Tuesday, March 28, 2006
And the England World Cup Song will be recorded by...
Embrace apparently. The Huddersfield band have been chosen by the FA to record England's official World Cup song - World At Your Feet.
Hopefully it'll be more 'Three Lions' than 'We're On The Ball' or 'On Top of the World' - the last 2 official offerings...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, england, embrace, world+cup+song
Hopefully it'll be more 'Three Lions' than 'We're On The Ball' or 'On Top of the World' - the last 2 official offerings...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, england, embrace, world+cup+song
Posted by Chris @ 11:47 AM. 2 comments
Monday, March 27, 2006
Owen '100% fit' for Germany
Apparently Michael Owen still intends to be fit for the World Cup, despite undergoing further surgery last Friday.
He told the Times: "I expect to be playing in four weeks, which, hopefully, gives me the
chance to finish the season with Newcastle. The club and the fans have
been great to me and I want to pay them back.".
The only problem I can see is that in four weeks there are only 3 games left for Newcastle - not much time to get some valuable match practice...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, england, owen
He told the Times: "I expect to be playing in four weeks, which, hopefully, gives me the
chance to finish the season with Newcastle. The club and the fans have
been great to me and I want to pay them back.".
The only problem I can see is that in four weeks there are only 3 games left for Newcastle - not much time to get some valuable match practice...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, england, owen
Posted by Chris @ 9:57 AM. 0 comments
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Scotsman in tempting fate shocker.
So, WCW wouldn't normally take interest in the budget. Being clean living, environmentally friendly millionaires means you don't need to worry too much about the price of beer, fags or petrol.
However we did notice Gordon Brown getting slightly confused when talking about the World Cup during his budget speech:
"In anticipation of world cup success this summer, I am freezing duty on champagne and on British sparkling wine,".
Ok - a few problems here.
1. Does Gordon Brown realise he's Scottish?
2. Does he realise Scotland aren't in the World Cup this year?
3. Has he ever heard of 'tempting fate'?
4. Does he realise most football fans will be celebrating with copious amounts of beer - not champagne?
Technorati Tags: world+cup, football, budget, champagne, beer, scotsman
However we did notice Gordon Brown getting slightly confused when talking about the World Cup during his budget speech:
"In anticipation of world cup success this summer, I am freezing duty on champagne and on British sparkling wine,".
Ok - a few problems here.
1. Does Gordon Brown realise he's Scottish?
2. Does he realise Scotland aren't in the World Cup this year?
3. Has he ever heard of 'tempting fate'?
4. Does he realise most football fans will be celebrating with copious amounts of beer - not champagne?
Technorati Tags: world+cup, football, budget, champagne, beer, scotsman
Posted by Chris @ 1:01 PM. 0 comments
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Hiddink has decided his future and he's not telling you.
According to the BBC the current Australia and PSV manager already knows where he's going after the World Cup - and it's probably not England: "I have already decided what I am going to do and will announce my intentions at the end of the month after this busy period for PSV".
Hiddink's previously been linked with Russia despite playing down the link in February, and he was also linked with the England role after Brian Barwick allegedly requested a meeting.
However, given he seems to have made up his mind already, the England role looks unlikely as the FA are still interviewing candidates.
Rest assured we'll be keeping you up to date with Hiddink WatchTM as events unfold...
Technorati Tags: Australia, World+Cup, GuusHiddink, PSV, England, Russia
Hiddink's previously been linked with Russia despite playing down the link in February, and he was also linked with the England role after Brian Barwick allegedly requested a meeting.
However, given he seems to have made up his mind already, the England role looks unlikely as the FA are still interviewing candidates.
Rest assured we'll be keeping you up to date with Hiddink WatchTM as events unfold...
Technorati Tags: Australia, World+Cup, GuusHiddink, PSV, England, Russia
Posted by Chris @ 12:04 PM. 0 comments
Sven for South Africa?
Now, I thought I'd read this last night but blamed it on the numerous glasses of wine i'd consumed earlier that evening. Now in the cold light of day I can see it wasn't a drunken apparition - Managerless South Africa are hoping to throw a boatload of cash (up to £4 million apparently) at Sven in the hope that he'll be their manager through the 2010 World Cup.
According to The Guardian, the South African FA Danny Jordaan said "Sven has overseen the emergence of young players and that sort of attitude would be important when building a new team for South Africa; England have moved away from the idea that if David Beckham isn't available or Paul Scholes retires then the team is in trouble. There's more depth and balance to the England team - whatever's said about Eriksson, young players now have a permanent place in the squad and that sort of attitude would be important when building a new team for South Africa.".
