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Andrew Jennings explains. Many in the 24 member executive council responsible for awarding the World Cup have been tainted by kickbacks and illegal ticket sales. Some were courted by England in their unsuccessful 2006 bid, giving the FA a bit of a black eye when the ISL investigations began.

The FA is in a tight spot because it is bidding for the 2018 World Cup and wants to do it without the suggestion of impropriety. But Sepp Blatter has transformed the FIFA into a giant pork barrel project where votes can be bought to award the World Cup. It's the usual order of business. The danger is that if the FA runs a clean as a whistle campaign, then it essentially takes it out of the running.

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Filed under snark

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Pim Verbeek assumes the mantle of the Socceroos coach in the wake of the disastrous Graham Arnold tenure which led them to crash out of the Asian Cup with reasons ranging from the dreadful heat to defensive meltdowns. Unlike the Australian cricket team, Harbhajan Singh thankfully, was not involved in this debacle and no team had to threaten to charter a flight out of Thailand.

Verbeek does the Socceroos no favours. He is not an improvement over the Arnold system. There are two very important reasons why a Verbeek management would be wrong as presently laid out.

Any manager who owes blind allegiance to a system without looking at what the players do in it should be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Yes, it might be an accurate characterization that the European leagues have a standard of training that the A-League can only dream of but it is equally fallacious to say that the players become better by simple association. So Josh Kennedy and Michael Beauchamp answer Verbeek's call even as they struggle to play any significant minutes for their German club teams because in Verbeek's eyes they are part of a superior system.

Second, Verbeek's boldface assumption is the A- League is an inferior recruiting ground. This is a major slap across the face because it assumes that domestic leagues other than European ones have very little part to play in player development. The A League saw the exploits of Nick Carle and David Carney attracting the attention of the European leagues before moving on. They are presently the hottest prospects for the Socceroos.

Verbeek implicitly suggests that the A- League is less worthy than the J-League which became the primary driver for the Japanese national team under Ivica Osim. His template for success was to draw down the European based veterans and highlight the J- League through its youthful contribution. It worked well for the 2007 Asian Cup before the Iraqis stole it through a combination of pre-ordination and good soccer. But Japan was a recharged team relying less on Celtics Nakamura and Eintracht's Inamoto, and more on Yuki Abe, who led the Urawa Reds to the FIFA CWC, and is widely seen as Japan's future point man.

In fact, his success with the Korean national team in the 2007 Asian Cup relying on a group of domestic players further underscores his contempt for the A- League.

Verbeek's willingness to gamble fatigue and jet lag in his European imports even with A-League players at his disposal to play Qatar is yet another indicator of his singular rejection of the A-League. It would make Hiddink blush to find that players like John Aloisi, Craig Moore, Ante Covic, and Archie Thompson who found a place in the World Cup team are being declared persona non grata simply because they returned to the A-League. This comes when David Moyes makes the usual noise releasing Tim Cahill to play for his national team.

Verbeek is little more than a band aid in the changing face of Asian soccer and his brand of soccer is very short sighted. It has gotten a lot more competitive than the time of the 2006 qualifications and the first aim of a good manager should be to get through Asia. To do that one has to understand the failures of the Asian Cup. It was the European veterans with over inflated expectations and their aging legs that failed the Socceroos. I am not sure if Verbeek understands this but as a veteran journeyman with apparently little time to turn things around, he apparently believes this is the best way to go about it. Deja vu all over again.

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Ian Turner in his NYT article points to a survey show that Italians are the least happy people in Western Europe. There is a feeling of malessere, a collective funk - economic, political, and social. With a stagnating economy, a bloated and insecure bureaucracy, and an aging population, Italy has fallen way behind Western Europe in development. Only 36% of Italians trust their government compared to 64% of Denmark.

When soccer becomes part of that malaise then it leads to the sort of violence that one increasingly associates Italian soccer with.

Which leads us to the interesting corollary, malaise is good for the overall performance of the national team. The Azzurri were determined to erase Calciopoli, a motivating factor in their winning the World Cup. A sense of pride in its achievement brought Italians together.

In France, the perennial question of how "French" constantly plagues the national team. A perceived malaise that is seized upon by Jean Marie Le Pen and the right wing National Front in every election. Les Bleus, use their diversity to rebut that polemic. They won the 1998 World Cup and reached the 2006 finals.

Germany in the 2006 World Cup shed its self effacing image and its collective guilt brought on it by two World Wars. The Mannschaft played lights out soccer and an increasingly assertive German public celebrated its achievement.

The English team comprises a group of self serving and smug soccer players. The only source of malaise within their team is what rank their myriad of badly written autobiographies occupy on the Amazon book ranks. Even Fabio Capello will be hard pressed to put a dent into this infatuated group.

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Just saw Jose Mourinho on Sky Sports categorically saying "Why not?" to being asked if he wanted to be England manager. He was in Portugal at the time despite rumours that he was in England being interviewed by the FA for the England job. Mourinho as if auditioning for the job also said that the next coach should be supported no matter what and that the FA was doing a great job.

The FA insisted that they have not contacted Mourinho or even drawn up a shortlist which sounds a bit disingenuous and more an attempt at containing rumours.

Lets recap how much things have changed in a year and a half.

During the Sven Goran Erickson transition, there was a constant toss up between Curbishley, Allardyce, McLaren, O'Neill, and Pearce becoming the next England manager. Bookies were constantly changing odds each day. A stark reminder of how the England job is now viewed with most English candidates distancing themselves from the job. The FA shortlist is probably filled with foreign candidates unless Allardyce is kicked out Newcastle, which might push him up the ranks, should he show interest in the job.

I still think there dissension within the FA as sentimental reasons dictate that a homegrown candidate will be infinitely preferable. With xenophobic statements now ping ponging around the soccer establishment of how foreign players have led to a 'meltdown' in English soccer, there is a debate being fueled between nativists and pragmatists as to the future of the English game. Who knew that 200 years ago when English missionaries brought the game to the Brazilian shores that this scenario would be played out in John Bull? Its come full circle.

Whatever comes of the search, the key is to get the best candidate. There is no scope for sentiment and who is to say that an foreign coach will not be successful when results are what counts and not some abstract "Englishness" of the game.

