World Cup 2010 - Analysis and Predictions

By : Jimmy Tong

Historical Fact

Based on historical data, no team from Europe has ever lifted the World Cup outside Europe. A country from the host continent eventually won every single World Cup except for Brazil in 1958 when they won in Sweden. When the first World Cup on Asian soil was held in 2002 in Korea and Japan, the eventual winner was not an Asian country but Brazil again. Asian countries were not ready to win yet, although S. Korea came close. These are the historical facts of the World Cup for the past 100 plus years. Eight years on, do you think an African country is actually ready to lift the World Cup on their home soil? Foolhardy are the ones who bet against history.

Our approach will be to bet on a South American country to lift the World Cup again outside of Europe, with some money put into an African country to do a first in history.

Analysis of Teams

Brazil has been winning too often and their odds are pretty low at 4.5, but still good. Some money must go to them.

Argentina is the dark horse. Not many people give them a chance because they have a certain eccentric Diego Maradona at their helm. They do have wonderfully talented players at their disposal and I just have this feeling that they will make all their critics eat their words by bonding together despite all their unwanted attention on Diego. Reminds me a bit of Italy at the last World Cup. The Italians had lots of trouble with team spirit, someone dying and so on. But they managed to use that as a bonding tool to get the team together to play effective football to win the World Cup.

England, as usual is over rated. Fabio Capello will only get them so far. History will not be kind to this talented lot of players. Gerard, Rooney, Lampard, Terry will have a good World Cup, but only up to the Semis again. I have a strange feeling that they will go out on penalties again. Guess who will miss the crucial spot kick?

My, famed Portugal will go out in round one this time. Too bad they are in the group of Death. They are too dependent on Ronaldo. I am afraid Carlos is not a Scolari this time round. Anyway, apart from Ronaldo, the other players are all mediocre.

I like the African teams. This World Cup might just be their one. Over the past World Cups they have shown the world that they are talented, skillful and capable of upsetting the best. Remember Roger Milla and the Indomitable Lions. Now with more high profile players in Europe and more importantly, with better technical coaches hired, and on their home soil, this could be the World Cup that new grounds are broken. The first African Nation to lift the World Cup on home soil? It will not be South Africa, not with Piennar type of players. The real caliber players are with Ivory Coast and even Ghana. Players like Drogba, Toure, Kalou, Essien are great players with great experience. They might just take the next great leap for African players.

As for Asian teams, I think they have had their go. It is neither their time nor place to bring in another great performance this time round. Teams underestimated their abilities in 2002. They won't make the same mistakes again.

Spain. Sigh.... They have the lowest odds. Though talented, they will come up short against the South Americans. Winning the European Championship is one thing. Winning the World Cup against Brazil and Argentina is another. Furthermore, they are not in Europe. Good luck to them.

Germany and Italy? Their era is over. Look at their leagues at the moment. Hard to imagine them coming out with winners away from Europe.

Group Winners and Runners-Up Proposal (1 denotes group winner, 2 denotes runners-up)
(Refer to http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/standings/index.html for Groupings)

A1 - France
A2 - Uruguay
B1 - Argentina
B2 - Nigeria
C1 - England
C2 - Algeria
D1 - Germany
D2 - Ghana
E1 - Holland
E2 - Cameroon
F1 - Italy
F2 - Paraguay
G1 - Brazil
G2 - Ivory Coast
H1 - Spain
H2 - Chile

Playoffs Proposal (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/kostage.html)

Second Round Fixtures Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final/3rd-4th

France v Nigeria Nigeria Ghana
England v Ghana Ghana

Holland v Paraguay Holland Brazil
Brazil v Chile Brazil

Germany v Algeria Germany Argentina
Argentina v Uruguay Argentina

Italy v Cameroon Italy Ivory Coast
Spain v Ivory Coast Ivory Coast

Jimmy Tong has been a Physical Educator for 13 Years in Singapore, with degree in sports science and physical education from Loughborough University in UK. He has extensive coaching experience in soccer, floorball and rugby teams in Singapore Schools.He is currently a sports development officer in Singapore schools as well as an active contributor of sports training articles to improve sports performance in athletes. For more information on achieving Peak Performance in Sports, visit the following site at http://esportspeaks.blogspot.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jimmy_Tong

World Cup 2010 - The Major Sporting Event of the Year

By : Ivaylo Yordanov

This is going to take place in South Africa in the summer of 2010. The participating teams are determined by the qualifying matches that has been held on each continent between the time periods of august 2007 to November 2009. As the time left for the world cup is decreasing day by day so the preparations for the world cup are in the final stages. We will mention here some of the news related to this event.

South Africa grabbed the luck to be the seat for World Cup 2010. The ceremony will be launched on June/July 2010. These sports and events takes place all around ten stadiums and cities comprising the Cape Town. The stadiums have been sketched and the building has been started. In fact, the tickets are for sale on the various venues put up on the website.

The qualifications are now over and the teams which will compete on the finals are: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and United States of America.

There are many reasons why this football championship will tend to be success this time in the country. South African seashores put forward dirt free waters, fair shores and security nets. SA is reputed for its marvelous wines. A trip to South Africa is not whole devoid of chipping in the grandiose mountain collections.

Of course the unspoiled nature of South Africa is also of huge interest for those who will visit the World Football Championship in 2010 and will be able to combine the sporting entertainment with some great trips across this unique continent.

You will never have to worry about food in in the host country; the tastes are appealing to any people from whichever part of the world. Surprising games and expedition screening with trips are obtainable on ease. There are lots more that you can enjoy even after the matches days. Make it now or never!!!

STADIUM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE EVENT: The inspection tour that consists of about 50 operational experts from FIFA and members of the local organizing committee visited South Africa in the month of October to inspect the progress of the stadiums made for the world cup. This committee visited all the five stadiums that are being built for the world cup. This team is very satisfied with the progress. The stadiums are now complete. In most of the stadiums the work left includes laying of grass, getting the seats in and stadium precincts.

BUYING TICKETS FOR WORLD CUP 2010: it has been discovered that there are about 100 false websites that are selling tickets of world cup. These websites have duped thousands of football lovers as they are thinking that they have got the tickets when actually they have not. There are only a dozen of genuine websites that are selling tickets for the world cup, starting with FIFA.com and there are only a few companies that are authorized to sell packages to South Africa. So be careful before purchasing the tickets. We can recommend you the site below specialized and created exclusively for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Ivaylo Yordanov is the author and can provide you with additional information about trips to South Africa and the World Cup 2010. Also, more information is available at World Cup 2010 Tickets and South Africa 2010 Tickets.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ivaylo_Yordanov