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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Team Of The Last 16

Goal.com - 2 hours ago
Formation: 3-4-3

Eduardo (Portugal)
An extremely confident performance from one of the goalkeepers of the tournament despite Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Spain. Produced a string of outstanding saves, was a calm assurance behind his back four, and even when he was finally beaten by David Villa it was at the second attempt.

Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Was locked in an intriguing battle down his side against Portugal left back Fabio Coentrao. The first half was even, but after the break the Real Madrid man caused problem after problem for his opposite number with his forays forward. Almost scored a fine goal but was foiled by Eduardo.

Juan (Brazil)
Arguably the defender of the tournament so far in South Africa. The centre-back was unbeatable during the 3-0 win over Chile, making countless interceptions and decisive tackles to shut out the normally lively Chile attack. To cap a superb defensive display, his magnificent header set Brazil on their way.

Gabriel Heinze (Argentina)
Was highlighted as a weak point in the Argentina defence prior to the World Cup, but so far the Marseille man has impressed at left back. Worked hard all night in the 4-1 thrashing of Mexico, performed a couple of great covering tackles at the back and was superb going forward to boot.


Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

It’s clear that the Bayern Munich player is still not 100 per cent fit, but that makes it all the more frightening the quality he can produce. The wing wizard produced that extra bit of quality to break the deadlock in the 2-1 win over Slovakia, cutting in from the right for a trademark 20-yard strike. Went close to a second after half time.

Ramires (Brazil)
Felipe Melo may find it difficult to get back in the Brazil team after Ramires’ dominant showing in the last 16. The Benfica man’s tackling was spot on, and his drives from midfield were magnificent, not least when he tore Chile apart before teeing up Robinho for the third goal.

Kevin Prince Boateng (Ghana)
The best player on the pitch during Ghana’s historic extra time 2-1 win over the United States. Opened the scoring with a first goal for his country, striking home from the edge of the box after one of countless pushes forward.

Mesut Oezil (Germany)

Has almost certainly earned himself the Young Player of the Tournament award after yet another man-of-the-match showing. Tore England to shreds during the 4-1 thrashing, locating space in the hole and creating chance after chance. His dribbling and movement left the Three Lions for dead so many times, including when he burst past Gareth Barry to set up the fourth goal for Mueller.

Thomas Mueller (Germany)
Two goals and an assist from the talented youngster is all that is required to explain why he is in Team of the Round. The starlet’s trickery and movement was too much for Ashley Cole, and he also set up Miroslav Klose for another great chance in the first half.

Carlos Tevez (Argentina)
Has been waiting to explode in South Africa, and finally did so against Mexico. His first goal may have been scandalously offside, but there was no debate about his second as he lashed home a thunderbolt from outside the area into the top corner. Explosive performance.

Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Started the tournament a little slowly, but has now well and truly woken up. Scored the opening goal in the 2-1 win over South Korea with a deceptively difficult finish from a tight angle. Then arrived his masterpiece with ten minutes remaining, bending home a stunning winner from the edge of the box. He was lively throughout and outshone Diego Forlan.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Capello blames disallowed goal

Fabio Capello refused to blame his players for England's woeful exit from the FIFA World Cup™ at the hands of Germany.
Instead he focussed on the decision to disallow Frank Lampard's equalising 'goal'.
England had been outplayed and were 2-1 down when Lampard's effort hit the underside of Manuel Neuer's bar and bounced down a clear yard over the line.
Assistant referee Mauricio Espinosa failed to spot it, though, and instead of drawing level at 2-2, England capitulated in the second half to lose 4-1, their worst ever World Cup defeat.
"It was one of the most important things in the game," Capello told BBC1.
"We scored two goals and at that moment, I saw Germany suffer a lot.
"The [disallowed] goal was very important. We could have played a different style.
"We played I think well at 2-1, but after the third goal it was a little bit disappointing.
"Germany is a big team. They played a good game. We made some mistakes. The referee made bigger mistakes.
"Little things decide the result always."
"They scored the third and fourth on the counter-attack and we didn't play after that."
The Italian was at a loss to explain why his players had performed so far below expectations, other than cite their general tiredness after a long season.
"Look, we probably arrived a little bit tired at the end of the season.
"But after the game that they played against Slovenia, we suffered from Germany's speed today.
"But I say again, I am sure that a big mistake from the referee stopped us from going forward."
Capello is now to seek urgent talks with Club England chairman Sir David Richards about his future.
His position is bound to come under intense scrutiny only five weeks after having a clause removed from his £6million-a-year deal that would allow either party to terminate the contract after the World Cup.
"I want to speak with the chairman and then decide my future," said Capello.
"I need to know whether the FA have confidence in me or not."

