Blog Returning!

Due to other commitments (.....and general lazyness) I have been blogging very little over the last few months.

THAT IS ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE! For all you lucky 11 (wow...11!) followers that I have, get ready for me to start annoying you with football opinion and maybe even some other topics in the near future.

Stay tuned.....

Top 10 Summer signings

What do you guys think?

I Left out Van der Vaart simply because I haven't seen him play in England yet.


http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4HdL9J/indyposted.com/85216/top-10-english-premier-league-summer-transfers/

Keep checking Indyposted.com and adifferentleague.co.uk for my new stuff!

Thanks Pals! :)

Indyposted.com

Here's a new website i'm writing for.its called Indyposted.com, covers all types of area's and with a bit more exposure it has the potential to be huge! It's a really well run site and its a pleasure to be writing for them!

You can find all my articles in the "SOCCER" section! haha!

Here's a quick link, be sure to visit it, you won't regret it!

http://indyposted.com/category/sports/soccer/

Plagiarism much????

I was reading match reports about Manchester United's 3-0 victory over Newcastle when I came across big similarities between the report on skysports.com and rte.ie

Apart from the opening 3 paragraphs its the exact same piece! Who's copying who? or did one have the permission to use the others work?

It seems a bit strange!

Skip the first three paragraphs of both and you'll see their identical until the end!

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11667_6316337,00.html

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0816/manutd_newcastle.html

Will Spurs and Man City finish in the Top 4?

http://adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_2_4027_a-different-opinion-will-tottenham-and-manchester-city-finish-in-the-top-four.html

More work on adifferentleague.co.uk

Take a look at my piece on Ricardo Carvalho's move to Real Madrid.

http://adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_2_3974_carvalho-leaves-chelsea-for-madrid-and-mourinho.html

Frankie McCann likes

A Different League

Create your like badge

New piece published

Just a short bit I wrote about the futures of Stephen Ireland and Robbie Keane

http://adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_2_3873_keane-and-ireland-in-need-of-move.html

New piece published

I've started writing topical pieces for www.adifferentleague.co.uk

Here's a quick profile piece I threw together on Chelsea-bound Brazilian, Ramires

http://adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_2_3838_chelsea-close-in-on-ramires.html

Keep looking at that website, its gonna be big!

Top Ten Bargins

An interesting piece that I read on the Sky Sports website:


http://www.skysports.com/interactive/top_tens_story/0,25722,11994_6273896,00.html

I wonder is there any truth in Raul moving to England? It'd be interesting to see how he does!

Joe Cole heads up north

So Joe Cole has signed a four-year deal with Liverpool.

Good or bad move?

I think it is a great move for the London lad and Liverpool Football Club. With all the clubs he has been linked with I am surprised that he has ended up on Merseyside. I was sure he was going to head back to Harry at Spurs.

So what has basically happened here is a Swap Deal: Joe Cole for Yossi Benayoun!

This transfer makes Liverpool look a bit more dangerous, and if they can get one more good player they could really challenge for that champions league spot, or even more!

I'm trying to work on my Journalistic Impartiality, I despise Liverpool but I'm going to have to get used to saying a good thing about them every now and then!

Man Utd Away Kit

Why does it look like a Bolton Jersey??


http://www.epltalk.com/manchester-united-away-shirt-for-2010-11-season-new-photo/19724

New Man Utd Strip

I looked everywhere for the Jersey that the new kit was based on, finally found it on theoffside.com (tis a good website)


http://manutd.theoffside.com/manchester-united/united-officially-unveil-new-kit-sigh.html


I like the funny conversation they acted out between Obertan and Berbatov!

Tuesday July 13th 2010 : World Cup Awards

It's been 2 days since the World Cup ended and I'm now going to pick my favourite moments and matches of the Tournament!

BEST PLAYER: MESUT OZEIL

Yes, I know Diego Forlan won the Golden Ball award and in the eyes of most he was the best player as he brought his unfancied Uruguay side to the semi-finals, but for me it has to be Ozeil.

I have to admit, I had never heard of him before the tournament, but isn't this what the World Cup is all about, creating stars.

The young German played some superb football over the last month and was at the heart of a side that didn't have an awful lot of experience. His maturity with so little International football behind him is what made him my player of the Tournamnet. He just shaded Forlan in my view.

BEST GOAL: LUIS SUAREZ (vs. SOUTH KOREA)

This was a tough one to pick. There wasn't a lot of great goals at World Cup 2010, but the best ones certainly stood out.

My shortlist was Tevez, Van Bronckhorst and Suarez. Even though I liked Tshabalala's opener for South Africa on the first day, I considered that more of a good moment.

What swung me towards Suarez's goal was the precision of the strike. When you look at Van Bronckhorst's and Tevez goals they had the potential to go way off target. Don't get me wrong, they were awesome strikes but I've always been a bigger fan of placement and Suarez's curler was superb and is my favourite goal of World Cup 2010.

BEST MATCH: GHANA vs. URUGUAY

This was the best game of the tournament simply for the drama, oh and the goals weren't half bad either.

It was Ghana's first ever World Cup quarter-final and many thought they genuinely had a chance to be the first African team to reach the last four.

We all know what happened and how they were denied a last gasp goal, it was truly heartbreaking. The Suarez handball and Gyan hitting the crossbar will be one of them World Cup moments that will live on for generations.

Honourable mentions would go to: USA vs. Slovenia, Uruguay vs. Holland and the last 20 minutes of Slovakia vs. Italy!

Before I name my team of the tournament, I'l go through a few other of my favourite moments etc... (these are like the awards for special effects and make-up you'd see at the Oscars, but they get any T.V time!)

Favourite Celebration: South Africa's synchronized dancing vs. Mexico

Funniest Moment: Anytime the camera was on Diego Maradona

Best Performance: Germany beating Argentina 4-0. Hands down.

Worst Performance: England's pathetic effort against Algeria.

Worst Player: The entire French team.

Neutral's favourite team: Has to be Ghana.

Biggest Shock: New Zealand to be the only unbeaten team at World Cup 2010.

Worst Team: I know they won a game, but I hate Greece. their sooo boring. England and France would be there too.

One thing I will miss: 3 games of football on a weekday.

One thing I won't miss: Them Bleedy Vuvuzela's!

Ok, so I got all that stuff out of the way, now here's my TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT:

1. Iker Casillas (SPA)

2. Maicon (BRA)

3. Fabio Coentrao (POR)

4. Gerrard Pique (SPA)

5. Diego Lugano (URU)

6. Mesut Ozeil (GER)

7. Xavi (SPA)

8. Wesley Sneijder (HOL)

9. Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER)

10. Diego Forlan (URU)

11. David Villa (SPA)

Subs:

Samir Handanovic (SLV)

Phillip Lahm (GER)

Lucio (BRA)

Andres Iniesta (SPA)

Thomas Mueller (GER)

Let me know what ye think!

World Cup "Future Stars"

Have a look at my piece on World Cup stars of the future on Eircom Soccer Republic, tell me what ya think! anybody i missed out on?

http://soccerrepublic.eircom.net/News/World-Cup-stars-for-the-future.aspx

No more World Cup :(

I said I would be supporting the Dutch yesterday, and for the 120 minutes of the game I did.