And in another reminder of how strait jacketed English perceptions are, here is Big Phil Scolari.

"That hypocrisy that someone who's born here is a saint and someone born on the other side of the Atlantic is a devil, that doesn't exist.

"It's time to stop that clown show. I'm just like anybody else, I've got two legs, two arms and a head."

It was part of a Beeb article exposing the madcap and bizarre world of Scolari. Some of it is. But the Beeb was more concerned about the image of the coach, not the game. It just led credence to Scolari's above statement. But you know what, I think Big Phil is lighting up a cigar and having a hearty guffaw. As bizarre and madcap as he appears to be, he has always had England's number.

Portugal is in. England is out.

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I don't think there are too many coaches that can really say that fealty to a player has proven to have cost them not once but twice. It does look like Bruce Arena like George Bush prizes loyalty rather than competence. Reyna proved to be Arena's undoing at the 2006 World Cup with his pallid form and insipid captaincy. Reyna already slowed down by multiple knee injuries left Man City. He retired from international soccer.

Arena was forced to resign as national coach after that disastrous World Cup campaign which unraveled very quickly against the Czech Republic with the Jan Koller goal and was bookended by a uninspired display against Ghana, summed up by Haminu Dramani's hustle sweeping the ball away from Reyna's feet, leaving him in the dust, and scoring Ghana's first goal. Reyna suffered a knee injury and had to be stretchered off.

Reyna then became the Red Bulls designated player joining Juan Pablo Angel another player with extensive Premiership experience. Whereas the Colombian became an instant catalyst for the New York attack, Reyna in his 21 games scored no goals and even worse, as a playmaker provided 3 assists. Compare this to Angel's 19 goals and 5 assists. We can make a case for Reyna providing the cohesion to the midfield but his frailty was always a sticking point.

There are many reasons given for Arena's departure including an almost indifferent preparation towards the New England playoffs but once again the player that he reposed most faith in Claudio Reyna in an eerie play out of the World Cup suffered a pulled hamstring within half an hour and had to be replaced by Mathis. Two crucial matches and Reyna comes up short through injury. Red Bulls once again fail to advance in the playoffs.

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So Marco Materazzi decided to reveal in his yet to be released autobiography what he actually said to Zidane. He after all has to sell his book which probably is a pop up book with graphic pictures of him mowing down players. After all this is Materazzi!

And I have heard worse. Its a schoolyard taunt. PG-13.

Materazzi's book is out on August 30th.

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Contrast the circus surrounding Beckham's debut with the quieter one of Blanco for the Chicago Fire. And the Mexican star delivered scoring a skillful goal against Celtic FC. The best part of Blanco's debut was that he hit the ground running.

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The Saturday showdown between these two rivals and clear contenders for the Asian Cup has come too prematurely. But there is no way around it as the Socceroos were the second best team in their group behind Iraq after being humbled by them in a shocking 3-1 defeat. Japan on the other hand topped their group.

So the mind games have begun as John Aloisi and Timmy Cahill, the two players who shot Japan's chances in the 2006 World Cup have stated that they wish to see Japan off early.

"To win the tournament you have to beat the best teams. Japan are the favorites and we have to finish them off first if we want to go on and win the cup," said striker Aloisi. "Hopefully we won't leave it until quite so late this time."

But Japan has been in good form in the group after an insipid draw against Qatar with Shunsuke Nakamura and Naohiro Takahara really opening up the offense against UAE and Vietnam. Takahara has three and Nakamura two. The Socceroos have relied mainly on their physical and aerial presence to score goals against their shorter opponents. Mark Viduka has three and Michael Beauchamp has one. Viduka plays best with his back to the opponents where he can hold them off, creating chances to score.

My feeling is that Graham Arnold will open with either John Aloisi or Tim Cahill to keep an edge psychologically. Cahill is now becoming a super sub. The other factor is Marcus Tulio Tanaka, the powerful central defender for Urawa Reds missing through injury, which opens up the aerial game for the Socceroos who will float a lot of long balls and crosses for Beauchamp, Viduka, and Aloisi to head home. A lot of pressure will fall on Yuji Nakazawa as the only tall defender who matches Viduka's 6' 2" frame. The other defenders give up almost 5" to 6" in height to the Newcastle man.

Goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi will have to summon all his experience and be at his acrobatic best. To keep the Socceroos busy the Japanese will have to force them to play a long field by challenging them early in play and cut off the passing lanes quickly. Make them predictable with their long balls. Counter the physical and aerial presence through speed. Nakamura believes that is why Japan lost in the World Cup when they sat back too deep and allowed so much space.

The Socceroos are rightly worried about Nakamura and face a similar quandary that other teams face when playing Kaka. Man to man or defend him by committee.

All in all, it makes for a very engrossing match up as two coaches who believe in very different philosophies pit their wits against each other and two teams with distinctly different styles of play that has yielded success in the past come together for this long awaited rematch.

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If Nery Castillo can't make it back from injury then El Tri have nary a chance. One of the most entertaining matches in the last World Cup was the stage 2 encounter between Argentina and Mexico resulting in a 2-1 defeat that saw the Mexicans almost snatch a draw after they pounded the Argentine goal in the last minutes of that game. So the Argentinians know not to take Mexico lightly.

However El Tri face a rejuvenated Riquelme in blemishless form and without goalpoacher Hernan Crespo out with an injury. Instead, it has been Riquelme, Messi, and suprisingly Javier Mascherano who have come up big. The Argentinians have the complete balance in every department of the game. The Mexicans on the other hand have been very reliant on Castillo whose first touch has been sublime.

If Castillo is out, Argentina should have an easier win, 2-0.

With Castillo, a brace from him is always possible and the Albiceleste will have to up the ante on attack. It will be tight but they should prevail, 3-2.

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The only conclusion that you can draw so far is that Brazil saves its best against Chile. Three matches, three wins, 13 goals for and one against. Chile has been good to Brazil and today their coach Nelson Acosta resigned.

