Friday 06 August 2010, 16:00
Sure, the Football League kicks off on Friday night and the opening weekend of the Premier League is a doozy (Manchester City-Spurs? Arsenal-Liverpool? Manchester United-Newcastle? Oh my!), but let’s look...
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Tuesday 13 July 2010, 12:40
“Oh! There’ll be an apocalypse!” was the cheerful prediction from the perkily pretty and madly-grinning Sandra, a waitress working in Madrid’s Plaza Dos de Mayo when asked what would happen if Iker Casillas...
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Monday 12 July 2010, 14:57
West Germany’s players ought to have been on top of the world on 7 July 1974. Earlier that day they had left the brilliant Oranje traumatised and won the World Cup. But their euphoria faded faster than...
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Monday 12 July 2010, 11:42
Now the curtain has come down on the 2010 World Cup, we thought it would be nice to share our abiding memories of the tournament with you... Gary Parkinson - Editor, FourFourTwo.com Best game I'd love...
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Tags: World Cup 2010, England, Germany, France, David Villa, Diego Forlan, Raymond Domenech, South Africa, Uruguay, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Patrice Evra, Spain, Holland, Arjen Robben, Brazil, Iker Casillas, Asamoah Gyan, Xavi, Bastien Schweinsteiger, Andres Iniesta, Ghana, Wesley Sneijder
Monday 12 July 2010, 11:00
After every day of World Cup action, the World Cup Breakfast newsletter gave the Draw Specialist chance to comment in cartoon on the day's occurences... Day 1 : The hosts bring us formation celebrations...
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Monday 12 July 2010, 07:00
So it’s all done for another four years. Time for us to ruminate, cogitate, digest then excrete the tournament’s highs and lows. We’ve decided to damn and praise in the form of the first ever World Cup...
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Sunday 11 July 2010, 11:56
The England team may have left South Africa early but the country will still be represented at the 2010 World Cup Final. When Howard Webb leads the Spanish and Dutch teams onto pitch of the Soccer City...
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Friday 09 July 2010, 14:00
There have been 12 different World Cup mascots since Willie swaggered onto the scene in 1966. But which of these creations of varying preposterousness is the best with a ball at their foot or paw? THE...
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Friday 09 July 2010, 09:00
The. World. Cup. Final. Four of the most magical words in the English language. For players, the very apex of their careers, the occasion they’ve been dreaming about since they first toe-poked a spheroid...
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Thursday 08 July 2010, 13:18
The World Cup seems to have touched every bit of South Africa to one degree or another. The England team may have been knocked out of the tournament far too early, but on the day of the first semi-final...
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Thursday 08 July 2010, 10:18
*Buuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* What? Eh? Gaaah! Ow! Morning? What happened?.....Ouch....(Bump! Screech! Bang!) - Eh!” - Repeat for the next 12 hours. This is pretty much how most of Spain is going to spend...
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Wednesday 07 July 2010, 12:05
The dead from the waist up LLL doesn’t really get excited about anything that doesn’t involve zombies. Or grapes. Or both. However, the blog must confess that it had a sleepless Tuesday night. And that...
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Tuesday 06 July 2010, 17:24
So our slippery friend Paul the Octopus has predicted a victory for Spain when they meet Joachim Löw’s German hotshots tomorrow night in Durban. NEWS Germans shell-shocked by octopus pick That’s all very...
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Tuesday 06 July 2010, 09:56
Michael Cox, editor of ZonalMarking.net , on the World Cup semi-finals and the selection posers facing each manager... Spain and Holland have something in common at this tournament. Both have got to the...
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Monday 05 July 2010, 14:40
As a short, fat chap with a natty line in witticisms and winning World Wars once said: “success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” But nobody seems to have told...
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Monday 05 July 2010, 11:02
How is it that the Germans always manage to perform on the greatest stage when it really matters, no matter how low the nation’s expectations are at the outset of a World Cup? Who would have thought that...