But, after thinking about it today I wondered why I bothered. It would have been wrong for them to win the World Cup.

Their rough approach was what ruined the game, it never allowed it to get going. I think I had sympathy for the Dutch considering they had lost two previous World Cup finals - The Total Football years. The way they played yesterday was far from total football, it was total disgrace.

I watched the game again today, and in fairness to Howard Webb, nearly everyone of them yellow cards were justified. De Jong should have seen red, even though I tried to make a case for him in the pub last night by saying the ball was there to win in the air. There was no excuse for that "Kung Fu kick" (still, not as good as Cantona's)

It was a game that was certain to go to penalties, only for "El Ilusionista" (The Illusionist) Andres Iniesta to come up and nick it for the Spain with 4 minutes of extra time to go.

The scenes were amazing! One thing is for sure, the Spanish are truly passionate about football!

there's to many to link, so I'd just suggest that you go on to youtube and look up the reactions from Madrid, the hairs will stand on you're neck.

I've been busy writing articles today so I'm going to leave my overall World Cup until tomorrow. It'l give me time to reflect!! :-P

World Cup Blog: The Final

Spain vs. Holland

Well, we're finally here. After 63 games we are hours away from the World Cup final in Soccer City, Johannesburg.

If you had told me these would be the two teams to contest the final 5 weeks ago I would have said "thank you very much, I'l take it!"

Although Holland have not been the exciting "total football" package we would have hoped for we still have seen moments of genius from Sneijder, Robben and a wonder strike from Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.

I reckon Holland have more chance of beating Spain than they would Germany.

Spain thrive on keeping the ball through slick passing and inter-change and as much as I don't admire his style of play, Mark Van Bommel is the man that could stop that. His hard approach and chopping could deny the Spanish from getting the ball in midfield.

If they can stop Spain from passing they may have a chance because they have some amazing attacking players. Sneijder and Robben could be the key for the Dutch on the break today.

But for all the building up of the Dutch I'm doing, Spain are still clearly the favourites. One thing I only noticed at this world cup is that: Spain are very solid defensively!

Pique and Puyol have had an excellent tournament and even Capdevilla hasn't been the weak link we thought he might be. I still don't rate Sergio Ramos that highly though, he's an average player.

The big question today is: Will Torres start? In my opinion, I don't think he should. Pedro had an excellent game against Germany and added something different to the Spanish play, that was something they were lacking when Torres was starting.

All in all, this game has the potential to be a classic, but usually World Cup finals disappoint so i'm expecting a tight affair with very few goals.

Its a hard one to call, but i'm going to go with Spain to win 1-0 with the winner coming late in the second-half, a bit like the Germany game although I expect the Dutch to get more of the ball than Germany did.

I'l be supporting the Dutch as they remind me a bit of our beloved Mayo. After losing 2 World Cup final's previously, hopefully 3rd time lucky will apply to them. They could do it, after all their not playing Kerry!

Frank McCann is Le Oranje for today.

World Cup Semi-Final (Germany v Spain)

Before I get into tonight's game, I just want to say a few words about last night's semi final between Uruguay and Holland.

It was a fantastic game, and some of the goals were out of this world!

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's opener could possibly be the goal of the tournament, it was the cleanest strike of the Jabulani I have seen at this World Cup. For me though, Carlos Tevez's rocket against Mexico is still shading it.

Diego Forlan's equaliser wasn't half bad either! Some may say the goalkeeper should have done better but if you look at it a few times you can see a last second swerve on the ball that changes its direction. Forlan should definetly be in the World Cup best XI, he and David Villa have been the best two strikers at this tournament.

As for the result, 3-2 is probably a fair reflection of the game as the Dutch were just about the better team. They played the better football in the first half and after soaking up a bit of pressure early in the second they proved to be the better side on the night.

I wanted to see the Dutch progress as I have a fascination with a Holland/Germany final.
It could be tasty enough, and i'l be backing Mark Van Bommel to get a red card in the final if Germany get there. He gave the dirtiest footballing display of World Cup 2010. How did he only get booked for Dissent!?? He was kicking every Uruguay player he seen last night!

Germany vs. Spain

Oh how I am looking forward to this one!

Germany are looking better and better every game they play. After destroying England and Argentina who could bet against them getting to the Final or even winning the World Cup. I wouldn't!

They look so good going forward and are well equipped at the back. They have been the dominant team at this tournamnet.

Miroslav Klose is just one goal away from equalling Ronaldo's all-time scoring record of 15. He would be a good bet to score the first tonight, although I doubt you will get a good price for him.

As for Spain, I think they should drop Torres. He has had a very poor tournament and he is clearly not 100% fit. Maybe Villa could play up front on his own with someone playing in the hole behind him. Cesc Fabregas is certain to miss out tonight, and if the game goes to extra-time this could prove costly.

This game isn't going to be as one sided as Germany's other games but I can see them being better than Spain on the night.

I'm predicting a 2-1 win for the Germans. Wether it is in 90 minutes or not is another question!

This game has the potential to be a cracker. Fingers crossed.

World Cup 2010 Semi-Finals

My God, only four games left to play. I'm getting a bit emotional!

The South African World Cup has had a lot of talking points to say the least. We've had controversy with the ball, the referee's, the players and the French!

As we reached the end of the group stage I was wondering if their would be many "World Cup moments" that would stand out in years to come. Everything had seemed just a tad bland.

Well, that fear is well and truly gone now after a thrilling second round and some excellent displays at the Quarter-Final stage.

On Friday morning I was looking at what price I would get for predicting an All-South American semi finals......I'm so glad I didn't put any money on them!

Here's what I thought of the 8 Quarter-Finalists:

First, THE LOSERS:

Brazil: I was surprised to see them go down without a fight. When Holland took the lead with 20 minutes to go, I was expecting an all-out assault on the Dutch goal but it never materialised. The Brazilian attack looked like they had ran out of ideas as they looked very disheartened and flat footed near the end of the game. Kaka is a shadow of his former self, its a bit sad to see. His career could go a bit "Shevchenko" if you know what I mean!

Ghana: How heartbreaking was Friday night's game. For an African team to come so close, and to get cheated out of a win in such a manner makes it that bit harder to take. They were outplayed during parts of the first half but grew in confidence once they found their feet.

Muntari's goal was hit well, if not a little fortunate to go in, well in my opinion anyways.

They bravely trotted forward at every opportunity and we're so unlucky not to be the first Afican team to make a World Cup semi-final.

I have to say, credit to Gyan for stepping up during the penalty shoot-out. What an excellent finish by the player following his crucial miss just minutes earlier.

Argentina: I knew it! For all the entertainment and dramatics that we had come to love from Maradona, he had no clue what to do when the going got tough. This seems to be a problem for a lot of coaches who played as attackers, they don't know how to defend.

We could see this coming, just not as ruthless as the German's made it. Argentina were simply played of the pitch.

You have to wonder where Maradona goes from here? Does he stay as manager, or does he bow out before things get tough? This could make him a better coach, wether he has the mentality to learn from his mistakes is the big question though.

Paraguay: Personally, I am delighted to see Paraguay eliminated. I didn't enjoy their style of football one bit and their sly bullying methods were not well received by anybody.

