Lukas Podolski World Cup 2010 Football Poster
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The Spanish national team knew their third game in the group stages of the World Cup would be a tough one. The statistics before their game against Chile witnessed four South American teams qualifying to the second round, everyone topping their groups, and without a single loss! To qualify, Spain had no other choice but to win. Six Barcelona players were in the starting line-up while Pedro and Valdes started on the bench. The Spanish team was under pressure from the beginning of the game while the Chilean team was a bit more relaxed having won their previous two games against Honduras and Switzerland.Read some brief notes about the match after the jump, and add your own thoughts on the game.
Final result: Spain 2-1 Chile.
The Spanish team started the game chaotically. Real chances on goal were lost by Torres, no short passes were played, and the defensive line was a bit shaky. Chile in the first 25 minutes were dominating the Spanish team and almost scored more than one goal before the newly signed Blaugrana player, the fascinating David Villa, took a shot 40 meters from goal and put the ball, which was wrongly parried by Chile’s goal keeper, into the back of the net.
Twelve minutes later, Iniesta scored Spain’s second goal after beautiful short passes played between him and Villa. The 2-0 lead was enough to make La Roja gain confidence, shape, personality and Barcelona-style possession during the last 10 minutes of the first half.
It took the newly substituted Chilean player Roger Millar two minutes after the second half started in order to score the first goal for Chile. The shot from outside the penalty area by Millar was deflected as it hit Pique’s knee and changed direction, deceiving Casillas, into the net.
While Puyol and Pique had a relatively calm night, and Busquets and Xavi were doing their work silently, Iniesta and Villa shined as they both showed motivation to play and score goals.
The Spanish team has qualified along with Chile to the knock-out round where Spain will face Portugal. Although they have qualified, Spain have not really shown their potential as World Cup winners. Coach Vicente del Bosque has been choosing a conservative style of playing that seems unusual for the Spanish team! Although Torres does not look fully fit, and was substituted during the second half, Del Bosque seems to prefer playing another midfielder instead of having Pedro or Llorente helping the lonely David Villa. Thus the Spanish team ends up playing with five midfielders and one striker – even though Chile were playing with ten players! And to win the World Cup, Spain certainly needs to score more goals and Del Bosque has to take risks!
What do you think might be the solution to Spain’s current situation? Is Del Bosque responsible for the current psychological state of what seems like unmotivated Spanish team players? Should Del Bosque choose another tactical formation for the game against Portugal? Will La Roja be able to qualify for the quarter final? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
While the negotiations between FC Barcelona and Arsenal concerning the signing of Fabregas continue, what is clear is that the Catalan midfielder is one of the top summer transfer targets for Barcelona, as indicated by the Sky Sports website (among numerous others). The Blaugrana administration will try to get Fabregas back to the club he left for Arsenal at the age of 16.
Fabregas, in an interview with Catalan radio channel Ona FM, assured that, currently, he is not thinking about anything but the World Cup. He also added: “It won’t be a problem if I return to Barcelona because Barca is my home. The people there are always sensational in the way they treat me.”
Fabregas also expressed his admiration for Barcelona’s coach Pep Guardiola, who was one of the club’s important midfielders before becoming their coach.
The Arsenal captain confessed that ”Guardiola has always been my idol since childhood. I played in his position and I noticed him. My coach even gave me a shirt signed by him.”
Fabregas also praised Arsenal’s coach Arsene Wenger, who helped him to become one of football’s leading midfielders.
“He means everything to me. He is the person who put his trust in me,” said Fabregas. “Without him, I don’t know if I would be a professional footballer today. I owe him a lot and I have a special affection for him.”
WC Blaugrana Match Preview: Portugal vs. Brazil; North Korea vs. Ivory Coast Group G, Game 3 - Friday, June 25, 2010
Time: 16:00 Convert to local time
Location: Durban Stadium, Durban; Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Stadium Capacity: 62,760; 40,929
Current Group Standings (after game 2):
Brazil: 6 points, +3 (already qualified for knock-out stages)
Portugal: 4 points, +7
Ivory Coast: 1 point, -2
North Korea: 0 points, -8
Use the comments section below to add your thoughts and reactions as the game unfolds.
