Vuvuzela 'inventor' set to relaese an album of tunes

By Christian Gysin, Daily Mail/UK


The South African who has taken responsibility for inventing the vuvuzela is preparing to offer the world his next gift - an entire album of songs played on the tuneless trumpet.

South African Freddie Maake, 55, recorded the 18 track CD last year near his home in Johannesburg.

The dedicated football fan said he did so to show the versatility of the three foot horn, which he claims to have created in 1965.

And he is now hoping to cash in on his invention's newfound notoriety by selling the album to football fans during the World Cup.

Freddie said: 'I have been blowing my vuvuzela for more than 30 years so I know what it can do.

'People criticise the horn because of the sound it makes, but when it is played properly it can add something quite beautiful to a song.'

Freddie, a father of nine, said he had the idea for the vuvuzela aged 15 when he was given a bicycle horn for his birthday.

The schoolboy removed the rubber pump from the end and use his lips to produce a ear-splitting sound.

He blasted the horn for years while watching his beloved Kazier Chiefs play in Soweto.
And he said he developed the distinctive shape used by fans today in 1989 after approaching a friend who owned a plastics factory.

Since then Freddie has travelled the world representing South Africa's Football Association.

He blasted his vuvuzela at the 1998 World Cup in France, the 2002 tournament in Japan and Korea and during the last World Cup in Germany.

Now the event has hit his home country he said the time was right to release his music.

The studio album contains renditions of African tunes including South Africa's national anthem and other famous songs from the host nation.

Among the tracks is Shosholoza, a classic South African song traditionally sung by workers which has become one of the tunes of the World Cup.

Freddie has also penned some tracks of his own.

They include one in which he praises the beauty of Johannesburg's main stadium Soccer City, and another about South African and West Ham striker Benni McCarthy.

On all songs Freddie can be heard blasting the vuvuzela as a percussion instrument, sometimes beneath melodies provided by keyboard or organ.

Today the entrepreneur said he hoped the CD would help people around the world appreciate the instrument's charm.

The keen musician, who lives in the Tembisa township east of Johannesburg, added: 'My CD is about Africa, the people who live here and the friendships that can be made.

'The vuvuzela is now part of our culture, and it can bring people together.

'My album is a celebration of the joy that can be brought by fine music and friendship.

'The World Cup is a great chance for everyone to come together and party.

'I hope that fans enjoy my music so they can have the perfect soundtrack to the tournament.'

Soccer Returns to Its Roots in Africa

By Christopher Clarey/New York Times

Cameroon’s Roger Milla eluded the Colombian goalkeeper, René Higuita, to score in the 1990 World Cup, where Cameroon became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals. Agence France -- Presse

CAPE TOWN — As the 2010 World Cup arrives at last in Africa, it might come as a surprise that soccer is not merely plowing new ground but also — in some manner — returning to its roots.

The first documented soccer games played on the African continent were staged in the future World Cup cities of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth in 1862. That was one year before the rules of association football were codified in England in an attempt to facilitate competition by bringing uniformity to the emerging sport.

“You can make an argument that the history of the game in Africa is as old as the game itself,” said Peter Alegi, a professor of African history at Michigan State University and author of “African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World’s Game.”

There is even the possibility that the history of the game is much older than the game itself. Paintings from ancient Egypt show people throwing and catching balls. Who can be certain they weren’t already using their feet, too?

There is no doubt, however, that the Europeans — both visitors and settlers — provided the initial spark for the early development of the modern game in Africa. Those games in 1862, which took place in what was then known as the Cape Colony, involved military men and other white civil servants for the British colonial government. So it went in other coastal African cities in the years that followed.

But the white monopoly on the club game would not last out the century. In 1896, Mahatma Gandhi, then a young lawyer in South Africa, was among a group of Indian men who helped found the Transvaal Indian Football Association. Alegi considers it “most likely the first organized football group on the continent that was not run by whites."

Gandhi would not be the last future leader to use soccer as a training ground. And the black communities and other indigenous people in Africa would gradually take control of the ball and the phenomenon, embracing the imported game, even sometimes — as in Algeria and South Africa — using it as a tool against their oppressors. Along the way, soccer would grow into a pan-African obsession, perhaps the closest thing to a common currency that this vast and vastly diverse continent possesses.

“If anything can be salvaged from the harsh and unequal encounter between Western and African cultures, then the list must include the arrival of football,” David Goldblatt wrote in “The Ball Is Round,” his global history of soccer. “Western medical care, though dismissive of local healing traditions, is a universal demand in Africa. Christianity’s legacy is more complex, its relationship with indigenous practice more hybrid, but it has become the faith of just under half the continent.”

“Football’s contribution is more unambiguous,” he continued. “It is without competitor Africa’s game.”

This has often not been a blessing, considering the despots, like Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire or General Sani Abacha of Nigeria, who tried to use soccer as a political tool, or the toll in too many disasters, like the one last year that left 19 people crushed to death and scores more injured in a stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Even if soccer is “Africa’s game,” that does not mean that Africans are unambiguously focused on African soccer. In the age of the satellite dish and globalization, they are increasingly likely to be watching Manchester United or F.C. Barcelona on television or in a makeshift video shack than to be cheering on their local clubs in domestic league play.

But if the writer Ian Hawkey’s estimate that close to 2,000 African players are now playing or training professionally for European clubs is true, there is a much better chance that there will be some Africans in the mix during those Champions League or Premier League broadcasts. They include Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, who plays for Chelsea, and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, who plays for Inter Milan.

The exodus — dubbed “the brawn drain” in some circles — represents a major shift, considering that in 1990 there were fewer than 100 Africans playing at the elite professional level in Europe. But that was the same year that Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions and their 38-year-old striker Roger Milla grabbed the World Cup by the tail and gave it an extended shake by defeating Argentina, the defending champion, in their opening game and then becoming the first African team to reach the quarterfinals.

Africa had arrived in earnest as a soccer power, but the game was already playing a powerful role in Cameroon. A nation of close to 200 ethnic groups, Cameroon is rife with linguistic and religious divides but has found a shared passion in the national soccer team. That has been a benefit to its president, Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982 and who pushed to include Milla in the 1990 World Cup team.

In Nigeria, Cameroon’s neighbor to the north, the national team, the Super Eagles, also plays a federative role (when it is not frustrating its supporters by underachieving).

“Africa is a huge continent, and soccer is one of the few areas of popular culture that really binds people together, but it is a very short-term thing,” Alegi said. “You talk to any Nigerian, and it’s hard to see what they all have in common, but for the 90 minutes that the Super Eagles are playing, there is a Nigeria.”

Algeria team in crisis after captain Yazid Mansouri is axed for Group C Slovenia start

By BEN LYTTLETON/DAILY MAIL UK


Algeria's quest to sabotage England's World Cup dream is being wrecked by an astonishing dressing-room row which almost saw their captain walk out.
The north Africans, who play Fabio Capello's men in Durban on Thursday, are in disarray on the eve of their Group C opener against Slovenia.

The upheaval started last Wednesday when captain Yazid Mansouri was told by coach Rabah Saadane that he would not be in the team to play Slovenia - and he furiously threatened to quit the team.

The 32-year-old midfielder stormed off to his hotel room and was packing his bags before desperate team officials managed to persuade him to rethink his decision after an hour of heated chat.

'It's hard to accept the decision,' said Mansouri. 'I've been in this side for 10 years and that is why I'm struggling to digest the news.' Saadane's decision was also greeted with dismay by Mansouri's team-mates. Portsmouth defender Nadir Belhadj said: 'It will be difficult for us without Yazid because we listen to him all the time.'
The bust-up comes at a terrible time for the North Africans but is music to the ears of England players and supporters.

Mansouri, meanwhile, has vowed to stay and fight for his place. The one-time Coventry player said: 'I am not used to sitting on the bench for Algeria, especially since I have been captain for several years. That's why I am confused. But the coach has made up his mind. I just have to accept it. It has hurt me a lot, that's true, but I will fight to regain my place in the other two games. I want to play at least one game in this tournament.'