On five separate occasions I spotted a little "after the whistle" dig by Paraguayans on a Spanish player and I will never know how their goalkeeper, Villar, got away with the most blatant penalty you will see at World Cup 2010. Ireland beat these fella's 2-1 a few months back, they should have really beaten them by more. Oh well.......what could have been.

and now for THE WINNERS:

Holland: I'm still not overly impressed by this Dutch team, I don't know why? Yes, they beat the World's number one team and have not dropped a point yet, but it just feels like this team are missing something. they seem to be an average enough team, with 2 World-Class players bringing them up a level. It will be interesting to see how they do tonight, they have the ability to do better.

Uruguay: This is a team that have rode their luck in this World Cup. Since their negative start against an awful French side, they have passed every obstacle put in front of them. A convincing win against South Africa and a confident display against Mexico had made them stand out as one of the dark horses in the tournament. Since then though, they have been a bit dodgy. They scraped past South Korea and really should have been sent home only for Gyan's last minute penalty miss in their clash against Ghana. Their luck could run out tonight.

Germany: What can you say? The saying is so true: "Never write off the Germans"

They are not beating teams. They are DESTROYING them. One little slip against Serbia is the only time the German's looked a bit shaky, and even then I still think they were the better side!

After putting four past England, they went out and embarrassed Argentina. The German machine is running smoothly, and I don't think anybody knows how to stop it.

Spain: These boys must me grateful that they have David Villa. He has been their star, and if he wasn't there I don't think Spain would be! Why the hell do they keep playing Torres? He is clearly struggling. The Spanish have done just about enough to merit a semi-final spot but their biggest test yet will be on Wednesday evening when they take on "Ze Germans".

I'm expecting Spain to win a nice bronze medal on Saturday evening.

as for tonight's game:

Uruguay vs. Holland

Both teams are good going forward, and both have dodgy defences. I'm hoping for goals, goals, goals! But everytime I say this we always end up with a boring, low scored affair so i'm not going to get my hopes up.

Uruguay have a few suspensions with Suarez the key man missing out tonight. All the weight will fall on Diego Forlan's shoulders.

I feel like the Dutch have another gear to move up yet, and I'm thinking tonight could be the night. They will be full of confidence after beating Brazil and they are clearly the favourites to progress to Sunday's Final.

This game is going to be close I think. Uruguay have the ability to cause problems for the Dutch but if the Oranje find that next gear tonight they should prove to be too strong for the South Americans.

I'm saying Uruguay 1-2 Holland and if you find a good price on Dirk Kuyt to score first I would recommend putting a few quid on him.

Enjoy the Game!

Classic World Cup Moment: Ireland 1-1 Germany 2002

No games in South Africa today, so I had to go to YouTube for my World Cup fix.

I know we've all seen this clip a million times, but its one that never gets old for me,

I decided to post the video with BBC commentary as John Motson really dramatises the situation!

Good old Motty!

World Cup Matchday 21

How impressive were Germany today??!

I had expected the Germans to win it, but not like that!!

Before kick-off I had predicted 2-2 in 90 minutes with Germany nicking it in extra-time. It was far from that!

From the very first whistle they played attractive, slick, attacking football and had taken the lead within 3 minutes. Following the first goal I expected a backlash from Argentina, but it never came. The German's were too good.

Miroslav Klose is now only 1 goal behind Ronaldo's all-time World Cup scoring record and who would bet against him overtaking the great Brazilian?

With the game finishing 4-0, where does Diego Maradona go from here? His superstars didn't perform when they needed to, they were outplayed by a terrific, hard working German team but still, they did not play anywhere near their capabilities. A real disappointment.

It's interesting to note that the two players who were tipped the set the World Cup alight didn't even get a goal in the tournament.

Rooney and Messi did not live up to their expectations. It goes to show you that club football is very different to the international game.

As for tonight, its hard to look past Spain. They should dispose of a plucky Paraguay side and if they get an early goal we just might see another rout.

If Paraguay get the first goal, we could have an interesting night ahead!

My prediction for this game is 3-1 to Spain, and i'm expecting more goals from the fantastic David Villa. What a talent he is.

The underdogs take to the field!

Uruguay v Ghana

First of all, I have to say how chuffed I was to get the correct score in the Brazil v Holland game today!

Sneijder did me proud, and it takes my correct score total to an amazing five! how good am I? Well not very, but I'm proud that I called that one right!

Uruguay and Ghana take to the field shortly, and for me I'm expecting this game to be very close, Ghana are nearly like a host nation and will have massive support tonight, but they will find it tough against Forlan, Suarez and co.

Ghana really need to get the first goal tonight, if they do they can frustrate Uruguay and play on the counter-attack.

If Uruguay score first they will be hard to break down themselves but they have more ability up front so I'd be more confident of them getting a second.

As a neutral, I want to see Ghana win this. they're the underdogs and to see an african team in the World Cup semi-finals hosted in Africa would be a memorable World Cup moment, much like the Koreans in 2002.

I'm predicting a close game, and I think it will finish 1-1 in 90 minutes, but unfortunately I'm expecting Uruguay to keep a cooler head if it goes to penalties.

Fingers crossed for Ghana.

World Cup Matchday 20

Brazil v Holland

What a mouth-watering game we have today.

The greatest World Cup nation of all time take on the nation that created "Total Football".

I don't expect this game to be as exciting as it seems on paper but I am expecting both teams to give it a good go.

Brazil are less attacking than they have been in previous tournaments and the Dutch haven't overly impressed me yet.

I'm hoping that the big names turn it on today and if Robben and Sneijder play to their abilities I could see Holland sneaking this one.

Brazil are the favourites and I could be insane for saying this, but I think the Dutch will sneak it, 2-1, maybe after extra-time!

Transfer news

Hodgson takes Liverpool hot-seat

Roy Hodgson was officially announced as the new Liverpool manager today.

I wonder if this is a wise move for the Merseyside club? They have hired a coach based on achievements with a fairly small club with all due respect to Fulham.

What has Hodgson achieved in his career? He lead a few Scandinavian teams to domestic titles and reached Uefa Cup finals with Inter Milan and Fulham, losing them both.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to knock Hodgson, he's done wonders for Fulham and did so on a small budget, that is a great achievement, but when I think of Roy Hodgson, I always think of that man that looked out of his depth with Blackburn Rovers in 1998. Rovers were a relatively big team that were expected to succeed rather than get relegated.

I can sense a similar thing happening with Liverpool. With managing Liverpool he will be dealing with bigger ego's and will find it harder to get a good squad morale like he did with Fulham. (I'm not just saying this because I'm a Manchester United fan, if he was taking the United job I would think the same, bigger clubs have bigger ego's in their squad, its a fact)

I'm hoping Hodgson succeeds in his goals, which are:

• Hanging on to Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres
• Regaining a top 4 place to qualify for the Champions League

As a rival fan, its always good to have your rivals close and competitive, it makes them big games all that more exciting. God know's I miss when Man Utd would have that tough game at Elland Road every season! I don't want the Anfield clash to become Liverpool's "Cup Final" in years to come.

Petrov and Blake join the Trotters

Martin Petrov and Robbie Blake have signed contracts with Bolton Wanderers.

Petrov has signed a two-year deal after being released by Manchester City last month. This could prove to be an excellent signing providing the Bulgarian can stay fit. He is a fantastic attacking midfielder and is great at playing in that hole behind the strikers.

