England World Cup Blog 2010

South Korea World Cup Squad Preview

World Cup Squad Previews

Written by Tony Concannon Thursday, 10 June 2010 11:54

South Africa 2010 will be South Korea's seventh successive World Cup finals appearance. They were unbraten in qualifying, with four wins and four draws, and head into the tournament with confidence high. South Korea reached the semi-finals in 2002 when they were shared host with Japan. I don't expect them to go as far this time, but they could make a surprise push to the last 16.

Read more: South Korea World Cup Squad Preview

World Cup 2010 Blog Day 4

England World Cup Blog

Written by Joe Berg Thursday, 10 June 2010 11:25

 Hello. You look good today.

So, there’s just one more sleep to go before it all kicks off, and I’m getting a bit excited. I even missed dinner last night as I opted to watch BBC 3’s World Cup’s Most Shocking Moments instead of going to the shop before closing time to buy any food. In case you’re wondering, the winning moment was Zidane’s kebab-house nutting of Materazzi. No surprises there, then. 

The World Cup for me usually means two things. 1) England disappointing me. 2) Winning decent sums of money betting on the early round matches and group winners.

This year, however, it will mean neither of those, as for the first time since I started watching football (back in about 1989-90), I’m going into a tournament truly believing there’s no way in the world that England will go all the way. We’re just not good enough. Obviously I hope I’m wrong, but at least when/if we do go out fairly early, it won’t shock me or reduce me to man tears.

And on top of that, I won’t be betting on any games, groups, number of bookings, or who will kick-off the match. I’m through with gambling. 

If you read my introduction post, you’ll remember that on Monday I was sat at the Somali-run internet café that I suspected was a front of something more sinister, watching live tennis scores update on screen as I had the majority of my rent money resting on the outcomes. Well, I can tell you that the outcomes didn’t go my way and I lost my rent. I also lost a chunk of my flatmates’ rent that was sitting in my account as they’d gone on holiday and left me with the duty of transferring the whole lot over to our landlord. This wasn’t good. This was very very bad. I wanted to jump out of a 10th floor window. I’d done it again (losing money I couldn’t afford to lose, not jumping out of a 10th floor window).

Read more: World Cup 2010 Blog Day 4

Lucas Barrios - Players to star in South Africa

England World Cup Blog

Written by Dave Allan Thursday, 10 June 2010 00:00

Lucas Barrios was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 13th of November 1984 and has been forced to denounce his citizenship to play for Paraguay, the country his mother comes from. The fact that Argentina do not appear to allow dual nationality  is likely to have made it a much tougher decision to switch allegiance.

Read more: Lucas Barrios - Players to star in South Africa

Denmark World Cup Squad Preview

World Cup Squad Previews

Written by James Beckett Wednesday, 09 June 2010 17:32

After missing out on the 2006 World Cup, the Denmark squad will return to the world's biggest footballing stage this summer, and coach Martin Olsen will be looking for his side to continue the excellent form they showed in qualifying. After been drawn in the same qualifying group as Portugal and Sweden, few would of expected the Danes to reach South Africa, but a series of impressive results, including victories in Portugal and Sweden, saw Denmark finish as group winners.

Read more: Denmark World Cup Squad Preview

Nigeria World Cup Squad Preview

World Cup Squad Previews

Written by Tony Concannon Wednesday, 09 June 2010 14:52

Nigeria reached the quarter-final stages of the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. However, after soaring to those heady heights, the Super Eagles had their wings clipped in 2002 and failed to climb out of their group. In 2006, they were grounded further and didn't even qualify. This time they're back, but I don't expect them to ruffle any feathers in South Africa. 

Read more: Nigeria World Cup Squad Preview

Algeria World Cup Squad Preview

England World Cup Blog

Written by Tony Concannon Wednesday, 09 June 2010 09:59

This is Algeria's first appearance in the World Cup since Mexico 1986, when they were eliminated in the first round. They were the last team to qualify for this year's finals, negotiating a tough one-off play-off clash with Egypt to book their place in South Africa. Defender Antar Yahia's venomous volley crashed in off the crossbar to seal a narrow 1-0 victory in the neutral venue of Sudan.

