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Ivory Coast World Cup 2010 Qualifying News

New Ivory Coast coach Vahid Halilhodzic has been forced to make a number of changes to his squad ahead of Sundays opening FIFA 2010 South Africa World cup qualifier against Mozambique. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba will miss the match against Mozambique because of injury. The severity of the injury is not yet know, with the Elephants inspirational captain possibly out for the entire month of qualifiers.

He joins a growing list of injuries with Aruna Dindane and Yaya Toure already sidelined for the match in Abidjan. Racing Lens striker Aruna Dindane was recently ruled out for six months after rupturing knee ligaments earlier in May whilst Barcelona midfielder Toure recently underwent surgery for a back injury.
Halilhodzic has included in his revised squad Arsenal defender Kolo Toure, who missed two Kirin Cup friendlies in Japan.
 
There is also a suprise call-up for the Dunfermline Athletic defender Souleymane Bamba, as a result of all of the injuries.
 
Ivory Coast will be clear favourites ahead of the match on Sunday, giving the interationial pedigree and the 49 places between them in the world cup, Ivory Coast being 22nd, Mozambique being 71st. Therefore it will not be a suprise if Halildodzic decides to try out some of his fringe players, with a probable first cap for Bamba 

Segun Olujide

Italy’s Euro Squad Finalized With Montolivo Cut

Riccardo Montolivo has been excluded from the Euro 2008 squad, giving the Azzurri their finalized 23 man selection for the competition.

Donadoni commented on Montolivo’s impressive form in the recently finished Serie A campaign, suggesting that he “did not expect it from him”, and also mentioned his difficulty in making the final cut: “It was a hard decision and I took it only for numerical reasons… He will surely have a bright future on the national team, he can play just like he does with Fiorentina and take Andrea Pirlo’s place.”

Montolivo took the decision in stride and mentioned he expected the cut. At only 23 years old however, Riccardo Montolivo has many more major tournaments to look forward to.

Italy’s Finalized Euro 2008 Squad

Keeper: Gianluigi Buffon, Marco Amelia, Morgan de Sanctis

Defense: Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Barzagli, Gianluca Zambrotta, Christian Panucci, Fabio Grosso, Marco Materazzi, Giorgio Chiellini

Midfield: Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Daniele De Rossi, Massimo Ambrosini, Mauro Camoranesi, Simone Perotta, Alberto Aquilani

Attack: Luca Toni, Antonio Di Natale, Alessandro Del Piero, Fabio Quagliarella, Marco Boriello, Antonio Cassano

Top club players at the Olympics

Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung has been called up to represent Korea Republic in Beijing. Although the midfielder is 27 years of age, over the U-23 age limit of the Olympics, he will be one of Korea’s three allowed “over-age” players. If Park himself agrees to play, and if Sir Alex and Manchester United allow it, he will appear in the Olympic games this August.

Title-holders Argentina looks to feature young stars including U-20 World Cup winners Sergio “Kún” Agüero of Atlético Madrid and Éver Banega of Valencia. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has recently stated that he wishes to play in this summer’s Olympic games, despite having not yet asked his club for permission.

“It is up to me to decide and the Olympic Games are something I will never be able to play in again. I am very excited at the prospect,”Messi said in a news conference last Thursday.

“We don’t know who we are going to be playing yet (in the qualifier) but Barcelona don’t depend only on me to win games. I think the club and the fans will understand,”

Hopefully, Messi will have more luck than Kaká. The Brasilian midfielder was set to represent Brasil this summer; AC Milan, however, will not allow it.

“I did everything I possibly could so that I could play at the Olympics,” Kaká said. “I made myself available. However, AC Milan have decided otherwise, and I have accepted it.”

Terry handed England captaincy

John Terry has been handed the perfect pick-me-up after his Moscow heartbreak as England coach Fabio Capello confirmed on Tuesday that the Chelsea skipper will captain England against USA on Wednesday.

It will be the first time Terry has captained England under Capello’s reign after Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand skippered the side in Capello’s opening two matches in charge. Terry, who captained England during Steve McClaren’s ill-fated reign now has a chance to make his mark on the team ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ qualifiers in September.

