England Expects World Cup Special

2 Mediamix Supplement ● Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Could this betheir time?AFTER a disappointing

qualifying period,Portugal will probably

not be entering the 2010World Cup with a whole lot ofconfidence.

The team– which has beendrawn in one of the mostdifficult groups alongsideBrazil, North Korea and IvoryCoast – won just one of theirfirst five qualifying games forthis year’s tournament.

However, in the second halfof qualifying, Portugal went onto score eight goals andsecured a place in the finalstage of the 2010 contest bybeating Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Known as the Selecção, thePortuguese side has noshortage of talented players,including captain CristianoRonaldo, the most expensiveplayer in history after a £80mtransfer to Real Madrid. Otherkey players include Brazilian-born striker Liédson, andmidfielders Deco and Simao.But, despite their credentials,the star-studded team hasnever enjoyed significant

international success.The highest Portugal has

ever come in the World Cup isfourth, in 2006, when Ronaldofamously winked at thePortuguese bench afterManchester United team-mate,Wayne Rooney, was sent off.

The team is certainly capableof great things. In 2002, theteam played extremely wellduring World Cup qualifying.This early success fizzled outthough and Portugal wereeliminated at group stage.

It is hoped that Mozambican-born coach, Carlos Queiroz,who took over when Brazilian,Luiz Felipe Scolari, left tocoach Chelsea in 2008, can leadthe Selecção to success.

Queiroz is no stranger tosuccess at club-level, havingbriefly coached at Real Madridand been Alex Ferguson’ssecond in command atManchester United on twooccasions.

Portugal’s first fixture inSouth Africa is on June 15when they face Ivory Coast.They will then play NorthKorea on June 21, followed by

Brazil on June 25.Ahead of them is no easy

task but, with an abundance ofworld-class players in theranks, maybe this will be theyear Portugal’s internationalambitions are fulfilled.

AT HOMECapital: Lisbon

Language: MainlyPortuguese, although theregional language ofMirandese is alsorecognised

Population: Approximately10.7 million

Currency: Euro

Known for: The Algarve, Portwine, peri-peri sauce andsardines and attractions likeBélem Tower in Lisbon – aWorld Heritage site

Best time to visit: July, whenaverage temperatures in theAlgarve soar

InspirationalleadershipPARAGUAY have entered

this World Cup with theaims of progressing

through the early stages aftersecuring their place with twogames to spare.

The team has featured inseven previous tournamentsand this 2010 event will betheir fourth consecutiveappearance.

Manchester City forwardRoque Santa Cruz andSunderland defender Paulo daSilva have been named inParaguay's preliminary squadand, despite not taking to thepitch in much of the qualifyingstages, it’s no doubt SantaCruz is important toParaguay’s impressive form.

Leading the team throughthe competition is ArgentinianGerardo Martino, aninspirational choice as theteam made their best-everqualification performance forthe 2010 World Cup. Martino,also referred to as El Tata, wasa talented attacking midfielderduring the 1990s, and then

moved into coaching in 1998.During the qualifiers,

Paraguay recorded 10 wins andcollected 33 points. The teamdefeated Argentina 1-0 andPresident Fernando Lugo thendeclared a national holiday toallow the nation to celebratethe achievement.

Paraguay's top scorer in thequalifiers, Salvador Cabanas,is ruled out due to an incidentwhich caused a head injury.The squad also includesBorussia Dortmund strikerand freshly nationalisedArgentine Lucas Barrios.Barrios, whose mother isParaguayan, has enjoyed a fineseason with Dortmund, as hasclubmate Nelson HaedoValdez, who also made thesquad along with fellow strikerOscar Cardozo of Benfica.

Oscar Cardozo, Nelson HaedoValdez and Santa Cruz were allpart of the Paraguay team atGermany 2006 World Cup andthe disheartening group-phase,so they should be ready tomake amends and get somegoals during the South African

tournament.On June 14, Paraguay will be

facing Italy in Cape Town,then on June 20 they will be upagainst Slovakia and then onJune 24 the team will tackleNew Zealand.

Currency: Guarani

Language: Spanish andGuarani

Population: Around 6.2m

When to go: Summer isDecember-February and getsreally hot. Best time isMarch-October with averagetemp of 24C. In June-July itcan get as low as 0 to 5C.

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Attractions: Iguassu Falls;Panteon Nacional de losHeroes; La SantisimaTrinidad de Parana

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3Mediamix Supplement ● Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Madrid reign supreme twicein the La Liga championship

As well as a revitalisedsquad and the capablecoaching style of Capello, thefact that the competition isbeing held during SouthAfrica’s winter should go inEngland’s favour, as the milderconditions will, in theory, suitthe England players.

Drawing a line underEngland’s failure to qualify forthe UEFA Euro championshipsin 2008, the team havequalified pretty convincinglyfor this year’s World Cup,scoring an impressive 34 goalsalong the way.

The team’s leading lights willbe keen to prove their worthfor their national team. WithDavid Beckham out of thecompetition, the pressure is onthe remaining players to pullout all the stops.

In midfield, Frank Lampardand Steven Gerrard will bothbe trying their best to score asmany goals as possible andWayne Rooney will certainlybe looking to perform well forhis country.

Capello and the boysare on the glory trailAS ever, expectations

for England will beextremely high, and

the appointment of FabioCapello in 2008 has given theteam the shot in the arm itneeded, following variousdisappointments, not leastcrashing out of thecompetition in 2006.

Having appeared in 11previous World Cups, Englandis no stranger to thecompetition but it is winningthat all-important final whichmatters so much to the playersand the fans who are keen forthe team to finally bring homethe bacon some 44 years aftertheir last victory.

Under Capello, the team wonall but one of its qualifyinggames for the World Cup, atrack record he and the teamwill be looking to replicate atthe competition itself.

Known as a tough coach toplease, Capello has animpressive track record,having led three Italian teamsto victory in the Serie Acompetition and helping Real

AT HOMELanguage: English

Population: Approximately59 million

Currency: Pound

Best time to visit: Summer– though there is noguarantee of sunshine inEngland!

National emblem: The rose,in recognition of the Warsof the Roses in the 15thcentury

Known for: Fish and chips,the Royal family, TheBeatles, its heritage

AT HOMELanguage: Japanese

Currency: Yen


Capital: Tokyo

Known for: Sushi, geishas,Mount Fuji, origami andsumo wrestling

Did you know? Japan hasthe highest lifeexpectancy of any countryin the world

REGARDED as one ofthe best Asian teams,Japan has won the

prestigious Asian Cup onthree occasions – in 1992,2000 and 2004.

However, when it comes toWorld Cup tournaments, theteam – which is often referredto as the Samurai Bluesbecause of their distinctiveblue kit, or Okada Japan inhonour of the current coach –has had mixed fortunes.

The Samurai Blues havequalified for the past fourWorld Cups consecutively –which is no easy feat.

Yet their success atinternational-level is limited:during their first-ever WorldCup in 1998, Japan lost allthree of their matches.

In 2002 when they co-hostedthe tournament with SouthKorea, the team were knockedout of the competition byTurkey in the 16th round. Andduring the last World Cup, inGermany in 2006, the Japaneseside was once again knockedout of football’s greatest

contest, after they failed towin any matches duringgroup play.

During the fourth round ofthe Asian qualifiers for SouthAfrica, Japan became the firstteam – other than South Africa– to qualify for the World Cupby beating Uzbekistan 1-0.

Interestingly, current coachTakeshi Okada managed theJapanese national team duringtheir first-ever World Cupappearance in 1998. The 53-year-old former defender, whoplayed 24 games for Japanbetween 1980 and 1985,returned to the role of coach inDecember 2007.

The team’s captain is YujiNakazawa, Japan’s third mostcapped player of all time.Nakazawa, a member of theteam in 2000 when Japan wonthe Asian Cup, announced hisretirement from internationalfootball after the 2006 WorldCup– six months later, though,he withdrew his decision andreturned to the game.

Other key players in thecurrent squad include

midfielder ShunsukeNakamura, who plays for LaLiga; midfielder KeisukeHonda, and 24-year-old strikerShinji Okazaki.

