Almost, but not quite.....

With work finished up and less than a week to go, we are almost ready to start the next World Cup Adventure.

Even though I'm gonna miss the team at AsureQuality, I was glad to finish up there with a few weeks to spare. I've needed a break from work for quite a while now, and you know what, I think that 66 days of travel, football, adventure and the more than occasional beer is just what I need...

So this is the point where I need to ask myself the age-old question I always ask at this point in proceedings.... Who do I think will win the World Cup...??

This time around, the chances for the host nation, South Africa, are pretty slim, in fact, I don't really give them much of a hope of getting past the Group stages. Having said that, you can never under-estimate the power of the home crowd advantage, so who knows how they will fair.

There are effectively only a few teams that have a realistic chance of making it all the way through to the Final stages, and if I was a betting man, (which I am), then my money would be on either Spain or Brazil taking the cup in 2010.

On current form you would have to fancy Spain's chances, with their recent European Championship, their strong club sides and their wealth of talented and skillful players playing around the world. But Spain don't have the greatest record in the World Cup, having imploded on more than one occasion, and rarely making the final stages. With this be their year...?

Anyone who counts out Brazil would be a fool.... Brazil are the archetypal tournament team, and regardless of their form leading up to the World Cup or recent performances, they always 'bring it' when it matters. I would expect them to sail through the group stages and secure at least a semi-final spot.

My bet for an outside chance would be Holland, it's about time they pulled something out of the bag, and lived up to their reputation.

As ever, I will continue my long suffering devotion to supporting England. Before every tournament they promise so much, and nearlyalways they deliver so little. Is 2010 going to be any different...? Fabio Capello has pulled together a strong squad that is more focused and prepared than for previous World Cups. I dunno,... I just can't quite see them pulling it off this year, but I can quite easily see them losing on penalties once again ain the later stages. I hope I am wrong...

But there is something to be positive about... This time around I will have the All Whites to root for, and even though they have only a fraction of the chance that Spain, Brazil or England have of getting through to the next round, it's gonna be fun regardless of what they achieve. If they can get a couple of wins in the group stages, and qualify for the next round, that will make me almost as happy as England winning the whole damm thing.

So Fiona & I will be heading off to Namibia next Tuesday for the start of this years adventure. With minimal wi-fi coverage in the desert, I suspect that posting to my blog may be sporadic for the first couple of weeks, but I will try and write something every couple of days even if I don't get to download it straight away...

I hope you will join us on the trip....

Steve & Fiona

New Zealand - Any Real Chance...?

If you look at the current betting for the World Cup in South Africa this year, only North Korea has a less of a chance than New Zealand of making it beyond the group stages. But as any football fan worth his salt will tell you, every dog has his day, and this is especially true in a competition where a bad performance against a so-called minnow could end a teams dreams of progression, and you don't need to go too far back to find the evidence.

Who could forget Senegal beating of the World Champions in the opening game in Seoul, or South Korea knocking out Italy both in 2002. Cameroon pulled one over on Argentina in 1990 and the Belgians did the same to the hapless Argies 8 years earlier. Anything can happen on the day, history and past performance can count for nothing, and therefore New Zealand have as good a chance as any of causing an upset this time around.

So why should you consider New Zealand to pull off a giant killing performance at this years tournament..? Well lets start at the top with the All Whites management team. Ricky Herbert is one of only a very small and elite group of ex-players to both play in a world cup and then manage their nation side through qualification to the World Cup stage. Whilst no-one would compare Herbert to Maradonna, especially on the pitch, but as a manager he has a wealth of experience and probably a better record of managing at the top level. Where Herbert brings most value to his team will be his realistic understanding of the current crop of players and their capabilities, and his 30 years of experience as a defensive player to draw on.

The reality is that for New Zealand to progress beyond the group stages, Herbert will need to rely on his teams defensive strengths to stifle and frustrate the supposed better opposition, and look to grab a breakaway goal on the counter.

The good news is that at the core of the NZ team is a solid defensive unit, led by Blackburn Rovers experienced centre back, Ryan Nelsen, who will do double duty as captain during the tournament. He will be playing alongside what some may see as just journeyman defenders, but what they lack in quality will be made up for in organisation, cohesion and passion.

