2010 fifa world cup handbook

2010 FIFA

TOP EXPERTS’ EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS

ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO32 TEAMS

64 GAMES

736 PLAYERSWORLDCUP

TM

HANDBOOK

ENGLAND

EXPECTS...

ROONEYWORLD’SNUMBER

ONE?

CAPELLONATURAL BORN WINNER

Supported by

Hyundai, Official Partner of the FIFA World CupTM

13.05.2010 15:00 Twist 235

17.05.2010 12:21 Twist 235

Editor in Chief Aleksander Korab

Art director Mia Korab

Deputy editor Joost de Jong

Contributors Paul Baldwin (England),

Emmanuel Bousquet (France),

Marco Bresolin,

Valerio Mingarelli (Italy),

Marije Van't Hoog,

Jeroen Haverkort (Netherlands),

Ignacio Garcia Alonso (Spain),

Elisabeth Braw,

Marek Krzesniak (MWN)

WORLD CUP

2010 FIFA

TM

CirCulation 2.25 million Copies; DistributeD in englanD, FranCe, italy, netherlanDs, spain

EDITORIAL

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HANDBOOK

ENGLAND TEAM 4-5The men carrying a nation’s hopes

ENGLAND STAR 6-7Wayne Rooney

ENGLAND COACH 8Fabio Capello

WORLD CUP ANALYSIS: 9-38Teams, players, experts, statistics

GAME SCHEDULE 22-23

DESTINATION 39South Africa

WORLD CUP ARENAS 40-41

TV GUIDE 42

MWN Editor in Chief

Maggie Samways,

85 Fleet Street,

London England EC4Y 1AE

Photos AFP, Getty

Print Prinovis Dresden GmbH,

Germany

Metro World Newswww.readmetro.com

40-41

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14.05.2010 14:10 Twist 235

54

ENGLAND TEAM

Without David Beck-ham, but with WayneRooney, Steven Gerrard,Frank Lampard, JohnTerry, Rio Ferdinandand Ashley Cole - Eng-land have talent inabundance. But a ques-tion mark still hangsover the No1 shirt...

age: 31

Caps: 76 (3)

position: defender

Club: Man Utd

age: 27

Caps: 39 (12)

position: forward

Club: Tottenham

Jermain

defoe

age: 29

Caps: 37 (20)

position: forward

Club: Tottenham

peter

CrouCh

age: 39

Caps: 49 (0)

position: goalkeeper

Club: Portsmouth

david

James

age: 21

Caps: 9 (3)

position: winger

Club: Arsenal

theo

WalCott

age: 24

Caps: 6 (0)

position: midfielder

Club: Arsenal

James

milner

Supported by

WILL THE LIONS ROAR AGAIN?

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ferdinand

age: 29 Caps: 77 (0)

position: left back Club: Chelsea

ashley Cole

age: 32 Caps: 57 (7)

position: forward Club: Aston Villa

emile heskey

age: 31 Caps: 19 (1)

position: defender Club: West Ham

mattheW upson

age: 29 Caps: 78 (16)

position: midfielder Club: Liverpool

steven gerrard

age: 28 Caps: 30 (6) position:

Winger Club: Manchester City

shaun Wright-phillips

age: 29 Caps: 59 (6)

position: defender Club: Chelsea

John terry

age:29 Caps: 36 (2) position:

midfielder Club: Manchester City

gareth barry


right back Club: Liverpool

glen Johnson


midfielder Club: Chelsea

frank lampard


goalkeeper Club: West Ham

robert green


Forward Club: Manchester United

Wayne rooney

14.05.2010 14:47 Twist 235

ENGLAND STAR

FACTSNAME: Wayne Rooney

BIRTHDAY: 24/10/1985

BIRTH CITY: Croxteth,

Liverpool

HEIGHT: 178 cm

WEIGHT: 78 Kg

CLUB: Manchester United

ENGLAND POSITION: For-

ward

ENGLAND DEBUT:

12/02/2003 Australia

FIRST ENGLAND GOAL:

06/09/2003 Macedonia

FIRST CLUB: Joined Everton

youth team age 10

DID YOU KNOW? Rooney

was the Everton mascot at a

Merseyside derby in 1996/97

FORM

In the form of his life,Wayne Rooney has theability to become thetournament’s biggeststar and help Englandlift the World Cup in

South AfricaBY PAUL BALDWIN

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t is impossible to over-state theimportance of Wayne Rooney toEngland’s World Cup campaign.If the Three Lions are to get their

combined hands anywhere near thetrophy then it will be thanks in hugepart to this 24-year-old ManchesterUnited striker.Rarely has England had a world classtalent maturing so beautifully in timefor football’s biggest competition. Butin 2010, in South Africa, they have pre-cisely that.No less a judge than Carlo Ancelotti,currently managing Premier Leaguearch-rivals Chelsea, callshim “The world’s numberone player.” And this is a coach withDidier Drogba and Sa-lomon Kalou in his side.He says Rooney is, cru-cially, “the most decisiveplayer in the world whonever drops, and alwaysimproves his perform-ance.”And he’s right. Liverpool-born Rooney is the modelof a committed player. Thehot-headedness of JnrRooney has now maturedinto a fearlessness - butit’s a fearlessness coupledwith vision, in-your-facephysicality, technical brilliance inevery area and 100% effort until thefinal whistle.United’s loss of Cristiano Ronaldo lastyear was Rooney’s gain. Previously hewould tend to tuck in just behind thePortuguese maestro but this season hehas been an out and out striker, andthis new appetite and confidence forfinding the net has made him both thePremier League’s and England’s num-ber one goal scorer this year.

PLAYER OF THE YEARHe has found the net 25 times for Eng-land in 57 appearances and scorednine goals in the 10 qualifying games.It surprised no-one that Rooney wasvoted player of the year by his peersin the Professional Footballers’ Asso-ciation a few weeks ago - no otherplayer was ever going to come close.And the official commendation servedto underline the man’s importanceboth to the team and the English foot-ball fans.It read: "The fact that the whole na-tion held its breath as an injury toUnited and England's main manthreatened to wreck our summer saideverything you need to know aboutone of the most complete forwardsthis country has produced. Crucial toboth club and country.''

Few begrudged the man his title, notleast because Rooney is all about thefootball.

CAPELLO’S MATCHUnlike so many players of his status heshuns the spotlight. He is uncomfort-able in interviews and tends to avoidnightclubs and the lenses of the pa-parazzi.He plays with the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old kicking a ball around a localpark and with a deep love of the gamewhich is glaringly obvious even to op-posing fans.

He says he prefers goinghome to his wife Coleenand new baby Kai. Admit-tedly Coleen has appearedon her fair share of tabloidnewspaper pages, butrarely with her husband.And all of this is music toEngland coach FabioCapello’s ears. They sharethe same disciplined mind-set - that the game is every-thing - and if ever anexperienced and wily coachand a gifted striker weremade for each other then itwas these two.Capello understands he hasa player who can comfort-ably stand shoulder to

shoulder with the likes of Ronaldo,Messi, Torres and Kaka.

“HE CAN WIN THE WORLD CUP”Even Franz Beckenbauer believesRooney has the ability to help Englandlift the World Cup in South Africa. The 64-year-old, who won the trophyas both a player and a manager, said:"If he continues scoring and playinglike that, he can win the World Cup forEngland. I have never seen him playbetter and I have been watching himfor a long time now."Of course, Argentina have LionelMessi who, along with Rooney, is thebest player in the world right now.”But the final word should go to theunder-stated Scouser.Without resorting to over-the-topclaims it is clear that Rooney relishestaking on the ‘other best players in theworld’ and showing them what’s what.Helping a typically over-expectant Eng-lish nation breathe a collective sigh ofrelief recently he said: "I'll be fine forthe World Cup."Brazil and Spain are favourites andthen there are a pack of teams behindthem including ourselves who with abit of luck could win this tournament."We have the squad to win it.''The squad? Maybe not. But they mightjust have the man.

I

Rooney hasa fearless-ness cou-pled withvision andtechnical

brilliance inevery area.

WAYNE’SWORLD

Supported by

6

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

SHOOTING AC-

CURACY

ROONEY IN QUALIFIERS

SUCCESSFUL

paSSES

DUELS WON

OPP HALF

DEBUT

Made his professional debutin 2002 and his first goalmade him the youngestgoalscorer in PremierLeague history at the time.

With United he has won

the Premier League three

times, the 2007–08 UEFA

Champions League and

two League Cups.

On his Old Trafford

debut in September

2004 he netted a

hat-trick against

Fenerbahce.

VALUE

His £25.6m move to Man-chester Utd before the startof the 2004–05 season madehim the most valuable teenager on the planet.

His performances have

contributed to England’s

100% record in the 2010

FIFA World Cup™ Quali-

fiers. Rooney has been

clinical, converting al-

most one third of the

shots he has attempted

(30%). He also has five

England goal assists to

his name.

9GOALS

5ASSISTS

2.25CHANCES CREATED

7

14.05.2010 14:47 Twist 235

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8

GROUP C

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TEXT: PAUL BALDWIN

FABIOCAPELLO:NATURAL

BORNWINNER

FACTSnAmE:

Fabio CapelloAGE: 63nAtionAlity:

Italian

prEvious joB:

Real Madrid

manager 2006-07

mAritAl stA-

tus: Married to

Laura, two chil-

dren

HoBBiEs: Opera,

collecting art

his ‘cast iron’ place in the back foursuddenly looked vulnerable. As far as Capello is concerned thefunction of a footballer is to play thegame – anything that detracts fromthis is to be ruthlessly snuffed out.And of course this is exactly what isrequired for any team with even theslightest notion of winning theWorld Cup.The man’s management recordspeaks for itself – a glittering arrayof honours at Milan, Roma, RealMadrid and Juventus.But a common thread of discipline,respect and everyone having to earntheir place runs deep.Ruud van Nistelrooy, who playedunder Capello at Real, said: "When he walks into a room thereis a presence there and it is his wayor the highway."He is tough, he is direct and deepdown you know that he's right. Heknows what is necessary to get thebest out of players."It is this direct, precise approachthat has provided England withtheir best chance of lifting the Cupin almost half a century.

FABIO Capello hasbeen a big fan ofWassily Kandinsky formany years.

Kandinsky is not, it should bepointed out, an up-and-coming Slovakian attackingmidfielder, but the pioneering1920’s artist who helped createthe Bauhaus movement.In some ways the idea ofCapello as aesthete sits un-easily with his accepted imageof him as a‘man’s man’ andindeed a ‘man-agers’ man-ager’.But the Bauhauswas all aboutform followingfunction andabout every-thing earning itsplace and know-ing exactly whatit was there for.Everything elsewas windowdressing to be

stripped away and thrown inthe trash.It is exactly how Capello hasbuilt his team – no-nonsensesolid and workmanlike under-pinnings creating an overall in-tegrity and no little brilliance.David Beckham’s guaranteedplace was the first windowdressing to go. Flashy talismanhe may have been, but he had-n’t really earned his place forsome time and (injury

notwithstanding)his form definitelywasn’t followingCapello’s func-tion. Next in Capello’ssights was JohnTerry, whose bed-hopping anticsleft him splashedacross the pagesof the Britishtabloids for all thewrong reasons.He was immedi-ately stripped ofthe captaincy and

The functionof a footballeris to play the

game – anything

detractingfrom that isruthlessly

snuffed out.

F

9

GR

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IT’S ABOUTTIME FORENGLAND

England and the USA are definitely the clear favorites to go through in this group.

But don’t count out the Slovenes, nor thenorthern African ball wizards from

Algeria! Slovenia made it to South Africa as one of

the biggest surprises, eliminating Guus Hid-dink’s Russia in the European play-offs while

Algeria defeated African champs Egypt tofind themselves on the way to their third

World Cup finals.But of course all eyes are on Rooney and Co,looking for the first English world title since

the legendary win on home soil in 1966.That’s 44 years ago, so it’s time they took the

World Cup back to London once again.

QUALIFICATION CHANCES

90

.2%

73

%

21

%

15

.9%

EN

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SA

SL

OV

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Source: www.castrolfootball.com


The numbers describe the statistical probability of each team finishing in

the specified position. England and USA should be clear winners and run-

ners-up of group C. Algeria are most likely to finish 4th.

AN

AL

YS

IS

The player towatch in thisgroup?

EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERTPIRES

HOWARD WILKINSON

Which teamwill win thegroup?

Which teamcould be thedark horse?

Because of the players they have, Eng-

land cannot be less than favourite. But

it’s still a very tough competition so

certain heads might be cut off.

Algeria has finally got its team in

place. They proved at the Africa Cup

of Nations that they are able to re-

cover from set-backs. Everyone must

beware of Algeria!

Karim Ziani. The former Marseille

player has been working hard. He

is much more disciplined than he

was.

England. They have a lot of great

individuals and one of the best

coaches in the world, Capello. He

can take the Three Lions really far.

Algeria. This technically good

team could surprise. They

proved their temperament by

beating Egypt in Karthoum.

Wayne Rooney: Since Ronaldo

left Man United, he shines for the

Red Devils. He does not hesitate

to sacrifice himself for the cause.

England. No question. They should

win comfortably. A lot depends on

whether Rooney is fit, but they

should win anyway.

USA. They are really getting their

act together and they are very thor-

ough in their preparation.

The England goalkeeper. It’s possibly

the only position on the field for

which there is no automatic choice

and it’s such an important position.

African football iconand Cameroon star

Arsenal icon. World Cup winner

with France

Twice caretakermanager of the

England team

GROUP PREDICTION

ST

EV

EN

GE

RR

AR

D

ENGLAND 63.6%

USA 44.4%

ALGERIA 50.2%

SLOVENIA 39.2%

1

2

3

4

13.0613:30 Algeria - Slovenia

18.0616:00 Slovenia - USA

20:30 England - Algeria

23.0616:00 Slovenia - England

16:00 USA - Algeria

FIX

TU

RE

S

First game in the group andthe most interesting. Could

the Yanks shock Englandlike they did in 1950?