Read more: Algeria World Cup Squad Preview

France World Cup Squad Preview

World Cup Squad Previews

Written by Dave Allan Tuesday, 08 June 2010 20:41

Most pundits are writing off the chances of France but it was the same in 2006 and that French squad came mighty close to landing their second World Cup.

True, they have lost their midfield triangle of Zidane, Vieira and Makele but much of the squad remains the same and despite their internal struggles they could still be a force to be reckoned with come the start of July.

Read more: France World Cup Squad Preview

Slovakia World Cup Squad Preview

World Cup Squad Previews

Written by James Beckett Tuesday, 08 June 2010 19:26

Slovakia will be appearing in their first World Cup finals since becoming an independent nation, and if they can repeat their form in qualifying, they could just spring a surprise or two in South Africa. Slovakia managed to emerge as group winners from group which contained to Czech Republic and Poland, in one of the shock outcomes from the European qualifying section.

Read more: Slovakia World Cup Squad Preview

James Corden and Wayne Rooney star in funny Coca Cola Ad

England World Cup Blog

Written by Tony Tyrell Tuesday, 08 June 2010 14:14

This site is quickly becoming a James Corden and Wayne Rooney benefit with two of the most popular videos starring Corden aka Smithy and the most searched for England World Cup 2010 player being Wayne Rooney.

As luck would have the pair have been matched up again in a pretty funny advert for Coca Cola which is worth three minutes of anybody's time.

Hey Nani No - Portugal star out of World Cup 2010

England World Cup Blog

Written by Dave Allan Tuesday, 08 June 2010 12:36

Portugal have received a severe set back to their chances of winning the World Cup following the withdrawal from the squad of one of their star players Nani.

Read more: Hey Nani No - Portugal star out of World Cup 2010

86 World Cup

England World Cup Blog

Written by Tony Concannon Tuesday, 08 June 2010 06:13

People say you should never look back, only forward. However, its often easier said than done. In fact, I'm so looking forward to this year's World Cup that I couldn't help but look back and reminisce about past tournaments. This got me thinking; what is the best World Cup in living memory?

Read more: 86 World Cup

World Cup 2010 Blog Day 1

England World Cup Blog

Written by Joe Berg Monday, 07 June 2010 21:24

Hello and welcome to the first of hopefully many blog posts from me over the next month, as England attempt to navigate their way through a World Cup wallchart of fixtures and I attempt to undegenerate-ize myself. Yes, I made that last word up; you will not find it in any dictionary.

Read more: World Cup 2010 Blog Day 1

The adventures of Hughie and Stan - Tweeting the World Cup

England World Cup Blog

Written by Dave Allan Monday, 07 June 2010 20:02

If you play with Twitter then I would seriously recommend following this account of a surreal journey (literally) across continents as Stan is attempts to return a bag to an unnamed England football player. To get there he has been recruited by part human burger van owner Hughie. From Scotland to Nottingham via Grimsby on route to South Africa and the World Cup, we pick up the story again in High Wycombe and follow their journey to Marseille and beyond and hopefully to South Africa.

Read part one here

Read more: The adventures of Hughie and Stan - Tweeting the World Cup

Betting on England to win all their Group matches

England World Cup Blog

Written by James Beckett Monday, 07 June 2010 18:51

England to win all their group games at 15/8 (Betfair)

There is a probability a bit of patriotic optimism surrounding this tip, but on the face of things England would be bitterly disappointed not to be victorious against The USA, Algeria or Slovenia in a one of game, so why can't England win all three group fixtures?

Read more: Betting on England to win all their Group matches

Greece World Cup Squad Preview

England World Cup Blog

Written by Dave Allan Monday, 07 June 2010 18:37

Greece somehow manged to win the European Championship in 2004 with a squad who played as a team but this current bunch may struggle to make it out of the first stage despite not facing the strongest of opposition in Argentina, Nigeria and South Korea.

Read more: Greece World Cup Squad Preview