Japan’s first World Cupmatch is on June 14, whenthey will play Cameroon

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AT HOMELanguage: Korean

Comprises: 14 separateadministrative divisions


Motto: Powerful andprosperous nation

Currency: North Koreanwon

Time difference from UK: +9hours

Best time to visit: Springand autumn

National emblem: Coat ofarms showing sacredmountain, where leaderKim Jong II was born, andfive-pointed red starsymbolising the country’srevolutionary spirit.

JUST as the 1966 WorldCup has special meaningfor England, it is also

significant for a much lesserknown team – North Korea.

This was the year that thesquad made it through to thefinal eight, an achievementthey will be hoping to equal, ifnot better, at this year’scompetition.

And if their performance toget to the final qualifyinground is anything to go by,then they are definitely ones towatch.

Against all odds, thanks tosome amazing football, NorthKorea deservedly managed toseize one of four covetedautomatic qualification placesfor this year’s World Cup.

The squad narrowly missedout on qualifying for the 2006World Cup in Germany, some-thing they were determinednot to repeat this time round,so after more than 30 years inthe football wilderness NorthKorea are back and a force tobe reckoned with.

So what is the key to thesquad’s success? Despite mostof the team coming from home-grown clubs, there are a fewvital players who have earnedtheir stripes on theinternational scene. Theseinclude Jong Tae-Se who playsin Japan and Hong Yong-Jowho is currently signed for FCRostov. Other key players aremidfielder Mun In-Guk, who isseen by many as holding thewhole team together, and theextremely able and reliablegoal keeper, Ri Myong-Guk.

Guiding the whole team witha suitably pragmatic approachis coach Kim Jong-Hun.

Rather than trying to meetthe big boys head on andpotentially risk early defeat,he has decided to acknowledgethe team’s lack of inter-national experience and takeon a, so far, highly effectivedefensive style of play.

Kim Jong-Hun is remarkablyupbeat about his team’schances and is obviouslyrelishing the challenge ahead

Back from thewilderness

THE first African countryto qualify for the WorldCup 2010 in South

Africa, the Ghana nationalfootball team could well bethe cream of the continent.

Nicknamed the Black Stars,the country played as the GoldCoast before gainingindependence from the UK in1957.

Ghana qualified to play inthe senior FIFA World Cup forthe first time 2006 and will bemaking its second appearancethis year after winning 2-0against Sudan in Accra in thequalifiers.

But although this may givethe impression Ghana haslittle international experience,the Black Stars have enjoyedhuge success in this field,winning four CAF African Cupof Nations titles, two FIFA U-17World Cups, and they were thefirst African team to lift theFIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009.

They also qualified for fivestraight Olympic GamesFootball Tournaments when

the tournament was still a fullsenior national teamcompetition.

Since the 2006 World CupGhana have gained inexperience and look set to be amajor contender this year.

Leading the team is Serbiancoach Milovan Rajevac, aformer defender who playedfor Yugoslavia, and one of hispriorities has been to create astrong defence for Ghana. Hehas also instilled a sense ofteamwork and solidarity.

This, combined with theirmix of youth and experienceand mental strength, shouldstand them in good stead, andthe team have been identifiedas dangerous outsiders.

The team boasts some topclass players includingmidfielder Michael Essien,who plays for Chelsea and isone of the most excitingplayers in South Africa, aswell as Inter Milan's SulleyMuntari, formerly ofPortsmouth, and Eric Addo,making his second World Cupappearance.

AT HOMELanguage: Ghana has 47ethnic languages, butEnglish is the country'sofficial language

Population: Around 24million

Area: 238,537km

Currency: Cedi

Best time to visit:December to April, if youwant to miss the rainyseason!

National emblem: TheGhana Coat of Arms, withtwo eagles carrying ashield

Known for: Cocoa, textiles,Lake Volta, beaches,festivals, music

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AT HOMELanguage: Portuguese

Currency: Real/Reais

Population: Around 185m

Best time to visit: Summeroccurs from December toMarch. Travel in theAmazon is best January toJune

Capital city: Brasilia

Known for: AmazoniaNational Park; IguassuFalls or Iguaçu Falls

National emblem: Roundshield with stars,surrounding star pluscoffee and tobaccobranches

WITH football beingthe most prominentsport in the country,

it’s no wonder Brazil has wonthe World Cup five times!

So it’s no surprise thistalented team is once againone of the favourites to win the2010 championship. ‘A Seleção’are the most successfulnational football team in thehistory of the World Cup, withfive championship wins in1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 –plus Brazil is the only team tohave participated in everyWorld Cup.

Over the years this successhas led a number of the team’splayers to achieve celebritystatus internationally, with thelikes of Pele, who led Brazil tothree of the championships.

Carlos Verri, better known asDunga, took on the job as theteam’s coach in 2006. OnceBrazil’s powerful midfielder,Dunga lifted the trophy in 1994after taking over the captain’sarmband.

Although it’s only his firstcoaching role Dunga has put a

stop to any doubting hiscapabilities by leading ‘ACanarinha’ to triumph in the2007 Copa America, the FIFAConfederations Cup 2009 andnow qualifying Brazil for theWorld Cup.

In the qualifying stagesBrazil managed nine wins,seven draws and two defeats,meaning they ended at the topof the group. The fans pushedtheir national team aftergoalless home draws againstArgentina, Bolivia andColombia, yet they went on toclock-up five wins in a rowwhich secured their place inthe competition.

Left out of this World Cupinitial squad is two-time worldplayer of the year Ronaldinho,who last played for Brazil in2009.

Tottenham goalkeeperHeurelho Gomes is the onlyplayer in the squad currentlyplaying in England. Otherplayers include formerArsenal midfielders GilbertoSilva and Julio Baptista,former Manchester United

player Kleberson, andManchester City strikerRobinho, who has been playingfor Santos after joining themon a six-month loan deal.

Hoping tostage a coupIT might have been over

two decades since theirlast World Cup

appearance but Hondurasaren't going to let that stopthem from making their markin South Africa 2010!

A triumphant return for thehopeful team, Honduras israpidly emerging as a strongfootballing nation and, with adynamic coach, it's now hopedthat the national side canexcel.

Making their last World Cupappearance in Spain 1982 itwould be easy to under-estimate the team. Yet theHondurans have, in fact,notched up many accolades.

Amongst these are being thefirst Central American footballteam to score two goals at aWorld Cup tournament, as wellas winning the 1981CONCACAF Championshipand UNCAF Nations Cup in1993 and 1995.

They also performed well intheir World Cup qualifyinground, finishing above Mexico,

Canada and Jamaica with just11 goals conceded – the best intheir section. However, itwasn't all plain sailing and, intypically dramatic fashion,Honduras had to rely on theUSA's exciting equaliseragainst Costa Rica to qualify.

This doesn't mean that theteam don't harbour seriousaspirations for South Africa –and with an impressive line-up, the Honduran side look ingood shape. Top playersinclude David Suazo, AmadoGuevara, Julio César de Leon,Wilson Palacios and CarlosPavon. Wigan Atheletic'sHendry Thomas is anotheremerging star.

Coach Reinaldo Rueda hasalso become an integral andmuch loved part of theHonduran side. Andconsidering that the teammanaged all this following amilitary coup in Honduras lastJune it makes the achievementeven more impressive.

Tough matches againstSpain, Chile and Switzerlandawait in Group H, but with

their new reputation on theline and national pride all toplay for, there's no discountingHonduras until the finalwhistle has been blown.

AT HOMEOfficial language: Spanish

Population: Approx 7.8million

Currency: HonduranLempira (HNL)

Climate: Dry season –November to April. Wetseason – May to October.The coastal regions arevery hot, with cooler, moretemperate weather in themountains

National symbol: Pine tree,orchid and scarlet macaw

Known for: Lenca ceramics,coral reefs, Mayanheritage

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Socceroosbounce backAUSTRALIA will be

looking to make up forlost time at this year’s

FIFA World Cup.Having been absent from the

competition for some 32 years,the team reached the knockoutstage in the 2006 World Cupand, thanks to the shrewdtactics of coach Dutchman,Pim Verbeek, Australia arebeing tipped as ones to watchin this year’s competition.