The 6-1 win against Chile received the media's approval and Dunga was celebrated for sticking to his guns. This after the loss against Mexico and a hard earned victory against Ecuador courtesy a dubious PK awarded to Robinho.

A 3-0 win over Argentina in Dunga's early days was followed by a sequence of narrow wins, desultory draws, and losses against Portugal and Mexico broken by the Chile blowouts. The record in context looks a little above ordinary but even World Champs Italy have been struggling under manager Roberto Donadoni. So it is not just Dunga having his work cut out.

However, under Dunga, Brazil is charting an entirely different direction, albeit an untenable one. What one sees is his desire to "out-europeanize" Europe in their soccer. Reliance on set pieces, emphasis on defending a scoreline, and a virtual wall of defensive midfielders and physically imposing defenders. Dunga's vision seems to be a variation of the catenaccio.

Of course, this was all a part of the CBF's strategy in the late 80's to rein in the showboating attack and the indiscipline on defense that was Tele Santana's hallmark and a failure in the eyes of the CBF in his ability to win the World Cup in' 82 and '86. The agents of change chosen to steer the new course were Carlos Alberto Parriera and Mario Zagalo. Dunga was the player on the ground to execute that vision and now he is their manager, wary of skill and big name strikers. You take any win however narrow and/ or ugly.

But the times have changed for Europe too. European soccer is no longer defined by its set pieces and steel trap defenses as some of the most exciting names in attack are coming out of Europe and not Brazil. France, Netherlands, Germany, and now Croatia are the incubators for attacking talent. Italy's success in the World Cup showed that they did not need a Paolo Rossi as their goals came from different sources. In contrast, the new Brazilian strikers look fairly ordinary. Alexander 'Pato' de Silva might be touted as the next big name but he and the U20 squad showed their limitations in the ongoing World Cup. Vagner Love and Fred are pedestrian in comparison to the Ro's - Romario, Rivaldo, and Ronaldo.

Brazil's soccer is in danger of being overshadowed in South America itself as Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile are producing some of the most outstanding talent. The favela factor where good Brazilian talent almost always go overseas to richer leagues is creating a situation where no one really feels committed to play for the national squad or are burned out by an unrelenting season seems to be pinching Brazilian soccer when it needs them the most.

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Brett Emerton is looking to shackle Nakamura

The Socceroos are ready to play 'sexy' according to Brett Emerton at the Asia Cup. Emerton might be talking of a wet t-shirt contest as a typhoon threatens the opening of the cup with torrential rain and winds. This is also the height of a hot and sticky summer in SE Asia that will make those jerseys cling to skin like cheap plastic. But I think Emerton is being more prosaic and means a more attractive brand of soccer. Considering their good form in the World Cup, the Socceroos are odds on favourites to win their inaugural Asian Cup. But there is competition in Japan, the reigning Asian Cup champion.

The two countries met in the World Cup group stages and the Socceroos came out on top, 3-1 despite Japan going ahead on a controversial goal scored by Shunsuke Nakamura. Tim Cahill shot the Socceroos ahead with his brace and John Aloisi iced it with his extra time goal. Japan only managed a point and manager Zico resigned after the World Cup. The Socceroos under Guus Hiddink came under the spotlight as one of the few surprises of the World Cup as well as in playing some of the most controversial matches. Graham Poll and Fabio Grosso became household names.

Graham Arnold and Ivica Osim are the two managers entrusted with the future course of the Socceroos and the Daihyo, respectively. Japan will again be looking to the leading exponent of dead ball art in the world, Shunsuke Nakamura whose wicked free kick benders evoke Beckham except its with his his left foot. Nakamura was behind Japan's cup winning exploits in 2000 and 2004 and is also adept at scoring from the open field. Celtic wiith Nakamura in scintillating form claimed their 41st Scottish title. There are reports that Nakamura is preparing for this Asian Cup by lining burly rugby players in a wall and scoring free kicks over and around them.

Under Ivica Osim, Japan is grooming for the future with a number of youth players in the Japan squad. He is taking them in a different direction from Zico. A number of the 2002 and 2006 starters with big names like Red Bulls Salzburg's Alessandro Dos Santos, Messina's Atsushi Yanagisawa, FC Basel's Koji Nakata, and Eintracht's Junichi Inamoto have not gotten the call and Bolton's Hidetoshi Nakata has retired from international soccer. Osim also seems to be emphasizing homegrown talent as there are only two overseas players in the entire squad.

Nakamura will be supported by his midfield namesake Kawasaki Frontale's less well known Kengo Nakamura. The bulk of the strike will come from Eintracht's Naohiro Takahara, Japan's leading scorer with 19 goals. But Japan will be also looking to Sanfrecce Hiroshima's Hisato Sato, an undisputed star in a midlevel club. With 36 goals in two seasons, Sato is the top ranked Japanese striker dominated by a list of Brazilians that include Ueslei, Juninho, Edmilson, and Washington.

An interesting sidenote is that Graham Arnold played for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in its 1997 season. Other Oz players that played in the J-League include Steve Corica, Matthew Bingley, and Hayden Foxe. However, the present squad reflects the success of the A-League and the attraction for the European leagues. Out of the 23 first squaddies, a whopping twenty play in the European league, eight in the English leagues. Arnold has gone in for experience with all the World Cup starters back. The average age is 27 years with Sydney FC's Mark Milligan at 24 the youngest. However, the Socceroos are not resting on their World Cup laurels and Graham Arnold expects nothing less than a finals appearance from the squad.

A concern for the Socceroos is the heat and humidity that could potentially take its toll on the older players as the tournament wears on as well as recent injury concerns to Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell. Arnold might have to substitute them early with the younger and fresher Nicky Carle, Vince Grella, and Luke Wilshire. Socceroo fans could get a very good look at their talent in this Asian Cup.

Australia take on Oman in their first match and Japan meets Qatar. For more coverage of the Asian Cup >>

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Ryan Babel the fleet footed Ajax striker that Marco Van Basten has called the heir apparent to Thierry Henry may be on his way to the Emirates. Babel has been central to the Netherlands success in the U-21 Euro taking them to the semi-finals, scoring a well taken PK against Portugal (video here )and then providing the assist to Maceo Ritgers goal winning strike in a 2-1 win.