When asked if he would resign, he replied: "Absolutely not."
The early indications are Capello will remain in his job.
Senior sources within the Club England camp who will determine whether the Italian stays or not have indicated that their stance on Capello - that he is the right man to take the Three Lions forward - has not shifted as a result of one single, albeit controversial result.

From espn.com

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Relief for Africa as Ghana keep World Cup hopes alive

                        Ghana were the only team to make it into the knock-out stages of the last tournament



By Joshua Howat Berger (AFP) – 1 hour ago
JOHANNESBURG — Africa rallied behind Ghana on Thursday after the Black Stars kept the continent's dreams of football glory alive by making it through to the second round of the first World Cup on African soil.
Africa had faced the ignominy of having no representatives in the business end of the tournament for the first time in 28 years after a string of failures by the continent's five other representatives.
But the Black Stars limited three-times champions Germany to a 1-0 victory in Johannesburg late Wednesday, a result which enabled them to stagger into second place in Group D and thus line up a showdown with the United States.
"The African National Congress congratulates Ghana for representing the entire continent by proceeding to the next round of this 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament," said South Africa's ruling party in a statement.
"Well-done Ghana for doing Africa proud and all of us as Africans proud."
Tournament organisers were also desperate for at least one African team to make it through to the knock-out stage given it is the first time the tournament is being held on the world's poorest continent.
"We wish to congratulate Ghana for keeping the African flag and the representation high in the tournament and we wish them luck in their next game against the USA," said Rich Mkhondo, spokesman for the local organising committee.
"This is an African World Cup, and we have always maintained that we wish and hope that the African teams will do well, and they are making us very proud."
Ghana, the first African nation to win its independence, was the continent's trail-blazer at the last tournament when they also were the only team to make it into the knock-out stages.
They managed to beat the US at the 2006 tournament in Germany and a repeat performance would give them a decent chance of making the semi-finals with either Uruguay or South Korea standing in their way.
No African team has ever made it to the semi-finals of a World Cup, and the hosts have been quick to transfer their allegiance to Ghana in the wake South Africa's first round exit on Tuesday.
"Ghana Fly the Flag for Africa", read a headline in the Johannesburg-based daily The Star, adding that they had provided "some much-needed relief for Africa ... whose teams have been disastrous."
Although a record six African teams qualified for the tournament, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa have all been knocked out and Ivory Coast are almost certainly doomed to lose out to Brazil and Portugal.
Reigning champions Italy are also struggling after drawing against lowly New Zealand and Paraguay in their opening games and need a victory over Slovakia Thursday to be sure of making the last 16.
Two of Europe's other big guns, former champions Germany and England, have already booked their ticket to the second round and will meet in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
English newspapers are already savouring the prospect of a new battle between the old enemies. England won the 1966 World Cup against Germany but have since suffered heartache agains the same team -- including their defeat on penalties in the 1990 semi-finals.

