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Spain and Italy Show Concern Over New World Cup Ball

Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas have slammed the new World Cup ball ‘Jabulani’. “It’s a bit like a beach ball.”

Earlier Brazil goal keeper Julio Cesar and England stopper Joe Hart raised their concerns over the new World Cup ball and now Italy and Spain goalkeepers joined the chorus of disapproval.

“So far preparations are going well, apart from one negative aspect that I feel the need to underline, just as my colleagues have done before me,” Buffon said.

“I am referring to the football that is used in all the games for this tournament.

“The new model is absolutely inadequate and I think it is shameful that such an important competition as a World Cup with so many champions should be played with a ball like that,” the Juve stopper criticized the Jabulani.

“As for the rest, even if people don’t consider us to be favourites, I remain optimistic. After all, we are still the world champions,” he said.

Spain are one of the favourites at the World Cup this summer in South Africa but skipper Casillas is unhappy with the World Cup ball.

“It’s a bit like a beach ball,” the Spain goalie was quoted as telling Spanish media on Sunday.

“It is truly sad that we have to play in a World Cup with such a horrendous ball,” the goalkeeper Casillas commented after his side’s 3-2 warm-up win against Saudi Arabia.

Catastrophy in Klagenfurt for Serbia

The build up to South Africa hit a bump, in the unlikely shape of New Zealand, for Serbia in Klagenfurt on Saturday. In a disappointing performance that saw stand-in captain Nemanja Vidic, forced to take a microphone in the second half to calm an angry Serb support. The match was disrupted by fans throwing flares and missiles onto the pitch and a number of supporters ran onto the pitch leading to Vidic pleading for the game to be allowed to continue.

Serbia, facing a side 63 places bellow them in the FIFA rnakings, were already a goal behind in the match by the time the frustrations of their support was displayed. With unfimiliar line-up in defence and midfield, Serbia found themselves surprisingly behind in the 22 minute by a goal from Shane Smeltz.

A long ball that was directed towards goal by Vidic found its way to Smeltz who turned back inside Antonio Rukavina, the right back, before sliding a low shot past, Vladimir Stojkovic inside the right hand post. The concerns over Stojkovic in goal are a real for Antic and the Serbian support.

Serbia had plenty of chances to get back into the game but both Zigic and Pantelic were wastefull of the chances that came their way. The performance of Zoran Tosic was a positive to take from the match as he looked comfortable on the left flank, in the absence of Milan Jovanovic. He impressed with his pace and trickery with the ball and provided a the only creative source on either flank.  His final delivery was of a consistant quality, that were all wasted in front of the New Zealand goal.

Poland are next up for the White Eagles this Wednesday in Kufstein, before the squad heads to Belgrade to face Cameroon in their final warm up game at the Maracanna (Crvena Zvezda Stadium) on Saturday 5th June.

Japan fall to Korea in World Cup warm-up

Japan fell 2-0 to Korea Republic in a Kirin Challenge Cup friendly match – the first of three warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup – at Saitama Stadium on Monday.

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji Sung struck the opener early in the game and substitute forward Park Chu Young scored from the spot in stoppage time.

Injuries forced Japan coach Takeshi Okada to change his lineup, with Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Atsuto Uchida, Daisuke Matsui, Junichi Inamoto and Keiji Tamada all out.

Yuki Abe came in as a center-back, Yuto Nagatomo played as right-back and Yasuyuki Konno filled the left-back position, and the makeshift backline soon found themselves on the defensive as the Koreans applied early pressure.

In fact, the visitors got on the scoreboard six minutes into the game, when Park Ji Sung took a pass from Kim Jung Woo, outran the Japanese defense and fired in a low shot from the right edge of the box.

Korea continued to apply pressure, with Park Ji Sung and Ki Sung Yueng controlling the midfield, while Lee Jung Soo and Kwak Tae Hwi were solid at the back.

The 2002 World Cup semifinalists threatened the Japanese goal again in the 14th minute when a Kim Jung Woo header from a Ki Sung Yueng corner went narrowly wide.

Yoshito Okubo attempted to kickstart Japan’s attack with a good run and shot in the 21st minute and he tried a more spectacular effort from a Makoto Hasebe cross a minute later, but his shot was easily handled by Korea goalkeeper Jung Sung Ryong. In the 40th minute, Keisuke Honda also tried his luck from the edge of the box.