An unrepentant Saadane said: 'It was difficult for Mansouri because he is such an important player in this team. But I am at the World Cup and I have to make a decision based on tactics and football. He is not the best at the moment.'
The spat comes at the end of a difficult few months for Algeria, who were shock qualifiers for the finals after beating bitter rivals Egypt last November.
Then came a traumatic African Nations Cup campaign which ended in three players getting red cards, including Belhadj, in a woeful 4-0 demolition by Egypt.

Their build-up for the finals was also below expectations - a 3-0 hammering in Dublin against Ireland was the low point - and Mansouri was among several players who were jeered by frustrated fans.

But Belhadj said: 'We have been waiting 24 years for this moment and now we have nothing to lose.

'I hope the African fans show solidarity with us as we won't have many fans there, but this is the first time our group of players have been at a World Cup and we are all hungry for some success.'

Saabane has sprung another surprise by dropping striker Abdelkader Ghezzal against the Slovenians, who aim to punish the lack of harmony in the Algerian camp.

Coach Matjaz Kek said: 'It would be unfair to talk about Algeria's weaknesses. I can say my staff and I have detected them and we are confident that we can chalk up three much-needed points.'

I can bounce back, insists Green

Blundering England goalkeeper Robert Green insists he has the mental strength to bounce back from his costly error that gifted the USA an equaliser in the 1-1 Group C opener in Rustenburg.
By Soccernet Staff


Steven Gerrard scored after just four minutes to give England a flying start but Green committed the kind of howler David Seaman, Paul Robinson and Scott Carson have all done down the years and allowed Clint Dempsey's harmless shot to slip through his fingers.

But Green, who made a good save to deny USA striker Jozy Altidore later in the match, insists he has put the error behind him already.

"It was a mistake. The important thing is not to let it affect you for however long is left in the game," Green said.

"That is what you prepare for mentally. You don't prepare mentally for making great saves and playing the perfect game. You prepare for trauma.

"It is regrettable and not what you want to happen but that's life and you move on, you hold your head up high and get to work in training. It won't affect me psychologically. I'm 30, I'm a man, and you have hardships in life and prepare for them.

"I'm strong enough to move on. At a younger point in my life it would have affected me more. But you hold your hand up and say 'that's gone, move on and don't let it affect you'.''

Green found out he would be starting the World Cup opener after winning selection ahead of David James and Joe Hart when Fabio Capello announced the team to the squad two hours before kick-off.

"I found out before we left for the game when they announced the team, with everyone else," said Green. "It wasn't a factor. I prepared the same as if I was going to play.

"You go through mental preparation the night before the game and prepare for moments of trauma in a game when it happens. It happened today and for me the important thing was to bounce back from it."

England captain Gerrard publicly backed Green to continue to play a vital role in their World Cup campaign.

''Rob will learn from this and he might make an important save that wins us a match. We're all behind him. It was a bit of shock and it took us a while to get over it,'' Gerrard said.

''It was a difficult game. The most important thing in the opening game is not to lose. The idea was to win but unfortunately we let a poor goal in and we couldn't go and get the winner. The target now has to be seven points."

Meanwhile, England manager Capello defended his decision not to name his goalkeeper until a couple of hours before kick-off, insisting it was not a mistake.

"No, absolutely not," he said. "I decided Green would be the goalkeeper because he played the last game very well and at Wembley (against Mexico) the performance was very good too. He made one mistake, but in the second half he made a good save. This is the problem of the goalkeeper.

"We have to accept the mistakes of goalkeepers and of referees and of forwards. This is football."

Capello, however, refused to say whether he would stand by Green against Algeria, saying: "We have time to decide and to speak with him and I will decide."

The England manager also substituted James Milner after half an hour, bringing on Shaun Wright-Phillips, explaining that he was worried the Aston Villa midfielder would get sent off after receiving an early yellow card.

But Capello insisted: "We played a good match and created a lot of chances. But the result is not okay for us. We played better than USA but the USA are very good. I saw the spirit of England and the team. They fight every time to win back the ball.

"I am not worried for the next game about their physical condition. We ran better in the second half than the USA. But now we have to look forward for the next game."

They will have to do so without King whose injury-prone body was always a gamble for Capello.

On Wayne Rooney's performance, Capello said: "I think his movement was good. He shot once very well and his movement was very important."

USA goalkeeper Tim Howard, meanwhile, admitted he had sympathy for Green after witnessing his howler. Howard put it down to the controversial World Cup ball.

"He made some good saves but this ball is doing silly things and at this level these things happen," said the Everton player. "I feel terrible for him, but in goalkeeping you have to have broad shoulders."

Bafana Prepare Mexican Feast

Sport 24, South Africa


Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana are hoping to receive another incredible show of support when they kick off the 2010 Soccer World Cup against Mexico at Soccer City on Friday afternoon.

The host nation has been in a frenzy over the past week as the realisation of a dream that has been manifesting since 2004 edges ever closer.

Carlos Alberto Parreira has admitted his men have been overwhelmed by South Africans who have united behind the team in an unbelievable way.

And to repay the show of support, the Brazilian expects his side to outplay the Mexicans in front of 94 000 spectators in Soweto.

"I believe if you want to qualify for the second round you have to do something special and for us that would mean in the technical and skills aspects of the game," he said.

"We cannot beat France, Mexico or Uruguay in a physical struggle. My boys have to play well against them with the ball on the ground. This is our big strength. That is what I want the South African team to believe in."

Parreira is expected to play a 4-2-3-1, with Katlego Mphela leading the line. While he has suggested that he might need to shuffle his pack, the former World Cup winner is likely to start with the team that played against Denmark - with the only changes coming in the full-back positions.

Siboniso Gaxa is expected to replace Anele Ngcongca at right back, while Lucas Thwala will make way for Tsepo Masilela on the opposite flank.

Javier Aguirre, meanwhile, has kept Bafana guessing by altering his personnel and formations on a regular basis. South Africa assistant coach Pitso Mosimane admitted: "You have to play it close hey, you can't open yourself up. If you are going to play too open, Mexico will kill you.

"So you are facing a Mexico side that is not afraid. They are not afraid to throw men forward and that makes them dangerous."

Aguirre believes Bafana, who are enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run, will be tough to overcome as hosts. And striker Guillermo Franco agrees: "We know that Bafana Bafana are a good team and they will make things difficult for us during the game."

However, the West Ham United ace added: "We are here to win and this is a great opportunity for us to beat Bafana Bafana.

"I believe that our team is very strong and will do well. Playing in the World Cup is a blessing from God because not every player can feature in the tournament."

El Tri have no selection concerns going into the game as captain Rafael Marquez has recovered from a leg injury and Franco has shaken off a muscle complaint.

The Mexicans will be severely out-numbered support-wise at Soccer City, as South Africans have planned to turn out in yellow and have refused to do the traditional Mexican wave on Friday.

For U.S., a soccer upset to remember

By Fred Bowen, Washington Post

The United States men's soccer team plays England on Saturday to begin its quest for the 2010 World Cup. England is one of the favorites to win the World Cup, and most soccer experts expect it to beat the United States.

The United States played England in the 1950 World Cup. That match, which was played in Brazil, is the most famous game in the history of American soccer and the greatest upset in the World Cup. Here's the story:

Sixty years ago, soccer was not played by many people in the United States. The U.S. World Cup team was not very good. The Americans had been crushed by Italy (9-0), Norway (11-0) and Scotland (4-0) in games leading up to the World Cup.

Most of the American players had other jobs and played soccer on the weekends to have fun and earn some extra money. For example, Joe Gaetjens, the team's top scorer, was an accounting student and a part-time dishwasher. The goaltender, Frank Borghi, was a former minor league baseball player who worked for his family's funeral business.

The English team, on the other hand, was loaded with professional stars from such famous teams as Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. England's record in international matches was 23 wins, 4 losses and 3 ties. No one expected England to have any trouble beating the United States.

The English pros dominated the American amateurs in the early going. The English blasted six shots at the American goal in the first 12 minutes, including two that bounced off the goal posts. But none of the shots went in, and the score remained tied, 0-0.

The United States managed only one weak shot on the English goal in the first 25 minutes. The Americans' second shot, however, changed everything. Gaetjens, the American center forward, threw himself headlong at a crossing pass near the English goal. The ball nicked Gaetjens's head and flew into the net.