Capello would not confirm if Terry will retain the armband for Sunday’s match with Trinidad & Tobago but it is a major boost for the man whose slip and subsequent penalty miss cost Chelsea the UEFA Champions League against Manchester United last week.

“The captain is John Terry. I decided before the Champions League final. We have had Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and now John as captain,” Capello said.

“At this moment it is a good decision for John after a not nice experience on Wednesday. I told him he would be the captain and he was very happy. It is very important to be a leader and John is a leader.”

Terry was joined in the England camp by Chelsea team-mates Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge and Frank Lampard with Capello faced with the tough task of risking their spirits after their Moscow heartbreak.

It is very important that the Chelsea players play with the national team so they can forget the last game in Moscow. I plan to use all the Chelsea players in these two games,” he said.

David Beckham is also in the squad after his recent good form with LA Galaxy, with Capello praising the vertan midfielder’s fitness. “He’s very fresh, like USA’s players,” Capello said. “They’ve just started the season. The future is good for him, there’s no problem. He’s very fit.”

Capello spoke to the media in English for the first time and insisted he will not be going easy on the players, despite the demands of a hectic domestic schedule.

“We want to recover their minds and bodies after ten days holidays but the players have worked very well,” Capello said.”

The Italian sees the get together as a major opportunity to get things running smoothly ahead of next season’s South Africa 2010 opening qualifying match against Andorra.

“The two friendlies are very important because I will know what I think about every position after these games,” he said. “It will be a strong game. I saw their three games and the United States scored seven goals, with only two conceded.

“They have good organisation and are very fast on the counter-attack. They are scored a lot of goals from free-kicks and corners because they jump very well. I think it is a very important test for us. They are very fresh. For us it will be important to play at a high level.

“I am happy and afraid because nine players were not with me at the start of the camp because they played in the Champions League final. I was happy for the players but not for me.”

Italy Announces ‘Controversial’ Provisional Euro 2008 Squad

Roberto Donadoni surprised a few with his recent provisional choices for Euro 2008.
 
While many faces will be returning from the 2006 World Cup winning team, there are several notable exclusions and inclusions, the most controversial of which being the return of the “Raging Bull” Antonio Cassano.

After a strong Serie A season with Sampdoria, Cassano returns to the national squad for the first time since the leave of Giovanni Trappatoni following Italy’s dismal Euro 2004 performance. Donadoni has since backed his decision to include Cassano, and has voiced his support and belief that the creative forward can act mature and contribute to the Azzurri’s efforts.

“Antonio’s inclusion was thoroughly thought through and happened after a meeting with my staff… He is only a 26-year-old lad, but I think that after that heavy suspension in the league he has understood how to be in a group.” Donadoni also added, “I want proper behaviour not only on the pitch but also off it, also in the training sessions, for the good of the squad and the group.”
While Cassano was included, three notable players from the World Cup squad were not given the call: Filippo Inzaghi, Massimo Oddo, and Vincenzo Iaquinta.

Although Massimo Oddo has recently had surgery for an injury, he expressed he believes that Donadoni has ruled him out unfairly. “It burns me up inside because I honestly did not expect it.”

“I believe that within two weeks of the tournament I would have been able to get myself into satisfactory shape… Or the least I would have hoped for would have been to have had my condition tested closer to the time and to have been excluded then.”

“Because of all this I would have preferred to have been given a different reason for my exclusion, a more direct one, because I certainly wouldn’t have objected if I had been left out as a technical choice.”

Along with Oddo, ever-passionate “Superpippo” was also strongly displeased with his exclusion. Despite 18 goals in AC Milan’s somewhat soft performance in the 2007-08 season, Inzaghi was not chosen nor called by manager Donadoni to be told of his exclusion directly.

“Obviously it has taken just my injury during the season for me to not even merit a phone call; to cancel what I thought was a mature, adult relationship. I am sorry that I got it wrong and pass on my sincere wishes to the Azzurri for the coming European Championships”

Roberto Donadoni was unapologetic in a recent interview. “Pippo is like a little boy such is his enthusiasm with which he lives for football - and this is to his merit. But what we said to each other remains between us and the subject is closed”

As Inzaghi is already 35, this could be his unceremonious ending to a long and impressive national team career. Vincenzo Iaquinta has been quiet on the issue, as he was unlikely to be fit regardless following a recent injury.