Evra pledges to reveal 'truth' behind humiliation

France's defender Patrice Evra looks dejected at the end of the Group A first round 2010 World Cup football match France vs. South Africa on June 22, 2010 at Free State Stadium in MangaungBloemfontein. South Africa won 2-1. AFP PHOTO FRANCK FIFE


By Agence France-Presse, Updated: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:24 PM


France captain Patrice Evra promised on Tuesday that his disgraced and humiliated World Cup team would not risk further public anger by claiming lucrative cash handouts.
But the Manchester United defender, dropped for the final match of his country's doomed campaign, pledged not to hold back on revealing the inside secrets of how France's World Cup fell apart in a storm of resentment and rage.
"I share the pain of all France. Tonight is the time for apologies. It's an apology that could have been made yesterday, but I was banned from doing so by the coach," said Evra, one of the ringleaders of the players strike on Sunday which was called to protest the expulsion of teammate Nicolas Anelka.
His part in that disastrous public exercise was punished by embattled coach Raymond Domenech who dropped him from the team's 2-1 defeat to South Africa on Tuesday.
"Now is not the time to settle scores. All of France will have the time to have explanations for this disaster. I will give them. I will talk about what has happened. I will tell the truth. I have nothing to hide."
France, the 1998 champions and 2006 runners-up, ended their ill-starred South African adventure at the bottom of Group A having lost to Mexico and South Africa and scraping a 0-0 draw with Uruguay.
They went home with one point, one goal and with the unwanted title of laughing stock of the football world.
Aware of the public fury, Evra said his teammates would not claim the bonuses owed to them from lucrative marketing deals.
"We will not accept a single cent from sponsors. We will refuse all the bonuses," said Evra.
According to the agreement signed with the French Football Federation (FFF) the players would not receive any extra money for failing to reach the second round, but were liable to benefit from lucrative marketing revenues generated by the squad.
The Manchester United star refused to admit that the strike on Sunday, described as "unspeakably stupid" by Domenech and which saw the players refuse to train, had been a mistake.
"Our pain wasn't exaggerated. We communicated our reasons for what happened," he said.
"Tonight I was dropped from the team without a valid reason. These are difficult times."

Saturday, June 19, 2010

US midfielder London Donovan scores a goal

US midfielder Landon Donovan shoots and scores a goal during their Group C first round 2010 World Cup football match on June 18, 2010 at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg.  AFP PHOTO GABRIEL BOUYS

USA 2 Slovekia 2

US midfielder Landon Donovan R shoots and scores a goal past Slovenia's goalkeeper Samir Handanovic up and Slovenia's defender Marko Suler during their Group C first round 2010 World Cup football match on June 18, 2010 at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. AFP PHOTO PEDRO UGARTE

