Diego Forlan gets his reward

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and co may have had all the hype before this World Cup, but different names have ended up on all the prizes. Despite what Nike and Pepsi wanted us believe, there were other players at this World Cup, players at the top of their games playing hard for their time in the spotlight. The World Cup in South Africa decided to shine its lights on the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Villa and Thomas Mueller. The superstars left early, and other names rushed in to take their place.

Diego Forlan had been in the shadow of the world’s so called best for too long, despite having plenty of silverware and a magnificant goalscoring record. The lack of attention was mainly due to a combination of not playing for a ‘big’ International side and being labelled by the English media as the Manchester United ‘flop’. Despite this however, with 5 goals and a Golden Ball award at his side, Diego Forlan has shown his class to the World.

Profile
Diego Forlan was born on 19 May 1979 in Montevideo. His father, Pablo Forlan, also played for Uruguay as a defender, and appeared at the 1966 & 1974 World Cup finals.

Making a name
Forlan started his career in South America, and made his name playing for Argentine club Independiente between 1998 and 2001. He quickly made a name for himself as a goalscorer, scoring 40 goals in 91 appearances. This record had attracted attention from Europe and from Sir Alex Ferguson in particular.

In January 2002, at the age of twenty two, Diego Forlan joined Manchester United for a fee of £6.9 million. Forlan played at Manchester United over the course of two and half seasons, and his struggles are well known in English football circles. Forlan was relatively young when he came to England, in a new continent speaking a new language. The environment and the pressure of playing for one of the World’s biggest clubs at a young age seemed too much for the Uruguayan. He was also not helped by being in the shadow of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, one of Manchester United’s record goalscoreres. Forlan scored a disappointing 17 goals in 98 appearances, and ultimately left English football in 2004.

New life in Spain
In August 2004, Diego Forlan joined Villarreal where he was an instant success. In his first season, Forlan scored 25 league goals, winning the Pichichi Trophy and his first European Golden Boot. His goals helped Villarreal reach the Champions League for the first time in their history. Needless to say, Forlan’s first season in Spain was a resounding triumph. Forlan spent three seasons at Villarreal before signing for Atletico Madrid in June 2007. Atletico had recently sold Fernando Torres to Liverpool and Forlan was seen as a direct replacement.

Life in Madrid was equally rewarding for Forlan, and the 2008-09 season was a remarkable one for the Uruguayan. He again won the Pichichi Trophy in La Liga as well as the European Golden Boot for the second time, scoring a staggering 32 league goals in 33 appearances. In the 2009-10 season Forlan inspired Atletico to victory in the Europa League, scoring home and away against Liverpool in the semi and getting both goals against Fulham in the final in Hamburg. Despite Atletico having a poor season, Forlan still managed to score 18 league goals, often in important matches.



International rise
Diego Forlan had to wait until he was 22 years old before he finally made his debut for Uruguay in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia. He was at Manchester United during this time, and was very much in the shadow of more established players such as Alvaro Recoba. Forlan did make the Uruguay squad for the 2002 World Cup. After being brought on as a substitute in the last group game, Forlan scored a magnificant volley in a 3-3 draw with Senegal.

Uruguay failed to reach the second round in 2002, and did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In 2010, Uruguay were the last team to qualify for South Africa, beating Costa Rica in a playoff. A Diego Forlan inspired team reached the semi final of the 2010 World cup, with Forlan himself scoring 5 goals and winning the Golden Ball trophy for the best player of the tournament.

Race over for the Golden Boot

After a month of solid football, the day we have all dreaded has finally come, the World Cup is over for another four years. The final two games were played over the weekend, and all the loose ends have been tied up. Spain are World Champions, Diego Forlan was voted the player of the tournament and Thomas Mueller won the Golden Boot.

In the end, four players all finished on 5 goals each, with Mueller winning the Golden Boot due to having the most assists.

• Thomas Mueller (Germany) - 5 goals
• David Villa (Spain) - 5 goals
• Wesley Sneijder (Holland) - 5 goals
• Diego Forlan (Uruguay) - 5 goals

The weekend’s results and scorelines were not all that surprising, and as is generally the case we got a free flowing and high scoring third place playoff match between two teams not under much pressure. Over the years the third place playoff has more often than not had lots more goals than the final.

