I’m afraid that today you will have to indulge me. I am in one of those moods and need to get this off my chest. I have no doubt that some of you may disagree vehemently with my point of view but hey, that’s your prerogative.

Earlier this week I was listening to a radio show where the merits of implementing a ”rent a cop” initiative were being discussed. A number of people were in support of this initiative but then the inevitable complaining began. Some common themes:

1.       we are already paying tax, why should we be paying extra for this

2.       rich neighbourhoods who can afford cops will be better off than poor neighbourhoods who cannot

3.       cops would prefer to work in a leafy suburb rather than in an informal settlement

4.       Security companies would be negatively impacted! This one really got me going!

Can you see the logic in these views? Do they make sense? In all honesty probably yes! Perfectly good reasons for NOT doing something like this. however, here you have what sounds like a good idea being shot down before it even gets to the drawing board and THAT’S my gripe!

for some reason south africans have not been blessed with a large portion of optimism. perhaps we are so longing for the “good old days” that we can’t seem to make peace with the fact that we are living in the here and now.

Our first reaction is to shoot everything down, complain about everything and much more than that, we actually hope in earnest that we are right. Why? So we can say “I told you so” and then bemoan our pitiful, unfair existence…

I have an appreciation for the huge challenges we face in this country: crime, poverty, violence, education or lack thereof. I get as upset as the next guy when I watch Carte Blanche (which I don’t watch anymore, but more on that later) and see an innocent girl in the prime of her life describing how she lost the use of her legs as the result of a robbery. I get as upset as everyone else when my house is broken into; I get into bed at night and sometimes wonder if I will be awoken by someone next to my bed pointing a gun at my head. I don’t profess to have an answer for the person who has to deal with the aftermath of these experiences and wouldn’t dare to try and convince them that their lives are not impacted hugely by such incidents and that everything is going to be allright. I even have understanding for people who decide to pack up and move abroad.

What I will not do however is walk around, day by day, complaining about anything and everything? Have you noticed how easily it is to start a conversation about the state of the country with someone you don’t know from a bar of soap? Someone came to install blinds at our house the other day and while he was hanging around waiting to be paid (my wife was on her way with the money), and before long the inevitable occurred. I’m talking “no skaam” on his part! He had no idea what my affiliations were and yet due to the fact that I fit into a certain demographic assumed that I would share his enthusiasm for knocking the order of the day!

Getting back to my previous point. here’s a perfectly logical suggestion to combat crime and someone has the cheek to phone in and say you cant do it because it will cost me money. So what do we do now? according to this chump nothing so his security company can continue to post reasonable profits!

You may argue that jobs will be lost. sure, but what stops the so called security officer from joining the police and getting paid by the neighbourhood he will be working in and actually doing something to PREVENT a crime rather than sitting around at the Caltex waiting for an alarm to go off only to get there after all the action went down in any event?

Related to this, I was privileged enough to recently attend a presentation on the 2010 world cup. I was really impressed and actually quite moved by the presentation. Thinking that our little country here at the bottom end of africa will be hosting the best teams in the world! We were not even out the auditorium yet before the negative comments started! Living in Cape Town is also quite a treat, all I do for fun is turn on the radio and listen to people complain about the most trivial rubbish I have ever heard in my life! C’mon people, Rome is burning. Let’s get real here.

As I mentioned we are not blessed with much positivity as a nation and my feeling is that inwardly people hope that all the plans/suggestions they sooo detest and question actually fail. There is furthermore a tendency in this country to grab onto people’s shoelaces in order to draaaaaag them down to our level as soon as they rise above the rest of us and achieve success!

Why is our first reaction to poke holes in everything? My view - it’s easier than to actually DO something or support something that may make a difference! More and more I am starting to think that people would prefer society to fall into total anarchy so that they at least will have something to complain about!  

And the media’s role in all this, what do you think they will show you/tell you? The good news? Nobody cares about the good news! They will continue to only give us the bad news. The reason why? It sells, and secondly, it sells. This does nothing for the national psyche however! Constant bad news everyday, all day. We are being brainwashed!