DO

N’T

MIS

S!

12.06

20:30

ENGLAND vs USA

*Added value of 4 countries FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking points

GR

OU

PS

TR

EN

GT

H

Group

totAl FiFA points*

Group powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8

14.05.2010 14:48 Twist 235

GROUP CSupported by

Tim Howard. The Everton goalkeeper has twoof the safest hands in the UK Pre-mier League. He won an FA Cupwinners medal with ManchesterUnited in 2004 and was electedbest goalkeeper at last year’sConfederations Cup. But he’llneed to be at the top of his gameif the USA are toprogress to thesecond round oreven further thanthat. He is a manof great willpower whichhelps him dealwith hisTourette’sSyn-drome.

13/20This is a deceptively tough groupand it’s hard to see anything buta first round exit for the Stars

and Stripes team. Anything elsewould be an upset. But the teamlead by experienced attacker

Landon Donovan proved duringthe Confederation Cup that on agood day they can beat anyone.

11

USA STARS TO EARNWORLD CUP STRIPES?

AN

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IS

Sixth consecutive World Cup appear-ance for the USA side who reachedthe second round in 1994 and quarter-finals in 2002. USA also caused thefirst great shock result at a World Cup,beating England 1-0 at the 1950 eventin Brazil. Scorer Joe Gaetjens becamea national hero for life.

The US team are often wanting inthe last third of the field. They haveno player who can turn a game onhis own. Many players spend most of theirtime sitting on benches of Europeanclubs. They miss regular football.

TEAM

HISTORY IN WC

STAR

THE QUESTION MARK

��

��

What they lack in technical finessethey make up for in speed and hus-tle – as European champs Spainfound out when they were beaten2-0 in the 2009 Confederations Cupsemis. In the final Brazil only cameback from 0-2 down to win 3-2 inthe dying seconds. First in qualify-ing group.

��

Coach Bob Bradley was appointedonly on an interim basis, but an un-beaten streak of 10 games earnedhim a permanent contract. He puts to-gether a well-drilled squad of proveninternationals and up-and-comingstars. Scored more goals (42) than anyother country in qualification.Bradley, whose son is a midfielder inthe USA team, focusses on team

spirit, dedication and mental prepara-tion. When he took over the team, heused the famous ‘Miracle on Ice’ –young, unexperienced college ice-hockey players winning the 1980Olympic gold by defeating the muchbetter rated Soviet team – as an inspi-rational example for his players. Forthem, South Africa 2010 might wellresult in a miracle on grass.

Netherlands 2-1 USA

USA 2-1 El Salvador

USA 1-3 Honduras

Denmark 3-1 USA

Slovakia 1-0 USA

USA 2-2 Costa Rica

Honduras 2-3 USA

Trinidad & Tob. 0-1 USA

USA 2-1 El Salvador

Mexico 2-1- USA

Jonathan Bornstein

Oguchi Onyewu Conor Casey

Michael Bradley

Benny Feilhaber

Landon Donovan

Damarcus Beasley

Jozy Altidore Tim Howard

Carlos Bocanegra

Jonathan Spector

10

Wayne Rooney.On fire for ManchesterUnited all season, the 24-year-old has the fight,energy, and skill tomake the 2010World Cup hisown. Grabbednine goals in ninegames played,helping Englandto reach a Euro-best of 34 goalsin the qualifyingcampaign. Whenhe earned his firstcap for England in2003 he becamethe youngestplayer to play for the na-tional team, a recordonly to be broken byTheo Walcott in 2006.

17/20The whisper on the streets inLondon is ‘maybe, just maybe’ –and, 20 years after the Turin

penalty disaster against Ger-many, this talented side reallyshould be among the last four

once again. It’s now or never forEngland.

ENGLAND: TIME TO END44 YEARS OF HURT?

John Terry. The Chelsea defender wasstripped of captaincy after sleeping

with the girlfriend of fellow defenderWayne Bridge, sparking an apparent

rift in the dressing room. It remains tobe seen how England players and staff

cope with that and with tabloid pres-sure that might want to try to recycle

the story causing new scandals.

Won it in 1966 for the first and onlytime. Since then only made it past thequarter-finals once. England have his-

torically been a team of big namesunable to transfer their club talent tothe international stage. England willbe hoping to avoid a penalty shoot-

out. From the last six exits, four wereafter penalty kicks.

TEAM

THE QUESTION MARK

STAR

HISTORY IN WC

��

Only lost to Ukraine in the quali-fiers and under coach Capello Eng-land have been playing with aconfidence and consistency notseen for decades. After qualifyingthey defeated African championsEgypt 3-1 in London and lost 1-0 toBrazil in a friendly played in theQatari capital, Doha.

��

�� England 3-1 Egypt

Brazil 1-0 England

England 3-0 Belarus

Ukraine 1-0 England

England 5-1 Croatia

England 2-1 Slovenia

Netherlands 2-2 England

England 6-0 Andorra

Kazakhstan 0-4 England

England 2-1- Ukraine

AN

AL

YS

IS

No-one will relish playing an Eng-land team with Wayne Rooney, RioFerdinand, Frank Lampard, StevenGerrard and John Terry on the field,and undoubted tactical genius FabioCapello in the dugout. England needto put the twin ghosts of their disap-pointing 2006 World Cup and miss-ing Euro 2008 to rest and will be upfor the fight.

Team cohesion took a blow after JohnTerry’s private affairs spilled over intothe dressing room, but Capello hopesto have closed the matter. On the pitch, one of the crucial deci-sions the Italian has to make is whohe puts in goal. After a season of in-juries and lack of form for Englishgoalkeepers, it now looks like it’s be-tween Ben Foster and Robert Green.

Ashley Cole

John Terry

Glen Johnson

Gareth Barry

Steven Gerrard

Emile Heskey

Aaron Lennon

Wayne Rooney

Robert Green

Rio Ferdinand

WH

O I

SN

EX

T

1/8 1/4 1/2 Final 1/8 1/4 1/2 Final

If England qualify 1st they are most likely to play: If England qualify 2nd they are most likely to play:

Source: www.castrolfootball.com Source: www.castrolfootball.com

EN

GL

AN

D

PLAYER TO WATCH

FORM

CH

AN

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S

��FORM

73.0%

USA’s chance of getting to second

round.

36.0%

USA’s chances ofgetting to Quarter

Finals.

17.3%

USA’s chance of getting to

Semi-Finals.

6.5%

USA’s chance of getting to the Final

2.4%

USA’s chance of winning 2010 Fifa

World Cup™ US

A

��

Frank Lampard PLAYER TO WATCH

14.05.2010 14:48 Twist 235

FORM

12

GROUP CSupported by

13

AL

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ALGERIA WANT ‘82SHAME REVENGED

AN

AL

YS

IS

First qualified in 1982, which still is a sorepoint in Algerian history. In Spain theymemorably beat West Germany 2-1 and Chile 3-2 but then became the vic-tim of one of the most controversialWorld Cup games ever. Germany al-legedly agreed to draw 0-0 with the Aus-trians - sending Algeria home. In Mexico1986 they took only one point from six.

Homesickness. Algeria have onlywon two away games since 2003.Also hard to see where the goals aregoing to come from - neither Ghezzalnor Djebbour are world-class strikers.The Desert Warriors are capable ofdrawing with each team in this groupbut are they strong enough to win atleast one game?

TEAM

HISTORY IN WC

STAR

THE QUESTION MARK

��

��

Lost two of the three of their firstround qualifiers against Senegal (0-1) and Gambia (0-1), but made it toplay-offs. Knocked out Africanchamps Egypt amid much badblood. Finished fourth at January’sAfrican Cup, losing to Egypt in thesemis (0-4) and Nigeria (0-1) forthird place.

��

��

Don’t count them out. Many of the Al-gerian players were born in France,had their footballing education thereand are now playing all over Europe.Without exception, they are techni-cally very capable and possess goodpace. Midfield is Algeria’s strength, withcaptain Yazid Mansouri – who playsfor FC Lorient in France – spreading

the ball around dangerously. KarimZiani (VfL Wolfsburg) and MouradMeghni (Lazio Roma) have excellentvision and are the most likely playersto spark danger. Striker Karim Mat-mour has been proving a dangerouswinger. In goal Faouzi Chaouchiseems to have replaced former firstchoice Lounés Gaouaoui, who lost hisplace after an appendix infection.

Nigeria 1-0 Algeria

Algeria 0-4 Egypt

Ivory Coast 2-3 Algeria

Angola 0-0 Algeria

Mali 0-1 Algeria

Malawi 3-0 Algeria

Algeria 1-0 Egypt

Egypt 2-0 Algeria

Algeria 3-1 Rwanda

Algeria 1-0 Zambia

Milvoje NovakovicThe FC Koln striker is the na-

tion’s third highest ever goal-scorer with 13. As captain of the

team, he tookfive out of 20

during qualifyingand, at 31, the

Ljubljana-born for-ward is, at this FIFA

World Cup, approachingthe peak of his powers. At

his club he played a crucialrole in promotion in 2008. At

FC Koln he teams up withGerman striker Lukas

Podolski up front.Clever and capableon and off the ball.Elected 2008 Player

of the Year in hiscountry.

11/20The Slovenes were surprise quali-fiers but it will be no surprise ifthey are on the first plane back

home. They may have shockedthe world kicking out Guus Hid-dink’s Russia, but this group may

be just too tall an order. Lack ofreal quality will at the end of theday be the crucial factor.

SLOVENES ARE SEEKING MORE SCALPS

A thin squad, and the midfield is a bigworry. Best playmaker is England based

skipper Robert Koren (West BromwichAlbion) who is both resourceful and

hard-working but woefully short on bigstage experience. Can coach Kek, in his

first really big competition, keep thecollective spirit? Simply being in the

spotlight might cause loss of focus andconcentration.

This young country only became in-dependent from Yugoslavia in

1991. This is the second appearanceafter a disastrous 2002 campaign.

In 2002 the Slovenes lost threegames, conceded seven goals andhad their only star Zlatko Zahovic

sent home after a dispute withcoach Srecko Katanec.

TEAM

THE QUESTION MARK

STAR

HISTORY IN WC

��

Slovenia’s defenders only concededsix goals in 12 qualifying games –

a performance only bettered byHolland. Surprisingly knocked outRussia in the play-offs after finish-

ing behind group winners Slovakiaand ahead of the Czech Republic

and Poland. This year only playedQatar (4-1).

��

��Slovenia 4-1 Qatar

Slovenia 1-0 Russia

Russia 2-1 Slovenia

San Marino 0-3 Slovenia

Slovakia 0-2 Slovenia

Slovenia 3-0 Poland

England 2-1 Slovenia

Slovenia 5-0 San Marino

North. Ireland 1-0 Slovenia

Slovenia 0-0 Czech Republic

Bojan Jokic

Bostjan Cesar Robert Koren

A. Radosavljevic

Andraz Kirm

Zlatko Dedic

Valter Birsa

M. Novakovic

Samir Handanovic

Marko Suler

Miso Brecko

PLAYER TO WATCH

Nadir Belhadj

Antar Yahia

Yazid Mansouri

Mourad Meghni

Karim Matmour

A. Ghezzal

Karim Ziani

Rafik Saifi

Faouzi Chaquchi

Madjid Bougherra

Rafik Halliche

AN

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IS

Coach Matjaz Kek has, since 2007,been building his team around a rock-

solid defence and a collectivestrength. “Everyone’s equal to every-

one, there’s no room for stardom,”Kek says. Arguably the best known

player in the team is FC Koln strikerMilivoje Novakovic. Together with

goalkeeper Samir Handanovic (Udi-nese), forward Zlatko Dedic (VfL

Bochum) and captain Robert Koren inmidfield, they make the backbone of

the Slovenian team. Dedic became a national hero for bag-

ging the deciding goal in the 1-0 vic-tory over Russia that guaranteed theirWorld Cup tickets. As a reward for thisachievement, national prime minister

Borut Pahor cleaned all the players’boots after returning home.

WH

O I

SN

EX

T 21.0%

Slovenia’s chance of getting to

second round.

5.4%

Slovenia’s chance ofgetting to

Quarter Finals.

1.3%

Slovenia’s chance of getting to Semi-Finals.

0.3%

Slovenia’s chance of getting to

the Final

0%

Slovenia’s chance of winning 2010 Fifa

World Cup™

��FORM

8/20Algeria are undoubtedly the

minnows of the group. But bewarned: they are extremely ca-

pable individual players. Can’tbe ruled out of a surprising and

historic last 16 finish. If they

keep their composure and staydisciplined they could be very

hard to beat .

15.9%

Algeria’s chance of getting to

second round.

3.5%

Algeria’s chance ofgetting to

Quarter-Finals.

0.8%

Algeria’s chance of getting to Semi-Finals.

0.1%

Algeria’s chance of getting to

the Final

0%

Algeria’s chance of winning 2010 Fifa

World Cup™ WH

O I

SN

EX

T

SL

OV

EN

IA

Karim ZianiBorn and raised in France, his fatheris from Bejaia in the northern-Alger-ian region of Kabylie and his motheris from France. The 27-year-old was aregular with Sochaux andOlympique Marseille before joiningGerman champions Wolfsburg lastyear. Hasn’t yet shown best of hisabilities in Germany, but for his national side he is the absolute key man – was involved in more than 80% of Algeria’s qualifying goals.

PLAYER TOWATCH

14.05.2010 15:02 Twist 235

14�

GROUP ASupported by

15

FR

AN

CE

G

RO

UP

A

GR

OU

P A

FORM

Without Henry’s blatant hand-ball against Ireland, France

would not even be in Africa sothey have a lot to prove. Re-

cent games have seen aFrench team lacking rhythm.

With an injury question markhanging over Ribéry plus

Henry's lack of playing time,Les Bleus face an uphill task.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

What to do with ThierryHenry? Should he be on the

left side, playing through thecentre, or on the bench as he

usually is at FC Barcelona?This will be his third World

Cup. At 32, the once talis-manic striker will be taking

part in his last tournament sohe will want to make it count.

