So after 30 days, 30 sad goodbyes, 63 matches and a million story lines, this is it – the game that will bring four years of joy and an eternal place in history.

The World Cup final.

More than one billion people will be tuning in around the globe to see football’s ultimate prize battled for on the field of Soccer City. And it will all be decided by a small group of men from the Netherlands and Spain who know that their greatest moment and a permanent spot in folklore await them. Here’s the deal of the Live Screening we are hosting in Mumbai.

There is no more cherished feat in football than this. The performances of one night can shape the legacy of the combatants and the mood of two nations. Here is what you should be watching out for: Read the rest of this entry »

Spain have booked their place in the World Cup final with a classy 1-0 win against Germany, guaranteeing a new team will win the World Cup. The Dutch, despite making it to two finals in a row(1974, 1978), have never won the competition and Spain … well it was the first time they’d reached the semis.

Carles Puyol’s thumping second-half header was enough to send Spain into their first World Cup final, and to ensure there will be a new name on the trophy when they dace Netherlands on Sunday. The European Champions dominated possession and barely gave the Germans a chance, although a slow, bobbly pitch at the Moses Mabhida Stadium took some sting out of both teams’ attacks. Germany will rue the moment Sergio Ramos appeared to catch Mesut Ozil as the playmaker ran through on goal in first-half stoppage time. Any contact took place just outside the box but a harsher referee than Viktor Kassai might have shown a red card. Thereafter it was all Spain, who passed the ball relentlessly. David Villa just failed to make contact with a low cross in front of goal in a move similar to Paul Gascoigne’s against Germany at Euro ‘96. It took Puyol to break the deadlock on 73 minutes, converting emphatically from a Xavi corner. Spain should have finished it off late on when they raced through two-on-one, but Pedro inexplicably failed to pass to an unmarked Fernando Torres. It was another triumph for Paul the Octopus, who has correctly predicted the result of all six Germany matches. Spain have won all three games in the knockout rounds 1-0.

Uruguay, Italy, West Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, France… on Sunday an eighth team will win the World Cup. Will it be twice beaten finalists Netherlands, widely acknowledged as the best football nation never to have won the tournament? Or will it be Spain, who have never finished better than fourth before, but who are European champions and favourites?

The World Cup has been a remarkably closed shop, with only the occasional win for the hosts spicing things up. If you discount tournaments won by the hosts, the list of winners looks like this: Read the rest of this entry »

OK! I’m no football pundit, but here are five changes I would make to improve the World Cup. Three of them are alterations to the laws of the game, two are World Cup-specific.

Challenge system

Following Frank Lampard’s non-goal against Germany, FIFA will look into goal-line technology again, and this time it has every chance of being introduced.

Good, but it will only cover a small percentage of the errors made by officials. Instead, I would introduce a challenge system similar to that used in the NFL.

Each coach has two challenges, which he can use to review any call during the game. A goal, an offside, a handball, it doesn’t matter - everything is reviewable.

The game is stopped for a maximum of 60 seconds while the officials look at replays. If the challenge is right, the call is reversed. If not, it stands.

Crucially, the challenge is used up whether you are right or not, meaning coaches would have to save them up for really important decisions and a maximum of four minutes would be added to game time.

If you are out of challenges and you suffer a major injustice, tough - managing them becomes a major part of the coach’s job. If you suffer three huge injustices in one match… well, you’re extremely unlucky.

It satisfies FIFA’s desire to make officials’ human error part of the game, and it satisfies everyone else’ desire to see the right decisions made.

Penalty goals

The demonisation of Luis Suarez after his now infamous handball against Ghana was unfair, but it did show the laws need a tweak.

Uruguay’s Suarez saved a goal-bound shot with his hands in the dying moments of extra-time - had he not acted, Ghana would be in the semi-finals.

Referee Olegario Benquerenca correctly awarded a penalty and sent off Suarez. But Asamoah Gyan missed the spot-kick and Uruguay won the shoot-out.

Comparisons between Suarez and Thierry Henry are wide of the mark (Suarez’s act was seen and punished, Henry’s handball against Ireland was deception that went unseen by the officials), but there is no doubt Uruguay profited from a deliberate act of foul play.

