World Cup blog for soccer fans of all levels... Update: France sans Zidane

[wayne looney]

Originally Posted by blaxoid

++*@ ++*@ ++*@

The irony, Boateng is pretty much German. Dude's gonna have to look over his shoulders when he's back home now.

if Kevin-Prince makes Ghana's squad, he could conceivably play them in the group stage...not to mention against his younger brother Jerome who has allegiance to Germany (assuming he makes their final 23)

 

[persiafly]

Finally settled in DC, just put up Cameroon profile.

Expect daily profiles from now until June 11.

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by Smokey1212

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Ballack should've won Footballer of the Year in 2002 but as we all know, FIFA give it to the best player on the WC winning team.

Without a doubt in my mind, Ballack was the best player in the world in 2002. One of the best box-to-box midfielders I've ever seen.

Anyways, call me crazy but I dont think this will be a major loss for Germany. Ballack isn't as good anymore and I feel that just like France with Henry, Germany were trying to rely on a veteran player years past his prime to lead them during the WC.

Don't you think his role with Germany is less replaceable than Henry's with France? 

Yea, I think so.  Even though I would have replaced Henry w/ Benzema.  But I think Germany can actually replace Ballack with that CAM on Bayern.  Can't remember what his name is, but he's been in pretty good form through the CL.

Thomas Muller, the 20 year-old who has played all of 66 minutes for the national team? Those are some big shoes to fill for such an inexperienced player. Given the strength of Germany's group, I wouldn't be surprised if Ballack's absence proves to be a similar blow to their chances as that of Zidane to France's chances in 2002. 

 

[Trey Bantz]

Maradona released his final 23-man roster for the World Cup today.

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Diego Pozo (Colon);

Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso (Roma), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille), Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes), Ariel Garce (Colon);

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Javier Pastore (Palermo);

Strikers: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Diego Milito (Inter Milan), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona).

No huge surprises here, the biggest one is that he called no name Ariel Garce instead of Fabricio Coloccini, but it doesn't mean much its basically just a free trip to South Africa for him because he's not going to see any playing time. Maradona has said that the starters have been set since the win against Germany, the team will play a 4-4-2 that will look like this.

                                                Romero

Otamendi            Demichelis                   Samuel               Heinze



                                            Mascherano

Gutierrez                                                                            Di Maria
                                                Veron



                  Messi
                                               Higuain

 

[carlos tevez]

That team looks pretty good IMO.

A lot of possibilities with that roster.

They could play 4-4-2, play a 4-3-3 (Di Maria pushes up, Jonas moves to CM), or even play a 4-2-4. Using 4 CBs in defence will somewhat limit their width going forward but it'll also result in Argentina being possibly one of the best defensive teams in the tournament.

Domenech up to his old tricks

 

[marionthebarberian]

conditioning at an altitude is not good, its better at sea level since the body can recover alot faster.

 

[psx0529]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

That team looks pretty good IMO.

A lot of possibilities with that roster.

They could play 4-4-2, play a 4-3-3 (Di Maria pushes up, Jonas moves to CM), or even play a 4-2-4. Using 4 CBs in defence will somewhat limit their width going forward but it'll also result in Argentina being possibly one of the best defensive teams in the tournament.

Domenech up to his old tricks

I'll be honest....nice jackets!! 

 

[carlos tevez]

Originally Posted by marionthebarberian

conditioning at an altitude is not good, its better at sea level since the body can recover alot faster.

I think the whole point is to get the players' bodies conditioned for the high altitude environment present in South Africa. Most teams will take it easy the week leading up to the start of the tournament.

After reading about the preparations of the African WC-teams, I cant help but chuckle at how poorly organized some of these countries are. The Nigerian team has been together for about a week now but rather than training, they flew into Nigeria to take part in a Presidential reception and some political events as a way of saying goodbye to the fans before they go to South Africa. After that, they'll be flying to London for 1 day to train before flying to Austria to take part in a friendly. After their friendly in Austria, they'll be flying back to London for a few days to take part in another friendly before flying to South Africa for the tournament.