With the Koreans’ defense looking solid, Okada brought on Catania forward Takayuki Morimoto in the 63rd minute and the Serie A player had a good early attempt that was denied by Jung.

With time running out, Japan then gave up a penalty. Monaco striker Park Chu Young dribbled into the box and was upended by Narazaki. English referee Stuart Atwell pointed to the spot and Park claimed the penalty for himself, stroking the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

“We planned to finish the first half 0-0, but we couldn’t do that after giving up the first goal and facing a strong defense. They scored after picking up a loose ball and we failed to block that.”

“We were able to pass the ball around more and find space in the second half, but we may have to think about changing the way we start the game and bring in more defensive players in the first half.”

Korea coach Huh Jung Moo said, “Both teams played hard and showed good football, and this game gave us something positive ahead of the World Cup.”

“Our players played well and didn’t lose their cool despite playing before a full house, and that helped us win today,” Huh added.

Both Korea and Japan will now head to Europe for preparation camps.

Japan will play England on May 30 in Graz, Austria, and Ivory Coast on June 4 in Sion, Switzerland, in their final warm-ups for the 2010 finals in South Africa.

In the World Cup, Korea will play Greece, Argentina and Nigeria in Group B, while Japan will meet Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark in Group E.

Socceroos Farewell – Don’t Impress

Australia played New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket  Ground in a game that was a farewell to both sides. After going behind to an early Chris Killen goal, the Socceroos equalized via Dario Vidosic. Then Brett Holman scored the winner with the last kick of the game. Most live bets were on an Australian win and they would have been relieved in the end.

It wasn’t an exciting free-flowing game but that may have been due to both sides not wanting to go full in. No one wants to get an injury this close to the World Cup especially in a game which is just a friendly. Thus this may have held the game back as a spectacle.
Although having said that, there were a few crude challenges by the Australian players; most notably by Vince Grella and Tim Cahill and both of those players were luck to stay on the field and not receive a direct red card. Maybe if it was a competitive match the referee would have been sterner but in this environment he decided to let it go.

Following the match, Pim Verbeek cut three players from his squad – Scott McDonald, Nick Carle and Jade North. McDonald is a fantastic player but he has had trouble fitting into the system that Verbeek has set up for the team. He is the second striker and when Verbeek only uses one, it means it is hard for McDonald to function efficiently. Even though he has been a proven goal scorer at club level, he hasn’t yet scored a goal for Australia and that would be very frustrating for him, especially at his age. This would have been the perfect World Cup to make a name for himself and take his game to the next level.

28 players will now go to the training camp in South Africa and will be cut to 23 on the June 1 deadline.

Australia now has warm-up games against Denmark and the USA. Both sides are a significantly step ahead of New Zealand and the games should be more competitive. Additionally Australia will be boosted by the return of players such as Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer, Rhys Williams and Richard Garcia who all sat out the game against New Zealand.

With just over two weeks to go until the World Cup, everyone is getting excited. Hopefully for the Socceroos they will deliver on these expecatations.

Darren Albert writes for this blog. He also writes about betting sites.

Can Honduras Repeat the Feat of 1982?

I would be interested in covering Honduras, mainly because of my fond memories of their heroic efforts in the Spain 82 tournament - their only previous appearance in the finals. Honduras had some outstanding players, including striker Porfirio Betancourt, fine goalkeeper Jose Nazar and commanding defender Anthony Costly, (who drew rave reviews from then-in-vogue pundit  Ron Atkinson), and whose son Carlos plays for the 2010 Honduran side. On that occasion, only a late penalty from Yugoslavia halted their progress after draws against the hosts and Northern Ireland had given them a real chance of reaching the second round.

This time another late goal, by the USA against Costa Rica, secured a Finals berth for Honduras, whose squad includes Wigan’s Maynor Figueroa and Hendry Thomas. Their group has a real Latin feel to it, with Spain and Chile among the quartet which also includes Switzerland.

The Hondurans’ best chance of success lies in the matches with Chile and Switzerland, where the policy must be to score early and upset the oppositions’ plans. The Central Americans’ face-off against the Spaniards in Johannesburg however, is unlikely to be a repeat of the game in Valencia 28 years ago. Spain, as European Champions,  are second only to Brazil in the FIFA rankings and should make short work of  Reinaldo Rueda’s side. Still, they said the same thing last time.

