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Community Blog: Defining passion
For four years, seven Argentinean friends saved 200 dollars each every month to attend the worlds finest sporting contest, the Fifa Soccer World Cup.
They arrived in time for the match in Polokwane between Argentina and Greece. With their Argentina jerseys and distinct animal hats, Juan, Ramin, Ale, Carlos, Claudio and Ale turned heads as they entered the Polokwane Fan Park shouting “Argentina! Argentina!”.
“Saving up that much money was not easy, but we were not going to miss this World Cup. It is a first in Africa and a good reason to travel South Africa,” said Juan Manuel. They have not been in the country for long, but already they say they are reaping the fruits of their four-year labour.
“Every penny has been worth it, we are seven friends, but I am sure we will have a lot more friends when we leave here in two weeks time”.
Asked what he thought about Polokwane, Juan simply pointed to the stadium and said, “Its awesome being very close to everything, I cannot say more”.
They are not sleeping over in Polokwane, but they say they are returning for a safari after the finals.
This blog was written by a community blogger chosen to write on their community’s experience of the World Cup.
World Cup 2010 podcast – day 7
Join Mike Collett, Mark Gleeson, Simon Evans and Kevin Fylan for a little night’s look back on a long day of excellent football at the World Cup in South Africa.
All the World Cup 2010 Games in South Africa will be streamed live at http://www.WorldCupTV.org 17:55
France break Irish hearts to seal World Cup slot
France ensured the likes of Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Thierry Henry will be at the World Cup in South Africa next year after winning through with a goal that has left Irish fans seething.
There was nothing wrong with the finish from William Gallas, but Thierry Henry admitted using his hand to keep the ball in play and commentators and Irish supporters are already talking of “The Hand of God II” and “The Hand of Henry” in reference to Diego Maradona in 1986.
“Yes, there is handball but I am not the referee,” Henry told reporters. “I’m in the box, there are two defenders in front of me. The ball bounced off my hand, the referee did not see it and I played on.”
Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni called the goal a “great mistake” by Swedish referee Martin Hansson but he chose not to accuse Henry of cheating.
“I told the referee that it is possible to make great mistakes,” Trapattoni told a new conference after the game at Stade de France. “It is a bitter evening.”
Trapattoni said he felt the referee should have talked to his assistants and to Henry before awarding the goal.
Yes, it’s a shame, even I as a Premier League fan have to says I am sad to see the Irish beging kicked. It looks like the big bosses want The French National Team in the World Cup 2010 no matter what… I feel a bit for Henry though as I always liked him and if you look at what is going in the regular matches there are so many things that are not correct but are still tolerated
Lesser lights may yet shine at this World Cup
Depending on the results of the second legs of the UEFA World Cup playoffs on Wednesday, next year’s tournament in South Africa could contain rather too many of football’s lesser lights for some fans out there.
Portugal, France and Russia, could all perish and the tournament, which is supposed to be the pinnacle of the game, could have a cast list including Honduras, New Zealand, North Korea, Slovakia, Bosnia and Slovenia.
Some fear the absence of world stars like Portugal’s Real Madrid playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo, Russia’s magician Andrei Arshavin and France’s mercurial Frank Ribery would de-value the tournament.
But would it be such a bad thing?
Some would suggest that Europe’s top nations should be guaranteed entry into the World Cup finals with a few token places for the also-rans.
But where would that leave the likes of Bosnia? Who could deny them their place on the biggest stage for the first time if they overturn a 1-0 deficit against Portugal in Zenica.
While that would leave Ronaldo kicking his heels on some beach next year, it would open the way for new names. Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko may not have much of a profile yet outside his home country and the Bundesliga where he plays, but after scoring 10 times in qualifying few would begrudge him his chance.
Incidentally, we are live blogging the play-offs at http://live.reuters.com/Event/World_Cup_ decision_day
World Cup playoff draw – your views
Draw for the European World Cup playoffs:
Republic of Ireland v France Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina Greece v Ukraine Russia v Slovenia
Two-legged ties to be played on Nov 14 and 18.
Is that the sound of a World Cup playoff shock I hear? France, 2006 runners-up, will have to beat Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland over two legs to reach South Africa next year and that is no easy feat.
The Irish were unbeaten in qualifying and drew with world champions Italy twice while with Trapattoni as coach they have the wiliest of wily foxes, whatever you think of his English. We talked a lot on this blog about the controversy over seedings but it would be hard to separate Greece and Ukraine on paper let alone on the field.
Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo struggled in qualifying and just scraped the playoffs so let’s not discount proud Bosnia yet. Is Guus Hiddink destined for another World Cup with Russia? Let us know what you think in the comments.
The “seeding” of these playoffs are nothing short of unsportsmanlike. There’s something wrong with a system which requires a team that tied the reigning champions twice and is undefeated to have to play France twice to get in. I will be pulling my hair out for Ireland regardless if I’m in Croke Park or watching my plasma. But I can’t help but feel a great wrong has been done, regardless of the outcome. That being said, maybe playing a big country that’s under alot of pressure is better than fighting it out with a scrappy Bosnian side with nothing to lose. We’ll see. Up the Irish!