Known as the ‘Socceroos’, theteam switched membershipfrom the Oceania group intothe Asian group which wasseen by many as a tactical ployto ease its qualification intothis year’s competition. Therecan be little doubt that thetactic paid off with the teammanaging not to concede agoal in all of the last eightmatches it played in, takingthe team five points clear ofJapan.

So what is the key toAustralia’s success? Acombination of clevercoaching and some excellent

players seems to be paying offfor the team. Coach PimVerbeek may be not that wellknown on the internationalstage but he is well respectedby the players and has awealth of experience.

The team itself is consideredrock solid and a lot is expectedof some of its key players.

Tim Cahill is arguably themost high profile of the team’splayers with an impeccabletrack record playing forEverton. His position asattacking midfielder meansthat he has notched up animpressive goal record for thenational team.

Harry Kewell, who plays onthe left, is also one to watch, asis his opposite Brett Emerton,and, in the centre, VinceGrella and Jason Culina arealso highly respected withinthe game.

The team is particularlyrecognised for its defensiveabilities with central defenderLucas Neill and goalkeeperMark Schwarzer a force to be

Language: Mainly English

Population: approximately22 million

National anthem: AdvanceAustralia Fair

Currency: Australian dollar

Best time to visit: Countryhas winter when UK hassummer, and vice versa

National emblem: Goldenwattle flower

Known for: Koalas,kangaroos, Neighbours,beer, barbecues and theOutback

reckoned with.The squad is supplemented

by players who play incountries as diverse as Russia,China, Italy, Turkey, Hollandand Germany

Striking fearinto rivalsEVEN with a disastrous

start to their World Cupcampaign, there's no

doubting the threat posed byArgentina.

Long famed for being one ofthe world's top national teams,Argentina suffered a gruellinground to reach the groupstages of the World Cup 2010.

Thankfully, the side –nicknamed La Albiceleste (thelight blue and whites) – pulledout all the stops to beat Peruand Uruguay in trueArgentine style and, at the lastminute, managed to securetheir place in the competition.

The two-time worldchampions will also be buoyedby the recent appointment offootballing God DiegoMaradona as coach.

Voted the FIFA Player of the20th Century alongside Pelé,the straight-talking Argentinewas, of course, La Albiceleste'sstar player in his day andbecame an idol after leadingthe team to victory in the 1986World Cup.

And, with some of the

world's finest footballers onthe team, there's no under-estimating the damage thatArgentina could do if flying ontop form.

Star player and Barcelonaforward Lionel Messi isregarded as one of the bestfootballers in the world. And,joined by the likes of captainJavier Mascherano, CarlosTevez and Juan SebastiánVerón, it's not surprisingArgentina still strike fear intomost of their competitors.

La Albiceleste's previousrecord in footballingtournaments also shows howdangerous they can be. In 1978and 1986 Argentina twice wonthe World Cup, closelyfollowed by narrowly missinganother World Cup title(losing to Germany in a much-disputed penalty shoot out) in1990. They are also one of onlytwo teams in the world to havewon the three most importanttitles recognised by FIFA –The World Cup; theConfederations Cup and theOlympic tournament. Plus theteam have been extremely

successful in its continentalchampionship, the CopaAmerica, winning 14 times.

So, with bag loads of starquality and a stroke of luckmaybe 2010 could beArgentina and Maradona'stime to shine.

AT HOMELanguage: Spanish

Population: Approx 40million

Time difference (from UK):BST -4

Best time to visit: Warmest– December, January,February and March.Coldest – June, July,August

National emblem: The Coatof Arms and The Sun ofMay

Known for: The Argentinetango, football, wine andcorned beef

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Hot favourites withthe tipstersTHEY’VE never won the

World Cup – in fact thehighest they’ve ever

come in the hotly contestedtournament is fourth – in1950. Yet expectations arehigh for current Europeanchampions, Spain, who,alongside the famousfootballing nation of Brazil,are tipped as favourites inthis year’s World Cup.

Known for its speedy style,the Spanish team has enjoyedmuch success in recent years –most notably in UEFA’s Euro2008 tournament, whenlegendary Liverpool strikerFernando Torres led theSpaniards to a 1-0 victoryagainst Germany with a goalin the 33rd minute.

As well as clinching the titlefor Spain, Torres’ winningshot gave Spain a total of 12goals in the tournament –making it the top scoring teamin Euro 2008.

Since then, the team, whichis referred to as La Furia Roja(The Red Fury) or La Roja (The

Red One) by fans, hasbeen virtuallyunstoppable. BetweenNovember 2006 andJune 2009, the teamwent undefeated for 35consecutive games – arecord the Spanishsquad shares withfellow-favourites, Brazil.

What’s more, the talentedteam won all 10 of theirqualifying games for the 2010World Cup. Spain has alsobeen placed second from top inthe Fifa rankings.

With manager, Vicente delBosque at the helm, havingtaken over from Luis Aragonesin 2008, captain Iker Casillaswill lead La Roja into theirfirst South African fixture onJune 16 against Switzerland.

With expectations high, alleyes will be on star player,Torres, who may miss the startof the World Cup, as heunderwent knee surgery inApril. Torres isn’t the only bigname though as other keyplayers include Arsenalmidfielder, Cesc Fabregas;Barcelona midfielder, Xavi

AT HOMELanguage: Mainly SpanishCatalan; Aranese andGalician are also recognised


Capital city: Madrid

Currency: Euro

Known for: Sangria, tapas,architect Antonio Gaudi’smagical buildings inBarcelona, Seville orangesand flamenco dancing

Hernandez, and striker, DavidVilla, who currently plays forValencia and is the second topscorer of all time in Spain.

All Whitesare alright

AT HOMELanguage: English and Maori

Population: 4.3 million

Capital: Wellington

Currency: New Zealand dollar

National emblem: Kiwi

Known for: Agriculture, wineindustry, the Haka, TheFlight of the Conchords, TheLord of the Rings movies

THERE’S more to sport inNew Zealand than justrugby. The All Blacks,

the country’s rugby unionteam, may be one of the mostrespected and successful inthe world, but there’s a newforce emerging in NewZealand sport.

Nicknamed the All Whitesdue to their brilliant whitehome strip, the island nationoff Australia’s east coast havebeen getting a real dose ofWorld Cup fever thanks totheir side progressing to thisyear’s finals alongsideneighbours Australia.

New Zealand have graced oneWorld Cup before, in 1982,when they travelled to Spainand lost three tough matchesagainst Brazil, Soviet Unionand Scotland.

The All Whites appeared inthe Confederations Cup threetimes, representing Oceania,but have fared little better,losing nine games and drawingone. However, there is reasonto be optimistic that the teamwill perform better in South

Africa. They topped theirOceania qualification groupafter winning their first fivegames and setting up a two-legged showdown withBahrain to see who wouldprogress to the World Cup.

Bahrain had beaten thetalented Saudi Arabians, soNew Zealand were extremelypleased to come away fromtheir away leg with a 0-0result. All they had to do thenwas get any sort of a win onhome soil to advance to SouthAfrica. This they managedthanks to a 45th minute headerfrom Rory Fallon and a vitalpenalty save from theirgoalkeeper Mark Paston in thesecond half.

New Zealand kick off theirWorld Cup campaign on June15 in Rustenburg, where theywill face Slovakia.

The All Whites are currentlyranked 78th in the world, and astrong opening againstSlovakia will give belief to theNew Zealanders ahead of avery tough match againstdefending World ChampionsItaly and then a final group

game with Paraguay.Main man in the New

Zealand team is the captain,central defender Ryan Nelsen.Nelsen plies his trade in thePremier League withBlackburn Rovers and is thehighest profile player.

Other talent to look out forincludes forward Shane Smeltzwho is the Australian A-League’s top scorer and theOceania Player of the Year.

find out more

01704 880200www.scarisbrickhallschool.co.ukenquiries@scarisbrickhallschool.co.uk

GoodSportsScarisbrick Hall School is delighted toshow our support for the England teamin South Africa - good luck boys!

We’d also like to invite you and yourchildren to come along to one of oursummer clubs . Amongst many otheractivities, there are plenty of sportingactivities on offer - your child mighteven be the next Steven Gerrard!