So the Americans led 1-0, even though England had outshot the United States 14-2 in the first half. England continued to dominate the second half but still couldn't score. Some shots sailed wide of the net. Others were blocked by the American goaltender, including one that Borghi stopped just inches from the goal line.

The United States held on to win, 1-0, and thousands of happy Brazilian fans stormed the pitch and carried Gaetjens and Borghi on their shoulders.

The Americans' magic did not continue. They lost their next game to Chile, 5-2, and were eliminated from the tournament. Uruguay won the 1950 World Cup.

Hardly anyone in America knew about the big upset. There were no television, radio or Internet reports of the game. Although more than 400 reporters from around the world attended the 1950 World Cup, only one was from the United States.

Now the World Cup is big sports news in America, and lots of soccer fans know about the 1950 upset. It's a reminder that anything can happen in a soccer game and in the World Cup.

Fred Bowen is the author of 14 kids' books that combine sports fiction and sports history. The history chapter of his book "Soccer Team Upset" is about the 1950 United States-England match.

Brazil's Six Appeal

UK EUROSPORT/YAHOO/REUTERS


Previous appearances in finals: 18

Best performance: Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002. Also runners-up in 1950, 1998

Coach: Dunga, Brazil's World Cup-winning captain in 1994 - having rebounded from a miserable experience four years earlier when he was made the scapegoat for their second-round exit. Appointed shortly after the 2006 World Cup, despite having almost no top-level coaching experience, to install discipline and pride into the team. He has since won the 2007 Copa America and 2009 Confederations Cup, although many purists dislike the team's counter-attacking style under his leadership.

Key players:

Kaka (Real Madrid). Age: 27. Midfielder: FIFA's World Player of the Year in 2007, Kaka, full name Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, is still regarded as one of the world's top players. Excellent long-range shooting and incisive passing are both strengths but he is at his most exciting when picking up the ball near the halfway line and then surging towards goal. Ever-present in 2006, he also won a World Cup winners medal four years earlier as a teenager although he made only a brief appearance in the campaign.

Luis Fabiano (Sevilla). Age 29. Forward: The 'Fabulous One' scored nine goals in only 11 World Cup qualifiers including braces against Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Argentina, making him Brazil's top scorer in the campaign. His combination of power and accuracy makes him perfect for Dunga's counter-attacking style.

Julio Cesar (Internazionale). Age: 30. Goalkeeper: Has emerged as one of the top world's top goalkeepers. In several of Brazil's apparently easy World Cup wins - notably the 4-0 victories in Venezuela and Uruguay - he made the difference with outstanding saves early in the game.

FIFA world ranking May 2010: 1st

How they qualified: Brazil sailed through the potentially tricky South American World Cup group, booking their place with three matches to spare in the best way possible with a 3-1 win away to arch-rivals Argentina. Their best performances were away from home, including a 3-0 win in Chile and 4-0 wins in Uruguay and Venezuela. Their biggest problems were at home facing massed defences, and they were held to goalless draws by Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela. Their only defeats in the 18 matches were against Paraguay and Bolivia, the latter at extreme altitude after they had already qualified.

Prospects: Dunga has turned Brazil into a ruthlessly efficient outfit, even if they are not particularly attractive to watch. They are capable of soaking up pressure for long periods and then hitting their opponents with counter-attacks of astonishing power and precision. The air of overconfidence which has preceded their 2006 campaign has been swept away, making them a good bet for a sixth world title.

Bookmakers' odds: 11-2

Expert view: "Brazil will have to be at their best to win the World Cup this summer. It will be hard but they can do it." Pele

Squad: Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Internazionale), Doni (Roma), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur); Defenders: Maicon (Internazionale), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Michel Bastos (Lyon), Gilberto (Cruzeiro), Lucio (Inter), Juan (Roma), Luisao (Benfica), Thiago Silva (Milan); Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Ramires (Benfica), Elano (Galatasaray), Kaka (Real Madrid), Julio Baptista (Roma), Kleberson (Flamengo), Josue (Wolfsburg); Forwards: Robinho (Santos), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Grafite (Wolfsburg)

Who are the champions? Winners revealed

A global poll of football experts has been conducted by the BBC Sport website to produce a predicted top four at the 2010 World Cup.

BBC SPORTS


We have been asking pundits, players, managers, journalists and other experts to give us their one-two-three-four forecast at the tournament, which kicks off in South Africa on Friday.

The identities of the top four have been revealed daily, one by one, and we can today announce that SPAIN were the favourite choice for outright tournament winner.

Our survey shows Brazil in second, Argentina third with England fourth.

We polled over 50 experts from more than 20 nations, and no-one plumped for other previous winners Germany, Italy and France to repeat the trick in South Africa.
Predictions in full: All the World Cup 1-2-3-4s

If the survey is proved right, Euro 2008 winners Spain will make history by becoming world champions for the first time and the first European team to win the World Cup in another continent.

They narrowly saw off Brazil as the most popular pick for our experts, who were asked to draw up their top four teams, with the caveat that not all predictions might work out precisely because of the variable nature of the World Cup draw.

WHY THEY PICKED SPAIN

Here are some reasons why pundits plumped for the team managed by Vicente del Bosque.

Ronald de Boer Ex-Netherlands midfielder, 67 caps

Spain have the same group of players as they did in winning Euro 2008, only more experienced. They have played together for a long time so the players know each other's qualities inside out. Also, they have a great bench and in many games it's the substitutes who make the difference.

Papa Bouba Diop Senegal and Portsmouth midfielder, 58 caps

"They are the best team, Spain, and they have the best players. They proved it at Euro 2008 and it's hard to say they won't win this time. An African team, maybe Ivory Coast or Ghana, can do well."

Juan Casto Nogales International writer, Spanish newspaper Marca

"Spain are the best team for the quantity and the quality of exceptional players our national team has. No other team in the world has played like them worldwide. Good keeper, good defenders, exceptional midfielders and some exceptional forwards."

Alan Hansen Former Scotland and Liverpool defender, BBC pundit

"We know how good the Spanish players are and by winning Euro 2008 they showed they could handle the pressure too. They will be full of confidence in South Africa."

Brede Hangeland Norway captain

"If you look through their squad, they have the best players of any nation. To put it into perspective, they'll have some of the best players in the world sitting on the bench and that says it all. They are unbeaten in a very long time and when you see them play the look very solid."

Hardy Hasselbruch Editor, Kicker football magazine, Germany

"Spain are European champions and have the most skilful players. Del Bosque is a very good man to guide the stars from Barca and Real. Stout in defence, creative in offence and strikers like Fernando Torres and David Villa - what a generation of talent."

Paul Kennedy Soccer America magazine/website

Spain has more world-class players than any other team in the tournament. Its midfield (when healthy) is the best in the world. And Del Bosque has an assortment of quality strikers to choose from.

Hans Krankl Former Austria striker, 1978 European Golden Boot winner

"Spain are the best team in the world right now but the rest of the favourites are always the same. Just outside these four, I'd tip Germany and Holland to have success too."

Henrik Larsson Ex-Sweden, Barcelona and Celtic striker

"Spain did so well in Euro 2008 and they have more or less the same team. It is vital for them, though, that Torres stays fit. If he is 100%, they have the best chance but England under Fabio Capello are dangerous. He has got them playing in a different way and also brought the discipline they needed."

Patrick Mboma Ex-Cameroon striker, 33 goals in 56 games

"They are the best in terms of quality and they have the best players in each role. I cannot see why they can't win the World Cup."

Vicente Miera Former Spain manager and defender

"They are, at the moment, the national team that is playing the best football."

Bojan Sec Contributor, Sport Den za Dnem, Russia

"Anyone who has watched them over the last several years has seen a coherent, stable, well-organised group of players who are superbly gifted technically. They lacked a big title but they got that in 2008 and that has given them a winning mentality."

Alan Shearer BBC TV pundit and former England striker

"I was so impressed with Spain in the way they won the Euros two years ago. Their chances might not be diminished by Torres' injury because he could still play a part. He is crucial to their chances, he will be a big player for them, but they have David Villa as well."

Martin Skrtel Slovakia and Liverpool defender

"It would be a mistake to underestimate France and Germany are always a threat. England are tactically strong while Spain play the most beautiful football."