So why not take a leaf out of rugby’s book? In Rugby - “The egg-chasers have a penalty try which can be awarded when foul play prevents a certain try, or when a team persistently infringes when defending their own try line.”

It would be simple in football - if a player handles to stop a goal-bound shot, the goal is awarded directly. Any other fouls inside the box remain straightforward penalties.

Stoppage time

More thieving from rugby here to give players and spectators a clearer idea of how much  time remains.

Under the current, vague, system, the fourth official holds up the amount of added time to the nearest minute, but ultimately the referee is in charge of ending the game. And of course the fourth official’s board cannot account for stoppages within stoppage time.

In rugby, however, the referee can stop the game clock every time play is halted for any length of time. That way, time is up when the clock hits 80 minutes. Simple.

How would it work in football? Just the same. If there is an injury, a substitution or a goal, the referee stops the clock, so time is added on within the usual 90 minutes. There is not another major sport in which nobody knows exactly when the match is going to end. Time for football to catch up.

The ball

There may or may not be something in the moaning every time a ball is released for the World Cup, but it seems bizarre that teams go into the tournament using a ball that they are unfamiliar with.

Whatever the merits of the Jabulani, it seems ridiculous that it was completely new to many countries. And it is an easy fix.

Certain sponsors may not like it, but it should be compulsory for the domestic leagues of all 32 qualifiers to use the new ball for six months before the World Cup.

Some sensible countries like Germany (surprise, surprise) already do it, but everybody should.

That way, even if they are playing the World Cup with a beach ball, every team has had plenty of time to get used to it.

More South Americans

Here are the number of teams from each continent that made it through the group stage of this World Cup:

Europe 6/13
South America 5/5
Africa 1/6
Asia 2/4
North and Central America 2/3
Oceania 0/1

If we ignore South Africa who qualified automatically as hosts, how is it possible that Africa gets the same allocation of teams as South America?

Next time they will get hosts Brazil plus five, which is a help, but the continent still seems criminally under-represented when all of their teams reached the knockout rounds and four got to the quarter-finals.

I suppose it comes down to the number of countries. South America only has 10 teams, while Africa has 53.

But you can be quite sure Ecuador and Colombia would have been competitive, while of the African non-qualifiers only Egypt could say that with any conviction.

Asia seems under-represented following Australia’s defection from Oceania, although it is worth remembering Bahrain lost a play-off to New Zealand. But for all the talk of Africa as the emerging force in football, its population (one billion) is dwarfed by that of Asia (four billion).

Europe’s 13-team allocation looks shaky after more than half went home after the group stage.

UEFA could offer a defence that its teams’ failure was a freak, and that the quality of the sides that failed to qualify (Russia, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Croatia, Turkey) is higher in Europe than any other continent.

Here’s how I would allocate teams:

Hosts: 1
Europe: 12
South America: 6
Asia: 5
Africa: 4
North/Central America: 3/4
Oceania: 0/1

Winner of Oceania zone plays off against four-placed North/Central America team.

What a night of football! Finally a day that you can say you watched World Cup football and loved it to the Tee.

The favourites are out after an inexplicable second-half meltdown against an appreciative Dutch side. On a sub-standard Port Elizabeth pitch, Dunga’s Brazilian side were in control at half-time, albeit without playing their best stuff. Robinho had captialised on a parting Dutch back four, latching on to Felipe Melo’s through ball and slotting a low shot past Maarten Stekelenburg from just outside the area. But it all went horribly wrong early in the second period. Michel Bastos was lucky not to see a second yellow card for a late challenge on Arjen Robben, but from the free-kick Holland were level; Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar missed Wesley Sneijder’s free-kick and Melo glanced the ball into his own net. Sneijder was the man again on 68 minutes, as one of the smallest men on the pitch somehow headed in a corner from close range. Melo then compounded his error by getting sent off for a stamp on Robben, and Brazil’s challenge was over. Dunga has confirmed he is leaving his job.