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Monday 05 July 2010, 09:23
In many ways Spain’s World Cup performances since the beginning of FIFA-time AD could be described as impotent. After all, la Roja hasn’t even experienced a good semi in the history of the competition...
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Friday 02 July 2010, 17:43
The worst pub stories and jokes, as we all know, are the ones for which ‘you had to be there.’ And in the same way that closing-time alcohol-fuelled feuds tend to reach their climax, the crossfire between...
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Friday 02 July 2010, 13:12
Five thoughts prompted by this World Cup. 1 Uruguay and Year Zero La Celeste fans must pray for the start of a decade. Here is Uruguay’s remarkable record in World Cups that fell in a year ending with...
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Thursday 01 July 2010, 16:35
Seconds after Frank Lampard’s now infamous shot ricocheted down from the crossbar and bounced well behind the German goal-line, there was an almost audible sense of disbelief in the Free State Stadium...
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Thursday 01 July 2010, 12:08
Few people outside Portugal may have heard of Bartolomeu Dias , but in Portuguese schools everyone learns about his feats during the so-called ‘Age of Discovery’. Dias, the first European to have sailed...
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Wednesday 30 June 2010, 17:41
If there has been one mental state that has summed up England’s World Cup campaign, it has been rabid indecision. Whether it was who should mind the nets or partner Wayne Rooney, Fabio Capello – and the...
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Wednesday 30 June 2010, 11:44
La Liga Loca’s ‘Ladeez of Battlestar Galactica’ calendar - Cylon Boomer is next month’s model, yay! - says that July is almost upon us. And that means the blog has been watching and droning on about football...
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Tuesday 29 June 2010, 11:35
Leave Fabio Capello and Emile Heskey out of it: here are the people who really undid the Three Lions. Mick Jagger, toxic football luvvie Remember that Japanese horror movie Ringu , in which a cursed videotape...
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Tuesday 29 June 2010, 11:06
After the dreams of Fabio Capello's England were destroyed by Deutschland on Sunday, much of the German media turned its attention to events 44 years ago; when that Russian linesman allowed Geoff Hurst's...
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Monday 28 June 2010, 13:22
Michael Cox, editor of ZonalMarking.net , draws five defensive conclusions from the group stage... The South American sides are defensively excellent. For a continent often characterised by flair and attacking...
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Monday 28 June 2010, 12:30
Surprised by the rather bland 0-0 draw between Portugal and Brazil last Friday? The Portugeezer wasn’t as both teams made a couple of changes on their starting XI and weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders...
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Sunday 27 June 2010, 06:30
Should England do what some sections of the media seem certain they will do, and lose to Germany on penalties this afternoon, it won't be because the weight of history weighed heavily on the players'...
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Saturday 26 June 2010, 21:42
Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge - a member of England's 1986 World Cup squad - tells Luke Nicoli why Fabio Capello's side should be confident going into Sunday's match against...
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Saturday 26 June 2010, 07:02
Some World Cup observations... 1. Barcelona’s a great place to watch the World Cup. There are people from all around the world – especially the leading football nations like Argentina, Brazil, Portugal...
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Saturday 26 June 2010, 07:01
The group phase is over and with more than half of the tournament gone, there’s one undisputable winner, continent-wise: South America. The five Conmebol representatives have played 15 group games, won...
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Saturday 26 June 2010, 07:00
So, it’s the Germans again. Did we really need to face up to those demons this early in the World Cup? If it hadn’t have been for a last-ditch USA goal against Algeria, or Robert Green’s goal-line comedy...
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Friday 25 June 2010, 15:55
Before the World Cup began La Liga Loca would have put everything it owns on Spain winning the trophy. Admittedly, that isn’t a great deal, with the blog’s entire worldly possessions consisting of a bunch...
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Friday 25 June 2010, 13:23
The above may sound like the tag-line from a overproduced and formulaic Hollywood sports movie - they do them fairly often - but it may end up describing, in an admittedly trite way, the longer effects...
