Set my alarm clock just to see a group draw for next summer FIFA World Cup.

All the teams have a very fair draw and the opening match will be a good one between South Africa and Mexico. A tough match for the home team and if we talk about Group A, France also will have a difficult time with South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay are hardly to beat.

Group of Death- For me Group D and Group G but if you look at overall group draw, you can not pick two teams to go to the next round and it is means that we have a balanced draw this time.

Favourite Team this time – For sure it’s Brasil again and probably Spain with a very good track record in qualifying campaign.

Dark Horse – as usual, the Malaysian will go with England, Holland and Argentina as ‘standard’ teams to support but I’ll go to the usual suspect Germany and / or Italy and Ivory Coast. If you look down to first eleven of the Ivory Coast, you’ll see that their team is the one to watch in next summer and I’ll not suprise to see an African team to go very far as this tournament is gonna be in their soil next year. Just for your note –> No other team has won a WORLD CUP outside their continent except the superior Brazil Team.

Below is the full draw:- check it out

Group A

South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B

Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

Group C

England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D

Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana

Group E

Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F

Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G

Brasil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Group H

Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

 

My favourite team,Germany lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites as they booked a place in the Euro 2008 semi-finals with an impressive 3-2 win over Portugal. I knew the Germany will turn the table after reading their old timer ‘Kaiser’ who was criticized their display in two early group game.

Although the Germans qualified for the quarter-finals as runners-up in Group B following defeat by Croatia, the three-time winners were back to their best in Basel as they proved just too good for the Euro 2004 finalists.

Bastian Schweinsteiger opened the scoring in the 22nd minute on his return from suspension, and the Portuguese were left shell-shocked when the Bayern Munich midfielder laid on a second for Miroslav Klose just four minutes later.

Portugal gave themselves hope four minutes before the break through Nuno Gomes, who became just the third man behind Jurgen Klinsmann and Vladimir Smicer to score in three European Championships.

But Michael Ballack restored Germany’s two-goal lead in the 61st minute from another Schweinsteiger free-kick, and although substitute Helder Postiga pulled another one back for Portugal with three minutes left, Germany held on.

 

Wow!!!…. What a great news for my friend, Fadli

All the headlines suddenly focus on the appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari who has been confirmed as the new manager of Chelsea in the middle of Euro 2008.

The Brazilian had been one of the favorites to succeed Avram Grant in the Stamford Bridge hot seat but the timing of his appointment has come as a huge surprise.

Scolari is currently managing Portugal at Euro 2008 and was not expected to make a decision about his future until after the tournament.Big Phil is the third manager that the Russian billionaire has appointed since his famously infamous takeover, and if the owner realizes his past mistakes and lets the manager do his job, things could finally fall into place.  

Third time lucky?  I think so.    

(below is the statement from Chelsea Club)

———————————————————————————————————–

Thu, 12th Jun 2008

Chelsea TV and www.chelseafc.com can exclusively reveal the following statement:

 

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club’s new manager from July 1, 2008.

 

Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world’s top coaches with a record of success at country and club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice.

 

Out of respect for his current role as Head Coach of the Portuguese national team, and to ensure minimum disruption to this work, there will be no further comment from Chelsea FC nor from Felipe about his new role until his employment with us commences.

 

Sometime it’s hard to judge the player star status before any major tournament like Euro, World Cup and Copa America. Do you still remember Karel Poborsky, Patrick Berger, Smicer fame rose from nowhere just because the performance in Euro 1996. So do the Roger Milla and Toto Schillaci (at the end of playing career) in World Cup 1990. 

Herewith my prediction in the list of the top 10 future stars (all age below 25 yrs) to watch in this year’s tournament.

1.  

Full name: Fernando Torres

Jersey No.: 9

Team: Spain

Position: Forward

Detailed position: Forward

Date of birth: 20.03.1984

Height: 186 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Club: Liverpool

 

2.

Full name: Bosingwa

Jersey No.: 4

Team: Portugal

Position: Defender

Detailed position: Right back

Date of birth: 24.08.1982

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 75 kg

Club: Porto / Chelsea

 

3.

Full name: Sergio Ramos

Jersey No.: 15

Team: Spain

Position: Defender

Detailed position: Right back, Centre back

Date of birth: 30.03.1986

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 73 kg

Club: Real Madrid

 

4.

Full name: Karim Benzema

Jersey No.: 9

Team: France

Position: Forward

Detailed position: Forward

Date of birth: 19.12.1987

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 73 kg

Club: Lyon

 

5.

Full name: Daniele De Rossi

Jersey No.: 10

Team: Italy

Position: Midfield

Detailed position: Defensive midfielder, Central midfielder

Date of birth: 24.07.1983

Height: 184 cm

Weight: 83 kg

Club: Roma

 

6.

Full name: Philipp Lahm

Jersey No.: 16

Team: Germany

Position: Defender

Detailed position: Right back, Left back

Date of birth: 11.11.1983

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 62 kg

Club: Bayern

 

7.

Full name: Franck Ribéry

Jersey No.: 22

Team: France

Position: Midfield

Detailed position: Right midfielder

Date of birth: 07.04.1983

Height: 173 cm

Weight: 62 kg

Club: Bayern

 

8.

Full name: Samir Nasri

Jersey No.: 11

Team: France

Position: Midfield

Detailed position: Attacking midfielder

Date of birth: 26.06.1987

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 75 kg

Club: Marseille

 

9.

Full name: Hamit Altıntop

Jersey No.: 22

Team: Turkey

Position: Defender

Detailed position: Right back, Right midfielder

Date of birth: 08.12.1982

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 82 kg

Club: Bayern

 

10.

Full name: Cristiano Ronaldo

Jersey No.: 7

Team: Portugal

Position: Forward

Detailed position: Right midfielder, Left midfielder

Date of birth: 05.02.1985

Height: 184 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Club: Man. United

 

 

 

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