Edwin Struis Nu Sport, Dutch soccer magazine

"In every World Cup since 1930 one of the 'Big Four' (Italy, Argentina, Germany, Brazil) has been in the final. This World Cup won't be an exception on that rule, but we will have a 'debutant' as a winner - Spain. The best players, the best team, some good strikers and a European Championship in the suitcase. Spain will win the double."

Chris Waddle Former winger, 62 caps, BBC 5 live pundit

"I think Spain will win because they have the best squad, won a tournament two years ago and now have the belief."

Vladimir Weiss Manchester City's Slovakia winger, son of national coah Vladimir

"Spain have got some great players and they play the right way too. Their midfield is the best in the world, which is the most important thing in modern football."

Let The Games Begin!

Contrary to all the gloomy predictions, South Africa is well prepared for the World Cup – even its soccer team is hitting top form, says Rian Malan

By Rian Malan/Telegraph, UK


In apartheid’s heyday, I played left-half for an all-white soccer team at my whites-only primary school. Photographs show a sorry aggregation of spindly little snivellers, but in our own minds, we were giants. We slew all rivals in our corner of Johannesburg’s white suburbs and made it into the quarter finals of a city-wide tournament, where we were taken out (1-0) by a rival white suburb known as Rosebank.

In South Africa, in the early Sixties, everything was starkly black and white, including professional soccer. “Our” teams had names like Germiston Callies and Durban United. “Their” most famous teams were Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. White teams played in segregated stadiums with separate entrances and seating for the various races. Black teams played in the parallel universe to which blacks were relegated by apartheid. The twain were forbidden to meet, which is why differing racial capacities (as manifested on the football field) were an object of heated schoolboy debate.

Didier Deschamps to take over at MarseilleIn my soccer memories, my sweat-drenched comrades and I are lying on our backs on Blairgowrie Primary’s frost-bitten turf, staring up into the clear blue winter sky and wondering what would happen if “our” teams played “their” teams. Schoolboy racial theory held that blacks had incendiary striking skills, but struggled in positions requiring discipline and a steady head – in defence, and in the pivotal slot once known as centre-half. We’d never seen the great black teams play, because whites simply didn’t go to Soweto in those days, and our stern Calvinist rulers had outlawed television lest it rot our brains. Our assessment was based entirely on racial superstition.

Oddly, it turned out to be uncannily accurate. When professional soccer was desegregated two decades later, almost all the legendary black clubs recruited white backs and goalies, while white teams hired black strikers. This formula – whites in the backline, incendiary black strikers as spearheads – informed the selection of the national squad that carried our new flag into battle in the heady first days of Mandela’s reign. We even had a white coach and a white captain, and for a year or two, we were almost invincible, crushing African soccer powerhouses like Cameroun and Nigeria and winning the 1995 African Cup of Nations tournament. You’ll have to pardon the thought crimes that seem to lurk hereabouts because the moral of this story is entirely benign: when South Africans pull together, we can move mountains.

When Fifa awarded South Africa the 2010 World Cup, there were groans of disbelief around the planet. Some thought it foolish to stage the tournament in a country best known for its high crime rate and close proximity to Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Others maintained that such considerations were irrelevant, given SA’s allegedly manifest inability to host such a complicated event.

The World Cup is the world’s largest media event and its second largest sports extravaganza, after the Olympics. Before approving our bid, Fifa made us promise to jump through all hoops of its choosing, and our leaders eagerly complied. We agreed to refurbish freeways, upgrade airports and build elaborate new mass-transit systems. We agreed to build a high-speed train linking our largest international airport to surrounding cities, and most improbably, to erect 10 new world-class soccer stadia.

Many observers thought the task way beyond our capabilities. I agreed. Large numbers of (mostly white) engineers had left the country since 1994, leaving our skills pool so depleted that even simple tasks like maintaining roads and sewerage works seemed beyond us. Against this backdrop, it seemed foolhardy even to attempt a task of the magnitude Fifa had set us.

By 2008, the sceptics were looking prescient. Work on the stadiums proceeded painfully slowly. A miscalculation on the part of tunnellers caused a giant sinkhole to appear in Johannesburg’s suburbs. Traffic was paralysed by roadworks. Taxi warlords threatened violence against Fifa’s proposed bus service. And then the lights went out, a debacle caused by our Electricity Supply Commission’s failure to notice that demand for power was outstripping supply. At this point, Fifa boss Sepp Blatter conceded that there were plans to move the 2010 World Cup elsewhere in the event of a “natural disaster” in South Africa.

Blatter was, of course, being diplomatic. The disaster he had in mind was a human one, brought on by sloth, incompetence and rudderless government. Shaken by this unspoken ultimatum, South Africans pulled their socks up. Golden pleasure domes soared skywards. Fleets of gleaming new buses trundled onto our streets. In mid-May, I made the run from my home to the airport in 28 minutes, a miracle made possible by extensive reworking of the city’s freeway system.

South Africa has an extraordinary ability to make fools of those who attempt to predict its future. As I coasted into the airport’s shiny new parking lot, I realised that I’d shot myself in the foot yet again. I whipped out my cellphone and sent out an all-points SMS conceding my error and announcing that our organising committee’s slogan – “We’re ready” – seemed against all odds to be coming true.

And any final doubts were settled last week, when rugby administrators staged a Super 14 final in Soweto. Your average South African rugby fan is white, Afrikaans-speaking and averse to visiting black townships. But the Afrikaner’s passion for rugby is almost equally irrational, so fifty thousand fans squared their shoulders and followed their teams to Soweto’s Orlando Stadium for an event generally seen as a dress rehearsal for next week’s World Cup.

It was a huge success. Buses and trains ran like clockwork. The traffic police were cool and efficient. Swarms of Boers in tribal warpaint descended on Orlando’s shebeens and were greeted like lost bothers. The game started on time, and as far as I was able to establish, there was no crime – a truly shocking development, given the level of paranoia generated by years of scare-mongering newspaper stories.

Two months ago, in the aftermath of Eugene Terreblanche’s murder, South Africa seemed to be on the brink of race war. Now the air is suddenly charged with optimism, a sense that something momentous is about to unfold. For years, World Cup advocates have been saying that the tournament could alter Africa’s destiny, boosting confidence and reshaping our image in the eyes of foreigners who believe the continent is beyond hope. Such utterances sounded fatuous to me, but I’m not sure any more.

And so here we are at last, scanning the skies for the airborne armada that will shortly bring the world to our shores. Some slip-ups are inevitable, but generally, we seem to be heading towards a ''fat jol’’ – local slang for good times and kamikaze partying. It is true that attendance will fall way short of the level predicted by Fifa, but our national squad’s good form compensates for disappointments on that front. A year ago, our boys were losers, routinely shamed by nondescript little nations like Malawi and Swaziland. They were so useless that they failed even to qualify for the most recent all-Africa tournament – an astonishing failure, given the extent to which South Africa’s resources dwarf those available to rival teams.

But now that’s changed, too. Two weeks ago, we beat 37th-ranked Colombia in a warm-up game. Last week, we crushed Gabon. South Africa now stands unbeaten in its last 11 internationals, a development so unexpected that it also rates as something of a miracle. If we beat Mexico in next Friday’s opening game, the resulting euphoria might even put an end to griping about the “obscene” cost of staging this soccer extravaganza.

Six years ago, experts estimated that the World Cup stadia would cost 2.3 billion rand. The final cost was 10 times higher, thanks to soaring commodity prices and an unknown measure of tender manipulation by politicians and their cronies. All told, the World Cup will cost us around 100 billion rand – a dumbfounding sum for a country where most people live on or under the breadline. The Left is incensed, describing our leaders’ willingness to squander money at Fifa’s behest as “an act of national prostitution” whose only legacy will be increased hardship for the underclass and a brace of stadia so superfluous to requirements that most will never be used again after the World Cup.

Ah, well. I’m as old as Methuselah, and I can’t recall a single week in which South Africa wasn’t facing a crisis that threatened to put an end to our precarious existence. Against all odds, we surmounted all of them, and we’ll probably weather this one too. Let the games begin!