In my opinion, he was wasted at Man City and its great that he's moving on. I'm tipping him to do very well with Bolton.

Bolton have also signed Robbie Blake from Burnley following the Claret's relegation from the Premier League. I think they've signed his to be a bit-part player and to possibly give them options on the bench.

Bolton seem to be doing well in the transfer market this summer. If it clicks for them they could be top 10 contenders.

In other news.....

I have to mention David Silva signing for Man City. I'm really disappointed that he joined them (it was obviously for the money!) but I would expect him to do well with City and could be a key player in their title bid for next season.

It's looking like Cesc Fabregas is staying at Arsenal, he's been dropping hints that he may not be moving to Barcelona after-all. He's better off, he'd spend a lot of time on the bench at the Nou Camp.

Yaya Toure and Alexsander Kolarov are the latest players being linked with Man City. I'm definitely expecting to see Toure join his brother at Eastlands.

Tomorrow I will run through the possible big transfers that will be happening after the World Cup and I will give you my preview and predictions for the two World Cup Quarter-Finals that take place tomorrow.

Can't wait for Brazil v. Holland!

Ireland's Top 10 World Cup Heros??

I'm trying to write a piece on "Ireland's World Cup Heros" wanna do a top 10 sort of thing. I got a list already but just wondering what other people think?? I'm expecting all the regular names but just curious to see what order you'd put them in!!

leave a comment if yer interested :)

No football today :(

The World Cup is taking a two-day break.

Hmmmmm.......what to do?

Oh, i know! Let's listen to roy Keane give out about the English!

world Cup Matchday 19 (7:30 kick off)

Spain v Portugal

This game has the potential to be a cracker!

Spain haven't been anywhere near their best yet, and if they don't come good tonight they could be heading home.

Portugal have not conceded a goal in this tournament yet and if they get a bit of team camaraderie going they could well cause an upset and send their neighbours home!

I'm predicting a lot of goals in this game as Spain have enough to break down Portugal's great defence but might not have enough to stop them from scoring.

Prediction: 3-2 to Portugal

I could see Ronaldo scoring a opener from distance in this game so maybe he's worth backing for first goalscorer.

World Cup Matchday 19 (3:00 kick off)

Japan v Paraguay

In my eyes, I was expecting today's fixture to be Denmark vs. Italy, well that was according to my wall-chart!

There's a few more mistakes in my wall-chart but as you could tell from my predictions, telling the future was never my strong point! 4 correct scores to date!

As for today's game I'm expecting a tight affair as both teams are exciting going forward and have great tenacity at the back.

Honda has been one of the best players at this World Cup so far and his link-up play with Endo have made Japan a real hand full when they attack.

They seem to have mastered the art of taking free-kicks with that awful "Jubulani" ball, so I would expect Paraguay will try to avoid giving away silly free-kicks.

Paraguay have their own attacking flair through Barrios, Santa Cruz and Valdez and these boys could cause some problems for the Japanese and their counter-attacking style.

The only thing I am fearful for is that the two teams may cancel each other out and we may end up with a boring game with Japan having a lot of the ball but not being able to penetrate affectively.

I am predicting this game to finish 1-1 in regulation time and will possibly go to penalties with Japan keeping their cool to make the quarter-finals for the first time.

Prediction: 1-1

Japan are 12/1 to win the game on penalties, its worth a fiver!

Will someone tell Eboue he's not Korean!

Not a good sign for Arsenal fans when one of your players doesn't even realise which team he's playing for.

World Cup Villains

Just got a piece on "World Cup Villains" published on soccerrepublic.eircom.net

Check it out:

http://soccerrepublic.eircom.net/News/World-Cup-villains.aspx

world Cup Blog Matchday 17

Its England vs. Germany today, and as always we are all expecting penalties!

The England hype is back and after beating the Mighty Slovenia 1-0 they feel like they can take on the world!

Can't see them beating the Germans myself, but I would expect it to be a tight game.

Wayne Rooney needs to step up today, if he does they might stand a chance.

The safe prediction is 1-1 in 90 minutes, but just to mix it up I'm going to say Germany to win 3-2.

Back Mesut Ozil at 12/1 to score first.

World Cup Blog Matchday 16

Uruguay 2 - 1 South Korea

Before the game I had predicted a 1-0 win for Uruguay so to get three goals was something of a bonus!

The match was going as expected with the score 1-0 at half time. The Uruguayans had scored the opening goal thanks to a Suarez strike from close range and I fully expected them to sit back and defend that for the rest of the game, maybe trying to get a second on the break.

But credit to the South Koreans, they gave a good account of themselves in the second half and grabbed a scrappy equaliser after a mistake from Uruguay's keeper, Muslera.

Chung-Yong Lee capitalised on the mistake to make the game 1-1.

Both teams battled hard after that, but with 10 minutes to go Luis Suarez grabbed his second of the game.

It was an excellent curling strike from the edge of the Korean box. One of the goals of the tournament so far. Truly exceptional.

The last ten minutes of the game fizzled out with little in the line of chances and Uruguay became the first team to reach the Quarter Finals of World Cup 2010.

As for tonight's game, I'm expecting a close game between the USA and Ghana with a strong possibility of extra-time and maybe even penalties, but for the sake of giving a result I'm going to go with USA to win it in 90 minutes 2-1.

Landon Donovan could stand out as the key man tonight, his form in this tournament has been excellent.

Touchdown!!!

Who said Yank's don't like "Soccer"?

World Cup Blog Matchday 15

Group G concluded today, an what a bore it was.

Brazil 0-0 Portugal

This game was a real disappointment. With the two teams Guaranteed to go through (bar a massive win for the Ivory Coast) they could really have gone all out and produce some great attacking football.

What we got was a terribly bland game that produced no goals and several yellow cards.

Its a pity that this was the last fixture of the group as it resulted in such an anti-climax, and this was without a doubt, the most boring game of World Cup 2010 so far.

Apart from one Nilmar chance in the first-half and a Meireles sitter in the second nothing else happened in this game.

Ronaldo got increasing frustrated as the game went on and by the end he looked totally dejected.

Actually, the most entertaining thing in this game was looking at Dunga on the touchline, he was going CRAZY!

Not a game that will be remembered but both teams got the job done and both will progress to the next stage with Brazil in first place and Portugal as runners-up.

North Korea 0-3 Ivory Coast

The Elephants needed a nine goal margin between them and Portugal to go through to the next round and because of that, this game was something of a "Dead Rubber"

They did start brightly, and after 20 mins they found themselves 2-0 up following good efforts from Yaya Toure and Romaric.

They worked in vain after that and it took until the 82nd minute to find the net again when Kalou scored C'ote Ivorie's final goal of World Cup 2010.

It seems like a long time ago since North Korea gave that heroic performance against Brazil and since then they have conceded 10 goals in 2 games.

So in the end they did indeed turn out to be the "Whipping Boys" of group G.

Kim Jong Il will not be pleased!

Currently watching Spain v Chile, and its just reached half-time.

2-0 and it looks like Spain are on their way!

World Cup Blog Matchday 14 (part 2)

Well, the Denmark Japan game has just finished and I have to admit, I was very impressed by the Japanese. Their 3 goals were absolutely superb, and they look like the first team to have mastered the free-kick with this new ball!