TEAM

Les Bleus are not the teamthey were 12 years ago but

they still count real worldclass players among their

number. Franck Ribery, Nico-las Anelka, William Gallas,

Yoann Gourcuff, Lassane Diarra and Thierry Henry canstill go up against the best in

the world.

��

HISTORY IN THEWORLD CUP

France have reached the finaltwice. In 1998, they beat the

Brazilians, led by Ronaldo, (3-0). 2002 was a big dissapoint-ment - France finished last in

their group without scoring agoal. But in the last World

Cup Domenech’s men wereonly edged out on penalties

by an uninspiring Italian side.

��

FORM

Revitalised under coach JavierAguirre (nicknamed El Vasco)the Aztecs won 12 matches in

a row. They are ranked sec-ond in Concacaf behind the

USA. Undefeated in the lastfive qualification games.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

The youngsters in the side.Aguirre, who has been a suc-

cessful coach at Spanish clubsOsasuna and Atlético Madrid,

must manage the mix ofolder players with European

league experience and hiskeen youngsters getting their

first taste on football’sbiggest stage.

TEAM

In the past few years the teamhas seen three coaches trying

out 60 players. Now with JavierAguirre, “El Tri” have found

their balance. The team led by36-year-old veteran Cuauhte-moc Blanco is dangerous up-

front but the real strength liesin defence commanded

by Barcelona skipper RafaelMarquez.

��


With 13 appearances out of apossible 18, “El Tri” have

made more tournament ap-pearances than any otherteam. However, they have

never gone further than thequarter finals. In the 1986

Mexico World Cup they wereknocked out by Germany who

went on to win.

��

15/20This is not the Zidane side of 2006, but there’s real class

here. Good team led by unconvincing coach could eitherend up very high or crash out in the group stage.

ME

XIC

OG

RO

UP

A

13/20Always a threat, especially now with Vela and Barcelona’s

Rafael Marquez in the line up. Should progress at least be-yond group stage.

STAR PLAYER:Franck Ribery

“Scarface” will be a major transfer target this sum-mer. He consistently plays his heart out on the leftfor Bayern Munich. He delivers assists, tears down

defences and can often dictate the game. Ab-solutely tireless for 90 minutes and a French side

with him in it is a faster and braver one. After ascandal with an underage prostitue Ribery will

want to let his football make the headlines inSouth Africa.

STAR PLAYER: Andres Guardado

One of the youngest players in the team this 24-year-old dynamite left winger, has played 80 gamesfor Deportivo La Coruna and almost 50 for Mexico. Guardado played his first professional game at 18.A few months later he made his debut for the na-

tional team. The wonderkid quickly ended up in LaLiga where his pace, talent and character make him

a top player in his position.

��

��

te

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BY

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nia

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; g

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: m

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AN

AL

YS

IS HOW FAR CAN BAFANABAFANA GO?A wide-open group. Surprisingly many book-ies make Uruguay the likely group winnersbut who would bet against France? Le Bleusqualified via the play-offs, and a cynical hand-ball from Thierry Henry, but they have a longtradition of performing on the big stage.Uruguay and Mexico have no-where near thesame consistency.And then there’s the host-nation wild card.Bafana Bafana are the weakest team onpaper but their football-obsessed fans will betheir 12th man on the pitch. As has been seenin so many other World Cups the home ad-vantage can never be underestimated. Mex-ico face a baptism of fire as they face SouthAfrica in their first game.


GROUP PREDICTION

GR

OU

PS

TR

EN

GT

H

Group

totAl�FiFA�points*

Group�powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8


ST

EV

EN

P

IEN

AA

R


EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERTPIRES

JACQUES SANTINI



France. The team used to be world

champions. Although the country is a

real promised land for football, it is not

yet sure that it will qualify.

South Africa. It’s the team that is play-

ing at home and has the support of its

public. It’s important. That’ll probably

make the team excel and win games.

Franck Ribéry. If he is mentally pre-

pared, he can do great things. In spite

of the troubles he got himself in re-

cently, I don’t see him being distracted.

France: I know the players, they want

to erase the poor image of national

team. Their pride has been been

hurt. France is a wounded beast.

I put my money on Uruguay. For

La Celeste will be competitive. It

can count on highly dangerous

strikers, such as Diego Forlan.

Ribéry, despite his controversial

season. I love this player. He’s

outstanding. The World Cup can

allow him to reach his true level.

Diego Forlan. He is underestimated,

but he proved that he is one of the

best strikers in the world. He's been

at his best at Atletico Madrid.

African footballicon and Cameroon

star

Arsenal icon. World Cup cham-pion with France

Ex-coach of French national

team

61

.5%

59

%

49

.5%

30

%

UR

UG

UA

Y

FR

AN

CE

ME

XIC

O


SO

UT

HA

FR

ICA

URUGUAY 34.4%

FRANCE 30.4%

SOUTH AFRICA 42.4%

MEXICO 26.3%

1

2

3

4

Graph presents sta-

tistical prediction of

final group order.

The numbers de-

scribe the liklihood

of team finishing in

specified position.

Surprisingly statisti-

cally Uruguay is

most likely to win

Group A.

11.0620:30 Uruguay - France

16.0620:30 S. Africa - Uruguay

17.0616:00 France - Mexico

22.0620:30 Mexico - Uruguay

20:30 France- South Africa

FIX

TU

RE

S

(The opening match. First World Cupgame on African soil.The atmosphere shouldbe as hot as hell.)

DO

N’T

MIS

S!

11.06

20:30

S. AFRICAvs. MEXICO

France. Group stage games will be

difficult, but they are much stronger

than the other teams. I am sure that

Les Bleus can reach the quarter finals.

Uruguay could finish 2nd because

Tabarez has a solid group of players.

However, the South African team on

their own soil could spring a surprise.

14.05.2010 15:04 Twist 235

79

.1%

47

.3%

46

.1%

27

.6%

AR

GE

NT

INA

NIG

ER

IA

GR

EE

CE

SO

UT

HK

OR

EA


ARGENTINA 54.2%

NIGERIA 28.9%

S. KOREA 43.5%

GREECE 28.3%

1

2

3

4

LE

O M

ES

SI

17

GROUPS A,B

16�

UR

UG

UA

Y TEAM

STAR PLAYER:Luis Suarez

GR

OU

P A

AN

AL

YS

IS

Coach Oscar Tabarez has cre-ated a formidable mix ofyoung guns and experiencedinternationals. La Celeste areat their strongest going for-ward. Diego Forlan and LuisSuarez had very good seasonsin Europe. Charismatic DiegoLugano is the key man in theback four.

At just 23 Suarez is captain of Ajax and one of themost prolific goal-scorers in Europe. On his day can take apart defences with embarrass-ing ease usually playing just behind the front manfor Uruguay. He has a stunning scoring record for Ajax Amster-dam: 85 goals in 120 games. He and in-form DiegoForlan are a lethal strike force. His weakness is hisannoying habit of diving in the penalty area.

��

FORM

Erratic. Lost to Argentina andsqueezed through after beat-ing Costa Rica in a play-off.However, in a friendly againstSwitzerland in March, La Ce-leste impressed by swappingtheir usual physical game forflair and finesse to comfort-ably beat the Swiss 3-1.

��


Uruguay used to play themost beautiful football in theworld. Won the Cup twice - in1930 at home, and in 1950 inBrazil - and made the semi-fi-nals in 1954 and 1970. Butthat’s ancient history - at thelast five World Cup finals LaCeleste made just two appear-ances

��

THE BIG QUESTIONMARK

Uruguay have not passed thegroup stage since Italy 1990.And the world’s biggest stagemight prove too big a hurdlefor the young and inexperi-enced stars this time aroundtoo.

TEAM

South Africa have the secondlowest ranking of the qualify-ing teams. As host nation theydidn’t have to qualify but thisteam of experienced playersled by coach Carlos AlbertoParreira, have the advantageof home turf and thousandsof supporters behind. Andthat makes them a threat.

��

FORM

Bafana Bafana didnt play ansignificant game for twoyears but they had good re-sults in March, during a cam-paign orchestrated byParreira. They won five friend-lies against African teamswithout conceding a goal, butthey are seriously short ofreal international games.

��


South Africa was bannedfrom international footballfor more than 30 years. Theyqualified in 1998 for the firsttime and played in Korea in2002. In both cases the dreamended in the group stage.

��

THE BIG QUESTIONMARK

In the recent movie “Invictus”Matt Damon leads SouthAfrican Springbok team fromunderdogs to victory in RugbyWorld Cup. They have thewhole nation behind them, in-cluding Nelson Mandela, butwhether life can imitate art re-mains to be seen.

12/20This is a very tough group for Uruguay. Even if they manageto beat the always dangerous Mexico and the unpredictablehost team, La Celeste are unlikely to reach the next phase.

SO

UT

H A

FR

ICA

STAR PLAYER: Steven Pienaar

GR

OU

P A

Johannesburg-born midfielder had an excellent sea-son in Everton. The Toffees as well as South Africateam were dependent on his form. “The MightyPeanut” is a fast and versatile player, and can playas creative attacking midfielder or winger. Big trans-fer targets for European clubs this summer. Lastsummer he was being sued by his ex-girlfriend for 1milion euro for not marrying her.9/20

Host team always enjoy the advantage of own ground,friendly referees, fanatic supporters. But this time BafanaBafana will need help of wizards to even leave the group.

��

��

Supported by

te

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BY

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k;

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afp,

gr

ap

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s:

mia

GOD DIEGOAND HIS

MESSI(AH)All four teams have very contrasting styles,

which makes the clashes between them fasci-nating. All of them are capable of beating one

another on their day. It resembles the situationfrom the World Cup finals in the USA. In 1994

in one group Argentina met Nigeria, Greeceand Bulgaria (now replaced by South Korea).The Greeks lost all three matches scoring nogoals. So now for Greeks, it is enough simplyto score to have the best World Cup finals intheir history. But they hope for second place,as Nigeria and S. Korea do. Favorites are Ar-

gentina, but remember their shaky qualifyingcampaign and the unpredictible Diego

Maradona, who he has more self confidencethan experience as manager.


12.0613:30 S. Korea - Greece

17.06

13:30 Argentina – S. Korea

16:00 Greece - Nigeria

22.0620:30 Nigeria - S. Korea

20:30 Greece - Argentina

FIX

TU

RE

S

Latin American giants verusAfrican Super Eagles. Expect

a lot of beautiful attackingfootball.

DO

N’T

MIS

S!12.06

16:00

ARGENTINAvs. NIGERIA


The stats show

just what a

tight group

this is. Nigeria

and Greece

are neck and

neck.

GR

OU

P B


EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERT PIRES

CESARE MALDINI

Which team will win thegroup?


Argentina: Theoretically, they are

made up of very technically strong

players.

Nigeria: This team will take advan-

tage of playing in Africa. As an

African team during the first round

they will have the public on their side

Leo Messi: He is currently the

world’s best player. He should con-

firm it during the World Cup.

Argentina are experienced at this

level of competition. They have a

great first eleven and substitutes

who are better than average.

Greece. They are simply a frustrat-

ing kind of team, not spectacular,

but hard to beat. They have a cast

-iron defence and can counter at-

tack amazingly quickly.

Messi. Although he is a fantastic

player with Barca, he is often in-

visible in the Argentinian jersey.

Despite the problems shown last

year, Argentina have got much more

talent than all the other teams. They

start with an advantage.

In the qualifying matches Greece

played very good football. They

could cause many problems to all

the other teams.

It is Leo Messi without any doubt,

even if he has not played very well

in his National team shirt so far.

African footballicon and

Cameroon star

Arsenal icon andFrench World

Cup Winner

The former coach of the Italian

national team

GROUP PREDICTION

GR

OU

PS

TR

EN

GT

H

Group


Group�powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8


14.05.2010 15:09 Twist 235

19

Supported by

18

GROUP B

AR

GE

NT

INA TEAM

STAR PLAYER:Lionel Messi

GR

OU

P B

Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero,Carlos Tevez, GonzaloHiguaín, Javier Mascherano,Gabriel Heinze, are among thefrightening army of talentthat Argentina can field. Addveteran stars Juan Veron andJavier Zanetti and they ar-guably out-shine Brazil. Butare they a team?

World Player of the Year Messi will celebrate onlyhis 23rd birthday during the World Cup but, morethan team coach Diego Maradona, he is the realleader of this Argentine side. Brilliant in every de-partment, if he can replicate his form at Barcelonahe could win this World Cup on his own.

��

FORM

Worst qualifying form ever -won 8 but had 4 draws and 6losses including a humiliatingdefeat 1-6 in Bolivia. Only gotthrough in the last matchagainst Uruguay. In friendlieslost 2-1 to Spain in November2009. But this year looks bet-ter: wins against Costa Rica,Jamaica and Germany.

��


Argentina played in the firstWorld Cup in Uruguay in 1930and lost in the final. They wonthe cup twice, in 1978 and in1986 and lost the final to Ger-many in 1990. This is their15th World Cup finals. In 1998and 2006 they made the quar-ter finals. In Korea, surpris-ingly failed the group stage.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Diego Armando Maradona. Asbrilliant on the pitch in 1986as he is worrying off it in 2010.Volatile and unpredictable –Argentina could just as easilybe finalists or be on the firstplane home. Is it really possi-ble to win World Cup withbrilliant players but a shockingcoach?

TEAM

Experienced. Two players - for-mer Dortmund defender LeeYoung-Pyo and goalkeeperLee Woon-Jae - have over 100caps. Many players play in Eu-rope: Park Ji-Sung (ManUnited), Park Chu-Young (ASMonaco), Cho Won-Hee(Wigan), Kim Dong-Jin (Zenit),Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton).