Other notable names in the provisional team include Alessandro Del Piero, who fought his way back onto the team with a Capocannoniere performance with Juventus, and Marco Borriello, who had an extremely strong season for Genoa CFC. The 24 man provisional squad will have to be finalized and cut down to 23 men before Euro 2008 begins in June.

Euro 2008 Provisional Squad - Italy

Keeper: Buffon, Amelia, de Sanctis

Defense: Cannavaro, Barzagli, Zambrotta, Panucci, Grosso, Materazzi, Chiellini

Midfield: Pirlo, Gattuso, De Rossi, Ambrosini, Camoranesi, Perotta, Aquilani, Montolivo

Attack: Toni, Di Natale, Del Piero, Quagliarella, Boriello, Cassano

by Justin Barrie

Japan 1 - 0 Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast have continued there preperations for the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers with a 1-0 defeat to Japan in the Kirin Cup, in there last friendly before the qualifiers.

Keiji Tamada’s goal gave Japan after a marvelous first-half strike.Tamada strike in the 21st minute of the game was the highlight of an otherwise dull game at a rain-drenched Toyota Stadium.

Ivory Coast begin their 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Mozambique on 1 June and will take heart from this display against one of the worlds top sides, especially as they are withought many key players.

Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal) and Didier Zokora (Tottenham) worked tirelessly for Ivory Coast and were omnipresent in the action, but the Elephants crucially lacked the finishing touch required to score in the absence of captain and striker Didier Drogba.

Etienne Boka had the best chance for the Ivory Coast when his shot skidded through dangerously on the waterlogged pitch but Japan’s goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki was rarely tested

New coach Vahid Halilhodvic should take heart from the perfomance, and should be in no doubt that the Elephants will perform well against Mozambique, Botswana or Madagascar.

Segun Olujide

Beijing Olympics Soccer Update

With all the controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics, it’d be easy to ignore the event. However, as a sports fan, I’d like to point out that it is unfair to the players, Chinese or otherwise, to make the Olympics into a political storm. Really, the Olympics is about sport, players representing their respective nations, and all of us sports fans, young or old, enjoying watching our the world’s best athletes compete. Maybe we can pause the talk of oil, genocide, and freedom for Tibetans for just one August, and enjoy the purity of an international sporting event.

Qualifications for Beijing football is complete.

Top U-23 men’s players (with the exception of an additional three players over the age of 23 allowed) will be competing.

The sixteen qualified nations for the men’s event are:

AFC (Qualified as the top of their respective qualifying groups)
Australia
Japan
Korea Republic

CAF (Qualified as the top of their respective qualifying groups)
Cameroon
Cote d’Ivoire
Nigeria

UEFA (Qualified through UEFA U-21 Championship 2007)
Belgium
Italy
Netherlands
Serbia

CONCACAF (Qualified through eight-team CONCACAF qualifying tournament)
Honduras
United States of America

OFC (Qualified through six-team round robin)
New Zealand

CONMEBOL (Qualified through South American U-20 Championship 2007)
Brasil
Argentina

Host country
China PR

The four men’s groups are as follows:

Group A
Cote d’Ivoire
Argentina
Austalia
Serbia

Group B
Netherlands
Nigeria
Japan
Argentina

Group C
China PR
New Zealand
Brasil
Belgium

Group D
Korea Republic
Cameroon
Honduras

The tournament will be organized into group stages, a quarter-final knock out round, a semi-final, and a loser and winner’s final game to determine places 1-4.

Men’s calendar:
Group stage matches: August 7, 10, 13
Quarter-finals: August 16 (1D-2C, 1C-2D, 1B-2A, 1A-2B)
Semi-finals: August 19 (1D/2C - 1B/2A, 1C/2D - 1A/2B)
Loser’s final: August 22
Winner’s final: August 23

The women’s tournament consists of 12 teams, four more than in Athens.