Scarisbrick Hall School wishes theEngland team all the best at this year’s

FIFA World Cup finals


Quality teamare dynamite

Independentand proud

AT HOMELanguage: Serbian


Area: 77,474 sq km

National anthem: Lord GiveUs Justice

Currency: Serbian Dinar

Best time to visit: July andAugust

National emblem: The coat-of-arms featuring a crownon top of a double-headedwhite eagle

Known for: Plums, lilacs,folk dancing, stunningcountryside, spas

AT HOMELanguage: Danish


Capital: Copenhagen

Currency: Danish krone(DKK)

National emblem: Lion,mute swan

Known for: Author and poetHans Christian Andersen,pianist Victor Borge,philosopher SørenKierkegaard, The LittleMermaid statue

THE Danes are a proud,football-loving nation.FIFA founder members,

they first graced the WorldCup in 1986. In their threeappearances at the Finals theDanes have reached the last16 twice, and in 1998advanced to the quarter finalstage, where they werebeaten by Brazil.

Their greatest footballingachievement came in 1992 atthe European Championshipsin Sweden. The Danish teamactually failed to qualify forthe tournament, comingsecond to Yugoslavia in thequalifiers, but due to war inYugoslavia the team wasbarred from the tournamentand Denmark took their placeat the last minute.

The team beat the odds byousting defending EuropeanChampions, Netherlands, inthe semis and then thereigning World Champions,Germany, in the final.

While they went on to winthe Confederations Cup in

1995, since their EuropeanChampionship victory, goodform and results have beenpatchy for the team nicknamedDanish Dynamite, and theymissed out on a place at thelast World Cup.

But under coach MortenOlsen the Danes look to havebecome a force once more.Indeed, their route to SouthAfrica was particularlyimpressive, winning six oftheir 10 games and topping thegroup ahead of qualityopposition.

Their squad is sprinkledwith quality from some of thebest teams in Europe.Liverpool’s Daniel Agger,Blackburn’s Lars Jacobsenand Fiorentina’s Per Krøldrupare big names in defence.Christian Poulsen of Juventusand Daniel Jensen of WerderBremen are familiar names inthe midfield. While Ajax’sDennis Rommedahl andArsenal’s Nicklas Bendtnerlead the line along with theteam captain Jon DahlTomasson of Feyenoord.

The Danish supporters arealmost as famous as the stars.Known as Roligans, their aimis to show the oppositebehaviour to hooligans.

THE SERBIAN nationalteam will be playing inits first FIFA World Cup

as an independent nation thisyear in South Africa.

The team was formerly partof the Yugoslavia side whichevolved into the Serbia andMontenegro national footballteam which competed in thelast World Cup in Germany in2006. In the same year, Serbiadeclared its independence asthe successor state to the StateUnion of Serbia andMontenegro, and the team wasofficially renamed the Serbianational football team.

Meanwhile, the Montenegronational football team wascreated to represent the newstate of Montenegro.

Swapping their blue jerseysand taking on the nicknameThe Beli Orlovi (the WhiteEagles), Serbia played its firstinternational match in historyversus the Czech Republic onAugust 16, 2006.

The White Eagles securedtheir place in South Africawith an impressive 5-0 win

against Romania inBelgrade.

Drawn into group D, Serbiawill play their first matchagainst Ghana on June 13,followed by Germany on June18, and will face Australia onJune 23.

A force to be reckoned with,the team’s top players includeManchester United’s NemanjaVidic, who is widely regardedas one of the best centre-backsin the world, and highlyexperienced Milan Jovanovic,the 28-year-old Standard Liegewinger who is known for hisspeciality free-kicks and hasnine international goals.

Also on side is versatilemidfielder Dejan Stankovic,who excels in both attack anddefence.

Coach Radomir Antic has awealth of tactical expertise,having played professionallyfor 17 years and managed FCBarcelona, Real Madrid andAtlético Madrid. He favoursthe traditional 4-4-2 formation,but with a focus on attack andoutsmarting opponents.

With such a promisingpackage, Serbia should haveplenty of surprises in store.

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La Roja has youthon its sideAFTER 12 years out of

the World Cup finals,Chile is back with a

vengeance.Returning for the first time

since 1998, the team launcheda triumphant qualificationcampaign under coachMarcelo Bielsa.

The team’s most notableWorld Cup performance so fardates back to 1962 when Chilehosted the tournament andfinished third.

This year, the team hasemerged stronger than everqualifying after beatingColumbia spectacularly in a 4-2 win away from home. In fact,they finished second in thecontinental qualifying group,just one point behind Brazil,with 32 goals.

Expectations are high forChile, which certainly hasyouth on its side. The team,known as La Roja, boasts theyoungest average age of all theSouth American teams and itsmembers are hardworking andphysically fit.

They are also thrivingunder the leadership ofArgentinean coach,Marcelo Bielsa. A realcharacter, Bielsa isnicknamed El Locomeaning ‘TheMadman,’and is renowned forhis total dedication to thebeautiful game.

It is hoped that Bielsa willchange the face of Chileanfootball forever and his line-upof talented players includes anexplosive combination ofscheming Matias Fernandez, akey midfielder hailed BestSouth American Player in2006, enterprising right wingerAlexis Sanchez, and theexperienced Humberto Suazo,who always seems to be in theright place at the right time.

The team are full of attackand like to be forward at everyopportunity. They should beentertaining to watch andChile’s chances certainly lookpromising. Here’s hoping theywill excel themselves in SouthAfrica.



Area: 4,506km

National anthem: HimnoNacional de Chile

Currency: Chilean peso

Time difference from UK: -4

Best time to visit: BetweenNovember and March or, ifyou prefer the ski season,August and September

National emblem: Chileancoat of arms with a condorand huemul (a small deer)

Known for: Poetry, wines,beaches, The Andes

Warriors setfor battleKOREA Republic are

Asia’s most successfulteam to date, with one

of their best World Cupachievements in 2002, whenthey landed fourth place.

The Taeguk Warriors werethe first team to representAsia in 1954, although theydidn’t take to the world stageagain until 1986 in Mexico.

For South Korea, 2002 was agreat tournament when theypart-hosted the World Cupwith Japan. The co-hosts beatItaly and Spain to reach thesemi-finals, where they lost 1-0to Germany.

Their 2006 World Cupexperience in Germany wasn’tas fruitful as they whereforced out early from thegroup stage.

This time around the‘Taeguk Warriors’ reached thetop of their group, even aftertwo goalless draws with KoreaDPR then a draw in the finalround.

Former Korea Republicmidfielder Huh Jung-Moo is

leading the team throughoutthis World Cup after takingover the manager’s role inDecember 2007. This won’t bethe first time Huh has takenhis skills to the World Cup as,in 1986, he scored against Italyand then went on to be thetrainer and assistant coachduring 1990 and 94, not tomention being an interimcoach of Korea Republic twicebefore.

The South Korea coach hasnow named two English-basedplayers in his 30-manpreliminary squad for thissummer’s World Cup in SouthAfrica.

Manchester Unitedmidfielder Park Ji-Sung,captain, and Bolton wingerLee Chung-Yong, were bothnamed in the initial group.Celtic’s Ki Sung-Yong is theother British-based player.

Cho Won-Hee, who signed forWigan last year but is on aseason-long loan with Koreanside Suwon Bluewings, alsomakes the squad.

South Korea’s first match, in

AT HOMECurrency: Won (W)

Language: Korean

Population: Around 48.6m

When to go: Autumn(September to November)usually enjoys blue skiesand warm weather, April toJune also has mildtemperatures but summer(late June to August) ismonsoon season andwinter is often bitterly cold

Capital city: Seoul

Attractions: peaks of theBaekdudaegan; Seoul, themodern city with ancient,centuries-old temples;Korean national park

Group B, is against Greece onJune 12, before they faceArgentina in Johannesburg onJune 17 and Nigeria in Durbanon June 22.

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Can Henrywin through?