2 goals that were for US, and 1 that wasn't

RONALD BLUM, AP - 7 hours ago
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- Maurice Edu kicked the ball into the net. American players jumped around wildly, thinking they had capped a historic comeback, turning a two-goal, first-half deficit into a 3-2 victory over Slovenia in the World Cup.
"Then I heard the whistle," Edu said
Referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali had called it off.
Over and over, American players asked, "Why?"
In English. Then in French.
"He just ignored us," Landon Donovan said. "Or he didn't understand."
Perhaps Coulibaly, working his first World Cup game, will never explain himself. By the rules, he doesn't have to speak to the media on game days, and his next availability isn't until Monday. Perhaps it will remain one of those unsolved soccer mysteries.
What's known for now is this: Donovan and Michael Bradley scored second-half goals that did count, and U.S. hopes to reach the second round remained alive with a 2-2 tie Friday night.
And for one moment, Edu felt "pure excitement."
It did not last.
Now it comes down to Wednesday's match against Algeria.
"My guess is there's not many teams in this tournament that could have done what we did and arguably won the game. And that is what the American spirit is about," Donovan said. "And I'm sure people back home are proud of that."
Slovenia (1-0-1) leads Group C with four points and would have qualified for the second round with a win. The U.S. and England (both 0-0-2) are tied for second with two points each following England's 0-0 draw with Algeria (0-1-1).
The top two teams in the group advance, so the U.S. would make the second round with a victory against Algeria. The Americans also could advance if they tie the Algerians while England draws Slovenia, provided the U.S. maintains its advantage in goals scored over the English, currently 3-1.
"We can still get through," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "Being down 2-0 in a game, I've played long enough to feel very lucky and fortunate to come out of it still in the World Cup."
It was the second time in a month that an official's call had thwarted American sports history. Just a few weeks ago umpire Jim Joyce's decision cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. Different sports, yes, but enormous consequences in both cases.
This would have meant so much more than one World Cup match, more than the largest country in the tournament, with 300 million people, tying the smallest with 2 million.
"I'm a little gutted to be honest," Donovan said. "I don't know how they stole that last goal from us."
Donovan took a free kick from the side of the penalty area in the 85th minute, as players jostled in front. Aleksandar Radosavljevic held Michael Bradley in a bear hug, and Edu spun away from Bojan Jokic and, one step into the 6-yard box, stuck out his left foot and put the ball in.
It was unclear to the U.S. what Coulibaly actually called. At the time of the whistle, American captain Carlos Bocanegra, who was a few feet away from Edu, did have an arm around Nejc Pecnik, preventing the Slovene from jumping for the ball.
"Whistles were blown very early. No explanation," Bocanegra said.
"There's no point talking about it," said a disgusted Michael Bradley, the coach's son.
But there's no forgetting it either.
"What I've heard is that there were three fouls in the box, and all of which were against Slovenia players," coach Bob Bradley said.
"In the midst of the game with everything that's going on, it's rare that when a tough call is made that a referee at that moment will give you an answer," he said. "Sometimes after the fact you might get an answer, but that's not always the case, either. When you're involved in the game long enough, there are moments where you are frustrated, because you feel that situations have not been handled 100 percent correctly or fairly. But that's the way the game works sometimes, so you move on."
Slovenia was outshot 14-7, but had two shots on goal in the first half and scored on both.
The Green Dragons went ahead when Valter Birsa got behind Bradley and the defense, found 5 yards of space and from about 28 yards caught Howard flat-footed. The goalkeeper was screened by defender Oguchi Onyewu, who slid across to deny Birsa the right side of the goal. The ball sailed past Howard and went in.
"I just lost sight of it," Howard said.
The U.S. nearly tied it when Clint Dempsey crossed toward Donovan inside the 6-yard box. But as Donovan was about to redirect the ball into the goal, Miso Brecko made a sliding deflection to knock it away. Donovan skidded into the goal without the ball, and several American players put their hands on their heads in frustration.
On the counterattack, Zlatan Ljubijankic ran up the middle, took a pass and sent an 8-yard right-footed shot under Howard.
A pro-American crowd of 45,583 at Ellis Park that had been chanting "USA!" was silenced. Frustration showed when Donovan, wanting to take a free kick, shoved Jose Torres, who had the ball. Torres, a 22-year-old midfielder, started in place of the more defensive Ricardo Clark.
"Jose's a young kid who is playing in his first World Cup game," Donovan said. "It's just an emotional game and at the moment I wanted to let him know what I needed to tell him."
American players retreated to their locker room and talked of a need to regroup.
"This group will never be together again," was how defender Jay DeMerit remembered the discussion. "`We just said if we're going to go down, we go down swinging."
Bob Bradley made two lineup changes at halftime, inserting Benny Feilhaber and Edu for Torres and forward Robbie Findley, who received his second yellow card of the tournament for a hand ball in the 40th and will be suspended for the Algeria game. Dempsey pushed up from midfield to forward.
Donovan started the comeback in the 48th minute when he ran onto a Steve Cherundolo pass from midfield and got by Bostjan Cesar, a defender who fell down and then unsuccessfully chased after him. Donovan originally planned to cross, but came down the endline and shot from the 6-yard box, putting the ball over goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and into the roof of the net.
It was the third World Cup goal for Donovan, his first since 2002, and his record 43rd for the national team.
"I decided to take a touch and aim high -- and aim at his head," Donovan said. "And I don't think he wanted to get hit from there."
Michael Bradley tied the score in the 82nd, when Jozy Altidore's header off Donovan's free kick fell in the middle of the penalty area. Running at full speed, Bradley caught up to it about 8 yards from goal and with his right foot tapped it over Handanovic's head.
"That's Mikey. He was pretty energetic at halftime," Howard said. "He wanted the talk ... to stop and to put our money where our mouths are. He did a good job of being an example of that."
Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek talked about his team losing its concentration in the second half and how the Americans benefited from it. "We were ahead of the United States, but we didn't overcome this pressure," he said.
It was almost the first come-from-behind win for the Americans in World Cup play. The United States is 6-16-5 in the World Cup, never falling behind in its victories. That would have changed, if not for what the U.S. believes was a phantom foul.
"I haven't seen the replay, but I've had 43 text messages from people who did, and they didn't see a foul, either," U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said.
During the last week, U.S. players said this wasn't so much a "must-win game" as a "can't-lose" match.
That changes against Algeria.
"Now we have to win," Donovan said. "Period. End of story."