Africa cruelly missed out on its first World Cup semi-finalist as Ghana lost one of the most astonishing games the competition has ever seen. Sulley Muntari’s long-range strike in the first half was cancelled out after the break by a spectacular, dipping Diego Forlan free-kick. But the real drama came right at the end of extra-time, when Uruguay striker Luis Suarez used his arms to save a goalbound Dominic Adiyiah header. Referee Olegario Benquerenca awarded a penalty and sent off Suarez. Asamoah Gyan, with two penalties to his name already in the tournament, had the chance to win it with the last kick of the game… and hit the bar. It went straight to penalties, and astonishingly Gyan took Ghana’s first kick, planting it nervelessly into the top-right corner. But misses by John Mensah and Adiyiah gave Sebastian Abreu an opportunity to win it, and he coolly chipped the ball down the middle to break a continent’s heart. Just to rub it in, Suarez was carried shoulder-high by the Uruguay team.

No doubt you have seen the flashy Nike advert on the telly during the World Cup. Entitled ‘Write the future’, it imagines the future in the event of success or failure for a number of players.

For example, Wayne Rooney gives the ball away in the last minute and is pictured living in a trailer park, sporting a dirty vest and a bushy beard. But Rooney chases back and executes a perfect tackle. Footage changes - meeting with The Queen, and a hospital ward full of babies called Wayne.

It’s all good fun, but to Nike’s horror the stars of the advert have one-by-one seen their tournament cut short. Here’s a look Read the rest of this entry »

A very boring Brazil-Portugal game ended 0-0 with barely any shots on target or any moments to discuss about in the full game. Apart from one though, the place where we’re screening the games in Mumbai, one staff member firmly believes ARG stands for Aurangabad and that Australia being a strong cricket side can surely defeat Brazil! God would this country ever forget about cricket for once!?

We can discuss football though, and just to start with, really looking forward to see England play Germany tonight! For all fans, Schweinsteiger is fit and Capello is still confused = Carra or King or Upson. Anyone BUT Carragher! Green would also do! Carragher’s so slow that even Capello can outrun him. And David James is hoping England don’t face Ghana in any of the knock-out rounds since they play ‘free-flowing’ football. Waow. Also, Capello believes Rooney has played just fine till now and that he fully supports him. He didn’t talk about Lampard though. But that wasn’t his fault actually, it’s just that Lampard is so anonymous throughout the game that the manager has even forgotten his existence! Although I’m still sure as usual he’ll be named in the squad tonight. Hopefully he’ll give a good performance when it’s required.

Come this way for all your Comments!

So, it’s Germany. It had to be. The Germans simply don’t slip up in crucial World Cup group games.

So obvious was it that they would beat Ghana and win Group D that I am actually typing this at half-time, when they are still drawing 0-0 :- as things stand England will play Ghana in the second round. As if.

There’s more chance of Domenech and Nicolas Anelka buying an apartment together in some French city than Ghana doing a Serbia.

Sunday’s game already has the ring of a classic, albeit a classic including Mesut Ozil running riot,  penalty shoot-out and national depression: Germany v England, 7:30pm.

But it rather throws into relief just how difficult a path to the final England now have. Read the rest of this entry »

The FIFA WC 2010 has kicked off with a BANG! Not really. Both the games played today ended as draws. France and 10-man Uruguay played out a goalless draw and hosts RSA drew 1-1 with Mexico. We can expect better football tomorrow though as England take on the U.S.A and current champions Italy too would be in action. However if you guys were bored today you can do something that’s interesting, i.e.

Come this way for all your Comments!

• Scores
• Scorers

The World Cup starts today, finally! Bucking Frilliant… feels like this one’s taken an age to come around! With Africa hosting the biggest sporting that is, for the 1st time ever, it definitely promises to be a lavish, colourful (and bloody vuvuzela noisy!) party.

Yes, this will be no war … it’s Africa and hence it has to be a paaarrrtaay!!