Babel has a lot of respect for Wenger's coaching and is a friend of RVP. He would be a fantastic addition to the flowing Arsenal style of soccer with the added ability to play wide with his pace. Primarily plays on the left but shoots with his right. I have noticed that he provides a lot of assists which signifies unselfish and heads up play. He is not bad with headers either. And at 6-7 million pound he fits right into budget conscious Arsenal.

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Most soccer pundits and fans alike agree that the last World Cup was a coming out party for many goalkeepers. From Shaka Hislop and his heroics against Sweden, Artur Boruc as the one bright spot in the Polish squad, Joao Ricardo saving Angola, Petr Cech keeping the marauding Italians at bay, Oswaldo Sanchez turning in a gutsy performance even as he lost his father a day before the World Cup, Ricardo Perreira outdueling Paul Robinson in the England Portugal match, Gianluigi Buffon turning a cool performance against Germany to lead them to the finals. The 2006 World Cup came up short on the attacking quality but was replete with scintillating performances from the custodians of the goal .

From the national squads to club level. In recent CL finals, Liverpool won in 2005 as Jerzy Dudek turned in an inspired performance against Milan in the penalty shootout. Two years ago, Dida did the same winning Milan its fifth CL title as he denied Juventus in the penalty shootout. From the CL level to weekly Premiership games. Brad Friedel's goalkeeping has saved the day for Blackburn on innumerable occasions. He has been arguably been one of Blackburn's best and its most durable player in the last seven seasons.

However, all of these accomplishments have not seen goalies worth rise in the transfer market. They are as a group, still grossly undervalued. In 1997, Shay Given cost Newcastle 1.5 million pounds and in 2007, Everton paid Man Utd 3 million for Tim Howard, one of the more expensive goalies. In ten years, the cost of a goalie has largely stagnated. The league average is 2.5 million pounds. At the lower end, Marcus Hahnemann at Reading cost 80,000 pounds and Paddy Kenny a mere 10,000 pounds. Contrast this with the 4.5 million pounds that Arsenal paid Inter for Kanu in 1999 and the 10 million pounds that Newcastle paid Inter for Obafemi Martins in 2006. Andriy Shevchenko was transferred to Milan for 14 million pounds from Dynamo Kiev in 1999 and Chelsea bought him for 30 million pounds in 2006. Peter Cech, part of the spending binge incurred by Abramovich's rebuilding of the Blues cost them 7 million pounds, the most spent on a goalie. That 2004 season, Cech was joined by Arjen Robben and Ricardo Carvalho, on whom Chelsea spent 12 million and 20 million respectively, overshadowing Cech's signing amount. Cech is at his peak and is one of the world's best goalies but if he were to transfer today Chelsea would not get much more for him.

Just one statistic is telling. Nicholas Anelka's transfer amount with all his clubs totals 51.5 million pounds.The total transfer amount of all 20 starting goalies in the Premiership also approximates 51.5 million pounds depending on who starts. With Pepe Reina in and Jerzy Dudek out the the figure is a bit more (53 million pounds). Anelka and fellow sharp shooters El Hadji Diouf and Kevin Davies consume 69.5 million pounds in total transfer fees. Anelka himself was the beneficiary of one of the most inflated transfer amounts in history. In 1997, Arsenal paid PSG 500,000 pounds and in 1999, Real bought him out for 23 millions pounds. A valuation 46 times over the original sticker price.

The group of twenty Premiership goalies boast big names like Edwin Van der Saar, Petr Cech, Jens Lehmann, Paul Robinson, David James, Shay Given, Mark Schwarzer, Jerzy Dudek, Antti Niemi to name a few. Most are or have been starters for their national squads. Between them have made 5646 club appearances and played nationally 641 times. Apart from all their skills, goalies bring other qualities to their teams. Many of them are individualists and are naturally too, the emotional leaders of their clubs. David James, Jens Lehmann, and Jerzy Dudek also make news for their colourful personalities and escapades. For all of this, it seems gray socialist economic considerations dictate the worth of a goalie while forwards and midfielders are beneficiaries of unfettered capitalist benevolence.

These observations have been directed towards the Premiership because the stats were readily available but I suspect that this trend is also to be found in other leagues too.

Stats at Soccerbase >>

Correction: Obafemi Martins played 88 matches for the Inter senior squad from 2003 onwards. He was sold to make way for Hernan Crespo and Zlatan Ibrahamovic. Thanks, Alvaro for drawing attention to the mistake. However, the point is that strikers worth have appreciated considerably whereas, goalies, continue to stagnate.

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The CONCACAF Gold Cup won't see the Soca Warriors who made history in the 2006 World Cup but that does not mean that the crowds won't see a good bacchanal or two when T&T meet USA.

The big guns have decided to sit it out because the T&T football federation has decided not to pay their World Cup bonuses. The only holdover from the 2006 squad that captured the hearts of thousands in Germany appears to be Densill Theobald, the present Soca Warrior captain.

The Soca Warriors were a huge part of Sunderland's march back to Premiership promotion as Dwight Yorke, Stern John, and Carlos Edwards were key contributors to Roy Keane's team. Between them they scored 14 goals and Edwards goal against Burnley which won them the game, 3-2 led them back into the Premiership.

More Soca Warrior news >>

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Mexico is in a tougher group than the USA. The Tris have Panama and Honduras in group C as well as Cuba. Panama boasts the best striker in the CONCACAF in Blas Perez and those who have been following the Cope Libertadores can attest to Cucuta Deportivo's magical run to the Copa finals being made possible by Blas Perez's cup leading 8 goals. He has company up front in Colorado Rapids Roberto Brown, giving Panama a potent 1-2.

The Hondurans don't have David Suazo, one of Cagliari's stars and the Serie's top scorer in the 2005-2006 season. But they have Carlos Pavon and Carlos Costly who have had extensive experience playing in the European leagues. And they still have Amado Guevara, a staple of the Metrostars and presently clubless with his release from Chivas USA. Guevara can still score goals although he makes more news now with his temperament.