Is it a 1st world thing? my point is if you have a place where everything works surely then you would have nothing left to do but complain about crap! Are we a 1st world country? I very much doubt that, a number of people are struggling to make ends meet due to the sub-prime mess; sure, do they live in squatter camps? Do they have running water? Is their bedroom actually that? A different room to the rest of the house?

People in luxury cars cannot sit in the padded, leather upholstered, climate controlled comfort they paid hundreds of thousands of rands for and enjoy the ride. No, they would rather get themselves worked up to the point of heart failure and complain about the taxis. Have you ever been on an island holiday, or China or South America? Those guys make our taxi drivers look like pre-schoolers! Now imagine being in the taxi with 16 other people sitting on top of each other trying to make your way home. would you not want to get there as quickly as possible?

Have you ever gotten up at 4.30 in the morning to make a flight somewhere? What did you feel like by 3 in the afternoon? Imagine doing that every day, taking 2 different modes of transport and then still be suspected to perform at your peak with a smile on your face!

All I’m saying is count your blessings! Stop complaining and actually get involved if you would like something to change. Sitting next to the braai fire and complaining to your mates does not constitute changing the world. Guess what? Everything will stay the same until you actually get off your middle class behind and do it yourself! if you are not prepared to make a contribution yourself, shut your mouth and stop making it unpleasant for the rest of us…

Live in the moment, the here and now. there are people around you who love you (and some who don’t), notice them. Smile more, you may just live longer!

xiron

Cox has reached an agreement with GolTV to carry the 24/7 soccer channel in its Greater Louisiana’s digital tier on channel 288 in the Baton Rouge and Acadiana markets. Spanish subscribers can watch following soccer programming on GolTV
Cox To Carry GolTV

A couple of weeks back during his 2010 preparation inspection visit, Sepp Blatter grumbled about the lack of visible marketing or advertising for the World Cup (and the Confederations Cup in 2009) - see here. 

One great way of advertising the event in South Africa would be for SAA (South African Airways) to paint the 2010 logo on the tail fins of their aircraft.  A row of brightly coloured logo-emblazoned aircraft sitting at Heathrow, Frankfurt, New York and other big cities would be great advertising - for the 2010 World Cup and SAA.

The national carrier has better move quick though.  Virgin or British Airways are bound to do something similar soon - there was a similar (albeit less prominent) marketing coup when BA became the carrier for the Springbok rugby team; much to SAA’s annoyance.

Managing an international team alone may get quite boring. Lucky enough I got my Saints by my side. Anyway, managing an international team is totally different. In my case, Ivory Coast was a total different team from the Saints. They got brilliant players but very shallow national talent pool. Still, I was glad that there wasn’t a single injury with my team, only before the world cup.

Ivory Coast were drawn with teams of Netherlands (My favourite international team), Belgium and Colombia. First game was with Netherlands. They scored first through Van Persie. Drogba fought back and scored. Then after that, Dirk Kuyt got sent off for his elbow tackle. From there, we went to hyper mode. Drogba gotten his second and third and eventually Ivory Coast gotten four! Brilliant win by Ivory Coast. The other two games was only draws but good enough to finish tops of the group!

Then, we were drawn with England in the second round. I was hoping to win them after knowing what IC can do. Anyway, I was also hoping that England will be jinxed with the penalty curse. But I was totally wrong. Even though England dominated about 60% of the match, they couldn’t score. IC got some great chance but goes begging. Then it all falls to the penalties. All went in except one. Emerse Fae ballooned his shot and England won the game. CURSE THOSE LITTLE ******! Fans were amazed that IC have gotten to the second round but were disappointed that they lost to England. Lucky chaps.

While waiting for my treasure chest to arrive, I am managing Ivory Coast through the 2010 World Cup. I used VMs latest tactic. It’s been long since I used that since I tried experimenting my own with the Saints. So, the first match was against Holland which was favourites to win it. IC has brilliant players but the Goalkeeper is at a Ligue 2 standard but still quite useful since the defense is solid! Anyway, I fielded players like Kalou, Eboue, Toure and obviously, Didier Drogba a.k.a Deadly Drog. We were playing quite good in the first half. Persie scored first in the first quater. Then the turn-around happen, Kuyt got red-carded for elbowing Toure. From then, IV dominated the game. Drogba scored 3 including one very delicious shot from 25 yards out and there was another goal from another IV player. So, it ended 4-1 in favour IV! First win of my International campaign. Anyway I gonna just update on my international campaign and leave my transfers until the start of the EPL season.