56 Games played between 32 Nations over 4 Weeks only to find the new Champions of the Beautiful Game!

With an estimated 750 million viewers poised to watch this time’s edition, it definitely seems to be the year’s biggest event. And even if you swear by your cricket love, I’m sure you won’t be able to resist the fever. With India’s favourite teams - Brazil and Argentina, both looking good and being tipped to take the top honours, it definitely seems to be the flavour of the month. Loyalties have definitely shifted from the day-long sport of cricket to the rather 90 minute excitement package called football.

In case you’re not a football junkie and have no clue about the on-going discussions about the WC, here’s a low down on what you exactly need to know:- Read the rest of this entry »

Rafa Benitez is ‘almost’ the new Inter boss after a hell lot of speculation. Oh and we’re back!

Coming back to this article, Inter President Moratti has, in accordance with certain reports, suggested that Benitez deal is close. The Spaniard left Liverpool on Thursday after ‘mutual consent’ with the board. He has since then been continuously linked with the Inter job. Also, it has been reported that Benitez will take most of his coaching staff with him to San Siro. It is expected that the 50-year-old Spaniard will sign a 3-year deal with this year’s CL winners.

Benitez at Liverpool could only win 2 trophies, i.e. the CL in 05 and the FA Cup in 06. However, he had to pay the price for finishing 7th this year even after having a good season last time around. Now, the question is who would take over at Anfield? Currently David Moyes, Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson have been linked with the job. Also, would Steven Gerrard follow Benitez out of the club?

Come this way for all your Comments!

Blue is the colour of the day and would remain for the next full year as Chelsea are Champions of BPL 09-10 season. They deserve it don’t they? 103 goals scored over a span of 38 games is quite exceptional and the best we’ve seen since 1963.

Chelsea started off the game slowly and looked nervy. Wigan were the better side for the first 15-20 minutes or so even though Nic Anelka gave Chelsea the lead in the opening 6 minutes of the game. However, the game completely changed after Caldwell got himself red-carded when he pulled Lampard’s shirt and fouled him in the box denying the midfielder from a scoring opportunity. Soft but the ref didn’t have another option since the shirt pull was very evident. Lampard made no mistakes and Chelsea went 2-0 ahead, at home, against a 10-man Wigan side. Hence the goal riot was meant to happen. Drogba was the hat-trick hero and won the golden boot with 29 goals for the season. However his shambolic sulk in the first half [when Lampard did not let him take the penalty] would we well forgotten. He did take the one in the second half though, and scored. Ashley Cole finished off the season in style hitting a beautiful volley into the net. 8-0 to Chelsea, 103 goals for Chelsea, Golden Boot for Chelsea and the golden glove too-oh and the BPL title after 4 LONG years. Credit to United to take it down to the wire however I believe the better team won.

Oh for the last time this season, come this way for all your Comments!

Just when it all seemed to go back United’s way, Chelsea spanked Stoke 7-0 showing why they were champions and why they still are in the best position to win it back after a 4-year long wait.

Yesterday, It was Arsenal Manc too. But the game was i think limited to welcoming back Pat Viera and booing Adebayor. There weren’t more than 3-4 shots, unless i missed a few, but the only thing i can remember is Adebayor getting booed and of course, his horrendous hairstyle. Coming back to football, Arsenal still needs a new back line. Vermalaen of course is brilliant, but the rest aren’t world class. Their crossing even yesterday was as usual woeful and unfortunately it is an important part of the game.

Like every other True Blue, i was glued to the television screen yesterday hoping Bale produces some magic and United are out of it! However, he couldn’t. In fact, he was rubbish at the position where he plays. Just shows the difference between him and Ashley Cole or for that matter even Evra. United scored first when Asse..something gave United a penalty after a terrible terrible tackle in the box. Giggs made no mistakes. Naturally i was delighted when King scored, but my happiness was limited. Nani received a brilliant ball in the box and chipped the ball past Gomes into the net. Take nothing away from the finish, it was magnificent. Although i do not like him, but he’s good, really good. He won a penalty too few minutes later, generous though but was a penalty. Giggs again made no mistakes. It ended 3-1 to United but once again a highly frustrating game for Berbatov.