Even worse are the Ivory Coast's preparations. The full team has not even began training yet and wont meet up until next Monday. Eriksson will have just 7-days to spend with his preliminary roster before having to submit his final team prior to the June 1st deadline. At the moment, just 4 goalkeepers and 9 defenders have arrived to train with Eriksson while the rest of the team is sitting at home and relaxing

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by marionthebarberian

conditioning at an altitude is not good, its better at sea level since the body can recover alot faster.

I think the whole point is to get the players' bodies conditioned for the high altitude environment present in South Africa. Most teams will take it easy the week leading up to the start of the tournament.

After reading about the preparations of the African WC-teams, I cant help but chuckle at how poorly organized some of these countries are. The Nigerian team has been together for about a week now but rather than training, they flew into Nigeria to take part in a Presidential reception and some political events as a way of saying goodbye to the fans before they go to South Africa. After that, they'll be flying to London for 1 day to train before flying to Austria to take part in a friendly. After their friendly in Austria, they'll be flying back to London for a few days to take part in another friendly before flying to South Africa for the tournament.

Even worse are the Ivory Coast's preparations. The full team has not even began training yet and wont meet up until next Monday. Eriksson will have just 7-days to spend with his preliminary roster before having to submit his final team prior to the June 1st deadline. At the moment, just 4 goalkeepers and 9 defenders have arrived to train with Eriksson while the rest of the team is sitting at home and relaxing

This sort of lack of preparation plagues most non-third world teams. In the '98 World Cup, the Iranian players had to take part in a 3-hour prayer the night before their game against the US. Sometimes it seems that it's just another way for the mostly authoritarian governments to exhibit their power over the country.
Speaking of African countries, I'm really having trouble including any in the top 10 or even 13 teams in the tournament on the blog. South Africa is terrible, Ivory Coast and Cameroon are wildly inconsistent, Ghana might be missing Essien. I wouldn't be surprised AT ALL if Nigeria was the only team to advance out of the group, and that's only because they're lucky enough to have South Korea and Greece in their quartet. Even their prospects for the Round of 16 seem iffy. I know the home-continent advantage could be big, but don't you have to be somewhat good to begin with? 

 

[carlos tevez]

All 6 African teams are extremely poor compared to the rest of the field. None of the WC-bound teams were even mildly impressive in January's ACN.

Here's how I rate their chances:

South Africa - Weakest team out of the bunch. They couldnt even qualify for the 2010 ACN. Of course home field advantage will play a major factor in how they do. I dont expect them to advance but a mere 4 pts could be enough to finish 2nd in this group.

Nigeria - Stumbled their way to the WC (Tunisia had a 2 pt lead going into the final WCQ match...Tunisia lost to a weak Mozambiquen side while Nigeria beat Kenya). Nigeria then stumbled to a 3rd place finish in the ACN. They have a new Swedish coach with WC experience but tons of question marks. I think they have a decent shot at advancing simply because their group is wide open.

Cameroon - Wildly inconsistent, Denmark and Holland will be tough. Were terrible defensively at the ACN however they will make several changes to their defence at the WC. Bassong and Assou-Ekotto return should strengthen them at the back. I expect them to finish behind the Dutch and Danes.

Algeria - The 2nd weakest African team in the tourny. After a great 2009, they were terrible at the ACN in January. Expect them to defend for much of their 3 matches and try to score off of set pieces. They have a decent shot at finishing 2nd in this group behind England although I think the U.S. will end up finishing 2nd.

CIV - The most talented African team on paper but they've been extremely disappointing in their last 3 major tournaments. This is a team that rarely beats other good teams and usually has trouble keeping the ball out of their own net. Eriksson will instill some discipline into them but it'll be up to the players to play as a unit. They should get 3 pts against North Korea but they will need to steal 3 pts from Brazil or Portugal. I think they can pull off an upset and advance from this group but I wont be surprised if they fail. It wont be the first time they've disappointed African fans.