��

FORM

The South Koreans were un-beaten in 14 games and con-ceded only seven goals on theway to their seventh consecu-tive World Cup. In friendliesthis year, they beat Latvia 1-0,Hong Kong 5-0, Japan 3-1 andIvory Coast 2-0. Only China got the better of them with a 3-0 win.

��


In 1954 they did not score agoal and lost 9-0 against Hun-gary. After 32 years they qual-ified in 1986, then 1990, 1994,and 1998 but failed to getpast the first round. In 2002,when they co-hosted WorldCup, they stunned the worldwith a fourth place finish.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

No really prolific goalscorersin the side and, despite com-mendable discipline at theback, a question mark hangsover the team’s ability to copewith the physical game of theSouth Americans and Euro-peans.

17/20A shadow of their former selves and Maradona remains areal worry – but it would be foolish to rule out any teamstarting with Lionel Messi up front.

SO

UT

H K

OR

EA

STAR PLAYER:Park Ji-Sung

GR

OU

P B

Korea’s best known player and a fixture in the Man-chester United team since 2005. Nicknamed ParkThree-Lung for his impressive stamina, the mid-fielder is a disciplined captain and, with 5 goals inqualifications, team’s leading scorer.

12/20There’s enough talent here to progress from this unpre-dictable group, but it will be an uphill battle for the SouthKoreans.

NIG

ER

IAG

RO

UP

B

FORM

Didn’t lose a game in quali-fiers (9 wins, 3 draws). This

year they were beaten byGhana 0-1 and Niger 0-2 andbeat Zambia (on penalties),

Algeria 1-0 and DR Congo 5-2.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

Are the Super Eagles capableof flying high again? Was hir-ing Swedish coach Lagerbacka good move? On the day theNigerians are a match for any-one but the coach’s dreams of

reaching the quarter-finalslook to be exactly that.

TEAM

Many names well known onthe world stage, like Kanu

(Portsmouth), Aiyegbeni (Ever-ton), Odemwinge (Lokomotiv

Moscow), Yobo (Everton),Mikel (Chelsea) and Obinna

(Málaga). New Swedish man-ager’s Lars Lagerback’s task isto blend these quality players

to a good team.

��


Nigeria reached the last 16 attheir first ever World Cup fi-

nals in 1994 and repeated thefeat four years later. In 2002,they failed to advance from

the group, and did not qualifyfor World Cup 2006.

��

FORM

Only qualified via the play-offs from a notably weak

group. Beaten twice bySwitzerland and only drew

with Moldova. A pre-tourna-ment friendly against Senegal

on home turf saw themsoundly beaten 2-0. Will need

to work hard to get past firstround.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

Can the Greeks score theirfirst World Cup goal? Can

they win their first World Cupmatch? The pressure on themwill increase with each gameas they start against theoreti-

cally the weakest group op-ponent Korea, then play

Nigeria and finally Argentina.

TEAM

Coach Otto Rehhagel hasbuilt a compact unit, convinc-

ing particularly in defence.Goalkeeper Alexandros Tzor-

vas was impressive in play-offs against Ukraine. Midfield

relies on Garagounis andKostas Katsouranis. Strikers:

Angelos Charisteas, TheofanisGekas and Giorgos Samaras.

��


The Greeks have played in theWorld Cup only once – in the

USA in 1994. They lost all 3matches, scoring none and

conceding 10. Their finesthour was winning Euro 2004,

but that now seems a longtime ago.

��

11/20Anything but an early plane home looks a very tall order

for the Nigerians – but they have wrong-footed pundits be-fore.

GR

EE

CE

GR

OU

P B

8/20In the big tournaments the Greeks either bomb out or winthe title. If the fearsome defence holds up, the last 16 is a

real prospect.

STAR PLAYER: Obafemi Martins

Wolfsburg striker and former teenage sprint cham-pion in Nigeria, Martins has 24 caps and 15 goals.An injury meant he only played in three qualifiersbut scored twice. Fast and deadly. In a 2007 game

playing for Newcastle United against Tottenham hisshot was clocked at 84 mph!

STAR PLAYER: Theofanis Gekas

At 30, and at the top of his game the Bayer Lev-erkusen forward is the qualifying campaign's topscorer with 10 goals (almost half of the 21 Greekgoals). He was the only Greek player who was on

the pitch in all 12 preliminary matches and a tower-ing influence on the team.

��

��

��

14.05.2010 15:09 Twist 235

More fans! More fun! At your nearest Hyundai Fan Park!

Feel the game! 2010 FIFA World Cup

TMSupported by Hyundai

13.05.2010 13:37 Twist 235

MATCH

JOHANNESBURGSoccer City

GROUP MATCHES

NELSPRUITMbombela

BLOEMFONTEINFree State

DURBANDurban

PORT ELIZABETHN. Mandela Bay

JOHANNESBURGEllis Park

RUSTENBURGRoyal Bafokeng

CAPE TOWNGreen Point

POLOKWANEPeter Mokaba

TSHWANE Loftus Versfeld

GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D GROUP E GROUP F GROUP G GROUP H

GR

OU

PS

FRI

JUNE

11

SAT

JUNE

12

SUN

JUNE

13

MON

JUNE

14

TUE

JUNE

15

WED

JUNE

16

THU

JUNE

17

FRI

JUNE

18

SAT

JUNE

19

SUN

JUNE

20

MON

JUNE

21

TUE

JUNE

22

WED

JUNE

23

THU

JUNE

24

FRI

JUNE

25

SAT

JUNE

26

SUN

JUNE

27

MON

JUNE

28

TUE

JUNE

29

WED

JUNE

30

THU

JULY

1

FRI

JULY

2

SAT

JULY

3

SUN

JULY

4

MON

JULY

5

TUE

JULY

6

WED

JULY

7

THU

JULY

8

FRI

JULY

9

SAT

JULY

10

SUN

JULY

11

ROUND OF 16

QUARTER FINALS

SEMIFINALS

3/4 PLACE& FINAL

RE

ST

D

AY

S

RE

ST

D

AY

S

RE

ST

D

AY

S

South Africa (RSA)

Mexico (MEX)

Uruguay (URU)

France (FRA)

Argentina (ARG)

Nigeria (NGA)

Korea Rep. (KOR)

Greece (GRE)

England (ENG)

USA (USA)

Algeria (ALG)

Slovenia (SVN)

Germany (GER)

Australia (AUS)

Serbia (SRB)

Ghana (GHA)

Netherlands (NED)

Denmark (DEN)

Japan (JPN)

Cameroon (CMR)

Italy (ITA)

Paraguay (PAR)

New Zealand (NZL)

Slovakia (SVK)

Brazil (BRA)

Korea DPR (PRK)

Ivory Coast (CIV)

Portugal (POR)

Spain (ESP)

Switzerland (SUI)

Honduras (HON)

Chile (CHI)

16:00

RSAvs

MEX

16:00

ARGvs

NGA

20:30

ENGvs

USA

20:30

URUvs

FRA

13:30

KORvs

GRE

13:30

ALGvs

SVN

20:30

GERvs

AUS

16:00

ESPvs

SUI

13:30

NEDvs

JPN

20:30

NGAvs

KOR

16:00

PORvs

BRA

20:30

CMRvs

NED

13:30

PORvs

PRK

20:30

ENGvs

ALG

20:30

ITAvs

PAR

16:00

JPNvs

CMR

16:00

GREvs

NGA

13:30

SVKvs

PAR

16:00

FRAvs

RSA

20:30

SUIvs

HON

20:30

DENvs

JPN

16:00

MEXvs

URU

16:00

GHAvs

AUS

13:30

NZLvs

SVK

13:30

HONvs

CHI

16:00

ITAvs

NZL

20:30

AUSvs

SRB

16:00

PRKvs

CIV

16:00

SVKvs

ITA

20:30

ESPvs

HON

16:00

SVNvs

USA

20:30

BRAvs

PRK

13:30

NEDvs

DEN

13:30

ARGvs

KOR

20:30

BRAvs

CIV

20:30

GHAvs

GER

20:30

FRAvs

MEX

20:30

GREvs

ARG

16:00

PAR vs

NZL

16:00

SRBvs

GHA

20:30

RSAvs

URU

20:30

CMRvs

DEN

16:00

USAvs

ALG

20:30

CHIvs

ESP

16:00

1Fvs

2E (6)

20:30

Loser Ivs

Loser II

16:00

5vs

7 (c)

16:00

1Avs

2B (1)

16:00

1Evs

2F (5)

20:30

Bvs

D (II)

20:30

Avs

C (I)

16:00

2vs

4 (B)

20:30

1Hvs

2G (8)

16:00

1Dvs

2C (4)

20:30

1Cvs

2D (3)

20:30

1Gvs

2H (7)

20:30

1Bvs

2A (2)

20:30

6vs

8 (D)

20:30

1vs

3 (A)

20:30

Winner Ivs

Winner II

16:00

SVNvs

ENG

16:00

CHIvs

SUI

13:30

GERvs

SRB

16:00

CIVvs

POR

Supported by

5Most World Cup wins - Brazil of

course. Second are Italy

with 4.

25Most World Cup

games played – byLothar Matthaus

(Ger). Paolo Maldini(Ita) played 23

times.

15Most goals in World

Cup - by Ronaldo(Bra). Second isGerd Müller (W.

Ger) with 14.

42Oldest player in

World Cup – Roger Milla

(Cam). Youngest –Norman Whiteside

(N. Ire) 17.

17The youngest scorer–Pele (Bra). The old-est was Roger Milla

42.

WO

RL

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UP

RE

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22 23

15.05.2010 12:10 Twist 235

GERMANY 48.3%

AUSTRALIA 48.2%

GHANA 42.8%

SERBIA 27.6%

1

2

3

4

JEROME BOATENG

24�

GROUP DSupported by

25

GE

RM

AN

YG

RO

UP

D

FORM

Germany qualified unbeaten,winning eight and drawingtwo, and going through as

group winners by defeatingRussia in Moscow 1-0. In

friendly matches they havenot been so impressive (a 2-2draw with Ivory Coast and 1-0

defeat at the hands of Ar-gentina).

��

THE BIGQUESTION

MARK

Strength in depth. This is anot an old-fashioned German

team packed with qualityacross the field. The Groupstage should pose no prob-

lems but Low will have to beat his tactical best in the later

stages.

TEAM

Quality stars with foreign rootsbrought new flair to the Ger-

man game. Top scorers in qual-ifications, Miroslav Klose and

Lukas Podolski are of Polish de-scent. That said, the German

talent for discipline and relent-less pressure should see them

steam-roller the other groupteams.

��

A massive force in World Cupfinals. They have lifted the cup

three times - only Brazil (five)and Italy (four) have done bet-

ter. They have also come sec-ond four times, third threetimes and have more semi-final appearances than any

other team. Have reached thelast eight in the last 14 finals.

��

FORM

In their first attempt as an in-dependent nation, Serbia

qualified in first place aheadof France and Romania. Went

on to win all friendlies afterqualifications without con-ceding a goal - 1-0 against

Northern Ireland, 1-0 againstSouth Korea, 3-0 against Alge-

ria, 3-0 against Japan.

��

THE BIGQUESTION

MARK

Will Chelsea defenderIvanović be fully fit after his

knee ligament injury? Experi-enced coach Radomir Antic,

former FC Barcelona, RealMadrid and Atletico Madridboss, needs a plan, becauseVidic is good but can’t hold

the line on his own.

TEAM

A real package of interna-tional experience: topscorer

Milan Jovanovic (5 goals,Standard Liege) and Milos

Krasic (CSKA Moscow) -played all qualifiers - ,

Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) -most minutes - and captain

Dejan Stankovic (Inter). Cov-ered at the back by the huge

Nemanja Vidic.

��


Technically a debutant as theRepublic of Serbia has only

existed since 2006.Four years ago as Serbia and

Montenegro they played inGermany and exited in the

group stages.As FR Yugoslavia they

reached the last 16 in 1998.

��

17/20They might have slipped down the FIFA rankings a little

but who ever heard of a semi-finals without the Germans?

SE

RB

IAG

RO

UP

D

15/20Fearsome attacking power and the even more fearsomeVidic at the back makes Serbia a potential surprise pack-

age. They will be the dark horse of this World Cup.

STAR PLAYER:Michael Ballack

The 33-year-old Chelsea midfielder is the captain ofthe German national team and arguably its biggeststar. Prior to the World Cup finals he is probably set

to earn his 100th cap. Three times German Foot-baller of the Year, Ballack is also one of the na-tional team’s top goalscorers with four goals in

2010 qualifiers and 42 over his career. Since June2005, Germany have never lost when Ballack has

scored.

STAR PLAYER:Nemanja Vidic

General of the Serbian back line and towering cen-tre back for Manchester United. Was instrumental

in the Red Devils’ record run of 14 consecutivematches without conceding a goal in 2008/09 sea-

son for which he won the Player of the Seasonaward. A match for any striker the tournament can

throw at him.

��

��

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BROTHERAGAINSTBROTHERThis could be the group with the fewestgoals, because Germany, Serbia and Ghanaare all known for their excellent defences.The most interesting clash sees two broth-ers playing against each other. Jerome andKevin-Prince Boateng grew up in Berlin asthe sons of African immigrants. Now theywill be on opposite sides when Germanymeet Ghana. Kevin-Prince (27), mid-fielder for Portsmouth, used to play forthe German youth teams, but he optedfor a nationality switch. Younger brotherJerome (22) defender for HSV (tipped to leave forManchester City) has three caps for the Germans.His side is (as always) group favorite. Everyone elseis playing for the runner-up slot.


GROUP PREDICTION

13.0616:00 Serbia - Ghana

20:30 Germany - Australia

18.0613:30 Germany - Serbia

19.0616:00 Ghana - Australia

23.0620:30 Australia - Serbia

FIX

TU

RE

S

If both Boatengbrothers play itwill be historic

DO

N’T

MIS

S 23.06

20:30

GHANA vsGERMANY


GR

OU

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TR

EN

GT

H

Group


Group�powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8



EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERT PIRES

CESARE MALDINI



Germany. They are used to world

competitions. Germany have also a

group of new players ready for the

challenge.