Rio Ferdinand heads home as Capello's best-laid plans start to crumble

England manager faces up to loss of his captain with knowledge that none of his other defenders quite fits the bill

THE GUARDIAN

The injury to Rio Ferdinand opens the way for Ledley King to start in England's opening game against the USA on 12 June. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

So, farewell then Rio Ferdinand. Not the back in the end: instead it is a knee injury that has ruled England's captain out of a place at his fourth consecutive World Cup. And so England's squad, billed in some quarters as a last, final, one-more-time hurrah for an internationally unfulfilled generation of talented Premier League thirtysomethings, begins to look even more unexpectedly diffuse and stitched together.

Mainly this is a blow for England's central defence, not least the balance of personnel. John Terry, Matthew Upson and Jamie Carragher are not the type you'd back in a straight foot race with Arjen Robben or, come to mention it, Landon Donovan or Robbie Findley, allegedly the fastest man in the MLS. Ledley King is quick enough when he gets going, but is shorn of decisive acceleration.

This was all fine, we assured ourselves. There was always Rio. Rio can cover, as he did often brilliantly for Sol Campbell during their successful partnership of the last decade. But without Ferdinand England have a platoon of one-pacers, a slow-coach brigade. Michael Dawson has been called in as cover, but he is not the answer to this problem.

Of course, this all comes as no great surprise: repeatedly injured man sustains further injury is hardly a sensation. Ferdinand played in six of England's 10 qualifying games, but missed three months of the season and has looked physically subdued at times. With this in mind it is disappointing that there is no similar player in the squad, no centre-half with outstanding speed and mobility whom Fabio Capello might have groomed ahead of time to cover for the possibility of Ferdinand's wonderfully athletic frame breaking down again.

Capello is obviously hostage to personnel. There is a dearth of high-class, mobile, pacy central defenders out there waiting to be picked. Although with hindsight England might look more balanced if Phil Jagielka was now being added to the squad as a more fittingly ball-playing replacement. Capello had a lot of time to think about this. The end result is England have a very samey pack of centre-backs.

Who will play now? The obvious choice alongside Terry would be Upson, who played in four qualifiers and did a sound job. On the other hand neither Jamie Carragher nor Ledley King were available at the time.

Despite the shakiness King showed against Mexico, Capello is perhaps likely to favour the Tottenham man, having purred so lasciviously over King's all-round defensive generalship (poor Rio: replaced in the team because your knee is in an even worse state than Ledley's). This is a heartening opportunity for a player of immense talent. But it would leave England fielding a walking-wounded first choice: both Terry and King play with pain most of the time. It is bound to show at some point. The World Cup is a litmus test for footballing frailty. You can only progress so far. You will be found out.

It is also a terrible blow for Ferdinand personally. He has been an occasionally superlative performer for England. In 2002 he was the defender of the tournament (even though Campbell made the Fifa team). It seems unlikely he will play at another World Cup and the circus (his word) of Baden-Baden will be his final memory of it.

Dawson, meanwhile, is one of the chief "ghosts", as Harry Redknapp put it this week: players made to feel like invisible men by Capello's ruthlessly pragmatic selections during the whittling-down of the 30-man squad. Dawson, the ghost, is currently flying out to South Africa. He looks like the forgiving type.

Either way it is hard to say that England's chances of winning the World Cup have been significantly dented by this. They already looked to be lacking something. Now down to their third-choice skipper in Steven Gerrard, they will at least carry a sense of make-do and mend, of hope over expectation, and even a refreshing tinge of unfamiliarity.

A brief history of the vuvuzela

Turn down the volume, shove in the earplugs, for a raucous horn is threatening viewers' sanity during the World Cup

DAVID SMITH/THE GUARDIAN

The ear-splitting vuvuzela will be testing the patience of television viewers during the 2010 World Cup. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

South Africa 2010 might just possibly be the first World Cup that most armchair fans prefer to watch with the volume turned down.

Viewers should expect a riot of colourful hats, exuberant dancing and exotic clichés but the first star of the tournament is likely to be a raucous plastic horn.

For years the metre-long vuvuzela has been blown by South African supporters with as much gusto as Louis Armstrong – but rather less melody.

The collective sound has been compared to a herd of blaring elephants or hive of angry bees. Initially many will find this a charming local custom but once the novelty wears off there may be more than a few complaints of earache both inside stadiums and from TV audiences.

There was a taste of things to come at last year's Confederations Cup in South Africa. Some players grumbled they could not hear each other or the referee. "I find these vuvuzelas annoying," moaned Xabi Alonso, the Spain midfielder. "They don't contribute to the atmosphere in the stadium. They should put a ban on them."

European broadcasters also raised objections that the vuvuzelas drowned out their match commentators, a scenario that could be repeated when South Africans are urged to make a big noise in support of the hosts against Mexico in the opening game on 11 June.

Researchers even claim to have found evidence that vuvuzelas can lead to permanent hearing damage. A study by academics from Pretoria and Florida universities tested the hearing of 11 spectators before and after they attended a South African Premier League match.

The researchers said the average sound exposure during the near two hours was 100.5 decibels and peaked at 144.2 decibels. National standards for occupational noise require hearing protection for workers exposed to 85 decibels and above.

But Fifa has rejected calls for a ban on the vuvuzela, insisting it is an essential part of South Africa's footballing culture. Certainly anyone who has been to the country's most famous club game, the Soweto derby between Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, would be hard pushed to disagree.

A ban is also unlikely because manufacturers and retailers are hoping to cash in from vuvuzela sales to thousands of visiting supporters. So one South African company is already marketing foam earplugs specially designed for the World Cup. Viewers at home at least have the option of the remote control.

TV crews seeking "local colour" are likely to settle on fans not only blowing vuvuzelas but also wearing bright facepaint and wigs, the yellow shirt of the national team, Bafana Bafana, a pair of oversized spectacles and, in some cases, traditional Zulu animal skins with shield and spear.

The most popular match-day headgear is the makarapa, a variation on the miner's helmet, an icon in mining cities such as Johannesburg, topped by elaborate decorations and images in bright colours. Its inventor, Alfred Baloyi, started making them 30 years ago in a tiny shack in a township and is now running his own studio producing a hundred a day with the help of companies such as Coca-Cola.

"I want to be able to switch on the TV and see everyone wearing a makarapa – that is my biggest hope," Baloyi said recently.

Before games viewers should also expect the inevitable picture postcards of the host nation. It will be instructive to see how the opening titles sequences strike a balance between African archetypes of lions, jungles and tribal dancers and the reality of South African's modern cities: skyscrapers, shopping malls and hi-tech stadiums.

Montages of a beaming Nelson Mandela, the country's first black president, holding aloft the rugby World Cup trophy are likely, along with troupes of smiling South Africans doing the diski, an official World Cup dance intended to capture "the rhythm of African football".

Organisers hope that cameras will show otherwise impoverished townships coming alive with football fever, which may depend on Bafana Bafana, ranked 90th in the world, performing above expectations. If white South Africans – who normally prefer rugby union – also wave the flag, there will be much talk of football unifying the rainbow nation, as it did for Germany four years ago.

The broadcasters will not let anyone forget that this is the first World Cup or Olympics on the African continent. But not until kick-off will we know if Jonathan Pearce at his most exuberant can make himself heard above the mighty vuvuzela.

Please, make it stop!
Fifa has resisted all demands for action but the Guardian has searched for a solution to remove the vuvuzela noise from TV broadcasts. Professor Selwyn Wright, who patented the Active Noise Control System in Unrestricted Space in 2003, explained: 'Our system measures the exact noise and inverts it. Then you add that to the original noise and cancel it. But this is a very complicated noise source. If every trumpet made an identical noise you'd be all right but they're producing different notes at different times. If you were standing next to one person with a trumpet, you could cancel it.'

Dan Gauger, research manager for noise reduction at Bose, says: 'The short answer is I don't see a way to do what you're looking for. While it's a fairly steady drone, it's made up of a lot of frequencies over a very wide range, which overlaps with a lot of the frequencies that the human voice occupies.' Take away the vuvuzela, in other words, and the commentators, the chants, the essential background hubbub of sport, would go too.

The solution exists and is called the mute button.

