World Cup 2010

[balli hi]

A few more world cup related songs from Dave Henson

[balli hi]

[Raistlin]

[Raistlin]

Nigeria bans its football team for two years

The president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has banned the national football team from all competition for two years after their dismal showing at the World Cup.

The Super Eagles, as they are known, found themselves in a group along with Greece, South Korea and Argentina. They were favourites to qualify alongside Argentina, but ended up with just one point – thanks to a 2-2 draw with the Koreans in their final match – and finished bottom of the group.

Stars like Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Kanu and Obafemi Martins all failed to produce and they now face a lengthy period of introspection.

Ima Niboro, a spokesman for Jonathan, announced: "Mr President has directed that Nigeria will withdraw from all international football competition for the next two years to enable Nigeria to reorganise its football. This directive became necessary following the country's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup."

Jonathan has also called for the accounts of the Nigerian World Cup organising committee to be audited and the appointment of coach Lars Lagerback investigated. Niboro added: "If any financial misappropriation is discovered, all officials responsible will be held accountable."

The decision is unlikely to gain Nigeria any fans at Fifa, which takes a dim view of any political interference in the independent running of national federations.

"We have not received any official information on this subject. However, in general, the position of Fifa concerning political interference is well known," said the sport's governing body.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Jonathan's decision has been met with support from Nigerian football supporters. Dexter, a commenter on Nigerian news website Next said: "These set of corrupt so-called football administrators must face immediate investigation and prosecution if found criminally liable by all anti-corruption agencies with immediate effect... Let us use this period for proper planning and preparation by putting the right leadership in place and embarking on grass roots discovery of talented and skilled players."

Nigeria will now miss the 2012 African Cup of Nations, for which they were set to begin their qualification bid.

[Bizarra]

and our Neighbours ? ?

[Raistlin]

and our Neighbours ? ?

I'd sack the lot and start again

[balli hi]

Nigeria bans its football team for two years

The president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has banned the national football team from all competition for two years after their dismal showing at the World Cup.

The Super Eagles, as they are known, found themselves in a group along with Greece, South Korea and Argentina. They were favourites to qualify alongside Argentina, but ended up with just one point – thanks to a 2-2 draw with the Koreans in their final match – and finished bottom of the group.

Stars like Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Kanu and Obafemi Martins all failed to produce and they now face a lengthy period of introspection.

Ima Niboro, a spokesman for Jonathan, announced: "Mr President has directed that Nigeria will withdraw from all international football competition for the next two years to enable Nigeria to reorganise its football. This directive became necessary following the country's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup."

Jonathan has also called for the accounts of the Nigerian World Cup organising committee to be audited and the appointment of coach Lars Lagerback investigated. Niboro added: "If any financial misappropriation is discovered, all officials responsible will be held accountable."

The decision is unlikely to gain Nigeria any fans at Fifa, which takes a dim view of any political interference in the independent running of national federations.

"We have not received any official information on this subject. However, in general, the position of Fifa concerning political interference is well known," said the sport's governing body.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Jonathan's decision has been met with support from Nigerian football supporters. Dexter, a commenter on Nigerian news website Next said: "These set of corrupt so-called football administrators must face immediate investigation and prosecution if found criminally liable by all anti-corruption agencies with immediate effect... Let us use this period for proper planning and preparation by putting the right leadership in place and embarking on grass roots discovery of talented and skilled players."

Nigeria will now miss the 2012 African Cup of Nations, for which they were set to begin their qualification bid.

Oh well at least chelsea get to keep john Mikel obi whilst the cup of nations is on ..... then again he's not that good any chance Nigeria can be reinstated ?? :lol2:

[balli hi]

My spies tell me that all was not well and that there was a lack of unity between the players in the England camp before the loss to Germany...... Really?? i'm surprised at this revelation ( not )

Apparently Stephen Gerrard has been playing away with his sister in law , and the story is set to break in the national press in a week or two , so when John Terry learned of Gerrards misdemeanor , he went crying to sir aka Fabio Capello and said hold on a minute , i was stripped of the captain's arm band for the self same thing , so how come he gets to keep the armband , Capello replied that they were in the middle of the world cup so it would be impossible to do anything about it now , this however did not placate Terry and he and Gerrard fell out big time over the matter , resulting in a 50/50 split in the squad with half the players in Terry's camp and the other half in Gerrards .

