Here are the teams i have reviewed so far
Group A
South Africa
France
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
World Cup 2010 Team and Player Watch - South Africa
With the world cup just round the corner i thought it would be a good idea to introduce the teams that have made it to the spectatcle and also highlight some players to watch.I'll also be trying to highlight the strengths and weakneses of the teams involved.
We'll start today with the host country : South Africa
Group : Part of Group A along with Mexico,Uruguay and France
'Bafana Bafana' as the host nation is fondly called has indeed come a long way from being banned by FIFA in 1962 to becoming the first African nation to host a football world cup in 2010.IPL 2 and the Confiderations cup in 2009 were wonderful advertisements for South Africa's readiness and capabalities to host tournaments of such magnitude.SA is all set to cash in on this once in lifetime type oppurtunity and various local industries are relishing the prospects of thousands of tourists coming to their shores for a holiday.
But will the host nation have enough to cheer about on the football pitch ?
I believe that the star performers for SA will be the one who play in other leagues since they would have seen players from all over the world and will be conversant with their strategies and weaknesses.
Strikers
Benny Mcarthy has 83 caps for SA and has spent time with Ajax,Porto,Blackburn Rovers and now West Ham.
Considering he is 32 he will most probably play as a shadow striker and might not be playable for the enire 90 minutes. The forward with the next highest number of international caps is Katlego Mphela who has 20 appearances to show.
The attack is definitely inexperienced.
Midfielders
Steven Piennar has been a real workhorse for the Everton midfield and considering he is 27 will be keen on a good showing in the world cup. Again, the SA midfield looks quite inexperienced and young and will definitely struggle against the likes of Mexico and France.
Defenders
The pick would be the skipper Aaron Mokoena who has the maximum number of caps (99).Known for his tough tackling, which even his country teamate Piennar experienced in an Everton – Portsmouth game.
32 year old Matthew Booth might also get a look in considering his 6 feet 6 inches frame. Due to his height he is considered one of the most important players when meeting opponents with tall players
South Africa are coached by Carlos Alberto Parreira. A wily and experience coach who was in charge of the Brazil team in the 2006 world cup.
Strengths : Home advantage
Weaknesses : Young squad with very limited exposure to world football and players.
Verdict: Unfortunatley i think the host team will not make it to the next round based on paper statistics and assuming France do not commit hara kiri
Other teams reviewed by me
Additional Articles:
Piennar beleives South Africa can advance beyond the group stages
Sources:
http://www.fifa.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_football_team
We'll start today with the host country : South Africa
Group : Part of Group A along with Mexico,Uruguay and France
'Bafana Bafana' as the host nation is fondly called has indeed come a long way from being banned by FIFA in 1962 to becoming the first African nation to host a football world cup in 2010.IPL 2 and the Confiderations cup in 2009 were wonderful advertisements for South Africa's readiness and capabalities to host tournaments of such magnitude.SA is all set to cash in on this once in lifetime type oppurtunity and various local industries are relishing the prospects of thousands of tourists coming to their shores for a holiday.
But will the host nation have enough to cheer about on the football pitch ?
I believe that the star performers for SA will be the one who play in other leagues since they would have seen players from all over the world and will be conversant with their strategies and weaknesses.
Strikers
Benny Mcarthy has 83 caps for SA and has spent time with Ajax,Porto,Blackburn Rovers and now West Ham.
Considering he is 32 he will most probably play as a shadow striker and might not be playable for the enire 90 minutes. The forward with the next highest number of international caps is Katlego Mphela who has 20 appearances to show.
The attack is definitely inexperienced.
Midfielders
Steven Piennar has been a real workhorse for the Everton midfield and considering he is 27 will be keen on a good showing in the world cup. Again, the SA midfield looks quite inexperienced and young and will definitely struggle against the likes of Mexico and France.
Defenders
The pick would be the skipper Aaron Mokoena who has the maximum number of caps (99).Known for his tough tackling, which even his country teamate Piennar experienced in an Everton – Portsmouth game.
32 year old Matthew Booth might also get a look in considering his 6 feet 6 inches frame. Due to his height he is considered one of the most important players when meeting opponents with tall players
South Africa are coached by Carlos Alberto Parreira. A wily and experience coach who was in charge of the Brazil team in the 2006 world cup.
Strengths : Home advantage
Weaknesses : Young squad with very limited exposure to world football and players.
Verdict: Unfortunatley i think the host team will not make it to the next round based on paper statistics and assuming France do not commit hara kiri
Other teams reviewed by me
Additional Articles:
Piennar beleives South Africa can advance beyond the group stages
Sources:
http://www.fifa.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_football_team
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
2010. Is South Africa ready ?
The chief executive of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Dr Danny Jordaan, has a lot on his plate at the moment.
So how is he feeling?
"I am feeling the tension," he says.
"But it is an extremely exciting time ahead of the World Cup draw - I am always on the go."
Preparations on track?
"We are happy with the state of World Cup preparations," he says, seated amongst the flowing plants of the plush lobby.
"Most of the construction of stadiums is now complete, and work on the perimeter of stadiums is now being carried out.
"We feel comfortable that everything at stadiums will be ready early next year, in fact we are now testing stadium capabilities, for example there was a game in Durban at the weekend."
When Fifa carried out its assessment report of progress following the Confederations Cup this summer it gave South Africa an overall rating of 7.5 out of 10.
"We are expecting roughly 450,000 supporters from around the world to come to South Africa next year, and we know they need a bed to sleep in and transport to and from venues," he says.
"The World Cup draw on Friday will help us to fine-tune our accommodation and transportation.
"Once the fixtures are revealed we will know what is required in each venue city. For example the demand to see North Korea play New Zealand will be less than for an England game."
However, he says that the organising committee has already decided it needs 1,000 more buses and 200 more aircraft.
Budget review
The organising committee had previously estimated a budget of 3.2bn rand (£263m, $431m) to run the World Cup, but he now admits they are "probably 10% over what we envisaged as our budget".
"We have been impacted by the global economic circumstances like everyone," he points out.
"We have to look at the budget further and carry out a final review, and are now engaged in that, but it does seem that there will be some budget over-runs."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8387006.stm
So how is he feeling?
"I am feeling the tension," he says.
"But it is an extremely exciting time ahead of the World Cup draw - I am always on the go."
Preparations on track?
"We are happy with the state of World Cup preparations," he says, seated amongst the flowing plants of the plush lobby.
"Most of the construction of stadiums is now complete, and work on the perimeter of stadiums is now being carried out.
"We feel comfortable that everything at stadiums will be ready early next year, in fact we are now testing stadium capabilities, for example there was a game in Durban at the weekend."
When Fifa carried out its assessment report of progress following the Confederations Cup this summer it gave South Africa an overall rating of 7.5 out of 10.
"We are expecting roughly 450,000 supporters from around the world to come to South Africa next year, and we know they need a bed to sleep in and transport to and from venues," he says.
"The World Cup draw on Friday will help us to fine-tune our accommodation and transportation.
"Once the fixtures are revealed we will know what is required in each venue city. For example the demand to see North Korea play New Zealand will be less than for an England game."
However, he says that the organising committee has already decided it needs 1,000 more buses and 200 more aircraft.
Budget review
The organising committee had previously estimated a budget of 3.2bn rand (£263m, $431m) to run the World Cup, but he now admits they are "probably 10% over what we envisaged as our budget".
"We have been impacted by the global economic circumstances like everyone," he points out.
"We have to look at the budget further and carry out a final review, and are now engaged in that, but it does seem that there will be some budget over-runs."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8387006.stm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