Ranked 40th in the world and 4th in CONCACAF, Honduras received a bye to the second round of Concacaf along with 11 other countries including eventual fellow qualifiers United States and Mexico. The top seeds justified their billing with easy aggregate wins; the US scoring nine without reply against Barbados, Guatemala despatching St Lucia 9-1 and Jamaica compiling a baker’s dozen against the Bahamas. Compared to these, Honduras’ comfortable passage, 6-2 against Puerto Rico, was positively workmanlike.

The qualifying tournament ran to a marathon 18 games for Honduras, even with the early byes, and included a sapping 10 game final group. The real problems for the central Americans however, started after the qualifiers. Carlos Costly and Carlos Pavon claimed 12 goals between them en route to South Africa, but Costly won’t appear in the Finals thanks to a broken foot suffered while playing for his club side Vaslui in Romania.  With his strike partner (and record goalscorer) Pavon not featuring regularly for Real Espana in the domestic league, the Hondurans may have to rely on Georgie Welcome of Montagua to lead their attack.

The squad has an Anglo-Italian feel to it, with these two leagues supplying over a quarter of Rueda’s 23, including Maynor Figueroa and Hendry Thomas of Wigan, and Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios. The Spurs midfielder has been selected despite a family tragedy involving the kidnap and apparent murder of his brother - all of which puts the triviality of team selection into its proper perspective. In the circumstances, the Hondurans will probably look to  Genoa’s David Suazo to partner Georgie Welcome, despite his lack of fitness and first team football. Otherwise, 23 year old Roger Espinoza of Kanzas City Wizards may come into the picture.

Whether Espinoza, Suazo or anyone else will make much impression is doubtful. All three of their Group H opponents feature in the FIFA top 15, and while rankings don’t always give a true picture, Honduras will probably be at the bottom looking up when the group games finish. With a fully fit squad, Honduras may have had second round aspirations, but short of their main striker, a glorious repeat of Spain ‘82 in unlikely. We’ll know better after they meet Chile in Nelspruit on 16th June.

By Paul Caulfield

Just how big is that Golden Boot?!

What have Gerd Muller, Gary Lineker, Ronaldo and Eusebio got in common?? Well other than being World Cup icons and synonymous with the art of goalscoring, they are all the proud recipients of the Golden Boot, the FIFA award for the World Cup’s top scorer. 

With the amount of awards dished out at the end of the World Cup, seemingly growing with every tournament, (currently 6, with, goalkeepers, young players and even the most entertaining team, being recognised), and the prestige of these awards being diminished (the first World Cup All Star team featured 11 players, one for each position, the 2006 World Cup, had 23 players in the team of the tournament, and featured 9 midfielders), the Golden Boot award remains the purest form of recognition for the Worlds most potent striker, and the one they all wish to win. But it’s just an award, it doesn’t really matter does it? “As long as the team wins” is the typical response, given, when a striker is asked this question directly. Well anyone watching Chelsea’s Didier Drogba’s reaction at being denied the chance to take a penalty to claim the Premier League award, last Sunday, would have seen first hand, just how important these accolades are to the top players, and what better stage on which to prove you’re the best in the business, than the World Cup.

So who will win the coverted prize this time around?? Well previous Golden Boot winners tend to have fallen into one of 4 categories:

The Genuinely Great

Sandor Kocsis of Hungary who scored 11 goals in 1954;

Just Fontaine of France with 13 goals (a record unlikely to be broken) in 1958;

Euesbio with 9 goals in 1966;

Gerd Muller with 10 in 1970;

Gary Lineker with 6 for England in 1986;

Hristo Stoichkov - 6 for Bulgaria in 1994

Ronaldo with 8 for Brazil in 2002.

