The Road to the FIFA World Cup - South Africa 2010

What I have seen of Fernandes at Bochum (which is very limited ofcourse) I have liked it and he's a big man 6 4 I think.
And what about calling up Mendes for midfield ?

A bit off topic, but related to World Cup.

Special “Adopt a Nation” school campaign kicks off

Millions of school kids invited to be part of 2010 FIFA World Cup™

Johannesburg, Saturday 27 September 2008

One of the most important aspects of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is to involve and integrate the entire population from every corner of the country.

And there’s no better way to do this than to reach out to the country’s school pupils, their teachers and their parents. With this in mind the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (SALOC) today kicked off, in partnership with the national Departments of Education and Sport and Recreation, the special school campaign “Adopt a Nation”, targeting over 12 million scholars from over 30 000 schools throughout the country.

“Our aim is to make this global event, located here in South Africa , appeal to every province and city across the country and the continent. Schools have been identified as a primary vehicle to get the 2010 FIFA World Cup messages not only to children, but indeed families and communities in South Africa and the African continent. Our schools have a vital role to wet the appetite for the world’s showcase football events - next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup and the first African FIFA World Cup in 2010 – and we want every pupil in this country to be part of these historic events,” said Dr Irvin Khoza, SALOC Chairman, at the launch of the programme at the Nasrec Sports Precinct in Johannesburg.

The campaign is part of the ‘My 2010 School Adventure’ project, focusing on three key pillars; education, development (sports skills and coaching) and participation in regional and nationwide schools football tournaments. In the first phase the pupils and teachers will as part of their school curriculum learn more about the teams participating at next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup and build relationships with schools in the countries who have qualified. Schools have already been playing in provincial schools tournaments and the winning teams from all provinces will play in the schools Confederations Cup finals in March next year – standing a chance to win tickets to the tournament.

The FIFA Confederations Cup, held from 14 to 28 June 2009, also known as the “Festival of Champions”, features the current champions of the six FIFA Confederations, reigning world champions and next FIFA World Cup hosts, namely Brazil , Egypt , Iraq , Italy , New Zealand , Spain , United States and hosts South Africa .

From September 2008 to January 2009, pupils from across the country will work on creative elements such as essays, poetry, art projects, music and dance performances relating to the FIFA Confederations Cup, with the winning submissions also standing a chance to win tickets for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 and 2010 FIFA World Cup. Another aspect of the programme is that thousands of teachers will also be given specialised coaching courses in an effort to improve the standard of schools football.

“It is of major importance for our scholars – the future of our nation – to learn about the cultures and history of other countries, and what better way than to include them through a progressive programme such as ‘Adopt A Nation’ which will empower our young academics with knowledge that will stand them in good stead in years to come,” said Naledi Pandor, Minister of Education.

Ambassadors and representatives from the eight FIFA Confederations Cup nations joined in the launch festivities today at Nasrec, at which South Africa ’s nine provinces symbolically ‘adopted’ each one of the eight participants, as well as the African Union in a random draw. They will now learn more about the FIFA Confederations Cup, and about the countries they “adopted” today. Zakumi, the Official Mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, who quickly gained popularity after his worldwide debut this week, was also on hand to entertain hundreds of school pupils at the launch event.

“The ‘Adopt A Nation’ programme is a venture that will revolutionise sport and education in SA ahead of world class soccer showpiece events of the calibre of the FIFA Confederation Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We trust that pupils’ aspirations on the sport and academic fronts will be taken to new heights as a result of their involvement in the programme”, said Minister of Sport and Recreation, Rev Dr Makhenkesi Stofile.

Why dont they just f@ck of with the international football!! I hate it, I absolutely hate it when they stop the league for this Cr@p!

African teams have raised the bar at the World Cup in recent
tournaments and with Ghana impressing in Germany in 2006 and Senegal
having made the quarter-finals in 2002, the expectations of the
continent are high. Especially with the next showcase event set to take
place in South Africa.

Asamoah Gyan has struggled with injury and hasn't scored for Ghana in qualifying.