Australia. Everybody will focus on

Ghana, Germany, and Serbia. The un-

derdogs may not have big names, but

their players are warriors.

Philipp Lahm. He’s very good at play-

ing offensively or defensively with

Bayern Munich. He’s shown it during

the Champions League.

Germany. Their strength is based

on its presence, even though its

football game is poor. They are

warriors who never give up.

Serbia is a gifted team which is

ready to shine. The Serbians

caused lots of trouble to Les

Bleus during qualifications.

Bastian Schweinsteiger. He im-

pressed me in Champion’s League.

He is an tireless midfielder who is

able to shine offensively.

Germany will never fail in the World

Cup and I think they can win the

group quite easily.

Ghana is, of course, one of the best

African teams. They can play good

football.

Klose is a forward without great tal-

ent but he is always at his best while

playing with the national team. He

can score many goals.

African player iconand Cameroon star

Arsenal icon andFrench World

Cup winner

The former coach of the Italian

national team

The Australia v Serbia game is the last in the group and may

well decide who qualifies along with Germany.

74

.4%

48

.2%

47

.9%

29

.5%

GE

RM

AN

Y

AU

ST

RA

LIA

SE

RB

IA

GH

AN

A


HISTORY IN THE WORLD CUP

14.05.2010 15:19 Twist 235

�7

GROUPS D,E

�6�

GH

AN

A TEAM

STAR PLAYER: Sulleyman Muntari

GR

OU

P D

Serbian coach Rajevac has puttogether a solid team. Anyteam with Michael Essien(Chelsea), Sulley Muntari(Inter) and Dominic Adiyiah(Milan) has real internationalclass. Watch Matthew Amoah(NAC Breda) for goals.A lot will depend on Essienbeing fully fit.

Since a question mark hangs over Michael Essien;sfitness, the biggest star and leader of the team isthe 26-year-old midfielder from Inter Milan - Sulley-man Ali “Sulley” Muntari. He was recently excludedfrom the national team due to disciplinary prob-lems, but he issued a full apology to his countryand coach. Muntari’s thunderous strikes are anightmare even for world class goalkeepers.

��

FORM

Ghana were the first Africancountry to qualify for theWorld Cup finals – with twogames to spare. Finished sec-ond in the African NationsCup (beat Nigeria 1-0 in semi-final and lost final 0-1 toEgypt) in January. After that,lost a friendly match toBosnia-Herzegovina (1-2).

��


The ‘Black Stars’ are playing intheir second World Cup finals.They made their first appear-ance four years ago in Ger-many where they lost 0-2 toItaly then beat Czech Republic(2-0) and USA (2-1), goingthrough as the only Africanside. Brazil stopped them (0-3)in the second round.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Michael Essien’s fitness. Hemissed the African NationsCup due to injury earlier thisyear. Huge presence for Ghanaand a genuine internationalclass player. But he picked upa knee injury at the end ofseason at Chelsea. Besidesthat, there are some questionsover team discipline too.

TEAM

Handful of Premiership play-ers. Experienced but ageing.Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzerfrom Fulham, an internationalfor 16 years, is 37-years-old.Defender Stan Lazaridis (Birm-ingham) is 34, Craig Moore(Newcastle) 34, Brett Emerton(Blackburn) 31, Harry Kewelland Lucas Neill, are 31 and 32.

��

FORM

Top of Asian Group 1 with 6wins and 2 draws. Scored 12goals and had the best defen-sive record in the Asian quali-fying zone with just fourgoals conceded in their totalof 14 qualifiers. More recentlythey lost to South Korea 1-3and were held to a goallessdraw with Holland.

��


Third World Cup finals for theSocceroos. A poor debut in1974 saw them lose to Westand East Germany and drawwith Chile. In 2006 they madeit to the last 16, finishing justbehind Brazil in the Group.Only knocked out by Italythrough a Totti penalty in thefifth minute of added time.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Australia’s system is focusedon tightening the back four. Itmeant keeper Mark Schwarzerlet in only four goals in thequalifiers. But relatively pooropposition in the Asian quali-fying process did not reallytest the team. How will the de-fence system will work againstthe world’s top stars?

12/20Good start in Africa Cup of Nations but could be accused ofbeing a one-man team and though they will fight hard it’sdifficult to see them progressing.

AU

ST

RA

LIA

STAR PLAYER: Tim Cahill

GR

OU

P D

The 31-year-old Everton midfielder is a walkingAustralian football statistic. He scored the first goalby an Australian at World Cup and was the firstAustralian player to score in the Asian Cup. He wasvoted Best Oceania Player in 2005 and despitebeing relatively small (5ft 10ins/177cm) the major-ity of his goals come from headers. In the 2008/09season he was Everton’s leading scorer.10/20

For the most of these Socceroos this will be the lastchance to impress an international audience. But they areunlikely to deliver any real surprises.

��

��

GR

OU

PS

TR

EN

GT

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Group


Group�powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

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4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8


AN

AL

YS

IS

FRIENDSWILL BE

FRIENDS?This is an encounter of footballing acquaint-ences. Historically, many Danes have played

in The Netherlands, like today’s veteran starsJon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Dennis

Rommedahl (Ajax) and youngster ChristianEriksen (Ajax). Until last winter, Japan’s new

star Kei suke Honda played for lowly Dutchoutfit VVV-Venlo, where he impressed with

silky passing and killing shots. Cameroonmidfielder Eyong Enoh (Ajax Amsterdam)

and their unquestioned star Samuel Eto’o arealso familiar with the Dutch. Eto’o now is

Wesley Sneij der’s teammate at Inter. Before,he shared dressing rooms with Dutch captain

Giovanni van Bronckhorst at FC Barcelona.


14.0613:30 Netherlands - Denmark

16:00 Japan - Cameroon

19.0613:30 Netherlands - Japan

20:30 Cameroon - Denmark

24.0620:30 Denmark - Japan

FIX

TU

RE

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Both teams have anattacking mentality and in

this tight group the lastgame is set to be a cracker.

DO

N’T

MIS

S!24.06

20:30

CAMEROON vs

NETHERLANDS

SA

MU

EL

ET

O’O

GR

OU

P E


EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERTPIRES

ERWINKOEMAN



Netherlands. Currently one of the

most in-form teams with many tech-

nically and physically accomplished

players.

Cameroon if they are well prepared. I

know this team well and I know that it

is possible for it to be tremendous if its

players are in top shape.

Alexander Song. The young Arsenal

player is getting more powerful. He

has become a first eleven player,

which made him more mature.

Netherlands: They never have a

generation gap. Watch out for the

Dutch terrifying with Sneijder, Van

der Vaart, Robben and Van Persie

Cameroon. They play it by ear. If

Le Guen succeeds to make them

play as a team, The Lions can

trouble all opponents.

Wesley Sneijder: He has it all.

Technique, huge shot power, he

can speed up his team. He is a

hell of a midfielder. So smart!

Netherlands are the strongest team,

they also have good substitutes. The

strength of the bench proves the

team’s strength.

Cameroon are a big question mark.

Either they will play very well or

very poor. There’s no in between.

There’s also trouble in the squad.

Arjen Robben. With his speed and

variation he can open up a game.

And I also expect also great things

from Robin van Persie.


Cameroon star

Arsenal icon. World Cup cham-pion with France

European Champion withHolland in 1988

GROUP PREDICTIONSource: www.castrolfootball.com

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xt:

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to

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Ph

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: m

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es

nia

k;

Ph

ot

o:a

FP

Supported by

NETHERLANDS 54.3%

DENMARK 29.1%

CAMEROON 38.4%

JAPAN 29.9%

1

2

3

4

Denmark will

most likely fin-

ish in the sec-

ond spot.

79

.8%

49

.5%

38

.5%

32

.3%

NE

TH

ER

LA

ND

S

DE

NM

AR

K

JAP

AN

CA

ME

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ON


14.05.2010 15:22 Twist 235

29

Supported by

28

GROUP E

HO

LL

AN

D TEAM

STAR PLAYER:Arjen Robben

GR

OU

P E

One look at the big namesand every opponent will fearthe Dutch. Arjen Robben (Bay-ern Munich), Rafael van derVaart (Real Madrid), Robin vanPersie (Arsenal), Wesley Snei-jder (Inter) and Mark vanBommel (Bayern Munich) areworld class. But something al-ways seems to go awry.

The Dutch have an embarrassment of world classforwards but the Bayern Munich hitman may proveto be the pick of the bunch. Plays a crucial role atclub level, physically strong, intelligent and calmunder pressure. Scored some wonderful and crucialgoals for his Munich side this season. Sublime inthe Euro 2008 tournament.

��

FORM

They sailed through thequalifiers, winning all eightgames and conceding justtwo goals. Coach Van Mar-wijk is building on a teamand he isn’t a man who likeschange. That stability andtrust is reflected in the play-ers’ performances. Dutchconfidence is very high.

��


The scintillating football ofCruyff and Co put Holland onthe World Cup map in 1974but they lost the final to West-Germany. In 1978 they againreached the final, this timelosing to Argentina. In 1998Brazil proved too strong in thesemis. They get the compli-ments but never the cup.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Robin van Persie’s fitness. Outalmost all season for Arsenalwith a nasty ankle injury. Hisreturn to full fitness will becrucial for a Dutch team intenton making the last eight. If he’at full fitness Van Persie willprobably be the number onestriker up front for the Dutch.

TEAM

‘The Untameable Lions’ haveexperience rough times.Awful early qualifying gamesled to a change of coach. Newboss Paul Le Guen fared bet-ter, but there has been frictionwith big names Rigobert Songand Geremi. His tough disci-pline doesn’t seem to begoing down too well.

��

FORM

Disappointing performance inthe African Nations Cup inJanuary. Cameroon started asone of the favourites butwere eliminated by eventualwinners Egypt. Playing an im-portant tournament in thesame year as the World Cupfinals may not be the bestway to prepare.

��


Sixth time for Cameroon onthe big stage. Four times theydidn’t survive the first roundbut in 1990 an aging but exu-berant striker called RogerMilla took Cameroon by thehand. The fairytale ended inthe quarter final against Eng-land (3-2). No African nationhas ever performed better.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Coach Paul Le Guen’s relation-ship with Song. Controver-sially dropped as captain inthe African Nations Cup, Songhas been the steel runningthrough the Cameroon teamfor years. With more than 130caps, at 33 this is surely hislast World Cup. It remains tobe seen what his role will be.

16/20Definite dark horses. If they stay focussed, work for eachother and replicate the wonderful play of the Euro’s, thebeautiful football could have a beautiful result.

CA

ME

RO

ON

STAR PLAYER: Samuel Eto’o

GR

OU

P E

No contest. The striker is one of the best players in

the world. Won a fistful of titles with Barcelona in-

cluding the Champions League in 2009 and is now

at Internazionale. Scored more than 100 goals for

Barça and 43 for the national side. A brilliant and

inspiring captain.

12/20It feels about time Cameroon replicated their 1990 success

and there’s enough talent in this side for that to happen.

African Nations Cup disaster could be an inspiration.

GR

OU

P E

FORM

Led a tough qualifying groupwhich included Sweden, Por-

tugal and Hungary, the Danesnow know their strengthsand weaknesses very well.

Their 3-2 win over Portugal inLisbon was heroic. They have

enough in the tank to takethem to the last 16.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

Age and lack of strength indepth. Many Danish players

will probably end their careerafter the World Cup. Some

great players – Sorensen,Agger and Bendtner among

them – but not many replace-ments if they get injured or

suspended.

TEAM

National hero Morten Olsenis coaching a team that plays

an attractive and energeticgame. Old warriors such as

Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyeno-ord) and Dennis Rommedahl

(Ajax), mix with promisingyoungsters like Rajko Lekic,Peter Nymann and 17-year-

old Christian Eriksen.

��


Denmark’s fourth appearanceat the World Cup. Their

biggest achievement to datewas making the quarter-finals

in 1998. Oddly the Daneswere more memorable in thefirst appearance at World Cup1986 when they played won-derfully in the group stages.

��

FORM

Sailed though the qualifyingstages, only losing to Aus-

tralia and Bahrain. But coachTakeshi Okada used 10 differ-ent forwards in 14 games and

they only got six goals be-tween them. Well organised,

they beat Togo 5-0 in Octo-ber. This year lost to South

Korea (3-1) and Serbia (3-0).

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

Will Nakamura be able tostep aside for Honda? The

youngster is the rookie of theteam and some of the Japan-

ese players think him arro-gant but he remains a key

man for Japan.

TEAM

Former Celtic star ShunsukeNakamura is hoping to shineone last time on the interna-

tional stage, but his time maywell have come. The 23-year-

old Shinji Okazaki is a promis-ing striker, while Keisuke

Honda is a proven goal-scorerfor Russian side CSKA

Moscow.

��


2010 is Japan’s fourth WorldCup appearance in a row but

they have only survived thegroup stage once, in 2002

when they hosted the eventtogether with South Korea.Repeating that would be a

major upset.

��

12/20Denmark are expected to be fighting with Cameroon forthe No 2 spot in Group E behind Holland. Anything morethan the last 16 stage will be huge success.

JAP

AN

GR

OU

P E

8/20The Japan team are convinced that they will reach the

semi-finals. In truth they will be lucky to go home with apoint.

STAR PLAYER: Christian Poulsen

Poulsen is a very physical, defensive midfielder inthe Michael Laudrup mold. Plays his club football

with Italian side Juventus. A big presence at theback and mentally tough too, he never shies awayfrom a tackle and can score goals. Every forward’s

nightmare.

STAR PLAYER:Keisuke Honda

Midfielder and sometime left back, he is deadly

from free-kicks. Reads the game intelligently and

can stick the ball in the net too. Played for lowly

Dutch VVV-Venlo before switching to Russian side

CSKA Moscow last winter. Scored a crucial Champi-

ons League goal for his new club to take them to

the quarter final.