1978 was the last time that more goals were scored in the Final than in the Third Place Playoff. The lack of pressure often means that the Third Place Playoff is a high scoring and entertaining game, if not all that important. This year’s Third Place Playoff, between Uruguay and Germany continued this trend by giving us five goals and plenty of exciting football. The game also took on a little more importance due to the inclusion of two Golden Boot candidates. Mueller and Forlan both grabbed a goal each to end the tournament with five goals.

David Villa and Wesley Sneijder were involved in a much more tense and tight match. Chances were limited and the best of them fell to other players such as Arjen Robben and Andres Iniesta, who got the winner.

There is a question mark over whether goals scored in the third place playoff should count in the race for the Golden Boot. Players who are knocked out in the Semi Finals get another chance, and play in a match which generally produces lots more goals. Would Mueller have won the trophy if Germany had made the Final? We will never know, but personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with the format of the World Cup, and another game to watch is fine by me.

Spain win the World Cup

Last night Spain won the World Cup for the first time in their history. Andres Iniesta scored the winner with four minutes to go in extra time and the Dutch had to settle for second best once again.

It was not the greatest of spectacles, but big finals rarely are. Spain and Holland were both wary of each other’s attacking threat throughout the match, and a low scoring game was inevitable. Spain once again dominated possession, and Holland pressed well to try and break up the composed passing play of the Spanish. Unfortunately Holland went too far with their aggressive and destructive tactics, and Mark Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong were very lucky to still be on the pitch at half time. The Dutch dished out a number of horrible tackles in the match, with De Jong’s karate kick to Alonso’s chest being the worst of the bunch. Howard Webb could probably have got a better grip on the game early on, but unfortunately the match spiralled into a rather dirty affair resulting in half the Spanish team and eight of the Dutch starting eleven receiving yellow cards.

Kung Fu Soccer

Holland put a lot of work into normal time, and Robben had two excellent chances to give the Dutch the lead. This amount of effort was ultimately too much for Holland to keep up over 120 minutes. When the game calmed down in terms of fouls and various attack minded substitutions had been made on both sides, the game opened up and massively favoured the superior Spain. Fabregas set up Iniesta after 114 minutes and the little man from Fuentealbilla banged in a half volley to seal the victory and World Cup for Spain.

This World Cup win is the culmination of four years of Spanish promise and dominance across multiple tournaments and qualification rounds. It proves to the World that this Spain team is truly a great side who have conquered all before them. Spain are now the reigning European and World Champions, and have finally proved that they are winners.

Wonderful Spain reach World Cup Final

Spain were pre-tournament joint favourites for a reason. The reigning European Champions are a class act and a team so full of talent that they look almost unstoppable. In a piece that I wrote last month, I felt that even though Spain were rightfully the favourites, surely their route to the final would have more than a few bumps along the way. At the start of the tournament Spain’s probable knockout draw was looking like the toughest in the competition, however Italy, Argentina and Brazil were all eliminated before they could test themselves against the Spanish. As it turned out, a young and remarkably impressive German team and a Holland team which cannot stop winning matches have emerged at the business end of the World Cup to face up against the mighty Spain.

The Spanish team has received some rather unjustified criticism in their run to the final for not putting on a goalscoring show as they did two years ago at Euro 2008. Before the Semi-Final people were talking about how Spain have not yet reached top gear and that they need to click in order to win the World Cup. In fact Spain have been playing great in the new role that they now find themselves; favourites. Other teams don’t like letting favourites like Spain play, everyone knows how dangerous Spain can be, and it is only natural for the opposition to sit back and try not to give up cheap space. Top club teams face this kind of problem all the time, where they are expected to break lesser teams down. It is a lot easier and safer to defend deep and compact against Spain than it is to come out and try to play, simply because Spain are so good.

Tonight Germany (who had been wonderful in their two previous games) found out why Spain were favourites since before the World Cup even began. Spain are fantastic in possession, and they also press very well when they don’t have the ball. This meant that Germany went for long periods without even touching the ball, which puts more pressure on the players to do something when they do have it. Spain know that Germany will be desperate to use the ball wisely when they have it, so good pressing forces Germany into mistakes that they wouldn’t normally make. Spain do not panic in possession, neither are they desperate in any way with the ball. The pattern of the game therefore meant that Germany would have the ball for shorter and shorter periods of time, as they became more unsure and desperate on the ball, not knowing if they would ever get it back. This tactic is magical to watch, Spain put on a technically marvelous show of skill and passing, while Germany are slowly suffocated out of the match. It is worth noting that this can only work because of the sensational players that Spain have and the ease with which they keep the ball. Germany were put to death by a thousand passes once again by Spain, but should be very proud of their performances in South Africa. Their victories over England and Argentina, while fantastic, were no preparation for meeting this Spanish side. Where the England and Argentina have massive flaws and defensive frailties, Spain look as though they have no weaknesses at all.

