Archive for March, 2010
Handing out the World Cup awards
Every player at the 2010 World Cup knows only one medal really matters. However, there are plenty of other awards on offer to compensate those who miss out on the ultimate glory.
There’s the Golden Ball (for the best player), Golden Shoe (top scorer), Yashin Award (best goalkeeper), best young player and membership of the all-star team up for grabs. There are also fair play and entertainment awards on offer to teams.
For those who like their punts to be a little out of the ordinary, I will now provide you with a betting guide on the likely winners of this year’s awards.
The collective awards are chances for less successful teams to earn some recognition - only three of the previous nine fair play winners have been victorious in the same tournament, while South Korea and Portugal won the last two awards for entertainment value.
England are the second most successful team in the history of the fair play award and are a good bet to win it again - only qualifiers for the second round are considered and the Three Lions will be looking to avoid red cards after Wayne Rooney’s costly indiscretion four years ago. Argentina are a good bet to entertain but not to win.
The 23-man all-star team in Germany was dominated by the winners. Take your pick from your chosen winners this time around - my money will be on Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Villa being among those honoured.
The winner of best young player award is hard to predict. Few top teams have established under 21-year olds, as Germany did with Lukas Podolski four years ago. However, Germany do have a good collection of youngsters and talented Bayern Munich midfielder Thomas Muller might be worth following.
Seven of the last eight Yashin award winners have featured in that year’s final, so Casillas and Brazil’s Julio Cesar are in with a chance South Africa. Gianluigi Buffon, winner in 2006, will fancy his chances of picking up back-to-back awards.
David Villa and Miroslav Klose are my tips for Golden Shoe glory, and they should be contesting favouritism in the top scorer fixed odds betting by the time summer rolls around.
The World Cup’s best player has been won someone from the losing finalists in the last three tournaments, so how about Wayne Rooney, having single-handedly dragged England to the final, gaining some individual recognition? Of course, he’ll have to shake off that injury first.
Tags: Andres Iniesta, Bayern Munich, Betting Guide, Cup Awards, Entertainment Awards, Entertainment Value, Gerard Pique, Gianluigi Buffon, Golden Shoe, Iker Casillas, Indiscretion, Red Cards, Star Team, Successful Team, Successful Teams, Thomas Muller, Three Lions, Ultimate Glory, Wayne Rooney, Xavi
Arsenal v Barcelona preview
What better way for Arsenal to put the agony of Birmingham’s 90th minute blunder goal behind them than a look forward to a massive Champions League tie against Barcelona.
In truth most Gunners fans will have wanted to avoid the Catalan club until at least the semi-finals, but the prospect of the two best footballing sides in the competition going head-to-head is a mouth-watering one. Since the draw has been made there has been nothing but excitable expectation from Gunners fans. The Champions League odds suggest Arsenal will struggle, but they are sure to give it their all.
There are plenty of sub-plots wrapped round this fixture, not least the return of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who will play against his old club for the first time.
The man who won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups in eight years at Arsenal still calls the place home and will no doubt receive a rapturous welcome from the fans. He has already said he will not celebrate should he score on Wednesday and I’m sure the supporters would find it hard to be hostile to their former hero should he find the net.
The two sides also met in the 2006 final, when Sol Campbell’s early goal was cancelled out by two late Barca strikes, with a controversial Jens Lehmann red card somewhere in between. The Arsenal players won’t openly speak of revenge, but it is bound to be on their minds.
The two star players on either side are both Barca Academy graduates. Cesc Fabregas, of course, moved from Cataluna to London at the age of 16 and has flourished at the Emirates. And we all know about the recent exploits of Lionel Messi, who has sent sports writers into a frenzy as they try to come up with new superlatives to describe the Argentinean.
Arsene Wenger has pledged not to man mark Messi, claiming they have too many good players to single out just one, and instead has challenged his players to show what they can do to worry Barca.
No team has averaged more possession of the ball than Arsenal and Barcelona in this year’s Champions League, while The Gunners are the joint top scorers and Barca have the best defence.
One thing is for sure, the game will be easy on the eye.
Key player Arsenal - Alex Song
It may seem strange to pick song given the amount of attacking, creative players on show but with Arsenal seeking to play their way past Barca it is vital Song holds firm in front of his back four - especially if Messi has the ball.
Key man Barcelona – Lionel Messi
Who else? Eight spectacular goals in a week added to the growing belief that Messi is the best player in the world right now. Although the World Cup betting makes him a 16/1 shot to be top scorer at the competition, he will doubtless set the tournament alight with his skill and flair. He the ability to score and create in equal measure, the crowd will rise in expectation every time he picks up the ball. Arsenal will hope he has an off day this time round.
Tags: Agony, Arsenal Players, Arsene Wenger, Blunder, Cataluna, Fa Cups, Fabregas, Gunners, Jens Lehmann, League Tie, League Titles, Lionel Messi, Premier League, Rapturous Welcome, Semi Finals, Sol Campbell, Sports Writers, Star Players, Superlatives, Thierry Henry
Hammers slip towards the relegation trap door
West Ham have done little to draw attention to themselves this season. Their manager, Gianfranco Zola, is one of football’s nice guys and won’t bow to media pressure and say anything controversial.
His side try to play neat attractive football, as is the expectation of the fans, so red cards and dirty tackles happen infrequently at Upton Park.
In fact the loudest people at the club have been the new owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, who since their takeover in January have appeared in the press almost daily, talking about the dire financial situation at the club and their hopes to move into the 2012 Olympic stadium.