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Friday 25 June 2010, 12:45
It hurts when you hit rock bottom and when you get this low there is little chance of bouncing back quickly. Italy are now in a similar if not worse position to that after the tournament in 1974 when they...
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Friday 25 June 2010, 10:28
"That's the last time I follow England. What a load of rubbish. Four years of waiting for this? I'm never supporting them again, ever, and I don't care how they do in this World Cup."...
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Friday 25 June 2010, 09:54
Everywhere in South Africa is trying to get a little rub of the World Cup action. Arrive at East London Airport on the eastern cape and it’s immediately obvious that this is a city trying desperately hard...
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Friday 25 June 2010, 09:26
As we prepare for the Selecao's clash against Portugal, labelled the biggest game of the 2010 World Cup's group phase, the buzz in Brazil goes three ways. 1. Kaka's replacement The unfair red...
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Thursday 24 June 2010, 11:20
Only in Australia could a bout of political maneuvering upstage one of our proudest football triumphs. On the eve of the Socceroos’ vital Group D decider against Serbia, Australia’s ruling Labor party...
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Wednesday 23 June 2010, 13:02
Having assured qualification for the next second round with two wins, Maradona surprised nobody by trying out a couple of second-string players against Greece. Having used 108 players in his preparations...
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Wednesday 23 June 2010, 10:35
It's a funny old game. I mean how, within the space of a mere five days, can a team basking in adoration following a thumping 4-0 thrashing of Australia, find their coach preparing to gear up for a...
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Wednesday 23 June 2010, 10:28
Just over an hour’s flight from Jo’burg, PE, as it is abbreviated locally, is known as ‘the Friendly City’ – and that’s certainly what FFT experienced on arrival: no sooner had we met a couple of locals...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 23:42
No one expected a scoreless draw from England’s Cape Town clash with Algeria, least of all Fabio Capello. After the game, the coach who'd led the team so confidently through qualification seemed completely...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 14:17
Michael Cox, editor of ZonalMarking.net , on how wingers could win (or save) this World Cup... What are we lacking at the World Cup? The obvious answer is goals. So far, we’ve seen a rather miserable 2...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 12:54
Despite some tingly moments in Monday night’s 2-0 win over Honduras, the fountains of Spain remained unmolested and its car horns went untooted when the final whistle blew. It’s the surest of sign that...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 11:52
It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon outside the sleepy town of Knysna and amidst the rolling hills that distinguish the countryside of the Western Cape, a solitary bus is parked, its curtains drawn, its engine...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 10:57
The Portuguese team knew a resounding victory against North Korea would put them in a good position to qualify for the Last 16 of the World Cup - and not only did they do that, but they did it in style...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 10:33
Let’s start with an easy question: is Raymond Domenech bonkers? Most of us – on the evidence of his allegedly astrological approach to team selection, the way he sometimes seems to be smiling at a private...
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Tuesday 22 June 2010, 05:50
Marck Shinners still fears he’s going to wake up, open his eyes, look up from his bed and see once again the bars on the windows. In 1963, he was locked up by South Africa’s apartheid regime on Robben...
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Monday 21 June 2010, 20:22
The weather didn’t read the script. The day that the Brazilians debuted at the 2010 World Cup, the temperature went into freefall. The balmy weather and winter sun that had seemed so apt to host the beautiful...
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Monday 21 June 2010, 12:47
RTE, Ireland's state broadcaster has blanket coverage of the World Cup, covering every match live on TV and online, with added highlights programmes and radio coverage. While so far the quality of...
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Monday 21 June 2010, 12:22
Spain’s oft-displayed disgust of Italian football is largely driven by envy. So much so, it seems, that the initial gameplan of Spain in South Africa was to lift the World Cup in a manner that would make...
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Monday 21 June 2010, 11:22
What a difference a couple of days make - and from the quiet confidence that Italy would progress from what has to be the most modest of groups at this World Cup, it is now a case of do-or-die against...