The following is an interview between Catalan sports paper Sport and Sergio Busquets. The original can be found here.How are you preparing for the decisive game against Chile?
Like any other final, we can’t fail. The pressure gives us more motivation.
After being questioned about forming a double pivot with Xabi Alonso in the game against Switzerland, did you redeem yourself against Honduras?
For me it was just another game and luckily we won. I tried to help, sometimes it goes well and other times it doesn’t but the important thing is to have the desire, help the team and [your] teammates.
What do you think of Del Bosque saying that if he were a player he’d like to be like you?
The coach saying that makes me very proud. He was as good of a player as he is a coach. He was very important to the sport and it’s always nice to hear things like that but I think he’d say the same thing about all 23 of us.
But it’s difficult for something like that to be said about a defensive midfielder.
The defensive midfielder is very important in football. The fans focus on the midfield and the strikers because they make the goals happen and it’s somewhat normal that people focus more on them. They bring the spectacle with shots and goals, which is the most important thing in football, although you’ve got to value other positions too.
If Del Bosque would like to be like Busquets, would you like to be like Messi?
I’m happy to be myself. There is only one Leo Messi, he’s the best in the world and it’d be very difficult to be like him. I’m happy with my career.
Do you see Touré’s departure to City as a new vote of confidence from the club?
I’ve always felt important. The coaching staff and my teammates have supported me both on and off the pitch. I’ve been able to play a lot and I’m appreciative of that. Touré is a great player and he has helped us a lot. I don’t know if someone else will come to cover for Touré but with the players we have we can compete.
For Touré, your backup, they’ve paid 32 million euros. What would Busquets cost?
I don’t have a price because I’m not on the market. I’m not going to leave because I’m very happy here. The cost of a player is up to the clubs but I wouldn’t leave for any amount.
Touré was your competition, it seems like you’re disappointed that he’s leaving.
We are all teammates, people that have shared a dressing room in a club where there is a very humane treatment, but in football we all know that players come and go. In Barça there is a very good working environment and it makes you enjoy working with everyone. I wish him all the luck in the world, he’s been a very important player and he’s done a lot for Barça. We’ll always remember him as a great player and a great person.
Is it a good idea to change up the team so that there is always competition?
Changing things up is the law of football. A player always plays where he wants to. Touré has decided to leave because he considers it to be in his best interest. You’ve got to respect that and we must move on.
Do you think it was difficult for him to play a secondary role?
We all want to play. It’s true that the seasons are very long and you’ve got to fight in every practice so that the coach gives you an opportunity.
Touré is gone and it looks like Cesc is close to returning. Being in South Africa, do you feel like he’s already part of the Barça team?
We’re very accustomed to having him on the national team. He played at Barça at a young age, he understands the philosophy, he’s got a lot of class and he’s a very important player at Arsenal. He’s one of the best midfielders around and I’m certain he’d add to our quality.
Is it going to be even more difficult to triumph after having won the league with 99 points?
Every season is a new story. We said the same thing last year. There is always pressure and motivation to win titles. We start off every season the same way. You’ve got the obligation to stay in every competition and win trophies.
Does the arrival of Mourinho add to the motivation?
Mourinho is a great coach but playing Madrid is enough of a motivation. It doesn’t matter who the coach is.
Won’t it increase your hunger due to his character?
We’ve always stayed away from his provocations. The most important things are the games and the players. Mourinho is only a coach and we play against players and there is always motivation with Madrid.
As reported on Barcelona’s official site, Sergi Roberto and Sergi Gómez have extended their contracts for two more seasons. Both players started the season with the Juvenil A side, but have become integral in the plans of Luis Enrique for Barça Atlètic as the year progressed. Three days after obtaining promotion to the Second Division A with Barca Atletic, Sergi Gomez and Sergi Roberto have sealed their futures as key blaugrana players by signing new contracts, keeping them at the club through 2012.
