Warming-up to the World Cup - Updated

Stevie comes to England's rescue as he opens the scoring. Owen still looks unfit. Gary Neville is injured and Carra plays in midfield!

England 3
Hungary 1

Crouch (???) scores a hat-trick as England thrash Jamaica.
England 6
Jamaica 0

The Royal Robot?

The Dutch draw with the Socceroos. More worries for them as Cocu and Sneijder are injured. Cahill comes back from injury for the Aussies and scores too!
Holland 1
Australia 1

Cahill - Key for Aussie Hopes

Guus Hiddink shows why he is among the best in the business as his team beats European Champions Greece 1-0.
Australia 1
Greece 0

Portugal beat Luxemborg. Simao is the hero, scoring a brace. Figo is seemingly at his best again.
Portugal 3
Luxemborg 0

Messi comes on as sub and plays for abt 20 min. Argentina look solid but their opponents aren't Brazil!
Argentina 2
Angola 0

Spain struggle and can't score against Russia. Aragones is going to end up a fool for having neglected Morientes and taking just 3 strikers, out of which 2 are inexperienced at the highest level and one is so out of form!
Spain 0
Russia 0

Spain find their scoring touch, beat Egypt.
Spain 2
Egypt 0

Germans struggle at home as they come back from a 2-goal deficit to save their blushes. If Germany reach the quarters, it's a good tournament for them!
Germany 2
Japan 2

Germany, however have a good sending off, beating Columbia in their last match before they play Costa Rica in the WC opener.
Germany 3
Columbia 0

Rosicky and Nedved did not play this game but they both need to be in their best form if Czech can dream of getting past the 2nd round. Latest news: Smicer is ruled out.
Czech Republic 1
Costa Rica 0

Koller scores a brace and Nedved scores too as the Czech regain confidence.
Czech Republic 3
Trinidad 0

France is still unconvincing. They will do much better than last time but how far will they go?
France 2
Denmark 0

Italy going 4-4-3? Totti and Del Piero starting? Lippi trying out new things but they have to do much better than a draw against the Swiss.
Switzerland 1
Italy 1

Italy still struggling....C'mon Azzuris!
Italy 0
Ukraine 0

Business, as usual!
Brazil 8
FC Lucerne 0

Brazil 4
New Zealand 0

Football Fever - Hotting up!

The World Cup fever has set in throughout the world. With just more than 10 days to go, most teams are focussed on doing a good job in the WC...and there is England, whose main focus is on getting Rooney fit for the World Cup.

Rooney has been told he is out of the group stages. And a scan on June 14th would determine if he could take part in the latter stages of the tournament. With Crouch set to start up front, it wouldn't be a surprise if England struggle to get past through to the next round.

But gotto appreciate the England FA's sense of humor. Seems they have already arranged the national team's victory parade that includes a visit to the Buckingham Palace.

Spanish striker Morientes, unhappy at losing his place in the World Cup squad, has decided to call it quits at Liverpool and has signed for Valencia. With Valencia striker David Villa on fire and responsible for Mori's exclusion in the national team, can Mori expect a starting place at Valencia?

Spain coach Luis Aragones was reportedly angry with captain Raul for wearing a yellow jersey at training. The man who fears the color shouted at his captain to take that off. I dont suppose Aragones can do anything if Spain happen to face 'yellow' Brazil in the quarters.


Spanish defender Del Horno, has played down his injury reports and says he is raring to go.
Just when Spanish hopes were staring to soar high!

It's just a matter of time before Ruud follows in the footsteps of Ince, Kanchelskis, Beckham and Keane - out of the club after falling out with Sir Alex. Sir Alex is looking at various swap deals involving Ruud although it's likely that Ruud would wanna choose his club. Watch out for Ruud trying to prove a point to Fergie this World Cup.

Chelsea seems to have struck gold in the transfer market this year. After many strikers refused to get lured by Chelsea's riches last year, they have signed Ballack on a free transfer and are on the verge of signing star striker Shevchenko. Sheva has decided to quit AC and come to the EPL just so that his son can learn to speak English! So then, its nothing about getting lured by the Chelsea money!


Nigerian wonderkid John Obi Mikel's situation appears to have finally been solved. Chelsea will pay more than £10m in "compensation" to Manchester United in order that he is released from his contractual obligations. With the Chelsea midfield already crowded with stars, I hope to see Mikel rotting in London just like SWP.

Can Big Phil Do it Again?

Portugal is one of the teams that has a good chance of winning the World Cup just because the team is a good blend of youth and experience. Also, the wily Felipe Scolari having won the World Cup with Brazil last time, would be looking do it again with Portugal.