��

��

��

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: JE

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VER

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; P

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:AF

P

��

DE

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14.05.2010 15:19 Twist 235

84

.3%

73

.3%

38

.8%

3.6

%

ITA

LY

PA

RA

GU

AY

SL

OV

AK

IA NE

WZ

EA

LA

ND


ITALY 52.8%

PARAGUAY 39.7%

NEW ZEALAND 82.1%

SLOVAKIA 48,7%

1

2

3

4

31

Supported byGROUP F

ITA

LY

GR

OU

P F

FORM

Italy won their qualifyinggroup comfortably but, withthe exception of Ireland, op-

ponents were weak. Lippi’smen won seven and drew

three. But last year they faredworse - in the Confederations

Cup Italy were poor and lostto Brazil. Also recent friend-

lies have been disappointing.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

Cannavaro, voted the team’stop player in the last World

Cup in Germany, is no longer‘the wall’ he used to be and

the Italians’ famously impen-etrable back line can now bebreached. Also, can they find

a Paolo Rossi-style hero upfront to score?

TEAM

Coach Marcello Lippi will relyon the heroes of Berlin whoraised the trophy four years

ago. Buffon, Cannavaro, Pirlo,Gattuso, De Rossi,

Camoranesi, Iaquinta andGrosso are proper interna-

tional class players and ‘Az-zurri’s’ trump card is Serie Atopscorer Antonio Di Natale.

��


This is Italy’s 16th World Cup -they have only missed 1930

and 1958. They have won thecup four times (1934, 1938,1982, 2006) and been run-

ners-up twice (1970, 1994).Both times they were beaten

by Brazil.

��

FORM

Best ever qualifying cam-paign, reaching the finals

with two games to spare aftera shock 1-0 win over Ar-

gentina. Took four points offMaradona’s side and im-

pressed with a concrete de-fense. Finished just a point

behind Brazil and in front ofArgentina and Uruguay.

��

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

The Paraguayans have a ten-dency to sit back and surge

forward on the break, causingsome critics to question their

passing game. Quite a fewvolatile players too.

TEAM

Missing top scorer Salvador Ca-banas due to a life threatening

shooting incident in Mexicowill be a blow. However, coachMartino has three strikers with

European experience: Roque Santa Cruz

(Manchester City), NelsonValdez (Borussia Dortmund)

and Oscar Cardozo (Benfica).

��


Fourth consecutive WorldCup finals for Paraguay and

their eighth appearance ever.They have made the last 16

three times (Mexico 1986,France 1998 and Korea-Japan

2002), but have neverreached the quarter-finals.

��

17/20Italy continue to be one of the foremost football teams inthe world, but they need to raise their game considerably

to reach the final again.

PA

RA

GU

AY

GR

OU

P F

13/20Paraguay are far from perfect but have a habit of punching

above their weight. All eyes will be on the Italians in thisgroup but Paraguay could prove the bigger surprise.

STAR PLAYER:Gianluigi Buffon

A unique player, and at 32, still probably the bestgoalkeeper in the world. He has produced count-

less match-saving performances for the Italian na-tional team over the years. Marcello Lippi knowshe can count on his presence and leadership and

his determination to prove that he is still the worldNo 1.

STAR PLAYER: Roque Santa Cruz

Although he played in few of the qualificationmatches, he is still the most deadly forward avail-

able to Argentine coach Gerardo Martino. Brilliantin the air, but can also score with both feet. The

€20 million Manchester City striker is a goal-poacher par excellence. His shaky physical condi-

tion might be an obstacle though.

��

30�

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PLAY ITAGAIN, FABIOWithout a doubt Word Cup holders Italy arethe most likely team to clinch first placehere. It will be a fitting swansong for theircaptain, and the best player of the 2006World Cup, Fabio Cannavaro. But the bat-tle for second spot will be fascinating. Thebig two are Paraguay - in great form aftertheir best qualfying campaign ever (thewin over Argentina which sealed theirplace earned the country a national holi-day) - and World Cup debutants Slovakia.New Zealand will be delighted to be herebut even they must know they’ll be watch-ing the second stages in the pub.The clever money is probably on experi-enced Paraguay to join Italy.


GROUP PREDICTION

14.0620:30 Italy - Paraguay

15.0613:30 New Zealand - Slovakia

20.0616:00 Italy - New Zealand

24.0616:00 Slovakia - Italy

16:00 Paraguay - New Zealand

FIX

TU

RE

S

Big fight which coulddecide second roundspot. Great stage forSkrtel and Hamsik vs.Valdez and Cardozo

DO

N’T

MIS

S 20.06

13:30 (12:30)

SLOVAKIAvs PARAGUAY

GR

OU

PS

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GT

H

Group


Group�powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8


According to

our statistics

Italy and

Paraguay are

too strong for

Slovakia and

New Zealand.



EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERT PIRES

CESARE MALDINI



Italy. They own the trophy and they

are a team like Germany. Once the

first round is over they become very

dangerous.

Slovakia. They performed well during

the qualifications. They are a strong

team with some very good players

such as Marek Hamsik

Buffon. He’s one of the best goalies in

the world. Every time Italy are having

trouble he helps them to win, or at

least, not to lose the game.

Italy. They are World Champions

and they will pass through to the

2nd round easily. Their strength is

realism - by any means necessary.

Paraguay. They made it easily to

the final stages. They are very

skilled with the ball and they love

to run.

Andrea Pirlo. He is not that spec-

tacular but is incredibly efficient,

especially when it comes to shoot-

ing, free kicks and passes.

I think Italy start with an advantage.

They have just added young players

of good quality to an already well-

drilled team.

Paraguay. They always do their best

in the World Cup running a lot and

having great imagination. I am sure

they will have a great tournament.

I expect a lot from Giorgio Chiellini.

In South Africa he has to show every-

body that he’s one of the best de-

fenders in the world.


Cameroon star

Arsenal icon. World champion

with France

Former coach of the Italian

national team

��

14.05.2010 15:29 Twist 235

BRAZIL 70.3%

PORTUGAL 37.5%

N. KOREA 77.4%

IVORY COAST 38.4%

1

2

3

4


Portugal are most likely to take second

place, Ivory Coast 3rd. But the difference is very small.

33

GROUPS F,G

32

SL

OV

AK

IA

TEAM

STAR PLAYER: Marek Hamsik

GR

OU

P F

Solidity and a team mentalityare without question thetrump cards of the only teamdebuting at the World Cup fi-nals. Coach Vladimir Weisscan filed a formidable backfour, thanks to goalkeeper JanMucha (playing for Evertonnext season) and Liverpool’sMartin Skrtel.

All round attacking midfielder who as a 17-year-oldleft childhood team Slovan Bratislava for Italianside Brescia. Now, five years later, he plays his clubfootball at Serie A team Napoli where he has beentop scorer for two seasons. Looks slight, but is un-compromising going forward and deadly givenspace. Has wonderful technique.

lllll

FORM

Few would have backed Slo-vakia to win their qualifyinggroup so easily, taking outPoland and the Czech Repub-lic on the way. Booked theirplace by crushing San Marino7-0. A team with few bignames (Skrtel being an excep-tion) but a fantastic workethic and desire to win.

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This is Slovakia’s first ever ap-pearance and follows thebreak up of the former Czech-slovakia. The former nationplayed at Italia 90. Back thenthey reached the quarter-fi-nals but were defeated 1-0 byeventual winners Germany.

lllll

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Strength in depth. CoachWeiss - whose father playedfor Czechslovakia and at timespicks his son as well - has torely on key players such as Skr-tel and Hamsik. If they get in-jured or suspended thereplacements are a poor sec-ond best.

TEAM

Few huge talents but greatdetermination. Defence is themost reliable part of thesquad thanks to the resilientcharacter of many of the play-ers. Scoring goals is clearlythe main problem for theteam - in the qualifying gamesNew Zealand scored just 15goals in two years.

lllll

FORM

Easily won their group butagainst weak opponents: NewCaledonia, Fiji and Vanautu. Inthe subsequent play-off withBahrain (then ranked 61st inthe world) they first drew 0-0in the desert, then won 1-0 athome, thanks to a Rory Fallonheader and a penaltysave by Mark Paston.

lllll


Second time at the finals.They played in Spain 1982 butlost all three matches andconceded 12 goals. Havingreached South Africa after 28years is already a major winfor the ‘All Whites’ named be-cause of their white strip incontrast to their rugby AllBlack brothers.

lllll

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Lack of real international qual-ity and experience at the high-est levels. Only six squadmembers play outside NewZealand or Australia and onlyNelsen in a senior league.Every player will have to put inthe performance of their livesto qualify.

11/20Very hard to beat thanks to their back line Slovakia couldqualify for the last 16. The team is much more than thesum of its parts.

NE

W Z

EA

LA

ND

STAR PLAYER:Ryan Nelsen

GR

OU

P F

The undisputed star is full back Ryan Nelsen. Hasplayed for English Premiership club BlackburnRovers since 2005-2006 and is the solid, experi-enced cornerstone of the young New Zealandteam. Voted Oceania player of the year in 2006.Coach Richard Herbert, a former national teamplayer himself, knows that his young, inexperi-enced side cannot do without him. 8/20

The first game against Slovakia will be key. If they grab apoint here they could be a different, more confident team,like they were at last year’s Confederations Cup.

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THREESOMEAND NORTH

KOREAA three team group. A point, even

a goal, scored by North Koreans will be a major surprise. The Asian team is out-

side the top 100 FIFA rankings. Whoever losespoints to North Korea may as well pack theirbags. Brazil and Portugal are huge favorites,

but the Ivory Coast could show everyone thatthe Mundial is taking place on their conti-

nent. In the first match they meet Portugal –which may turn out to be the key game. The

runners-up for this group will face the winnerof Group H, very likely to be Spain. That

means that Brazil against Portugal in the lastround of the group matches would not be a‘friendly’ game, but a fierce battle to avoidthe in-form Spaniards in the second round.


15.06

16:00

IVORY COASTvs. PORTUGAL

First and the most impor-tant game in this group.Brazil will win the group

so both teams will be des-perate to secure 2nd place.

DO

N’T

MIS

S!

FIX

TU

RE

S15.0620:30 Brazil - North Korea

20.06

20:30 Brazil - Ivory Coast

21.0613:30 Portugal - North Korea

25.0616:00 Portugal - Brazil

20:30 North Korea - Ivory Coast

GR

OU

PS

TR

EN

GT

H *Added value of 4 countries FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking points

GR

OU

P G


EXPERTS

ROGER MILLA

ROBERT PIRES

CESARE MALDINI



Brazil are automatic favourites even

though they’ve had difficulties for

two years. Now they’re back on track.

Ivory Coast. They have just changed their

coach. Now it’s high-class Sven Goran

Eriksson and they don’t want to repeat

failure from Africa Cup of Nations.

Robinho. He has failed in Europe but

since returning to Brazil with Santos

he is brilliant. He is responsible for

Santos’s Brazil champions title.

Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo.

They benefit from the best player

in the world. And at the back, Pepe

and Carvalho play hard.

Brazil. I guess they are a little

below par, but even so, I don’t

worry for them. Ronaldinho and

Kaka are not as decisive as they

were.

Nilmar. He has so much skill.

In Villareal, he is skyrocketing

even though he doesn’t play in his

favorite position.

Brazil are very strong and Dunga is a

great coach. Of course, they start as

favourites in their group.

If Brazil and Portugal start with an ad-

vantage for the qualification, I am

sure that Ivory Coast could be the sur-

prise in the group.

Cristiano Ronaldo wants to show

everybody he is a superstar even in

his national team shirt. I expect a

great tournament from him.


with France


Cameroon star

The former coachof the Italian na-

tional team

GROUP PREDICTION

Supported by

CR

IST

IAN

O

RO

NA

LD

O

91

.7%

52

.4%

50

.5%

5.4

%

BR

AZ

IL

PO

RT

UG

AL

IVO

RY

CO

AST

NO

RT

HK

OR

EA


Group

totAl FiFA points*

Group powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8

15.05.2010 10:43 Twist 235

3534

GROUP G

BR

AZ

IL

TEAM

STAR PLAYER:Kaká

GR

OU

P G

A glance at the players in thecanary yellow shirts of the ‘Se-leção’ shows why Brazil arethe country to beat. Theteamsheet is dripping withtalent - Kaká, Lucio, Robinho,Luis Fabiano, Diego, FelipeMelo, and Julio Cesar in goal.Skyhigh global expectationswill create pressure though.

Brazilian playmaker and captain Ricardo Izecsondos Santos Leite. But you’ll know him as Kaká. RealMadrid paid AC Milan €65 million for him last yearand probably consider that a bargain. Sublime inmidfield and even better up front, on his day he isuntouchable. A golden boot beckons. Already has aUEFA Champions League medal, Golden Ball andFIFA World Player of the Year award.

lllll

FORM

The road to the World Cup fi-nals was bumpy at first (los-ing 0-2 to Paraguay and 0-0draws with Bolivia andColombia) but they went onto win seven of the next 10games. Booked their ticketswith three games to go, out-playing Argentina (3-1). Onlytwo losses in two years.

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Brazil is the only country tohave played in every WorldCup tournament. They arealso the greatest ever WorldCup champions with five titles(1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and2002). Historically wheneverthe Finals are held outside ofEurope a South Americanteam wins – usually Brazil!

lllll

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Kaká has had an injury-plagued first season at RealMadrid and was out for al-most all of March and April.His replacement – Julio Bap-tista from Roma – has alsoseen little first team actionthis year.