Those Fulfilling their Potential

Grzegorz Lato of Poland with 7 goals in 1974;

Mario Kempes with 6 for Argentina on home soil in 1978 (Kempes had failed to register in the 1974 World Cup or in the 1978 Group Stages);

Paolo Rossi with 6 for Italy in 1986 (Rossi, had served a 2 year suspension for being involved in a betting scandal in the lead up to the World Cup, and again didn’t notch in the Group Stages);

Davor Suker with 6 for 3rd placed Croatia in 1998;

Miroslav Klose with 5 for Germany in 2006 (Klose also scored 5 in 2002, all with his head, which must be all the more galling for the Polish FA, as Klose was born in Poland, and has stated he’d have played for Poland if he’d been asked sooner!!.)

The Unknown

Salvatore Schillachi scored 6 goals for Italy at Italia’90. (Schillachi, only made his debut in the group stages, and played only 16 times in total for Italy, scoring only one more goal following the World Cup)

The Downright Lucky

Oleg Salenko - Salenko scored 6 goals in the 1994 World Cup, finishing joint top scorer with Hristo Stoichkov (Salenko scored 5 goals against Cameroon and an additional penalty against Sweden. Salenko did not score in any other game other than these 2 in his entire international career).

Based on the above, it would seem, that more times than not, the cream tends to rise to the top, that means the front runners this time around, must be, Spain’s, Fernando Torres and David Villa, Fabiano of Brazil, Miroslav Klose, a previous winner returning with Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Argentina’s, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney of England. Of this list, Messi and Ronaldo come in the World Cup on the back of blistering Club form, a form, however that they struggle to replicate in the International arena. Rooney and Torres are both returning from injury and Klose has been struggling to make the first team for his club side Bayern Munich. This leaves Fabiano and Villa, who interestingly both sit at the top of the goals to games ratio of the aforementioned group of players, Villa with 67% and Fabiano with 69% (Ronaldo and Messi, by way of comparison have a record of 32% and 30% respectively for their National teams). Given the toughness of the Brazil’s group, compared to that of Spain (Brazil face Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea, whilst Spain face a more straightforward Chile, Switzerland and Honduras) and the fact that I anticipate Spain progressing further in the tournament, then if the Golden Boot winner was to come from this group, then Id plump for David Villa, currently being quoted at odds of 10/1, a more than decent bet!

So what about that second group, that underbelly of potential waiting to etch itself onto the World’s consciousness?? This group would have to include, Ivory Coast’s, Didier Drogba, Higuain of Argentina, Nilmar of Brazil, Italy’s Gilardino, Robin Van Persie of Holland, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon, Germany’s Lucas Podolski, in fact the list could go on, Aguero, Kaka, Milito, Lopez, Robinho, Tevez, Huntelaar, Defoe, Henry, Forlan. From this group, based on club form and reliant on their team’s consistency of performance, not demonstrated in the qualifying campaign, Higuain and Militio of Argentina must both be woth a punt and at odds of 20/1 and 60/1 respectively, there is definitely value there.

So this leaves, the unknown - this tournaments “Schillachi”, who comes from nowhere to upstage the superstars, the player furthest from your mind when considering the Golden Boot winner, well whisper it quietly, but Giuseppe Rossi, may just fit the bill. Diminutive, goal poacher, Italian, on the fringes of the first team, sound familiar?? With an eye for goal, and rated highly by Marcello Lippi, Rossi at odds of 66/1, certainly makes an attractive each way bet.

And as for the “Downright Lucky”, well lets just hope that accolade goes to an Englishman, who’s barrage of unexpected goals propels us towards the final. Peter Crouch anyone………………???!!!

Don’t Back England To Win The World Cup For Another Eight Years

England fans backing the England World Cup Odds will be crossing their fingers, and their toes and everything else this summer in the hope that England can end the years of torture for fans by winning the World Cup for the first time in 44 years. There is one obvious advantage that England had in 1966 and they are not going to enjoy that advantage for another eight years at least.

That advantage is of course home advantage. In 1966 England hosted the World Cup and England are now favourites to host the 2018 World Cup. This week David Beckham has been submitting England’s bid to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and all of the bookies make England favourites to be handed the World Cup 2018, some even make England odds on favourites.

Home advantage can’t be underestimated, one third of the previous World Cup winners won the World Cup on their own soil. No European nation has ever won the World Cup outside of Europe which would appear to rule out England’s chance this year in South Africa, if England do not host the World Cup in 2018 they will have to hope that another European nation is given the World Cup, thankfully the joint second favourites are Russia and also a joint bid from Spain and Portugal.

