Reuters Soccer Blog

Soccer Break Friday

It’s gone quiet on the football news front though the sun’s still out in Europe as we await another weekend of unrelenting on-pitch drama in the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Anyone out there lucky enough to be attending the Serbia v Northern Ireland match? 240 fans got the nod.

World Cup winners Spain are also playing against Czech Republic. Fascinating country Spain, full of interesting dynamics. Read here for a thorough explanation.

Sticking with politics, and Libya’s qualification for the 2012 London Olympics could be in danger after the conflict in north Africa.

Heading to South America, people are still reeling from the death of a fan over the weekend and here’s a more considered piece on Argentina’s tarnished game.

Our David Beckham blog is still attracting comments. What is your view on the former England captain? Would you pick him for England?

Last but not least, an amusing look at some of the most garish football kits of all time. What sticks in the memory for you?

Moses and Chadli become latest to ‘test drive’ a nation

A new phenomenon of ‘dipping a toe’ into the waters of international football is beginning to emerge, further devaluing the ultimate individual achievement in the game.

Rules on international eligibility have been watered down over the years but the changes could not have foreseen the growing global village, immigration and movement of people that is providing the game with a much more multi-cultured generation.

As a result we now have players who are able to ‘test drive’ the countries they are eligible to play for, before settling on a final choice.

It has all come about since the relaxing of the strict rules on international football in late 2003, when FIFA’s statutes changed to allow a player who had represented one country at junior level to choose to play for another country, as long as he was eligible for dual nationality, was under the age of 21 and had not played at full A international level.

In subsequent years, the age restriction was removed too. It is now allowing players to see exactly where they might fit best, or probably more likely where their own profile and possibility for success is best suited.

The selection of Victor Moses of Wigan Athletic for Nigeria’s squad for a friendly against Guatemala in early February is the latest case.

Moses is an England under-21 international with the potential to go further for his country but born in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Does Angola attack really endanger the World Cup or just Africa’s image?

The bloody attack on Togo’s team bus in Angola is a huge tragedy for African football and like it or not, has cast a shadow over the World Cup in South Africa in five months time — the biggest sports event ever staged on the continent.

It is highly debatable whether the attack, which killed two members of the Togolese delegation as they arrived for the African Nations Cup and forced the squad’s evacuation on Sunday, really increases the risk to teams and spectators in South Africa.

Without a doubt, however, it has struck a blow against Africa’s concerted efforts to improve its image and reverse decades of gloomy stereotypes painting the entire continent as racked by conflict, disease and despair. Both the Nations Cup, held in a country which only emerged from a 27-year civil war in 2002, and the World Cup were intended to help the process of rehabilitating the continent’s image. 

South African organisers reacted with undisguised irritation to immediate suggestions that the Angolan attack should raise concerns over the globe’s most watched event. Over the weekend, Hull City Manager Phil Brown was quoted as saying the attack threw a question mark over the World Cup and other Premier League coaches were said to have called for their expensive African players to be called  back from Angola. In contrast, Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger said the players should stay, suggesting other managers were motivated more by club self interest than a genuine security concern.

Chief World Cup organiser Danny Jordaan described suggestions that the Angolan attack had implications for the global event as “nonsensical”, tartly pointing out that South Africa does not even have a border with Angola. The attack in the enclave of Cabinda took place thousands of kilometres from South Africa, and the reaction in some European countries reinforces a tendency which regularly causes anger and frustration on a continent where many countries are enjoying stability and attracting unprecedented investment. A while back some Kenyan friends of mine established a Facebook group called “Africa is not one country” in reaction to the common failure of Europeans and Americans to distinguish between vastly different African nations with traditions, geographical location and cultures as diverse or more diverse than those in Europe.

Jordaan’s angry reaction to attempts to taint the World Cup with the Angolan attack clearly revealed this irritation and perhaps also anxiety that such suggestions might stick. “To say what happened in Angola impacts on the World Cup in South Africa is the same as suggesting that when a bomb goes off in Spain, it threatens London’s ability to host the next Olympics,” he said. 

Security analysts seem divided over whether the Angolan attack means the World Cup faces an increased risk. Most see the parallels as stretched to say the least–South Africa is a country with a multitude of social problems but at peace since the end of apartheid 15 years ago, with no rebel movements and no record of recent terrorist attacks. Africa’s richest economy, it enjoys impeccable credentials in the Third World and among radical movements because of its unaligned foreign policy and criticism, for example, of the Iraq war. It also has a much more highly developed security apparatus and crime fighting resources than Angola, even if the police are regularly accused of corruption. It boasts of organising at least 150 international events, including rugby and cricket world cups, without problems.

World Cup live blog

From 1730 GMT.************

World Cup is golden opportunity for Africa — if it succeeds

The countdown has begun for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, an event, now only a year away, that could change perceptions about the whole continent and show the globe a festival of sport that reverses obstinate stereotypes of a region in constant crisis and violence.

Africans are deeply frustrated by the tendency of foreigners, including investors, to see Africa almost as one country instead of more than 50 extremely diverse nations. Meltdown in Zimbabwe can impact on investors’ perceptions of countries thousands of miles away on the other side of the continent. By the same token, a successful World Cup will not only change the way people see Africa but also encourage future mega events and the huge investment that they can bring.

So, much more is riding on 2010 than a mere sporting spectacle, albeit the most watched sports event in the world and the biggest ever held in Africa. A successful tournament, with the special atmosphere that happy, dancing and singing local supporters can bring, should land a tourist and investment bonanza for South Africa in particular, but also help the surrounding region and countries further afield.