Sorry about the no pics. Didn’t have time to do so X:

P.S For FM 2009, I’ve been thinking to go to France. Try something new. Metz is on my mind right now but lets just have a poll. The result will be a secret. Hehe.

]]> http://secureyourseat.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/england-tickets-england-football-tickets/ Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:56:21 +0000 secureyourseat http://secureyourseat.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/england-tickets-england-football-tickets/

England Tickets & England Football Tickets

Did you ever fancy watching England play live at Wembley stadium? Well now this is possible as tickets are available for all of their Wembley fixtures. The atmosphere at the new Wembley stadium is simply fantastic! The stadia has been constructed such that the sound created by the fans is bounced around the stadium, giving you the feeling that the noise made by the crowd is almost deafening!

England v Ukraine Tickets - England v Croatia Tickets - England v Andorra Tickets

SecureYourSeat.com are able to offer you tickets for every Wembley fixture. Simply choose from the matches listed below and click on the “Buy Now” button. This will take you to the relevent page from where you can purcase your required tickets. 

Please select your England Tickets below: 

Date:	England Tickets:	Buy Now:
1st Apr 2009	England v Ukraine Tickets
10th Jun 2009	England v Andorra Tickets
9th Sep 2009	England v Croatia Tickets
14th Oct 2009	England v Belarus Tickets

Royals Partying - UK, London, October 15, 2008.

For more : click here (Prince William pictures gallery) here, here , here (Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie pictures galleries) and here (article).

The Princess Grace Awards Gala 2008.

For more pictures, click here.

 or here (for viewing only Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock pictures).

2010 World Cup - Belgium, Brussels, October 15, 2008.

Belgium's Crown Prince Philippe arrives to attend the 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match between Belgium and Spain at the King Baudouin Stadium

Praemium Imperiale 2008 awards laureates, Russian sculptors, Emilia, left, and Ilya Kabakov, smile after being awarded the medal by Prince Hitachi during the awarding ceremony in Tokyo Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. The Kabakovs were among six winners of the 2008 Prince Takamatsu Memorial World Culture Award, or the Praemium Imperiale. for their lifetime achievements, given by the Japan Art Association in fields not covered by the Nobel Prizes.

More pictures here.

Planeta literature award - Spain, Barcelona, October 15, 2008.

Spanish philosopher Fernando Savater (2L) poses after winning the Planeta literature award for his book "La hermandad de la buena suerte" next to finalist Spanishr writer Angela Vallvey (2R), Spanish Princess Cristina (L) and President of Planeta award group Jose Manuel Lara (R) in Barcelona, on October 15, 2008.

SecureYourSeat’s Player Ratings: England v Belarus

DAVID JAMES: A couple of early worrying moments will do very little to silence his critics. Had no real chance of stopping the goal and had little else to do throughout the match.  Rating: 5

WES BROWN: Will also have to do more to convince supporters he is Gary Neville’s protege. He Seemed to avoid the ball when the cross came over for Belarus’ goal and looked shakey and vulnerable at times.  Rating: 5

RIO FERDINAND: A good solid performance by Rio who tonight enjoyed the role of England’s stand-in captain. Always first to the ball and commanded the back four very well.  Rating: 7

MATTHEW UPSON: Very nervous display from the Hammers defender. Continuously  late in  with his tackles and he appeared nowhere near as comfortable on the ball as Rio.  Rating: 5

WAYNE BRIDGE: Caught napping at the back for the Belarus goal and seemed reluctant to go forward in the first half. He seemed to improve in the second half but needs more England caps from competetive matches under his belt to enable him to build on his confidence.  Rating: 5

GARETH BARRY: Struggled to take control in the first half but seemed to gain confidence in the second period after adopting his more defensive role.  Rating: 6