Where the All Whites have previously struggled is in the midfield, as the Kiwi Messi or Fabregas has yet to be found, (or even born maybe..?) Whilst there are some up-and-coming midfield players, such as Leo Bertos & Tim Brown, they could be made to look somewhat mediocre against the stars of Italy, or even Slovakia & Paraguay. Maintaining possession in the midfield will be a serious problem for the relatively inexperienced Kiwi team, which will result in poor link-up play with the strikers.

Having said that, anyone who overlooks the likes of Shane Smeltz, Chris Woods, or Rory Fallon, being able to pop up and capitalise on those rare opportunities in front of goal, will find themselves quickly punished for their mistake.

New Zealand's best goal-scoring chances will come from crosses, corners and free-kicks, as the front players are big, strong, and excellent in the air. Rory Fallon proved this with his unstoppable bullet header against Bahrain in the game that took the All Whites to the World Cup finals. If Leo Bertos can provide any level of supply from the wing, then don't be surprised to see New Zealand to grab a surprise headed goal.

Realistically, just qualifying for the finals is as big as winning the World Cup for New Zealand, and the target of qualifying for the Round of 16 is an even bigger ask. But remember in the group stage, a good win over Slovakia, a draw against Paraguay, a loss to Italy, and a handful of goals, might just be enough to progress to the next round.

Worth a tenner...?

Who's gonna Win the World Cup...?

So who do you think is going to win the 2010 World Cup...?

The Castrol Rankings Predictor will let you work out the chances for any of the 32 team to win the World Cup...!

Current favourite is Brazil, folloed by Spain and England...



You can also use the Castrol Rankings to see the percentage chance for a teams probability of progressing from the Group Stage, see who your teams possible opponents if they progress from the Group Stages, or also do a Head-to-Head for any of the 32 teams.

Check out the site here

Happy New World Cup Year

It feels like an eternity...., but it's finally here....

After 4 years in the making, 2010 is really here, and with it comes the 19th World Cup tournament kicking off in June. In fact as I write this there are less than 120 days to go before the first kick of the first game in Cape Town, and I for one cannot wait any longer.....

Since I last blogged, our little group has now gotten our full allocation of tickets to 14 of the matches during the tournament. I think we should be rightfully proud with this exceptional haul in the ticket stakes, and even though we did not to get any tickets for the World Cup Final, I still think we have done quite well....

So here is the full list of Group matches we will be seeing : -

• M2 - Cape Town - Fri 11th June -20:30 - Uruguay vs France
• M11 - Cape Town - Mon 14th June -20:30 - Italy vs Paraguay
• M20 - Soccer City - Thus 17th June -20:30 - Argentina vs South Korea
• M22 - Ellis Park - Fri 18th June-16:00 - Slovenia vs USA
• M24 - Rustenburg - Sat 19th June-13:30 - Ghana vs Australia
• M29 - Soccer City - Sun 20th Jun-20:30 - Brazil vs Ivory Coast
• M39 - Soccer City - Wed 23rd June-20:30 - Ghana vs Germany
• M42 - Polokwane - Thu 24th June-16:00 - Paraguay vs New Zealand

Actually, I think we have a couple of exciting games in there. As our whole trip was based around 2 specific locations, we did not get to choose which teams we get to see in the early stages of the tournament. Even though we were not lucky enough to bag an England game in the group stages, we will get to see some World Cup favourites, including Brazil, Argentina and Germany.

On a personal note, I am glad that we have tickets to see one of the historic New Zealand games, plus we'll also see a couple of our other favoured teams, (USA & Australia) during the group stages.

Moving on, we also have tickets for the following 'Round of 16' games: -

• M50 - Rustenburg 1C v 2D (3) Sat 26/06/2010-20:30
• M52 - Soccer City 1B v 2A (2) Sun 27/06/2010-20:30
• M54 - Ellis Park 1G v 2H (7) Mon 28/06/2009-20:30
• M55 - Pretoria 1F v 2E (6) Tue 29/06/2009-16:00

In the 'Round of 16' we get a slender chance of catching an England game.... If England qualify as winners of Group C, we will get a chance to see them when they take on the 2nd placed team of Group D, (possibly Australia or Germany perhaps?) Can everyone please keep your fingers crossed for us... We will also get to see the winners of Groups B, G, F take on the 2nd placed teams from groups A, H, and E, which offers us some interesting permutations...