Spain started the game with seven Barcelona players, and the team as a whole have a level of understanding that few teams manage to achieve. Xavi, Iniesta and Xabi Alonso keep the ball so easily that opponents are killed by majestic and beautiful possession. If Spain do go on and defeat the Netherlands in the final, they will surely take their place in history as true greats.

Europe’s top teams prove themselves

Three teams remain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and all three are from Europe. Many people, including me, thought that European power in the World Cup could be coming to an end due to the reduced amount of teams that made it to the Second Round. Now though, with everyone else eliminated, Europe’s top teams look like they are going nowhere.

Spain, Germany and Holland were arguably the three most impressive sides in Euro 2008. Spain and Germany contested the Final, and despite being eliminated in the Quarter Final by Russia, Holland looked devastatingly good in the group. Who can forget the Dutch hammering Italy and France 3-0 and 4-1 respectively. Despite this however, coming into this World Cup Germany and Holland were not seen as potential winners by many. Germany’s young and inexperienced team were written off early and most people thought that the Dutch would not have enough to get past a quarter final with Brazil. Yet where Brazil and Argentina have both fallen short, the top European teams have continued to impress. France, Italy, Portugal and England are all now a long way behind, and a lot of work may be needed to turn them around.

Spain were joint pre-tournament favourites, and while not necessarily hitting their stride entirely as of yet, they have impressed by showing remarkable patience and perseverance throughout. David Villa has continued to show his international class and remarkable goal scoring ability for Spain. 43 goals in 63 internationals is quite superb. Interestingly, the four most obvious candidates for the Golden Boot all still have games to play. Villa and Sneijder are on 5 goals each while Forlan and Klose have 4. With the Third Place Play-off and Final taking place this weekend, all still have a chance to add to their tallies.

Spain v Germany on Wednesday night is a wonderful match up, and is likely to be Germany’s first real test. Although that may sound ridiculous, seeing as they have just beaten England and Argentina, Spain are a different animal. England and Argentina both had massive flaws, in terms of players, formations and defensive capabilities. Germany’s team ethic was far superior, and they destroyed two teams who had massively underestimated them. Spain are unlikely to underestimate the Germans, and they do not have any of the English or Argentinian weaknesses.

Holland are the only team to have won every game; they even won all their qualification games. Germany have dazzled us with a couple of highly impressive demolition jobs. Spain are the only favourites left, and they now know who they must beat to become World Champions.

Brazil and Ghana out of the World Cup

Friday in South Africa produced two marvellously exciting World Cup Quarter Finals that have set the tournament alight. Brazil, the favourites to lift the trophy were dumped out by the Dutch, and Ghana left the tournament after Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty in the last seconds of extra time.

Brazil lost to Holland in a very uncharacteristic way, despite taking the lead early in the first half. Their inability to defend properly from a short free kick and a near post corner was surprising to say the least. The Brazilian public looked as though they were starting to accept Dunga’s approach after witnessing their team masterfully move through the rounds looking almost impenetrable at the back. An apparent lack of flair and attacking intent was seen as this team’s only possible weakness, yet indiscipline and sloppy defending ultimately cost Dunga’s team. Holland were very poor in the first half, and looked to be heading out at half time. However, they played much better in the second half, and put the Brazilian defence under enough pressure to force an error which dragged them back into the match. Holland’s second goal was both basic and brilliant, with the simplest of near post flicks from Dirk Kuyt providing Wesley Sneijder with a header that couldn't be missed. Felipe Melo was very reckless and stupid to get himself sent off and Brazil could not find a way back. Holland did provide Brazil’s first test of the World Cup, and Brazil failed it.

