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Iniesta fires Spain to extra time glory: The name of Andrés INIESTA will be remembered forever in red and yellow hearts, as his 116th minute goal secured Spain’s first world title as they defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the final of the 2010 Men’s World Cup in extra time at Soccer City in Johannesburg. The match was hotly contested throughout; the old record of six yellow cards in the 1986 final was shattered as referee Howard WEBB issued fourteen bookings, including a second to the Netherlands’ Johnny HEITINGA in the 109th minute. With the resulting man advantage, substitute Cesc FÀBREGAS found Iniesta in the middle of the area, who powered his famous shot past goalkeeper Maarten STEKELENBURG. Spain are now the eighth nation to have won the Men’s World Cup, and the Netherlands have now lost all three of their appearances in the final match.
[posted MON 12 JUL 2010 – 01:23:00 UTC]

Golden Ball to Forlán, Golden Boot and youth award to Müller: According to a media vote, Diego FORLÁN of Uruguay has won the Golden Ball as the top player of the 2010 Men’s World Cup in South Africa. His five goals and one assist propelled la Celeste to a shock fourth place. Two participants in the final, Wesley SNEIJDER of the Netherlands and David VILLA of Spain, won the Silver and Bronze Balls respectively. At the age of 20, Thomas MÜLLER of Germany was the runaway winner of the Best Young Player award, not least because his five goals and three assists at the tournament also earned him the Golden Boot. Villa and Sneijder, also with five goals and an assist, edged Forlán for the Silver and Bronze Boots respectively owing to their fewer minutes played. Spain claimed two more awards as Iker CASILLAS won the Golden Glove Award as the best goalkeeper, and the Spanish side as a whole earned the Fair Play award with only eight bookings, fewest amongst teams that advanced to the elimination phase.
[posted MON 12 JUL 2010 – 01:19:25 UTC]

Golden Boot leaders to go head to head: The Golden Boot award at the 2010 Men’s World Cup will be decided on the last day, as the joint leaders after the semifinals, Spain’s David VILLA and the Netherlands’ Wesley SNEIJDER, are expected to compete in the final match. Both have scored five goals and have one assist, but Villa is the current leader, having reached his mark in just 529 minutes played compared with Sneijder’s 532. Nonetheless, the possibility exists of another player passing both, as Germany’s Thomas MÜLLER and Miroslav KLOSE and Uruguay’s Diego FORLÁN and Luis SUÁREZ are all expected to play in the third place match. Suárez has scored three goals, whilst Müller, Klose, and Forlán have each scored four. Müller has also recorded three assists, Klose and Suárez one. In case of a tie in goals scored, preference is given to the player with more assists, and then to the player who recorded fewer minutes. [Sneijder’s total includes both goals in the Netherlands’ 2-1 quarterfinal win over Brazil; his first goal was initially ruled an own goal.]
[posted THU 08 JUL 2010 – 02:32:57 UTC]

New champion to be crowned at Soccer City: The champion of the 2010 Men’s World Cup will be a first time winner after the Netherlands and Spain won their respective semifinals. The Netherlands continued their perfect record at South Africa 2010 by defeating Uruguay 3-2 in Cape Town, whilst Spain won 1-0 against Germany to reach the final and potentially become the first Men’s World Cup champion that lost its first match of the tournament. For the Dutch, it will be their third appearance in the final match, whilst the Spanish have never previously reached this plateau.
» Third place match: Uruguay-Germany, SAT 10 JUL 2010, Nelson Mandela Bay/​Port Elizabeth
» Final: Netherlands-Spain, SUN 11 JUL 2010, Johannesburg [Soccer City]
[posted THU 08 JUL 2010 – 02:12:34 UTC]

Draw places Brazil, Portugal into Group of Death: The draw for the final tournament of the 2010 Men’s World Cup was kind to the defending finalists, but not the losing semifinalists. 2006 champions Italy face Paraguay, New Zealand, and first time qualifiers Slovakia in Group F, whilst France, who fell to the Azzurri in the 2006 final, were drawn against hosts South Africa, Mexico, and Uruguay in Group A. The Group of Death is widely considered to be Group G, which contains Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, and Portugal. The tournament’s opening match will be South Africa-Mexico at Johannesburg’s new Soccer City stadium on FRI 11 JUN 2010.
» Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
» Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Rep, Greece
» Group C: England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia
» Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
» Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
» Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
» Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal
» Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
[posted SAT 05 DEC 2009 – 00:58:11 UTC]