Yet,
of all the regions in contention for 2010, the African section of
qualifying regularly throws up surprises. Minnows Togo were the shock
of 2006, despite failing to register a point once they arrived at the
competition, and this year the likes of Rwanda, Benin and Burkino Faso
all look well placed to progress to the next round of qualifying.While
it is exciting for such sides to be given the chance to test themselves
in the world's biggest football tournament, their presence could come
at the expense of some of the continent's more dominant forces. Firstly,
and most incredibly, is the situation of Ghana after their impressive
run to the knockout stages in 2006. The Black Stars dispatched the
highly fancied Czech Republic in Germany, but have looked a shadow of
their former selves as they have struggled in their qualifying group.Still
in a decent position (as their final group game is against bottom side
Lesotho), Ghana must win by a big margin this weekend to go through as
group winners, while their fate will also depend on the result in the
other group match between Gabon and Libya. If, as expected, Gabon and
Ghana both win, then all three sides finish on 12 points and goal
difference becomes a factor.Gabon have failed to qualify for any
major tournaments in the last ten years, and qualification would
represent one of the country's finest moments. Credit must go to them,
but it is almost unthinkable for a side like Ghana to go out at this
early stage.Even if the West Africans do struggle through, they
must improve if they are to make it past the next round and ensure
themselves of a place in South Africa. Results like defeats to Libya
and Gabon away from home cannot be repeated, while they nearly suffered
the embarrassment of a draw against Lesotho as a final few minutes of
drama in June nearly provided the shock of the year.The source
of the side's troubles appears to be a lack of squad depth. With
established players like Junior Agogo and Asamoah Gyan comfortable in
their positions, there has been very little competition for places and
the team has suffered as a result. With important figures like Michael
Essien and Stephen Appiah missing through injury, the players who have
filled the breach have underestimated their smaller opponents and have
paid the price for their malaise.While the appointment of new
Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac may take some getting used to after the
success that predecessor Claude LeRoy brought to the country, the Serb
has moved quickly to stamp his authority on the Ghana setup by leaving
Birmingham winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie out of his side for a breach of
discipline, suggesting that he won't tolerate disruptions to his plans.Another
side to have struggled in qualifying, Senegal, also boast a history of
relative success in the World Cup; but also have their own issues of
discipline to deal with.With their decisive game coming against
local rivals Gambia this weekend, the country will be hoping to get the
best out of captain El Hadji Diouf, although he has yet to win the full
support of the fans after being suspended for breaking a curfew along
with Tony Sylva and midfielder Ousmane Ndoye before being knocked out
of the African Nations Cup in January.

Fadiga will hope to have the same impact for Senegal as he did in 2002.

Having
made the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002, Senegal now need to
beat a Gambia side who have only conceded two goals in their qualifying
campaign thus far and they cannot afford to rely on Liberia to upset
group-toppers Algeria.It is clear that all is not well within
the Senegalese camp, with coach Lamin Ndiaye springing a major surprise
by dropping star duo Mamadou Niang and Souleymane Diawara for the
decider. In a side that already struggle for creativity, the recall of
33-year-old Khalilou Fadiga, who has resurrected his career in Belgium
with Germinal Beerschot after recovering from heart problems, is also a
shock. With the side having failed to qualify for Germany 2006,
Fadiga's inclusion could be the spark they need although he has been
out of the international setup for over two years and surely cannot
have the same impact that he had in 2002. It is a gamble, but the Lions
of Teranga need something, or someone, to remind them of their
successes in Korea.Angola are another side that could with
drawing upon the memory of some their past glories. However, with coach
Luis Oliveira Goncalves departing before their vital final game with
Niger, their preparations couldn't be worse.Goncalves had been
hailed as a hero for leading the side to Germany 2006, but a home draw
with Uganda and a defeat to Benin in Luanda changed the fans'
perceptions of him. With star striker Manucho back in the squad for the
first time in qualifying there is hope that the side will get a boost,
although nothing less than a win will be good enough for the Palancas
Negras, who will have to rebuild themselves in the space of just a few
days.Yet if Angola's fall has been something of a recent
occurance, such a fate has been on the cards for Togo for some time.
Struggling in a three-team group including Zambia and Swaziland, the
side who impressed so much in qualifying for the 2006 event have been
decimated by internal problems since their World Cup exit.Star
striker Emmanuel Adebayor has temporarily retired from international
football, citing the fact that the Togolese Football Federation is too
poorly run for him to consider travelling to games; while the rest of
the players have apparently forwarded a list of demands to the TFF
ahead of their final qualifying match against Swaziland.

Adebayor has refused to play
for Togo until the problems are sorted out.