The 2014 World Cup is going to be hosted by Brazil and surprisingly they didn’t win the World Cup the last time they hosted it, that was back in 1950 and in 2014 you would expect them to go one better than they did in 1950 when runners up to Uruguay, although the Brazil World Cup Odds are likely to be the shortest ante post World Cup Betting odds ever seen.

For those taking the England World Cup Odds this year good luck to you, but you could be better of keeping hold of your money for another eight years when hopefully, England will be hosting the World Cup.

Australia Chooses Preliminary Squad

The Australian preliminary squad for the World Cup was announced by Pim Verbeek today. It needs to be trimmed to 23 by 1 June. The big challenge that this squad faces is to at least match the efforts of the 2006 squad which made it to the round of 16 before being knocked out by eventual champions, Italy.

Mark Schwarzer will be the number one keeper and he is backed up by Brad Jones and Adam Federici.

At the back, the side is going to be led by the likes of Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Luke Wilshire and Jade North. Scott Chipperfield was included as were David Carney, Michal Beauchamp and Mark Milligan. Rhys Williams and Shane Lowry were both named but its hard to see them getting any game time.

The midfield will field the likes of Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, Vince Grella and Brett Emerton. Additionally there is Marco Bresciano, Brett Holman, Carl Valeri, Nicky Carle and Mile Jedinak. Richard Garcia has a spot as do Dario Vidosic, James Holland and Tommy Oar. Oar is the rookie of the squad and his inclusion is testament to the way he has been playing for the Brisbane Oar and Utrecht. The uncapped player could be a star of the future and his journey to stardom could begin in South Africa.

Up front Harry Kewell, Josh Kennedy, Scott McDonald and Nikita Rukavytsya will lead the charge. There are questions over the fitness of Harry Kewell and the condition of his groin. His selection could prove to be a gamble as would his non-selection.

McDonald has been a goal scoring machine for his clubs but never found the back of the net for his country after 15 matches. He would love nothing more than to break the duck at the World Cup. Scoring goals is going to be the key for the Socceroos and this time round they don’t have the likes of Mark Viduka and John Aloisi to rely on. Tim Cahill will be the key but he needs to be well assisted by his forwards. They may not have that many chances against Germay, Ghana and Serbia and will have to make the most of them. The first game against Germany is going to be crucial and not many people are expecting Australia to do anything here. Certainly most of the live bets at the start will be towards the Germans.

The side will come together next week and will then have a farewell match against New Zealand they week after. Then its off to South Africa where they will have warm-up games against  Denmark and the USA. Then it will be all systems go for June 13 where they will meet Germany.

Darren Albert writes for this blog. He also writes about betting odds.

Okada be the 1st one to name World Cup squad

Japan coach Takeshi Okada announced his 23-member World Cup squad on Monday, with the one big surprise being the inclusion of Jubilo Iwata goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.

The squad features four Europe-based players: CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda, Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe, Grenoble midfielder Daisuke Matsui and Catania forward Takayuki Morimoto.

They were joined by Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, a former MVP in the Scottish League when he was with Celtic, and Kawasaki Frontale midfielder Junichi Inamoto, who played for several European clubs including Arsenal, Fulham, Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Shimizu S-Pulse forward Shinji Okazaki, who netted 15 goals for the national team last year, Nagoya Grampus striker Keiji Tamada, who scored against Brazil in the 2006 World Cup, Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo, the 2009 Asian Player of the Year, and defenders Yuji Nakazawa of Yokohama F. Marinos and Marcus Tulio Tanaka of Nagoya were also included.

“I made my selection on the basis of winning and achieving our objective,” Okada said. Okada has set the semifinals as his side’s target in the upcoming tournament.

“I considered various situations and what type of players we would need for different scenarios,” he said.
Kawaguchi, who was involved in the previous three World Cups, has not been involved with the Japan team since January 2009. The 34-year-old recently returned to action following an injury layoff.

Okada explained, “It might not be easy for him being the ‘third’ goalkeeper, but he has strong leadership and is recognized for his confidence. We really need his presence to help us compete in this tournament.”

Okada, who coached Japan in the 1998 World Cup, stressed, “All these players have their role in the team and are needed for us to win matches.”