STEVEN GERRARD: No evidence of the lack of self confidence that he expressed earlier in the week. His top-class opener was the type of goal we are used to seeing from him for his club. Very unlucky not to get a second late on in the match, after a superb run which resulted in Gerrard hitting the woodwork.  Rating: 8

FRANK LAMPARD: Efficient without being outstanding. Did what was required of him, but didn’t offer the crowd anything to rise to their feet about. Lacking the usual Lampard flair which is so often seen at Stamford Bridge.  Rating: 6

THEO WALCOTT: (Replaced by Sean Wright-Phillips, 67) Seemed to be a little over-used during the first half due to the lack of width down the left hand side. Was threatening at times but was poor when tracking back to defend. Could have done more to prevent the Belarus goal.  Rating: 6

WAYNE ROONEY: (Replaced by David Beckham, 87) One of his best performances in an England shirt. His clever foot-word set Gerrard up for the opener and a superby finish gave England their second. His finish for England’s third was simply world-class!  Rating: 9

EMILE HESKEY: (Replaced by Peter Crouch, 69) A trademark Heskey performance. Was first to almost every header and was fantastic at holding the ball up. He used his power to with amazing effect to battle his way past the Belarus defence and cross the ball in for England’s second goal.  Rating: 8

Substitutes:

SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: (On for Theo Walcott, 67): Made a few decent runs down the wing after coming on. Didn’t have much time to show his trickery.  Rating: 6

PETER CROUCH: (On for Emile Heskey, 69): Done well in taking over Heskey’s role,  however couldn’t impress too much in what was a very limited time on the pitch.  Rating: 6

DAVID BECKHAM: (On for Wayne Rooney, 87): Only a few minutes on the pitch. Little time to impress.  Rating: 6

Overall Performance:

England seem to have a very good chance of qualifying for the 2010 World cup. They brushed aside a Belarus team who have managed to cause some serious upsets against solid opposition in recent years.

England Tickets

England still have a long way to go though, with games against Croatia, Andorra and the Ukraine still to be played. Should you wish to “feel the atmosphere and smell the grass” at Englands next football match, England tickets are available to purchase by simply clicking on one of the following links:

England v Ukraine Tickets

England v Andorra Tickets

England v Croatia Tickets

SecureYourSeat.com also have England tickets available for all of Englands away fixtures. For further information on England football tickets, please call the SecureYourSeat.com team on 08708 032 320.

England tickets & England football tickets are always readily available at SecureYourSeat.com. So secure your seat at Wembley Stadium now and book the England tickets of your choice @ SecureYourSeat.com your 120% safe & secure online football ticketing specialist!

I went on a tour of the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban a couple of weeks ago.  Here are the pictures.  An interesting statistic that stood out from the tour was regarding safety on the construction site: there has been only one injury since construction began in mid-2007!

• FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he danced for joy after arriving in South Africa to check on preparations for the 2010 World Cup.

Glossing over concerns about delays, rising costs, rampant crime and lack of transportation, Blatter visited Cape Town’s new “jewel” of a stadium Monday. The project has been beset by political wrangling but now is slightly ahead of schedule.

He was less flattering about the national soccer team, which failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, seems likely to miss the 2010 African Nations Cup and has lost all five matches — including against lowly Guinea — since June.

Blatter said South Africa should have taken advantage of the four years since it was awarded the tournament to build up a strong team.

“In 1996 they were African Champions … and where are they now? It’s incredible and I cannot understand that,” he said. “Do something; move it.”

Blatter said he would raise his concerns with the South African Football Association on Tuesday, when he tours the venue for the opening and final match at Johannesburg’s Soccer City and meets anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, whose lobbying helped bring the tournament to South Africa.

Blatter stressed his trip was a courtesy visit rather than an official inspection. He played down fears that the ongoing turmoil in South Africa’s ruling party, pitting incumbent President Thabo Mbeki against likely successor Jacob Zuma, could have repercussions for the World Cup if key ministers involved in the preparation are dismissed.

“We are absolutely not concerned about the internal political problems in South Africa,” Blatter said. “We are going to organize and deliver this World Cup and it will be a great, great event.”

For Blatter, the success of the 2010 tournament has become a personal crusade. He hopes it will create a legacy benefiting millions on the continent.