Brazil: World Cup 2010 team guide

Favourites to win their sixth World Cup, Dunga's side are more physically intimidating than attacking virtuosos

Kevin McCarra/The Guardian

Kaka can inspire Brazil to victory at World Cup 2010. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

History lesson

The only team to have appeared at every World Cup; five-times winners; runners-up in 1950 and 1998; semi-finalists in 1938, 1974 and 1978. The 1970 team are seen as one of the best teams ever and their fourth goal in the final – a sweeping move involving 83% of the population of Brazil – as one of the greatest ever scored. Have produced players of breathtaking skill such as Pelé, Garrincha and Rivaldo as well as dead-eyed finishers such as Romário.

Tactics board

Brazil play a 4-2-3-1 with Luís Fabiano as a lone centre-forward ahead of Robinho, Kaká and Ramires. Purists will tell you that Dunga's decision to leave out Ronaldinho is a sign of Brazil's drift away from jogo bonito but it's still not exactly Stoke City we're talking about here. True, they employ not one but two defensive midfielders but they still have room for the creativity of Kaká and Robinho's pointlessly overelaborate jinking.

Grudge match

Brazil have three main rivals: Argentina, Argentina and Argentina. When the teams met in the last 16 of the 1990 World Cup Argentina's medical team were accused of putting tranquillisers in Branco's water as Brazil crashed out.

Also known as

The poetic – canarinhos (little canaries); the imposing – a selecção (the selection); and the factual – verde amarela (yellow and green).

The players

Vuvuzela superstar

Kaká. Clean-living, fresh-faced poster boy who plays for Real Madrid and Jesus. Boasts an off-field persona so spotless that scientists have proven he can cure acne-ridden teenagers just by looking at them.

There's always Bolton

Luís Fabiano is linked to the Premier League every other second and his speed and strength is suited to the English game. Sevilla want around £18m for him and Harry Redknapp, down to 53 fit strikers, could see him as the man to bolster Spurs' Champions League campaign.

Laager lout

It's bad enough that the Roberto Mancini-baiting, stepovering Robinho has a tendency to go missing on the pitch he also regularly dropped off Manchester City's radar before being packed off to Santos.

The coach

Body double

Dunga means "Dopey" in Portuguese and work as an extra at Disney World is a possibility should the football not work out.

Big game hunter

Although his pragmatic approach is seen as un-Brazilian by some – he left Ronaldinho out of the squad – he has won the Copa América and the Confederations Cup.

Loved or loathed

When Dunga captained his country to victory at the 1994 World Cup, Brazilian reporters described him as a dour symbol of everything that was wrong with the game when they really meant to say he was a towering pillar of strength.

The country

Commentators' kit

Brazil is home to the acai berry which contains high levels of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and anthocyanins which will improve your concentration, memory and sex life. Or at least that's what the 94 emails we received in our inbox this morning told us.

They gave the world

Attractive female fans in skimpy clothing, Brazil's answer to drunk students dressed up as pirates at Trent Bridge on a rainy Ashes Thursday in June.

National monument

Beautiful beaches, beautiful people, a tropical climate and a rapidly growing economy have bolstered Brazilian optimism. Like Britain then, except for the beaches, beautiful people, climate, economy. Oh, and the optimism.

Qualifying

Comfortable. Finished top of their group with three matches to spare but the process was not as imperious as some would have liked, taking only one point off Bolivia and drawing 0-0 four times.

The Triesman tapes ... what he didn't say
"Coffee-fuelled adrenaline junkies offering sanctuary to train robbers and party-animal pubic topiarists who think they invented passing to feet."

Statistics

World Cup: record 18 finals

P92 W64 D14 L14 F201 A84

Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002

199,854: Maracanã crowd who watched Brazil's 2-1 defeat by Uruguay in the 'fateful final' of 1950 tournament. The hosts had led 1-0

Fixtures

North Korea, 15 June, Ellis Park, 7.30pm

Ivory Coast, 20 June, Soccer City, 7.30pm

Portugal, 25 June, Moses Mabhida Stadium, 3pm

The verdict

Dunga's men have talent but it is the power and depth of the squad that are truly intimidating. The attackers are not quite so distinguished as in the past but overall resources are rich, with, for instance, Maicon and Dani Alves as candidates for right-back. Rightful favourites to win their sixth World Cup on a fifth continent.

Pele's Predictions

The former Brazil striker may be the greatest player ever, but his World Cup predictions are never up to much.

THE GUARDIAN

Pele has offered some odd predictions ahead of World Cups in the past. Photograph: Elizabeth Dalziel/AP

Pelé may be the greatest player in history but despite being paid to travel the world talking about football, what he actually says about it is hugely unreliable. 'When Pelé's quiet, he's a poet,' says Romario. 'But he just talks shit.' Here are the highlights of his past 20 years

1990

"Italy is the favourite"

Italy lose to Argentina in the semi-finals and West Germany win it

1994

"For me Colombia is the best team. It doesn't mean they are going to win it but they will be one of the four semi-finalists. Brazil has very good players but as a team they are not so compact. Germany work well together"

Colombia are eliminated and defender/own-goal scorer Andrés Escobar is shot dead, Germany go out in the quarter-finals. Brazil win it

1998

"Spain is the big favourite, and I always believe Brazil will be in the final. France have good players who play well as a team and, of course, they are at home. They have a great chance to be in the final. England have a good manager, a good style and a very strong team"

Spain crash out in the group stages and France beat Brazil in the final

2002

"Brazil have not been playing well. They haven't been playing as a team. There are a whole series of teams who are fighting to be at the top level – Argentina, France, Italy and Portugal – but none of these stands out. Below the top four there is a second level of teams that could easily win it such as Germany, England and Spain"

Argentina, France and Portugal are all eliminated in the group stages, while Italy lose in the second round to South Korea and Brazil win it

2006

"The last four? Brazil, Argentina, England, France"

England, Argentina and Brazil all lose in the quarter-finals as Italy beat France in the final

…and famously

"An African nation will win the World Cup before the year 2000"

An African country has still yet to get past the quarter-finals.

World's best soccer teams collide

THE GATEWAY/UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, CANADA

The excitement is building as the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg kicks off in eight days. While the World Cup Trophy will be hoisted 15,608 kilometers away from Edmonton, here at home, the Gateway staff forecasts on who will earn soccer glory.

Matt Hirji

Its been 44 years since England hoisted the World Cup, and while Alf Ramsey won’t be on the pitch to lead the Union Jack to victory, England’s winless drought will end this summer in Johannesburg.

Led by young veteran striker Wayne Rooney, England’s 23-man roster is strong and poised to break out of their championship slump. Italian born manager Fabio Capello seems to have his squad focused on the task at hand: hoisting the Golden Trophy and claiming glory for the homeland in their national sport.

England’s road to the World Cup has not been without setbacks. Last year, John Terry’s captainship was revoked because of his affair with a former girlfriend of national team teammate Wayne Bridge, who subsequently withdrew his intention to play in South Africa. While this incident was surely a distraction for the team, this year’s veteran squad seems more able to deal with the distractions that have haunted previous incarnations of the Three Lions.

Justin Bell

It’s a long way from Germany to South Africa, but Les Bleus, France’s national soccer team, will be looking for revenge after a bitter defeat at the 2006 tournament finals.

For those who don’t remember, France lost to Italy in the final during extra time, playing a man down when Zinadine Zidane went batshit nuts and headbutted Marco Materazzi, getting a red card in his last match.

That memory will surely haunt this team, replete with returning players. Hopefully, it will also propel them to victory this year.

Expectations on the French side have already been low; they barely squeaked into the World Cup with a draw against the Republic of Ireland on a questionable play. But they started the 2006 slowly as well, tying Switzerland and Korea in their first two matches, barely scraping into the round of 16.

France’s combination of speed and finesse will help them this year, with returning striker Thierry Henry up front and midfielder Frank Ribéry feeding him passes. And they’re going to need that combination to make it out of their group matches — Mexico and Uruguay could both make life difficult for Les Bleus, and home team South Africa may do better than expected.

But still, look for Henry to hoist the World Cup this year in Johannesburg.