After
their preparations for the 2006 event were disrupted by shambolic
organisation and by rows over wages and bonuses, the squad were rocked
by the departure of French coach Henri Stambouli in September, after
only four months in charge, and can only rely on a miraculous second
place finish to get them through. Without an established
structure, or their star player, it is hard to see how Togo can recover
to anywhere near their best; although their place as 'rising stars' of
African football may be taken by another minnow for 2010.Benin,
Rwanda, Kenya and Burkino Faso have been the star performers in
qualifying thus far and have done well in groups against the more
established teams like Morocco, Tunisia, Guinea and Angola. It would
certainly not be a stretch of the imagination to suggest that one of
these sides could make it through the third qualifying stage to end up
on a plane to South Africa.Out of the big boys, it is really
only Nigeria who have made any impression at all. Having won five out
of five, conceding no goals in the process, Shaibu Amodu's men have led
the way and (unlike Egypt, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast) have not been
subjected to the odd anomaly in their results.It would be
churlish to suggest that the big sides won't stand a chance of topping
their groups in the next round, but the Super Eagles have given the
chasing pack something to think about in terms of the way they play the
game and how their squad has evolved in recent years. Undoubtedly they
will go into the next round as firm favourites to qualify. But, with
the eyes of the world on South Africa in 2010, there is a risk that
some of the continent's other leading lights may miss out on the party
altogether.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=g2kuciCiRhc

Lithuania 2-0 Austria

Ex-Arsenal striker Tomas Danilevicius with 2 neat finishes past former team-mate Alex Manninger

If they meant that the freekick was exceptionally clever.

Lithuania are quality...they nearly qualified for WC02/Euro04 after a great start...then had a couple of poor results, and failed.

Danilevicius is class ...Stankevicius too .

HT Scots v Norway 0-0

11 v 11 lumberjacks playing hoofball, very entertaining

HALF-TIME Scotland 0-0 Norway

Norway are a hard team to support. Too many aimless long balls and this infuriating refusal to hold onto to the ball. Scotland have had most of the ball but not really creating anything. Norway have had better chances but these are on the break and largely due to Carew doing wonders by himself. More support for Carew any desire for a norwegian to get down the line and put in a cross and Norway would be ahead as Carew has the beating of the Scotland central defenders. Scotland are toothless. They are getting down the wing and putting crosses in but it would have to be one great cross to beat the Norwegian defence.

WHAT A MISS!!!

0-0 is $h!t for us, but a great result for the Dutchies.

After that miss it actually feels like Scotland are losing.

Scotland - Norway 0-0

Both sides missing huge chances.. really really poor football

Blacks

FULL-TIME Scotland 0-0 Norway

Much the same as the first half but Scotland were more penetrative. Managed to get behind the Norwegian defence and get some good chances with Iwelumo missing an open goal from two yards out the best. Norway had good chances on the break and probably should have taken at least one.

Faroe Islands - Austria: 1-1 after 60 minutes.

Can a lightning hit the same house twice?

kroesius wrote:Faroe Islands - Austria: 1-1 after 60 minutes.

Can a lightning hit the same house twice?

It can!

Gerrard is playing terrible. Walcott is looking bright tho.

I thought the England game was supposed to be on ITV.

f@ck me this is bad.

Organised chaos in defence from the Kazakhs completely out foxing our incompetent midfielders. Within 30 seconds you could tell this was going to happen.

the only decent thing is that lampard>gerrard. altho that isn't saying much

Gerrard is awful.

Christ this board is dead.

Who hasn't been awful chin

Barry, flump, gerrard, brown, Rooney, cole and upson have been useless

SWP on for barry so the shape should be far better

COTR wrote:Who hasn't been awful chin

Walcott.

Keeper mistake. Jammy c**ts.

Walcott had a good first ten mins but has just ran about aimlessly since

Mind you he does have to somehow try and play with brown

England get a undeserved gift of a goal

When all else fails, rely on the set piece. Kazakh's still look like they could get a deserved deflected goal.

COTR wrote:Who hasn't been awful chin

Barry, flump, gerrard, brown, Rooney, cole and upson have been useless

SWP on for barry so the shape should be far better

I thought Cole, Ferdinand, Heskey, Barry and Lampard did ok so far. Walcott has been having a good game...

Gerrard has been terrible.