AT HOMECurrency: Euro


Consists of: Lushagricultural countryside inNormandy and Brittany,Alpine peaks, the dryhinterland of Provenceplus a varied coastline

President: Nicolas Sarkozy

Attractions: The Louvre(museum); Eiffel Tower;Euro Disneyland

National Emblem: A shieldwith a lion-head and aneagle-head on each endwith an axe, oak and laurelbranch

AFTER a controversialgame against Irelandto get into the

qualifying stages, France hasalready achieved one goal –this is the first time they’vequalified on four consecutiveoccasions.

From the late 1990s the highstandards the French teamshowed mean ‘Les Bleus’ soonbecame regarded as one of theworld’s leading teams.

In 1998, as the hostingcountry, France became worldchampions after beating Brazil3-0, but in the following WorldCup in 2002 the championssuffered a shocking defeat. Inthe first three games Francenever even scored a goal; withan injured Zinedine Zidaneand Thierry Henry being sentoff, Senegal, Uruguay andDenmark sent the defendersout of the competition.

Not easily disheartened, fouryears later France returnedfighting and came so close tolifting the trophy, only losingout on penalties to Italy in thefinal.

Led by RaymondDomenech, the country’slongest-serving national coach,securing a place to play inSouth Africa wasn’t a walk inthe park, although France didend up finishing second inqualifying Group 7 of theEuropean Zone. The team lost3-1 to Austria, had difficultiesagainst Lithuania andRomania, then despite playingwith 10 men achieved a 1-1draw against Serbia, whoactually qualified first in thegroup. France’s game pickedup pace and it was 5-0 againstthe Faroe Islands and then a 3-1 victory over Austria.

This 2010 World Cup will seeThierry Henry team captain asthe previous caption PatrickVieira has injury troubles.

Other players taking part inthe World Cup includeArsenal’s William Gallas andBacary Sagna, Gäel Clichy,Abou Diaby, as well asChelsea’s Florent Malouda,Nicolas Anelka along with thetalents of Franck Ribéry andYoann Gourcuff.

France’s next match for the

World Cup is set to take placeon June 11 against Uruguay,and then on June 17 againstMexico and June 22 againstthe host nation South Africa.

Trumpetingtheir intentCHAMPIONED as the

first African team to bea genuine threat for

the World Cup trophy, Côted'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) will nodoubt want to live up to thereputation.

Affectionately known as LesÉléphantes (The Elephants),Côte d'Ivoire qualified forSouth Africa 2010 withoutlosing a single match and,after their premature exit fromthe tournament in 2006, they'llno doubt feel like they've got apoint to prove.

Now older and wiser, theteam return to the World Cupwith a great line-up of first-class players and findthemselves in the reliablehands of ex-England coach,Sven-Göran Eriksson.

An experienced club coach,the 2010 tournament will bethe Swede's third World Cupand, with previous success intaking England through to thequarter finals on twooccasions, the Ivorians willsurely be hoping that some of

his success will rub off.South Africa 2010 will be the

team's second appearance inthe World Cup, after makingtheir debut in the final stagesof the competition duringGermany 2006 and losing outto Argentina and Netherlandsin the so-called 'group ofdeath'.

But despite this defeat, theCôte d'Ivoire's flair and stylemore than proved that theteam were a force to bereckoned with and ensuredthat the footballing world satup and took notice.

The team's world classfootballing talent boasts apedigree of formidable players,including Chelsea double-actDidier Drogba and SalomonKalou alongside Yaya Touré,Bakan Koné, EmmanuelEboué, Kolo Touré and ArthurBoka who create a soliddefence.

However, it seems thathistory could be in danger ofrepeating itself for Côted'Ivoire with the team beingdrawn in arguably the

toughest group alongside thelikes of Portugal, Brazil andKorea DPR in Group G.

So what will the future hold?No-one knows, but what can bepromised is 540 minutes offascinating football.

AT HOMEOfficial language: French

Population: Approx 16.6million

Currency: CommunauteFinanciere Africaine Franc(XOF)

Climate: The Ivory Coast hasa tropical climate, with fourseasons in the coastal andcentral regions and twoseasons in the northernsavannah region

National emblem: Theelephant and the coat ofarms of Côte d'Ivoire

Known for: Coffee, cocoa,pineapple and palm oil

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Lions findingtheir mojoAS the most successful

African team,Cameroon will be

closely watched in SouthAfrica this summer.

The team, which is the topAfrican nation in Fifa’srankings, has won the AfricanCup of Nations four times andreceived a gold medal at the2000 summer Olympics inSydney. What’s more,Cameroon has qualified for theWorld Cup no less than sixtimes and is also the firstAfrican team to reach thequarter finals of the WorldCup, having got to the quarterfinal stage during the 1990tournament.

Yet despite a good trackrecord at international-levelfootball, the team, which isknown as Les LionsIndomitable (The IndomitableLions), has had a mixed startto the 2010 tournament.

Cameroon played poorlyduring early qualifying gamesand this dismal start led toGerman coach, Otto Pfister,

being replaced with currentcoach, Paul Le Guen.

However, with newleadership from Frenchman,Le Guen – who hassuccessfully managed the likesof Lyon, Rennes and Scottishclub, Rangers – Cameroonseem to have found their mojoagain.

Newly installed captain,Samuel Eto’o, who plays forItalian club, Internazionale,and Pierre Webó scored thetwo goals which tookCameroon through to the finalstage in South Africa.

Eto’o and Webó, who hasplayed internationally since2003, aren’t the only stars inCameroon’s squad though.Other key players includeIdriss Carlos Kameni; JeanMakoun and, Geremi Njitap,who has previously played forthe likes of Chelsea, Newcastleand Real Madrid.

The team also includesexperienced defender, RigobertSong, who played in the 1994,1998 and 2002 World Cups, and

nephew, Alexandre Song, anArsenal midfielder.

Drawn in Group E,Cameroon’s first SouthAfrican fixture is on June 14when they play Japan.Following that, TheIndomitable Lions faceDenmark on June 19; thenHolland on June 24.

AT HOMELanguages: French andEnglish

Population: Approximately19.5million

Capital: Yaoundé

Did you know: Cameroon hasone of the highest literacyrates in Africa

Known for: Mount Cameroon– an active volcano whichlast erupted in 2000;coffee, cocoa, bananas,cotton, sugar and tobacco

Desert Foxeshave cunningALGERIA will take to the

field against Englandin their second Group

C match of World Cup 2010,on June 18 in Cape Town.

But any England fanexpecting a walkover againstthe team from North Africashould check their historybooks. In 1982, the thenEuropean champions, WestGermany, faced Algeria in thegroup stage of that year’sWorld Cup. Boasting playerslike the European player of theyear, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,the Germans were confident ofvictory but found themselveson the receiving end of goalsfrom Rabah Madjer andLakhdar Belloumi and wentdown 2-1. Algeria went on toplay more delightful football tobeat Chile but, having lost toAustria, they found them-selves out of the tournamentas West Germany and Austriaplayed out a 1-0 Germanvictory that meant both teamsqualified ahead of theAlgerians.

If Algeria can recapturethis level of form and flairthen their 2010 groupopponents, England, USA andSlovenia, should beware.

That said, it has been 24years since the Algerians –nicknamed Les Fennecs, TheDesert Foxes – last graced theWorld Cup finals, though theyhave won the African Cup ofNations in this period.

Ranked 31st in the world byFIFA, Les Fennecs’qualification to this year’sfinals had both highs andlows, with excellent homeform but indifferent on theroad.

The Desert Foxes ultimatelysecured safe passage through aplay-off with current AfricaCup of Nations championsEgypt, which Algeria won 1-0.

Players to watch out forinclude midfielders Matmourand Ziani, who both ply theirtrade in Germany, along withMeghni of Lazio and captainMansouri. Meanwhile, at theback you’ll recognise

Portsmouth’s Belhadj andBougherra of Rangers.

Algeria’s coach, RabahSaadane, is in his fourth stintin charge of the national team.He’s had varying levels ofsuccess in the past but there’severy reason to believe Algeriacan ruffle some big feathers inthis year’s tournament.

AT HOMELanguage: Arabic


Capital: Algiers

Currency: Algerian dinar

National emblem: A sceneshowing the hand of Fatimaand the rising sun over theAtlas Mountains

Known for: Arab, Turkish andFrench fusion cuisine. Thenovelist Albert Camus andthe philosopher Derridawere born in Algeria

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Tiny but sovery talentedURUGUAY is the second

smallest country interms of area in South

America and currently has apopulation of under 3.5mpeople.

