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.

ManU: English Champs!

Even though Chelsea won their final game, it was still Manchester United who went home with the title and the trophy! Kudos to the REDS! UNITED!

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The aftermath

SEMI-FINALS: THE AFTERMATH

After the Semi-finals of UEFA, only two teams were left: Manchester United and Chelsea FC.

Before anything else, I would like to comment on Cristiano Ronaldo. I don't know what's happening to him. Before the semi-finals, he was a very intense player, but now, I don't know what's up with him. Maybe he's just saving his strength for the Finals? We don't know. But for me, I want to see the Ronaldo that played with fiery rage a couple of fixtures back. If he is truly the best player of our generation, he better show that he deserves the title. Don't get me wrong. I like Cristiano Ronaldo, but it just pains me to witness only above average performance from a very very excellent player.

Anyways! I guess Eto'o's claim that they will score against Manchester in their away game was not fulfilled as they lost because of Scholes' magnificent long-shot.
Final score was (1-0)

Chelsea has really made a comeback. They showed that they were not just some team that was there to fill up the space. They showed that they can stand up from disaster games(Fenerbahce 1st leg) in a past. And now, they beat Liverpool, even when people thought that they won't be coming back from their poor performance in the first leg. Drogba, who scored 2 goals, and Lampard, who scored 1 (at last), certainly stepped up and put out an amazing performance. At first, I thought that Liverpool will be the one to advance because they started out strong. I guess Chelsea proved me wrong. They beat the team that defeated them and went on to collect the Championship Trophy two seasons ago. Final score was (3-2).

The finals are next. Who will win? Both of the teams are the best, or else they wouldn't be in this stage.

My bet is Manchester United! Although the finals isn't only for one game. Each game should be looked at one at a time. It was proved in the past that the outcome of one game does not decide the outcome of the next.

Well I guess only time will tell who will be this year's Champion!


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SO VERY UNEXPECTED

MANCHESTER UNITED AND BARCELONA FC's game was so unexpected. I was hoping for Manu to win though we can expect that both teams will give their all. Both teams came on very strong and this resulted to a draw.

Too bad for Cristiano Ronaldo - He missed a penalty kick which could've given the reds the lead.

Meanwhile, Eto'o warns ManU that they can score even in away games. Home or away, it doesn't matter. He says that they will score.

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SEMIFINALS First leg: Chelsea vs Liverpool

The semi finals are really filled with surprises. Everything was going well for Liverpool. They were leading 1-0 the whole game. The advantage came from Dirk Kuyt. It was a slight advantage and at any moment, the blues could've equalized at any time.

And equalize they did! Although this didn't come from any of their players. Five minutes into injury time, John Riise, Liverpool's defender, gave away an header own goal which gave the Blues a chance to get back in the game.

Chelsea's performance wasn't as high as we expected it to be. Even though they had some decent attempts, it was seen that they weren't in their zone.

Chelsea looked tentative with Frank Lampard's set-pieces unproductive and Petr Cech unusually hesitant between the sticks. - goal.com

It was seen that after the first half, Chelsea's team of top players were being overshadowed by Liverpool Mids Gerrard and Alonso, as they were the ones who were dictating the game's movement.


Here is something that's really inspirational.

The midfielder told LiverpoolFC.tv, "Obviously we're disappointed with the late goal but it's done. We've got to pick ourselves up. We've got to get a result at the weekend then give it everything we can at Stamford Bridge. We know this tie is not over.

"It's my job as captain to pick the boys up and make sure we're ready for next week.

"Let people say Chelsea are favourites, let them. We've got to block that out and do what we've got to do. We are confident we can beat Chelsea on their patch."

Take A Chance

He continued, "We've created the better chances against them here. I don't think Pepe had anything to do besides pick the ball out late doors.

"Petr Cech has had to pull off two or three great saves. To be honest, we'd have been disappointed if this game had ended 1-0 when it could have been 2-0."

"Criticism of Kuyt? I haven't heard him get any stick. We don't listen to any of that (the media). Dirk has been fantastic for us, he's worked his socks off for us again tonight and deserved his goal. He is well respected in the dressing room."

On Riise's own goal, he said, "These ties are decided on small details and Chelsea have had a bit of luck here at the end, but maybe we'll get that luck at Stamford Bridge. This team wins, loses and draws together.

"It's the second leg of the European Cup semi-final – if you can't motivate yourself for that you shouldn't be playing football." - Goal.com

The semifinal leg is already here. Ever player of every team should be able to play at that level. No matter what happens, may it good or bad, the players should be able to pick themselves up and get themselves ready for the next series of battles for the Cup.

Teams:

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Alonso, Mascherano, Babel, Gerrard, Torres.Subs: Itandje, Hyypia, Riise, Benayoun, Crouch, Pennant, Lucas.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lampard, Makelele, Ballack, Joe Cole, Drogba, Malouda.Subs: Hilario, Shevchenko, Obi, Kalou, Alex, Belletti, Anelka.

-goal.com

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