Japan now face Paraguay in the last 16 and I wouldn't bet against them reaching the last 8.

Disappointing 2nd half performance from the Danes who started the game so well, Sorenson was visibly shaken from his slight mistake for the first goal and never seemed to get his confidence back.

I'm am watching the Dutch-Cameroon highlights as I write this and it looked like Cameroon gave it a good go but Holland just had too much for them.

No exceptional goals, but nothing scrappy either. Seemed like a decent game.

Holland will meet Slovakia in the last 16 and its safe to say they will be strong favourites to progress, but who knows in football!

The last group games are tomorrow, and here are my predictions:

Brazil 1-2 Portugal

I have the strangest feeling that Portugal are going to pull off an upset tomorrow and I think Ronaldo will try his best to shine in the biggest game on paper so far.

Ivory Coast 2-0 North Korea

Its really a nothing game at this stage but Ivory Coast will work hard and pull off the win.

Spain 1 -1 Chile

Chile are a good side and I can't see Spain getting all 3 points, they didn't impress that much against Honduras.

Switzerland 1-1 Honduras

Spains short-comings will be saved by a good performance by Honduras who will want to leave the World Cup with some good memory!

World Cup Blog Matchday 14 (part 1)

Before I sit down to watch Japan v Denmark, i'm quickly going to run through what went down today in Group F:

Slovakia 3-2 Italy

The Azzuri crashed out of World Cup 2010 in extraordinary fashion after suffering a surprise 3-2 defeat to Ireland's future Euro 2012 qualifying opponents.

First of all, I have to say how shocked I was to see how poor Italy were over the last two weeks. I always felt they would come good in the end.

Now, I know they we're written off as one of the European superpowers but I still thought they could be like the German's and still do enough to get through.

God. How wrong I was!

This Italian team reminds me of someone who doesn't try hard enough at school. They have plenty of ability (which was evident in the last 10 minutes and Quagliarella's lob in injury time was one of the goals of the tournament) but they don't put in the work when its needed.

Let's face it, they should have beaten New Zealand and if they had tried that bit harder they could have beaten Paraguay. They have no one to blame but themselves and Lippi has to look long and hard at the decisions he made during the tournament.

Lets not take anything away from Slovakia, they played their hearts out today, but they look like a team that Ireland could get 6 points against when the time comes. Everyday that passes at this World Cup, the more upset i get about us not being there.

Paraguay 0-0 New Zealand

Although I didn't predict the correct score, I did feel that New Zealand had enough to leave the World Cup undefeated. Well done to the All-Whites.

It's a great achievement for a side that has so little experience, and to finish above Italy in the group is the Icing on the cake.

In conclusion, group F was one of the weakest groups in this tournament and i don't expect Paraguay or Slovakia to go much further with the likes of Denmark, Japan and Holland awaiting them in the last 16.

I'l be back later to talk about Holland v Cameroon and that crucial game between Japan and Denmark.

World Cup Blog Matchday 13

So we've established eight of the teams that will contest the second round of the World Cup.

This is how the last games of A, B, C and D panned out:

France 1-2 South Africa

The French World Cup bid was officially ended yesterday, but in truth, it was over before it even began.

This isn't the first time Les Blues have been embarrassed on the World stage, we all remember them crashing out in Japan/Korea 8 years ago. The difference back then was: THEY TRIED!

To see them drop five of their top players in a crucial win-or-bust game due to players having massive egos and terrible man-management was hard viewing when you consider the Unity we seen amongst the Irish squad last November in Paris.

This French side did not deserve a place in this tournament, and i don't just say this as an Irish supporter. I say it as a football fan.

The look on the player's faces during the national anthems said it all, and their lame attempts at a team huddle did not seem to be genuine in the slightest. I think everybody watching knew France would not win this game. I think the players wanted to lose to stick it at Raymond Domenech.

A dismal first half performance seen them go 2-0 down before Malouda, one of the dropped players, scored what seemed a pointless consolation goal.

I hear they have to fly home in economy class. I would have made them swim home.

Bye bye Domenech, you won't be missed.

Uruguay 1-0 Mexico

Suarez scored an excellent headed winner against a good Mexico side to confirm Uruaguay as the winners of Group A.

Uruguay have been very impressive in their games so far, and are still yet to concede in South Africa.

Forlan and Suarez are a fantastic front two pairing. These boys are going to be a tough team to beat.

Greece 0-2 Argentina

A warning to all the rest: MESSI IS STARTING TO ENJOY HIMSELF!

La Pulga (the flea) impressed me so much during last night's game. I had that feeling that he was going to disappoint at this World Cup like so many big names before him. Now that they've reached the knockout stages it will really be time for Messi to shine, and i wouldn't bet against it!

Once again, the most interesting thing about this game was Diego Maradonna, i just can't enough of his crazy antics. He spotted himself on the bigscreen during the game and decided to wave at the camera! don't think you'd spot Wenger, Fergie or Benitez at that! He's got that cheeky smile too. Priceless.

Argentina's standard win was impressive enough to probably make them favourites at this moment in time, however, I still think they have a questionable defence.

Nigeria 2-2 South Korea

Decent enough game but for me it will be mostly remembered for this:

Good God. What a miss!! shocking.

South Korea did enough to claim second place in the group, and you could see how much it meant to Koreans after the full-time whistle as they cried and prayed on the pitch. A touching moment.

And so onto today's games where we would find out England's fate.

I would like thank my friend Colin Dunne for the following report on England's progress through the group stage.

Colin is an Auditor who supports Arsenal, but I promise you he is actually a nice guy!

England v Slovenia - June 23rd 2010

By Colin Dunne

This game had become a must win game for England and rightly so. They had been shocking in their previous two games against Algeria and the USA. Now granted the USA are a highly under-rated team in the press; it should not be forgotten that they ended Spain's unbeaten run in last year's Confederations Cup and but for huge stage-fright against Brazil in the final, may have actually won the cup. It is for that reason that England could have been excused for playing poorly against them.

Algeria on the other hand are a bad team, let's make no bones about it. They came to Dublin two weeks before they played England and were soundly beaten. Ireland didn't play any majestic football against them but simply played their way around them and mixed their play up, by hitting them with long balls down the middle which they could not cope with. Now if I was Fabio Capello, I would have thought playing Crouch up on his own and landing balls up to him, with Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney picking up the knockdowns would have been the obvious thing to do. He, however thought he knew better, and England managed one meaningful shot on target from Lampard in the entire game.

So to today's game. The pressure in the camp had been building and with the former captain trying and failing to lead a mutiny against Capello in the buildup, you had to wonder which version of England was going to turn up. Heskey and Lennon were both dropped and replaced by Defoe and Milner. Lennon is a one trick-poney like Wright-Phillips and Walcott, so you could see why Milner got the nod and the change was justified when he landed a perfect cross for Defoe to score with his shin. Defoe had been quiet up to the goal and should have doubled his tally in the opening minutes of the second half. Gerrard was asked to play on the left of midfield to allow Lampard play in the centre and to be fair he did a good job. He linked play well with Cole and Rooney but you could see that he always wanted to come in-field. It wasn't the Liverpool Gerrard that was on-show, he seemed to be shackled. Lampard did nothing from midfield and I would be thinking about moving Gerrard back into the centre and either dropping Lampard or asking him to play on the left against Germany.

