World Cup Corner

For all you North American football… I mean soccer fans… this summer marks a major tournament to be played in Canada. 600,000 tickets have already been presold. In fact, by all current calculations, The U-20 finals will become the single biggest sporting event in the history of Canada.

“The hunger for tickets and growing anticipation truly demonstrates the love of the beautiful game in Canada,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. “Canadians know they are in for a treat this summer and that nothing but spectacular football will be on display when the world’s top youngsters battle for the crown of becoming world champion.”

Who are some of the young bright stars to look out for? I for one, will play close attention to David Edgar of Canada. Simply because he plays for my favorite team, Newcastle United. He`s play a few games this year for the Magpies, and has struck me as being a very raw, but intelligent and composed defender. The South American powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil will no doubt produce some future world class players, some of which are held in high regard at the moment. For example, Lucas of Brazil. This year he inspired Gremio to the Copa Libertadores qualification on their return to the Brazilian top flight, , awarded the Brazillian league’s top performer award, became the youngest ever recipient of Placar Magazine’s Golden Ball and earned a call-up to the senior squad. Not bad for a 20 year old. Lucas is hailed as a player of exceptional potential in Brazil and a near future move to Europe is his most probable destination.

This coming week brings the semi final action of the UEFA Champions League. If you are a big fan of the English Premiership, (which incidentally is the highest watched league in the world) then you`ll know the chances of an English club lifting the coveted European Cup is 3 out of 4.

Liverpool vs Chelsea
Liverpool winners in 2005, hold the slight advantage for me. While they cannot boast the star studded line of Shevchenko, Ballack, Lampard and Robben, they have a master tactician in Rafa Benitez. For my money, Rafa is probably one of the best when it comes to European games. He has the ability to spot and change a game midway. This is not to say that Mourinho is tactically inferior to Benitez. Afterall, he did win the Champions League with FC Porto on a shoestring budget, and the UEFA cup the year before. But, I feel that Mourinho has been spoilt by the riches of Abramovich, and is now over reliant on his players. Not to mention his supposed strained relationship with Roman.

Manchester United vs AC Milan
Here’s to hoping Man Utd gets played off the park. Enough said…. After dropping precious league points to Middlesborough over the weekend, it seems like their Premiership league hopes are in the balance as well. To be honest, I don’t know who I`d want the Premiership crown to go to. Manure or Chel$ki. I have an equal dislike for both teams.

All in all, AC Milan do have the spine for a Champions League winning team. With Kaka, Gattuso and Pirlo pulling the strings from midfield, It would seem that they`ll ahve too much for Man Utd, who is going through a bit of an injury crisis at the moment. But stranger things have happened…. Remember Man Utd’s amazing treble of 1999?