Finally we have tickets to the following Quarter Final games: -

• M58 - Soccer City 1 v 3 (A) Fri 2/07/2010-20:30
• M60 - Ellis Park 6 v 8 (D) Sat 3/07/2009:20:30

Again, with a bit of luck, (well a very large slice of luck actually), if England qualify top of their group and win their 'Round of 16' game, we could see them at one of our Quarter Final matches.... (I'm keeping everything crossed from now onwards...!)

Unfortunately, neither of the Semi-Final matches are being played near where we are staying outside Pretoria, so I'm planning to either find a 'happening' bar, or make a trip to one of the 'Fan Parks' being set up around South Africa to watch the games in a crowd atmopshere.

It's a shame about not getting Finals tickets, but they are as rare as hens teeth so I'm not surprised. If we get offered some Finals tickets on the quiet, (from someone we can trust), then maybe the dream of seeing a Final will come true. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until Brazil 2014.

So anyone that has been keeping a careful eye on the dates of all our matches, will have noticed that there are only 9 days out of 22 when we WON'T be attending a game. Hopefully we will be able to squeeze our sightseeing requirements into the non-match days we have. We will be making the most of game days by heading into the city earlier in the day and seeing some stuff befor ethe game kicks-off. Still, it a hardcore, world cup loving, travel adicted, football fanatics schedule, but I think it can be done... :-)

From now on, I'm counting the hours until we get on the plane to South Africa, it can't come soon enough...!

PS. This blog entry is dedicated to Ollie Ellis, the newest England fan on the planet... Respect...!

Draw Results

Fresh from the World Cup draw in Cape Town, here are the group games we have tickets for: -

M2 - Cape Town A3 v A4 11 June 2009-20:30
Uraguay vs France

M11 - Cape Town F1 v F2 14 June 2009-20:30
Italy vs Paraguay

M20 - Soccer City B1 v B3 Thus 17/06/2010-20:30
Argentina vs South Korea

M24 - Rustenburg D4 v D2 Sat 19/06/2010-13:30
Ghana vs Australia

M29 - Soccer City G1 v G3 Sun 20/06/2010-20:30
Brazil vs Ivory Coast

M39 - Soccer City D4 v D1 Wed 23/06/2010-20:30
Ghana vs Germany

It's a shame we did not pull an England or New Zealand game, but we do get a Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy & Austraila game to watch in the group stages.

Overall, it looks like it's been a kind draw to England, up against USA, Algeria, Slovinia in Group C, from which they should progress to the round of 16, (hopefully with USA).

New Zealand can't be too unhappy with their Group F draw, ignoring Italy, they only need to get results against Paraguay & Slovakia to progress. Not easy, but not impossible....

Finally Australia have a much harder time of it, up against Germany, Serbia & African dark horses, Ghana, in Group D. This group is going to be a lot tougher to get through, especially with a strong Ghana team playing on African soil, and you can never dismiss the Germans...

Okay, now I need to have breakfast and start looking at buying some more tickets...

Happy Days...!

The Final 32

Back in August I took a stab at trying to guess which teams would make it in to the final 32 that would qualify to travel to South Africa next year. At that time 5 teams had already qualified and there were 27 spots left to fill, and in the end I managed to correctly pick 19 of the teams that did manage to qualify, giving me an average of over 70% correct..! (If Yates had been on the ball, he could have gambled some money on my picks, and made a few dollars)

Of the teams that did not make it, the most disappointing result was in the qualifier between Northern Ireland & France. For a game of such magnitude with so much riding on it to be decided on such a blatant handball, clearly shows that something needs to be done to help referees get to the right decision on the night. Whilst I can understand that the introduction of video-technology has the potential to interrupt the flow of a football game, (stopping-and-starting the game), I think that the 10-15 seconds it would take for a TV referee to analyse goals & penalty claims, would have a minimal impact on a game. I mean the game stops for about 30 seconds after a goal or the award of a penalty anyway, so the disruption would be minimal, but the benefit to having games won fairly would be enormous. It's certainly something that could be considered.

Of the other surprises in this last stage of qualifying, Slovenia (ranked 33rd) beating Russia (ranked 13th) was a massive upset in terms of world football. Slovenia are a real European minnow with a population of only just over 2 million, compared to 140 million people in Russia. It was also good to see teams like Honduras, Algeria & especially New Zealand overcoming the odds to qualify, but I could have done without the Uruguayans sneaking in at the expense of Costa Rica.... Never mind...! There are some that say the World Cup is devalued by not having the top 32 strongest teams competing, but part of the magic of this tournament is the chance to see some of the smaller teams creating an upset against some of the world powers of Football. Just imagine New Zealand beating France or Portugal in the group stages, that would be something to see.... Next years tournament will have representatives from all of the 5 football confederations which indicates to me that WC2010 will be a global competition.

