2010 World Cup groups and odds

Well the time for idle speculation is over. The groups for the World Cup starting in June 2010 in South Africa have been determined. And this will be interesting.

I will have a video with the odds of several of the favorites, and commentary about the USA vs. England match shortly.

But starting with Group A - South Africa, France, Mexico, Uruguay - I expect South Africa to make history. Never before has a host country lost in group play. But I'm pretty sure that's what's going to happen here. The probable winners in this group: France and Mexico.

In Group B - Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea - This should be a cake walk for Argentina. I expect them to win every match. The real questio in my mind is if Nigeria or South Korea also advance. I'd have to nudge over and say Nigeria.

Group C - Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States - Now this is a challenging group. There is a big question on what will happen. The fact that the US will be playing England first really sucks for the US, though the British commentators seem to think this might be a tough match. So assuming that we lose the first match, which is likely, our hope is to win against slovenia and tie Algeria. My bet, England and Algeria advance.

Group D - Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia - An easy group for Germany. Sadly Australia will be out quickly. But I'm not sure about Ghana and Serbia. My guess is that Ghana will pull it out due to the homefeild advantage. Germany and Ghana advance.

Group E - Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands - I'm looking for an upset out of this group. Of course the Netherlands will win the group. Japan is the big loser. Again the question is Cameroon and Denmark. And I expect Cameroon to pull it out. I don't think many will pick that. Netherlands and Cameroon move on.

Group F - Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia - Wow Italy got lucky. This may the easiest group in the World Cup. Italy wins easy, and New Zealand will be on the same plane home as Australia. The choice left is pretty easy. Paraguay takes the group after italy.

Group G - Brazil, Ivory Coast, Portugal, North Korea - Well let me think. Brazil moves on, that's a no brainer. But I think that Ivory Coast will surprise some people. I think that they go to the next round after soundly beating Portugal and North Korea. My call, Ivory Coast and Brazil.

Group H - Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland - This may be the most exciting Group out of all the group play. There will be battles in this group. Spain will take it, but I think they will have more trouble than most expect. Chile will make a good try but Honduras will pull out the big win in the group. Switzerland will give it a good try but I think they are the loser of that group.

Ultimately, I think the final match will come down to Germany vs Brazil or Argentina vs England. In either option I would go with the South American teams to win.

Look for my video shortly.

U.S. beats Spain and goes to Confederations Cup finals

Could it be that the U.S. is on the verge of becoming a real world competitor on the pitch of the futbol (soccer) world? Could we be on the edge of gaining respect from the international community?

For more decades than I have been alive the joke has been watching the U.S. qualify for the World Cup, and not getting past the first round. Watching my home nation lose to some of the weakest teams in the world has never been fun for me. It was a serious source of pride, years ago, when the U.S. made it to the second round – and quite lucrative.

But since then and well before there was nothing. Until now.

Yes, now we have beaten Spain. A real team, with a reputation nearly as good as anyone in Europe. And we did it in the high profile, international Confederations Cup. A move that catapulted the team to the finals later this week.

Win or lose, America has upped the game. We have laid down the gauntlet for the rest of the world to pick up. A challenge that will likely be on display at the World Cup.



Spain, the European champion, had set an international record with 15 straight victories and had tied Brazil's record unbeaten streak of 35 games from December 1993 to January 1996. Which makes the win all the more sweet as prior to this we had been 1-7-1 against top international teams, beating Brazil in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and tying Argentina last summer in an exhibition at Giants Stadium. Not that exhibitions really count.

So is this like shooting a piece of tissue paper with a .22 and having the bullet come back at you? An event that is mathematically probable, but realistically impossible?

Maybe. Right this moment though I don’t care. Because America beat Spain, and the World Cup has a new underdog that might just win if all the stars align just right.

Who Are You Betting for in the World Cup

From its inauguration in 1930 the World Cup has grown to become the biggest football (soccer) competitiion in the world. The chance to call your country the world champions attracts a huge audience round the globe and is one of the most watched events on the planet. Yet the World Cup itself grew from more modest beginnings. The driving force behind the competition was FIFA president Jules Rimet and the trophy awarded to the winners was named after Rimet. The first competition saw Uruguay crowned the first world champions. They beat Argentina 4-2 in the final in Montivideo, however even back then the crowd for the match was 93,000, which probably even then gave some indication of how much the futbol (soccer) supporters of the world wanted this kind of competition.

The next competition in 1934 and also in 1938 contained very few South American teams due to the difficulties and long journeys required in that era. The Second World War meant that competitive soccer was temporarily suspended, and the 1942 and 1946 competitions did not take place.

In 1950 the competition returned and was won for the second time by Uruguay. The Competition comprised sixteen teams. Not until 1982 did the competition expand to 24 teams and was then expanded again in 1998 to 32 teams. This allowed more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. The 2010 tournament will see a massive 204 countries trying to qualify, up from the previous record of 198 in 2006.

