2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Serbia will have a lot to prove in South Africa.
Serbia is in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as an independent nation for the first time. However, as Yugoslavia, they have plenty of previous World Cup experience.
The Serbians topped their qualifying group ahead of France and enjoyed a good 2009, recording nine [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Cameroon has long been tipped as the nation to bring the World Cup back to Africa for the first time in history.
Anyone taking a quick glance at the final qualifying standings could be forgiven for presuming that the Indomitable Lions’ path to the 2010 FIFA World Cup was comfortable. Following a [...]

Holland is still looking for a real test.

Holland’s qualifying group wasn’t the most testing they could have received, but a record of played eight, won eight, scored 17, conceded two shows how ruthlessly they dealt with it. They’ve been rewarded with a 2010 FIFA World Cup Group they are expected to win. Their Round of 16 draw is likely to be favorable too.

Holland had one of the most impressive qualifying records of all the teams going to South Africa. Nonetheless, this tells only half the story as they were in one of the easiest groups in the European qualifying zone, with teams like Norway, Scotland and Macedonia never likely to pose them too many problems. They topped their group with eight wins from eight matches, entering the World Cup in superb form and high spirits. Dirk Kuyt and Klass-Jan Huntelaar topped the Dutch scoring charts in qualification with 3 goals apiece.

Maarten Stekelenburg, the Ajax goalkeeper, was the man who took over the gloves following the retirement from international football of Edwin van der Sar. 27-year-old Stekelenburg only conceded two goals in qualifying and will enter the tournament full of confidence and behind a defence heavy on experience.

Giovanni van Bronckhurst has a wealth of experience and will be important to his country’s hopes, but it is PSV Eindhoven’s André Ooijer who will be charged with marshalling the defence in South Africa. Dutch defensive unit was rarely tested in qualifying and Ooijer will know that tougher times lay in wait this summer.

Wesley Sneijder was forced out of the Spanish club to…

Serbia will have a lot to prove in South Africa.

Serbia is in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as an independent nation for the first time. However, as Yugoslavia, they have plenty of previous World Cup experience.

The Serbians topped their qualifying group ahead of France and enjoyed a good 2009, recording nine wins, two losses and one draw. One of those victories came in South Africa when the White Eagles beat the World Cup hosts 3-1.

The players representing Serbia can be found in the major European leagues, including England, Spain, Italy, and Germany, which means many of them are battle-hardened from playing in continental club competitions.

They have a chance with Nemanja Vidic in defense and the giant Nikola Zigic up front, they have power throughout the side. Milan Jovanovic has a decent strike ratio for his country, and scored five times in qualifying. Raddy Antic, former Luton midfielder and boss of Barca and Real Madrid is their coach.

Captain Dejan Stankovic has been playing international football for over a decade – he made his debut in April 1998 against South Korea, scoring two goals in a 3-1 win – and he brings an experienced and calm presence to the midfield. Behind him, Manchester United’s highly-rated Nemanja Vidic takes care of the central defense.

Serbia’s national team was previously Yugoslavia, from…

Cameroon has long been tipped as the nation to bring the World Cup back to Africa for the first time in history.

Anyone taking a quick glance at the final qualifying standings could be forgiven for presuming that the Indomitable Lions’ path to the 2010 FIFA World Cup was comfortable. Following a surprise 1-0 defeat to Togo and a 0-0 stalemate with Morocco, in came Paul Le Guen, the French manager who himself has endured a less than glorious few years after unsuccessful spells at Rangers in Scotland and PSG in France.

He made an immediate impression on the Cameroon squad, stripping Rigobert Song of the captaincy in favour of Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o and leading the side to four consecutive wins to secure qualification for South Africa. Le Guen will be relishing the chance to restore his tarnished reputation this summer with one of the most fancied of all the African nations in the tournament.

Carlos Kameni, who plays his club football in Spain with RCD Espanyol, will be the man between the sticks for Cameroon. He has been a consistent performer for club and country for several years and Le Guen will have little worry about pitching him into high pressure matches.

Despite being stripped of the captaincy, Rigobert Song remains Cameroon’s most-capped player and will be hugely important as they look to keep the likes of the Netherlands at bay in the group stages. Song has bags of experience to spare in a career that has seen him enjoy stints at Liverpool, West Ham, Lens and Galatasaray. He is currently playing his football Trabzonspor and, provided he can stay fit, will be a pivotal member of the Le Guen’s squad. Followers of French football will be familiar with the name Jean II Makoun.

The Lyon midfielder’s dynamic performances since joining the…

For whatever its worth, he really really wants to.

Former England team captain David Beckham is eager to represent his country in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He got a deal with AC Milan, allowing him to stay in game shape in Italy over the next few weeks during Major League Soccer’s off-season.

England team manager Fabio Capello will decide whether or not he will name the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder to his 23-man roster for this year’s World Cup in South Africa. Capello has publicly stated that Beckham must be playing first-team soccer at the highest level in the buildup to the World Cup to even be considered for the English national team this summer.