Group E
China PR
Sweden
Argentina
Canada

Group F
Korea DPR
Nigeria
Germany
Brasil

Group G
Norway
United States of America
Japan
New Zealand

In the women’s event, the top two teams from each of the three groups will progress. The top two third-placed teams will also progress.

Women’s calendar:
Group stages: August 6, 9, 12
Quarter finals: August 15 (1F-2G, 1G-3EF, 1E-3FG, 2E-2F)
Semi finals: August 18 (1F/2G - 1G/3EF, 1E/3FG - 2E/2F)
Loser and winner’s finals: August 21

Ivory Coast 1 - 1 Paraguay

The Ivory Coast have begun life post-Uli Stielike, with a 1-1 draw against Paraguay in the Kirin Cup held in Japan.

Côte d’Ivoire were without several regulars for the much including Chelsea forwards Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, who were playing in the Champions League final against Manchester United.

The match was seen as a warm up for the Elephants up and coming world cup qualifiers but also a chance for new coach Vahid Halilhodvic to check out his new side and to make changes where appropiate. Many Ivorians alike will be seeing how our new coach will control the team.

In the match, the Ivory Coast had better control, but is was Paraguay who created the better chances, with midfielder Carlos Paredes hitting the bar in the 40th minute. Midfielder Sergio Aquino also almost found the net in the 67th minute only to see a miraculous clearence by defender Marc Andre Zoro. It will be sure to impress the new coach

Côte d’Ivoire also missed a chance when Marseille midfielder Kanga Akale’s header on an Eboue free kick went wide in the 82nd minute.

But this isnt the end of friendly action for the Elephants with there next match being only 2 days away against hosts Japan in the Kirin Cup

Segun Olujide

Blow to Nigeria 2010 South Africa bid

Nigeria’s preparations for the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign got off to a bad start after Goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama and Dele Aiyenugba were both forced to withdraw from their opening qualifying match against host nation South Africa.

The duo will also miss the friendly with Euro 2008 hosts Austria on 27th May. Coach Shuaibu Amodu said the duo have informed the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) that they have crucial matches for their Isreali clubs.

“Both players said they will be playing for their teams by the end of the month and so cannot make it for the Austria match,” Amodu aid. “That also means that they are ruled out of our World Cup match against South Africa on June 1 in Abuja.”

It’s a huge blow for the Super Eagles who now only have one goalkeeper - Austin Ejide - in the squad. Coach Amodu has reacted by drafting in South Africa-based goalkeeper Greg Etafia.

Better news for Amodu however is the availability of several key European based players, including captain Nwankwo Kanu whose goal last week won Portsmouth the FA Cup. He and other leading stars will be involved in next months South Africa 2010 qualifiers.

“I met with Kanu in England and he assured me that he and the other players are prepared to make sacrifices for the country despite a long and tiring season in Europe,” Amodu said.

Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for South Africa 2010 could be made or broken in June as they face four FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, starting with South Africa. They then face Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea, whom they play home and away.

Santana begins 2010 South Africa role

New South Africa coach Joel Santana faced the media for the first time on Monday to outline his plans for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts. The Brazilian, speaking at a press conference at SAFA House in Joahnnesburg, is optimistic about the future of the South African national side. “Which coach would not want to coach the South African team, a country that is due to host the World Cup,” said Santana. He added that “This is not a challenge, it is a gift. ”

Santana is an unpopular choice with the South African media who point to his lack of international experience, despite his impressive track record with Brazilian clubs. He dismissed concerns about his suitability to the job, commenting on his time as a player with Vasco da Gama and his 25 years as a coach. I did not parachute into football”, he said.

Santana is no stranger to pressure having left Flamengo to take up the role in charge of the 2010 World Cup hosts - a side with a huge following of no less than 32 million.

Santana praised the current level of African football, claiming that “the quality of African football is very high, and this is why I came to South Africa.” He clearly believes he has a good basis to work with and that if they “are able to tactically and technically get the best out the players, there is the potential to have an excellent World Cup”.

On Wednesday, Santana will announce the squad who will face Nigeria on 1 June in their first match on the road to the 2010 finals. He reassured the South African public that “You will get to know me through my hard work and I will do it with honesty and discipline.”

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