If the first Quarter Final was exciting, the second was World Cup drama at its best. Ghana and Uruguay ended with Uruguay going through on penalties, but things could have been so different. Sulley Muntari put Ghana ahead at the end of the first half with a great long range effort, and Diego Forlan equalised in the 55th minute. Forlan crushed a free kick from the left corner of the eighteen yard box which rifled into the top right hand corner of the net, a simply sensational strike from a fantastic player. It was Forlan’s third goal of the tournament, and his second from long range. The game ended a draw and went into extra time. As the extra time neared its end, penalties awaited, but one more moment of drama was left in the match. Luis Suarez handled on the line in the last minute of extra time, got sent off and gave away a penalty. Up stepped Asamoah Gyan with the last kick of the game, to send Ghana into the Semi Final, but he smashed his shot against the crossbar. Uruguay won the shoot-out with a magnificent final penalty, but Gyan’s pain was difficult to watch at the end. Such a shame for Ghana and Gyan.

Holland v Brazil Preview

The World Cup has reached the Quarter Finals, and the big guns are starting to face off. Holland v Brazil is a mouth-watering match up with plenty of World Cup history and shouldn’t be missed.

Dunga’s Brazil are continually looking more impressive as the days go by. Their back four supported by two seemingly tireless defensive midfielders is threatening to gain a reputation as being almost impenetrable. The samba flair may have been turned down a notch or two, but Brazil’s defensive qualities are mightily impressive. Lucio and Juan have easily been the best centre back partnership at this World Cup. Together they are both powerful and composed, and Lucio’s fantastic flamboyance can unsettle an opposition striker alone. Maicon and Michel Bastos are so dangerous going forward that their movement can force the opposition team to retreat into a much more defensive and less threatening shape. On top of this, Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo or Ramires have perfectly demonstrated the art of pressing and winning the ball back throughout this World Cup. Together, this Brazilian defensive unit is a thing of beauty, especially when you consider what great talent they have further up the pitch.

The match against Holland however should provide the first real test for Brazil so far, Holland have top quality attacking options and should ask some serious questions. Brazil have not had to deal with much attacking threat so far in this tournament, and Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie are certainly going to have to be dealt with. Brazil have faced two very negative sides in North Korea and Portugal, and while Ivory Coast and Chile were bright and energetic they were ultimately naive and straightforward for Brazil. Holland will certainly not come out all guns blazing, and much of the match will most likely be a pretty cagey affair, but there will be phases of the match when Brazil will come under some serious pressure, and it will be interesting to see how they hold up.

Brazil should not underestimate the Dutch, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben are capable of creating something from nothing. However, Brazil are superb at the back and Robinho, Kaka and Luis Fabiano are going to ask questions that I fear the Dutch defence will be unable to answer. An intriguing tie awaits, and one couldn’t ask for a more glamorous start to the World Cup Quarter Finals.

England expects too much

England were humbled on Sunday in a 4-1 defeat to Germany in Bloemfontein. This result, together with other abject performances in the group stage, has led the English press to erupt in a fit of rage, spewing stinging criticism at the manager and the players. Fabio Capello has been accused of getting his tactics wrong, of picking the wrong players and wrong formation. The players have been lambasted for their apparent lack of ‘spirit’ and ‘desire’, and their inability to replicate their Premier League performances. The England team is now seen by the majority of English football fans as a complete failure and disgrace to the country, but do England fans expect too much?

The majority of the media seem to spend months force feeding the masses false hope, presumably in the hope of selling more papers. Advertisers churn out faux-patriotic beer commercials and ex-professionals are constantly on television telling the camera that they think we have ‘a real chance of winning it this time’. With all this hyperbolic rubbish constantly streaming into the nation’s sub-conscience, it is not hard to understand why so many people feel let down or devastated by England’s comprehensive defeat in South Africa. If only people were told the truth about our chances before the tournament began, it may not have been such a surprise to so many.

England certainly have a selection of experienced players that play in big pressure situations for their clubs. Lampard, Gerrard, John Terry and Ashley Cole should have contributed more to helping the team be more intelligent with the ball and more solid without it. Wayne Rooney also clearly did not play to his potential and may have buckled under the weight the pressure. Rooney was seen as England’s hope and his performances were sadly very cumbersome, wasteful and somewhat out of character. However, even if Rooney had been more on form, the England team would still have come up short. Matthew Upson, Jermaine Defoe, Gareth Barry and Glen Johnson are not International class players. This balance of irrelevant experience and lack of quality is not exactly a recipe for success. England have no problem creating box to box midfielders who are energetic and direct, neither do they have a problem making big, lumbering centre halves. However, England simply do not seem to produce players who are creative or skillful, players who can control the ball, keep possession and make defense splitting passes. The current England team even lacks real defensive midfielders, who protect the back four and win the ball back for their team. Germany showed England how to play with imagination, precision and speed. They continually overran England in midfield and broke time and time again through their lackluster back line. If the England players believed their own hype, the Germans certainly did not. After being told that they were young and inexperienced, Germany went out and played as though they had been set free. Germany enjoyed the game, England became tight and ragged.

