The same awe-inspiring Johannesburg venue, which witnessed Mandela’s first mass rally following his 1990 release, will stage tomorrow’s Opening Match, the first of 64 games. In one sense, it is familiar territory for the South Africa coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, as he prepares to lead a team at his sixth FIFA World Cup, which is a new record. In another respect, it will be like nothing he has experienced before, with the recurring hopes of a FIFA World Cup host nation lent an extra dimension by the passion and fervour with which the Rainbow Nation’s people will back their team.
There are exciting games to anticipate in all ten venues. There is the traditional ‘group of death’ – commonly perceived to be Group G, where Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal and Korea DPR lock horns – and match-ups that renew long-standing rivalries. Only one newcomer has joined the party – Slovakia – while two coaches will attempt to emulate Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo in becoming FIFA World Cup winners as player and coach. They call Johannesburg the City of Gold and there could be no more appropriate setting for the winners of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to clasp the gleaming Trophy above their heads. Before that moment, late in the evening of 11 July, a huge number of unforgettable stories are waiting to be written.
via FIFA.com – World primed for a football feast.
The wait is almost over. At 4pm (CAT) tomorrow, a FIFA World Cup™ like none of the 18 that have gone before will begin and not only South Africa but an entire continent will rejoice. Over the next 31 days a footballing and cultural fiesta will unravel in Nelson Mandela’s homeland and the colour, noise and excitement promise to stun the senses.
From 15 May 2004, when South Africa was invited to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, to this moment – with the big kick-off between the host nation and Mexico but hours away – the resonance of the first world finals to be held on the continent of Africa has proved an inspiration for millions. In footballing terms South Africa have some way to go to join the elite. They are down at 83rd in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and have just a solitary FIFA World Cup victory to their name, 1-0 over Slovenia in 2002. But as it becomes the 16th nation to stage football’s greatest event, South Africa will dominate the world’s sporting consciousness like never before.
As a country they believe it will bring significant changes, uniting black and white around the green and gold of the Bafana Bafana jersey and lengthening the distance between today and a troubled past. With their noisy vuvuzelas and inherent exuberance they promise to make this a spectacle that our eyes and ears will not forget for a long, long time. That goes for players as well, the superstar names – Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney – and the rest who have travelled from all four corners of the globe to showcase their skills in ten magnificent stadiums
The footballing calendar is so congested it can sometimes be difficult to generate real excitement around an event with another, equally big and exciting competition following swiftly on. South Africa 2010 promises to be different as it unleashes the potential of a continent whose teams have never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a FIFA World Cup before.
In the seven months since all 32 contestants became known, conjecture has swirled from north to south, east to west, as to who will be the likely winners. Can Brazil make it to a sixth title? Will Spain, crowned European champions for the first time two years ago, take the vital last step to global dominance? Can Diego Maradona inspire Argentina from the bench in the same mercurial fashion as he managed on the pitch in 1986? Will England under their Italian coach at last bolt some tangible achievement on to their undoubted potential? Can Italy repeat their success of the 1930s in winning back-to-back competitions?
Similarly, will it be the host nation, Cameroon (making their sixth appearance at the global showpiece), or the talented Côte d’Ivoire who lead the African charge? All will become clear over the next five weeks until only two teams are left standing and, at Soccer City Stadium, they will dispute the right to be called world champions for the next four years before it all starts up again at Brazil 2014.
USA – England (1 – 1) Post-Game Thoughts – USA
his draw almost feels like a win. I shudder to think what a win would have felt like. Could I have handled and processed it? Despite whispers in your ear from your British friends about luck the USA fully deserved a share of the points today. England, of course, dominated play, but the USA stood in strong and had a better chance of stealing the three points after Green just managed to tip a Jozy Altidore strike onto the bar. English star Wayne Rooney was quiet for a good part of the game, and ignoring a few errors Onyewu looked to be at his best. Secretly, I’m glad the USA goal was scored the way it was. It makes it all the more embarrassing for the English. On that thought, here on my post-match notes:
- Michael Bradley played the best game I’ve ever seen from him. He didn’t score a goal, he didn’t make a great assist, but he looked the most mature and poised I’ve ever seen him play. This is significant because he was playing against two very good midfielders in Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. He had one giveaway that sticks out in my mind, but other than that he looked the most comfortable in possession I’ve seen from him to date. There are a lot of players ahead of him in MOTM voting, but Bradley was solid today.
