Reuters Soccer Blog

Soccer Break: Wednesday

So this week’s Champions League quarter-final action is over and the semi-finals are set up. As expected Real Madrid strolled through their second-leg against Spurs and will now face Barcelona. The Spanish giants are set to clash four times in 18 days, including Saturday’s La Liga match at the Bernabeu and the King’s Cup final on April 20 in Valencia.

After their astonishing win at the San Siro, Schalke 04 finished off the job against Inter to set up a meeting with Manchester United.

So, who do you expect to see in the final at Wembley on May 28? Does the fact that the Spanish teams are playing each other in an NBA style series increase the chances of an upset? United fans will be feeling they have the easier half of the draw but Schalke showed in their impressive victories over the defending champion that they are not going to be anything like a pushover for the Manchester team. Could they pull off another surprise? What are the chances of Raul v Real?

In the rest of football, FIFA released their latest world rankings today. The calculations are complicated but are supposed to reflect the current balance of power in the international game. But do they? Are England really the sixth best team in the world? Are the United States really better than Mexico? Or, for that matter, are Australia really better than the USA? And would you put money on Jamaica beating Scotland? Lots to argue about there and feel free to leave your thoughts below or pop over to our Reuters Soccer facebook page and ‘Like’ it and discuss.

PICTURE: Raul of Schalke 04 celebrates a goal against Inter Milan during the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final soccer match in Gelsenkirchen April 13, 2011. REUTERS/ Ina Fassbende

World Cup podcast – day 14

Listen!

Kevin Fylan, Paul Radford, Andy Cawthorne and Felix Bate discuss a few of the forthcoming second round matches at the World Cup, including the classic Germany v England.

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.

Community Blog: Mexicans wave into Polokwane

A group of Mexican fans treated themselves to an extraordinary day in Polokwane.

Fantastico, were the words I could get out of a young Mexican lady who had just enjoyed a long massage, a dance with a cultural group and an exhilarating crash and drive on go-carts.

Nora Hop’s smile made up for the limit in English vocabulary as she tried to explain her first day in Polokwane. “Its wonderful, nice people, first time in South Africa and Polokwane,” she said.

The cultural experience was more fascinating to her as she was the only one called up by one of the Tswana traditional dancers to dance to one of their specials songs at Polokwane Meropa Casino and Entertainment Centre.  “I was shy, also because I have never seen such a dance. But I enjoyed, ” she said.

Their tour guide, Mr Marcos Solis-Peralta from Cape Town says he is going to make sure they enjoy as much of Polokwane culture as possible.  “We were surprised at the growth of infrastructure in the city of Polokwane. Although we have not travelled a lot, it looks great, said Solis-Peralta .

This blog was written by a community blogger  chosen  to write  on their community’s experience of the  World Cup.

Community Blog: Kindness worth more than gold

The debate of inflated prices during the Soccer World Cup is an unending one. And in the end, what is on the price tag is entirely up to the service provider.

According to Ms Nikie Botha, a manager at the Jacaranda Overnight Accommodation in Polokwane, all-round kindness to your guests is more rewarding than ripping them off.

“My boss had earlier on suggested that we take the prices higher, we did, but it was difficult because we have our usual clients and I was the one who had to stand at the counter and turn them away because they couldn’t afford it. I believe in what goes around comes around, so if we give we will receive volumes”.

Nikie says in their endeavour to maximise in their turnover from the world cup they learnt that they didn’t have to compromise who they were as a brand, “we are an affordable accommodation and thats what we are presenting to everyone disregarding the event”. Because of their maintained affordability, Jacaranda is this week full with Mexican and French fans for the game tonight.

 “We have over 22 Mexican fans who will be staying over for the next three days”.  She says they are very happy to be accommodating tourists at a time like this, and to make them feel at home, on their arrival at Jacaranda, Nikie welcomed them is pure Spanish.

