Archive for the ‘2010 World Cup’ Category
International friendly round-up - Africa
There is certainly no danger of the African teams peaking ahead of this summer’s finals. All six of the CAF qualifiers were in recent friendly action, but only one, Nigeria, were victorious. It now appears even more unlikely that the maiden African finals will be graced by a winner from the home continent.
Cote d’Ivoire, perhaps the likeliest African contenders with world cup 2010 betting odds, are in something approaching disarray. The managerial merry-go-round continues, Vahid Halilhodzic being sacked after a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
Sven Goran Eriksson and Guus Hiddink are in the frame to lead the team in South Africa, but a brand new coach, regardless of his pedigree, is not an ideal scenario. A 2-0 defeat by South Korea at Loftus Road did not help preparation.
Ghana wasted a one goal advantage in Bosnia-Hercegovina to lose 2-1. Sulley Muntari scored the Black Stars’ goal. Algeria continued their poor run of form, losing comprehensively 3-0 to Serbia.
Cameroon and South Africa both secured draw, but the former’s goalless stalemate in Italy represents a far better result than the hosts’ uninspiring 1-1 draw with Namibia. A second half equaliser from Katlego Mphela did little to ease the fears that the home nation will struggle in the summer.
Nigeria were impressive 5-2 winners over Congo, a result notable for the two debut goals by Osas Idehen. The Super Eagles have made a good start under Lars Lagerback, who is on a short-term contract similar to the one Cote d’Ivoire hope to secure with Hiddink or Eriksson.
Nigeria have no more friendlies scheduled ahead of the finals, so the wily Swedish coach will need to work quickly to gel his new charges into a team capable of upsetting some World Cup bets and making a good impression.
Tags: Africa Cup Of Nations, Ascii, Betting Odds, Black Stars, Cambria, Disarray, Div, Equaliser, Font Definitions, Font Format, Footer, Goal Advantage, Guus Hiddink, Hercegovina, Home Continent, Home Nation, Lars Lagerback, Lt, Mso, Orphan, Osas, Panose, Paper Source, Pitch, Props, Sans Serif, Signature, South Korea, Stalemate, Style Definitions, Style Name, Style Type, Sulley Muntari, Swedish Coach, Term Contract, Theme Font, Times New Roman, Vahid Halilhodzic, World Cup 2010, World Cup Bets
Defensive woes biggest concern for Capello
The countdown to World Cup 2010 is officially on with less than 100 days left until the big kickoff.
The round of international fixtures this week gives managers the chance to assess the squad ahead of the tournament, knowing the clock is against them.
For Fabio Capello it has mainly been off-field distractions that have occupied his thoughts in recent weeks, with the John Terry, Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole scandals threatening to fracture the squad. Though I suppose it’s a change from working out how to play Gerrard and Lampard in the same team.
But with the friendly against Egypt shifting the focus away from the tabloid tales and back onto the pitch, there is no let up in problems for the Italian. Anyone thinking about a football bet would have noticed England are strong favourites for the game, but Capello faces a bigger challenge than this might suggest.
None of the ‘keepers selected, David James, Joe Hart and Rob Green, have impressed enough to make the number one spot their own. James is perhaps the front runner, but he has endured an injury plagued season at crisis club Portsmouth. West Ham stopper Green hasn’t always convinced at International level while Joe Hart, the most in-form player of the trio, is very inexperienced at this level.
In front of goal things get worse. Full backs Glenn Johnson and Ashley Cole are out with long-term injuries - Capello has already said he doesn’t want to take unfit players to South Africa so even a late recovery is no guarantee they will make the squad - while we all know why Wayne Bridge is unavailable.
In the middle things aren’t much better. Rio Ferdinand has missed large chunks of the season through injury, while Terry’s fragile mental state following his much publicised personal troubles has led to an alarming drop in form.
The three Lions have solid deputies with the likes of Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott, but it remains to be seen whether they are World Cup quality.
While Capello tries to plug the leaky defence he also needs to keep his fingers crossed that nothing happens striker Wayne Rooney. The United forward has been in the form of his life this season and his talismanic role for both his club and national side means his fitness is key to England’s World Cup ambitions. Any 2006 style metatarsal injuries and the nation will fall into a state of despair.
After all the tabloid tittle tattle in recent weeks Capello was probably glad to return to on-field matters. But given the headaches he finds there, it’s not going to offer him any more relief. The World Cup football odds make England third favourites to win the competition, but they will have their work cut out to live up to expectations.
Tags: Ashley Cole, Defensive Woes, Deputies, Fabio Capello, Football Bet, Gerrard, Joe Hart, John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Lampard, Matthew Upson, Personal Troubles, Portsmouth West, Rio Ferdinand, Tabloid Tales, Term Injuries, Three Lions, Wayne Bridge, West Ham, World Cup 2010
Pre-Order 2010-12 England Away Kit & 10% Discount Code
The new 2010-12 England shirt is released on the 3rd March ahead of the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa and the kit is now available to pre-order on our website. England have never had a better chance of winning their second World Cup and this jersey is bound to be a huge seller.