TEAM

It’s not all about Cristiano. Ofcourse Real Madrid’s pin-upboy gets all the attention, butthere’s massive defensivepower with Bruno, RicardoCarvalho and Pepe – if he’s fitagain after knee problems. Inmidfield the experiencedsmarts of Simão and Decocould be decisive.

lllll

FORM

Seemed to be sleepwalking toan early exit from the quali-fiers winning only two oftheir first seven matches.Woke up just in time to finishas runners-up behind Den-mark, and one point ahead ofSweden after five straightwins without conceding agoal in that final sprint.

lllll


Along with Spain, Italy, Ger-many and France, the Por-tugese are the only team tohave been at every World Cupin the 21st century. Four yearsago they finished fourth, in2002 didn’t pass the group-stage. Their other appear-ances were in 1966 (third)and 1986 (group stage only).

lllll

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Haven’t really come up againsta strong physical side. Can they rough it with the Ital-ians and Germans? Also, aquestion hangs over Ronaldo’stemperament.

20/20Brazil are runaway favorites, anything less than lifting thecup will be a national disaster. 190 million fans expect to bedefending the trophy at home in four years time.

PO

RT

UG

AL

STAR PLAYER: Cristiano Ronaldo

GR

OU

P G

The world’s highest-paid football player and with

good reason. World Player of the Year 2008, the 25-year-old €94 million-rated Real Madrid playerhas speed, brilliant technique, and arguably takesthe best free kicks in the world. The ultimate at-tacking midfielder of the 21st century. Haunted andhated by defenders, adored and dreamed of by hismostly female fans.16/20

Should make the last 16. Then Portugal will probablymeet Spain, a game neither side will relish.

IVO

RY

CO

AS

TG

RO

UP

G

FORM

Did not lose in qualificationwith 8 wins and 4 draws. Dis-appointing in African Cup (0-

0 against Burkina Faso, 3-1win over Ghana), the Ele-

phants were beaten 3-2 by Al-geria in the quarter-finals. Infriendlies this year they beatTanzania 1-0 and Rwanda 2-0

but lost to South Korea 2-0.

lllll

THE BIGQUESTION

MARK

An experienced team and anexperienced coach in Sven-

Göran Eriksson, who was ap-pointed just two months

before the World Cup. Butcan the new manager adjust

to the team in such a shorttime?

TEAM

The Chelsea duo of DidierDrogba and Salomon Kalou

promises a class performanceup front. Didier Zokora andYaya Toure provide midfield

toughness alongside Mar-seille’s Bakary Kone and the

defence, with EmmanuelEboue, Kolo Toure and ArthurBoka, might be Africa’s best.

lllll


Second time at the World Cupfinals. Their debut was in Ger-

many in 2006, when theyfailed to progress beyond the

group stage as they lost toboth Argentina and the

Netherlands, beating onlySerbia and Montenegro. But

they are the only team tohave scored in all matches.

lllll

FORM

In their two qualifying roundsthey scored just 11 goals in

14 games, but conceded onlyfive. This year the North Kore-

ans beat Kyrgyzstan 4-0 andMyanmar 5-0, drew with Turk-

menistan (twice) and SouthAfrica and lost to Iran,

Venezuela and Mexico. Notan overly impressive record.

lllll

THE BIG QUESTION

MARK

Hard to see where the goalsare going to come from. Their

defence is as impregnable asa nuclear bunker but to win

you have to score and theNorth Koreans are as likely to

do that as Kim Jong-il is tojoin CND.

TEAM

Probably the most unknownteam at this World Cup finals.Two-thirds of the squad comefrom domestic clubs. But vital

to the North Korean attackare FC Rostov's Hong Yong-Jo

and the powerful Japan-based Jong Tae-Se, alongsideMun In-Guk, the pivot in mid-

field.

lllll


In their only previous finals,1966, the military men lost 3-0 to USSR, drew 1-1 with Chile

but then beat Italy to reachthe quarters. After leading

Portugal 3-0, they lost 5-3. Onreturning home they were re-portedly imprisoned for cele-

brations but later wereproclaimed national heroes.

lllll

14/20The best chance of any of the African nations. Don’t be sur-

prised to see Drogba leading his men into a quarter final.

KO

RE

A D

PR

GR

OU

P G

4/20If they get a single point in this group it will be a big sur-

prise. Their only chance is that opponents may rest keyplayers as Italy did in 1966.

STAR PLAYER:Didier Drogba

The 32-year-old Chelsea striker is one of the bestcentre-forwards in the world. Recently named

African Footballer of the Year for the second time.Captained the team in its first ever World Cup ap-pearance in 2006 and netted their first goal. Lead-ing all-time goal scorer for Ivory Coast (41 goals in60 caps). Huge presence up front, and very physi-cal. Drogba has the physique of a fighter and the

balance of a ballerina.

STAR PLAYER: Hong Yong-Jo

One of only three players to play his club footballoutside the notoriously secret nation. The 27-year-

old striker plays for Rostov FC in Russia and is theonly North Korean with any experience of Euro-pean football. Although only a bit-part player atRostov he runs the North Korean front-line, cap-taining the side and taking the penalties. Scored

four times during the Asian qualifications.

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Supported by

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15.05.2010 10:42 Twist 235

88

.1%

40

.2%

36

.9%

34

.7%

SP

AIN

CH

ILE

SW

ITZ

ER

LA

ND

HO

ND

UR

AS


SPAIN 66.9%

CHILE 28.1%

HONDURAS 34.7%

SWITZERLAND 30.4%

1

2

3

4

3736

GROUP H

SP

AIN

GR

OU

P H

FORM

Waltzed through the quali-fiers with 100% record andf

the best performance of anyEuropean team. In pre-WorldCup friendlies ‘La Roja’ seem

to have finally thrown offtheir inferiority complex,

beating former world champi-ons such as Argentina and

France.

lllll

THE BIG QUESTION

MARKInjuries and fitness. Players

like Fernando Torres, AndrésIniesta and Cesc Fábregas

have been struggling with in-juries all season and are stillfar from 100%. The rest willarrive after a long season in

Spain’s notoriously tough do-mestic leagues.

TEAM

For many the best squad inthe competition and a teamstill riding high on their suc-

cess at Euro 2008. The newcoach Vicente del Bosque,

who replaced Luis Arago nés,hasn’t changed much. Whenyou have this much talent in

your team you don’t reallyhave to.

lllll


The Mundial is the SpanishAchilles heel. They have al-ready broken some psycho-

logical barriers with Euro2008, but in the World Cupthere’s still the curse of the

quarters which they havestruggled to pass. Best per-

formances were at USA 1994and Korea/Japan 2002.

lllll

FORM

Brilliant qualification in sec-ond place just after Brazil and

ahead of Argentina andColombia who they crushed

4-0 in one of their bestmatches in the competition.Their friendly schedule how-

ever, was affected by theearthquake that hit Chile last

February.

lllll

THE BIG QUESTION

MARKOn their day Bielsa’s men cantake on all the top tier oppo-nents. Now their challenge is

to do that with Spain first and– having reached the second

round – repeat the trick with arival that could be Brazil, Por-

tugal or Ivory Coast.

TEAM

Coach Marcelo Bielsa has oneof the youngest squads at this

World Cup. With an averageage of 23, the Chileans don’t

have that much experiencein big leagues, but they do

have a lot of energy and thecollective power that the Ar-gentine coach always bringsinto the teams he manages.

lllll


Chile return to the biggeststage after a 12 year absence.Their best showpiece was thelong forgotten third place atthe 1962 World Cup on their

home turf. Chile have beenregulars at the finals, but

never made it into the decid-ing stages.

lllll

18/20Spain should walk the Group stage but could face Portugalin the dreaded quarter-finals. Don’t rule out an early flight

home for the ‘world’s best team’.

CH

ILE

GR

OU

P H

11/20Will be happy reaching second round, but in South Ame ri-

can qualifiers they have shown they can surprise any team.

STAR PLAYER:Xavi

In a team with players such as Fernando Torres,David Villa and Iker Casillas, the most important

man is Xavi. The Barcelona midfielder, voted bestplayer at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland two

years ago, brings style and brilliance to the Spanishmidfield. He’s the grease in the Spanish machine

and vital to many so many parts on the pitch.

STAR PLAYER: Humberto Suazo

‘El Chupete’ has just landed in Europe, after several

brilliant years in his homecountry and in Mexico and

is proving to be a fantastic buy. He was the top

goalscorer in the qualifying phase with 10 goals and

in Spain he helped to rescue Real Saragosa with a pro-

lific scoring record . He can be misleading: he might

not be quick, but he’s always in the perfect position.

lllll

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Supported by

GR

OU

P H

For years the phrase ‘perennial under-achievers’ hardly did justice to justhow ridiculously poor Spain’s WorldCup performances had been. They’vebeen at 12 tournaments but nevermade a final, despite consistently field-ing some of the best players in theworld. This time Vicente del Bosque’smen arrive in South Africa as EuropeanChampions with even more gifted starsthan usual. But tough seasons have lefttheir mark and Fernando Torres andCesc Fábregas are battling injuries. IfLa Roja are without them the capableSwiss or former bits of the Spanish em-pire are more than ready to sink them.


GROUP PREDICTION

16.0613:30 Honduras - Chile

20:30 Spain - Switzerland

21.0616:00 Chile - Switzerland

20:30 Spain - Honduras

25.0620:30 Switzerland - Honduras

FIX

TU

RE

S

By no means a foregoneconclusion - the Chileanyoungsters will definitelytest Iker Casillas.

DO

N’T

MIS

S 25.0620:30 (19:30)

SPAIN vsCHILE

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ga

rc

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lon

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; p

ho

to

:afp

GR

OU

PST

RE

NG

TH

Group

totAl FiFA points*

Group powEr

H

4094

1

G

3998

2

D

3736

3

C

3699

4

B

3554

5

E

3549

6

A

3251

7

F

3161

8


Spain is No.1. There is only a hairline difference between

other teams fighting for second place.


FE

RN

AN

DO

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OR

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EXPERTSROGER MILLA

ROBERT PIRES

RAFAEL M. VÁZQUEZ



Spain are logically favourites. There

is no better team in Europe. They

have accomplished players and,

above all, they are very rigorous.

Switzerland suffered a few difficulties

during the Euros two years ago, but

since then they’ve put in place a very

competitive team.

Xavi, for he is now the best midfielder

in Europe. He will be the Spanish

team’s pivot.

Spain are the best team in the

world. The European champions

have to confirm that - but it’s often

the hardest thing to do.

Chile. They are small, fast,

skilled and could steal the 2nd

spot which has been promised

by too many to Switzerland.

Xavi. He’s like a kid playing in

the back yard. No pressure. His

overview is amazing.

It is not the strongest group of the

World Cup, but Spain have rivals to

take into account. The Spanish selec-

tion is odds-on favorite.

Chile has become quite good with

Bielsa in charge. They are a strong

competitor for Spain. Honduras and

Switzerland are not that good.

Apart from the Spanish players -

Chilean striker Humberto Suazo,

who had scored many goals for Real

Zaragoza.


Cameroon star


with France

Former Spain in-ternational. Real

Madrid icon.

THIS TIME ITHAS TO BESPAIN’S CUP

15.05.2010 10:43 Twist 235

3938

GROUP HSupported by

things you have to do

in South Africa5

BY paul BaldwIn

TR

AV

EL

TABLE MOUNTAIN

The World Cup no-brainer. Whetheryou take three hours walking orthree minutes by cable car, you haveto get to the top of this 1,000m natu-ral wonder which dominates CapeTown. The views are truly amazingand the food’s not bad up there ei-ther. But dress sensibly – you’re ontop of a mountain in the middle ofwinter. The cable car costs 130 Randreturn. If you have the time thethree-day Hoerikwagga Trail is a fab-ulous hiking route.http://tablemountain.net

WINE TOUR

Whether you’re cele-brating a historic winover Algeria, commiser-ating a humiliation byBrazil or just killingtime between gamestake a look at the Con-stantia wine route. It’svery close to CapeTown on the easternslopes of Table Moun-tain and is a very man-ageable and enjoyabletrek around five es-tates. All of them, itshould be noted, makecracking wines, espe-cially Constantia Uitsigand Steenberg . www.constantiawiner-oute.co.za

ROBBEN ISLAND

Nelson Mandela’s home for 18 of his 27 years inprison is now a museum and one of South Africa’stop tourist attractions. A 200 Rand ticket gets youa four hour tour including ferry trip from the Nel-son Mandela Gateway and guided tour of the is-land. Your guide will be a former political prisonerof Robben Island which adds an unsettling butunique element. Mandela’s cell in B-section is keptin its original, and shocking, state.www.robben-island.org.za

SAFARIIt would be a shame to visit South Africawithout making some attempt to go on sa-fari. The Kruger National Park is arguablythe best in Africa with many elephants,lions, white rhino, and leopards. But recom-mending a day trip there is rather like rec-ommending a day trip to Wales as they areroughly the same size. You will benefit frommeticulous planning and a decent amountof time.www.krugerpark.co.za

VICTORIA FALLS

No it’s not in South Africa, but it’s awonder of the world and you’re justa 30 minute cheap flight away. TheFalls are life-changingly spectacularand may even put your team’s heroicperformance in some perspective.Flights and three nights B&B at theFalls for as little as €440. www.vicfallsconnection.com

SW

ITZ

ER

LA

ND TEAM

STAR PLAYER: Alexander Frei

GR

OU

P H

Looked down and out afterstuttering Euro 2008 display infront of their home crowd andan embarrassing defeat byLuxemburg at the start of theWorld Cup campaign. Arrivalof experienced coach OttmarHitzfeld set them on fire andthey qualified ahead of Greecewhom they defeated twice.

Switzerland’s all time topscorer with 40 goals andwithout any doubt the Swiss team’s biggest influ-ence. Heir to the mantle of Stephane Chapuisat, Freiis a strong centre-forward in the style of those thatreign in the German Bundesliga. Injury interruptedhis season, but now he’s ready for what might be hislast big challenge at the highest international level.

��

FORM

After a miserable start –drawing away to Israel, losingto Luxemburg at home – thenewly inspired Swiss finishedwell, with six wins and twodraws in the last eight quali-fiers. But a 3-1 defeat toUruguay in a friendly in St.Gallen in March stifled theoptimism again.