Now it was Chelsea’s turn to go back to the top of the table. And they did, in style. Kalou scored his first Chelsea Hat-trick, Lampard put in two, Malouda and Sturridge put in one each. Overall a great morale boosting performance. Stoke thrashed 7-0, third time this season we score 7. And I’m a proud Chelsea fan like every other. Unfortunately Drogba couldn’t score, however his contribution was good.

Elsewhere, Liverpool thrashed Burnley out of the BPL by scoring 4 second-half goals against them. They’re now only 2 points off Tottenham who host Bolton next week and are curently fourth. However both ManC and Spurs have a game in hand and it still looks unlikely for Liverpool, but you never know!

Come this way for all your Comments!

It isn’t over yet. And nobody knows that more than Jose Mourinho. Offered the opportunity to announce last night’s 3-1 win over Barcelona as the best of his Inter career, the manager politely declined. Winning at Chelsea in the previous round was better, he said, because that was in the second leg and ensured his team’s progress. He knows it is still only half-time in this semi.

In many ways for the neutral, the night’s result was the best possible thing to happen. You imagine that it will have sparked Barcelona, banished any hint of complacency. In doing so it has set up the second leg brilliantly. To progress now, Pep Guardiola’s team will have to reach levels of attainment even they have not yet managed. Next Wednesday’s second leg in the Camp Nou cannot come soon enough: it promises to be titanic.

What that clash did was to remind the world that when it comes to a tactical game plan Jose Mourinho currently has no peers. While Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson and many others have been left floundering in Barcelona’s tight-passing techniques, Mourinho set out a methodology which nullified them. It is pretty obvious what he did: Arsenal, for instance, were destroyed by allowing Lionel Messi the freedom of the space about 10 metres ahead of their penalty area. From there he was able to attack them at will, running at their back line at pace with the ball apparently cemented to his laces.

Mourinho coached his team to press Barcelona further back. Much further back. As a result, Messi spent most of his time last night picking the ball up close to the half way line. From there, Inter’s midfield could snap in on him and if they didn’t dispossess the world’s finest player, then the defenders following up on their heels could do so. Rarely in a season, never mind one match, could he have given the ball away as often as he did in the San Siro. The poor lad barely had the chance to breathe before Wesley Sneijder or Walter Samuel or the wonderful Lucio were at him.

What’s more, Barcelona’s defence likes to play up the pitch. With Inter winning the ball so high, suddenly Barca’s back line were exposed to the through ball or the through run. Sure, it helped Mourinho enormously that his tactic was aided by an apparently blind linesman who allowed Inter’s third goal to be scored from a position so far offside Diego Milito was practically in the stands when he nodded home. But there is no doubt that while many have theorised about the way to stop Barcelona playing, the Portuguese made it happen. Not least because in the brilliant Sneijder he had a midfielder perfectly equipped to fulfil his run-all-night instructions.

The Italians have a certainty that their coaches are the best in the world. And a glance at England’s current infatuation with managers from there would suggest that they are not alone in that opinion. Yet, since Carlo Ancellotti’s Milan won the title in 2007, Serie A teams have not been making any impact on the Champions League.  Spanish and English clubs have dominated of late.

Never exactly short of self-certainty, the Mourinho ego was more inflated than ever before. All this result will have done is confirm in his own mind his opinion of himself. And the fact is, he has a case. As he himself pointed out, he has already transformed Inter from the Champions League also-rans they’ve so often been called to serious titles contenders. The Mourinho master plan is working. And Abromovich, so desperate for that one trophy, will regret.

Moving on to the second semi-final, I’m staggered that the commentators are still referring to Bayern as a weak team? Bar their centre backs they’ve got some quality! Ribery, Robben, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Muller, Ollic (sometimes)…

Ribery went off for a ridiculous challenge. His week couldn’t get worse, could it? I feel he’s had a ‘Britney Spears shaved head’ moment! Now we really don’t bother with what footballers do outside the pitch. We couldn’t care less about Terry shagging his mate’s girlfriend or Beckham getting a fancy hair-do. Nor did we bother about half the French team getting tangled in a sex-rackett bust-up…. until now. Imagine how Bayern are feeling right now… their prized asset admitting that he’s f*cked an underage hooker! Yieks, one minute you’ve got a £60mn superstar on your hands, the next, you’ve got a pervert worth nothing commercially!