From Yahoo Malaysia Sports

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Fernandes Switzerland 1 Fernando Spain 0

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 16: Goalscorer Gelson Fernandes of Switzerland celebrates victory after the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group H match between Spain and Switzerland at Durban Stadium on June 16, 2010 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)




DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 16: Fernando Torres of Spain looks dejected after defeat in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group H match between Spain and Switzerland at Durban Stadium on June 16, 2010 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Swiss shock favorites Spain in Durban

Reuters - 53 minutes ago
By Nick Mulvenney
DURBAN (Reuters) - Switzerland pulled off the biggest shock of this World Cup when they beat European champions Spain 1-0 in Group H on Wednesday, their first ever victory over their opponents in 19 games.

Gelson Fernandes' goal after a mix up in the Spanish defense gave the Swiss a shock 52nd minute lead and Spain, for all their talent and guile, were unable to find a way through the massed ranks of white Switzerland shirts.

"We tried in an orthodox way and in an heroic way but we were not able to score. It wasn't our day. We dominated almost all the match," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said.

"This defeat means that we have to win the other two (group) matches," he added.

The Swiss, who have now not conceded a goal in the World Cup since a 3-0 defeat to Spain in 1994, share the lead in Group H with Chile, who beat Honduras 1-0 earlier on Wednesday.

After a forgettable first half, the Swiss looked like spending another 45 minutes defending for their lives until goalkeeper Diego Benaglio's long punt caused chaos in the Spanish defense.

Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas clashed with Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok and Gerard Pique was unable to stop the ball falling to Fernandes, who clipped the ball into an empty net.

The defeat ended a run of 12 straight victories for the Spanish, who had qualified for the World Cup with a 100 percent record and were many pundits' favorites to win the tournament.

The European champions enjoyed a near monopoly of possession for much of the game but were unable to convert the chances they created.

Del Bosque, who had started the match with David Villa as a lone striker, brought Fernando Torres and Jesus Navas on after the goal to try and rescue the game but they were unable to find a way through.

Xabi Alonso hit the underside of the bar with a fine strike in the 70th minute, Navas shot lamely Benaglio when through on goal about a minute later, and Pique squandered another chance on the next Spanish attack.

Derdiyok, playing in place of his injured captain Alex Frei, then jinked his way through the defense to almost double the Swiss lead but, to the relief of the Spanish, his shot came bouncing back off the post.

Torres had a couple more openings in the dying minutes of the game but failed to exploit them and, after five minutes of added time, the Swiss were able to celebrate a famous victory.

(Editing by Nigel Hunt)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

World Cup: USA 1-1 England - Man Of The Match

Who was the top player for the USA in their draw with England?
By Allen Ramsey
Jun 12, 2010 4:24:00 PM
It was a solid result for the USA as they worked a 1-1 draw with England to open Group C play. England took and early lead only to have Clint Dempsey level the match just before the break on what can only be described as a major gaffe by England 'keeper Robert Green.
But which player did the most to make sure the USA left with at least a point?
The answer seems to be pretty obvious. American goalkeeper Tim Howard was the exact opposite of his counterpart in the England goal. Howard made several massive stops to keep the Three Lions from ever regaining their lead including one at point blank range off of Emile Heskey.