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Friday 18 June 2010, 11:42
“It'll be a miracle if the Socceroos don't come out of this clash with anything less than a two/three goal defeat,” was what I told FourFourTwo.com contributor Uli Hesse before Australia’s opening...
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Friday 18 June 2010, 11:31
Robert Green may have gifted the USA a point with his absurd goalmouth fumble, but the England players are admirably sticking to Fabio Capello's mantra of positive thinking. Whatever the state of the...
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Friday 18 June 2010, 10:59
Being England manager is a lot like having hiccups. Everybody is fervently convinced that their particular advice will cure your ills. But Fabio Capello shouldn’t worry. The stats show that 58% of teams...
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Friday 18 June 2010, 09:00
It is now day eight and country four of my World Cup adventure , and boy has it flown by. So far I have witnessed how the World Cup is being ‘enjoyed’ in Greece, Serbia and Slovakia - two losses and one...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 16:09
With Spain’s marketing world expecting a comfortable win over Switzerland, the first advert to pop up after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat was David Villa surrounded by a pack of lovely ladies, flogging hair gel...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 15:51
The most defensive World Cup ever? It’s certainly the lowest-scoring one, after the first round of matches. A lack of goals doesn’t always equate to defensive football, but in this tournament it’s hard...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 12:54
The match against Ivory Coast was more of the same old Portugal and unfortunately that same old is not enough for a team that has, or at least likes to think it has, genuine aspirations to win the World...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 11:55
A month after Aimé Jacquet decided against including a precocious young Nicolas Anelka in his final squad for the 1998 World Cup, L’Équipe went to visit the then Arsenal striker in Trappes, the town just...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 11:21
“The time for Africa has come, it has arrived,” announced President Jacob Zuma as he opened the 2010 World Cup. Obviously Zuma had arrived at the stadium with a police escort and didn’t find himself gridlocked...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 09:54
Why has Maradona failed to get the best out of the world’s best player? And what’s the solution? Simon Talbot investigates Right from the start everyone desperately wanted Leo Messi to be the new Diego...
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Thursday 17 June 2010, 09:27
Sausage butties are all well and good but do they make you chuckle or tell you something you don't know? Our World Cup Breakfast newsletter, delivered daily at 7.30am, will give you food for thought...
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Wednesday 16 June 2010, 11:25
Muesli's for mugs, Weetabix for wallies. Our World Cup Breakfast newsletter, delivered daily at 7.30am, will give you food for thought. In this morning's edition: * The World Cup's most prolific...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 19:37
Honduras and El Salvador's 1969 World Cup qualifiers sparked The Football War. As the two faced up again last summer in a bid to reach South Africa, Henry Mance wondered if they were still battling...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 13:00
I arrived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki on Friday, ready to experience my first 'home' match of my adventure - Greece vs South Korea. Thessaloniki is a beautiful port city in the northern Macedonia...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 12:00
Considering that Italy left these shores with the good wishes of no one ringing in their ears, the display in the opening game of the tournament against Paraguay can only be seen as a positive start for...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 10:51
Orange juice, cornflakes and coffee? Pah - try access, insight and humour. Our World Cup Breakfast newsletter, delivered daily at 7.30am, will give you food for thought. In this morning's edition:...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 07:05
At the height of apartheid, says Simon Kuper, thousands of black South Africans flocked to see 'the best game in the world' and a star who was 'better than Pele'... It was a commercial...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 05:56
Samba spies have been hard at it trying to decipher the secrets of winning the World Cup. But FourFourTwo have got its hands on their work and can exclusively reveal its key findings. Titled 'Trends...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 04:06
There’s a belief in Portugal that we don’t perform when expectations are high. Perhaps unfortunately, big things are expected from the 2010 World Cup football squad. Having followed our rocky road to South...
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Tuesday 15 June 2010, 04:05
The battle cry of football’s next superpower or a deluded rant from a nation run by propaganda? Neil Billingham visits the world’s most secretive state... Well-seasoned travellers are used to being woken...