True story or False ? we shall see in the fulness of time as there was clearly something wrong with the playrs along with their lack of ability , commitment , cohesion , tactical nous etc

[Raistlin]

Big kids with too much money and too little commitment to play for England.

Sack them all.

[balli hi]

I'd start with Capello , then move heaven and earth to get Huss Hiddink

[Bizarra]

World prays for Spanish masterclass Do you ?

By Dion Fanning at Soccer City

Sunday July 11 2010

There will be no coronation for Spain in Johannesburg, Holland's coach Bert Van Marwijk made clear last night.

"We are going to do anything and everything we can to win. As I have said from day one, we have full respect for our opponent but we are not afraid and we are convinced we can win this match."

There are some who might fear the intent behind those words, especially with Mark Van Bommel in the Dutch side but Spain's coach Vicente Del Bosque believes tonight's final will be "propaganda" for attacking football.

The tournament might be judged on it even if Africa's first World Cup will always be looked on differently. In Johannesburg this weekend, they have been making the most of their last 48 hours as host at the world's biggest sporting event.

There have been few in South Africa who haven't been enthralled by the tournament from the days before the opening game when the people of Johannesburg took to the streets to show their support for Bafana Bafana.

This evening will define the tournament more than the Jabulani ball, the vuvuzelas or Paul the octopus. If Spain win for the first time then the finest team in the world will have confirmed their greatness.

"The game against Holland is the most important game in our history. But we are not champions yet. There are conflicting feelings: we're neither very confident that we will win nor are we fearful of losing," Iker Casillas, Spain's captain said.

"We will play better because we will probably have to if we are going to win the World Cup," Andres Iniesta said last night. His return to full fitness as the tournament has progressed as been central to Spain's progress.

If Holland triumph, it will not necessarily be a triumph for suffocating tactics over talent, not if Wesley Sneijder, who was confirmed fit last night, or Arjen Robben is the decisive figure. But if it is Van Bommel's destructive talents or the hard running of Dirk Kuyt that are the most influential factors in a Dutch triumph then Spain and the lovers of football to whom Vicente Del Bosque dedicated their semi-final victory will be distraught.

Holland won't be, they are unbeaten in competitive games since Van Marwijk took over and they have won every game in this competition. Spain have lost only twice in four years, both times on South African soil.

It should not happen again. Spain may play the most bewitching football -- "We're playing bloody brilliantly," as Xavi put it -- but coaching trends will not depend on who wins. Coaches will never take a risk of allowing a team to play like Spain; more importantly, most players can never play like Xavi or Iniesta.

They will say that Spain can only play one way but the bad teams sometimes can't even manage that. Spain played their beautiful football against Germany last Wednesday and then when no one was looking, Carles Puyol scored from a corner.

There are no injury or suspensions on either side and both sides can spend the pre-match preparations fretting, to varying degrees, over the form of their main strikers.

Vicente Del Bosque abandoned Fernando Torres for the semi-final and he is unlikely to recall him for tonight's game. This ruthlessness only underlines Del Bosque's options.

Van Marwijk insisted last week that Robin Van Persie is improving. Even with Klass-Jan Huntelaar as a reserve, he has persevered with the Arsenal striker

Spain's tournament began with a dramatic defeat which was blamed on many things, including Casillas' girlfriend, but not the players.

Del Bosque stayed calm, refused to engage in battle when his predecessor Luis Aragones criticised the side after the defeat and then went on to predict they would lose to Portugal in the last sixteen. He is onside now, but most of the world outside Holland is.

Holland and Van Marwijk don't care. He keeps telling the world that and tonight he hopes they will listen.

Africa will celebrate tonight too and for once the closing ceremony will have some real pathos. On Tuesday the schools which shut for the tournament will reopen and an unwelcome normality will return.

So they will make the most of tonight. Both sides trained at Soccer City last night. The Dutch allowed the media in for an hour. Spain, for once, seemed tense and secretive, closing the doors after fifteen minutes. They might burst them open this evening. "This is a complete team," Del Bosque said last night and it may not be propaganda.

Johannesburg entered the depths of winter during this tournament but there was heat in the sun all across this sprawling, haunting city yesterday.

At Soccer City tonight, the world needs Spain to produce their invincible summer.