Maradona fielded an experimental lineup for this match against Greece in which a draw would have been enough to see Argentina progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup as group leaders. And although Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain were both rested, FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi took to the field wearing the Captain’s armband for the first time in his international career. Argentina defeated Greece 2-0 with goals from defender Martin Demichelis (77′) and 37 year old striker Martin Palermo (89′). The result meant that the Argentines finished as Group B leaders, with a perfect record in the first phase of the tournament. With the loss, their second in the group phase, Greece was eliminated from the World Cup.
With the team virtually assured of progressing, Maradona fielded a lineup that featured seven changes from the squad that had beaten South Korea a few days before. And frankly, for large stretches of the match, it was obvious that this was the Argentine “B-Team.” A trio of substitutions late in the second period changed the tempo and quality of the Argentine play, however, and ultimately put the Greeks to the sword. Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore injected pace and fluency, and Palermo did what he seems to do best: be at the right place at the right time.
For his part, Messi had a relatively quiet game, struggling to impose himself on the physically imposing Greek defense. But he also sprang into action late in the match, hitting the post with one shot, and forcing the Greek keeper into numerous other saves.
Argentina will next roll into action on Sunday June 27 where they’ll face Rafa Marquez’s Mexico at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg. With the Group phase now complete for Maradona’s men, what do you make of their chances against Mexico?
WC Blaugrana Match Preview: Greece vs. ArgentinaBarça player to watch: Lionel Messi (captain of Argentina for this match)
Current Group Standings (after game 2):
Argentina: 6 points, +4
South Korea: 3 points, -1
Greece: 3 points, -1
Nigeria: 0 points, -2
Will Messi score his first goal of this World Cup? Add your comments and reactions below as the game unfolds.
WC Blaugrana Match Preview: Mexico vs. Uruguay, France vs. South Africa
Current Group Standings (after game 2):
Uruguay: 4 points, +3
Mexico: 4 points, +2
France: 1 point, -2
South Africa: 1 point, -3
Use the comment section to share/find links to the game, and to add your thoughts and reactions during and after the match!
Spain’s second game in the group stages of the World Cup was against Honduras. To qualify for the knock-out round, Spain has to secure six points after their first loss against Switzerland. Five of Barcelona players were in the starting line up, while Iniesta, Pedro and Valdes started on the bench. Honduras qualified only once before the current World Cup; that was during the 1982 World Cup and they are considered to have weak chances of qualifying to the second round.
FC Barcelona forward and Argentine international Lionel Messi (22) will play and possibly captain his country against Greece in an Argentina team full of changes for their final World Cup Group B match on Tuesday, coach and legend Diego Maradona hinted on Monday.“Messi will play, because he always wants to play and I love that,” he told a press conference on Monday.
“We had been thinking of giving him a rest but to have a player of the class of Leo, the best in the world by a long way without doubt, it would have been a sin not to give him to the team, to the people, not give ourselves (the pleasure).
“His moment has come,” the controversial coach told gathered reporters. “When I told him what I told him, he was very emotional. It’s a wonderful thing. We already saw it in training, he’s having a great time training today,” added Maradona at the Loftus Versfeld stadium near Argentina’s tournament base on the eve of the match at Polokwane.
Juan Sebastian Veron, who Maradona confirmed was returning from the calf muscle injury he suffered against Nigeria, would normally captain the side in Javier Mascherano’s absence.
However, holding midfielder Mascherano is one of eight changes Maradona has decided or been forced to make from the team that started in the 4-1 win over South Korea on Thursday.
Asked if he had ever thought of making Messi his captain, Maradona said enigmatically: “You’ll know tomorrow.”
Wing back Jonas Gutierrez is suspended, Mascherano and fullback Gabriel Heinze are on one booking each, while strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain are among the players rested with Sergio Aguero and Diego Milito taking their places.
Argentina lead the group after beating Nigeria 1-0 then South Korea. A draw with Greece will be enough to win it.
If Messi can score his first goal at this World Cup against the nation that conceded the last of Maradona’s 34 international strikes so much the better, added the coach, who began the news conference by showing off a flashy, diamond-studded pair of sunglasses given to him on Father’s Day on Sunday.
“I would love it for Leo to take the baton of the goal in that match,” Maradona said referring to Argentina’s 4-0 win over Greece at the 1994 finals, the teams’ only previous meeting, in which Maradona scored and Gabriel Batistuta got a hat-trick.