“When I left the plane and arrived on African soil, I started dancing,” the 72-year-old Swiss said during a news conference with Mbeki on Sunday.

He may need to muster his nimblest footwork to avoid the many obstacles that loom. At the top of the list is public transit, or the lack of it.

The government has set aside $1.7 billion to improve rail and road links in venue cities. Organizers hope the much-vaunted and hugely expensive Gautrain connecting Johannesburg’s international airport with the city center will be ready in time, but there is nothing similar planned for either Cape Town or Durban.

In an interview with a local radio program, FIFA general-secretary Jerome Valcke gave reassurances about the government’s ability to rein in violent crime in a country where more than 50 people are killed each day, often for as little as a cell phone.

“I am not so much concerned by security today. I think we are going the right way,” he said, adding it was impossible to be 100 percent safe even in cities like Paris and Zurich. He said local organizers were working closely with Interpol and foreign police and security forces to keep out hooligans.

The government plans to increase police to 190,000 by the time of the tournament, and he notes that such major events like the rugby and cricket world cups were held without serious incident. Police and the armed forces have staged high-profile dress rehearsals to prove they can protect South Africa’s skies and seas from potential attack.

So far, less than half the 55,000 rooms needed for visitors have been secured. FIFA plans to step up marketing to persuade hotel and guest house owners to sign up.

South Africa has 80,000 graded rooms — more than enough to satisfy FIFA, according to government figures. Although there is plenty of accommodation in tourist centers like Cape Town and Durban and the economic hub of Johannesburg, rooms may be hard to find in more outlying areas like Polokwane.

Earlier concerns about the speed of stadium construction have eased. The stadium in the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth will not be ready for the 2009 Confederations Cup but should be ready for 2010.

Work is ahead slightly ahead of schedule at Durban’s semifinal venue, and at the two stadiums in Johannesburg. Valcke said that even Beijing’s Bird Nest Olympic stadium looked small compared to Soccer City. Even Cape Town’s $490 million stadium — the most controversial because it is in the middle of prime real estate — is on track.

Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille said the 68,000-seat stadium, the site of one semifinal, would be the “world’s most spectacular stadium in the world’s most spectacular city.”

The big unknown remains the weather, given that it will be winter. Temperatures are near freezing at night in Johannesburg. Gales and torrential rain are buffeting Cape Town, and even balmy Durban feels distinctly chilly. Valcke conceded it would be a challenge to persuade supporters to stay and celebrate in frigid fan parks at night.

South Africa’s last white president, F.W. de Klerk, joined Blatter’s entourage on a wet, windy day to visit the muddy Cape Town stadium site. De Klerk, who helped steer in multiracial democracy in 2004, said the nation was united behind the success of the World Cup.

“All of us want 2010 to recapture the spirit of 1994 when we launched the new South Africa,” he said.

Greece defeated Moldova yesterday to maintain their unbeaten status on 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Full report here.

Making Kyrgiakos captain was not enough to limit the damage when playing the red team away, so now we’ve slipped to sixth.  We’ll have to wait another week to move back up though, since World Cup 2010 qualifiers return this weekend.

Speaking of which, former AEK star Lyberopoulos is trying to rally the fans behind the national team by reminding us that the match again Moldova Saturday will be tough.  Coming off our bruising humiliation this past summer at Euro 2008, this seems like a much more sober approach to the match and the state of Greek soccer than UEFA’s latest puff piece.  UEFA claims Greece are the only country to have won both of their opening qualifiers and that the squad seems recovered from the humiliation of Euro 2008.

Look, we’ve got a decent squad, not question.  But our first two matches were against Luxembourg and Latvia for goodness sake.  I’m quite sure no other country had two such easy fixtures for their first matches.  It proves nothing then.  Worse, hype articles like this one obscure the fact that we need Otto to make some serious changes to the squad before the actual World Cup.  As Amanatides stated after Euro 2008, we need to play faster, more attacking-oriented football.  To do this, we need to call up more of the youngsters, like Ninis and Papastathopoulos, and offload some of the older statesmen who have served their country well but whose bodies are breaking down and are in no shape for a major international tournament against the world’s finest players.