The USA in Group B can expect competition from Guatemala. The Guatemalans have Carlos Ruiz, FC Dallas striker who has scored 76 goals in 126 MLS matches. Guatemala drew the USA in their last match Their main competition should have been the Soca Warriors but a World Cup bonus dispute will keep away star players like Dwight Yorke, Carlos Edwards, Stern John and Shaka Hislop. El Salvador rounds of Group B.

Group A has Costa Rica whose main staple for so many years have been Paulo Wanchope, Luis Marin, Walter Centeno, and Mauricio Solis. But the torch is being passed to Christian Bolanos, one of CONCACAF's best midfield talents spearheading a younger generation of Ticos talents like Randall Azofiefa, Victor Nunez, and Alvaro Saborio. Canada, Haiti, and Guadeloupe are the other teams in the group.

A little note on little Guadeloupe. Les Bleus squad presently has six players who have Guadeloupe origins including Thierry Henry, William Gallas, Lilian Thuram, Sylvain Wiltord, Pascal Chimbonda, and Luis Saha. Guadeloupe is considered one of France's 26 provinces and is part of the EU.

Predictions: Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, and USA in the final four.

Ivan Galarcep rates the teams chances >>

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Scotland endured agony when Berti Vogts was made the coach of the Tartans. They suffered a series of humiliating defeats in his two and a half years tenure. And in October 2004 their chances of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup ended when they drew lowly Moldova. Vogts resigned with a year and a half remaining in his contract.

So it was surprising that the Super Eagles picked him up as their coach. And sure enough this weekend in what must be one of African soccer's most memorable upsets the Super Eagles were beaten by minnows Uganda in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. Vogts was pelted by disgruntled Nigerian fans whereas millions of Ugandan's celebrated their win. This came after Vogts threatened to leave the team accusing the Nigerian Football Association of not paying his salary. A threat that the NFA did not take too kindly to asking him to keep his focus on the Uganda match.

Nigeria will likely qualify without any further ado as they lead their group but the questions that have dogged Vogts in the past remain. He is not exactly known for his man management and vision. Frankly, I don't see him leading the Super Eagles to a Africa Cup of Nations title and many Nigerians are beginning to have their doubts too.

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Herbert Fandel was not the only referee making the news. Josip Simunic will be sorry to hear that Graham Poll is retiring from international soccer next week. The Croatia vs Australia match in the 2006 World Cup was definitely Poll's defining moment. He was sent back home after that match.

Poll officiated the Championship playoff between Derby and West Brom which was his last domestic match. His decision to retire early was influenced by his perception that he was not supported by the FA in the John Terry dismissal.

However Poll is not going quietly into the night. He has a tell all book called Seeing Red coming out in summer which will probably have harsh words for Jose Mourinho, the FA, and overpaid players who disrespect referees. Poll's book probably has some good points to be made about how thankless a referee's job is. And seeing what took place in the Denmark vs Sweden game, dangerous too.

Graham Poll's World Cup fiasco (Video here)

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Altitude. You heard right. In a bizarre ruling, FIFA has banned matches played in high altitude venues which they say not only gives an unfair advantage to the home country but also poses a health risk to the visiting players. Matches can now only be held at a maximum height of 8,200 feet above sea level. This means that La Paz, Bolivia's capital will not be able to host any qualifying matches because its elevation is 11,810 feet.

This ruling affects not only Bolivia but other South American countries like Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, which have a number of venues higher than the FIFA limit. Quito, Ecuador is at 9,816 feet, Bogota, Colombia is 8,661 feet, and Cuzco in Peru is at 11,154 feet. In fact, the only venue that Bolivia can now safely use for international matches is Santa Cruz which is at 1,364 feet.

There is no doubt that playing in the rarified air of La Paz and Quito have helped Bolivia and Ecuador win an overwhelming number of matches. The record at La Paz in Bolivia's World Cup qualifiers since 1994 is 16 wins, 10 draws, and 4 losses. Ecuador's record at Quito is even more impressive, 20 wins, 9 draws, and just the one loss. But FIFA's decision is undoubtedly influenced by South American heavy hitters, Brazil and Argentina.

Brazil and Argentina since 1994 have only recorded 3 miserable wins while losing 7 matches when playing Bolivia and Ecuador away. Brazil was humiliated by Bolivia losing its first ever World Cup qualifier, 0-2 at La Paz on July 25, 1993. But Rob Hughes who wrote the article very rightly mentions that Brazil's draining domestic league and over scheduling of tournaments plus the Italian Serie's reluctance to part with their Brazilian imports left a savvy coach Alberto Carlos Parriera very little time for the acclimatization of the team.

Playing in thin air does have its risks just as playing in the hot sun can increase the chances of a heatstroke. Is FIFA going to ban qualifying matches in India where the temperatures can reach a sizzling 48-50 Celsius? The common sense precaution would be proper and adequate hydration. In the case of high altitude countries an adequate amount of time to acclimatize. The heat has not given India an entry into the World Cup and the Bolivians have not qualified since 1994. This is because you have to be a good team to win away games. Ecuador has done it because it wins enough away games against tough South American opposition to qualify for the two successive World Cups.

The Argentinians and Brazilians want a pass on this one as their players don't have time from their grueling and crowded domestic and European seasons to acclimatize in La Paz or Quito. Sepp Blatter just obliged them. Just add Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru to Kenya, Greece, Iran, Chile, and many other countries that make up the soccer have nots.

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There was little fanfare as Bob Bradley's position became permanent after all the song and dance of high flying European coaches showing up to take the US job. This is a good move because Bradley has been on a winning streak and the players respect him. There is plenty that needs to be done from now on till the World Cup in 2010. Bradley has a reputation for building teams from scratch and three years will be a long enough period for him to do exactly that.

Bradley's full time status will be tested when the US team meets China at San Jose on June 2, followed by the June 6-24 CONCACAF Gold Cup — a tournament Arena won in 2002 and 2005 — and the June 26-July 15 Copa America in Venezuela.

I think it all said and done a good thing that there is no big name that has taken over coaching the US team. This takes the focus off on us and we can concentrate on building the team without all the hype. The 2006 team did not do well on inflated expectations. Lets not go down that route again.

Greg Lalas has more >>

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Is the MLS ready for the Cuauhtémoc?