Pots decided for South Africa 2010 draw: FIFA have settled on the pots, seedings, and draw procedure for the 2010 Men’s World Cup final tournament. The top seeds include hosts South Africa and the top seven teams in the FIFA world rankings of OCT 2009, who occupy Pot 1. Pot 2 contains the teams from the AFC, CONCACAF, and the OFC. Pot 3 holds the remaining teams from CAF and CONMEBOL, whilst Pot 4 contains the remaining UEFA teams. Each group will receive one team from each pot, and no group may contain more than two UEFA teams or more than one team from any other confederation. The draw begins at 17:00 UTC on FRI 04 DEC 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
» Pot 1: South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England
» Pot 2: Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Rep, Mexico, New Zealand, United States
» Pot 3: Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay
» Pot 4: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
[posted THU 03 DEC 2009 – 02:54:28 UTC]

UEFA matchday 16 recap: A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 14 OCT 2009.
» Poland 00-01 Slovakia: Heavy snow in Chorzów may have contributed to the disastrous start; just four minutes in, Seweryn GANCARCZYK bundled a cross into his own goal. Slovak goalkeeper Ján MUCHA spent the rest of the match keeping the inspired home side out of his goal, giving Slovakia the points they needed to win Group 3. Slovenia took second place by defeating San Marino.
» Switzerland 00-00 Israel: A second yellow for Avihai YADIN ended Israel’s slight hopes of advancing out of Group 2. The draw meant a second consecutive Men’s World Cup appearance for the Swiss and a playoff place for Greece, who won against Luxembourg.
» Andorra 00-06 Ukraine: Ukraine had little trouble with the wooden spoon recipients of Group 6 and earned a place in the playoffs.
» Portugal 04-00 Malta: Portugal completed their Group 1 comeback and earned a playoff place with an easy win over Malta, their fourth win in the last five matches.
¤ Qualified: Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland
» Advanced to playoffs: Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Greece, Ireland Rep, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine
[posted FRI 16 OCT 2009 – 04:54:42 UTC]

UEFA matchday 13 recap: A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on SAT 05 SEP 2009.
» Scotland 02-00 Macedonia FYR: Goals from Scott BROWN and James MCFADDEN gave Scotland the advantage heading into Group 9’s last matchday. They can secure second place with a draw against already qualified Netherlands on WED 09 SEP 2009.
» Denmark 01-01 Portugal: Seven points adrift in Group 1, Portugal needed to attack early and often in Copenhagen. Though Nicklas BENDTNER scored against the run of play late in the first half, LIEDSON equalised for his new country in the 86th minute.
» Hungary 01-02 Sweden: Sweden also did their part to make Group 1 much more interesting; at the death, Zlatan IBRAHIMOVIĆ blocked Gábor BABOS’s clearance into the goal for an improbable win. Denmark are still four points clear, but Hungary are now just one point ahead of Sweden and three ahead of Portugal for second place.
» Georgia 00-02 Italy: But the most unlikely goals of the day were both scored by Georgia’s Kakha KALADZE – in his own net. Italy remain one point ahead of Ireland Rep in Group 8 with a match in hand.
» Switzerland 02-00 Greece: Greece’s Loukas VINTRA saw his second yellow as the first half expired, but the Swiss could not capitalise until the last six minutes of the second half. They now pull ahead of Greece for the lead in Group 2.
» Slovakia 02-02 Czech Rep: Marek HAMŠÍK put Slovakia ahead 2-1 on a second half penalty but then received a second yellow card. Milan BAROŠ scored on a header to level the match again, leaving Slovakia still two points clear of Northern Ireland in Group 3 with a match in hand.
» Spain 05-00 Belgium: Spain ratcheted their goal difference to +16 as David SILVA and David VILLA each scored twice. They are assured of at least a playoff place and need four more points to win qualification from Group 5.
» Advanced this matchday: Spain
× Eliminated this matchday: Armenia, Cyprus, Estonia, Faroe Is, Moldova, Montenegro
[posted MON 07 SEP 2009 – 04:48:55 UTC]

