Reuters Soccer Blog

Crossed wires give Confederations Cup the personal touch

For fans seeking ticket information for the Confederation Cup, a number is listed on the FIFA site for a helpdesk with appropriate information.

The site, however, has inserted an extra 0 into the number so instead of dialing the correct number, calls go to the private line of the chief organiser, Danny Jordaan, increasingly bemused at the number of calls he is taking from the public about ticket availability and prices.

“Yes, there have been a lot,” he said laconically when Reuters called the alleged helpline number to check price information and got the big boss on the line instead.

Jordaan said he had asked for the number to be corrected, but in the meantime was happy to provide a personal touch to potential customers.

Confederations Cup shapes up well…except for the weather

For all their scepticism about South Africa’s potential to host the World Cup, the build-up to the test event, the Confederations Cup, has so far gone without any major hitches.

It is a dream scenario for the home nation and FIFA, still trying to temper the doubters and persuade the world all will be ready by 2010, has added to the chorus of congratulations.

Sepp Blatter devoted a good deal of his traditional pre-tournament news conference on Friday to pouring scorn on the doubters.

Admittedly, there is much last minute activity and privately officials have spoken of the frustration of a society where urgency is not always a priority.

But in a country desperate to prove it can put on an event of the magnitude of the World Cup, South Africa is ahead in the PR race.

The only setback, ironically, has been the weather. It might be winter but on the Highveld, where the four venues for the Confederation Cup are situated, the cold season is normally mildly pleasant.

Santana’s stuttering English is a good sign for South Africa

South Africa’s Brazilian coach Joel Santana has broken into English at news conferences on just a handful of occasions.

It’s mostly after rare wins for the national side when the local media are in good humour and Santana seeks to charm them with his piecemeal vocabulary. Few notes are taken amid the mirth.

So it was after Saturday’s win over Poland in Soweto – a rare triumph for Bafana Bafana against European opposition which is a confidence booster for a side in desperate need of a lift.

As upcoming World Cup hosts, much is being made of the need for the home country to field a competent and competitive side at the 2010 tournament.

Santana has been tasked with achieving that goal but his first 12 months in charge has been mired in mediocrity.

A triumph over a holidaying Polish team, shorn of many of their first choice players, is in reality no indictor of whether Santana’s work will take the team to a better level.

from Left field:

Eriksson sacked as Mexico coach (Update)

Eight years ago, Mexico lost 3-1 away to Honduras in a World Cup qualifier, sunk by a Carlos Pavon hat-trick, and the defeat cost Enrique Meza his job.

Already under enormous pressure, Meza quit in the dressing room afterwards and has gone on to become a highly successful coach with Pachuca, a friendly club founded by Cornish miners whose modern-day facilities would put many of their European counterparts to shame.

On Wednesday, Mexico lost by the same score against the same opponents in the same stadium in another World Cup qualifier. By a strange coincidence Pavon was on target again, the mercurial striker having been brought back at the age of 35 to replace the injured David Suazo.

The result cost Sven-Goran Eriksson his job.

"This morning we talked to Mr Eriksson and announced his departure," Mexican Football Federation (FMF) president Justino Compean told a news conference. "It's a fact results have not been what we expected."

Eriksson's future seems to have been in doubt almost since the day he was appointed last June.

Is there any way back for Owen?

Quite how far Michael Owen’s career has nosedived was underlined at the weekend when the Newcastle United striker was again overlooked for his country despite the lack of attacking options for coach Fabio Capello.

Capello watched three of his squad strikers hobble off at Wembley on Saturday during the 4-0 friendly victory over Slovakia with Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole both ruled out of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

With Peter Crouch also carrying a knock, surely the time had come for Capello to get on the telephone to Owen, a player with 40 goals in 89 appearances for his country and who was voted Europe’s best player in 2001.

Instead, Capello bluntly dismissed the case for Owen, saying he felt the striker was not playing well enough for his club. Capello turned to the much-maligned Darren Bent, a willing runner but hardly a finisher in the same class as Owen.

It is hard to see where Owen now fits into Capello’s plans. The Italian appears to favour a big target man playing in tandem with the versatile Wayne Rooney. Owen’s penalty area prowess is clearly not enough for Capello.

At 29, and after a series of injuries, Owen does not have the explosive pace that was once his trademark and he can look hesitant in front of goal. He has scored just once in his last 10 matches for relegation-haunted Newcastle and it is a year since he last played for England.

So is there any hope of an international return for the former Liverpool man? A move away from St James’ Park would be a first step but any journey back to the top of European football looks like being a long and painstaking one.