- I can’t say the same at all for Ricardo Clark. It would seem to me that the main reason Bob Bradley persists in playing Ricardo Clark is so that goals like the one Steven Gerrard scored in the 4th minute won’t happen. I accept this is a tactic. However, when Ricardo Clark gets caught ball watching and lets Gerrard nip in and score the kinds of goals he’s in the game to be stopping I have to ponder the logic of why he is on the field. If the decisions were mine to make I’d prefer to see Torres start with Bradley in the middle of the field, but if Bob Bradley insists on being defensive he should consider playing Edu over Clark.
- “England is position for position a better team than the United States.” Yeah. Except Goalkeeper. Tim Howard’s performance was superlative. To attempt to describe it in words does it no justice. So I’ll stop here.
- Steve Cherundolo also had a standout performance today. Were it not for Tim Howard’s heroics, Steve would’ve been a shoe in for man of the match. His runs and crosses down the right flank were threatening, and he was assured in defending all night. A great showing from the Hannover 96 man.
- The forwards may need to kick it up a notch. I’ll give them some benefit of the doubt given who they were facing, but aside from his move past Carragher in the second half Altidore didn’t do much to create any goal scoring chances. Robbie Findley did even less. His speed is useful in so far as it occupies defender’s minds, but at some point he needs to do something with it. Hopefully these two can put in better performances against weaker opposition. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind seeing some more of Herculez Gomez.
- Donovan and Dempsey showed to be the two most talented USA field players once again. I wouldn’t say either had an amazing game, but Dempsey’s goal was important. Overall I thought they were composed, competent, and skilled. Consistently the USA’s two biggest threats. Let’s hope they too can turn it on against Slovenia and Algeria.
USA – England (1 – 1) Post-Game Thoughts – USA.
http://germany.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/liveblog-germany-vs-australia.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=ger_worldcup
wow, fantastic, superb, fabulous,mischievous, flabbergast, ugly NEWS: What joke? Nuclear Bomb Researchers Accidentally Blow Up Building – Science – Gawker
wow, fantastic, superb, fabulous,mischievous, flabbergast, ugly NEWS hahahaha what a joke ?
“On December 16, 2009, Shock and Detonation Physics Group researchers heard a loud unusual noise from Technical Area 15, Building 562 after firing a shot from a large-bore powder gun (LBPG)…. the researchers conducted surveillance outside TA-15-562 and observed that two doors had been blown off the facility and concrete shielding blocks on the west and east side of the building were separated from the wall.”
Although no one was hurt, a POGO source puts the damage at around $3 million. We’re going to say it: That was $3 million of taxpayer funds well-spent. Forget those stem cell thingies. Blow up a couple buildings every month and we’ll have high school students flooding science classes like they were Jonas Brothers concerts.
After Noah Shachtman’s Danger Room picked up the item, a representative from the National Nuclear Security Administration sent a testy email to the blog claiming that “no building at Los Alamos was destroyed in this incident and any suggestion otherwise is the sort of irresponsible hyperbole we’ve come to expect from [POGO].” (They’re probably a little defensive due to the string of embarrassing safety lapses POGO has exposed at LANL over the years.)
OK, now we are getting into the semantics of destruction: The spokesperson was criticizing a press release POGO sent out titled “Los Alamos National Researchers Accidentally Blow up Building with a Cannon.” (Greatest press release ever?) That does not necessarily mean the WHOLE building was blown up, right? The Occurrence Report itself said that “two doors had been blown off the facility”—presumably in an upward direction? Furthermore… Oh, screw it, what the
hell are we even talking about: SCIENTISTS BLEW UP THEIR OWN BUILDING WITH THIS CANNON: viewmore
Nuclear Bomb Researchers Accidentally Blow Up Building – Science – Gawker.