Portugal has a good central defence in Carvalho and Meira. It looks to be seen if they will miss Andrade who is out of the WC due to injury. Hopefully, Miguel should play instead of Ferreira at RB. Deco, Maniche and Costinha should form a good midfield although the latter two haven't had much football at their respective clubs this season. So, there is a possibility that Petit comes in for Costinha. Figo and Ronaldo should be the wingers although Simao should provide stiff competition to them for a place in the starting lineup.

Pauletta is irreplaceable in the striker's role as he is Portugal's top scorer. Boa Morte, Nuno Gomes and Postiga would be his backups.

Portugal has always flattered to deceive at the highest level, although they did reach the finals at Euro 2004. This is the last chance for captain Figo who has won everything at the club level but nothing with the national team. Can he inspire them to glory this summer? It's difficult, not impossible.

Probable Team...

Ricardo
Miguel Carvalho Meira Valente
Petit
Figo Deco Maniche Ronaldo
Pauletta

Goalkeepers: Ricardo Pereira (Sporting), Quim Silva (Benfica), Bruno Vale (Estrela Amadora).

Defenders: Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Miguel Monteiro (Valencia), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Fernando Meira (VfB Stuttgart), Marco Caneira (Sporting), Ricardo Costa (Porto), Nuno Valente (Everton).

Midfielders: Armando Petit (Benfica), Costinha (Dynamo Moscow), Tiago Mendes (Olympique Lyon), Maniche Ribeiro (Chelsea), Hugo Viana (Valencia), Luis Figo (Inter Milan), Deco (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Simao Sabrosa (Benfica).

Strikers: Luis Boa Morte (Fulham), Pauleta (Paris ST Germain), Nuno Gomes (Benfica), Helder Postiga (Saint Etienne).

The Enigmatic Azzuris

Can the Azzuris win the World Cup after 24 long years?

Can they overcome the match-fixing scandal that's rocking Italian football?

Can goalkeeper Buffon who is accused of betting on matches, keep his concentration and his place in the squad?

Can manager Marcello Lippi abandon the traditionally defensive tactics and make the team more attack-minded?

Can Luca Toni provide Italy the goals that he has been consistently doing for Fiorentina (31 goals in the Italian league....incredible!) this season?

Can Totti overcome years of under-achieving with the national squad, inspire them to ultimate glory this summer?

Expected Starting Lineup...

Buffon
Zaccardo Cannavaro Nesta Zambrotta
Camoranesi Pirlo Rossi Totti
Toni Gilardino

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio), Marco Amelia (Livorno)

Defenders: Cristian Zaccardo (Palermo), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Fabio Grosso (Palermo), Massimo Oddo (Lazio), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo).

Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Simone Barone (Palermo).

Forwards: Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Francesco Totti (AS Roma), Alberto Gilardino (AC Milan), Filippo Inzaghi (AC Milan), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese).

Reserves: Morgan De Sanctis, goalkeeper (Udinese), Daniele Bonera, defender, (Parma), Franco Semioli (Chievo Verona), Marco Marchionni (Parma).

Europe's New Champions

נ We are the Champions נ
The Man of the Match

The Best team in Europe

The Color is Oranje

After missing out of the World Cup in 2002, Holland are eager for this World Cup to start. The pioneers of 'Total Football', Holland were unlucky not to win the 1974 World Cup final against Germany. Four years later, they lost the final yet again, this time to hosts Argentina. They reached the last four in 1998 when they lost to Brazil and this time, they will want to go all the way and win the Cup.

The Dutch squad selection threw a couple of surprises. Huntelaar, the top scorer in the Dutch league was left out, as was veteran Edgar Davids. I believe manager Marco Van Basten is relying too much on young players, especially at the back. After unsuccessfully trying to lure Jaap Stam from retirement, Basten has no option but to have confidence in his relatively inexperienced defence. Davids should have been retained for he not only adds experience to the team but also physical strength.

Ruud is certain to score goals for them as always, in spite of his problems at Manchester United, and a lot of hope is pinned on Van der Vaart, who is yet to return to full fitness after a spate of injuries. Vaart has been terrific for his club Hamburg this season and was a key figure for the oranje in their qualifiers too. Robben will look to attack from the wings but can he overcome the physical challenge posed by strong teams in their 'group of death' - Serbia, Argentina and debutants Ivory Coast?

Can the eternal underachievers claim the ultimate prize in football this time? Only time will tell...and Ruud may want to prove a point too.

Probable Team...

Van der Saar
Heitinga Mathijsen Boulahrouz Gio
Kuyt Van Bommel Cocu Robben
Van der Vaart
Van Nistelrooy

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Henk Timmer (AZ Alkmaar).

Defenders: Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Jan Kromkamp (Liverpool), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), John Heitinga (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (Hamburg), Joris Mathijsen (AZ Alkmaar), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Tim de Cler (AZ Alkmaar).