Asked if he has changed Japan’s objective of reaching the final four in the tournament, Okada replied: “I haven’t. In order to achieve that, however, we first have to get through the group stage, and among all our games, I think our first match against Cameroon will be the most important. With these 23 players, I believe we can achieve our objective.”

“I hope we can be aggressive both in attack and defense, and work hard in order to pick up victories in the World Cup,” Okada added.

The Japan squad will start tuning up for their fourth straight World Cup from May 21 in Saitama.

They will also play three warm-up matches before heading to South Africa: against Korea Republic on May 24 at Saitama Stadium, against England on May 30 in Graz, Austria, and against Ivory Coast on June 4 in Sion, Switzerland.

In the World Cup, Japan will play in Group E and will face Cameroon on June 14, the Netherlands on June 19 and Denmark on June 24.

Japan reached the Round of 16 in 2002, but failed to make it beyond the group stage in 1998 and 2006.

Squad:
Goalkeepers—Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale), Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)
Defenders—Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)
Midfielders—Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama F. Marinos), Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow)
Forwards—Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania)
Coach—Takeshi Okada

Can games in South Africa equal past World Cup upsets?

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be the competition’s 19th tournament since it began in 1930. The previous 18 tournaments have all helped to shape the World Cup into the tournament that it is today, the biggest sporting event on earth!

It’s always easy to remember the winners of the World Cup and the moments of controversy that have gone down in the history books. However, down the years, there have been many memorable moments in the World Cup that often go unremembered, namely the games that the bigger nations would rather forget, the shock results!

Just about every tournament has featured a shock result were one of the so-called outsiders has upset the odds to defeat one of the World Cup favourites. History suggests that the majority of World Cup shock results occur in the group stages of the competition but occasionally the knock out stages have thrown up surprises. In 1994, reigning World Champions and favourites to win the tournament, Germany, were eliminated from the competition at the hands of Bulgaria in the Quarter Finals. After leading 1-0 for most of the game, two goals in the space of three minutes late in the second half saw Berti Vogts side crash out.

The other famous upset in the knock out stages came as recently as 2002 when the much fancied Italian side, under the guidance of Giovanni Trapattoni and boasting players such as Paolo Maldini, Francesco Totti, Filippo Inzaghi and Gianluigi Buffon were knocked out in the round of 16 by South Korea. A golden goal in extra time after the game finished 1-1 was enough to see the co-hosts progress and doom Italy to their worst World Cup finish in the past eight tournaments.

Both Italy and Germany are not immune to World Cup shocks with both having suffered upsets on multiple occasions. Italy suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland during the group stages of USA 1994, before luckily going all the way to final whilst Germany suffered one of the biggest World Cup upsets of all time during the group stages of the 1982 World Cup.  In the opening game of the tournament, West Germany as they were then known, played Algeria, who were making their first ever appearance in the World Cup. The North Africa team beat the Germans 2-1, causing what remains one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history to date. Algeria qualified for the World Cup in 1986 but has since failed to qualify until the 2010 tournament where they will play England, USA and Slovenia in Group C, with all three sure to be cautious of being the victim of another similar upset.

The 1982 World Cup played host to two other shock results in the history of the competition. Northern Ireland beat host nation Spain 1-0 and Belgium beat reigning Champions at the time, Argentina, also 1-0 in the group stages of the tournament.

Argentina were again on the receiving end of a shock result when opening the World Cup as champions, this time in the first game of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Having won the World Cup four years earlier in Mexico, Argentina were once lead the World Cup odds to achieve back to back successes. However, Cameroon sprang an almighty shock by winning the game 1-0 before showing it was fluke by reaching the Quarter Finals. France suffered a similar fate in 2002 when opening the tournament as reigning Champions against World Cup debutants, Senegal, who won 1-0 en route to reaching the Quarter Finals whilst the French never won a game and went out at the group stages.

It is difficult to predict whether or not there will be any shocks in South Africa but with the majority of world cup matches going the way of the favourites any World Cup tips are likely to point towards the favourites winning however, there are a few matches that could have the potential of an upset in 2010, these include any of Germany’s Group D fixtures, as Ghana, Australia and Serbia are sure to be no easy pickings for the Germans as well as Italy’s matches against Paraguay and Slovakia, both of whom could have a say in an early tournament upset for the current World champions.

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