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 1

Join us for our podcast on day one of the first African World Cup, as hosts South Africa prepare to test their growing confidence against unpredictable Mexico in front of 90,000 vuvuzela-blaring fans in Soccer City.

Click the audio box above to hear the thoughts of African football expert Mark Gleeson (@markgleesonfoot), sports editor Paul Radford, soccer editor Mike Collett (@mcfootball), the suave and sophisticated Helen Popper and Ossian Shine (@ossianshine) and your host, Kevin Fylan (@kevinfreuters).

More World Cup questions than answers for England’s Capello

A muted send-off and a manager wanting more perhaps told the true story of England’s 3-1 friendly victory over Mexico at Wembley on Monday in which Fabio Capello was left with more questions than answers over his World Cup squad selection.

On the plus side, goalkeepers Joe Hart and in particular Robert Green would have given the Italian confidence in a position that poses a problem for fans with first-choice stopper David James still susceptible to a clanger.

There was also a good display from Glen Johnson and Ledley King, with both getting on the scoresheet, and King looking fit and healthy.

There were problems, however. England were outplayed and out-passed for much of the match on an albeit dodgy Wembley surface and had two-set pieces to thank for a 2-1 halftime lead.

Midfielder Steven Gerrard admitted that Capello had given them a talking-to at the interval, which appeared to work with a much tighter and organised second-half display.

However, England, with just one friendly to play against Japan before the June 11-July 11 tournament begins, still look like a side not sure of their best formation and more importantly their best starting 11.

With questions still looming over Gareth Barry’s fitness, central midfield is still to be decided and Michael Carrick did little to cement a place after a display littered with misplaced passes. On the right of midfield, Theo Walcott was lively but would perhaps serve better as an impact substitute meaning Aaron Lennon may get the nod.

Big decisions loom for growing MLS

Major League Soccer shows plenty of signs of good health and progress but beneath the surface the North American league has some critical decisions to make over its future direction.

After a week of largely upbeat build-up and nationwide publicity for a sport that so often struggles to get space, the league’s title deciding game, MLS Cup, was played out in front of over 46,000 fans here in Seattle – the city that is staking a strong claim to be the de facto home of U.S soccer.

“It was a memorable night for soccer in the United States,” said league commissioner Don Garber.

Strolling through the squares of downtown Seattle, packed with fans bedecked in team colours and chatting to the soccer-savvy locals, it was hard not to imagine how the sports scene in the U.S could change if the Seattle experience truly was replicated across the country.

David Beckham and L.A Galaxy didn’t get their title, losing on penalties to Real Salt Lake, but they did both earn some respect.

Beckham has surely put to bed the argument that he is not fully committed to his MLS project by playing through the pain barrier of a badly bruised ankle for 120 minutes and since Bruce Arena took over as head coach, the Galaxy feel like a real team rather than the circus act they were in danger of becoming.

Salt Lake won the league in just their fifth season of existence – a real boost for the trio of new teams about to enter MLS, Philadelphia in 2010, Vancouver and Portland a year later and encouraging also for other teams in the league without a big name foreign player.

Reuters Sportswrap: World Cup qualifying special

Join Owen Wyatt for our regular wrap of world sport. This week, it’s a World Cup qualifier special, as we consider the plight of Diego Maradona and the battle for golden tickets for South Africa 2010.

We particularly welcome comments, so if you’d like to critique Owen’s schoolboy fashion errors, please do…

Azteca defeat exposes U.S. weaknesses

After a wave of optimism following their successful run in the Confederations Cup, the United States have come back down to earth with their 2-1 defeat to Mexico.

Although Mexico didn’t seal their victory on Wednesday until Miguel Sabah’s strike seven minutes from the end, the result actually flattered the United States who were outplayed at the Azteca stadium.

The U.S’s victory over European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup and their impressive performance in the final against Brazil – when they lead 2-0 before going down 3-2, showed the potential of Bob Bradley’s team.