The game between Brazil and Ivory Coast at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg was billed as a true test of Brazil's strength after the Korean game, but in the end it was a casual stroll in the park for the Selecao, as a Fabiano brace propelled Dunga's team to a comfortable 3 - 1 win. With Cameroon already eliminated, Nigeria and South Africa precariously poised for ouster, only Ghana has gotten results worth celebrating across the continent. This in… Continue

After a dominant attacking display against Nigeria and South Korea, Argentina is firmly on top as one of the favourites for the FIFA 2010 World cup in South Africa. Up front, the talent is awesome with Tevez, Higuain, Di Maria and Messi flooding forward in recurring waves of attacking forays. The first hat trick highlight the threat, but the crunch times lie ahead, a stage where the different sections of the team will be tested by… Continue

Rooney or Gerard gets a knock and an anxiety frenzy sets in or will Barry be fit for the world cup? While England’s lack of depth is obvious, their approach to this year’s world cup preparation is self defeatist in a mental sense, an attitude which somehow also explains the poor record in penalty shot outs. Capello is a good coach with a group of nice players to tutor for a great football fiesta, a job in did perfectly during the qualifiers, but there is this feeling now that …

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I have a crystal ball which has been simply magical for years. Just a faint glance, I knew Manchester United will beat Chelsea at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and after an uncomfortable 5 minute stare last year, Barcelona 3, United 1 popped up. Okay the Moscow match ended 2 – 0 in favour of the Catalonia football team. This season I had trusted it, but silently convinced it was becoming faulty. Madrid over Lyon was going to be a walk in the park it said,… Continue

A lot of lads would give a lot to be called the special one, but for Jose Mourinho that tag comes naturally, which is easily linked to his achievements on the pitch. The maverick of rare and distinctive hue is too often portrayed as cagey in his tactics and in some quarters, just blatantly negative. Interestingly, it is quite easy to accept these conclusions whenever you watch a football team guided by Jose Mourinho, because the singular trait that shines… Continue

Yea, they no longer wear black, but you can tell that to my bigoted memory of what they use to look like when I was a child. I just can't see a different color and that is not even my grudge. The men in black are by a galactic distance the new show in town. With the likes of Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney reaching into their huge hats of tricks and pure soccer artistry weekly, we, I mean everyone of you out there, could be forgiven for assuming for so long, almost an… Continue

Chelsea’s 7 – 0 thrashing of miserable Stoke City has added to the juicy cliff hanger that has been in prospect for weeks. The blues’ virtuoso performance dimed any hint of nerves just 24 hours after Manchester United climbed to the top of the English premier league for the eighth time. They were clinical in style and mechanically efficient. Kalou’s hat trick, a brace from the Lampard (twentieth of the season!) and singletons from both Sturridge and Malouda ensured a comprehensive victory that… Continue

The intrigue surrounding transfers in modern football is sensational to say the least. It now has the feel of Hollywood script writing. There is a bleep that sends the signal, then the media blitz, subdued at times and finally the response. The affirmation and denial cycling between Nou camp and the Emirates regarding Cesc Fabregas illustrates the evolution of 21st century pouching. As the fabulous drama endures, the theatrics around Jose Mourinho's potential move to Real Madrid is… Continue

As Arsenal FC file out from the dugout at White Hart lane on Wednesday, the terse stroll across the short stretch of rug leading onto the soccer pitch must surely harbor the aura of a season about to be added onto the record books as another trophy-less endeavor. Worse still, Arsene Wenger, nick-named the Professor, not for his frame and mien but for this tactical astuteness, must be living in a rarefied edge of discomfort that encircles a soccer intellect who finds his knowledge cruelly…

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The appalling rate of relationship dissatisfaction is negating myths previously untouched by suggestions of fallibility, particularly the saying that human bonding ages like wine or at least it gets better with as time passes. This measurable and large problem with traditional mating skills, attraction and romance is best illustrated by the resurgence of internet dating sites. In a useful context, nature abhors a vacuum and so these smart guys appear to have created intelligent scales to assess… Continue

As the clock ticked away in the second half at the Bernabeu and Lyon trailing with only a lone goal (scored in the 6th minute) that sickening feeling of déjà vu was inevitable. You could touch the feeling that Lyon was going to score and Madrid knocked out for the sixth consecutive time in the round of sixteen. As Miralem Pjanic smashed home a 75th-minute equaliser for Lyon there was a post-climactic…

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A comment like this, "Sex is good, but why not in football?" coming from a certain JT would be understandable, but the wide condemnation that followed the Terry-Bridge episode was timely and

sends an aggressive message to the broader sporting world that soccer’s

moral standards will be defended staunchly from now onwards, WAG or no

WAG. Only good sex is good for the beautiful…

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It is true I was born with a weak frame, not for soccer, often stumbling more than I was upright. My uncles, most of whom could literally narrate the history of soccer joked I was tied to the bench as a kid, to keep my agitated playful antics from dribbling around with the soccer ball in the yard, on my knees! I may have exaggerated a bit, but if I was told years ago that I could endure the huddles and make this journey, I probably would have laughed at myself. But in the end I did it and… Continue

The mid week games provided results that have in no way harmed the renewed excitement surrounding the English premier league this season. Manchester United and Chelsea fc dropped crucial points against Aston Villa (1 - 1) and Everton (2 - 1) respectively, while Arsenal squeezed out a one goal win over…

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Wednesday's game at the Emirates has become a crucial point for Arsenal and Liverpool, a pivotal stage that could help define the season for either teams as they set out to capture "catch-up" points. With a single point from nine against the top four, Arsenal's prospect for the title is amounting to a mere mathematical possibility with a nine point gap standing between them and the leaders, Chelsea that may widen by tomorrow. A fews weeks ago, the excitement was centered…

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