Well at least as host nation they automatically qualify, so there's a series of tortuous games South African fans will be spared...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, south+africa, Sven, England
According to The Guardian, the South African FA Danny Jordaan said "Sven has overseen the emergence of young players and that sort of attitude would be important when building a new team for South Africa; England have moved away from the idea that if David Beckham isn't available or Paul Scholes retires then the team is in trouble. There's more depth and balance to the England team - whatever's said about Eriksson, young players now have a permanent place in the squad and that sort of attitude would be important when building a new team for South Africa.".
Well at least as host nation they automatically qualify, so there's a series of tortuous games South African fans will be spared...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, south+africa, Sven, England
Posted by Chris @ 8:56 AM. 0 comments
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Predicting the World Cup with FIFA Rankings
World Cup Blog has put together an interesting prediction of the World Cup based on FIFA's latest rankings.
The winner is obviously Brazil, but it throws up some interesting matches...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, fifa, fifa+rankings
The winner is obviously Brazil, but it throws up some interesting matches...
Technorati Tags: world+cup, fifa, fifa+rankings
Posted by Chris @ 9:47 AM. 0 comments
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Serbia and/or Montenegro?
On May 21 the people of Montenegro will be casting their vote over whether to succeed from Serbia, and more importantly (from our point of view anyway) split as a footballing nation.Not only will this mean the World Cup could be the nation's last as a united team, but it also leaves a few questions unanswered about the Euro 2008 qualifying fixtures.Having been drawn in group A as one nation in the qualifiers, Montenegro could be moved into one of the other groups as a seperate team, meaning additional fixtures for one of the British teams - something not likely to go down well with many Premiership managers.
However, according to the Telegraph, "Sources at Fifa suggest that a compromise is likely whereby Serbia and Montenegro will be allowed to continue as one unit until 2008, despite being two nations with rival FAs."
Which is all well and good, but what about Eurovision ???
Technorati Tags: world+cup , serbia , montenegro , eurovision , football , euro+2008
Posted by Chris @ 11:46 AM. 0 comments
How to beat Brazil - Voodoo
Been a bit quiet here lately I must admit, partly because this week all of us at World Cup Weblog are busy losing our money at Cheltenham. However, our friends over at World Cup Blog have got a nice post Sven should probably read before he gets on the Eurostart to Germany.
They've got some good advice on beating the World Champions - Play physical football, crowd out their midfield, ignore those stars on their jerseys, and most importantly, revert to voodoo.
It's a sure fire winner.
Technorati Tags: world+cup, brazil, world+cup+blog, football
They've got some good advice on beating the World Champions - Play physical football, crowd out their midfield, ignore those stars on their jerseys, and most importantly, revert to voodoo.
It's a sure fire winner.
Technorati Tags: world+cup, brazil, world+cup+blog, football
Posted by Chris @ 11:25 AM. 0 comments
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Bent to make England debut
Sven looks set to hand Charlton's Darren Bent his England debut for the friendly against Uruguay this evening, and Gerrard should play at least 45 minutes despite worries about fitness.
Gerrard is recovering from a foot injury he suffered in Liverpool's win over Man City and should start the game, despite Benitez calling for Eriksson to leave him out of the team. The Liverpool midfielder said: "I understand Rafa being cautious and wanting to be careful with me because we've got some massive games coming up for Liverpool. But this is a big friendly on Wednesday, it's preparation for the World Cup, and I want be part of it.".
England's Squad for the Uruguay match:
Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Green (Norwich), James (Man City).
Defenders: Young (Charlton), Bridge (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Ferdinand (Man Utd), King (Tottenham), G Neville (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool).
Midfielders: Lampard (Chelsea), Beckham (Real Madrid), Gerrard (Liverpool), J Cole (Chelsea), Jenas (Tottenham), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Carrick (Tottenham), Richardson (Man Utd).
Forwards: D Bent (Charlton), Rooney (Man Utd), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham).
Gerrard is recovering from a foot injury he suffered in Liverpool's win over Man City and should start the game, despite Benitez calling for Eriksson to leave him out of the team. The Liverpool midfielder said: "I understand Rafa being cautious and wanting to be careful with me because we've got some massive games coming up for Liverpool. But this is a big friendly on Wednesday, it's preparation for the World Cup, and I want be part of it.".
England's Squad for the Uruguay match:
Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Green (Norwich), James (Man City).
Defenders: Young (Charlton), Bridge (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Ferdinand (Man Utd), King (Tottenham), G Neville (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool).
Midfielders: Lampard (Chelsea), Beckham (Real Madrid), Gerrard (Liverpool), J Cole (Chelsea), Jenas (Tottenham), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Carrick (Tottenham), Richardson (Man Utd).
Forwards: D Bent (Charlton), Rooney (Man Utd), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham).
Posted by Chris @ 9:36 AM. 0 comments