The English media continually portray the England team as World beaters, and the English public lap it up. England were ludicrously third favourites to lift the World Cup before the tournament with British bookmakers. This collective delusion is the reason why people cannot seem to comprehend why England came up well short against a bright, if not brilliant German team. The simple truth is that Germany have better players and a better team than England. Portugal and Holland also have better teams than England, they are smarter in possession and while Portugal are far more solid defensively, Holland’s attacking options easily out-gun the English. On top of this, England also fall desperately short when compared to the real favourites for the World Cup. Brazil, Argentina and Spain are streets ahead of England in almost every regard. They have squads full of genuinely world class players, and unlike England they have a team of square pegs in square holes. These teams have real depth in reserve, mouth watering attacking options, intelligent ball players, tactical defensive strategies and marvellous technical ability. Why should it be a surprise that England always come up short? It seems perfectly obvious to me.

European teams on the decline?

The World Cup in South Africa has reached the the second round, sixteen teams have departed and sixteen remain. As the 2010 tournament begins to heat up, I’m taking a look at the composition of this knockout phase in comparison with World Cups from the past.

The second round of sixteen format was first introduced in 1986 and it has been mainly populated with European teams ever since. In the six World cups between 1986 and 2006 Europe has had 10 of the last 16 on five occasions, in 2002 there were 9 European teams. In South Africa, things seem to have changed. Having seen 7 teams from Europe depart in the group stages, only 6 remain. This is a dramatic drop considering the consistent level since 1986. To make things worse for the European teams, the remaining 6 are all facing off against one another, guaranteeing the departure of 3 more.

France and Italy who contested the 2006 World Cup Final both finished bottom of their respective groups and looked very jaded and lethargic in comparison to some of the other supposedly smaller nations. The thing is, we all knew that France and Italy were in massive decline before the tournament, but many of us still begrudgingly believed that they would grind their way out of their groups and maybe reach the Quarter Finals before lamely bowing out. Refreshingly, teams like Uruguay, Mexico, Japan and Chile have really stepped up this World Cup, beaten European opposition and marched into the Second Round looking sharp, dangerous and playing exciting, entertaining football. The knockout rounds in South Africa look set to be one of the most diverse and intriguing knockout rounds ever.

Is this the beginning of the end of European dominance of the knockout phases of the World Cup? 2010 could be the beginning of a more evenly balanced World Cup future.

England’s lack of excuses

I imagine that England’s 0-0 draw with Algeria in Cape Town last night was not a particularly entertaining watch for a neutral viewer. For me, watching England is usually a frustrating and painful experience, however last night was a little embarrassing also. Watching the tournament unfold over the first week, it seemed that matches were starting to open up, goals were starting to flow and teams were beginning to express themselves. Last night at the Green Point Stadium however, England and Algeria did their best to drag the standard of football down to new depths.

Algeria’s lack of ambition was not surprising, they played for a 0-0 and they achieved their objective. It was a risky strategy from the Algerians, especially considering that they lost their first game, but they now still have a chance to qualify from the group if they can beat USA in their final group game on Wednesday. Algeria did well last night, they were defensively compact and managed to squeeze England and not allow them any space out wide. They had few attacking opportunities themselves, but never looked uncomfortable dealing with England’s front two.

Despite setting up so defensively, Algeria managed to have 47% possession over the course of the match. Compare this with Switzerland’s 33% from their game with Spain and it is easy to see that England did not put nearly enough pressure on the Algerian defense. I am sure that Algeria were expecting much more from Fabio Capello’s team, and they were defensively prepared for an onslaught which never came. In certain periods of the match, Algeria seemed to gain confidence from England’s ineptness and came forward themselves, albeit without much result.