From goal.com



Steve Cherundolo, who dominated James Milner in the opening 30 minutes before putting the clamps on Shaun Wright-Phillips, also deserves to have his name called as one of the top performers on the night. Cherundolo not only locked down his side of the field defensively but drew several fouls in the first half as he bombed forward.
Another player for the USA who had a fine showing was midfielder Michael Bradley who did very well to help relieve pressure by passing and dribbling his way out of trouble.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Johan Cruyff: Winning The World Cup Will Be 'Impossible' For England Under Fabio Capello

Goal.com - 6 hours ago
Holland legend Johan Cruyff believes that England cannot win the World Cup under Fabio Capello, citing that the way the Three Lions play is too similar to Italy as they are 'only interested in the result'.

The former Barcelona star believes that the influx of Italian managers like Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini and Capello has affected football in England.

"With Capello on the bench, all the world knows how England will play. It's a curious situation in England,” Cruyff told The Mirror.

"The Italian coaches are influencing the philosophy. There are the examples of Ancelotti, Mancini and Capello.

"England now have many similarities to Italy. The mentality has changed and now they are only interested in the result.

"After the failure in Germany is 2006, now England needs a great spectacle but that is impossible with Capello as coach."

This is not the first time that the Dutchman has criticised Capello and his attack on the Three Lions boss is one of the few that he has faced since becoming England manager.

Cruyff believes that Spain, Argentina and Brazil are the three teams that will be the favourites to win in South Africa, but he is not as optimistic about Holland’s chances.

"If Spain can show their quality on the pitch then they can aspire to great success. But they must improve with each game without suffering from growing pressure.

"They must show the same pride and quality that they did at Euro 2008 to win the World Cup.

"It would be unfair for Argentina just to rely on Lionel Messi. Their system and team must be strong and they must make changes when necessary to make sure his work is not lost.

"Brazil have incredible talent and they are different now. Now they have a big keeper, a good defence and a more European style. They can be more negative. For me now, Spain is the Brazil in this World Cup.

"Holland has some good players but the stars don't play in Holland. Without playing in Holland, it's impossible for the team to improve long term."

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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

South Africa hammers Guatemala 5-0

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POLOKWANE, South Africa (AP) -- Katlego Mphela converted two penalties and South Africa defeated Guatemala 5-0 on Monday in the last chance for players from the host nation team to impress before the World Cup squad is announced.



Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Surprise Moriri and Bernard Parker also scored at the Peter Mokaba Stadium to give Bafana Bafana a boost in the final run-in to the tournament.

Guillermo Ramirez missed a second-half penalty for Guatemala when his spotkick was saved by Moeneeb Josephs.

Captain Aaron Mokoena became the first player to win 100 caps for South Africa and celebrated by wearing the number 100 on his shirt.


Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will cut five players Tuesday to get his roster to 23.

From Yahoo Malaysia Sport.

30,000 quit Facebook in protest


AFP - Tuesday, June 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - – A group protesting Facebook's privacy policies said Monday more than 30,000 people had heeded its call to quit the social networking giant.

"For us it comes down to two things: fair choices and best intentions. In our view, Facebook doesn't do a good job in either department," the organizers, who did not identify themselves, said on their website for Monday's "Quit Facebook Day."

"Facebook gives you choices about how to manage your data, but they aren't fair choices."


The group said at 2300 GMT that 32,749 had dropped out of the Facebook universe.

Facebook.com is visited monthly by 540 million people, or slightly more than 35 percent of the Internet population, according to Google data.

Facebook is overhauling privacy controls in the face of a barrage of criticism that it is betraying the trust which has made it the world's biggest social network.

Facebook redesigned its privacy settings page to provide a single control for content and "significantly reduce" the amount of information that is always visible to everyone.

Facebook also said it is giving users more control over how outside applications or websites access information at the service.

Critics continue to call for Facebook to make all user information private by default and then let people designate what they want to share case-by-case in an "opt-in" model.