UEFA matchday 10 recap: A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on SAT 06 JUN 2009.
» Bulgaria 01-01 Ireland Rep: Dimitar TELKIYSKI neutralised Richard DUNNE’s goal just five minutes later, but Ireland Rep must surely be pleased with the draw, which leaves them one point back of Group 8 leaders Italy.
» Sweden 00-01 Denmark: Sweden’s trials continued in Solna, where Kim KÄLLSTRÖM stepped up to take a penalty in the 12th minute. But his weak effort was easily saved by Thomas SØRENSEN, and Thomas KAHLENBERG scored ten minutes later to send Denmark back atop Group 1.
» Serbia 01-00 Austria: Nenad MILIJAŠ, however, made no such mistake on his early penalty. Serbia extended their Group 7 lead to five points over France.
» Iceland 01-02 Netherlands: But the day belonged to the Dutch, who won their sixth straight qualifier to become UEFA’s first qualifier for South Africa 2010. Nigel DE JONG and Mark VAN BOMMEL gave the Netherlands a 2-0 lead after just sixteen minutes. Though Kristján Örn SIGURDSSON scored for the home side with two minutes remaining, the Netherlands held on to win Group 9.
¤ Qualified this matchday: Netherlands
× Eliminated this matchday: Albania, Georgia
[posted TUE 09 JUN 2009 – 07:58:42 UTC]

UEFA matchday 9 recap: A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 01 APR 2009.
» Turkey 01-02 Spain: The venue was different, but the result the same. Semih ŞENTÜRK put the home side ahead midway through the first half, but a penalty by Xabi ALONSO and a stoppage time winner by Albert RIERA kept the pressure on Spain’s Group 5 opposition.
» Bosnia-Herzegovina 02-01 Belgium: Edin DŽEKO continued his form against Belgium, scoring twice in the first fifteen minutes. Bosnia-Herz held on to maintain their hold on second place in Group 5.
» Italy 01-01 Ireland Rep: Giampaolo PAZZINI set an unfortunate record for the Azzurri by being sent off, for an elbow to John O’SHEA, just four minutes in, fastest in team history. Six minutes later, though, Vincenzo IAQUINTA put Italy ahead. The goal would stand until Robbie KEANE’s 89th minute equaliser. Italy and Ireland Rep are still first and second, respectively, in Group 8.
» Hungary 03-00 Malta: Both Hungary and Group 1 co-leaders Denmark won their fourth in a row, as both are now seven points clear of Portugal, Sweden, and Albania.
» Greece 02-01 Israel: Georgios SAMARAS scored the winning penalty for the Greeks, who lead Group 2 on goal difference over Switzerland.
» Northern Ireland 01-00 Slovenia: Warren FEENEY’s 73rd minute headed goal kept N Ireland in the lead in Group 3, but closest competitors Slovakia have two matches in hand.
» Scotland 02-01 Iceland: With the Netherlands handily defeating all comers, Scotland are fighting for second in Group 9.
× Eliminated this matchday: Malta, San Marino
[posted THU 02 APR 2009 – 22:31:25 UTC]

Qualifying draw to reveal all: The footballing world is descending upon Durban, South Africa for the draw for the 2010 Men’s World Cup qualifiers. Five Asian, twelve North American, nine European, and twelve African groups will be drawn in the festivities, which start at 15:00 UTC on SUN 25 NOV 2007. The CONMEBOL group phase and OFC final round are already underway and do not require draws. Below are listed the top seeded teams in each of the other confederations.
» AFC third round: Australia, Korea Rep, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia
» CONCACAF first round: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad-Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Canada, Guyana
» UEFA group phase: Italy, Spain, Germany, Czech Rep, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Croatia, Greece
» CAF second round: Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Ghana, Tunisia, Egypt, Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Angola, Togo
[posted SAT 24 NOV 2007 – 19:45:26 UTC]

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