Brazil holds the record of the most tournament wins, wining the Cup five times. After the third win, Brazil was allowed to keep the Jules Rimet trophy and a new trophy was introduced. Brazil; is also the only country to have appeared at all of the World Cup final competitions. The 2014 competition will be held in Brazil

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brazil have already been installed as the favourites for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. They are followed by Argentina, Spain - the European champions - and Italy, the current champions who have won the competition four times. England have been named fourth favourites following their recent run of form under Fabio Capello. Germany, Holland, France, Portugal, and Russia make up the remaining places in the top ten favourites for the World Cup.

Brazil are currently being quoted at 9-2 and Argentina at 5-1. European champions Spain will also expect to do well riding on the back of a wave of confidence following their Euro win. They are quoted at 15-2. Surprisingly England have been made fourth favourites at 8-1 above Italy and Germany who both hold the most winners titles after Brazil. England`s regular failure to progress much past the quarter final stage may well make them a difficult option, but their fans will be hoping that the success of British clubs in Europe can be reflected at the biggest competition in world futbol. To keep up with the best betting information, go to Free Bet Offers

Movie preview: Limits of Control

Moving on to another film that caught my eye is Limits of Control. This is a film by Jim Jarmusch, who did the impressive Ghost Dog. It is based in Spain, and again takes the viewer to a different place than expected.



Based on the movie trailer there are a few things that immediately come to mind. The guitars and violins bring up thoughts of El Mariachi. The pace seems similar to that film and Ocean’s Eleven (the Clooney - Pitt remake). The diversity of characters and the subdued hint that there is more going on than at first revealed brings up thoughts of The Usual Suspects. So the combination of these elements bodes well for the film.

Adding to that is the inclusion of Bill Murray, John Hurt, and Isaach De Bankole. Each has a huge line of success behind them, and is a bonus for audiences. In fact the casting seems to be excellent.

Given the bright expansive landscape of Spain, and the many well lit rooms, the movie looks to be gritty. But this does not appear to be an action based film. That may cost it part of its potential audience in the U.S. but will be fine in Europe and the rest of the world.

Still there is never a problem with a well-done intellectual thriller. Having to think or pay attention is always a bonus in the movie experience to me. Because if you wanted to just be a lump for a few hours, you can always stay home and watch American Idol.

“Sometimes the reflection is far more present than the thing being reflected.”

With lines like that, the expectations are raised. But Jarmusch is know to hit the mark. Likely to be in only selected movie theaters, I’d keep an eye out for this.

Spain's Olympic basketball team - Racism in your face

It really just floors me. At a time when the world is looking at China, as they hold the Olympics, and seeing the mixing of every culture on the planet we still get to learn about how insensitive humanity can be.

Racism, and insults based solely in race, is neither an American invention nor one of the modern industrial era. But in the 21st Century we all would like to think that it might end soon, that we all would have learned enough about each other to know better. But we don’t. And it shows even as the world tries to unite for a ‘friendly’ athletic competition.

Many in the U.S. might not be familiar with the specific case I am speaking of. It deals with the Spanish basketball team and a photo they took before they start of the Olympics.



The insult is obvious. The intention, as stated by the team, was to have a light-hearted bit of fun. It didn’t happen.

“It's baffling that nobody involved in the picture -- from the photographers to the players -- even seemed to consider that this ad would be looked at negatively. Did it not occur to somebody that it might not be a good idea to mock an entire continent before the world's largest athletic competition that, by the way, happens to take place on that continent. Were they not aware of an invention called "the Internet" that allows pictures taken in Spain to be transmitted all over the world for the eyes of everyone?”

Seriously, I too cannot understand how no one found this to be insulting. But before I wanted to write on this ad, sponsored and organized by Seur - though Li-Ning Footwear (Li-Ning being the former Olympian that lit the Olympic flame) is also a sponsor of the team - I wanted to give Spain’s basketball team a chance to simply apologize.

Instead comments like this on from Jose Calderon were made

“We did it because we thought it was going to be something nice, something with no problem,” Calderon told Yahoo! Sports. “But somebody wants to talk about it. It is too much of a big deal with you guys (the media) and everybody talking about that.”

No problem? Too much of a big deal? Calderon plays for the Toronto Raptors, so imagine if the Raptors took a picture like this one, all in black face. Or doused in water exposing their backs to the camera. Or dressed with green and spilling beer. Or holding plates of spaghetti. In Spain there may not be a care about insulting 1/3 of the world, or any race and ethnicity, but the rest of the world clearly does not share those same feelings – at least most of the time.