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Monday 14 June 2010, 12:04
How was your breakfast? Informative and amusing? If not, try our newsletter, delivered daily at 7.30am. In this morning's edition: * Why Denmark have the best strikers in South Africa * Interviewed...
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Monday 14 June 2010, 11:56
Only six different teams have reached the 10 World Cup finals since 1970: Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, (West) Germany, Argentina and France. Isn’t it about time someone smashed this cartel? Or at least...
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Monday 14 June 2010, 11:49
Marcello Lippi will keep everyone guessing right up to just before kick-off this evening, but let us hope that the Italy coach is not playing the guessing game as well. For a man who likes nothing better...
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Sunday 13 June 2010, 15:19
In 2008, Leos were in Raymond Domenech’s line of fire. Since April this year, it’s been any footballer with an over-inflated sense of self worth. Interviewed in L’Équipe barely two months ago, the 58-year...
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Sunday 13 June 2010, 15:00
Did you have a nice breakfast? It would have tasted better with our newsletter, delivered daily at 7.30am. In this morning's edition: * Why we knew the Algeria-Slovenia game would be pants * Tim Cahill's...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 18:30
Wayne Rooney? Landon Donovan? Frank Lampard? Tim Howard? No, we Brazilians believe the most likely man to decide the England vs United States World Cup clash could be referee Carlos Eugênio Simon. Sad...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 16:54
Germany’s ‘efficiency’ and ‘mentality’ are again expected to come to the fore this summer, but how do they actually work? Ulrich Hesse, author of Tor! , the definitive book on German football, lifts the...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 09:48
Are you getting yours at breakfast? Subscribe to our newsletter and we'll bring you the World (Cup) as you munch your cornflakes. In this morning's epistle: * How many Argentinians wanted Maradona...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 08:30
Back in December the World Cup seemed a lifetime away, and FourFourTwo just couldn’t wait to see how Fabio's boys would get on in South Africa, so the folk behind Championship Manager were kind enough...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 08:08
Introducing the world’s barmiest footballing nation including fans who make a spectacle with their spectacles and Archbishop Tutu offering FIFA officials tickets to heaven… A is for... Argentina The most...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 05:00
If England win the World Cup will Fabio Capello be considered England’s greatest ever manager? We hear both sides of the argument... Gabriele Marcotti - Author of Capello: Portrait of a Winner If England...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 01:16
All is not well in the world of Argentine NGOs. Typically, when you say NGO, you’d think a group of centre-left-minded, do-gooding progressive thinkers joined together to do their bit for the world. Sure...
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Saturday 12 June 2010, 00:55
Michael Cox, editor of ZonalMarking.net , on how a discredited system is coming back into fashion... There hasn’t been a great amount of tactical variety in European football recently. With two-striker...
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Friday 11 June 2010, 18:26
Security has been a big issue for everyone coming to this World Cup, not least for the teams, but each football nation has a completely different way of approaching the policing of its players. Turn up...
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Friday 11 June 2010, 12:36
It's a late breakfast on the first day, but our daily newsletter should now be in your inbox. Featured today * Banned elephants * Man U's new-boy profiled * Why Thierry Henry mustn't play tonight...
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Friday 11 June 2010, 11:04
Mexico manager Javier Aguirre must have been most alarmed to learn of those uptight, pontificating, busybody, killjoy do-gooders at FIFA ordering referees to listen out for on-pitch profanities and to...