It is not unusual to see uninspiring England performances, but last night’s was truly terrible. England often struggle to break down determined defenses, but they are normally left with a referring decision or two to complain about, a wasted chance here and there or some other freak stroke of ‘bad luck’. Yesterday however, England didn’t even have any excuses to lamely cling to. Their play was unimaginative in the extreme, their work rate was well below par and almost every individual performance was timid and terribly poor. Lampard and Gerrard couldn’t complete 10 yard passes when not under any pressure and Rooney decided to forget how to control a football. In one particularly funny moment, Emile Heskey attempted a bit of skill when cutting in from the right, only to trip all over his own feet and the ball before kicking it straight out for a goal kick, classic. Heskey’s hold up play was also only marginally better than having a wheelie-bin up front.

It is difficult to see how England’s problems can be fixed. Players like Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard should not be constantly misplacing short passes and allowing the ball to cannon off their shins as they attempt to bring it down. Something other than tactics and personnel must at fault here. This morning’s press are indicating that the player’s could not deal with the pressure of playing in a World Cup. Fabio Capello said "We lost too many passes, it was not the same team that I know, the team I see when they train". Maybe the pressure has become debilitating for the England players, and this is not necessarily a bad thing. A goal can do wonders for relieving pressure, and beating Slovenia on Wednesday could see England finish top of Group C.

Why Spain probably won't win the World Cup

Spain are favourites with the bookies to lift the World Cup on the 11th July, and with the immensely talented squad that the European Champions have, who would argue? Well I would actually. Spain are capable of beating any team in the competition, and their success at Euro 2008 will have given them confidence in their own talent and in their ability to win a major tournament. However, Spain could very possibly have the hardest route to the final of any team in the competition. If things go to plan (which they almost certainly will not) Spain may have to beat Portugal, Italy, Argentina and Brazil one after another to become World Champions. I believe that this run of matches will prove too much, even for this great Spanish side.

It is often forgotten that in their masterful Euro 2008 triumph, Spain had to rely on winning a penalty shoot-out against the always resilient Italy in the quarter final. To win the World Cup in South Africa, Spain will have to make their way through a tough knockout draw, and penalties could quite conceivably crop up once again. They will have to find a way past world class teams who are likely to set up in rigid defensive formations, they may have to overcome dodgy goals, or poor refereeing decisions. World class players such as Ronaldo, Messi and Kaka will not go down without an almighty fight, Spain have got one hell of a job on their hands.

What I am trying to say is that for Spain to win the World Cup they could very well have to pass the sternest test any international side has ever faced. I have no doubts about the squad's quality or their ability to win, and they are rightly favourites for the competition, but football is a hard game, even for the best.

World Cup Preview

Keep checking your watches people, if we all stare at them hard enough, maybe we can make Friday come sooner. The World Cup begins on the 11th with the hosts South Africa taking on Mexico in Johannesburg.

The 2010 World Cup will involve all seven previous winners of the Trophy, and each of its 32 teams and 64 matches promises to be fascinating in their own ways. Italy are looking to equal Brazil's World Cup record of winning the competition 5 times, while this is Slovakia's first ever World Cup. At 22 years old, Lionel Messi is aiming to set the World Cup alight with dazzling skills, while Miroslav Klose who is 10 years older needs six more goals to pass Ronaldo and become the highest ever World Cup goalscorer. Every way you turn there is a record to be broken or a story to be told.

Of the 23 players that were short-listed for the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award, 19 will be on show at the World Cup in South Africa. While it is no surprise that 6 of these players belong to the Spain squad, England actually have the second highest amount of short-listed players with 4.

The groups themselves are also promising to be most interesting. Italy arguably have the easiest group, and the average FIFA World Ranking of the teams in Group F is 37, compared to 18 in Group D. In Group G the highest ranked team in the World, Brazil, are grouped with 3rd ranked Portugal and Ivory Coast who are ranked 27. Group A is probably the most balanced group of them all. Hosts South Africa should be boosted by their home advantage, and France, Uruguay and Mexico are ranked 9th, 16th and 17th respectively.

Everything is ready, lets hope for an unforgettable month.

World Cup warm-up results

Teams are cramming in their warm-up games in order to be ready for the World Cup, which is only 11 days away. Chile managed to play two games in two days, with a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland on Sunday, followed up by beating Israel 3-0 today.

Yesterday England had to rely on two own goals to help them come from one down to defeat Japan 2-1 in Austria. France could only draw 1-1 with Tunisia; William Gallas equalised on 62 minutes after Tunisia had been ahead since the 6th minute. Didier Drogba was on the scoresheet as the Ivory Coast let a two goal advantage slip away, as they drew 2-2 with Paraguay.

