World Cup Corner

Congratulations to Iraq for winning the 2007 Asian Cup. This great fairy tale was completed when the Iraqis sneaked a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

With all the war issues and social problems currently besetting Iraq, the new Asian champions have brought a rare glimpse of joy and hope to the country.

‘This is not just about football… this is more important than that,’ Iraq’s Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira said.

‘This has brought great happiness to a whole country. This is not about a team, this is about human beings.’
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Congratulations to the young guns of Argentina as they picked up their sixth World Cup U20 title.

The Albicelestes (the white and sky blues) found themselves a goal down after 60 minutes and fearing the worse. But the South Americans refused to lie down and quickly found an equalizer from Golden Ball winner Sergio Aguero. They proceeded to strike the winning goal in the 86th minute from Mauro Zarate.
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Walter Winterbottom, a former coach to England, once said that an African team would win the World Cup by 2000. Even Pele, one of soccer’s greatest players ever, seconded that opinion. Although Winterbottom predicted this it did not come true. However, Cameroon did come pretty close in 1990.

There were certainly opportunities for an African team to take it all the way In 1982 Algeria seemed like it might go all the way before being cheated by Austria and West Germany. Then in 1986 Morocco was really showing progress and many were wondering if this was it However, it was not until Cameroon in 1990 that the world began to believe that Winterbottom’s prediction might actually come true. It did not but Cameroon really did have a shot.
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Premiership clubs are being supported by a rush of takeovers and investment which does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. This results in increased competition from the Premiership. The Big 4 has led the Premiership for the past several seasons after a long stint of Arsenal and Manchester United reigning together. The competition at the top of the Premiership is competitive to be sure, but it has not reach the cut throat level that the Italian and Spanish top divisions face. It is interesting to note that the current four leaders along with four other teams are the only English clubs that have participated in the Champions League as it is formatted today. The other four teams include Leeds United, Newcastle, Blackburn, and Everton.
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One of the biggest rivalries in world football took to the field today. Regardless of who you support or where you live, few will disagree that Argentina vs. Brazil is always a special occasion. Especially with the small matter of being crowned the 2007 Copa America champions.
In the 14 years since Argentina has won a major trophy, their eternal rivals Brazil have clocked up a couple of World Cups, Intercontinental Cups and Copa Americas. Coco Basile (who won 2 copa Americas and serveral club titles with Boca Juniors) has been drafted to snap their losing streak.

On paper, the Argentinians have the superior squad, and their football thus far in the competition have been phenomenal. Brazil on the other hand, seems to have kept their insipid tactics from World Cup 2006. A few world class stars and the rest of the team supporting them.

While the Copa America has lost alot of it’s glamour in recent years, as evidenced by Brazil fielding a “weakened” squad, it is still a source of immense pride to be crowned champions. Especially if you can rub the noses of your bitterest rivals in the process.

Let’s move to Venezuela now for the 2007 Copa America final!
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Brazil have historically been considered the best footballing nation in the world, with a seemingly endless supply of world class players every generation, they have the mindset, almost divine right to the World Cup. Every tournament has the Brazillians pretty much the favorites. This speaks for itself.

But lately, there seems to be something about the way the current Brazillians play. It has been in effect since the 2006 World Cup. Just play the top stars (Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo) and load the team with the regular supporting cast and hope for the best. While individually still a joy to watch, there is another team that has overtaken the Brazillians by playing swashbuckling, passing and creative TEAM football.
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Holland Under-21s sliced open their inept Serbian counterparts to register a 4-1 win, thus retaining the European U-21 Championship crown. Played in front of a 20,000 boisterous crowd, and watched by millions more worldwide, the Dutch have shown that they current possess the best and brightest young guns in Europe.

Maceo Rigters picked up the golden boot for Holland by scoring his fourth goal of the tournament. Sadly for 10 men Serbia, the damage had already been inflicted by Otman Bakkal and Ryan Babel.

Along with Rigters, Royston Drenthe and Ryan Babel are currently heavily linked with big summer transfer moves. Drenthe (player of the tournament) in particular has caught the eye of Newcastle’s new manager Sam Allardyce, so a move the Premiership seems inevitable.

One of the most watched teams this year was England, with several quality players such as Nigel Reo-Coker of West Ham, Steven Taylor and James Milner of Newcastle and Leroy Lita of Reading managed to keep up that old English tradition. Failing in the knockout stages to penalties. Along with the Dutch, I was expecting England to go all the way.

But the glory and prestige has stayed with the Netherlands. Who can be very proud of this young bunch of future stars. Those boys are a bit special!

As the 1980s approached big changes occurred. This time the format was changed to include eight finalists. Of these eight four groups were formed. The winner of each group then went on to the finals until an overall winner was obvious. West Germany showed up again to show the world they were serious footballers and they managed to dominate the European tournament once again by beating Belgium in the final game.
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When it comes to European nations and international football the UEFA European Football Championships is the most important. This championship occurs every four years and has been going on since 1960. Today this tournament is one of the world’s most prestigious however it has changed significantly since its beginning.
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