and ready for action. SA football adminstrators quickly put their minds were their reputation is, by switching a friendly match to be played between the local lads 'Bafana Bafana' against 2010 finalist Japan, this is aimed at putting the entire park utilities to the test under real match conditions. The R1,45 bn facility comes with 60 business suites, 150 VIP suites, a sports clothing shop, gymnasium and function rooms, its completion was well ahead of the December deadline. As the images aptly testify the roofing on this 48,000 seater is an engineer's work of art, and to spice it up the stadium is adjacent to a lake, adding a spectacular appeal to an already charming outlook. Its journey to completion has been a long (2007), ardous one filled with speculation and long hard day's work for those who lifted the soil and mixed concrete, ensuring the world can come to a prestigious and smooth tournament.
The prestigious World Player of the Year nominees list has been made public by FIFA, and it is as follows;
Michael Essien (Ghana)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Wayne Rooney (Eng) John Terry (England)
Thierry Henry (France)
Xavi (Spain)
Michael Ballack (Germany)
Iker Casillus (Spain)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Diego (Brazil)
Samuel Etoo (Cam)
Steven Gerrard (Eng)
Zlatan Ibramovich (Swe) Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Kaka (Brazil)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil)
Frank Lampard (Eng)
Lionel Messi (Arg)
Carlos Puyol (Spain)
Frank Ribery (France)
David Villa (Spain)
Fernando Torres (Spain)
In December the top five from this list will be announced, as determined by captains and coaches of national teams.
Jose Luis Chilavert made a name for himself as a charismatic goalkeeper, he made his debut at age 15 - the Paraguayan earned his first national cap in 1989 and went onto to play for Real Zaragoza in Spain. The firebrand goalkeeper was rewarded for his outstanding talents on the field in 1995 and 1997 by being crowned the World Goalkeeper of the Year, but his record is not without blemish as he often rubbed other players the wrong way - in 2002 he suffered a two match suspension for spitting on Roberto Carlos of Brazil in a World Cup qualifier. However, many people fondly remember his legendary saves which other goalies consider impossible, his reflexes were powered by a fiercely aggressive approach, the former player believed no ball was beyond him. Chilavert baffled many a strikers by routinely intercepting their goal bound shots from point blank range, thus it came as no surprise when he was announced as the world best goalie twice, and to top it up the star had a knack for taking free kicks and penalties so much that in-field players relied on him each time. In retirement Chilavert feels that there is a dearth in forceful characters in today's crop of players and that football misses him - in 1998 he lit up the World Cup in France with his unbelievable interceptions.
Football the world over is known for its capacity for glitz and glamour, but few places can match up to the glam fiesta that graces Mexican soccer, as shown above the Mexican Primera cheerleaders know how to add spice to an already sizzling match environment.