If the tournament falls short, the reverse will be true.

Even as late as the end of last year, the negative voices were still loudly casting doubt on South Africa’s ability to organise such a huge event, suggesting everything from stadiums to transport routes would not be ready. White South Africans, many still sceptical about black rule 15 years after the end of apartheid and keener on rugby and cricket than football, were among the cynics.

But recently the Jeremiahs have begun to quieten down and it is now generally accepted that all 10 stadiums, half of them new, will be ready months ahead of the competition. This month’s eight-nation Confederations Cup –although it has little of the buzz of the bigger event — will give an idea of South African organisation and test four of those stadiums.

from Africa News blog:

Togo need a miracle

It is hard to fathom what the motivation for Jean Thissen’s decision would be. He takes on the job as national team coach of Togo just over two weeks before the resumption of Africa’s World Cup qualifiers and with the very real prospect of having to do without his best player.

Thissen is the third new coach to take over at the helm of a side who are still in the World Cup race and set out at the end of this month on the final leg of the fight for one of the five berths for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

The 63-year-old, who is a former Belgian international and has coached in Gabon, Morocco and Tunisia, parachutes in to take charge of Togo’s team after Frenchman Henri Stambouli walked out last year.

But talk of taking on the virtually impossible. ‘Les Eperviers’ (the sparrowhawks) have the most daunting start to their Group A campaign, starting on March 28 against Cameroon on neutral territory in Accra where Togo are forced to play their home matches because of a ban on their own stadium in Lome.

Cameroon are hot favourites as an exciting new generation of talent bursts through their ranks.

To make matters worse, there is the strong possibility that Togo will go into the game without talismanic captain Emmanuel Adebayor.

The newly crowned African Footballer of the Year pulled a hamstring playing for Arsenal in the English premier league just weeks ago and is supposedly sidelined for some time to come. Arsenal with its galaxy of stars is noticeably poorer for his absence, so imagine what a blow the injury is to Togo’s hopes.

Tunisians need a little patience

One cannot fault Tunisian clubs for seeking perfection but you’d think a little more patience is needed if they are ever going to achieve their dream of continental dominance.

Take the case of Etoile Sahel. They have just fired their Swiss coach Michel Decastel for “indifferent results”.

Indifferent by their definition, is second place in the league and qualification for the final of the African Confederation Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the UEFA Cup. (more…)

Let’s scrap anthems before international matches

French politicians were outraged after the Marseillaise was booed by the large contingent of Tunisia fans before Tuesday’s friendly at the Stade de France.  

Sports minister Roselyne Bachelot said that France matches must be stopped if it happens again and French Football Federation chief Jean-Pierre Escalettes was summoned by President Nicolas Sarkozy for a meeting.  

Escalettes, however, warned of potential security problems if the threat was carried out.

“You can’t take a decision like that without having guarantees in terms of security,” he said. “You can’t throw 50,000 people out on the streets without having planned it in advance.”  

A much easier solution, perhaps, would be not to play national anthems at all. (more…)

Should France keep inviting African teams to Paris?

You can understand why the French rarely invite any of their former colonies over for so-called friendly internationals. On Tuesday night they again faced a barrage of abuse in their own backyard, with the vast majority of a sell-out crowd at Stade de France coming to support Tunisia against Les Bleus.

When Algeria played at the Stade de France in 2001, the game was eventually called off midway through the second half after Algerian supporters invaded the pitch. The match against Morocco last year earned notoriety after the jeering during the singing of La Marseillaise.

For the north Africans it remains a singular honour to be invited to play in France and Tunisia made little of securing a berth in the last phase of Africa’s World Cup qualifying last Saturday in the wake of all the excitement of the trip to Paris.

Of all their former colonies, France have only ever hosted Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco and Tunisia in the Stade de France. And it took decades before they sent an invitation. The Ivory Coast played a game in Montpellier but Senegal, who beat France in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, still await an invitation, even though they are one of the few countries in Africa where French influence still pervades. (more…)

It’s not all fast cars and parties

Footballers. If we aren’t reading about their exploits on the pitch, more often than not we can read about their exploits off it. Much is speculation and the rest can’t be mentioned before the watershed, but as I recently read, it’s not always bad.

West Ham United striker Craig Bellamy is more used to finding himself in hot water rather than hot weather, but following a recent trip to Sierra Leone, the Wales international has formed the Craig Bellamy Foundation there.

Bellamy’s 600,000 pound football academy is set to include 14 new leagues, 68 new boys’ teams and employ 141 managers and coaches.

So it’s not all fast cars, big houses and sordid parties after all then? In fact, if the media turned their focus away from the usual suspects, they would see a whole host of top players participating in worthwhile causes.

Portsmouth’s Nwankwo Kanu formed the Kanu Heart Foundation after having surgery on a hole in his heart during his early playing days. His charity arranged treatment for 250 African children with heart problems in 2007 and hopes to help 1,000 more this year.

Reading’s Bobby Convey regularly visits the Royal Berkshire Hospital’s Lion Ward to spend time with sick children. He is not contracted or sponsored to do this and did the same thing earlier in his career while playing in the U.S. 

England international Frank Lampard is involved in a range of cancer charities, and has become an enthusiastic backer of Chelsea’s latest initiative with CLIC Sargent, Kick for Children with Cancer.