“Above all because of the move which started in midfield… I hope Leo can score a similar goal, or better, or one that trickles agonisingly over the line but is a goal.”
WC Blaugrana Match Preview: Brazil vs. Ivory Coast
After Maicon’s goal against North Korea, will Dani Alves get a chance at right back? Or will he be Dunga’s go-to sub for the right wing? Will Ivory Coast make it out of the group? Share your comments and reactions below.
In a dramatic final day of matches in the Spanish second division, Hércules defeated Real Unión 0-2 to seal their promotion to Spain’s top-flight, according to reports filed in all major Spanish sports media. It has been 14 years since the team played in the Primera, where they join Levante and Basque squad Real Sociedad as FC Barcelona’s new opponents in the 2010-11 season. The final round of games crowned the Basques second division champions with 74 points; three teams followed on 71 points with Betis condemned to remain in the lower league despite their 4-0 victory today over Levante. Looking further down the table, Cádiz, Murcia, Castellón, and Real Unión, the team who sent Real Madrid crashing out of the Copa del Rey in 2008, were each relegated.
FC Barcelona defender and Mexican international Rafa Marquez (31) will speak with Barcelona manager Pep Guardola about his future with the club after Mexico’s World Cup campaign is over, according to an article that appeared in Sport on Friday. Marquez is a player that had appeared to have outlived his usefulness to the club after a few mediocre seasons, but recent events may be grounds for rethinking his role with the team. Marquez has primarily played in Barcelona as a central defender, but injury and age have limited his usefulness in that position, which in Pep’s system often requires pace and perfect positioning. However, Marquez has so far enjoyed an amazing World Cup run as a defensive midfielder, scoring Mexico’s opening goal against South Africa, and stamping his authority on the match against France with a crucial assist and an overall sterling performance.
With the departure of Yaya Toure seeming more and more likely, perhaps there is room in the squad this coming season for a reinvented Marquez after all.
Robinho World Cup 2010 Football Wallpaper
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Gonzalo Higuain World Cup 2010 Football Poster
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Rafael Márquez started and wore the captain’s armband for Mexico. Eric Abidal started and played the entire match in defense for France, and Thierry Henry started on the bench.Read some brief notes about the match after the jump, and add your own thoughts on the game.
Final result: Mexico 2-0 France
Blaugrana Notes: Assist by Rafa Márquez in the 64th minute. That’s a goal and an assist in two games. It was kind of a nice change of pace to hear the Mexican fans drowning out the vuvuzelas. This was Mexico’s first time to defeat France. Ever.
Eric Abidal made an ill-timed tackle in the box, receiving a yellow card and a penalty awarded to the Mexican side, which was slotted home by Cuauhtémoc Blanco in the 79th minute. Clearly Rafa will be by far the happier blaugrana after this match.
Thierry Henry spent the match wrapped in his winter coat on the bench.
The final games of group play (and quite likely the final game of the World Cup for Abidal and Henry) will be on June 22nd, Mexico vs. Uruguay and France vs. South Africa.
Argentina’s opponent in the World Cup finals today was South Korea, a team that had impressed in their opening victory against Greece. For this match, Maxi Rodriguez replaced Juan Veron in the Argentine midfield; the rest of the lineup was identical to the one Maradona fielded against Nigeria. Read on after the jump to see how Messi and his teammates fared in this crucial encounter.
Argentina's formation courtesy of ZonalMarking
Argentina defeated South Korea 4-1 in a brilliant attacking display with three goals from Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, and an own-goal from Korean defender Park Chu-Young. With this victory Argentina now have six points in their group and are virtually assured of progressing to the final knockout stages of the tournament.
Although Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi failed to score in the game, he was in sparkling form throughout, providing assists on two of Higuain’s three goals, and generally terrorizing the Korean defense for the duration. According to stats collected by ESPN, Messi had 166 touches, completed 89% of his passes, and created six scoring opportunities for his team.
Argentina close out the group phase of the Cup on Tuesday, June 22 when they face Greece in the afternoon match. For those of you who saw the match today, what did you make of the Argentine performance?
