By Payton Brooks
South Africa is not exactly one of those places where people
plan a vacation and, therefore, with the 2010 World Cup Soccer
tournament to take place in South Africa, a great deal is being
done to help prepare for an onslaught of visitors to the area.
World Cut Soccer is, on many levels, something like the Olympics
and baseball's World Series rolled into one; teams from around
the world are already counting down and competing with their
eyes on the World Cup in 2010 and fans are already looking into
learning more about places to stay and even driving rules in
South Africa.
All of this - fans looking into lodging and travel, teams
playing for a shot at making the tournament - is already taking
place. Even with almost two years to go before the 2010 World
Cup Soccer tournament in South Africa, the official web site is
documenting the way that teams are playing and that features a
countdown to the event (with well over 600 days to go). So far,
there are two hundred teams that have entered into the
competition; two hundred teams that are aiming to be one of the
thirty-one teams that will compete.
Teams from Spain, England, France, Germany and Italy are all
competing as representatives of European nations. Africa has a
total of fifty-three teams that are working their way through
the preliminaries, with Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, Swaziland,
Togo and other nations participating. Asian nations that hope to
be in thirty one teams who will compete for the 2010 World Cup
Soccer title in South Africa include Korea, Iran and Saudi
Arabia. New Zealand and Fiji are both vying for a position from
Oceania.
On the other side of the globe, teams from North and Central
America as well as the nations of the Caribbean are competing
and preparing for a spot in the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament
in South Africa. So far, teams from the United States, Mexico,
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago and Honduras are
leading the way. From South America, thus far, Paraguay, Brazil,
Argentina and Uruguay have taken the lead.
While it is far too soon to tell which nations will ultimately
be among the thirty one spots in the 2010 World Cup tournament
finals in South Africa, one thing is sure: each of the
preliminary matches is grabbing the interest of soccer fans
worldwide - all of whom are hoping that their nation or their
favorite team will ultimately be represented. Photos of matches
are available online, match details have been made available and
these are just the first steps: the 2010 World Cup in South
Africa will also offer live streaming coverage of the matches
that are played; likewise, some preliminary matches will be
aired live online.
The road to the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament in South
Africa is still long and winding, however that does nothing to
slow down the ways in which players and fans have planned to
travel it to reach their destination.
About the Author: Payton Brooks is a senior sports writer at
http://www.sportsviews.com. Read and rate more free articles
like this one, create your own sports and challenge others at
http://www.sportsviews.com, the biggest sports social network.
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Friday, March 26, 2010
World Cup Picture Taking Shape But Who Will be Winners in South Africa?
By Jason Atherton
With England safely through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals
in South Africa, it is now the waiting game to see who will join
them.
Shocks are already on the horizon, particularly in the south
America group, where Argentina, coached by one of the greatest
football talents ever seem, Diego Maradona, have slid to a
fourth defeat in five games and at this juncture they are out of
the qualification zone.
So far the 10 teams worldwide to have qualified so far are:
EUROPE – Spain, England, Holland.
AFRICA – S Africa, Ghana
ASIA – Australia, S Korea, N Korea
S AMERICA – Brazil, Paraguay.
These will almost certainly be joined by New Zealand, Ivory
Coast, Algeria, Slovakia and Italy, but all other teams who are
close to qualifying still must fight on to get through.
As far as the betting is concerned it is Euro 2008 Champions,
Spain and five time World Cup winners Brazil who dispute
favouritism, with England the third favourites. Surprisingly,
the Bookmakers remain confident about Argentina’s chances of
qualifying and list them at around the 10/1 mark to win. Germany
are around the 11/1 mark, while Holland, who looked every bit as
impressive as Spain and England in qualifying are around 12/1,
along with World Champions, Italy.
In all, 32 teams will be in South Africa in June 2010 and they
will play from 11 June through until the final on 11 July.
It seems ironic that the two best players in the world,
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may not be there. Ronaldo
plays for Portugal of course and they are struggling to qualify
from European Qualifying Group One, where they currently lie in
third place on 12 points behind Denmark (18) and Sweden (15).
They have two remaining games which they must win to have any
chance. Those games fortunately for them are both at home,
against Hungary and then against the Group’s whipping boys,
Malta but they must still overcome the Play offs.
Messi, who was the star of the Champions League last season,
finds himself playing in an Argentina side, short of guidance
and confidence. They currently lie fifth place on 22 points and
to qualify they must be in the top four. With Brazil and
Paraguay already qualified, Argentina must overhaul the two
other teams above them, Ecuador on 23 points and Chile on 37
points. Each team has two games left to play, with Argentina
talking on bottom side Peru next and having to round things off
against one of their deadliest of rivals, Uruguay in Montevideo.
Ecuador must also play Uruguay and then Chile, who may well be
by then already qualified.
As far as winning in South Africa goes the betting is likely to
be very near the mark, with Spain having the pedigree to win the
World cup for the first time in their history. Brazil and
England are both good enough to make the final, but apart from
the Dutch and the Italians, there seems little chance for the
rest. History suggests that the bookmaker rarely get it wrong
when it comes to World Cup betting, with all abr one the winners
coming from the top five teams in bookies lists. Only France
defied that trend when winning the competition as host nation in
1998.