Slovenia showed themselves to be an average team. They had two centre-forwards that had as much pace as a double-decker bus. They had two speedy full-backs, with Jokic the left-back causing Johnson trouble right-from the off. Johnson went in with one missed timed tackle and one reckless tackle in the first five minutes which went un-punished by the referee; it's never good when Rooney is telling you to calm down. Slovenia did cause England a few problems mainly in the second half when last ditch tackles from Terry and Johnson were required. Terry didn't put a foot wrong for the game and was willing to put his body on the line for the cause. His partner Upson, looked out of his depth at times and may struggle against the likes of Podolski and Kolse on Sunday. Ashley Cole put in another sterling performance based on decent defending and great attacking fullback play. David James handled everything that came at him with ease and seemed to be a commanding presence from the back, who was constantly talking to those around him.

Gareth Barry is obviously struggling in this world cup. I don't believe it's his fault; the lad's not fit and because of that he is making silly mistakes that are out of character. He played dodgy back passes today and put his colleagues in serious trouble at the back. Against a better team, those errors will be punished. I think Capello will stick with him as he doesn't have any alternative, which shows how poor the England squad is. Wayne Rooney put in a workmanlike performance. As Dunphy said, it was not the same Rooney we see week-in, week-out for Manchester United. The player is lacking in confidence and didn't look like ending his 7 game drought today. He had a clear cut attempt at goal which he scuffed and the keeper made a brilliant save to push it on to the post. He hobled off with an ankle injury; he's expected to be back for Sunday and England will need him. Although he's not scoring, his link play is good and he creates space for others.

As for Fabio, he seems to have got lessons from Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan over the weekend on how to behave on the touchline; stop acting Fabio, it's not your way of doing things. Stop listening to the media and focus on the job in hand.

The media will build the Germany game up to the hilt. The games in '66, '90 and '96 will all be talked about over the coming days and the English will get romantic about beating the old enemy. However, I think the Germans will see through the English and will knock them out in normal time. The Germany team is nothing special but it never needs to be. They will always be there or there abouts in the World Cup. They are well organised with decent strikers, decent midfielders in Oezil, and Schweinsteiger and a solid defence. I would love to see England go further, purely so that they can bulid themselves up to being world-beaters, and then get beaten by a really great footballing nation like Brazil or Argentina.

Either way, this Sunday is going to be a Super Sunday.

Colin made a great point that the German side is nothing special but it never needs to be. The Germans are a machine that will always put in a solid shift and will be a hard team to beat.

I tend to agree with Colin in wanting England to go that bit further, but i just don't see it happening, they need to improve so much and only have 4 days to do so. A German win is the only way i can see this going.

I'l be talking more about my Predictions for the Last 16 on Friday.

Oh, here's something that amused me while watching the game today:

USA 1-0 Algeria

You have to give it to the Algerians, they made it bloody tough for the other 3 teams in group C.

Only a late winner from the USA superman Landon Donovan saved them the Yanks from an early exit.

The USA are a decent side but don't expect them to go much further. Last 16 should be where it ends for them, if their lucky last 8.

Germany 1 - 0 Ghana

An excellent game that deserved more goals.

Germany looked good without over-impressing. The typical German way!

Ozil's second half rocket for Germany was enough to set-up the biggest game of World Cup 2010 so far, England v Germany.

Ghana did play their part in the game and had good chances. They deserve to be through to the second round. The best African nation by far.

Australia 2-1 Serbia

The Socceroo's bowed out of the World Cup in style but it was all a bit too late for them.

Another entertaining game that produced some good goals (especially Tim Cahill's opener)

Both teams were eliminated tonight but should go home with their heads held high. It could be worse for them, they could be FRANCE!

So there you have it, Matchday 13 is done and dusted and these are the confirmed fixtures for the last 16 so far:

Uruguay vs. South Korea

Argentina vs. Mexico

USA vs. Ghana

Germany vs. England

Looks ok so far!

As for tomorrow, i'l give you my quick predictions:

Holland 1-2 Cameroon

Holland are already through and pretty much have the group won. I'm expecting Cameroon to restore some pride by putting together a strong performance tomorrow.

Japan 0-1 Denmark

Denmark are a good side in my view and from the start were under-estimated in this group. I expect them to edge a tight game against an energetic Japan. I could see one of the old stalwarts like Rommedahl or Gronkjaer grabbing the winner.

Italy 2-0 Slovakia

Italy have been here before and know what they have to do, I think that will count for something. De Rossi needs to prove his worth tomorrow, he needs to step up. It would be a shame to see Italy go home early too.

Paraguay 1-1 New Zealand

I could be way off with this one but i'm going to say that the Kiwi's will go home to as hero's after leaving World Cup 2010 undefeated. I really hope they can do it, it seems like everybody likes them.......maybe not the Australians.

World Cup Blog Matchday 10

After a long weekend that resulted in a FEW hangovers, i've finally got back to my routine of sitting on my arse watching football.

First, a quick look back at what happened over the last few days:

My favourite moment of this tournament so far was seeing the new Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez score his goal against the PATHETIC French team. Seriously, these French players are awful, and it is disgraceful to see them in South Africa when they spend most of their time bitching and moaning instead of playing the game. It makes it a lot worse when you think of what the Irish team could had achieved had they got there.......... if only.

Maradona's crazy antics continued as he brought his Argentinean "son's" towards touching distance of the last 16. He is comical, they should have a "Maradona cam" at their games. you'd probably find more people watching him than the game.

Greece beat 10-man Nigeria 2-1..........i really hope the Greeks don't get through. Horrible to watch when it's 11 on 11, they got lucky due to a moment of Nigerian madness.

Serbia worked hard to beat Germany (who finished the game with ten players after Klose received his marching orders) But what's with all these crazy handball's by Serbia?? Germany still looked good even with ten men.

USA put together a solid second half performance to claim a vital draw against Slovenia, and in truth, they probably should have won it in the end.

England didn't turn up at all when they played Algeria on friday night. An absolute shambles. The highlight of the game was Wayne Rooney berating the fickle English supporters.

Why haven't the Dutch impressed me yet? They're winning games without getting out of 1st gear. They need a stern test soon or will find themselves struggling later on against quality opposition.

Ghana couldn't take advantage against 10-man Australia who battled bravely after seeing Harry Kewell dismissed early on for handling on the line. Ghana may struggle against Germany in their final game which could leave the door open for Serbia to advance to the last 16.

Denmark and Cameroon played one of the tournaments best games last night. In an entertaining contest, the former European Champions came out on top with a 2-1 victory, some entertaining gaffes and skills made this a great game for the neutral. Dennis Rommedahl's winner was the Highlight of the game.

Today we seen Paraguay defeating Slovakia, Italy stunned by the All-Whites and Brazil run out comfortable 3-1 winners over the Ivory Coast.

Didn't actually catch the Paraguay-Slovakia game, but from the highlights i watched it seemed the highlight was a well worked opening goal from the South Americans.

A 1-1 draw. Italy are far worse than i thought. They seem to have no creativity, and now that Buffon is injured i would fear the worse for them. New Zealand's goal was unquestionably offside, but i don't think anybody will begrudge them their hard earned point.