However, their support for Zola has been conspicuous by its absence. It is clear the new men at the top are not sure about the Italian’s long-term future at the club, believing he is just too nice to fight his way through a relegation scrap. Despite words to the contrary from Zola, the lack of public support bound to affect the Italian.
Judging by their performance on Tuesday that uncertainty is transmitting to the players too. The relegation encounter against Wolves, live on TV, was a great chance for the Hammers to pull clear of trouble. Instead they were humiliated on their own ground 3-1, with the game effectively over after an hour. The chorus of boos at the end would have been louder had more fans bothered to stick around to watch their side’s slow and painful death on the pitch.
The team lacked ideas, confidence and cohesion, with experienced heads like Matthew Upson, Allesandro Diamanti and Scott Parker failing to get to grips with the game, leaving youngsters like Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins to flounder. Tomkins himself was guilty of a horrendous error to gift Wolves their first goal, but in truth the away side were going to score at some point anyway. Carlton Cole also failed to shine and if he had any hopes of playing in the Football World Cup 2010 they seem to have evaporated.
Currently, the online football betting suggests West Ham will stay up. The Hammers should certainly be grateful for the poor form of Burnley and Hull below them, as well as Pompey’s points deduction, because on this evidence they are not going to win many games from now until the end of the season.
However, if The Clarets or Tigers muster any sort of form and drag themselves above the safety line they will be hammering a nail in West Ham’s coffin as well.
Tags: Allesandro, David Gold, David Sullivan, Diamanti, Football World Cup, Football World Cup 2010, Gianfranco, James Tomkins, Matthew Upson, New Men, Nice Guys, Olympic Stadium, Painful Death, Red Cards, Scott Parker, Stanislas, Trap Door, Upton Park, West Ham, World Cup 2010
Croatian connection to down Fulham
Tottenham face Fulham for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, but they will have to do so without goal getters Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Defoe, who has 17 league goals to his name this term, is missing with a hamstring problem, while the in-form Pavlyuchenko is also absent with a hamstring strain. It leaves Harry Redknapp without two of his most potent frontmen and the onus will be on Peter Crouch and Eidur Gudjohnsen to do the business in the quarter-final replay at White Hart Lane.
Gudjohnsen opened the scoring in the weekend victory at Stoke, but the Icelandic wizard is not an out-and-out goalscorer and his link-up play with Spurs’ creative midfield is more than likely to take up the majority of his game against Fulham. Gudjohnsen is only 9/2 to open the scoring and considering the former Chelsea forward’s tendency to drop deep and exchange passes with forward-thinking midfielders, he doesn’t represent any value. A better proposition would be to have a small Football bet interest in Luka Modric (10/1).
The Croatian ace has scored only twice all season - a disappointing return so far for a player of his class - and he will surely add to that tally in the closing months of the season. Modric and Gudjsohnsen are likely to be on the same wavelength and with Modric’s clever runs Gudjohnsen might just provide him with the chance to add to his scoring tally against Fulham. Another player who Fulham will have to keep an eye on will be Niko Kranjcar and he could be another man to side with to open the scoring as 9/1.
Kranjcar, a Croatia team-mate of Modric’s, has scored five times this term and has proved to be a real bargain at just £2million from Portsmouth. Kranjcar, like Modric, is a clever footballer with an eye for goal and his knack of getting in and around the box could pay off.
FA Cup final betting suggests that Fulham will be no pushovers however, as they showed in the original goalless draw, but the odd goal from one of the Croatian pair should just be enough for Spurs to squeeze through.
Tags: Defoe, Eidur, Fa Cup Final, Fa Cup Semi Finals, Football Bet, Footballer, Fulham Tottenham, Goal Getters, Harry Redknapp, Knack, League Goals, Luka, Midfield, Onus, Peter Crouch, Portsmouth Kranjcar, Same Wavelength, Spurs, Team Mate, White Hart Lane
Spain the team to beat
This summer’s World Cup is wide open, just as it was last time out in 2006. Nine teams will arrive in South Africa knowing they have a realistic chance of going all the way.
They can be categorised as multiple winners of the event - Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina, single winners - France and England - and prospective first time winners - Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
Brazil and Spain present the best cases for victory. They have the star quality, current form and strength in depth to lift the trophy, although as their previous record suggests, there is a difference in experience.
However, Spain’s poor World Cup record - they have only reached the semi finals once, in 1950 - is no longer a major factor. Their victory at Euro 2008 lifted the burden of underachievement and the largely similar squad can go for glory with confidence.
As impressive as Brazil are, Spain edge the five-time winners when it comes to quality. In a neat role reversal, the most fancied European team is full of flair and skill, the strongest South American outfit characterised by pragmatism and organisation.
Brazil are hardly short of game-changing players and any World Cup betting guide will reflect how close the two teams are. However, Spain’s fluid passing game, built on the technical brilliance of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas trumps a team who can be more pedestrian in their passing. In David Villa and Fernando Torres, Spain also have the ideal strike pair combination.
Spain are ranked as the world’s best team for good reason. Their record 35-match unbeaten run that ended last year demands respect, as does the way they responded to the defeat by winning every match since, including showdowns with Argentina and France. They are in the winning habit and should start the tournament as favourites in the World Cup odds.
Tags: Andres Iniesta, Betting Guide, Cesc Fabregas, Characterised, Demands Respect, Euro 2008, Fernando Torres, Going All The Way, Good Reason, Passing Game, Pragmatism, Realistic Chance, Role Reversal, Semi Finals, Star Quality, Technical Brilliance, Time Winners, Underachievement, World Cup Odds, Xavi