Evan Daum

According to my colleagues, our European founding nations are the favourites to capture football’s biggest prize. While England should waltz through their pool, France surely won’t make it into the round of 16, let alone win the whole thing — they shouldn’t even be in South Africa. Sorry chaps, but the English will fall before hoisting that golden trophy just like the French.

My pick to bring home the title is a team that is familiar to football’s upper echelon. Having won the European championship in 2008 and being ranked second in the world heading into the tournament, Spain has yet to capture football’s greatest prize, but that will all change this time around.

The Spaniards are on an impressive run, having won all 10 of their World Cup qualification matches. Between November of 2006 and June of 2009 campaign, they won a record 15 consecutive matches.

Like other top contenders heading into the tournament, Spain features one of the most balanced attacks, with striker David Villa — the squad’s top offensive threat — having scored seven goals in his team’s 10 qualifiers.

All this, coupled with the fact that the Spanish have middleweights Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile in their pool, means that when July 11 rolls around, it will be the Red Fury that who finally get their World Cup title.

Five Reasons Why South Africa Will Be a Resounding Success

By Robert Uvanovic/Bleacher Report


5 Reasons Why South Africa Hosting the 2010 World Cup Will be a Resounding Success:

Atmosphere:

Whether you like vuvuzelas or not, there has never been a country more excited or deserving to host the World Cup and this tournament will be uniquely African. In South Africa they don’t refer to it as the World Cup, simply “2010” because that is the only thing of importance happening this year!

South Africa deserves to host and contrary to the speculative reports coming out of Europe for the past four years regarding stadiums, safety and tickets, all of these fears have been eased. Get ready for one of the great World Cups of all time, just make sure you have your earplugs!

Bafana Bafana:

South Africa should steal the USMNT’s slogan here and change it to read “Don’t tread lightly on us”. Watch out for the Boys, you simply cannot understand how much this World Cup means to South Africa and we all know in sport the home crowd can do amazing things. Just look at South Korea and Japan in 2002. While the soccer world expects them to fail, enjoy watching them pleasantly surprise.

Disregard everything you saw in their friendlies, remember this South Africa team pushed Brazil all the way in the Confederations Cup semifinal and is much improved since then, with their old boss back in charge. Look for South Africa to push the other three teams all the way and sneaking out of their group is certainly within their realm.

Weather:

Everyone tends to agree that an athlete’s body reacts much better in 70 degree weather than 100 degree weather. A South African winter will ensure that temperatures are much lower than previous tournaments, with temperatures getting a bit chilly during the night matches. While the spectators might not enjoy the cold weather, the players certainly will.

Pre-tournament talk amongst the managers has reveled that most of them expect a much higher tempo World Cup as a result of the cooler weather. This can only mean good things for the fans of the beautiful game!

Stadiums:

Ever been in a zebra patterned stadium? What about one shaped as a calabash? What about a match with Table Mountain rising above the stadium? I didn’t think so.

South Africa has produced 6 brand new stadiums of stunning quality, in addition to the 4 that already existed, which will visually create one of the most visually appealing backdrops we have ever seen in a World Cup.

Soweto:

Bringing the World Cup Final to the township where it all began for South Africa is so symbolic and a moment of such pride for South Africa.

Soccer was used as a movement of resistance during apartheid and a means of unification during the Mandela era. Soweto has always been the heart of South African soccer and there really was no other place the final could end up.

Didier Drogba Needs To Give Ivory Coast First Trophy

By Isaac Asante/Live Soccer TV


Chelsea and Ivory Coast ace Didier Drogba is the reigning African Player of the Year, as well as the reigning Premier League top scorer, but will he impress at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa? This is what we try to analyze in this article

Didier Drogba - A champion in Chelsea.

Drogba has gone under total success in England in his career, having won cups from the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, and even from the Community Shield. Though he has never won the Champions League, he is one of the best players on the island, and he faultlessly proved this undeniable fact in the 2009-10 season.

Drogba scored 29 league goals and made 10 assists in 32 appearances for the Blues, while he additional scored 3 goals and made 1 assists in the FA Cup, with 2 further goals in 2 games as a substitute in the Carling Cup. These statistics and facts are definitely some that confirm the Ivorian’s brilliant goalscoring abilities, but he still needs to do extra efforts for his country.

Didier Drogba - A flop for the Ivory Coast

As a veteran forward, Drogba has 43 goals for the Elephants in 66 appearances; he is however yet to give his country glory. The captain scored his first international goal on the 11th of February 2003 against Cameroon in a friendly match, but subsequently, he has never won a cup for the Ivory Coast.

The striker’s greatest attainment at international level came years ago when he pushed the Elephants to their first ever World Cup, which was then held in Germany, in 2006. At the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, Drogba led his team to the final where they lost to Egypt on penalties after the skipper’s incapability to convert from the spot after extra time.

At the 2006 World Cup, Drogba’s men suffered an early exit after being controversially trampled in the Group of Death by Argentina and the Netherlands. In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Cup, Drogba was the key to his country’s presence in the semifinals of the competition, but a poor display from the star gifted Egypt with the chance of disgracing the Elephants 4-1 to deny them a place in the final.

Sadly, an out-of-form Didier could only let his side get trashed 4-2 by Ghana in the third-place semifinal, as his CAN campaign ended without a single medal. His 2010 African Cup of Nations moments were not positive either, as the forward was knocked-out 3-2 by Algeria in the quarterfinals.

In Ivory Coast’s 2010 World Cup Qualification, Drogba scored 6 goals in 5 games, and as a 2-time African Footballer of the Year, he will be anticipated to excel in South Africa and power his army to World Cup glory on fresh and beneficial African soil.

Drogba overshined Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o and Ghana’s Michael Essien to win the precious African award, and as the impatient Black Continent looks to gain back its lost pride, African football fans will be putting their trust in their strong Ivorian king to fight their challengers from different continents, at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Fan Zone: Cameroon, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan

THE PROVINCE


A Dutch soccer fan celebrates in a central Rotterdam fountain that is spraying orange-colored water after the Dutch team beat Yugoslavia 4-1 at the European championships, June 25, 2000. Photograph by: Guido Benschop, REUTERS

little kick in the pants for Cameroon — firing coach Otto Pfister and hiring Paul Le Guen — was all the Lions Indomitables needed to make the World Cup. Samuel Eto’o is a good reason they can make it out of the group stage.

Along with Denmark, they're the favourites to make it out of Group E, since the Netherlands have had an easy road thus far, and haven't historically been much of a title-winning team. Japan is solid, but they still have a long way to go to make noise at this level.

2010 World Cup: The Top 12 African Players Expected To Shine (Part 1)

By Angela Asante/Live Soccer TV

For the first time in the history of the World Cup, as much as six nations will represent the African continent. They are Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Algeria, and the tournament’s hosts South Africa. Among those six teams is a bunch of big names and of rising stars.

Today, LiveSoccerTV.com looks at the top 12 African players that are expected to shine during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Check out the list of the 12 African players that should rock the stage in South Africa and carry the hopes of the Black Continent. Now the list doesn’t only contain aged experience players. There’s also room for fresh faces like FIFA U-20 World Cup’s best player Dominic Adiyiah. But in the first part of this coverage, LiveSoccerTV.com contemplates six players – two of which come from the Ivory Coast.

1) Didier Drogba - Cote d'Ivoire

The Chelsea and Cote d’Ivoire striker is regarded as one of the world’s finest striker. Drogba is fierce in front of goal and even though he cannot compare his pace to Cristiano Ronaldo or Arjen Robben’s, he can boast about his accurate shots in open play and set pieces. Didier Drogba can score from any distance and from any angle.

People will just need to remember his goals against Hull City on the first day of the 2009/10 English Premier League season. Free-kicks, penalties, headers; Drogba is good on the ball in all these three categories. He will enter the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament as England’s Golden Boot winner and as Africa’s Player of the Year titleholder. With the support of Cote d’Ivoire’s numerous talented players, Didier Drogba could embody the fighting spirit of Africa.


2) Samuel Eto'o - Cameroon

He’s broken records over records in Europe like in Africa. The former Barcelona star has won almost anything a player could dream of in club football. His historic days with the Blaugrana are gone but he has experienced something new in Inter Milan under Jose Mourinho.