Brazil's win against Ivory Coast was confirmed very early in the second half when Fabiano scored his second goal of the game. Elano added a third before he was stretcherd off.

Drogba scored a consolation for the African's. What amazed me was that Sven Goran Eriksson didn't start Gervinho, who in my eyes would have been better suited than a less than 100% Drogba. Kaka recieved a crazy red-card (second yellow) in the closing minutes after he supposedly elbowed Keita. I didn't see much in it, had a "Rivaldo" feel about it.

Tomorrow we see the last 3 second round games, and here are my predictions:

Portugal 3-0 North Korea

Following tonight's result between Brazil and Ivory Coast im thinking Portugal will go all out attack in an attempt to get the 3 points.

Chile 2-0 Switzerland

I have a feeling Switzerland will be tired after giving a heroic performance against Spain.

Hoping to see more magic from Alexis Sanchez.

Spain 4-0 Honduras

Spain will wipe away the shock of their opening defeat and will looked to wipe the floor with a poor Honduras side.

David Villa would be a good bet on grabbing a brace.

My predictions are getting better! i've got 2 correct scores in the past 2 days. Things are looking up!

World Cup Blog Matchday 7

On Matchday 7 we finally seen some decent football! The World Cup has finally begun! as usual my predictions were way off the mark, but im not gonna give up just yet!

Ok, lets start with the lunchtime kick-off:

Honduras 0-1 Chile

On paper, this game had zero appeal. Two teams that had very few stand-out names and neither team have a strong World Cup pedigree (although Chile would stand out more obviously)

What we got was a little humdinger of a game that displayed the craftiness and flair of Chileans, who have seemed to grab the temporary crown of "South Americas most exciting team"

In the eyes of some this game may be remembered for how bad Honduras were rather than how good Chile were, but i have to say, Chile really impressed me today and the scoreline flattered their opponents to say the least!

It is hard to believe that Chile have not won a World Cup finals game for 48 years before today but if they repeat this performance, it won't be their last.

Alexsis Sanchez looks to be the next hot property in the transfer market after one of the best performances shown at this World Cup. He was truly outstanding. His dribbling and close control were a joy to watch, and if he had kept a cooler head at times he would definitely got on the scoresheet.

Jean Beausejour scored the only goal of the game just after the half hour after the ball deflected onto him from an attempted Honduran clearance. Apart from it being a goal, it was not a stand out point!

Only a series of bad luck and occasional loss of composure prevented Chile from running away with this one.

A confident performance, and 3 points on the board.

Chile will be a tough test for any team that come their way.

Spain 0-1 Switzerland

Quite simply, the shock of the tournament.

When i sat down to watch this game, i was expecting Spain to do the Business. I wasn't expecting them to impress me, but i was sure they would do enough to win.

However, as the teams and coaches took to the pitch, i seen Ottmar Hitzfeld, who i consider one of the best coaches around. He is a former "World coach of the year" and has won the champions league with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. He has the ability to make any side a decent side.

If anything this Switzerland team is underrated, well until today that was.

We were provided with a typical Spain performance in the first half with the European Champions trying to walk the ball into the net. They had all the possession.

But credit to the Swiss, who worked well in soaking up all the pressure and went in at half time with the game still scoreless.

Senderos went off just before the break with an ankle injury, so the second half wasn't looking well for the Swiss.

When the game recommenced, it was much of the same with Spain passing the ball around non-stop.

But in the 52nd minute Switzerland scored a goal that Jack Charlton would be proud of.

A long punt up the pitch from the Goalkeeper, where Fernandes was on the end of it to make it difficult for the Spanish defenders and he somehow bundled it into the net! 1-0 Switzerland!

After this Spain threw everything at the Swiss, even an out of sorts Fernando Torres, who didn't look up to it at all!

Apart from a Xabi Alonso rocket shaking the crossbar, there wasn't alot else that seriously threatened the Swiss defence.

An exciting game, and for the first time in this World Cup, we could hear the fans chanting louder than them bleedy Vuvuzela's!

Spain have it all to do now! Group H is offically the most exciting group in World Cup 2010.

South Africa 0-3 Uruguay

I only managed to catch the first half of this game but from what i seen Uruguay are looking quite menacing going forward and Diego Forlan is putting in the big performances when it matters.

His cracking opener was another reason why gameday 7 was the best so far, and why i feel this tournament is about to get a lot better. The games are starting to get more important!

Uruguay were good value for their lead at half time and from what i heard they got even better in the second half.

Seems like the South Africans may be the first team heading home! ................oh no wait. Well at least they don't have to Travel! We'll all be cheering for them either way when they play the French next week!

as for tomorrows games, we really are in the business end of things now!

Gameday 8:

I'm really hoping Mexico can pull off a win tomorrow but somehow i just don't see it happeneing. The French have a great squad on paper but a crazy horoscope loving manager. Despite this, im expecting France to narrowly claim 3 points.

Nigeria and Greece is a game that has to have a winner if either are to have any hope of reaching the next stage. Nigeria might just scrape a win. Gonna be a dull affair though.

Argentina and South Korea has the potential to be a great game. Lots of pace and a bit of Argentinean magic may make this a good one for the neutral. Argentina should prove to much for a decent Korean outfit.

Mexico 1 - 2 France

Nigeria 1 -0 Greece

Argentina 2-1 South Korea

Will i get any correct tomorrow!!?? Come on, i'm due one soon!

World Cup Blog Matchday 6

Another three games down. The Koreans score a goal against Brazil, Ronaldo smacks the post with a rocket and New Zealand score a dramatic last gasp equaliser. Has the World Cup got any better??

Sadly, no.

On a day that promised so much, it produced so little.

2 more draws and a narrow win for a team that were expected to annihilate their opponents.

We started the day with one of the less glamourous fixtures:

New Zealand 1-1 Slovakia

The only thing that made me want to watch this game was to see Marek Hamsik, the Napoli midfielder who had previously linked with a few big English clubs, including Manchester United and Liverpool.

In fairness to him, he was one player that stood out in another terribly boring affair.

The first half was a very tight affair, with Slovakia maybe just shading it. It will not be remembered for anything!

The second half started a bit livelier and within 5 minutes we got the first goal. Vittek with a textbook header after a good cross from Sestak.

Oh, before i go any further i just have to say if I see a goalkeeper that is worse than Mark Paston at this World Cup I will be really surprised. The Kiwi's stand-in keeper was terrible.

The following 40 minutes were much similar to the first half. More negative football that was painful to watch.

New Zealand grabbed an equaliser in the 3rd minute of stoppage time thanks to a Winston Reid header. "Winston who?" you say? He'll be a hero in New Zealand either way!

Ivory Coast 0-0 Portugal

This Gervinho looks like a good player! In the absence of Drogba he shined bright. He would have been better off if the Chelsea man hadn't made it to South Africa as the focus would be more on him. He's the first player of this tournament i've seen that will be heading for a big transfer in the near future.

First of all, Portugal looked poor. I picked them to finish runners-up in Group G but i am now seriously re-thinking it. They are another team with all the talent in the world but just can't gel. Ronaldo started the game with the intentions of scaring the African outfit, and even hit the post with a 30 yard thunderbolt before he was put back into his shell by the roughnecked Ivorians.