Beckham has made a handful of appearances for AC Milan and figures to be a regular starter for the Rossoneri as they attempt to chase down city rivals Inter Milan, currently in first place in Serie A, for the Italian league championship. But will that be enough to get him a spot in the England national team?

”He is a leader and an inspiration to his teammates. Equally, he is feared and respected by all of his opponents. He’s vastly experienced on the international stage. He’s a big-game player who doesn’t get intimidated by anyone,” CBC Sports soccer commentator Nigel Reed said.

David Beckham was sent to exile when he earned a red card during…

In case you didn’t know, Beckham was back in LA.

And it was only a matter of time before David Beckham played in his first home game with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The problem is, it was against the very team he wanted to save him from MLS soccer for good, AC Milan.

Five months ago, the Los Angeles Galaxy sent David Beckham on loan to AC Milan. It turned out to be a wrong move in LA’s part since it was then when Becks realized just how much better playing for Milan is than with the Galaxy in the MLS. When Beckham pleaded the Galaxy to make his move to Europe permanent, soccer fans from Los Angeles were not happy and they made sure Beckham will know just how unhappy they were last Sunday.

Playing in his first home game with the Los Angeles Galaxy against AC Milan, David Beckham got a somewhat hostile reception. Yes, Beckham was booed the whole time he was on the pitch. Heck, the jeering got worse to the point that Beckham confronted a fan at halftime.

Yup, the frequent booing and derisive banners clearly angered Beckham. With homemade signs that have messages directed at Beckham like, ”Go home fraud” with a red slash through his no.23 jersey number, ”23: Repent,” ”Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here After You, Here Despite You,” and ”Is evil something u are… or something u do,” Beckham has every right to be pissed.

Of course, Beckham can only blame himself and his…

According to Cristiano Ronaldo, the balance of power in European football has shifted to Spain.

You read it, Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Manchester United winger, suggested that the Spanish La Liga is now THE league to be in European football and he claimed that one of the reasons was that star players enjoyed greater protection from referees in La Liga.

The Portuguese, who just set a record by singing a £80m contract with Real Madrid, made no secret of his dissatisfaction at what he perceived to be rough treatment from Premier League opponents during his six years at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager at Old Trafford, had even hinted that Ronaldo might be driven away from England if he was not better protected from bad challenges.

Ronaldo, the world footballer of the year, has switched to Real together with Kaka from Milan to play for a league that he claims will protect its stars better.

While Ronaldo may have a point in saying that the Spanish La Liga should now be superior, he knows that it isn’t just about the officiating. La Liga should now be superior because of the fact that it now has the two greatest footballers in the world too.

”The Premier League is a very good competition,” Ronaldo said, ”but I think that the Spanish league is going to have a little more…”

Yep, in case you didn’t know, he’s back in L.A. after a five-month stint with AC Milan in Italy.

And while we all know David Beckham will be there just for show, (just like any other Galaxy game that saw Beckham in uniform…) what could be interesting here is how will Beckham and London Donovan co-exist inside the Galaxy locker room. You see, Beckham was having all sorts of issues with Donovan, one of the captains of the Los Angeles Galaxy, while he was still on loan to AC Milan.

Yes, despite the fact that Beckham was miles away from Hollywood playing alongside Kaka in Italy, they STILL found a way to still talk about the guy in Los Angeles and this time, the city has MLS veteran, Landon Donovan to thank for it.

Donovan actually called Beckham a bad captain, portraying him as stingy in an upcoming book. Now I don’t know if Donovan was just pissed about the fact that Beckham wanted to stay with AC Milan for good and leave him and his Galaxy teammates with nothing but the fact of the matter is, what Donovan said in his book was uncalled for.

That’s probably why NOBODY gives a flying fuck about them or soccer in general in the…

Holy shit. Apparently, Real Madrid really wants to win.

In what has been a chaotic series of events for football fans, Real Madrid just signed the two biggest stars of the sport. After signing Kaka to a whopping €67.2 million, the entire blockbuster deal involving the Brazilian is now yesterday’s news with the club now having finalized a deal involving Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.

You read it, Real Madrid just signed Cristiano Ronaldo to a mind-boggling €80 million contract, eclipsing the deal Kaka just signed with the club. The ex-Milan ace, however, has no problems vacating the spotlight for the Portuguese and, if anything, he is looking forward to playing alongside the soon-to-be former Red Devil.

”I rejoice in the signing of Cristiano,” Kaka said when, upon touching down in Johannesburg, he was informed that his new employers had made an official bid for CR7. ”There’s no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world and he will help Real Madrid fight for every title next season.”

Kaka became the world’s second most expensive footballer following his switch to the Spanish behemoths, but he was soon demoted to the third spot on the list after Ronaldo’s mega €80 million transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid went through.

As expected, questions have already been raised about…