That’s not a huge crop fromwhich to choose a successfulnational football team – infact, only six nations withpopulations smaller thanUruguay have everparticipated in the World Cup.

And yet, Uruguay have wonthe competition twice!

Despite being such a smallcountry, Uruguay is one of themost successful footballingnations in the world. Alongwith their two World Cuptitles, they have twice beenOlympic champions and havewon South America’s CopaAmerica 14 times.

As the Olympic champions,Uruguay were chosen to be thehost nation for the firstfootball World Cup in 1930. Thehome team won all of itsmatches, beating neighboursArgentina 4-2 in the final.

Their next success was in1950, where they took on hostsBrazil and beat them in theirfamous Maracanã stadium.Since this victory, the form ofUruguay has been inconsistentin the World Cup and the teamhave often failed to qualify forthe tournament.

Despite a lack of recentWorld Cup form, theirpedigree is undeniable and theteam currently sits 18th in theFIFA world rankings.

The route to the final wasnot altogether straightforwardfor the Uruguayans. Despitescoring 28 goals and collecting24 points, a final game defeatto Argentina saw their closerivals leapfrog them into theautomatic qualification places.Uruguay then had to negotiatea play-off against Costa Rica inorder to secure passage toSouth Africa.

Landing in World Cup GroupA, Uruguay are in a verytricky spot, having to play2006’s losing finalists France,the talented Mexican team andthe host nation, South Africa.

Coach Oscar WashingtonTabarez will know his teamwill do very well to comethrough the group stage, butstar strikers Diego Forlán ofAtletico Madrid, Luis Suárezof Ajax and Sebastián Abreu ofBotafogo will be hoping to firetheir team to glory once more.



Capital: Montevideo

Currency: Uruguayan peso

National emblem: A coat ofams crowned by a risingsun, with scenes depictingjustice, strength, liberty andabundance

Known for: Traditional musicand dance, Grappamiel, analcoholic drink consumedon cold mornings, and twicewinning football’s WorldCup!

Hoping to golike clockwork

AT HOMELanguage: Dutch


Area: 41,543 sq km

National anthem: HetWilhelmus

Currency: Euro

Time difference from UK:GMT +1 hour

Best time to visit: May toOctober

National emblem: Lion

Known for: Tulips, cheese,clogs and windmills

THE Netherlands’ nation-al football team has agood track record when

it comes to the World Cup.The Dutch squad, famed for

wearing bright orange jerseys,the traditional colours of theNetherlands, made its firstappearance in 1934 andreached the peak of its successin the 70s when it wasnicknamed Clockwork Oranjefor its precision passing.

The Holland side went on towin Euro 1988 and reached twoconsecutive World Cup finalsin 1974 and 1978, but lost bothto their host nations, WestGermany and Argentina.

The Oranje qualified for the2010 FIFA World Cup winning2-1 away to Iceland and willjoin in Group E, facingDenmark, Cameroon andJapan.

In fact, the Netherlands wonall eight of their games, onlyletting in two goals, andbecoming the first Europeanteam to qualify – so the team islooking to be on fine form forthe tournament in South

Africa this summer and ishungry to win.

The team is coached by Bertvan Marwijk, who didn’t makemuch of an impression duringhis playing days, having onlygained one international cap,but who is making more of animpact as a coach, leadingFeyenoord to the UEFA Cuptrophy in 2002 before takingthe helm at Holland.

Their recent 100% record inqualifying for the World Cuphas seen his popularity riseconsiderably.

He intends to spend a lot oftime getting to know hisplayers, sticking with the 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by hispredecessor, Marco vanBasten, and encouragingplenty of interchange betweenmidfield and attack – a nod tothe country's Total Footballtradition.

His star players includeArjen Robben, JorisMathijsen, Andre Ooijer, DirkKuyt, Mark van Bommel,Klaas Jan Huntelaar andGiovanni van Bronckhorst.

Rafael van der Vaart, Robin

van Persie and Nigel De Jongare also ones to watch,especially Wesley Sneijder – atop goal-scoring midfielderwith a fine range of passing.

The Dutch team have oftenbeen seen as highly talentedand capable but a littletemperamental.


SOUTH Africa might bethe hosts of this year’sFIFA World Cup but

they have their work cut out ifthey wish to fulfil their dreamof lifting the cup.

The team has a relativelyshort footballing history,having only appeared in twoprevious World Cups, so has todo more than most othersquads to prove its worth – butplaying on home soil shouldnever be underestimated.

Known as Bafana Bafana, theteam has had a mixed trackrecord to date, having failed tomake it beyond the groupstages in either of their twoprevious appearances . Andyet the team has also shownglimpses of brilliance, whichcould be a sign of things tocome. One such example istheir defiant performanceagainst Brazil last year in theFIFA Confederations Cupwhen, despite losing, theycertainly put up a fight andproved their mettle.

Undoubtedly South Africa’sleading player is midfielder

Steven Pienaar, who currentlyplays for Everton – where hehas shown himself to be aconfident and mature playerand great all-rounder. Hisperformance is considered tobe key to the success orotherwise of his homecountry’s team.

Other players whose nameswill certainly figure in SouthAfrica’s standing in thecompetition are wingbacksSiboniso Gaxa and TsephoMasilela.

Captain Aaron Mokoena iskeen to rally his national teambut is realistic about theteam’s shortcomings at thesame time.

And who is the man chargedwith the unenviable task ofleading South Africa’s bid forthe World Cup? BrazilianCarlos Alberto Parreira's re-appointment as coach of theteam was consideredcontroversial by many, but toothers he is the only man whocould take the squad all theway.

Parreira certainly has animpressive track record, with

AT HOMELanguage: 11 officiallyrecognised languages, withAfrikaans and English themost widespread


Motto: Unity in diversity

Currency: Rand

Time difference from UK: +2hours

Best time to visit: Autumnand spring are both warmand dry

National emblem: Springbokantelope

Now meet thehome team

a wealth of experience underhis belt and, with news that theSouth African team isstruggling with some fairlymajor pre-tournament injuries,it looks like he’s going to needthat experience sooner than hethought.

Super Eaglesready to soarAFTER a disappointing

few years, it's fair tosay that expectations

aren't high for Nigeria in thisyear's World Cup.

Once ranked as the 5th bestteam in the world, Nigeria'sfortune hasn't been quite sogood in recent times. But, witha talented squad andexperienced new coach,Nigeria could be the darkhorse of the tournament.

Of course, their non-appearance at Germany 2006and the far-from-smoothqualifying round will countagainst them. Yet you can'thelp but feel hopeful after theSuper Eagles' dramatic 3-2 winover Kenya in the qualifyingrounds.

The team's new coach, LarsLagerback, also fares well and,with over 10 years' experienceleading and co-managingSweden, he could be just whatNigeria need to recapturesome of their previous magic.Amongst his previoussuccesses include taking theSwedes to three consecutive

European Championships aswell as reaching the knockoutstages of Korea/Japan 2002and Germany 2006.

Combine this with the team'sample supply of talentedplayers and Nigeria guaranteethat they remain a real threat.

Chelsea star, John Obi Mikelstands strong in the mid-field,with captain Joseph Yobomaking his presence felt indefence and YakubuAiyegbeni, Victor Obinna andNwankwo Kanu setting alively pace up front.

Likewise, Nigeria have agood record in otherinternational competitions,winning the 1996 OlympicFootball Tournament and theAfrican Nations Cup in 1980and 1994. Their first WorldCup appearance in USA 1994was also promising with theNigerian's beating Bulgaria 3-0– no mean feat consideringBulgaria went on to beatMexico, Germany, Argentinaand Greece.

However, Nigeria's biggestchallenge is yet to come, with

matches against Greece, KoreaRepublic and Argentina inGroup B. In particular, theSuper Eagles' upcoming gameversus the Argentine's istipped to be 'the' match of thegroup with both teams lookingfor success after just scrappingthrough to secure their placein South Africa.