Sven Goran Eriksson set his team up to play unglamorous tough football that would frustrate the quick Portuguese. It worked well, but it resulted in the game dying as a spectacle. Not even a cameo from Didier Drogba towards the end could save the game.

For me, this result will suit the Ivory Coast better than Portugal as their next game will pit them against Brazil and if worse comes to worse they know what they will have to do against the North Koreans who, we thought, would be walkovers.

North Korea 1 -2 Brazil

Now THIS was surprising.

Before the game started i had predicted the Samba boys to claim a 4-0 win at least. I thought it could even be more.

How wrong i was!

The Koreans defended like they were a Jose Mourinho side. One player stood out from before the game started to the very end. This was Jong Tae-Se.

During the National Anthem of North Korea we seen Jong break down in tears with the enormity of the occasion (or maybe he cried because he thought no one would be watching at home- rumor has it is the game would not be broadcast in North Korea) This lad played out of his skin tonight, although he tried too hard sometimes, a cooler head would have made some better decisions. Hats off to him for a great display.

Brazil were frustrated in the first half by a dogged Korean back-line and their chances were severely limited to half chances and corners (Elano's corner deliveries were especially poor)

It has to be said that Robinho looked back to his tricky best tonight. It will be interesting to see if he will be playing in the Premiership next season.

Brazil did improve in the second half, but the Koreans were still standing firm.

It was just before the hour when Brazil took the lead. The goal was scored by Inter Milan full-back Maicon, and it is one of those goals that will ask the question: "did he mean it?"

In my eyes, the shot was supposed to be a cross but swerved into the net. Maybe another indication that this World Cup ball is causing problems.

The Second goal however was very well worked. Robinho cut the ball through the defence with a beautiful pass and Elano was at the end of it to give Brazil a 2-0 lead.

The game turned into a practice match after that. Brazil were knocking the ball around with comfort just running down the clock, until........

a goal out of nothing as Jong Tae-Se got the ball through to Ji Yum Nam in the 89th minute to give a proud consolation to the North Koreans.

Brazil have work to do if the are to win the tournament, but I suspect they will improve with every game they play.

Gameday 7:

The Spanish are up tomorrow and we're all expecting GOALS! I'm expecting another cagey start for a favourite tomorrow, but they'll do enough.

Chile are my favourites to join Spain in the round of 16 and they will get a win against a plucky Honduras side tomorrow.

Tomorrow night we are into the second round of group games with the host nation South Africa taking on Uruguay. This is going to be a tight game, but just for the sake of romance i'm gonna go with a 2-1 win for Bafana Bafana.

Spain 2-0 Switzerland

Chile 3- 1 Honduras

South Africa 2-1 Uruguay

Lets hope i'm correct for once!

World Cup Blog Matchday 5 (well.....its the first really!)

I had been thinking about writing a blog for the World Cup in South Africa, but until last night it was more a thought than something i was actually going to put into practice.

I finally got the push from a mate (thank you Colin..)

this blog is a run-down of my thoughts on the games that take place each matchday.

Before i get into yesterday's games, i'l quickly go over what has happened on the previous days:

South Africa got a confidence-building draw against Mexico (fantastic strike from Tshabalala!)

Uruguay claimed a 0-0 draw against a disgruntled French outfit (awful, awful game)

South Korea beat a negative Greece 2-0 (Highlight for me was a good solo goal from Ji-Sung Park)

Suddam Hussien's Argentina had a tough test as they beat a decent Nigeria side 1-0 (Heinze scored a rocket header, looked great!)

The Mighty England could only manage a tie-score in their soccer match with USA (Robert Green produced a Youtube moment, Gerrard Scored a decent Goal, Ledley King got injured.....no surprise, and James Milner's World Cup could be over)

More Goalkeeping Calamities as Slovenia defeated Algeria 1-0 in a dour affair (not much to say about that game)

Ghana were the first African side to claim a victory in this World Cup with battling 1-0 victory over Serbia (who needs Essien and Muntari??)

The German machine was switched on as they annihilated Australia 4-0 (Klose scores in his third World Cup...only one goal behind Pele now!)

Now.....on to yesterdays games:

Holland 2 -0 Denmark

This is the one result i have predicted correctly so far! 2-0 Holland was written all over it, although i thought they might have done it with more style. The Dutch didn't look great, but when it comes to the opening fixture its all about getting that first win and I think thats what they wanted to do, No fancy stuff, just get the points on the board.

A Crazy own goal was followed by a tap-in from Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt.

The Dutch are up and running. As for Denmark, they are lucky in one sense to have the toughest game out of the way first. They can definitely get 6 points off Japan and Cameroon if they play to their abilities and i'm still picking them to claim second place in Group E.

Japan 1-0 Cameroon

Japan's first World Cup victory away from home soil was also Cameroon's first defeat in an opening World Cup game.

Another Booooooring game. The Vuvuzela's were especially loud at this one!

Honda scored a decent goal just before the break. Not much happened before or after that.

Oh! Mbia hit the crossbar with a rocket with ten minutes left giving everybody false hope of the game having a strong finish. It Didn't.

Italy 1-1 Paraguay

I was totally wrong about this game as i was expecting a big win for Italy a bit like the way the Germans did on Sunday night.

After Ireland beat Paraguay fairly comfortably in a friendly a few weeks back, i was expecting Italy to wipe the floor with them! how wrong i was as Paraguay pretty much dominated in the first half and went in at the break with a deserved 1-0 lead.

De Rossi got Italy on terms in the second half, but they didn't impress me whatsover! Major improvement is needed. They should still win the Group but may be pushed all the way by the South Americans.

Just after watching todays first two games, more booooring football. I'l go through them games later.

Brazil should win by 3 or 4 goals tonight.........then again with this World Cup i wouldn't be surprised with a 0-0 draw.

Searching for Sam!

Here's a link to a website i created in College.

It's about Mayo Football and Mayo's attempt to win the Sam Maguire cup

www.leemail.ie/mccann

Top 10 signings

an interesting countdown of the best buys this season:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1266256/THE-LIST-Sportsmails-50-Premier-Football-League-signings-season--Nos-10-1.html

Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg

So it seems that Barcelona are human after all. Inter Milan put in an amazing shift tonight and really deserved their win. The "Special One" got the tactics just right and Inter didn't give Barca (and especially Messi) any time to dictate the pace of the game, that was the key to their win.


Inter where always my favorite Italian team, and tonight some of their counter attacks reminded me of the Inter team from years ago with the likes of Recoba, Ronaldo and Zamorano.

With all the focus being on Barcelona, i think a final with Inter in it could make for an interesting game, especially if Mr. Mourinho is involved!

It was really a case of "Master vs. Pupil" tonight.

Here's some old clips of the Inter Teams from days gone past:

Good god...

Proud to be Irish much?

Lucky John Terry!

How did he get away with this??

Blink and you'll miss it!

best ad i've seen in a long time...choclate anyone?

So Close!!

sometime's showing off just makes you look dumb!

Time to stuff the germans

A repeat of this would do nicely! well maybe 1 more goal!

Rooney has every United fan sweating!

This is a site i really didn't want to see! United's whole season is hanging on the results of his scan!