On Saturday, Llorente scored a 90th minute winner when Spain beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 in Innsbruck, Austria. Clint Dempsey scored the winner for the USA in their 2-1 victory over Turkey and New Zealand pulled off a shock 1-0 win over Serbia.

Maradona's offensive nature

Diego Maradona's manners may not be the best, but I am writing today about his hugely offensive team selection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Argentina have selected six forwards for the competition, and Maradona seems quite happy to ignore full backs or cover in midfield, as long as he has massive fire power up front. Argentina's strike force is certainly impressive, with five of the six playing for top European clubs (Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero & Diego Milito). Between them this season, these five players have won the Coppa Italia, Serie A title, La Liga title, Uefa Europa League and Champions League. In comparison, the England strikers between them have won the Carling Cup. Lionel Messi won the European Golden Shoe this season with a staggering 34 league goals in Spain, while Higuain and Milito finished as second top scorers in Spain and Italy respectively. The skill and clinical composure with which Diego Milito put away his two goals against Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final really emphasises how this Argentina squad is bursting with attacking class, especially when you realise that Maradona only considers him as fifth choice.

Maradona's six forwards have scored a staggering 165 goals in all competitions between them this season, and have the world's best player in their ranks, yet they are still not expected to win the competition. This is because Argentina are lead by the inexperienced, eccentric, unpredictable and inimitable Diego Maradona. He may have been one of the greatest players of all time, however as a manager, nobody can quite work out what he will do next. Being unpredictable could work out for Maradona, as he certainly has the talent at his disposal to go all the way in South Africa, but there seems to be a large self destruct button looming over this team. There will be more tactically sound teams and managers at the World Cup than Argentina and Maradona, and this could lead to lots of frustration for the South Americans. A team that keeps its shape, is compact and sets up with an effective game plan is likely to cause Maradona problems to which he has yet to prove he can solve. This is where England may be in a better position in 14 days time, even if our Milito and Higuain are Peter Crouch and '3 goals for Villa' Heskey; England have Fabio Capello in charge.

Argentina lost six games in the South American qualifying group and only managed to finish fourth behind Brazil, Chile and Paraguay. Their results included losing 2-0 away to Ecuador and being beat 6-1 in Bolivia. They come into the World Cup under a cloud of confusion, people genuinely do not know what to expect. Surely with this group of players, we are bound to be treated to plenty of goals, aren't we?

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
34 league goals, 8 goals in Europe
Won La Liga title

Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid)
27 league goals

Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
23 league goals

Diego Milito (Inter Milan)
22 league goals, 6 goals in Europe
Won Uefa Champions League, Serie A & Coppa Italia

Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)
12 league goals, 6 goals in Europe
Won Uefa Europa League

News round up - Monday 17 May 2010

Lots going on at the moment in the world of football. The top European leagues have come to a close, and we only have the Champions League left to keep us going until the World Cup. Here is a selection of articles:

Michael Ballack has been ruled out of the World Cup - Telegraph
Swindon reach League One play-off final after beating Charlton on penalties - BBC
Paolo Bandini reviews the final day of the Serie A season - Guardian
Sid Lowe reports on Barcelona's season and the rest of La Liga - Guardian

A very interesting quote from Sid in his article regarding Barcelona's record this season:
'Four defeats all season have left them with just one trophy; 23 defeats could see Atlético win two.'

Read all about it

With the World Cup only 28 days away, every football fan is starting to feel the anticipation build. In order to get our fix of top class coverage of all the goings-on in the build up to and throughout the tournament, we need to stay connected to the right people.

That's why today I have created a Twitter list of some of my favourite football journalists. The list includes some fantastic talent such as Gabriele Marcotti, Sid Lowe and Raphael Honigstein. I hope others find it useful and enjoyable to read.

To follow the list, simply go to http://twitter.com/alternat1ve/football-journalists

World Cup 30 man squads

FIFA have released a list of all 32 preliminary squads for the World Cup Finals. The list is available to download in PDF format from the official 2010 FIFA World Cup website.

There are a few surprise omissions from various squads. Brazil have not decided to take Ronaldinho or Alexandre Pato, and Argentina have not selected Champions League finalists Esteban Cambiasso or Javier Zanetti.

The coaches have until the 1 June to cull their selections down to the final 23 that they will be taking to South Africa.