A Reuters report out today about World Cup bases makes for interesting reading, not least because some of the teams mentioned haven’t yet qualified and may not even do so.
According to this report France, Sweden and Paraguay have set up coastal bases, despite the South Americans being the only one of the three to have secured qualification.
The French have apparently booked a facility on the southern Cape coast. Coach Raymond Domenech must be thinking the play offs are an inconvenient but easily surmountable barrier.
Other teams looking ahead include Sweden, who have booked in at Durban, and Argentina, Germany, Italy, Mexico and the USA, who have all booked hotels or guest lodges in Pretoria.
Japan and Switzerland are heading for Johannesburg. Japan have already qualified, but the Swiss may not make even make the play offs.
England will allegedly be based at Sun City, although Fabio Capello and his team will probably wait for the draw in December before deciding on the location of their base for the tournament.
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
28/07/2009
Early qualifiers for next year Pt 5
Australia
Let’s cut to the chase. Anyone who connives in the use of ridiculous footballing nicknames deserves all the bile they get.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Blue Samurai (Japan) is great, if a little pseudo-pornographic.
In the absence of a witty way to say hallucinogenic cake munching quarter final fodder, Oranjes does for the Dutch.
And who could fail to be impressed by the mighty Les Eperviers (The Sparrowhawks) of Togo? Not me.
However, I draw the line at The Socceroos. If ever a nickname was so false and calculated to make even simpletons puke into a bucket, this surely is it.
First, there are plenty of other animals in Australia which could be appended to the word “soccer”. Koalas spring to mind, as do the grey-headed flying fox and the Sugar Glider (a small arboreal possum which, as its name suggests, can glide between trees).
But my real problem is this. The game we are talking about is “football”, not “soccer”. Get that right and I might take a passing interest in the Flying Footy Foxes next summer.
Let’s cut to the chase. Anyone who connives in the use of ridiculous footballing nicknames deserves all the bile they get.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Blue Samurai (Japan) is great, if a little pseudo-pornographic.
In the absence of a witty way to say hallucinogenic cake munching quarter final fodder, Oranjes does for the Dutch.
And who could fail to be impressed by the mighty Les Eperviers (The Sparrowhawks) of Togo? Not me.
However, I draw the line at The Socceroos. If ever a nickname was so false and calculated to make even simpletons puke into a bucket, this surely is it.
First, there are plenty of other animals in Australia which could be appended to the word “soccer”. Koalas spring to mind, as do the grey-headed flying fox and the Sugar Glider (a small arboreal possum which, as its name suggests, can glide between trees).
But my real problem is this. The game we are talking about is “football”, not “soccer”. Get that right and I might take a passing interest in the Flying Footy Foxes next summer.
23/07/2009
Early qualifiers for next year Pt 4
Japan
The first team in the world to qualify is also among the candidates for an early exit, despite some overexcitable chatter from the manager and players.
They have much higher hopes for the Blue Samurai, according to comments allegedly made after the eye-catching 1-0 win in Uzbekistan which sealed qualification.
“We will surprise the world! Hip, Hip, Hurrah!” chanted the players.
Then manager Takeshi Okada, presumably drinking from the same pool of mindless optimism as his squad, chipped in: “We want to raise our level higher as we are aiming for the World Cup last four.”
So that’s higher than a group in which the other teams were Australia, Qatar, Bahrain and Uzbekistan? A group in which they came second, by the way. And Okada’s crack wannabee semi-finalists could only manage draws with two of these after putting the mighty Oman to the sword, erm, 1 – 1.
On this evidence the Blue Samurai will need to raise the bar a bit higher to get out of the first group phase.
The first team in the world to qualify is also among the candidates for an early exit, despite some overexcitable chatter from the manager and players.
They have much higher hopes for the Blue Samurai, according to comments allegedly made after the eye-catching 1-0 win in Uzbekistan which sealed qualification.
“We will surprise the world! Hip, Hip, Hurrah!” chanted the players.
Then manager Takeshi Okada, presumably drinking from the same pool of mindless optimism as his squad, chipped in: “We want to raise our level higher as we are aiming for the World Cup last four.”
So that’s higher than a group in which the other teams were Australia, Qatar, Bahrain and Uzbekistan? A group in which they came second, by the way. And Okada’s crack wannabee semi-finalists could only manage draws with two of these after putting the mighty Oman to the sword, erm, 1 – 1.
On this evidence the Blue Samurai will need to raise the bar a bit higher to get out of the first group phase.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)