Dear oh dear! What is it with footballers? I thought picking up women was supposed to be as easy as plucking flowers. Jokes aside, when you earn£150k a week, surely you should be doing something a little classier with your mates on a Saturday night. He’ll never shake that image now… who will want to purchase him now (Chelsea probably, not much will shock their shabby fans)?

What a season! What a season! It doesn’t get better than this it never would get better than this!

After having almost won the title 3-4 times this season, Chelsea has again blown it away. This time, they’ve lost to an inspired Tottenham side who has defeated two title contenders within 4 days. First Arsenal, now Chelsea. And ironically, they play the third one next week.

Earlier in the day, United shut their loud rivals for good when Scholes scored a last minute header, keeping the title race very much alive. It was a very scrappy game and could have gone either way. There weren’t many clear cut chances for either side. Rooney did start but was taken off in the second half. Showed good signs of recovery too. However, the turning point was the substitution of De Jong.

In the 21:55 Tot-Che game, many would’ve thought that Chelsea will win as they have been winning against Spurs since the past several years. Chelsea have gained the maximum league points against Tottenham, ever since their existence. That wasn’t the case tonight. Not only did “Captain” John Terry get himself sent off for a foolish second yellow card offense, but also gave away a penalty in the start of the game after the ball hit his hand [may be]. Anyway, the penalty was awarded and Defoe made no mistakes. In the first half itself, Bale doubled Tottenham’s lead. He cut ferreira [who I HATE] like a dog and shot the ball past Cech into the net. In the second half, Spurs were decent and played well enough to hang on to their lead. Chelsea showed the usual signs of frustration. Taking full advantage of their counter-attacks, Tottenham had 3-4 clear cut chances of burying the game, however, Cech was brilliant and made some terrific saves to deny Bentley, Defoe, Bale and Pavlyuchenko.

Surely this is the best season we’ve witnessed since a very very long time. It can still go either way. Tottenham as of now look favourites to grab the fourth spot. As for the title,

Remaining Games:

Chelsea:

Stoke - [H]

Liverpool - [A]

Wigan - [H]

United:

Tottenham - [H]

Sunderland - [A]

Stoke - [H]

Naturally the title will be decided by next week itself if Tottenham are to upset United, but the Liverpool-Chelsea game does appear to be the most vital game of the season. If United do defeat Tottenham, Chelsea would require full 3 points against Liverpool, which wouldn’t be easy. I still tip Chelsea to win it.

Of course, you guys can come this way to give your tips!

Last night, a nervy and tired Chelsea sealed the domestic double by going 4 points clear of United after defeating Bolton by a goal. Considering the FA Cup final is against Pompey, it’s pretty much the double they bagged at the Bridge last night.

Although, it must be pointed that Abramovich still looks unhappy with the way his teams been playing football. One of the reasons why the ‘Speacial One’ was sacked was that he didn’t play good attractive football.

The thing about Abramovich is that he thinks exactly like a fan. And this is also what makes him the most demanding boss in the business. Ancelloti, beware!

What surprises me the most is that you lot, wether on English blogs or back here in India are yet not considering Arsenal’s chances of getting any League glory. On every single website and in every discussion I can hear, everyone’s been talking about how Chelsea have now won the title and United can only win IF Chelsea drop points in at least 2 games.

A look at the table on the sidebar( -> ) will tell you that it’s Arsenal and not United that are sitting 2nd behind Chelsea (considering they’ll win the game against a 120 minute - Wembley pitch bruised Spurs!). Yet no one, and I mean absolutely no one’s talking up Arsenal’s chances of winning the League. Now that’s some insult at Wenger’s boys who’ve shown tremendous resent and mental strength all season long despite of being written-off on several occassions. There are kids and players who’re crocked for at least 6 months a year! Yet they are 3 points behind leaders Chelsea and were only out of the UCL ’cause of absolute misfortune(they met Barca in the quarters)

Come this way to congratulate Chelsea and to make fun of/sympathise with Arsenal!