Pau Gasol, who plays for the L.A. Lakers, offered a slightly more remorseful comment

“Some of us didn’t feel comfortable doing it just because to me it was a little clownish for our part to be doing that,” Gasol said. “But the sponsors insisted and insisted. I think it is just a bad idea I guess to do that, but it was never intended to be offensive or racist against anybody...

If anybody feels offended by it we totally apologize for it. We never meant anything offensive by it.”

It’s not much of an apology. I mean if he felt that bad about the photo, why be in it? Why not say something? Why not make a comment before or when the photo was published in La Marca?

Gasol said nothing, until the image hit the internet, and the backlash struck the team. That’s not caring about being offensive or racist, that’s covering your ass.

But before you start taking the side of Gasol keep in mind the last part of what he has to say about this

“If you put it in the wrong context and put it with the wrong people or a different kind of people, you could take it that way,” he said. “But not with our group and not with our people. I would find that a wrong read.”

Wrong context? Wrong people? The photo mocks anyone of Asian descent anywhere in the world. What context beyond that is there?

How many times have I heard the words, “I’m not a racist but…” or “I can’t be racist because I know a black person…” or “We’re not racists because we like this entertainer (or athlete)…”

Spain is known for its racist attitude, especially in sports. There are numerous comments that have been made by those in soccer (futbol), auto racing, and other sports. This is a low for that country, among a host of lows presented to the worlds on a regular basis.

Racist acts are not solely an American issue, but that does not make it a good thing nor acceptable. If Spain, and/or the Spanish basketball team, is embarrassed they should be. The world is in the 21st Century, and actions like this have no place in it.

Euro 2008 - Spain are the kings of Europe again

The Euro 2008 futbol finals were played today with Germany and Spain each viying for the title of European champion. Both nations played hard in a match that was physical and at times intense. The final score of 1-0 details not only the difficulty of the game, but also the more lackluster performance of one of the teams.



The first half of the game was not as impressive to me as the second half. One of the bigger points of the first half had to be when the referee decided to give out yellow cards in the 31st minute. It was a sense of what would be coming later in the game.

Ballack was obviously in the wrong on this play, butting a Spanish player and thus creating a bit of a ruckus on the field. This was quickly broken up with Casillas coming over to both calm his players down and to speak with the referee who had yet to indicate any card or comment seemingly. Then after walking away the decision was made and a yellow card was given to Ballack. This was as it should have been as Ballack had been pushing the physicality for some time. But then to the surprise of even the sportscasters, Casillas was given a yellow as well. It’s been conjecture this was because he was yelling/discussing the matter with the ref. It was just bad officiating to me.

But Spain took over the game at this point because in the 33rd minute they scored the only goal of the match. Torres was the player responsible. While his prior attempt to score was only kept out by the upright post his actual scoring goal was much less dramatic. Yet it was effective enough to frustrate Germany for the remainder of the first half as Torres had beat they playing their own style of game.

Then after the half in the 60th minute Germany finally woke up a bit. Ballack made what was the best goal attempt of the game to that point. This provided Germany a boost that motivated them onto 4 shots on goal in 3 minutes. The pressure that was the German offense was making a valiant effort, but it died pretty quickly after the 64th minute.

The thing that took the wind out of Germany’s sails at that point was a missed opportunity to be one man up in the match. Again the officiating got in the way of play, which was highly consistent throughout the match, but this time it was because no one caught a flagrant foul worthy of a red card. And while several players mentioned this to the ref, including Ballack running to the sideline ref to plead his case, none wanted to repeat the mistake of Casillas. Thus nothing was done.

With this momentary distraction to Germany, Ramas made a beautiful header attempt in the 67th minute. While it didn’t go in it did signal the end of Germany’s rally and hopes to win the match.

By the 82nd minute the repeated attacks by Spain lead to a wonderful opportunity for Sena. He had come up through an opening and was crossed the ball facing an open net. All he had to do was touch the ball and it would have deflected in beating the goalkeeper with ease. Instead he kicked at the ball late and low, allowing it to cross past him unheeded. So much for the locked victory to Spain.

By this point Germany was not only beat but frustrated. Perhaps the most obvious display of this desperate mood among the German players was the yellow card given to Kuranyi in the 88th minute. It was deserved and obvious that German has nothing more to give to the game.

Thus the match ended with Spain winning with only one goal by Torres. It was not a flashy game, nor spectacular by any means. There were no stunning moments, except for the faces and actions of the German players as Spain celebrated its first win in 44 years. That had to be the longest 10 minutes for any team or player to endure.

Germany came to play a better team – or so you might have thought. Spain came to win.

But even with bad officiating, missed opportunities for goals, frustration on the field, and Ballack’s bad temper, it was all better than the play of L.A. vs D.C. If Germany came to play second L.A. and David Beckham came to watch the crowd in their 4-1 loss. So all in all the Euro 2008 was pretty good from this American's television.