Anyway, if our match against Moldova tomorrow is not being shown in your area, you can watch it here: http://www.videosport.com/qualifiers2010/tarifs.php?s5muid=3398

On Saturday England will line up at Wembley against that extremely famous football team… er that’s not-so famous footballing nation of Kazakhstan. This 2010 World Cup Qualifier against the mid-asian country shouldn’t be too much of a struggle for England. But, 7 years ago, England beat Germany 5-1. They then preceded to lose their way and struggle for the next seven years. A couple of months ago Capello watched England beat a very strong Croatian side, who had never lost at home in the 16 years they had been a nation, 4-1. Hopefully we won’t have another seven years like the years after beating Germany 5-1.

Personally I don’t think England will struggle against Kazakhstan - it should be a stroll in the park, and a comfortable win for them.

Prediction: England win.

And here’s how succesfull I was last week with my last set of predictions:

Sunderland v Arsenal

Prediction: Arsenal win Result: Draw

West Brom v Fulham

Prediction: West Brom win Result: West Brom win

Wigan Athletic v Middlesbrough

Prediction: Wigan win Result: Middlesbrough win

Blackburn v Manchester United

Prediction: Manchester United win Result: Manchester United win

West Ham v Bolton

Prediction: West Ham win Result: Bolton win

Tottenham v Hull

Prediction: Hull win Result: Hull win

Portsmouth v Stoke

Prediction: Portsmouth win Result: Portsmouth win

Manchester City v Liverpool

Prediction: Manchester City win Result: Liverpool win

Chelsea v Aston Villa

Prediction: Chelsea win Result: Chelsea win

Everton v Newcastle

Prediction: Everton win Result: Draw

Overall score: 5 out of 10

Finland’s U21 team has a chance of achieving what would be the best achievement in Finnish football so far as they play Austria twice. The winner of the tie will qualify for the U21 European Championships to be held in Sweden next year.

Markku Kanerva is unlikely to change his team compared to the group stage of the qualification. Petri Viljanen of FC Haka was recalled following an injury and FC Inter’s Timo Furuholm is a new call-up. Both are unlikely to be on the starting eleven, however. Berat Sadik is missing because he was called up to the senior squad.

GOALKEEPERS
Anssi Jaakkola, AC Siena (7 / 0)
Tomi Maanoja, AIK (8 / 0)

DEFENDERS
Jukka Raitala, HJK 12 / 0)
Joni Aho, FC Inter (7 / 0)
Jonas Portin, FF Jaro (14 / 0)
Ville Jalasto, FC Honka (14 / 1)
Petri Viljanen, FC Haka (2 / 0)
Tuomo Turunen, FC Honka (12 / 1)

MIDFIELDERS AND ATTACKERS:
Tim Sparv, Halmstads BK (13 / 4)
Mehmet Hetemaj, Panionios NFC (11 / 2)
Pyry Kärkkäinen, FC Lahti (10 / 0)
Juha Hakola, FC Flora (5 / 0)
Kasper Hämäläinen, TPS (14 / 1)
Tomi Petrescu, Tampere United (7 / 2)
Mika Ojala, FC Inter (7 / 1)
Jarno Parikka, HJK (14 / 2)
Aleksandr Kokko, FC Honka (2 / 0)
Perparim Hetemaj, AEK Athens (10 / 2)
Timo Furuholm, FC Inter (0 / 0)

Austria are missing some key players, such as Erwin Hoffer (Rapid Wien) and senior team players Martin Harnik (Werder Bremen), Christian Fuchs (Bochum) and Ronald Gercaliu (Austria Wien).
Finland will face a tough challenge, as Austria won their qualification group with nine points to spare and became the first team to confirm their play-off spot. Finland are in great form, however, and the players have played with each other enough to know how they should play.

The first game will be played in Pasching, Austria on Friday at 6 PM local time. The decisive game will take place in Turku on Tuesday, starting at 7 PM Finnish time.

At the same time, Stuart Baxter’s national team is preparing for Saturday’s game against Azerbaijan in Helsinki and next Wednesday’s encounter with Russia in Moscow.

