Vuvuzela South Africa

This afternoon at four pm local time the titans of glam football -kick off  their match  at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Brazil vs Portugal – the match we’ve all been waiting for.

And Durban has produced a perfect day for the thousands of fans in green and yellow and green and red who are flocking to the fanparks, stadium, restaurants and pubs to enjoy the Brazil v Portugal match.

Best Game of the 2010 World Cup

When ticket sales opened for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, this Brazil vs Portugal Match was the second game sold out after the final. Thee is no doubt that these two sides are two of the glamour and superstar sides of world football – maybe not the best sides – we will see on 11 July Who wins the 2010 World Cup. But Brazil and Portugal are certainly up their among the top five best teams in the world.
Kaka Suspened

But an unfortunate red card during Brazil’s 3-1 win over the Ivory Coast means that Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (his younger brother could only manage “Kaka”) is suspended, so we won’t be able to see Cristiano Ronaldo lining up oppositehis  Real Madrid teammate. That red cards was one of the more the bizarre ref decisions we saw during this World Cup and although they appealed it it the day, FIFA stood by their ref.

Brazil mirrorsocks

Brazil World Ranking No 1

If we look at current form, Brazil are with their world ranking of 1, favourites in this World Cup 2010 match – but that won’t mean anything to the ‘Team of the Five Shields’ – who will be focused on the match 100% regardless of what the pundits might label their opponents.

Ronaldo – Man of the Match

Ronaldo, man of the match in Portugal’s first two games here, will hope to add to his goal in the 7-0 win over North Korea on Monday―a strike which ended an international drought going back to his effort against the Czech Republic in the 2008 European Championship.

Portugal mirrorsocks

His goal, the sixth against the so-called Democratic People’s Republic scored three minutes from time, owed a little to a fluky touch with the back of his perfectly gelled hair.

World’s Two Most Expensive Players

The presence of the world’s two most expensive players, Ronaldo and Kaka was expected at the magnificent Moses Mabhida Stadium, as Group G comes down to the wire.

Highest Global Audience

The beauty of this match is that it isn’t really about qualifying for the last 16, both Portugal and Brazil should do so quite comfortably- this match is going to just be an awesome clash between the nations ranked first and third in the world and it is expected to draw the highest global audience.

We know that Brazil has some kind of magic. Most people whop are fanatical supporters of their own countries are also Brazil supporters, which gives them a huge fanbase. Brazil is always the team to watch and the team to beat in the World Cup.

A Brazil v Portugal Match is just the ticket to kick off the weekend.

Match kicks off at 4pm local time at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

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The World Cup Song Competition has come to a sudden end, prior to the end of The World Cup.  Fifa (who had even advertised on the site) shut the competition down.

Guest Post From Eric Begala, Jolanta Durno & James Durno

This was a great pity that FIFA shut down The World Cup Song Competition , as it had been such a marvellous forum for showcasing music from around the world over this celebratory time.  The prize money was donated by the competition organisers, to a children’s home.

Details of all legal correspondence are posted on the site:  www.worldcupsong.com and make a for very interested read.

Well it has been a fun journey, nevertheless.  We thank you for your untiring support & apologise for the inundation of updates.

We feel like we’ve made friends all over the world through this awesome competition (thanks Bertie!).

Please remember to get a copy of the groovy CD “Shapa Bafana Shapa” (a collectable masterpiece!) on which our song is featured (CD 1, Track 13) through Music Stores in SA, or online:

www.gallo.co.za

You can also do cell downloads:

“The Beautiful Game!” WELCOME TONE ON VODACOM:
sms the Code WT 120329 to cell number 1178
(costs R5.50 to load for 90 days).

And thus we sign out, with much gratitude to all The Beautiful People around this awesome planet, with thanks

Eric Begala, Jolanta Durno & James Durno

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Jermain Defoe  was the hero of the Port Elizabeth clash yesterday between England and Slovenia in a must-win World Cup game for Fabio Capello’s team.

At the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium England started off quite tentatively and then finally made their presence felt at the 2010 World Cup by securing the win they needed over Slovenia in Port Elizabeth to reach the last 16.