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Friday 11 June 2010, 08:30
He’s a canny strategist, this Pim Verbeek. Lull the world into thinking that the Socceroos are easybeats and then POW! Suddenly Australia are walking away with a narrow 1-0 win over Germany. At least,...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 22:19
With the World Cup just a few weeks away, citizens of the lucky 32 nations that are participating will be getting excited. In Ireland, though, things are a little different. As has been pointed out, most...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 21:50
It’s always good to be optimistic at the outset of another World Cup campaign, and former England defender Viv Anderson is certainly optimistic. Four days before the start of the tournament he could be...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 21:17
When Eric Cantona was eight, he wept as his beloved Holland lost the 1974 World Cup final to Franz Beckenbauer’s West Germany. The Marsellais legend’s romance with Dutch football began with Cruyff, Total...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 12:42
Qualifying ahead of Argentina bodes well for a disrupted country, says Henry Mance... More than a decade after the peak of Ivan Zamorano and Marcelo Salas, Chile are again being fancied for their attacking...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 12:30
They knocked out the lights of Costa Rica and Jamaica in qualifying, says Jamie Trecker, but Honduras have an uphill struggle in South Africa. Tiny Honduras is better known for its Byzantine politics than...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 11:53
Good organisation and low expectations mean a young, star-struck Swiss team could spring a surprise... Ottmar Hitzfeld’s reign as Switzerland coach couldn’t have got off to a worse start. They began qualifying...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 11:30
FFT's whistle-stop tour of South Africa hits its picture-postcard hot-spot... Cape Town is one of those rare cities that takes your breath away as soon as you arrive. Its main attractions are immediately...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 11:18
The European Champions won every one of their 10 qualifying games and are brimming with confidence, writes Simon Talbot. Something shifted in Vienna. When Fernando Torres brushed past Phillipp Lahm and...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 10:42
The Elephants were struggling even before Didier Drogba's injury... Do golden generations ever win anything? By general consent this crop of Ivorian players – Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 10:18
They may have Ronaldo, but injuries and an unpopular manager spell trouble for Portugal, says Ben Lyttleton. Portugal came through a tough qualifying group with more questions than answers for coach Carlos...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 09:44
Recreating their own personal glory of 1966 looks to be mission impossible for North Korea. Or is it? The team with a 100 per cent record of reaching the quarter-final stage at the World Cup are given...
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Thursday 10 June 2010, 08:00
A sixth World Cup is within Brazil's grasp – with or without beautiful football. Forget everything you’ve ever heard about Brazil. Drop the beautiful game clichés, skip the image of a symphony of samba...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 17:20
Our guide to England's group destinations starts off a little Rusty… England’s World Cup begins here with a game against the USA on June 12. Most fans will drive, taxi or get coaches in from Johannesburg...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 17:10
South Africa has never seen a sporting event on the scale of the World Cup before, and they’re very, very excited about it. Equally, the World Cup has never witnessed anything quite like South Africa....
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 16:05
Lots of non-football fans will be watching the World Cup, which can only be a good thing. But the great uninitiated hordes of Johnny and Jenny Come Latelys will be asking you lots of questions about the...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 15:23
The World Cup debutants have Marek Hamsik and a kind draw but have to overcome injury and inconsistency, writes Neil Billingham. In qualifying for their first major tournament as an independent nation...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 15:02
The All Whites had a simple route to South Africa but staying there will be a harder task, says James Montague. On the face of it, New Zealand couldn't have hoped for an easier path to the World Cup...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 12:31
The South Americans need to recreate the form of a few years ago, says Henry Mance. If the World Cup is about peaking at the right time, then someone forgot to tell Paraguay. The Albirroja set the pace...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 12:30
The World Champions aren't considered frontrunners this year despite the easiest of groups, explains Matthew Barker. Italy remains very much a country for old men. Calcio’s mystifying reluctance to...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 12:00
More often than not, things don’t always go to plan in Spain despite the best of intentions. Take the country’s half-hearted attempt at a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, for example, that saw just...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 11:31
Italy flew out of Milan’s Malpensa Airport under cover of darkness surrounded by the same patriotic fervour than now accompanies Republic Day. So, still no real enthusiasm for Marcello Lippi’s boys as...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 11:06
The Indomitable Lions can count themselves a little lucky to have qualified, but they'll need more than good fortune to progress past a tough group... Graham Gooch once described New Zealand’s bowling...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 10:42
The co-hosts of 2002 can't wait to put the disappointment of the last World Cup behind them, but they're short of a top-class finisher... This World Cup can’t come soon enough for Japan. The nation...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 10:27
Spirited and strong down the middle, Denmark won't be easy to topple – unless teams get down the flanks, says Dan Brennan This is arguably the strongest Danish team since the side that gatecrashed...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 10:16
They have almost too much attacking talent to choose from – but, asks Ben Lyttleton, will Holland be undone by defensive worries again? Holland may not have had the toughest World Cup qualifying group...