Available on our website is the away shirt, shorts and socks in a full range of adult, junior and womens sizes and is fully customisable with the name and number of all your favourite players, including Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Theo Walcott and David Beckham, or even your own name and number combination.
As a special bonus, all customers who pre-order any of the England away shirts before the release date of 3/3/2010 will be emailed an exclusive 10% discount code for use on their next order on our full range of merchandise.
2010 England World Cup Away Shirt
2010 England away shirt - £49.99
2010 England L/S away shirt - £54.99
2010 England away shirt (Kids) - £39.99
2010 England L/S away shirt (Kids) - £44.99
2010 England Womens Away Shirt - £49.99
2010 England away shorts - £19.99
2010 England away shorts (Kids) - £19.99
2010 England away socks - £11.99
2010 England World Cup Away Hero Shirts
2010 England away (Gerrard 4) - £59.99
2010 England away (Beckham 7) - £59.99
2010 England away (Lampard 
- £59.99
2010 England away (Terry 6) - £59.99
2010 England away (Rooney 9) - £59.99
Tags: Ahead, Better Chance, Bonus, David Beckham, England Away Shirt, England Kit, England Shirt, England Shirts, England World Cup, Frank Lampard, Hero, Kids Socks, New England, Number Combination, Release Date, South Africa, Steven Gerrard, Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, World Cup Finals
Adidas Spain World Cup home shirt 2010
The current European Champions Spain qualified for the 2010 World Cup easily from their group, winning all 10 qualifying matches of their group to finish 11 points ahead of their nearest rivals Bosnia. The Spain home shirt that they will wear through out the tournament has been released and they will be hoping that this one brings them as much success as the last one did.
The new Spain shirt is manufactured by Adidas and is the countries traditional red colour with gold detailing. The three Adidas stripes on the shoulders are gold as is the Adidas badge just below the collar. The Spain badge is on the left chest and there is blue detailing around both the sleeves and the collar of the new Spain home shirt.
Spain go into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as one of the favourites for the competition and it is not surprising to see why when you look at the quality of players pulling on the Spain soccer jerseys and the recent success that the country has been experiencing on the field. Vicente del Bosque is the coach of Spain national team and will be confident of leading his players to glory in next summers tournament.
The Spain football shirts are always some of the most popular shirts due to the number of top quality players that Spain have and because of the Spain football kit itself which is always one of the best designed shirts. The Spain home shirt is available with official shirt printing of all your favourite players including Carlos Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, David Silva, David Villa and Fernando Torres.
The Spain World Cup shirt has a very good chance of being the winning shirt at the end of the tournament, however Spain have not done particularly well at recent World Cups with them only managing to get to the last 16 in 2006 and the quarter finals in 2002. Reaching these stages of the competition is not easy to do but for the vast amount of talent in the Spain team better is expected from them.
Click here to buy the new Spain World Cup home shirt
Tags: Andres Iniesta, Carlos Puyol, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, European Champions, Fernando Torres, Football Kit, Football Shirts, Left Chest, New Spain, Quality Players, Red Colour, Sergio Ramos, Shirt Printing, Soccer Jerseys, Spain Football, Spain Soccer, Vicente Del Bosque, World Cups, Xabi Alonso
Adidas Russia World Cup home shirt 2010
Russia have really come to prominence as a major force in European football over the last few years under the watchful eye of coach Guus Hiddink who took them to the semi-finals of the 2008 European Championship and now has them on the edge of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. The new Russia home shirt that they will wear at the tournament should they get through their play off game has been released with Adidas being the shirt manufacturers this year.
Russia finished second in their qualifying group for the World Cup 4 points behind Germany, who never lost a game throughout qualification. For Russia to reach the finals in South Africa they have to beat Slovenia over two legs in a playoff.
The new Russia shirt, as mentioned above, is manufactured by Adidas with the shirt being a dark red colour this year with gold stripes horizontally across the shirt and a pattern between the top two stripes. The Adidas stripes are on the sleeves and shoulders in gold with the logo also in gold below the collar of the shirt.
The Russia soccer jerseys became one of the biggest selling shirts after the 2008 Euro Championship partly because of the success that the team experienced, but also because of the number of top name players that came to prominence in the tournament and got moves to bigger clubs . Andrei Arshavin is the best example with his performance in Euro 2008 earning his a transfer to Arsenal. The Russia World Cup shirt is available with the official shirt printing of your favourite Russian players including Roman Pavkyuchebko, Andrei Arshavin, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Yuri Zhirkov and Aleksandr Kerzhakov.
If Russia reach the World Cup then big things are expected of them due to their good showing at Euro 2008 and their is no doubt that the Russian football shirts will again be one of the biggest selling during the tournament.
Click here to buy the new Russia World Cup home shirt
Tags: Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Euro 2008, Euro Championship, Football Shirts, Gold Stripes, Guus Hiddink, New Russia, No Doubt, Prominence, Qualifying Group, Red Colour, Russia World, Russian Football, Russian Players, Semi Finals, Shirt Printing, Soccer Jerseys, Two Legs, Watchful Eye, Yuri