South Africa World-Cup 2010

It's less than 365 days till the next World Cup in South Africa. No doubt, it will be as heated as, or even more, as Wolrd Cup 2006, where Italy won the finals game in Germany. Even with the change in scenery and the loss of european comforts, it will be unlikely that international spectators will decrease in number. South Africa believes that even though there is an international economic crisis in the world right now, this will not hinder the fans from 'paying' to see their home teams play for their countries.

The World Cup is indeed one of the biggest and most prestigious tournaments in football. From

all over the world, countries get their best players and assemble a team which, supposedly, is far

better than any other team in their land. This is not always the case but let's talk about that some other time. Most often than not, the team members are member from local professional clubs that play in their local professional tournaments such as

the English Premier League and the Bundesliga.

As of now, there are six qualified teams, namely Japan, Korea Republic, Korea DPR, Australia,

Netherlands, and the host country, South Africa. More countries will be added to the list as

qualifying rounds end. Hopefully, Spain and Portugal are able to enter the world tourney in the

south of Africa as these are the teams I am rooting for.

If the Philippines did not fail to register for the tournament, I would be rooting for it. Sadly, it is part of the three countries under the AFC that have failed to register. I feel really proud of my home country, even though there are a lot of bull that's happening in the government nowadays. Even with these, I am still proud to be a Filipino and to any Filipino who is able to represent the

country. Let's just stay away from politics as it will make this entry very long.

The host country, South Africa, has done major renovations and constructions to accomodate the games of World Cup 2010. They renovated their five major stadiums and have started on constructing five more. These will serve as the house under which the World Cup will stage its games. Large amounts of fans are expected to pour into South Africa, which will in turn boost its tourism sector.

Here are some of the stadiums that are going to be used for the World Cup in 2010.

Soccer City, Johannesburg, Newlands, Cape Town, Ellispark Stadium, Johannesburg, Lotus Versfeld, Pretoria (pictures following respectively)

images from www.stadiumguide.com

How was South Africa chosen as the sponsor of the World Cup in 2010?

"As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament. However, South Africa is the first host since 1934 to participate in World Cup qualifiers. This is because the CAF qualifiers also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, for which South Africa had to qualify separately. Like the previous tournament, the defending champions Italy do not qualify automatically." - wikipedia.com

I can't wait till the World Cup in South Africa on 2010 starts! Even though I can't go, I'll be sure to keep up with what's happening in that part of the world!

Paulino Alcantara: The unsung hero in Philippine football

image from gmanews.tv
. . . he was and will always be a Filipino.

That's right boys and girls. Barcelona FC's all-time top scorer is none other than, Paulino Alcantara, a filipino.

Paulino Alcantara was born in Iloilo, Philippines on October 7, 1896. At age 15, he began to play for the Barcelona after he was scouted. He ended his debut game with three goals, which earned him the nickname of "net breaker". Now, isn't that something? I always knew that Filipinos had something in their blood. Haha. Joking aside, Paulino was able to retire from football with 357 goals in 357 games. It's like a one is to one ratio. He then moved on to become a doctor, and then a club director for his club team

.

I first heard of this "unknown legend" back when I was still in High School. I can remember my brother bragging to me about this filipino football player who was supposedly the first asian to play in a European club. Anyway, at first, I did not believe him. I though he was joking but when I searched the internet for some information about Paulino, what welcomed me was an array of websites dedicated to him. There was also a video tribute to him, from his nephew.

This incident had a particularly good effect on me as my earlier thoughts on why the Philippines couldn't make it big in the international level of football disappeared and what replaced them was a sense of hopefulness. If one of us was able to make it, why can't we do it again?

It's good that Paulino had come from Iloilo because if he had not been born there he might not have been fully exposed to and influenced by football. He might not have pursued football as other sports were rampant in the other parts of the Philippines. Until now,even though football is more widespread, basketball is still more influential.

image from photobucket.com

Sports in the Visayan region is a different story - especially in Iloilo, where football players are like weeds.

Anyway, Paulino Alcantara will always be an inspiration to both old and new football players, no matter where they may be. It would be good to see the Philippines use his name to build up the football scene. If only he were alive today, we could might just be able to "David Beckam" the Philippines with one of our own.

Steven Gerrard gets in a Brawl!

Heads up people. Liverpool FC's top midfielder, Steven Gerrard was arrested last monday, at around 2.30am.

Why? Here comes the good part.

Apparently, the football star got into a fight with Marcus McGee, the DJ of a club in southport. The fight started because Steven Gerrard, who might have drank too much, took it badly when the DJ refused to give him access to the sounds system.

If Gerrard were in the right mind, he would have stopped insisting after asking McGee to change the music.

Gerrard was charged with assault.

Let's hope this doesn't affect his still-rising football career, and his game in the Liverpool FC vs Preston North End game.

Here's a video from youtube that shows a CCTV feed of the alleged brawl caused by Steven Gerrard.