Can Honduras’ class give them success in South Africa?

Honduras secured a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by finishing third in Concacaf qualifying behind the United States and Mexico after four rounds of qualifying. Along the way, they topped a tricky third round group also featuring Mexico, Jamaica and Canada.

2009 was a busy year for Honduras. They played 24 matches, winning 15 of them, losing eight and drawing only one. They had particular problems with the USA, playing the Americans four times and losing all four.

The Hondurans have some real class up front, with Genoa forward David Suazo and the very experienced Carlos Pavón whose record by the end of 2009 stood at an astonishing 57 goals in 96 internationals.

In midfield, Captain Amado Guevara will be one of the most experienced players in the tournament, with over 130 caps to his name. He is also a useful goal scorer in support of the strikers. Together with Torino’s Julio Leon and Wilson Palacios of Tottenham Hotspur, Guevara gives Honduras a strong midfield.

In their only previous visit to the World Cup finals in 1982, Honduras surprised by drawing 1-1 with Spain and eventual group winners Northern Ireland before a 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia sent them out of the tournament. Once again, in 2010, they have a defense that is usually miserly and concedes on average…

The 2010 World Cup begins on Friday, June 11th as the host country South Africa takes on Mexico.

A total of 32 teams will be competing for the 2010 FIFA World Cup title with Spain and Brazil the two favorites. There have been a total of 18 World Cups in history and only seven teams have ever won the title. Four years ago it was Italy winning the World Cup as they defeated France in a penalty shootout.

There are really only five teams that are serious contenders to win this year’s World Cup. Spain is loaded with talent and they have an easy group with Switzerlands, Honduras and Chile. With players like Fernando Torres, David Villa, Xaba and Cesc Fabregas, the Spanish team has the talent to win their first World Cup betting .

The only concern for Spain is that they could face a tough round of 16 match against the second place team from Group G which should be Brazil or Portugal. Brazil is the likely winner of Group G but if they somehow slip and finish second, wouldn’t it be a huge shock to have the two favorites, Brazil and Spain playing in the round of 16?

Brazil has won the World Cup a total of five times and they are a real threat to win it again this year. They play in a tough group with Portugal and Ivory Coast but they should not have any trouble advancing to the round of 16 especially since Ivory Coast probably has no chance now that leading scorer Didier Drogba is out with an injury.

England is the third choice in the betting odds behind Spain and…

The 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11 in South Africa with a match between the host side and France.

You read it, the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in style and that doesn’t stop until July 11 with the final at Soccer City in Johannesburg.

It’s going to be a fantastic month of soccer drama and we couldn’t be more excited at Bodog’s online sportsbook.

While the 2006 World Cup in Germany was big for us, so much has changed since then, and we anticipate smashing all our previous soccer betting records in terms of handle and wagers made.

Why are we preparing for one of the busiest betting periods in our history? For starters, the popularity of soccer continues to grow in North America. I’m not talking about the MLS, but rather the following of the world’s elite leagues and players. We can thank the internet for a lot of that.

No other development has been more crucial to the spreading of the Beautiful Game’s gospel in the United States and Canada, where fans not too long ago were forced to search high and low for soccer coverage from traditional media. Now fans can get everything they need simply by logging on. Remember, four years ago YouTube was barely a year old. Think how far the Internet’s come since then in terms of things like streaming of video.

From a betting standpoint, the wagering options at Bodog have…

Can the Americans finally get some glory out of a foreign sport?

After falling just a little short of beating Canada in hockey, USA is once again trying to find some glory out of a sport that is foreign to them. This time, USA will try to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup just a few months after bowing to Canada in the Olympics. Can the Americans shock the world this time?

In spite of failing at the Group stage four years ago, team USA will look forward of at least matching their quarterfinal appearance of 2002 this year in South Africa.

If there is one thing to say about team USA, it’s that they have always been on the verge of football glory. After a stirring run to the final of last summer’s Confederations Cup, USA believe they have the firepower and confidence necessary to play with any team in the world. That experience is sure to help them in South Africa, where a favorable draw in Group C awaits. But it will be the health of two players that could take this team’s performance to the next level.

For the past few months, the eyes of American soccer fans have been on the recuperation of talented striker Charlie Davies. After sustaining an injury, Davies’ quick recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. There’s still some work to be done, but it’s still an uphill battle to be fit in time for June 11. Davies scored a goal at the Azteca in qualifying, and was a constant threat during the Confederations Cup.

Another talented soccer player for team USA is Jozy Altidore, who scored six goals in World Cup qualifying, and another in the historic upset of Spain. Altidore was also a star for the national team during the 2007 U-20 World Cup, where he scored…

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Can the El Tri continue to ride on the momentum that carried them where they are right now?

Mexico qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by finishing second in CONCACAF qualifying, just one point behind the United States. They were undefeated at home but inconsistent on the road. They won impressively in [...]