MLS is underway and the biggest news is Beckham's debut for the LA Galaxy. But the Chicago Fire are awaiting their own legend, Cuauhtémoc Blanco. The Beckham hype has overshadowed why this maybe the most significant signing because this makes the Chicago Fire real contenders for the MLS title despite the loss of their best striker Nate Jacqua to the LA Galaxy.

Blanco is considered one of the best strikers in Mexican soccer history right up there with Jared Borgetti, Luis Hernandez, and the present coach of the Tricolores, Hugo Sanchez. Blanco fans missed him this World Cup because of his bitter feud with coach Ricardo La Volpe who left him off the roster. The bad blood with La Volpe began when he was the coach for Club America. Blanco has always been controversial and has instigated many an incident on and off the pitch.

But there is no doubt about Blanco's talent, technically sound and very innovative. He has his own move called the Cuahtemina (Bunny Hop) where he scoops the ball between his feet and hops over tackling defenders. This was unveiled in the 1998 World Cup against S.Korea. Blanco has scored 138 goals in 355 appearances in the Mexican league. He has also won the MVP twice in a row in 2004 and 2005. He has been in fine form for Club America in the Clausura after making a full recovery from foot surgery.

The Fire will be boosted by the presence of the Mexican community coming out to cheer one of their heroes. This well maybe the X factor that will give Chicago an added edge towards the title.

The MLS also needs players like Blanco to give the league much needed oomph. Clint Mathis should not have to shoulder that responsibility alone. Blanco comes off as a simple man unfazed by money and with no pretensions. In his words he is a 'mesero', a street cleaner who is in the services of his club.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco stats >>

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Jafar Panahi's new movie, Offside captures the passion of the global game and the hold it has on the Iranian public, both men and women. The backdrop is the Iran vs Bahrain qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup. A group of women try to sneak into the stadium defying a law that bans women from watching live soccer matches.

Panahi's decision to make this film was inspired by his own personal experience with the law.

" Also, four years ago I was living near the stadium where our football team trains. I wanted to go and watch and my daughter wanted to come with me. I tried to explain to her that she couldn't, but she nevertheless wanted to try. So we set out with the entire family, that way if my daughter was refused entry, my wife could take her back home. We went to the stadium entrance and, as I had expected, my daughter was refused entry. I told her to go home with her mother, but she found another way of getting into the stalls and to my surprise, she joined me. This event also inspired my thoughts about the film, which I tucked away in a corner of my mind. When I realized Iran once again had a chance at being selected for the World Cup, I decided the time was right to do this film. "

Panahi's Offside opened in the US this March. New Yorkers can get a chance to see this wonderful film at the Quad Cinemas.

Offside synopsis and Jafar Panahi's thoughts on the movie >>

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Van Buyten, Riise, Oddo, and Phillip Lahm, the new hunting pack

Mocha is the new black. The 40's are the new 30's. And defenders are the new attackers. Nah! You got to be joking. Aren't they the plodders who never cross the half line. They never make the You Tube clips. And isn't attacking the best form of defense? So these guys are basically redundant.

The most amazing thing about Van Buyten was not his goals but that he was there at all about 40 yards out from where he should have been playing. The first goal had him and Pizarro in the box all by themselves with no white shirts within a mile. No Makaay, Poldi, Schweinsteiger or the usual suspects. The second Van Buyten goal was poached perfectly like Lineker or Crespo.

John Arne Riise scores along with Gerrard to leave PSV on the ropes. Riise also scores against Barca. Alex sticks the dagger in Arsenal's heart. Massimo Oddo looks like he loves spending time up field. This year's CL is continuing a trend seen in the last World Cup. Phillip Lahm scored the first goal as Materazzi and Grosso made multiple visits deep into enemy territory. Grosso breaking open the Italy- Germany game and Materazzi rising high to score the equalizer for Italy against France in the final.

And good things happened when they come up front. Italy walked away with the World Cup. Liverpool is almost into the CL semi-finals and Bayern is in great position to seal the deal in the return leg.

Maybe goal keepers have become so much better that they can actually be left with less support. Or having a lone striker up front makes the attack stale and predictable as England found out in their World Cup. Whatever the reason, having defenders set up and score goals is a welcome phenomenon. They seem a bit shy celebrating their goals right now but it will happen.

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Sepp Blatter is upto his old tricks with his willing accomplice FIFA's vice president Jack Warner. At stake are 37 precious CONCACAF votes that Warner controls which should ensure Blatter's re-election this May. But Andrew Jennings discovers that Sepp Blatter needs to sweep a few things under the rug before all of this happens.

London Daily Mail – back page Tuesday 13 March, 2007

FIFA FINE TOP OFFICIAL’S SON $1 MILLION

EXCLUSIVE by Andrew Jennings

FIFA have secretly fined the son of a top official almost $1million for touting World Cup tickets last year.

Daryan Warner, son of vice-president Jack Warner, has also been told their family travel company is banned from dealing in tickets.

The deals, revealed exclusively in SportsMail last September, were set up by Jack Warner. His Trinidad-based company Simpaul Travel acquired more than 5,400 tickets from FIFA
and then sold them at huge mark-ups to package tour operators in England, Japan, and Mexico.

Warner diverted a further 1,700 tickets, allocated to the Trinidad World Cup team, to Simpaul. He was found guilty in early 2006 of breaching FIFA’s ethics code. He hurriedly disposed of his shares in Simpaul but his son Daryan continued as managing director and during the World Cup collected hundreds more tickets from the FIFA office in Berlin and passed them to touts.

A report to FIFA last June from auditors Ernst & Young alleged that the Warners stood to make profits of nearly $1 million. In strict secrecy, the executive committee imposed the massive
fine, equal to the expected profiteering, and ordered the money be donated to the charity SOS Children’s Villages.

The confidential minutes of last December’s executive committee meeting, obtained by SportsMail, reveals that by last Christmas, ‘despite numerous reminders from FIFA,’ only
$250,000 had been paid.

The extraordinary decision to impose the fine was suppressed. At a press conference on December 6 FIFA President Sepp Blatter would only say they ‘disapproved’ of Jack Warner’s
conduct and he should not let Daryan ‘abuse the position held by his father’ - and that the case was closed.