Usual suspects will be at the World Cup, but would we have missed them?
So now we know which European teams are in the World Cup playoffs and we have a pretty good idea of the seedings, though FIFA’s updated rankings out at the end of the week will provide confirmation ahead of Monday’s draw.
It looks like Russia, France, Greece and Portugal will be the seeded teams with Ukraine, Ireland, Bosnia and Slovenia playing them. After Argentina’s qualification in the final match against Uruguay, it looks increasingly likely that all the big teams will be there in South Africa.
But four days on from my blog on Sunday, the decision to seed the Euroepan teams in the qualifiers doesn’t look any fairer.
Doctor Mario, in a comment on that blog, said seeding was a reward for credits earned but it will take a long time for a new nation like Slovenia to earn enough credits to start a qualifying campaign on a level playing field.
That’s one of the reasons why it tends to be the same old faces making it to the finals. If you are Italy, France, Germany or Spain you know that in your qualifying group will have no other “elite team”, just a couple of second or third tier nations and some also-rans.
If you are someone like Wales, Israel or Finland you know you will have to pull off a series of upset wins even to finish second in your group. And if you do it your reward is to be seeded in the bottom half again in the playoffs.
SL Benfica
I’m sure the World Cup will cope just fine without Nani and Tiago!
From underdogs to champions, fun is a banned word with Greece
From a tiny second division Portuguese stadium to the luxurious surroundings and facilities of an Alpine sports centre, Greece are feeling like true defending champions at the Euro 2008.
The atmosphere, however, is not nearly as happy as it was in Portugal.
Four years ago when Greece settled in Vila do Conde, a sleepy seaside town in the estuary of the Ave river north of Porto, noone, including myself would have ever dreamt that a few weeks later coach Otto Rehhagel’s men would be crowned champions of Europe.
The surroundings certainly did not point to that.
The early morning training sessions were attended by only a handful of reporters, security was almost non-existent and there was seemingly no pressure on the players.
We would park our cars metres from the stadium entrance, wait there for the team bus to arrive, chat to the players as they got off and as they signed autographs with the few security guards, and then we would make our way to the concrete stands to watch the training.
Bundesliga ueber alles at Euro 2008
The Bundesliga gets a bad rap at times. German clubs have for the most part failed to reach the latter stages of the Champions League in recent years, matches can sometimes seem to move in slow-motion and the officiating can be uneven or even downright scandalous (see Hoyzer, Robert).
But despite all that, Bundesliga players have been sparkling in Euro 2008. And with players from the German league on 15 of the 16 teams no league is more widely represented. There have been players from the German domestic league in the starting line-ups of almost all the teams that have played of the tournament. Only Spain have no Bundesliga players in their squad.
And many are making a mark — from Franck Ribery of France to the Netherlands’ Rafael van der Vaart and Croatia’s Josip Simunic. Even the first goal of the tournament was scored by a player who cut his teeth in the Bundesliga — Vaclav Sverkos of the Czech Republic, who spent 2003 to 2007 at Borussia Moenchengladbach and Hertha Berlin.
After watching so many Bundesliga players popping up in post-match TV interviews and speaking their lightly accented German, I had a hunch the Bundesliga was probably the most represented of all domestic leagues at the Euro. And so it is, at least according to the Bundesliga’s website, which says there are 65 players on 15 teams at the Euro, comfortably beating the Premier League (44), the Primera Liga (43) and Serie A (38). Here are a few possible explanations why: German clubs — lacking the deep pockets of their rivals in England, Spain and Italy — have long been especially open to young (i.e. inexpensive) talent from Eastern European and Southeastern European countries, where bargains can be found. Secondly, Germany has large groups of immigrants from many countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and some of the best players for Turkey, Croatia and Greece, for example, grew up in ethnic communities in Germany and play in the Bundesliga. Another factor contributing to the international feeling of the Bundesliga is that some clubs in the heart of Europe seem to go out of their way to bring together a nucleus of internationals from one country or another. Bayern Munich have their French connection in Ribery and Willy Sagnol. Hamburg SV have a Netherlands trio — Van der Vaart, Nigel de Jong and Joris Mathijsen. Nuremberg are filled with players from the neighbouring Czech Republic and Eintracht Frankfurt have a big Greece contingent in Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Ioannis Amanatidis, and Fanis Gekas.
Please go ahead and keep sniggering about the Bundesliga. But you have to admit — Bundesliga players are ueber alles. Aren’t they?
PHOTO: Franck Ribery sits on the pitch during France’s Group C match against Romania at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, June 9, 2008. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Good points Alex. I was just surprised that there were so many Bundesliga players showing up in every match…and then on every team except Spain in the first round. It was not only the absolute number that amazed; it was more that there were Bundesliga players on SO many different teams. You’re right the Premier League would have as many (or probably more if the finals were being held elsewhere this year). But even then would there be players on 15 of the 16 teams earning their wages in sterling?