Naturally, the Azerbaijan game is all about the win. Everyone remembers the defeat Finland succumbed to in Baku when qualifying for the 2008 European Championships. It wasn’t clear back then, but the extra three points would have seen Finland qualify. Hopefully, the lesson is learned and Finland won’t drop points when they should win - that applies not only to the Azerbaijan games, but also to the upcoming fixtures against Wales and Liechenstein.

The situation is very different when the team takes on Russia on Wednesday. Having finished third in the European Championships, Russia are clear favourites. However, that may suit Finland, as it’s been five years since Finland lost to a top-class team in a competitive game. If Finland can produce the kind of well-disciplined and at times attacking display we saw against Germany, they have a chance of getting something from the game.

The following players have been selected:

Jussi Jääskeläinen, Bolton Wanderers
Otto Fredrikson, LIlleström SK
Veli Lampi, FC Zürich
Petri Pasanen, Werder Bremen
Toni Kuivasto, Djurgårdens IF
Sami Hyypiä, Liverpool FC
Hannu Tihinen, FC Zürich
Niklas Moisander, AZ Alkmaar
Toni Kallio, Fulham FC
Joonas Kolkka, NAC Breda
Markus Heikkinen, Rapid Wien
Teemu Tainio, Sunderland AFC
Roman Eremenko, Dynamo Kiev
Mika Väyrynen, SC Heerenveen
Jari Litmanen, FC Lahti
Daniel Sjölund, Djurgårdens IF
Roni Porokara, Örebro SK
Mikael Forssell, Hannover 96
Berat Sadik, DSC Arminia Bielefeld
Paulus Roiha, HJK
Antti Pohja, Tampere United

Needless to say, all eyes are on Mikael Forssell. Jonatan Johansson, a striker with clinical finishing, is missing, and the possible replacements can’t quite match his standards. Berat Sadik and Paulus Roiha are not national team regulars, and Antti Pohja is not Johansson’s calibre.

Once again, Alexei Eremenko jr. was left out in the cold. Baxter is not pleased at all with Eremenko jr’s efforts as far as the national team is concerned, and he has not played very much in Saturn either. Baxter has closed the issue for now, saying Eremenko jr is welcome to join the team when he gets his act together and plays regularly for his club.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has promised to give 20000 South African workers who are involved in building the World Cup stadiums two tickets each as a recognition of their efforts in helping Africa realise its dream of hosting its first ever World Cup in 2010.

South Africa wants to host the greatest World Cup ever . . .

Image: www.thefootie.com

Also, FIFA has set aside 15% of the approximately 3 million tickets for the tournament as low-priced tickets (160 ZAR / 14 EUR / 20 USD / 920 INR each) to be sold exclusively to the residents of South Africa. (The most expensive tickets for the tournament are priced at 7150 ZAR / 625 EUR / 900 USD / 41200 INR each.) These steps would go a long way in making the 2010 World Cup an inclusive one!

Sepp Blatter also handed over a replica of the trophy to Nelson Mandela during their meeting in Johannesburg. On evidence from what he had witnessed during his four-day visit, Blatter said: “I am once more convinced that the World Cup in South Africa will be a great World Cup.”

An alien Earthling hopes the first World Cup to be held in Africa will be the greatest ever sporting tournament in the history of the world! Good luck to the South African hosts!

Have a look at the beautiful host cities of the 2010 World Cup . . .

(If the video does not load, you can watch it here.)

Here are some more pictures showing progress at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.  Despite some recent windy weather, the construction of the main arch is on track and due to be completed by the end of the year.