AT HOMEOfficial language: English


Currency: Nigerian Naira(NGN)

Climate: Temperatures arehot year round, with dryseason running fromOctober to April in the northand November to March inthe south

National symbol: The coat ofarms of Nigeria

National motto: Unity andFaith, Peace and Progress


ALL eyes will be on Italythis year as thedefending champions

return to the World Cup to tryand duplicate the team’saccolade of winning twice onthe run in 1934 and 1938.

And looking at the currentteam and their form, thiscould be a real possibility. Thesquad topped their group witha performance which waswidely considered solid andefficient. All together the teamtotted up seven wins and threedraws, scoring a total of 18goals.

The team has a prettyimpressive track record,having won the FIFA WorldCup four times and finishingrunner-up in 1970 and 1994, aswell as claiming third place in1990.

So who are the team’s starplayers? Top scorer for Italywas Alberto Gilardino, whomade four strikes, including astunning hat-trick scored inless than 15 minutes againstCyprus.

Captain Fabio Cannavarowas voted FIFA World Playerof the Year in 2006 and eventhough he is now 36, he is stillconsidered a vastlyexperienced and capableplayer.

Seen by many as one of thebest goalkeepers of hisgeneration, Gianluigi Buffonis at the heart of Italy’sdefence and renowned for hisquick reaction time and he hassaved some truly amazing goalattempts.

An inspiration to his teamand his supporters alike,midfielder Gennaro Gattuso,31, is considered an excellentall-rounder whosedetermination to win is highlycontagious and helps to spuron the whole team.

Coaching this competent andexperienced team is MarcelloLippi, who isn’t afraid to makecontroversial changes whennecessary which can oftenreap rewards.

An interesting fact relatingto the 61-year-old is that five ofthe 12 goals scored by Italy in

Hoping to doit all again

AT HOMELanguage: Italian


Currency: The Euro

Best time to visit: Springand autumn are oftenconsidered the bestseasons

National emblem: A starsurrounded by thebranches of an olive treeand an oak tree,symbolising the south andnorth of the country

the 2006 World Cup were madeby substitutes.

He is remarkably modestabout his achievements,despite having notched up 31consecutive undefeatedinternational games.

Gods will beon their side

AT HOMELanguage: Greek

Population: 11 million

Capital: Athens

Currency: Euro

National emblem: Dolphin,phoenix

Known for: The cradle ofWestern civilisation;democracy, philosophy,literature, architecture,the Olympic Games!

MONEY may be tootight to mention inGreece right now,

but the World Cup shouldprovide welcome distractionfor the Greek populace.

After all, this is a nation thatpretty much invented sportingcontest on a grand scalethrough the Olympic Games.

It is perhaps with this inmind that Greece’s coach, OttoRehhagel, on qualifying forthis year’s World Cup, said:“The players have beenrewarded for their incrediblepassion and competitive spirit.We said that before achievingsuccess you need to have thegods on your side.”

By invoking those Olympiangods the coach, known to fansas King Otto, will be hoping tolight the passion in the heartsof Greek supporterseverywhere to believe his teamare capable of doing somethingvery special at this year’stournament.

Despite having only gracedone World Cup and threeEuropean Championship

finals before 2010, the Greekteam has tasted major successthis side of the millennium.King Otto was given hisunofficial title after leadinghis team to unlikely victory atthe European Championshipsin 2004.

Despite odds as big as 150-1against from bookmakers, theunfancied Greeks beat thechampions France, the muchfancied Czech Republic andthen the host nation Portugalin the final.

The Greek team narrowlymissed out on automaticqualification for South Africa,finishing a point behindSwitzerland. This meanthaving to negotiate a toughqualifier against Ukraine.

There will be no easymatches for the Greek team,but they are ranked 12th in theFIFA rankings and will hope toimprove on their only otherWorld Cup appearance in 1994when they lost all their games.

In Group B they will meettwo of those same opponentsfrom 1994, Argentina andNigeria, along with South

Korea.The Greek nation’s hopes

will rest on the form of themainstays of the Greek team.These include GiourkasSeitaridis of Panathinaikosand Sotirios Kyrgiakos ofLiverpool in defence; KostasKatsouranis and team captainGiorgos Karagounis.


On the crestof a wave!QUALIFYING in second

place behind rivalsUSA, Mexico have now

reached the World Cup finalsfor the fifth consecutive time.

Although they’ve qualifiedmany times, Mexico oftenleaves the tournament in theearly stages and they had theirbest performance back in 1970and 86, which coincided withthem hosting the competition.

Mexico held the 1970 WorldCup where they progressed toreach the quarter finals, justbefore half-time the score was0-1 to Mexico, but Italyprevailed beating Mexico 4-1.

Mexico was the first nationto host two World Cups and, in1986, Mexico once againreached the quarter finals,drawing with West Germanybut being beaten 4-1 in thedreaded penalty shoot-out.

Now with Javier Aguirre,nicknamed El Vasco, backleading the team in the SouthAfrica 2010 event, things arelooking more hopeful.

Javier helped the teamqualify for the 2002 World Cup,

leading them to the top of thegroup that contained Italy,Croatia and Ecuador, but thensaw defeat to USA. He thensigned with Osasuna, but hasnow returned in a bid to drivethe Mexican team forwardwith the aim of progressingbeyond the Round of 16, thestage reached in the last fourWorld Cup finals.

The team are currentlyproving to be in top form,winning matches against fivechallengers during thequalifying stages plus a drawagainst Trinidad and Tobago.

As much as the coach hashelped turned Mexico’s luckaround, veteran CuauhtemocBlanco made a big impact onthe team when the 36-year-oldcame out of retirement.

Key players in this year’sWorld Cup include GuillermoOchoa, Efrain Juarez, AndresGuardado and Giovani dosSantos as well as skipperRafael Marquez.

Mexico have their first gameagainst the host nation, SouthAfrica, on June 11, then, on

June 1, they will be competingagainst France. They completetheir group matches againstUruguay on June 22.

AT HOMECurrency: Mexican Peso

Language: Spanish


When to go: The coastaland low-lying regions,especially in the southernhalf of the country, arefairly hot and humid fromMay to September, havingthe highest rainfall andhighest temperatures

Famous for: Tequila, theAztecs, Corona beer,Sombrero hats,fajitas/burritos

Capital city: Mexico City

National emblem: An eaglewith a serpent in its talon

Underdogsmay surprise

AT HOMELanguage: Slovene


Currency: Euro

Best time to visit: Warmesttime is June, July andAugust, with skiing fromDecember through toMarch

National symbols: Thethree peaks of MountTriglav; the coat of armsfor Slovenia and the leafof a linden or lime tree

Known for: Skiing, LakeBled, caves andLipizzaner horses, whichoriginate from modernday Slovenia

THE football equivalentof David taking onGoliath, Slovenia have

already exceeded expecta-tions by making it into thisyear's World Cup.

A relatively new nationalteam, Slovenia was formedfollowing the split of theSocialist Federal Republic ofYugoslavia in 1991, and with apetite population of just twomillion, it's fair to say that theteam has a few factors goingagainst it.

However, like mostunderdogs Slovenia's staturedoesn't seem to be a problemfor the ambitious team, andwhat the Slovenia populationlacks in size it certainly makesup for in pride and passion.This might go some way toexplain how the side knockedout rivals Poland, CzechRepublic and Russia – home toover 142 million people – ontheir way to South Africa 2010.

Naturally, the team has amuch shorter footballingpedigree than most of theirWorld Cup counterparts, but

after qualifying in theirsecond foray into thetournament they can certainlystand tall.

Coach Matjaz Kek isrenowned for being a strongleader, and Slovenia's shockqualifying result againstRussia has been heralded asone of the great upsets ofrecent sporting history.

The side have also shownpromising form in previouscompetitions, and despitefailing to qualify for the 2006World Cup, Slovenia were theonly team to beat the feistyItalians in a shock 1-0 victorybefore Italy went on to win thetournament.

Key players on the side maynot include some of the bigstars other teams boast, but asteady and reliable squad withan iron defence have ensuredSlovenia are in good form. Inparticular, keep an eye out forFC Cologne striker MilivojeNovakovic and WestBromwich Albion playerRobert Koren.