- Dion Fanning at Soccer City

Sunday Independent

[Raistlin]

I'm going Dutch on this one

[Bizarra]

I'm going Dutch on this one

Are you going to put your money where your mouth is ? & we don't need to know where your mouth is, or has been :lol2:

[Bizarra]

Blatter dodges Irish apology as calls for video technology fall on deaf ears

By Daniel McDonnell in Johannesburg

Tuesday July 13 2010

SEPP BLATTER wrapped up this World Cup by effectively ignoring a request to say sorry to Ireland for the refereeing blunder that ended their South Africans dreams. The vexed issue cropped up in the context of his apology to England and Mexico for the errors that contributed to their eliminations.

The FIFA president asked his Irish inquisitor if he was Mexican, before using the topic as a means of starting a discussion on goal-line technology -- rather than the introduction of overall video technology, which would have clocked Thierry Henry's handball.

"This is something that happened in a preliminary-round competition match and now we are at the end of the World Cup," Blatter said. "It is odious to reopen discussions.

"What I have said, in order to make it clear to everybody, after a not-given goal in a match here between England and Germany, there was a cry, an alarm that something very, very important has happened.

"Then it was said, 'do you reopen the file of technology?' The file of goal-line technology is with the International Football Association Board. We will bring the goal-line technology to the official business meeting of the board in October."

Blatter produced a typical performance when it came to addressing the issues of the last five weeks. With persistent discussion about the aggression of the Dutch team in Sunday's final and the competence of referee Howard Webb, he acknowledged that the Englishman had a "very hard task", without delivering a resounding vote of confidence.

"Football is a combat game, but a combat game in the spirit of fair play," he said. "When you learn to lose, you should not forget the basic (principle), which is discipline and respect."

The Swiss man also neglected to deal with questions about the pressure FIFA placed on Nelson Mandela to attend the final, which angered 'Madiba's family'.

Finally, Blatter claimed not to have heard the loud boos that greeted his own arrival onto the pitch to greet the teams. "I was not aware that something has happened," he said. "I remember there were less vuvuzelas."

- Daniel McDonnell in Johannesburg

Irish Independent

We couldn't have done any worse than France, either

[Raistlin]

All the technology in the world can't take away from the fact that England was crap...

Still next time

[jw67]

All the technology in the world can't take away from the fact that England was crap...

and very true.

[balli hi]

All the technology in the world can't take away from the fact that England was crap...

and very true.

Yes we were crap , but 90% of the blame lies with the manager in my mind , he got it badly wrong , tactics , team selection , everything .

Plus telling the players who was in the starting line up just before they board the team coach .... Whats all that about , Cappello's lost the plot and should go NOW !!!!!

Regards Refereeing standards throughout the tournament , i thought it started great then got steadily worse , there were some really weak refereeing on show where players intstead of seeing straight reds in some instances did'nt even get a talking to let alone a yellow .

Howard Webb for me did ok in the final , i should add that i'm not a fan of his and i have always refered to him as a poor mans Graham Poll who is a referee that i have a very deep loathing of , due to very many dubious decissions he gave against my team every time he took charge of our games , i can think of at least 3 games where he directly influenced the outcome of the game in favour of the opposition , regards Webb i always look back to the League Cup Final against Ar-senal at the millenium Stadium in Cardiff when he sent off john Mikel Obi for a tug back on Kolo Toure , the incident happened just over the half way line with chelsea's entire defence behind the ball , However Toure went beserk and attacked Obi resulting in a free for all but Obi kept his arms behind his back at all times whilst backing off from Toure who attacked him , Toure then continued throwing his arms around whilst other players were trying to calm him down , when everything had calmed down what did Webb do , he rightly sent off Toure for violent conduct , then flashes a straight red for Obi as well , when at worst it should only have been a yellow , after all his only crime was a tug back , crap refereeing at its best . That said i did have some sympathy for the affor mentioned donut Webb after the final whistle of the world cup final , Webb did miss a few things , notably the kung fu kick into the chest of Zavi Alonso by Nigel De Jong , and if anything he was overly lenient with Argen Robben when he kicked the ball into the net long after the whistle had blown , Robben was already on a yellow and should by the letter of the law been shown another yellow for kicking the ball away .

The main point of contention being the missed corner that Holland should have been awarded , Missed by both Webb and his assistant , next thing the ball go's up the other end and Spain score , However Holland should have a good look at themselves for the defeat rather than blame Webb and his assistants , they should count themselves lucky that webb missed or maybe bottled a few decissions as they very easily could have ended up with nine men , and the scenes of Holland players and their manager surrounding Webb and his assistants at the end of the game were disgracefull , Webb did not deserve that and Fifa should look to take action against Holland , Doubt that will happen though