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Wednesday 09 June 2010, 10:00
Abou Diaby has been compared with Patrick Vieira ever since he joined Arsenal four years ago. The similarities were there for the laziest of observers to notice: their club, position, lanky gait, marauding...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 21:48
Promising youngsters replacing crocked veterans has worked for them at the back, but Ghana may not have enough in the final third... Of the World Cup-qualified sides, only Ghana were remotely impressive...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 21:25
Talented players, balanced attack, tactical flexibility: beating Serbia will require a good team - or their own self-destruction... This is a gifted Serbia side, but the question, as ever, will be whether...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 20:45
They'd be proud to be described as "B*ggers to beat", but the Socceroos need a cutting edge, warns Sam Pilger... After three decades in the international wilderness, Australia have broken...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 20:20
Rarely far from the medal positions, Germany have been getting closer to glory, says Ulrich Hesse – and might be fun to watch Germany manager Joachim Low has repeatedly stated that he aims to win the title...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 19:08
Tiny but tidy, organised if slightly dull, Slovenia might be able to put themselves on the map... For a nation of just two million people with a historical suspicion of sports that don’t involve sliding...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 18:40
Capable of brilliance yet deeply inconsistent, Algeria can be a danger to others or an embarrassment to themselves, says James Montague... Blood, fire and the expectations of history: Algeria have had...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 17:14
No longer a joke or a novelty, the US need to take it to the next level, says Jamie Trecker... The United States enter the World Cup as a team in transition. No longer the unknowns or the underdogs after...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 16:53
With a great manager and strong squad, the Three Lions are two-thirds there – but will they be scythed down by luck? Three things determine whether a side will be successful at a World Cup: the coach,...
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Tags: Fabio Capello, England, John Terry, Theo Walcott, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Steve McClaren, David Beckham, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Emile Heskey, Gareth Barry, Sven Goran Eriksson, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney
Tuesday 08 June 2010, 00:32
Some had wondered whether Otto Rehhagel had outlived his usefulness. Success in Euro 2004 was followed by failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 or Euro 2008. The Greek FA remained patient, though...
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Tuesday 08 June 2010, 00:01
Organised yet fluid, unbeaten in qualification yet vulnerable in friendlies, with young stars but an ageing backbone, South Korea are a mass of contradictions... With eight appearances on the global stage...
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Tags: South Korea, Park Chu-young, Lee Young-pyo, Cho Yong-hyong, Lee Woon-jae, Ki Song-yong, Lee Jung-soo, Park Ji-sung, Lee Dong-gook, Cha Duri, Lee Chung-young, Kim Jung-woo
Monday 07 June 2010, 23:51
They might be the biggest nation in African football, but Nigeria are far from the best... We’ve been here before. Far, far too often. One in six Africans is Nigerian, Nigeria has as deep a passion for...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 23:28
Many might expect Maradona's men to self-destruct – but, says Martin Mazur, the dressing room is united, and stuffed with rather good players Argentinians know that Brazil took 24 years to win their...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 22:37
They're inconsistent and rely on a 21-year-old, but as Henry Mance reports, Uruguay will always give it their best shot... Never write off the Uruguayans. This is a country that enjoys triumph in adversity...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 22:14
They passed pretty patterns ariound Capello's England in a friendly – but, says Jamie Trecker, Mexico are fortunate to be involved... Mexico enter their fifth straight World Cup finals re-energised...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 21:44
The World Cup has never had lower-ranking hosts, reveals Piers Edwards – so they'll have to produce a few surprises to stay at the party... South Africa wouldn't be at the finals at all unless...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 20:41
Winners in 1998, finalists in 2006 - but as Jean-Claude Malet explains, the French aren't fancied by many this time... It’s hard to remember a time when fans, pundits and former players were so down...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 16:26
Access all areas: FFT interviews players from all 32 World Cup nations There's a new FourFourTwo out just in time for the World Cup, and we've been rather busy. Where other magazines might interview...