About the Author: Read more about the World Cup in South Africa
from the author including previews on all the leading
contenders, including the latest England odds at his website
http://www.englandbettingodds.com.
Source: http://www.isnare.com
With England safely through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals
in South Africa, it is now the waiting game to see who will join
them.
Shocks are already on the horizon, particularly in the south
America group, where Argentina, coached by one of the greatest
football talents ever seem, Diego Maradona, have slid to a
fourth defeat in five games and at this juncture they are out of
the qualification zone.
So far the 10 teams worldwide to have qualified so far are:
EUROPE – Spain, England, Holland.
AFRICA – S Africa, Ghana
ASIA – Australia, S Korea, N Korea
S AMERICA – Brazil, Paraguay.
These will almost certainly be joined by New Zealand, Ivory
Coast, Algeria, Slovakia and Italy, but all other teams who are
close to qualifying still must fight on to get through.
As far as the betting is concerned it is Euro 2008 Champions,
Spain and five time World Cup winners Brazil who dispute
favouritism, with England the third favourites. Surprisingly,
the Bookmakers remain confident about Argentina’s chances of
qualifying and list them at around the 10/1 mark to win. Germany
are around the 11/1 mark, while Holland, who looked every bit as
impressive as Spain and England in qualifying are around 12/1,
along with World Champions, Italy.
In all, 32 teams will be in South Africa in June 2010 and they
will play from 11 June through until the final on 11 July.
It seems ironic that the two best players in the world,
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may not be there. Ronaldo
plays for Portugal of course and they are struggling to qualify
from European Qualifying Group One, where they currently lie in
third place on 12 points behind Denmark (18) and Sweden (15).
They have two remaining games which they must win to have any
chance. Those games fortunately for them are both at home,
against Hungary and then against the Group’s whipping boys,
Malta but they must still overcome the Play offs.
Messi, who was the star of the Champions League last season,
finds himself playing in an Argentina side, short of guidance
and confidence. They currently lie fifth place on 22 points and
to qualify they must be in the top four. With Brazil and
Paraguay already qualified, Argentina must overhaul the two
other teams above them, Ecuador on 23 points and Chile on 37
points. Each team has two games left to play, with Argentina
talking on bottom side Peru next and having to round things off
against one of their deadliest of rivals, Uruguay in Montevideo.
Ecuador must also play Uruguay and then Chile, who may well be
by then already qualified.
As far as winning in South Africa goes the betting is likely to
be very near the mark, with Spain having the pedigree to win the
World cup for the first time in their history. Brazil and
England are both good enough to make the final, but apart from
the Dutch and the Italians, there seems little chance for the
rest. History suggests that the bookmaker rarely get it wrong
when it comes to World Cup betting, with all abr one the winners
coming from the top five teams in bookies lists. Only France
defied that trend when winning the competition as host nation in
1998.
About the Author: Read more about the World Cup in South Africa
from the author including previews on all the leading
contenders, including the latest England odds at his website
http://www.englandbettingodds.com.
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Premiership Football - Managers Under Pressure to Deliver
By: Damien Cronley
Football is a result based business and that is especially true in the premiership. The league has become popular all over the world and the revenue it generates has gone through the roof. It is no surprise that the expectations of supporters as well as boardroom members have been raised in the same way.
Because so much revenue is at stake in premiership football managers are coming under increasing pressure to deliver. Many managers of varying levels of experience have been sacked or have parted company with their club by mutual consent. In most cases this is down to one thing and that is usually because of a poor run of results.
For a long time, it was the football supporters who would demand the head of a manager if they were not happy with the team's results. While this is still the case, we have also seen more football club chairmen begin to adopt a ruthless approach when it comes to wielding the axe.
Whenever a premiership manager loses his job there is no shortage of critics who speak out in defence of the person concerned. They also criticise the sacking itself and call for managers to be given more time to finish the job they have started. The critics have a point but football club chairmen and the fans only have a limited supply of patience and once that is exhausted the manager is living on borrowed time.
Alex Ferguson is the classic example of a boss who was given plenty of time to build a successful football team. It took nearly four years for him to win a trophy and many fans were initially unimpressed. Under his guidance Manchester United went on to dominate English football and secured a famous treble winning the Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League.
Chairmen have to decide carefully the best time to dispense with a manger and bring a new man into the club. The halfway point of the domestic season is sometimes a popular choice. This is because it gives the new manager ample time to work with the players at his disposal. It also allows new players to be signed to strengthen the squad and transform both form and results.
Because premiership football is so popular, managers will always be under pressure to deliver results. Clubs are run like companies these days and poor performance is not rewarded. The responsibility usually stops with the manager if success is not forthcoming. If a team is not performing on the field and losing matches, the manager ends up losing his job.
The author contributes to the English Football Blog website. This is a popular [http://www.englishfootballblog.com]Football News Blog that provides soccer news and comment. It covers the premiership and English football in general. He also contributes to the Soccer Wealth website. This is a [http://www.soccerwealth.com]Soccer Betting Predictions service that offers profitable football betting predictions, tips and advice. Information is provided on domestic, European and international matches.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com
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