Jermain Defoe

Jermain Defoe’s close-range strike in the 23rd minute was enough to give Fabio Capello’s side the three points they required to avoid an early departure from South Africa and this rescued England’s stuttering World Cup campaign
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Defoe started for the first time in the tournament and converted James Milner’s perfect cross to put England ahead. Defoe started in place of Emile Heskey in attack with Milner in the lineup for the ineffective Aaron Lennon. Matthew Upson started in central defense with Jamie Carragher suspended.

And after the misery of Friday’s draw against Algeria in Cape Town and the controversy surrounding former captain John Terry’s comments about the mood in the camp, I’m sure Coach Fabio Capello will have been delighted to see England produce the goal and go through to the final 16, although they hardly showed much dominance over Slovenia and still didn’t look very impressive.

Slow Start to World Cup

But the pundits say that England starts its World Cup campaigns slowly, so I am sure England’s main mission was to secure the win. We will see what happens on Sunday when England takes on Germany in Bloemfontein.  Then Capello and his players will hope they can make their mark in South Africa after a faltering start to their campaign.
England will now play the winners of Group D – Ghana, in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

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Yesterday Team USA pulled off a goal in the 91st minute to win the USA vs Algeria match  in the 2010 World Cup; won Group C ( ahead of England), and advanced to the knock out rounds.

Coach Bob Bradley’s USA team qualified as the group leaders of Group C with a late goal by Landon Donovan in the 91 st minute, in stoppage time.

Team USA - Winning Goal

I am sure Team USA must feel like they are jinxed, because they have had two really bad calls against them buy the dodgy referees (where did FIFA find them?) –in their past two matches… When their first goal in the 21st minute in this USA vs Algeria match was disallowed because it was called offsides, when it clearly was not, they did not lose heart – they kept on fighting. The Americans were denied a winning goal in their last match against Slovenia when Maurice Edu’s late strike was controversially chalked off.

Former President Bill Clinton Watched the Game

The USA, watched on by former US President Bill Clinton, dominated for large periods and created a host of chances but looked set to be denied by a mixture of the woodwork, good goalkeeping and poor finishing.  They must be one of the most under-rated teams – it is almost as if we just do not want to believe that they can play football, sorry soccer. We saw last year at the 2008 confederations Cup what the USA team was capable of. They lost in the finals to Brazil 3 – 2 after leading 2 -0 at halftime. So do not that this team for granted, they might just go further than the next round.

Algeria Ended with Ten Men

Algeria, who have never progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup, hit the woodwork early on and created a couple of other chances but were unable to net their first goal of the finals as they tumbled out. They also finished with 10 men after captain Anthar Yahia was sent off for a second booking late on in Pretoria.

Landon Donovan Played a Great Mach

Landon Donovan is surely the visible face of American Soccer. But his whole team worked hard yesterday and they were all over Algeria, and dominated possession and shots on goal. I believe that at present there are 17 USMNT players that play in Europe professionally now. And the US is ranked 12th in the world. This means that on the day they could give any team a go for their money.

The USA will now move on to the Top 16 knockout round against the runner up of Group D which is Ghana – the match will take place on Saturday in Rustenburg.

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Carlos Alberto Parreira snubbed by Francew coach Domenech

France Coach Raymond Domenech refused to shake South African coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s had after the Bafana Bafana vs France match in Bloemfontein yesterday.

2 -1 Victory for Bafana Bafana

At the end of the 2-1 victory for Bafana Bafana — which saw both  teams crash out of the World Cup — the ex-Olympique Lyonnais supremo swept aside etiquette to ignore Parreira’s handshake. If his rude and uncooth behaviour is supposed to set an example, it is no wonder his team went out of control

According to Kickoff. the snub is rumoured to have centred on the Brazilian’s previous declaration that France did not deserve to qualify for the tournament.

This whole week’s run-p to yesterday afternoon’s Group A finale symbolised the climax of the 58-year-old’s crisis-hit spell in charge of Les Bleus for the past four years.

Snub About France’s Qualification

South Africa coach Parreira believes the snub was in response to comments he had made about France’s controversial qualification for the finals when Thierry Henry’s infamous handball helped to see off the Republic of Ireland, says football365

Parreira said: “I believe it was because I had criticised his team after they qualified, but I really don’t remember.

“This is what his assistants told me.”

Laurent Blanc to Take Over

I am sure the French team ( and government) will be relieved that former Girondins de Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc to take control after the 2010 World Cup.

Image: football 365

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