Along with MLB races heating up, college football, and watching both vice presidential candidates shoot their respective campaigns in the foot, I haven’t had a whole helping of soccer lately. So here’s a few things I’ve been thinking about:

On the 2010 World Cup…

The most competitive group for the European region has to be Group 7. Lithuania is the surprise leader after two matches, with Serbia, Austria, France and Romania looking up. Here’s to Scotland winning Group 9 and advancing. And speaking of international play…

How much more grueling can these international schedules be? I noticed a host of superstars sitting out until the second half of their English games this weekend, including Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. This weekend I heard a commentator ask the Oregon coach if he thought the travel to Purdue threw his players out of sync. Try being American DeMarcus Beasley, who plays for the Scottish club Rangers, and cross an ocean twice a week to play in some grueling matches. Speaking of Beasley and the Americans…

Why isn’t the U.S. national team popular in its own country? Let me give you an example. I am a high school teacher and coach located near an air force base in North Carolina, so there is quite a few students who are worldly and soccer savvy. Here is a list of the soccer jerseys/t-shirts I have seen at the school: Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Italy, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chivas, Barcelona, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, AS Roma, and AC Milan. I’ve taught a few of the kids on the soccer team and they can talk at length about any of these club and national teams. If I ask about the U.S., they show no interest.

Lastly, I think we’re going to see a resurrection for England in the next World Cup. Theo Walcott, who plays for Arsenal, scored a hat trick against Andorra. He’s been hyped up for quite some time and is now just starting to mature and show ability to dominate, just not over a long period of time. He’s still very, very young and coming into his own.

On the EPL…

Caught a few minutes of the Manchester City-Chelsea game this past Saturday. Chelsea looks in top form already. Once Drogba gets back to 100% they’ll be tough to even draw with. I was able to catch a little of Robinho’s magic. He looks unbelievable with the ball in tight quarters and will be fun to watch. I don’t know if this legitimizes Manchester City as a threat to qualify for Europe though. After all, they are the EPL equivalent for the New York Mets. So is Man. City the place where potential goes to die? Speaking of Chelsea…

I don’t know why, but I love John Terry and it seems that, outside of Chelsea and England fans, he’s hated. He’s a dirty player at times but I love his passion for the game. When he crosses those lines, he’s fearless. I caught his red card for purposely pulling a player down that had nothing but green in front of him. It was near midfield and there was a defender on his way back, so the red seemed a little harsh. Even the announcers vehemently protested the call and said a yellow would have sufficed.

Liverpool has taken the first round of the North-West derby against Manchester United, 2-1. Right now Liverpool sits atop the table with Chelsea as United continues to look up with only four points. This game made me realize how homely some soccer players are. Berbatov, Carlos Tevez, Ferdinand. Even managers like Middlesbrough’s Gareth Southgate. There are some real monsters out there. I dare you to google some of these names.

I was completely wrong in my EPL predictions. But not about Chelsea winning this year or Man. United finishing below Liverpool. I should have picked Hull City to be my surprise team. I took a chance on West Brom because of their goal differential in the championship last season. Hull City is sitting pretty in fourth place. It won’t last though; they’ve played some struggling teams and their goal differential is –3. And as I look at the table, there are about nine more teams I was completely wrong about. Tottenham in dead last with only a point? That’s a lot of spent money only to be relegated.

What is with EPL teams having funky colors for away and alternate jerseys? Last year Chelsea wore a florescent yellow away jersey; now they’re in black. Manchester City has some sweet home digs with baby blue, but decided this year to go with orange for away. Why? There is no orange in their crest. Manchester United wore blue two years ago. Now those are gone and they’re back to white. This annoys me, just like when the Red Sox wear green or NBA teams decide to have a fifth uniform with a throwback color that no one remembers.

It doesn’t matter.

Canada should have won in Toronto against Jamaica.

It doesn’t matter.

Canada should have come out in droves to support the team in Montreal.

It doesn’t matter.

Canada should have beat Honduras at home.

It doesn’t matter.

Dale Mitchell isn’t cut out to coach. Stephen Hart should be coaching the team.

It doesn’t matter.

Canada have never won in Mexico.

It doesn’t matter.

The CONCACAF Refs are terrible.

It doesn’t matter.

What matters now is tonight. Leave everything behind.

90 minutes.

It’s not over.

Anything is possible.

Canada is the only team other than Mexico or the US to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Our starting 11 are some of the best, if not the best Canadian players, we’ve ever had on a soccer pitch.

We have guys who believe in each other.

We’re up against the wall.

It doesn’t matter.

It only gets tougher from here.

And if anyone can get Canada there, it’s the boys we’re fielding tonight.

Coaching, refereeing, and history aside — tonight’s the night.

Choose to win.

And make it happen.