Midfielders: Mark van Bommel (Barcelona), Philip Cocu (PSV Eindhoven), Denny Landzaat (AZ Alkmaar), Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg).

Strikers: Dirk Kuyt (Feyenoord), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV Eindhoven), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Ryan Babel (Ajax).

Gambling on Theo

England manager announced his squad and there were a couple of shock call-ups, atypical of Sven who likes it to play safe, at least when it comes to his squad. It was not a surprise at all to see Rooney and Owen's names in spite of their injuries. But Theo Walcott...that's a shocking inclusion.

I have always wondered why teams such Brazil have them in their squad certain very young players. While Ronaldo was among the reserves in 1994 and it was Kaka in 2002. The Brazil managers are intelligent guys. They take with them promising players who get invaluable experience just being part of the squad even though they might not get to play. Now, Ronaldo
and Kaka are integral part of their team.

Coming back to Sven's inclusion of Theo, I feel it's a good gamble considering he is highly rated by Wenger at Arsenal and has a pace quicker than Henry's. Just the exposure at the highest level may do him real good.

Theo - The new Wonderkid

My prayers have been answered! I was extremely happy to see Aaron Lennon being included in place of SWP. SWP should be feeling very dejected and he should be...moving to Chelsea when he knew it would be toughto dislodge Duff, Cole and Robben from the starting line-up! Latest rumour is that Rafa is planning to bid 14 million pounds for SWP.

Lennon has been impressive this season at Spurs and has played a big part in their quest to play in Europe next season. Carrick and Jenas have excelled this season at Spurs and I would like to see Carrick in the starting line-up as the holding midfiedler.

Now that Rooney is a major doubt, it is the perfect opportunity for Sven to play to his strengths...Gerrard and Lampard as 2 attacking midfielders, with Carrick behind them. Captain Becks should play in the right and Cole just behind the main striker.

Sven wouldn't have much pressure on him now that he's quitting at the end of the season and with Rooney as good as out, expectations would be lower. This is his chance, to become part of the legendary group of men who won the World Cup.

The ideal formation would be...

Robinson
Neville Rio Terry A.Cole
Carrick
Becks Gerrard Lampard
J.Cole
Owen

Sven's squad...

Goalkeepers
Robinson (Tottenham), James (Manchester City), Green (Norwich)
Defenders
G Neville (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea)
Midfielders
Beckham (Real Madrid), Carrick (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham)
Forwards
Rooney (Manchester United), Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Walcott (Arsenal).

Standby:
Carson (Liverpool), Young (Charlton), Reo-Coker (West Ham), Defoe (Tottenham), Johnson (Crystal Palace).

Shocks Galore

Conspiracy Theory?

About 10 Tottenham players including Dawson, Carrick, Keane vomited in the dressing room before the 2-1 loss which ended their Champions League dream. Investigations are on against the London hotel where the players had dined before the match.

A Dejected Jol after Defeat

Deception Point
Wigan defender Pascal Chimbonda handed in a transfer request on his way off the pitch after Sunday's defeat by Arsenal. This is a show of ridiculous level of disrespect to the manager Paul Jewell and to the Wigan supporters, who had supported him thoroughout their remarkable season. Pascal had signed an extended 4-year contract in January and the Wigan chairman has reiterated that he wouldn't sell him for less than 6 million pounds.

Utter Lack of Loyalty

Ruud Exit
Ruud Van Nistelrooy is going the Beckham way. Nope, he is not getting his head shaved. Instead, he is gonna be sold this summer after the latest bust-up with Sir Alex. He had left the OT ground when Fergie decided to play Rossi up front with Saha in the crucial encounter with Charlton. Latest speculation is that Ruud may be involved in a swap deal with Athletico Madrid's striker Fernando Torres (plus 14 million pounds!).


A Sheva Shock
Ukraine suffered a jolt to their debut World Cup plans as their inspirational captain and striker Shevchenko injured his knee ligament in AC Milan's league match against Parma. Fortunately, Sheva should be back in training in 25 days' time.

A Standing Ovation for the Fantastic Four

Some of the greatest players to grace the footballing world have decided to quit playing football at the end of this season...and some like Larsson have decided to go back home and play for his local club...there's no doubt that we'll miss these legendary men.

Champions, Injured Rooney and a Beaming Mclaren

Terry lifts the Trophy


Barca Players Rejoice










As expected, Chelsea and Barcelona retain their league titles.
Rooney is most likely to miss out on the World Cup and with it, all hopes of a England victory are almost gone unless Sven can inspire the rest of the players and achieve a miracle.

Steve Mclaren was a surprise choice for the England manager position. The English FA were certainly made to look stupid when Felipe Scolari rejected their offer.

I am not a big fan of Mac but I think he has to do a good job given the resources he has at his disposal. For me, Guus Hiddink would have been the perfect choice.