So now we have a couple of weeks before the final draw in Cape Town to mull over the possible combinations that we could end up with. The draw will be seeded with the top 7 teams, (based on FIFA rankings), plus South Africa, put in to Pot 1, and the remaining 8 European teams in Pot 2. The remaining 16 teams should be split along confederations lines, so here is how I see the pots working out: -

Pot 1 (seeded teams): Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain
Pot 2 (rest of UEFA): Denmark, Greece, Holland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
Pot 3 (CAF + rest of CONMEBOL): Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay
Pot 4 (AFC + OFC + CONCACAF): Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, USA

The draw will consist of a team being pulled from each of the pots to make up the 8 groups for the initial group stages of the World Cup.

From an England perspective, they will be a seeded team and I will keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get Holland or Portugal from pot 2, and maybe Ivory Coast from pot 3 or Australia in pot 4, (although I would not be too disappointed to see New Zealand in England's group just for the fun of it).

With the Australia, USA & New Zealand being in pot 4, it's all about which seeded team they get matched up with. There is a lot of hoping and praying going on in each of those countries that they get lucky and get drawn in the host nation, South Africa's group, as they are seen as the weakest of the seeded teams. I'm not sure whether this would be as good a result as some might think, the World Cup tends to give the host nation a bit of a boost. Looking back over the past 3 world cups, the host nation has made it to at least the semi-final on each occasion, so you never know....

My theory is that regardless of who gets drawn in any particular group, a team needs at least a win and a draw, (2 wins would be better), to have chance of progressing to the next round. This means that Australia, USA & New Zealand could potentially lose to the seeded team in their respective groups, and concentrate on beating the other 2 teams in their groups. Again, I wouldn't want to come up against either Holland or Portugal from pot 2, and I will predict that whichever group that Holland end up in will be known as the infamous 'Group of Death', so keep those fingers crossed. So therefore, from a Australia, USA & New Zealand perspective, a group with South Africa, Slovenia, & Chile would give them a pretty good chance... Again we will have to wait and see...

Finally, I would like to see any of England, Australia, USA & New Zealand drawn in group D as we currently have tickets for 2 matches in that group, but any group will do as long as we get a chance to see our favourite teams...

So keep them fingers crossed and your eyes focused on the draw coming up on December 4th in Cape Town... Less than 200 days to go...

One Shot For Glory

This past weekend, Fiona & I travelled north to Wellington to support the New Zealand All Whites in their crucial 'do-or-die' World Cup Qualifying play-off match 2nd leg against Bahrain, and what a match it was....! The Kiwi's had it all to play for after managing to cling on for a 0-0 result in Bahrain, meaning that effectively only a win would do, (taking into account the away goals rule).

We arrived in Wellington on the Friday before the game, and even then there was a definite buzz about the city. The word had gone out that the team wanted all the fans to wear white to the match to create a virtual 'White-Out' in the stadium. We hunted down the shop selling the 'ALL WHITE on the Night' T-shirts, but they had already sold out of shirts, and we had to return after 5pm to get one of a new batch....

Saturday morning we wandered around the city watching the excitement build, with plenty of fans already in white filling up the bars and cafe's. We headed to Queens Wharf to watch the mini football tournament and grab a few pre-match beers, and even then the place was already packed with fans sporting all kinds of white costumes. Fiona & I played a game of 'spot the Premier League Football Shirts', (we saw 9 of the 20 team represented), among the myriad of NZ shirts and white boiler suits.

We had planned to head out towards the stadium at around 6pm and made the most of our early arrival to have a good look round the 'Cake Tin' as the Wellington Westpac Stadium is better known. The crowd was in high spirits as they began to fill the ground, lots of laughing at people dressed in white, or made up like Elvis and some even dressed as sheep. Just before kick-off the hero’s of the New Zealand 1982 World Cup campaign did a very well received lap of honour to the applause and cheers of the now full stands, especially when Winton Ruffer fell over.