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Tags: Yoann Gourcuff, Silvio Gazzaniga, Robert Koren, Paul Mariner, David Villa, Gordon Strachan, Simon Kuper, Gus Poyet, Igor Akinfeev, Mark Schwarzer, Robbie Savage, Mark Gonzalez, Matt Derbyshire, Johan Volanthen, Sam Sodje, John Paintsil, Andrew Boyens, Shunsuke Nakamura, Karim Matmour, Danny Mills, Theofanis Gekas, Aurelien Chedjou, Maynor Figueroa, Jozy Altidore, Tommy Smith, Chu Young-Park, Daniel Jensen, Simao Sabrosa, Elia Eljero, Steven Gerrard, Nikola Zigic, Nelson Valdez, Terry Butcher, Daniele de Rossi, Obafemi Martins, Diego Forlan, Steven Pienaar, Kaka, Ahn Young-Hak, Tim Cahill, Alan Shearer, Michael Ballack, Ronald de Boer, Andres Guardado, Jay DeMerit, Stanislav Sestak, Mark Lawrenson, Zlatko Dedic, Scott McDonald, Michael Owen, Saloman Kalou
Monday 07 June 2010, 15:14
One of the oddest World Cup-flavoured things we've been sent – and man, there's competition for that title – is this MorphSuit . The combination of England's last warm-up game and the magazine...
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Monday 07 June 2010, 12:49
It was just a few weeks ago that I felt we’d officially crossed the line into the ‘World Cup Zone’. By this, I mean the period of the year in which if you don’t hear the words ‘World Cup’, or a variation...
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Saturday 05 June 2010, 09:00
We guarantee this won't be the most beautiful FourFourTwo.com page you ever look at, but it could be the most helpful. Here, ladies and gentlemen, are the keys that unlock the best World Cup news,...
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Friday 04 June 2010, 11:30
Two Bastian Schweinsteiger penalties in the space of five second half minutes afforded Jogi Löw's German national team the opportunity to sign off their World Cup warm-ups with a win over Bosnia. Edin...
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Friday 04 June 2010, 10:10
Sometimes, idly flicking through the satellite channels, you come across sun-kissed athletic bodies stretching lithely on some impeccably-manicured foreign turf. So it is today, but instead of Aerobics...
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Wednesday 02 June 2010, 16:49
Unsurprisingly, Italy will be at their most prudent when defending their World title. Marcello Lippi’s only act of extravagance was to keep the country waiting until late into the evening on the last day...
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Wednesday 02 June 2010, 12:01
First Harry Potter, now the World Cup. Arsenal forward Theo Walcott’s England Under-21 commitments meant he missed out on a cameo role in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix in the summer of 2006...
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Tuesday 01 June 2010, 19:44
After a day of leaked 'news' stories about the England squad, FourFourTwo.com editor Gary Parkinson wonders whether we don't all get what we deserve. No, not you, Theo... There's nothing...
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Friday 28 May 2010, 15:21
There’s a refreshing lack of pretension about Denmark’s preparation for this World Cup. One of the last things the squad did on home soil was go back to the clubs where their careers had started to press...
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Monday 24 May 2010, 11:19
Ledley King is a better option in the centre of England's midfield than Gareth Barry or Michael Carrick, while the 'unadaptable' Darren Bent should be spending the summer on the beach, according...
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Thursday 20 May 2010, 16:14
The England squad has been shrunk dramatically. As the picture below shows, the players are now barely larger than a match ticket. Even Peter Crouch only just peeps over the top of it, while Shaun Wright...
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