Ghana - They are likely in the toughest group amongst all the African qualifiers. At least the CIV have the match against North Korea to look forward to. Ghana will be up against 3 tough opponents and I think they will finish 3rd or 4th. They defend well and even without Essien are strong in midfield but I think they'll have trouble scoring against Germany and Serbia. They will likely keep all their matches close but I think they'll be held scoreless against their 2 European opponents.

I wouldnt be shocked if no African team advances but since 1990, atleast 1 African team has advanced from every WC. I think 1-2 African teams will advance on 'home soil'.

 

[persiafly]

Good, it's not just me. Didn't wanna be accused of anti-African bias. And I completely forgot about Algeria. I think they'll finish last in that group, I'm big on Slovenia as a sleeper.

It's really a shame, because some of these teams have the talent to be good on the world stage, and what better time to do it than this summer. But they just don't seem up it.

The other factor working against these teams is that the best ones are in the toughest positions. Ivory Coast will have to beat Portugal or Brazil just to get out of the group, and unless they beat both, they'll probably play Spain in the Round of 16. Ghana has to play three legitimately solid World Cup teams and Cameroon has to play 2 great UEFA teams. Algeria and Nigeria are in easy groups, but they're not good. South Africa plays three solid, if inconsistent teams as well. Don't think there'll be any feel good African stories here.

 

[rothypejc]

New Nike World Cup Ad, my bad if someone already posted
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog...ad-is-three-minutes-of-awesome?urn=sow,242594

 

[keepie uppie]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Domenech up to his old tricks

  

skiing?shooting?the hell is that gonna do?
this fool is just messing with the national team funds and going on a holiday before Laurent Blanc takes over...

 

[t21d]

Great blog since I hardly frequent this side of NT.

 

[liljrdn]

That commercial gave me goose bumps!

 

[persiafly]

Chile profile posted!

 

[smokey1212]

That is perhaps my favorite soccer commercial since the beach soccer commercials of the 94' world cup. At least I think it was 94.

 

[smokey1212]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Smokey1212

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Ballack should've won Footballer of the Year in 2002 but as we all know, FIFA give it to the best player on the WC winning team.

Without a doubt in my mind, Ballack was the best player in the world in 2002. One of the best box-to-box midfielders I've ever seen.

Anyways, call me crazy but I dont think this will be a major loss for Germany. Ballack isn't as good anymore and I feel that just like France with Henry, Germany were trying to rely on a veteran player years past his prime to lead them during the WC.

Don't you think his role with Germany is less replaceable than Henry's with France? 

Yea, I think so.  Even though I would have replaced Henry w/ Benzema.  But I think Germany can actually replace Ballack with that CAM on Bayern.  Can't remember what his name is, but he's been in pretty good form through the CL.

Thomas Muller, the 20 year-old who has played all of 66 minutes for the national team? Those are some big shoes to fill for such an inexperienced player. Given the strength of Germany's group, I wouldn't be surprised if Ballack's absence proves to be a similar blow to their chances as that of Zidane to France's chances in 2002. 

My bad I meant Toni Kroos.  He's played really well on loan.  Who know's maybe they could bring back Torsten Frings

  That'd be my vote.

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by Smokey1212

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Smokey1212

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Ballack should've won Footballer of the Year in 2002 but as we all know, FIFA give it to the best player on the WC winning team.

Without a doubt in my mind, Ballack was the best player in the world in 2002. One of the best box-to-box midfielders I've ever seen.

Anyways, call me crazy but I dont think this will be a major loss for Germany. Ballack isn't as good anymore and I feel that just like France with Henry, Germany were trying to rely on a veteran player years past his prime to lead them during the WC.

Don't you think his role with Germany is less replaceable than Henry's with France? 

Yea, I think so.  Even though I would have replaced Henry w/ Benzema.  But I think Germany can actually replace Ballack with that CAM on Bayern.  Can't remember what his name is, but he's been in pretty good form through the CL.

Thomas Muller, the 20 year-old who has played all of 66 minutes for the national team? Those are some big shoes to fill for such an inexperienced player. Given the strength of Germany's group, I wouldn't be surprised if Ballack's absence proves to be a similar blow to their chances as that of Zidane to France's chances in 2002. 