But it wasn’t. The secret deadline for the full payment of $992,652 is March 22, the next meeting of FIFA’s executive, but FIFA insiders believe that if no more money is handed over
there will be no further action. After all, Jack Warner controls 35, of the 207 votes available, that President Blatter needs for re-election at the end of May.

A FIFA source said: 'If there is no more money paid over I can't see that Blatter is going to take action. After all Jack Warner controls 35 crucial votes that will ensure Sepp Blatter gets a
third term.'

In theory the Warners could be reported to Lord Coe, new head of FIFA’s Ethics committee, for the ticket rackets and the failure to pay the fine. But it’s unlikely that the 24-man executive committee will publicly humiliate Warner and authorise an investigation. Coe’s hands are tied; he can’t make an ethical judgement on the Warners unless there is a complaint.

Read the secret FIFA report on the Warner ticket rackets and the Million Dollar Fine at www.transparencyinsport.org

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Every four years we have cricket's version of the World Cup and this year the West Indies is hosting it. The premiere event in the cricketing world, the ICC Cricket World Cup starts this March and goes on for a month. The term West Indies is a quaint throwback easily recognizable to anyone familiar with British colonialism and cricket (these two entities are inseparable) and refers to the countries of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados to name a few of the former dozen English colonies. When one refers to the West Indies playing cricket it is these ex-colonies rather than other parts of the West Indies such as Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Martinique and Dominican Republic ruled by a host of other colonial powers where cricket is rarely played.

Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the British West Indies are all independent entities but form a loose confederation when it comes to playing cricket. A phenomenon very distinct from how these countries represent themselves separately in soccer or the Olympics. The Windies as they are called were at onetime considered the Brazilians of soccer, an unstoppable force. Anyone familiar with cricket will instantly recall legends like Garfield Sobers, Lance Gibbs, Rohan Kanhai and the three W's, Weekes, Walcott, and Worrell. Their dominance began in the 1960's and for the next twenty five years they ruled cricket. As with Brazil their talent was unbounded and unfettered. The beaches of the West Indies was dotted with children playing cricket just like the Copa is filled with Brazilians showing off their skills in soccer, hoping to be the next Zico or Pele. Growing up in India, where cricket is a passion we felt the truly awesome power of the Windies over the years. The steadiest opening pair in Gordon Greenidge and Roy Fredericks, the power of Viv Richards repeatedly hooking balls for six against an impotent Indian attack, the dancing feet of Alvin Kallicharan elegantly cover driving the ball, a diminutive Malcolm Marshall who could extract lethal pace from even the most lifeless of Indian pitches and whose vicious bouncers were one reason why batsmen wear helmets, the gazelle like grace of Michael Holding, and the spectacle of almost 7' tall Joel 'Big Bird' Garner swooping down and bowling from a stratospheric 11' . And we have not even mentioned Clive Lloyd who swat balls imperiously with the heaviest bat in business. It made no difference who coached the Windies or who faced them. Yep, in those days we were lucky if a test match went beyond the third day. Even a second rate 1980's West Indies team decimated by its stars leaving for the lucrative Kerry Packer league was streets ahead of any other team. West Indian cricket was bolstered by Michael Manley, the Jamaican PM, and a vocal proponent of Pan Caribbean nationalism who saw it as an important part in coalescing against US intervention in the region just as Kwame Nkrumah did soccer in the nascent rise of African nationalism against the British. But with Manley's death in 1997 the differences between these countries sharpened. Cricket took a nosedive as a group of disparate and incohesive West Indian players led by the supremely talented Brian Lara met with a series of defeats. The infallibility of the West Indies had ended.

At the same time soccer enjoyed an growing popularity since the 1970s when Jack Warner, Trinidad and Tobago's soccer association president promoted it as a sport that opposed the remains of a colonial legacy and identified it as a sport for the blacks and the dispossessed. In contrast, cricket was always the sport of the elite and the Trini Indians who saw themselves as outside of nationalist politics. Much of soccer's surge in the Caribbean can be attributed to Warner who is now one of FIFA's vice president and the president of CONCACAF. Warner's good work to promote soccer has been tarnished with charges of financial impropriety and nepotism for which he is being investigated. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago also benefited by a strong diasporic representation in English and the USA playing for their leagues or in the varsity teams and coming back to do duty for their national squads. The Reggae Boyz squad took advantage of this phenomena with Robbie Earle, Jamaica's hero in the 1998 World Cup who scored his country's first ever goal against Croatia, also playing for Port Vale and Wimbledon. Ricardo Gardner, Dean Burton, and Frank Sinclair, members of the 1998 squad were either born in England or played for clubs there. Trinidad and Tobago's Shaka Hislop, a hero to his countrymen in the 2006 World Cup (who can forget his goalkeeping in the Sweden game) came to the USA and attended Howard University winning the NCAA title in 1988. As did Stern John who joined Columbus Crew after completing his college. Dwight Yorke, T&T's captain played for Aston Villa, Man Utd, and Blackburn Rovers. Carlos Edwards joined from Luton Town. There were a number of player from the Scottish League including Russell Latapy, Jason Scotland, Brent Sancho, Densill Theobald, and Collin Samuel. In fact, there is a great story of many Scottish fans making the trip to Germany to cheer T&T, their adopted team against their rivals England. Soccer appeals to many in tiny and isolated T&T because it helps connect with the world and its billions that follow the global game rather than follow what appears to be an echo chamber of ten nations playing a game that smacks of a protracted colonial hangover.

Soccer with its TV and merchandising rights has also proved to be lucrative to these players and the respective soccer federations. The cash strapped West Indies Cricket Board on the other hand has had to undergo a financial crisis after chief sponsors Cable and Wireless pulled out imperiling future tours by the players. The players supplement their meager salaries given by the board with the more substantial endorsements given by sponsoring companies. This sort of problem does not arise in soccer as the diasporic Jamaican and Trinibagoans play for the richer English and US clubs and the soccer federations are not responsible for their salaries.

