Soccer Sorcery

The knockouts have been upon us in the strangest World Cup in recent memory usually take the look during the teams participating. With the knockouts the absurdity will begin which, if the groups have been any arrange of indication, may mean South Africa will be swallowed in to the Earth roundabout the semifinals. Fortunately, weve got the total thing planned out usually in case. Ten (somewhat) intrepid predictions: I. Spain will measure the goal. It sounds extremely cheap, doesnt it? But Portugal have yet to concede in this World Cup, usually the single of two teams to do so, as well as have usually shipped two in the final monthly calendar year. Thats the pretty impressive defensive jot down which wont last. II. Uruguay will have the semifinals. This competence be poor too, given the competition they have the single of Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana or the US will have the semis. Theyve still looked the properly good football group with the plain defense, no goals conceded, the reall...

Image: FIFA That headline makes it sound like I hated the group stages. I did’t. I enjoyed the group stages. They were an enjoyable way to whittle the World Cup down from 32 to 16 teams, and there was plenty of fun along the way. But we all know the knockout rounds are better. For all kinds of reasons. Chief of which is the fact that from here on out every single game matters. Every game will have a winner and a loser. Winner goes forward, loser goes home. No draws. For the very uninitiated, any game that’s tied after 90 minutes in the knockout rounds of the World Cup goes to extra time. The teams play an extra 30 exhausted minutes, where players on their last legs are equally capable of producing horrible lapses in concentration and breathtaking moments of glory. Both of which will be remembered forever. If there’s still no winner after 120 minutes, it’s a penalty shootout. The horrible drama of a penalty shootout, which is not only guaranteed to produce a winner, it also guara...

The group stage of the 2010 World Cup has reached its conclusion. As we await the drama of the second round, we pick the best starting eleven from the 32 teams who competed so well in South Africa. Obviously there won’t be any French players on it. Goalkeeper: Mark Paston (New Zealand) Definitely the position with the fewest candidates, as nobody has suffered more than goalkeepers at this World Cup. New Zealand’s number one Mark Paston gets the nod for an heroic performance in the 1-1 draw against Italy and a clean sheet in the scoreless draw with Paraguay. Honorable mentions go to Julio Cesar for his usual solidity despite playing with a slight injury, and Vincent Enyeama for a spectacular series of saves to deny Argentina’s Lionel Messi. The Nigerian would have been first choice had he not looked so shaky in his team’s subsequen...

With the knockout stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup around the corner, now is as good a time as any to look forward and dream about the potential match-ups in store. While it's fun to think about which games would be interesting in terms of current form (Brazil vs. Holland, Uruguay vs. Ghana, and Spain vs. Portugal spring to mind), let’s have a look at the five that are more interesting from a historical context. Oh, and two of them are actually happening in the next round. How did we get so lucky? Italy vs. France Two European powerhouses, with teams filled with talented and experienced footballers with the tactical nous to cut it on the biggest stage. These sides met in the final of the previous World Cup in 2006. A game which saw arguably the greatest footballing talent of his generation score...

Portugal and Brazil drew 0-0, which meant that both qualified as the Ivory Coast's 3-0 win over North Korea wasn't enough to see them through. Meanwhile Switzerland couldn't find a way past Honduras, while Spain beat 10-man Chile 2-1. Chile and Spain qualified. Portugal/Brazil (E) If football be the food of love, then this Portugal-Brazil game was meant to be a Romeo and Juliet match-up that quickly became the same-language speaking marriage from hell. Bad tempered, bad refereed, and full of plain 'bad', this game was plain dreadful, highlighted by Juan's deliberate handball that was not called. What's next? With both going through, Brazil will face Chile while Portugal will face Spain. Let's hope for some football instead of a clinic in cheating. Spain (C) Favorites? Really? For the second time in three games, the Spanish looked more the perennial underachievers we've been used to in World Cup football and less the favorites who had a line-up to...

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Group Stage ends today with Group G and H and it is time to salute ten players who have shown above other players on their own team and the other 31 teams. It does not matter how their team did in the group stage because this list is all about the individuals. Siphiwe Tshabalala Tshabalala was by far the best player for the Bafana Bafana in Group A. The Kaizer Chiefs midfielder had a stellar goal in the opener against Mexico and was impressive versus the lowly French team. Fabio Coentrao You can make a case for many Portugese players to be on this list but Coentrao was the one that stuck out to me. The young Benfica fullback was a consistent performer going forward on the wing in the Portugal a...

England vs Germany: World Cup 2010 Preview as great as Prediction Published by William | Filed under Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010, Predictions, Previews Now is almost as great the time as ever if Wayne Rooney decides he wants to end his general scoring dry weather during 8 true games. Follow England vs Germany Scores with the fastest updating World Cup Livescore online, only during WSN.com! 6/26 16:00 GMT England vs Germany Odds | Stats Were in for the provide as the sure-to-be droll substantial person entertainment of the World Cup 2010 South Africa presses heading with the tall flapping Germans reception upon the underachieving Three Lions of England this Saturday during Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa. England squeaked in to the successive round thanks to the 1-0 feat conflicting Slovakia in their final organization entertainment examination whilst Germany had to explain the late outcome as great conflicting Ghana in spite of starting the cont...