��


Ninth appearance at a WorldCup for the Swiss. It didn’tstart badly for them, reachingquarter finals in 1934, 1938and later on in 1954 as hosts.From then on they qualifiedfour more times for the finals,but only reached the secondround stage in 1994 and 2006.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Will the mix of youngsters andveterans work? After doing sobadly at Euro 2008, Hitzfeldbrought in young players. Thegeneration of PhilippeSenderos, Tranquillo Barnettaand Valon Behrami has to workwith old hands like AlexanderFrei and Blaisse N’Kufo to passthe Group stage.

TEAM

The weakest in this group andone of the weakest in thetournament. they have greatathletic power and are full ofself-belief since just managingto qualify. Colombian coachReinaldo Rueda, who missedGermany 2006 with Colombia,is now a hero in his adoptivecountry.

��

FORM

Reasonable qualification cam-paign, with two wins overMexico and a deserved thirdplace in the Concacaf zone.However, losing to Venezuelaand Turkey in friendliesleaves one feeling that the‘Hondureños’ will have tohope for a South African mir-acle to come their way.

��


Second performance on thebiggest stage, after theirdebut in Spain 82. After twodraws and a loss, Honduras’principal objective will nowbe to win their first WorldCup game. A warning forSpain: one of those draws 28years ago was actuallyagainst them.

��

THE BIGQUESTIONMARK

Is Reinaldo Rueda the luckiestcoach in the world? TheColombian made Honduranhistory qualifying for theWorld Cup, but he would havebeen in South Africa anyway.He entered a text messagecompetiton and won an all-in-clusive trip to the World Cup!

9/20Looks like they’ll have to fight for 2nd spot with Hondurasand Chile. But Hitzfeld is a winner managing Europeanchampions Borussia Dortmund.

HO

ND

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STAR PLAYER:Wilson Palacios

GR

OU

P H

With respect to David Suazo, a striker who played

in Italy’s Serie A, the Tottenham midfielder is the

big star here. He showed amazing strength when

he returned training just a day after burying his

brother Edwin, who was kidnapped and killed in

Honduras. On the pitch, his marshalling skills and

capability to win the ball drew Sir Alex Ferguson’s

attention, who wanted him for United.7/20They look tiny and weak, but watch out: World Cup historyis full of ugly little dwarfs who slayed giants. Their objective:win a game and then take whatever comes next.

��

��

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14.05.2010 15:49 Twist 235

41

Supported by

40

SOUTH AFRICA STADIUMS

PORT

ELIZABETH

CAPE

TOWN

PRETORIA NELSPRUIT

SWAZILAND

JOHANNESBURG

RUSTENBURG

POLOKWANE

DURBAN

MO

ZA

MB

IQU

E

SOUTH AFRICA

NAMIBIA

ZIMBABWE

BOTSWANA

LESOTHO

TEN ARENASSOCCER CITY

MOSES MABHIDA STADIUMGREEN POINT STADIUM ELLIS PARK STADIUM

City: JohannesburgCapacity: 94,700 Opened: 1989 Trivia: Hosted thefirst Nelson Mandelarally after his releasein 1990. Design in-spired by African pot-tery. No spectator ismore than 100 m(330ft) from the pitch.

WC 2010 matches: 11.06 South Africa

vs Mexico (A)

14.06 Netherlands vs Denmark (E)

17.06 Argentina vs South Korea (B)

20.06 Brazil vs Ivory Coast (G)

23.06 Ghana vs Germany (D)

27.06 Round of 16 (1B vs 2A)

02.07 Quarter Final (49 vs 50)

11.07 Final

City: DurbanCapacity: 69,957Opened: 2009Trivia: The top ofthe arch is 106 mabove the pitch.WC 2010 matches:13.06 Germany vs

Australia (D)16.06 Spain vs

Switzerland (H)

19.06 Netherlands vs Japan (E)

22.06 Nigeria vs Korea Republic (B)

25.06 Brazil vs Portugal (G )

28.06 Round of 16 (1E vs 2F)

07.07 Semi-final (59 vs 60)

City: JohannesburgCapacity: 62,567 Opened: 1928Trivia: Hosted thefinal of the 1995Rugby World Cup.In 2001 a stampededuring local derbyfootball match left42 people dead. In 2005 Ellis Park be-came the first black-owned stadium inSouth Africa.WC 2010 matches:12.06 Argentina vs

Nigeria (B) 15.06 Brazil vs North

Korea (G)18.06 Slovenia vs

USA (C) 21.06 Spain vs

Honduras (H)

24.06 Slovakia vsItaly (F)

28.06 Round of 16(1G vs 2H)


City: Cape TownCapacity: 69,070 Opened: 2009Trivia: Artistic sta-dium is not far fromthe ocean and themountains. Will become asport and musicvenue after 2010.WC 2010 matches:11.06 Uruguay vs

France (A)14.06 Italy vs

Paraguay (F)

18.06 England vs Algeria (C)

21.06 Portugal vs Korea DPR (G)

24.06 Cameroon vs Netherlands (E)

29.06 Round of 16 (1H vs 2G)


06.07 Semi Final (58 vs 57)

LOFTUS VERSFELD STADIUM NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM FREE STATE STADIUM

City: PretoriaCapacity: 51,762Opened: 1906 Trivia: One of theoldest stadiums inthe country. South Africa's na-tional teamachieved their firstever victory over aEuropean side atthis venue whenthey beat Sweden 1-0 in 1999.

WC 2010 matches:13.06 Serbia vs

Ghana (D) 16.06 South Africa vs

Uruguay (A) 19.06 Cameroon vs

Denmark (E) 23.06 USA vs Algeria

(C) 25.06 Chile vs Spain

(H)29.06 Round of 16

(1F vs 2E)

City: Port ElizabethCapacity: 48,459 Opened: 2009Trivia: NicknamedThe Sunflower, be-cause the roof ismade up of a seriesof white 'petals'.One of a few stadi-ums in the worldoverlooking a lake.WC 2010 matches:12.06 South Korea vs

Greece (B) 15.06 Ivory Coast

vs Portugal(G) 18.06 Germany vs

Serbia (D)

21.06 Chile vs Switzerland (H)

23.06 Slovenia vsEngland (C)

26.06 Round of 16 (1A vs 2B)


10.07 3rd Place Play-off

City: BloemfonteinCapacity: 48,000 Opened: 1952 (completely rebuiltin 1995)Trivia: Bloemfonteinin Dutch means“fountain of flow-ers.” It is known as "thecity of roses" be-cause of great abun-dance of theflowers.Stadium is alsoknown as VodacomPark.

WC 2010 matches:14.06 Japan vs

Cameroon (E)

17.06 Greece vs Nigeria (B)

20.06 Slovakia vs Paraguay (F)

22.06 France vs South Africa (A)

25.06 Switzerland vs Honduras (H)

27.06 Round of 16 (1D vs 2C)

PETER MOKABA STADIUM MBOMBELA STADIUM

City: Polokwane

(formerly Pieters-

burg)

Capacity: 45,264

Opened: 2010

Trivia: Design in-

spired by the iconic

African Baobab tree.

WC 2010 matches:13.06 Algeria vs

Slovenia (C)

17.06 France vs

Mexico

(A)

12.06 Greece vs

Argentina

(B)

24.06 Paraguay vs

New Zealand

(F)

City: Nelspruit

Capacity: 43,589

Opened: 2009

Trivia: Newly built

stadium with 18

roof supports re-

semble giraffes.

WC 2010 matches:

16.06 Honduras vs

Chile (H)

20.06 Italy vs New

Zealand (F)

23.06 Australia vs

Serbia (D)

25.06 Korea DPR vs

Ivory Coast

(G)

City: Rustenburg

Capacity: 44,530

Opened: 1999

Trivia: Named after

the Bafokeng peo-

ple who live in the

area.

WC 2010 matches:

12.06 England vs

USA (C)

15.06 New Zealand

vs Slovakia (F)

19.06 Ghana vs

Australia (D)

22.06 Mexico vs

Uruguay (A)

24.06 Denmark vs

Japan (E)

26.06 Round of 16

(1C vs 2D)

ROYAL BAFOKENG STADIUM

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14.05.2010 15:43 Twist 235

FOOTBALL WISDOM

"I definitely want Brook-lyn to be christened

though I don't know intowhat religion yet."

david Beckham

"The Belgians will playlike their fellow Scandi-navians, Denmark and

Sweden." andy townsend

“Argentina are the sec-ond-best team in theworld, and there’s no

higher praise than that.”Ron atkinson

"A game that had beencontrolled by Argentina

has turned 360 de-grees."

ESPN’s glenn davis

“I’ll bet there are eightteams in the last 16 whowon’t win the competi-

tion.” andy gRay

"No regrets, none at all.My only regret is that we

went out on penalties.That's my only regret but

no, no regrets." mick mccaRthy

4 2

TV GUIDE

TV FIXTURES

Friday 11th June

15:30 South Africa vs Mexico ITV

19.30 Uruguay vs France bbc

Saturday 12th June

12.30 South Korea vs Greece BBC

15.00 Argentina vs Nigeria ITV

19.30 England vs USA ITV

Sunday 13th June

12.30 Algeria vs Slovenia BBC

15.00 Serbia vs Ghana ITV

19.30 Germany vs Australia ITV

Monday 14th June

12.30 Netherlands vs Denmark ITV

15.00 Japan vs Cameroon BBC

19.30 Italy vs Paraguay BBC

Tuesday 15th June

12.30 New Zealand vs Slovakia BBC

15.00 Ivory Coast vs Portugal ITV

19.30 Brazil vs North Korea ITV

Wednesday 16th June

12.30 Honduras vs Chile ITV

15.00 Spain vs Switzerland BBC

19.30 South Africa vs Uruguay BBC

Thursday 17th June

12.30 Argentina vs South Korea ITV

15.00 Greece vs Nigeria BBC

19.30 France vs Mexico BBC

Friday 18th June

12.30 Germany vs Serbia BBC

15.00 Slovenia vs USA BBC

19.30 England vs Algeria BBC

Saturday 19th June

12.30 Netherlands vs Japan ITV

15.00 Ghana vs Australia BBC

19.30 Cameroon vs Denmark ITV

Sunday 20th June

12.30 Slovakia vs Paraguay BBC

15.00 Italy vs New Zealand ITV

19.30 Brazil vs Ivory Coast BBC

Monday 21st June

12.30 Portugal vs North Korea BBC

15.00 Chile vs Switzerland BBC

19.30 Spain vs Honduras ITV

Tuesday 22nd June

15.00 France vs South Africa ITV

15.00 Mexico vs Uruguay ITV

19.30 Greece vs Argentina BBC

19.30 Nigeria vs South Korea BBC

Wednesday 23rd June

15.00 Slovenia vs England BBC

15.00 USA vs Algeria BBC

19.30 Australia vs Serbia ITV

19.30 Ghana vs Germany ITV

Thursday 24th June

15.00 Paraguay vs New Zealand ITV

15.00 Slovakia vs Italy ITV

19.30 Cameroon vs Netherlands BBC

19.30 Denmark vs Japan BBC

Friday 25th June

15.00 North Korea vs Ivory Coast BBC

15.00 Portugal vs Brazil BBC

19.30 Chile vs Spain ITV

19.30 Switzerland vs Honduras ITV

Saturday 26th June

15.00 Winner A vs Runner Up B TBC

19.30 Winner C vs Runner Up D TBC

Sunday 27th June

15.00 Winner D vs Runner Up C TBC

19.30 Winner B vs Runner Up A TBC

Monday 28th June

15.00 Winner Evs Runner Up F TBC

19.30 Winner G vs Runner Up H TBC

Tuesday 29th June

16.00 Winner F vs Runner Up E TBC

16.00 Winner H vs Runner Up G TBC

Friday 2nd July

15.00 World Cup Quarter Final 1 TBC


Saturday 3rd July



Tuesday 6th July

19.30 World Cup Semi Final 1 TBC

Wednesday 7th July

19.30 World Cup Semi Final 2 TBC

Saturday 10th July

19.30 World Cup 3rd Place Play Off TBC

Sun 11th July

19.30 World Cup Final TBC

“The unexpected is always likely tohappen,” warned legendary BBCfootball commentator John Motson.Words which might be well heededby the team of journalists, ex-play-ers, failed managers and assortedoddballs heading for South Africa totake on the role of that most curiousof beasts - the football pundit.In England most of the games will bewatched on the BBC, and they will bedescribed in sometimes informed ,sometimes sketchy, and sometimesplain daft language by a team whichincludes, former England hero andnow full-time TV presenter GaryLineker, German World Cup winnerJurgen Klinsmann, four-times Cham-pions League winner Clarence See-dorf, Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer, LeeDixon, Mark Lawrenson, Mick Mc-Carthy and Martin Keown. On the

face of it, a strong team. But this isfootball commentary – a gamewhere apparently sane individualscan become gibbering wrecks over90 minutes.Ex-Liverpool man Lawrenson for ex-ample gave us the earth-shattering:“to be a great game, one of theteams has to score first.” The sameunique brain left ours befuddled with“you need at least eight or nine menin a ten-man wall” and the mathe-matically improbable “Ireland willgive 99% - everything they've got.”But amid the nonsense there’s alsounlikely insight. Ponder the monu-mental existential truth of GarthCrooks’ “Football's football: If thatweren't the case it wouldn't be thegame that it is” or David Pleat’s Con-fucius-like inversion “a game is neverwon until it’s lost.” Wisdom indeed.

TV COMMENTARY - IT’S A FUNNY OLD GAME...

HOT SHOT: SHAKIRAWILL SING AT THEOPENING CEREMONY

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14.05.2010 15:43 Twist 235

17.05.2010 11:02 Twist 235

Supported by Hyundai

Feel the game!

Hyundai, Official Partner of the 2010 FIFA World CupTM

13.05.2010 13:32 Twist 235

2010 fifa world cup handbook

Documents

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