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Sepp Blatter is a political animal. His FIFA career has been an orchestration of lining up votes, doling out favours to powerful associates who help him to keep power. The ISL scandal shows the extent of corruption in the FIFA higher echelons. In Blatter's tenure as FIFA president, there has been no appetite for real reform.

In fact, FIFA is now a version of the IMF, an autocratic authority whose primary preoccupation appears to be imposing arbitrary disciplinary measures against the soccer have nots, while largely ignoring the problems that face European and South American countries where soccer hooliganism and corruption continue to run rampant. FIFA's hypocrisy is clearly seen in banning Kenya from international soccer while turning a blind eye to the match fixing crisis that confronted Italian soccer in the summer, racism in the German lower leagues, and hooligan violence in the Argentine league.

Surely, Kenya's running of two parallel league is their internal problem. The Kenyan government stepping in to resolve their differences was a good faith gesture and not a case of interference, as FIFA claims. In many countries, politics and sports are so intertwined it is hard to separate out the two. Be that as it may, is this enough reason to punish a country by banning them from soccer? Iran and Greece were similarly suspended.

Blatter's presidency is up for renewal this fall. His fairweather approach to reforms should be enough reason to convince anyone that he is undeserving of re-election. In fact, there is speculation that his public proclamations of support for South Africa hosting the World Cup is a front for securing the African vote. Once he is re-elected he will throw SA under the bus if it does not show enough progress, and award the World Cup to Australia. Cynical speculations you might add but Blatter has made a career out of being self serving. The suspension of Kenya exposes the real Blatter.

Freedom for football writes in about FIFA's intrusive policies:

A less prominent but equally chilling case is playing out in the US now over FIFA's power play to take control of futsal globally. The US futsal organization has existed for decades independently and owns the trademark to futsal in the US. FIFA has threatened to sanction USSF unless it brings US Futsal to heel, but FIFA and USSF haven't got a leg to stand on in terms of US (or Kenyan) law

I might add that Blatter was not being disingenuous when he expressed his concern at the number of foreign owners in the Premiership in clubs.

"We need to be careful football doesn't end up in the hands of people who want football to serve them, instead of them serving football," said Blatter. "It is a very delicate matter and we need the help of the judicial authorities."

Et tu, Blatter?

Update: Andrew Jennings points out that Sepp Blatter is up for re-electionin May 2007. Thanks Andrew.

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Remember the controversial film that French midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo made that landed him in hot water with Raymond Domenech for its rather candid moments. Dhorasoo filmed the World Cup with a hand held Super 8 cam and caught his team making some very unguarded comments.

Well, the Substitute is now playing at the Berlin film festival and those soccer film buffs will get a perspective of the World Cup through the eyes of a soccer player who like Godot gets disillusioned waiting for his place under the sun.

"Melancholy instead of euphoria, loneliness instead of "one-for-all-and-all-for-one"rhetoric, a tragic hero instead of a glorious athlete - Substitute is the other documentary football film. What begins as a World Cup adventure, full of hope, turns into the diary of a bitter disappointment. The father (trainer Domenech) rejects the son (Dhorasoo) who is worn down by the waiting, the boredom, and the self-doubt. Sixteen minutes on the field are too little to give him a sense of belonging."

Thanks to reader singe >>

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Today's match between France and Argentina marks Roberto Ayala's 107th international for Argentina. He passes Diego Simeone's record. Ayala started his international career against Chile on 16 November, 1994 under the present manager Alfio Basile. Ayala is one of Argentina's greatest center backs and was selected in the 2006 World Cup All Star squad.

Strangely enough, given that these two teams are amongst the elite, they rarely meet.Their last encounter was 20 years ago in a friendly in Paris that France won, 2-0. Argentina are without their playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, who retired from international soccer. In his place is 20 year old Fernando Gago. Basile has also kept out Messi and Tevez. Les Bleus are without injured defenders William Gallas and Lilian Thuram. In their place, Raymonde Domenech is the new pair of Julien Escude and Sebastien Squillaci.

Connections: David Trezeguet is of Argentinian descent, born in Rouen to Argentine immigrants. Gabriel Heinze played for PSG before moving to Man Utd and Javier Saviola did duty at Monaco before moving back to Barca.

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There are reports that Man Utd is now close to giving up on Owen Hargreaves transferring this January.

Owen Hargreaves shares a reciprocal and single minded obsession with Sir Alex which sees him playing at Old Trafford. Sir Alex is willing to shell out £23 million pounds, an astronomical amount of money to get Hargreaves into a Red Devils uniform. An amount that Bayern Munich has turned down. This sort of money begs the question, is Owen Hargreaves worth it? Is he all that good a player?

He is to all purports an average midfielder who made good in this World Cup as part of a somnambulistic England squad for which only a couple of players showed up to play.An English team so smitten with asthenia and devoid of animation that Owen Hargreaves was a standout with his friskiness. Nicky Butt would have been a livewire in this bunch of Kevin Costner deadpan lookalikes. Friskiness is good but 23 million pounds should buy you a lot more than that. How about some talent and skill? Hargreaves is a penny stock grossly overvalued in a desperate market. Plus, Hargreaves is Canadian. When did you last see a Canadian make good in soccer?

Man Utd is better off spending far less money on a younger talent. And if they really want to waste money then they can donate to savedarfur.org for a far, far more worthy cause.

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Ramon Calderon's Real has sprung a leak and after his off guard remarks, his unwanted players are jumping ship. First, Beckham announced that he was moving to the US to try his hand at Scientology and today Ronaldo moved closer to becoming a Rossoneri. He has to undergo a medical which states that he has to lay off the Cheetos for a bit. But it seems everything else is in the bag.

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Can Lucas Neill stop those goals?

West Ham has not won an away game this season. How bad are the Hammers on the road? They have played 12 away games and nine of them have been losses. They have scored only 4 goals and conceded 24 for a league low -20 goal differential in away games. They came close to beating Newcastle only to be dealt a blow with a dubious decision to give James Milner his goal even though he was clearly offside.

Meanwhile, Socceroo Lucas Neill who has been Oz and Blackburn's backbone in defence returns to London on transfer to the Hammers. His versatility and expe