The question is – will their

passion be enough to go onestep further and beat rivalgroup members England, USAand Algeria and fight theirway out of the group stages?

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Always greatcompetitorsWHETHER it’s building

some of the world’sbest cars or playing

world-class football, you canalways rely on Germany toconsistently deliver.

The country is famed for itsuber-efficiency and thisquality, together with thewealth of star-players withinthe current squad, has helpedGermany to prove itself aworthy contender for thisyear’s World Cup.

During qualification for theSouth African tournament,Germany finished top of theirgroup, after beating Russia 1-0in Moscow. However this earlysuccess is hardly surprising,as Germany has won the WorldCup three times – in 1954, 1974and 1990.

The team has also beencrowned European championsthree times and, in the last 14World Cups, the country hasnever finished lower thaneighth.

Germany has been to sevenWorld Cup finals and reached

the semi-final stage 11 times.Penalty shoot-outs are alsosomething of a speciality forthe German side, as every timethey’ve been in one during aWorld Cup final, they havewon.

With such impeccablecredentials, it’s easy to seewhy Germany is regarded asone to watch in this year’stournament.

So after a fantastic start,expectations are high for thetalented team, playing undercoach, Joachim Löw.

A former midfielder, Löw hasa wealth of experience havingcoached at clubs like VfBStuttgart, and gained vitalinternational coachingexperience as JurgenKlinnsmann’s assistant duringthe last World Cup in 2006.

A force to be reckoned with,Germany’s current squad hasno shortage of star players,although the loss of captainMichael Ballack to injury is aserious blow. Striker MiroslavKlose, who plays for Germanclub Bayern Munich, and

goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt arenames to watch.

Löw has also introduced twonew players to the squad aheadof the World Cup – HolgerBadstuber and Dennis Aogo.

Drawn in Group D, Germanywill face Australia on June 13;followed by Serbia on June 18and then Ghana on June 23.

AT HOMEPopulation: Approximately81.7 million

Language: German

Currency: Euro

National emblem: Blackeagle

Famous Germans: AlbertEinstein; Karl Marx; Ludwigvan Beethoven and racingdriver Michael Schumacher

National cuisine: Germanbeers, sausages and winesare world famous

The Yanksare coming!ONCE considered

football underdogs, theUSA are now hotly

tipped to finish as one of thetop eight of the World Cup.

Drawn in Group C, thetalented team will becompeting against England,Algeria and Slovenia to headfor World Cup glory. Andwhile, their previous form hasat times been questionable(stars and stripes fan willsurely be keen to forgetGermany 2006 when the sideunexpectedly crashed out ofthe tournament at the firsthurdle) it seems that USAcoach Bob Bradley has helpedthem return to top form.

Starting the competitionwith typical efficiency, theUnited States won five of theirsix penultimate qualifyingencounters – including a 9-0win against Barbados – beforegoing on to conquer the finalphase of qualifying rounds,beating Mexico 2-0, drawing 2-2against El Salvador andwinning 3-0 against Trinidad

and Tobago.Their only defeats came in

the form of a 3-1 loss withCosta Rica and a disappointinggame ending 2-1 to Mexico.However, they managed tokeep their cool and went on tostake their claim in the WorldCup with a 3-2 win Honduras.

Understandably, hopes forthe team to finish in a topposition are now high and 2010is the United States' sixthconsecutive appearance in theWorld Cup finals.

Last year, the team alsoexperienced success at theFIFA Confederation Cup inSouth Africa where theyexpertly demonstrated thatthey're on fine form, defeatingSpain in the semi-finals andleading Brazil 2-0 in the finalbefore finally missing out 3-2.

So who are the ones towatch? Los Angeles Galaxy'sLandon Donovan (whorecently made an appearanceat Everton on loan) has longbeen one of the team's starplayers. He's joined by a raft ofstars including Oguchi

Onyewu, Jozy Altidore, TimHoward and Clint Dempseywho all play on European turf.

AT HOMELanguage: English

Population: Approx 309million

Comprises: Fifty states and afederal district

Currency: US dollars

Time zones: The UnitedStates spans six time zones– Eastern Time, CentralTime, Mountain Time andPacific Time – as well asHawaii Time and AlaskaTime

National emblem: The baldeagle

Known for: The GrandCanyon, Hollywood, the WildWest and the Statue ofLiberty


Team makingfinals debutSINCE the break-up of

the formerCzechoslovakia, the

Slovakians have yet tocontest a World Cup finals,until now.

In South Africa, theSlovakian team will hope toclimb towards the heightsachieved by theCzechoslovakian team thatwon the EuropeanChampionships in 1976 andthe Olympics in 1980.

The Slovakian national teamwas formed in 1993 and iscurrently ranked 38th by FIFA.

Originally, the team werenamed the Slovak Republicand first played in 1939 but,after the Second World War,became part of theCzechoslovakian nationalteam. For over fifty years theSlovakians played no matchesas an independent country.

Upon gaining independence,Slovakia returned to worldfootball in 1994 with a 1-0victory over United ArabEmirates in Dubai.

They won seven of their tenqualifying fixtures, toppingtheir group on the way toSouth Africa.

They kick off their WorldCup in Group F on June 15against comparative minnowsof world football New Zealandand will be looking to takemaximum points.

If they can also take threepoints from their second gameagainst Paraguay, theirpassage to the next round maybe complete before their toughfinal group game against thedefending World Cupchampions Italy.

The men looking to takeSlovakian football to the nextlevel are coached by formerSlovakian internationalVladimir Weiss.

Liverpool defender MartinŠkrtel is hoping to fight backfrom a broken metatarsal totake his place among hiscountrymen. Other keyplayers include Napolimidfielder Marek Hamšík whooften pops up with vital goals,

and Stanislav Šesták who wasSlovakia’s top goalscorerduring qualifying.

If their best players are attheir peak and the team hitsform, there’s no reason theSlovakians won’t be able topropel their nation to the nextlevel in world football.

AT HOMELanguage: Slovak


Capital: Bratislava

Currency: Euro

National emblem: The coatof arms shows a doublecross representing thecountry’s Christian faith,atop three symbolicmountains

Known for: The Carpathianand Tatra mountains,skiing and tourism

Sweet dreamsof successTHE national football

team of Switzerland hada bit of a shaky start in

the World Cup 2010 qualifiersbut it may have been just thewake-up call the team needsto succeed in South Africa.

The Swiss team, known asSchweizer Nati in German, LaNati in French and Squadranazionale in Italian (asdifferent regions of thecountry speak differentlanguages), were beaten 2-1 byLuxemburg at home but theygot their act together and wereunbeaten in all of the matchesthat followed, managing tofinish first in their group,ahead of Greece, Latvia andIsrael.

It will be the ninth time TheNati have competed in thefinals of the World Cup. Theirbest performances so far havebeen reaching the quarter-finals three times, in 1934, 1938and when the country hostedthe event in 1954.

The youth teams have beenmore successful, winning the

2002 U-17 EuropeanChampionship and the 2009 U-17 World Cup.

However, Switzerland coachOttmar Hitzfeld is hoping it isnow Switzerland’s time toshine.

Hitzfeld is very wellrespected as a coach inEurope, having previously ledBorussia Dortmund andBayern Munich to UEFAChampions League glory.

The former Germanyamateur international hastwice been voted World Coachof the Year and twice winnerof the Champions League.

His team has a strongpedigree of solid star players,such as experienced teamcaptain Alexander Frei, theBasel striker who isSwitzerland’s recordgoalscorer, and fellow strikerBlaise Nkufo whose eye for theball up front saw him scorefive times to help Switzerlandqualify, as well as talentedyoung players, TranquilloBarnetta, Eren Derdiyok andkeeper Diego Benaglio.

AT HOMELanguage: German, French,Italian and Romansh

Population: 7.7m

Area: 41,277 sq km

National anthem: SwissPsalm

Currency: Swiss Franc

Best time to visit: June toOctober or December toFebruary for skiing

National emblem: A redsquare with a white cross

Known for: Chocolate,cheese, banking system,watches and mountains

It’s about time the Swissteam earned themselves amajor trophy and withHitzfield at the helm, whoknows what they can achieve?

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England Expects World Cup Special