My bad I meant Toni Kroos.  He's played really well on loan.  Who know's maybe they could bring back Torsten Frings

  That'd be my vote.

The same game in which Muller earned his first cap (friendly against Argentina), was also Kroos's first and only international appearance. In fact, he came in for Muller towards the end of the game, so he has even less experience. I just don't think players this young and inexperienced can shine at the World Cup. It's certainly been done before, but usually at less pivotal positions on the field. I also think that the larger point here is Ballack's leadership on the team, which Germany will definitely miss regardless of who replaces him.

Frings wasn't on the 27 man squad named by Loew by the way, although there are some injury-replacement rules that might allow his inclusion. But Loew has never been fond of him anyway.

The experts' opinion seems to be that Sami Khedira, the captain of their Euro champ U-21 team. Again, he has very little senior team experience, so I really doubt his ability to jump into the World Cup at one of the most important positions on the field.

The more I read into this, the more I think Germany is !%@+%#.

 

[carlos tevez]

 

[smokey1212]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Smokey1212

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Smokey1212

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Ballack should've won Footballer of the Year in 2002 but as we all know, FIFA give it to the best player on the WC winning team.

Without a doubt in my mind, Ballack was the best player in the world in 2002. One of the best box-to-box midfielders I've ever seen.

Anyways, call me crazy but I dont think this will be a major loss for Germany. Ballack isn't as good anymore and I feel that just like France with Henry, Germany were trying to rely on a veteran player years past his prime to lead them during the WC.

Don't you think his role with Germany is less replaceable than Henry's with France? 

Yea, I think so.  Even though I would have replaced Henry w/ Benzema.  But I think Germany can actually replace Ballack with that CAM on Bayern.  Can't remember what his name is, but he's been in pretty good form through the CL.

Thomas Muller, the 20 year-old who has played all of 66 minutes for the national team? Those are some big shoes to fill for such an inexperienced player. Given the strength of Germany's group, I wouldn't be surprised if Ballack's absence proves to be a similar blow to their chances as that of Zidane to France's chances in 2002. 

My bad I meant Toni Kroos.  He's played really well on loan.  Who know's maybe they could bring back Torsten Frings

  That'd be my vote.

The same game in which Muller earned his first cap (friendly against Argentina), was also Kroos's first and only international appearance. In fact, he came in for Muller towards the end of the game, so he has even less experience. I just don't think players this young and inexperienced can shine at the World Cup. It's certainly been done before, but usually at less pivotal positions on the field. I also think that the larger point here is Ballack's leadership on the team, which Germany will definitely miss regardless of who replaces him.

Frings wasn't on the 27 man squad named by Loew by the way, although there are some injury-replacement rules that might allow his inclusion. But Loew has never been fond of him anyway.

The experts' opinion seems to be that Sami Khedira, the captain of their Euro champ U-21 team. Again, he has very little senior team experience, so I really doubt his ability to jump into the World Cup at one of the most important positions on the field.

The more I read into this, the more I think Germany is !%@+%#.

Yea, but it's not like they are gonna bring in some scrub.  They have Pretty damn god options.  I'm just not a big Stuttgart fan.  Hence, the reason I dislike Khedria, but yea he will probably get the call. Kroos plays some nice offense, and I like a strong offense more than a great defense... for excitment's  sake.  That's why I'm gonna pay attention to Chile, like your blog was sayin. Still hopin for Frings though with the injury replacement, Loew has to get over his $!+% and bring his best players. 

 

[persiafly]

Might just be me, but I like all this group activity. National teams often have chemistry issues because of all the egos on the squad and the fact that they don't spend much time together as a unit, so I think it helps to do some off the field bonding. 

 

[TheGift23]

@ Nigeria's schedule pre-WC...

@ that last France pic...wasn't expecting that.

 

[shaunhillftw49]

 



Anyone pick up the ESPN World Cup Magazine?

 

[persiafly]

New profile posted. 16 out of 32 teams are now up.

WC2010 Profiles: Denmark- The Coolest Team in Soccer