As we got towards 8pm the atmosphere in the stadium started to crackle. Being a rugby obsessed nation, New Zealanders are not well known for their love of the 'Beautiful Game', but on this night there were over 35,000 Kiwi's that were fully behind their team and singing and shouting their hearts out. The boo's rang out when the Bahraini team came out on to the field, followed shortly after by a huge roar when the All Whites made their way out on to the pitch. After a respectful hush during the Bahraini national anthem, there followed by the best rendition of the Kiwi national anthem I have ever heard at any sporting event. And then it was game on....

The first 10 minutes were tense and nervous, especially for the All Whites who were taking their time to settle on the ball, with Bahrain having the lion share of the early possession, and even a few half-chances on goal. Mark Paston the kiwi goalkeeper made a few good saves early on, giving him a feel of the ball and staying solid behind the robust Kiwi defence. Midway through the 1st half the All White began to calm down a little more and started to play the ball out to the wings and make good progress down the field. Leo Bertos put in a few good crossed, and Fallon headed a sharp angled header that brought the best out of the Bahrain goal keeper.... Oooooh, so close. Coming towards the end of the half, New Zealand were well in command, and beginning to exert some real pressure. With a minute to go the Kiwi's got a corner that was taken by Bertos, who put in a great cross, straight to the head of Rory Fallon who rose highest to nail the ball into the back of the net. GGGGGOOOOOAAAALLLLLL....!

We could not believe it..... Half time and New Zealand were ahead with that most important of goals, and the cheering and chanted echoed around the whole ground. Because of the away goals rule, we knew that a one goal lead was vary precarious , and that the Bahraini team only needed to score just a single goal and they would qualify. Our fingers were very tightly crossed....

The second half got underway and the Kiwi team started very defensively, obviously that slender one goal lead must have been weighing on their collective minds. No sooner had the half started than Tony Lockhead put in a rash and clumsy challenge in the box..... PENALTY...!!! I could not believe it...., we had been so close, and now I sat with my head in my hands almost unable to watch.... And then the most remarkable thing happened...., Paston saved the penalty...!! UNBELIEVEABLE...... If the roar for the goal had been loud enough to hear all across Wellington, the roar the emanated from the penalty save must have been heard in Australia and beyond... Amazing..!!

The rest of the 2nd half went by so slowly for me, I could not stop looking at my watch and thinking that the All White were now only 'x' minutes away from the World Cup Finals. But deep inside me something had changed after the penalty save, I just had the feeling that New Zealand could not lose now, they could not throw it away after everything that had happened, and that "nothing could go wrong now", (although I kept that thought to myself). The Bahraini's were now having to throw more players forward and leaving gaps at the back. New Zealand were still controlling the game, and even had at least 2 more great chances to put the game beyond reach. 15 minutes to go, 10 minutes to go, and then 5 minutes to go, and we were still just hanging in there. The 4th official held the extra time board up showing just 3 minutes of extra time, which seemed to take forever to pass. The Bahraini's had a last gasp free kick on the edge of the area that went though the crowd of players and ended up in Pastons hands, but before he had a chance to pass the ball out, the referee finally blew his whistle for full time.

NEW ZEALAND ARE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP FINALS....!!

The built-up tension that everybody had been feeling was finally released in an emotional roar and the atmosphere in the stadium was unbelievable. The players were collapsed in a big heap and the coaching staff were running and jumping and punching the air. I don't think we could all quite believe what we had witnessed but that wasn't going to stop us chanting and singing while that belief sunk in. Fiona & I stayed in our seats while the team did a couple of laps-of-honour, and cheered each and every player out there. Finally we started to make our way out of the 'Cake-Tin' with many thousands and thousands of other joyous fans, singing and chanting our way back into town. “ALL WHITES...clap, clap, clap... ALL WHITES...clap, clap, clap “

It took ages to get out of the stadium, and at around 11:30pm we found somewhere to eat, and sat down exhaustedly. We swapped txt messages with friends and well-wishers from all round the world, and greedily wolfed down a pizza before heading back towards our hotel. The crowds were out in force in town, with cars hooting their horns and flying NZ flags as the moved around the city. We went to a bar near our hotel and after a few beers, being both emotionally and physically drained, we made our way back to our room around 1am.

I can say without any doubt that the match was one of the best games I have been fortunate to attend, and while the football itself was never going to be remarkable, the atmosphere and passion of the supporters made it a night that will be remembered by all that were there, for a very, very long time.

WELL DONE NEW ZEALAND.... SEE YOU IN SOUTH AFRICA