Can the Balkans do a World Cup quadruple?

Soccer leagues in the Balkans are suffering from an uncontrolled outflow of talent to wealthier and more competitive environments in Europe and it’s a trend that’s benefiting some of the region’s national teams.

At least three countries that emerged from the former Yugoslavia stand a good chance of reaching next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Serbia, who tightened their grip on Group Seven with a 3-2 win over neighbours Romania, are in the best position after a masterclass performance by Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic and captain Dejan Stankovic, plying his trade at Italian champions Inter Milan.

Serbia have only two home-based players in their squad, which has been given a new lease of life under coach Radomir Antic in their bid to reach a first major tournament as an independent nation.

Even more impressive were Serbia’s bitter Balkan foes Bosnia, who demolished Belgium 4-2 and have an excellent chance of securing a play-off spot in Group Five, where European champions Spain seem untouchable.

The Bosnians, also aiming for a maiden World Cup appearance, are reaping the benefits of having experienced exiles such as Eintracht Frankfurt striker Zlatan Bajramovic, Zvjezdan Misimovic and his 22-year old Wolfsburg team-mate Edin Dzeko, who all scored in their surprise success in Genk.

Croatia may not be able to leapfrog England into the driving seat in Group Six but they should also win a play-off berth available to the eight best second-placed teams.

Tensions boil over in Mexico camp

Troubled Mexico face a potentially decisive five days in their attempt to qualify for the World Cup and the tension is already starting to tell.

After losing to the United States last month in the opening game of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament’s final stage, Mexico host Costa Rica on Saturday and visit Honduras — where they were beaten in a previous stage of the competition — on Wednesday.

Anything less than four points from those games is likely to end Sven-Goran Eriksson’s short spell as coach and discredit the players even further.

Tempers flared during an extraordinary media conference this week when Ukraine-based Nery Castillo lost his cool after being asked why he had reported late for training.

Castillo, back at Shakhtar Donetsk after his unhappy spell at Manchester City, replied with what, if nothing else, was an interesting diversion.

“You’re happy when the team does badly,” shouted Castillo, who was born in Mexico, left the country at the age of two, raised in Uruguay and began his football career in Greece.

The luck of the Irish continues

It may prove difficult to switch a nation’s sporting focus from rugby to football, especially one that is basking in the glory of a first rugby grand slam in 61 years, but a wave of good fortune is boosting hopes of Ireland featuring at the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Guided by the mercurial talents of Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, the Irish have made a solid, undefeated start to a tricky qualifying group containing World champions Italy, Dimitar Berbatov’s Bulgaria, Cyprus – who beat them 5-2 in Euro 2008 qualifying - and a skilful Montenegro.

Optimism of a first appearance in a major finals since 2002 is growing but in earning their second place position, behind the Italians only on goal difference, a number of fortuitous moments have occurred.

Firstly they managed to avoid playing Georgia in their difficult Tbilisi home venue because of the war with Russia. They instead played in Mainz, Germany which seemed liked a home game for the Irish with the number of supporters they had to cheer a 2-1 victory.

Then Cypriot striker Efstathios Aloneftis, identified by Trapattoni as the dangerman ahead of their clash in Dublin in October, injured himself in the warm-up and missed the 1-0 defeat by the home side.

Have Peru shot themselves in the foot over Guerrero and co?

After watching a Bundesliga game in which all the goals are scored by Peruvians, it is hard to imagine that the South American country’s national team is in such a predicament.

Paolo Guerrero scored twice for Hamburg SV on Sunday in their 2-1 win over Schalke 04, whose consolation was scored by his compatriot Jefferson Farfan.

But neither of them will be on the field when Peru host arch-rivals Chile in a South American World Cup qualifier, nor will Claudio Pizarro who has scored 12 goals for Werder Bremen this season.

Once considered the third team in South America behind Brazil and Argentina, Peru lie bottom of the 10-team South American World Cup qualifying group with a paltry five points from 10 games. Their results have included a 5-1 defeat in Ecuador and 6-0 thrashing in Uruguay. They have scored five goals in 10 games yet feel they can afford the luxury of doing without their top players.

Farfan and Pizarro were both suspended for 18 months by the Peruvian federation for alleged acts of indiscipline at the team hotel following a World Cup qualifier against Brazil in November 2007.

The bans were later cut to three months and have long since ended by coach Jose del Solar has refused to recall the pair, nor defender Santiago Acasiete who was banned alongside them.

Guerrero, meanwhile, is serving a six-match suspended for his furious reaction to being sent off during the Uruguay match.