Oh yes, after 50 years, they meet again.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is almost here and South Africa is ready to take over the world as they play hosts to the biggest football tournament in the world.

As always, countries participating in the 19^th FIFA World Cup are all looking forward for a fantastic campaign. England for one, is a country still trying to dominate the sport they introduced into the world. The United States on the other hand, is still trying to stay respectable in this sport since, let’s face it, they are still not known as that good of footballers.

And as stated, England and the United States will meet on June 12. This will be their first meeting since the Americans earned a shocking win over England back in the 1950 tournament in Brazil. And since the Americans did beat England the last time they faced on this stage, you can’t blame them for being confident coming into the tournament.

”American fans are thinking we should advance out of the group, and I like that. I like how they’re thinking,” United States team captain Carlos Bocanegra said. ”We feel confident as well that this is a group we can get out of.”

After advancing to the quarterfinals in 2002, the best finish the Americans had since the initial World Cup in 1930, there were high expectation for the Americans at the 2006 tournament in Germany. But they were eliminated in the first round with losses to the Czech Republic and Ghana.

The U.S. famously upset England 1-0 in the first round of the 1950 tournament in Brazil, still considered by many as the greatest American victory in football. That makes their meeting this June one fixture football fans can’t afford to…

Can the El Tri continue to ride on the momentum that carried them where they are right now?

Mexico qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by finishing second in CONCACAF qualifying, just one point behind the United States. They were undefeated at home but inconsistent on the road. They won impressively in Costa Rica 3-0 but fell in Honduras 1-3.

In the Gold Cup, Mexico was impressive as they advanced rather easily through the group stage and defeated Haiti 4-0 in the second round. In the semifinal, they drew with a tough Costa Rican team but advanced on penalties. In a memorable final, Mexico crushed the host United States 5-0. Though the United States did not field their best players, it was still an impressive victory.

Coming to the World Cup in South Africa, Mexico is the eight-time and current CONCACAF Gold Cup champions. They also won a FIFA Confederations Cup in 1999. The Mexican team is currently ranked No.17 in the world. They have a long, storied soccer tradition and have the nickname ”El Tri.”

One of the key players team Mexico has is Giovani dos Santos. Dos Santos is an intriguing player that has been hyped for years, and his first World Cup may be the time he finally breaks out as a legitimate star. Reared in Barcelona’s youth division, he played for the senior team at the tender age of 18.

Mexico is coached by Javier Aguirre, who has been a calming presence for the team. Mexico can attack from the wings and from set pieces and can be quite dangerous offensively. The 5-3-2 formation has some tradition in Mexico and Aguirre has…

The rest of the world will be watching South Africa soon.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching and eyes will be set on South Africa with matches held in nine cities across the land. The world’s greatest footballers will be on display too as football fans around the world are eagerly anticipating a month of football bliss.

On that note, here’s an early rundown of the top five countries to watch out for in this year’s World Cup, starting with the country that won the last biggest tournament in football, the Euro 2008 champions Spain.

Though Spain has never won the World Cup, this may be their best chance ever. Their forwards score goals and their midfield is among the best in the world. At goalkeeping, Iker Casillas is equally very impressive, helping them to engineer a 15 game winning streak to set an international record earlier in 2009.

Although the United States‘ victory over Spain late in the year was one of the biggest upsets in a long time, Spain remains the team to beat. They are in Group H along with Switzerland, Honduras and Chile.

Another team to watch out for is Argentina primarily because they have on their roster the best footballer in the world right now in Lionel Messi. Argentina also has the best defensive midfielder in the world, Javier Mascherano along with a number of very talented youngsters, including Sergio Aguero.

Their manager knows what it takes to win. While they did suffer…

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…

The U.S. almost pulled off the big one alright.

With a shocking 2-0 lead over the five-time World Cup champions Brazil after the first half of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final, it looked like this Cinderella run the Americans have been having will get them their first big championship in the sport.

After the United States soccer team shocked the world by beating a football-crazy nation like Spain in the semifinals, they started to want more than just respectability in the arena of international football. And you can tell that the Americans were inspired to win it all last Sunday too, jumping on the Brazilians right from the get-go with Clint Dempsey kicking it off with a goal on the 9th minute.

U.S. team captain Landon Donovan followed it up with another goal on the 26th minute, giving the U.S. a 2-0 lead over the Brazil football team before halftime.

Unfortunately, that’s where the Cinderella run ended for the Americans as the Brazilians took over in the second half. Down 2-0 with the Confederations Cup at stake, Brazil rallied as Luis Fabiano kicked off his team’s comeback with two goals, one on the 46th minute and another on the 73rd minute to tie it 2-2.

And just before the fixture could go the full 90 minutes, Lucio came up with Brazil’s third goal of the night, giving the Brazilians the 3-2 lead on the 83rd minute. Just then, it dawned on the Americans that the dream is over as Brazil marched on towards…