Samuel Eto’o seems to have lost the goal scoring touch he had five years ago and which saw him achieve a high status at the side of Ronaldinho. Still, Eto’o is a good passer and a humble national team captain for Cameroon. The 2010 World Cup will offer him the chance to emulate the legendary Roger Milla.


3) Kadeir Kaita - Cote d'Ivoire

This is a player who proves his patriotism for Cote d’Ivoire in each game he plays. He is fast, full of tricks, and he is physically strong. He is the type of midfielder who can turn defenders into school boys with his attacking instinct. He is great on both wings and dangerous in counter attacking situations.

Goals? Kader Kaita can stun goalkeepers with his long range firing shots. The only regret he might have felt in 2010 was during the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. He certainly thought that his 88th minute screamer against Algeria would put the Elephants through to the semifinals of the competition on a 2-1 score line. However, Cote d’Ivoire’s sloppy defense and Algeria’s resilience made the difference. The Elephants surprisingly lost 3-2 after extra-time and Kader Kaita’s wonder goal subsequently proved meaningless. Kaita will surely come back more dangerous than ever at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.


4) Peter Odemwingie - Nigeria

His playing style is quite similar to Fernando Torres’ or Cristiano Ronaldo’s. He has quick feet, a flexible body which he uses to dance his way through defenders. He doesn’t have the best of goal scoring records as a winger/striker in the Nigerian national football team. But the 2008 Beijing Olympics (where Nigerian finished second behind Argentina) and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments have certainly offered him immense experience as a captain ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


5) Andre Dede Ayew Pele - Ghana

He is arguably the most exciting midfielder in the Ghana’s Black Stars squad but his hard work is yet to be recognized by the fans back home. Rumors suggest that the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup winning captain got his place in the Ghanaian squad through bribery as he is the son of the legendary Abedi Pele.

But Andre Dede Ayew Pele prefers to talk on the pitch through his aggressiveness and his commanding play. Above all, he often comes to the rescue of his team during crucial moments. A proof: his equalizer against South Africa in the knock out stages of the 2009 FIFA U-20 tournament and his lone goal in Ghana’s do-or-die group stage match against Burkina Faso during the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. A trademark performance during the 2010 FIFA World Cup could see him enjoy international recognition.


6) Benny McCarthy - South Africa

Do you remember the guy from the 1998 African Cup of Nations who scored four goals in a space of 13 minutes against Namibia and eventually topped the tournament’s goal scoring chart with seven goals alongside Egypt’s Hossam Hassan? The name is Benny McCarthy; Bafana Bafana’s all time goal scorer.

The 32-year-old striker is arguably the most controversial football personality in South Africa. His commitment to the national team has been an issue for the past 10 years. McCarthy even retired from international football in 2002 before returning to the squad in 2004 on a irregular basis. But current coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has guaranteed him with trust. Statistically, Bafana Bafana have a feeble goal scoring record. Benny McCarthy will try to solve the hosts' problem in front of goal.

Fan Zone: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

THE PROVINCE


A young supporter of Italy's football team, draped in an Italian flag, watches the team train at a camp in Sestriere on May 24, 2010 ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Photograph by: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE, AFP/Getty Images


It seems the soccer gods are taking it easy on aged Italy. They are up against a team that finished third in South American qualifying (Paraguay), a team that's made the World Cup just once before (New Zealand), and a team that's never been there before (Slovakia). Plus, the rapidly aging Azzuri are 3-0 against their group in recent meetings, outscoring them 10-4 as well.

Look for the pasta eaters and Paraguay to put forth paramount performances.

2010 World Cup Preview: Paraguay

By Charles Gooch/Kansas City Star



To get you ready for the drama that will start unfolding on June 11 in South Africa, The Star and The Full 90 will introduce you to the teams, the key performers, what to look for and what to expect in this year's Cup.

Now for the last team in the Group of Leisure.

Paraguay
Group F

THE BASICS

• Nickname: La Albirroja (The White-Red)
• Colors: White, Red (Surprise)
• FIFA Ranking: 30
• How They Got Here: Finished third in South American qualifying, just behind Brazil and Chile
• World Cup Pedigree: 8 World Cups ('30, '34, '50, '58, '86, '98, '02, '06), reached the second round three times

THE PLOT

Can one of the most surprising South American teams overcome the loss of their best player to qualify for the knockout stage? Well, the easiest group in the Cup (BY FAR) should be a huge help.

THE DIRECTOR
Gerardo Martino

An Argentinean, known as "El Tata, " he was a star for Argentina's Newell's Old Boys and has had great success in Paraguay as a coach. Like the three teams not named Italy, he is a relatively green on the international level.

LEADING MAN
Roque Santa Cruz

The Manchester City striker will be asked to do the majority of the goal scoring for Paraguay. He's scored 20 goals for the national side (he didn't have the same success with City, where he only scored three times) and that's twice as many goals as the next best on this team.

SUPPORTING CAST

Lucas Barrios (forward, Colo Colo - Chile) is the likely successor for Salvador Cabanas (who was shot in the head last year and won't make the World Cup) and recently renounced his Argentina citizenship for his mother's country; Oscar Cardozo (forward, Benfica) is tall, lanky (he's known as "Tacuara" -- a type of cane -- in Paraguay) and good in the air; Paulo da Silva (defender, Sunderland) is La Albirroja's captain and warrior in the back; Justo Villar (goalkeeper, Real Valladolid - Spain) won't be confused for legendary shot-stopper Jose Luis Chilavert, but he's a reliable 'keeper with good hands.

LIKELY BREAKOUT STAR

Edgar Barreto The 23-year-old Atalanta winger will be the primary supply for the forwards (and it would be a huge help if he could put a goal or two in as well).

THE LIKELY VILLAIN

Santa Cruz. If he's not scoring, Paraguay doesn't go far.


DO WHAT YOU WILL WITH THIS...

According to The Guardian, dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are blood donors.

CRITICAL BLURBS

I'm really sort of sick of saying this, as I've said it a lot: This team will struggle to score. ... The team went through various stages during qualifying. At times they were awesome (beating Brazil 2-0 and thumping Ecuador 5-1) and at times they were dismal (losing 4-2 to Bolivia). ... With Italy in this group, it's almost a guarantee that the group winner might not crack 4 goals scored. Paraguay-Italy is almost assuredly a nil-nil tie. ... If they can get past Slovakia and into the second round, they could make some noise as they are very difficult to break down. ... Best-case scenario? Reaching the second round and putting a scare into The Netherlands. ... Realistic prediction? Reaching the second round and getting run out of South Africa by The Netherlands.

POSSIBLE HOLLYWOOD MOMENT

The first goal the team scores will likely resemble a sports movie cliche: The players celebrating their fallen teammate, Cabanas.

Eto'o off as Portugal beat Cameroon

By Stephen Fottrell/BBC Sport, Covilha, Portugal

Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o was sent off on his return to the Indomitable Lions side, as his team slumped to a 3-1 defeat in Portugal.

The Inter Milan striker was dismissed in the first half for a second bookable offence in quick succession after returning to the side for their final two World Cup warm-up games.

A frustrated and agitated-looking Eto'o received his marching orders for a high tackle on Portugal left-back Duda, immediately after being booked by the referee for protesting, following the opener from Raul Meireles.

The Cameroonians looked unsettled after their captain's departure, and were well beaten by a Portuguese team who looked a lot more polished and confident ahead of their departure for South Africa - in stark contrast to their visitors.

The Indomitable Lions are now six games without a win, but drew some little comfort from an impressive debut for German-born striker Eric Choupo-Moting, who has just been cleared to play for the west Africans.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto also put in an impressive performance on the left, after a shaky start.

However, Paul Le Guen's team looked low on confidence and ideas throughout, grabbing a single goal through substitute Achille Webo's speculative shot which ended up in Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo's bottom left-hand corner.

Portugal were a team on the trail of a confidence-boosting performance themselves after a demoralising 0-0 draw against Cape Verde last week, and duly found one, with Cristiano Ronaldo producing an assured captain's performance, creating most of his team's opportunities.

Ronaldo is still seeking his first goal for his country in almost two years, but he saw his former Manchester United team-mate Nani produce a fine chip for the winner, after Meireles had grabbed a brace.