Fabio Capello has made England one of the World Cup favourites. But lack of English born coaches capable of managing England remains a major concern.

I am simply blogging what most fans of international football around the world treat as a joke! The scarcity of English born coaches in the English Premier League!
Fabio Capello is one of the greatest coaches of the modern era & seems to have at last managed to make England a solid & reliable unit as a team. But shouldn't the mother home of the beautiful game be able to manage to produce an English born coach to lead it to the World Cup?
The answer is simply no! It can't! Outside a few true & trusted old hands such as Harry Redknapp of Tottenham & Roy Hodgson of Fulham, there are very few high calibre English born coaches around these days. The late Sir Bobby Robson was probably the last of that generation.
I rest my case by listing the names of the top 10 EPL Teams Managers for those of you who are not aware of their nationalities. This is based on the league table as of 1 March 2010:
1. Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti (Italy)
2. Manchester Utd: Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland)
3. Arsenal: Arsen Wenger (France)
4. Manchester City: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
5. Tottenham: Harry Redknapp (England)
6. Liverpool: Rafa Benitez (Spain)
7. Aston Villa: Martin O'Neill (Northern Ireland)
8. Brrmingham: Alex McLeish (Scotland)
9. Everton: David Moyes (Scotland)
10. Fulham: Roy Hodgson (England)
As you can see, only two out of ten were born in England. Of course, as you know the English would protest saying we & the Scots & Northern Irish are all British! That's OK! My question remains the same:
Are there any coaches born in England who can claim to have the calibre to lead a major footballing national side to the World Cup?
I believe the answer remains negative. As a result the international performance of England will continue to suffer & whilst they are a very good side, I don't think they can win the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in July 2010.

4 Days To Go: The 5 Best Games of the First Round

4 days left and the 2010 World Cup gets underway!

There's SO much news on the internet, magazines, newspapers, television, etc.
I'm but a lowly blogger trying to carve his niche in the big, bad soccer media world.

Having said that, I'm BEYOND excited for the Cup, even if I can't make it to South Africa.
I'm making lemonade out of lemons, looking forward to enjoying the Cup in New York City!

So what are the 5 biggest matches of the first round?

1 - USA vs. England (June 12, 2:30pm)

Call this the teacher vs. the student, if you wish. It's the colonial power against the formerly subjugated. The football powerhouse against the budding superstars.

USA-England has all the drama of a Spanish soap opera.

Most prognosticators give USA little chance against the magic of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Having said that, USA's not as bad as many pundits think. They're scrappy, they're quick and with Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley, they have pace and vision.

Expect a tough one before the USA succumbs to the English brawn and power.

2 - South Africa vs. Mexico (June 11, 10 a.m.)

Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg will be rocking for the opening match of the 2010 Cup. South Africa's not a strong team, but Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has provided the squad with much needed structure.

Mexico is consistently one of the quickest, most offensive sides in the world, so this should be a show stopper and a fancy way to open the Cup.

3 - Argentina vs. Nigeria (June 12, 10 a.m.)

The unstable Diego Maradona guides the likes of world player of the year Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain into a match against one of Africa's powerhouses. Who knows what'll happen here?

Expect a raucous atmosphere. It's one of Africa's best hopes of advancing out of the first round against a perennial power, coached by the greatest player of all time.

Must See TV, anyone?

4 - Brazil vs. Portugal (June 25, 10 a.m)

Brazil is the co-favorite to win it all. Portugal boasts the world's most expensive player in Cristiano Ronaldo and a fast, loose style.

Both teams will be looking to finish first in the group, as the second-place side settles into a likely match with co-favorite Spain. So expect a knockout, drag-out fight by these two Portuguese-speaking nations

5 - Ghana vs. Germany (June 23, 2:30 p.m)

Who will feel the injury bug the most: Ghana, who is missing Michael Essien? Or Germany, who is missing Michael Ballack?

The Ghanaians will be hard pressed against the efficient Germans, but their freewheeling style may cause fits of anxiety for the former World Champions.

The pro-African crowd may play a part in this.


All in all, five games that will entertain and excite. What do you think?

7 Days To Go: One Week!

One week to go!
7 days before the start of the 2010 World Cup and I can hardly believe it!
Lots of news today, so let's get to it ...

Today's Tidbits

1 - Since I started writing this site, one of the main protagonists has been the Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba. He's on magazine covers, won tons of accolades and is one of the faces of Africa's first World Cup.

BAD news today, as Drogba is set to miss the 2010 World Cup.

According to reports, Drogba is set to miss the Cup with a suspected fractured elbow after he was forced off in a friendly against Japan. Drogba had put his country 1-0 ahead with a free-kick in the 15th minute before going down following a challenge from the Japan defender Tulio – off whom Drogba's goal had deflected in – and he left the pitch in visible distress.

Drogba was immediately taken to hospital in Sion, Switzerland, where the Ivorians have been undergoing altitude training. "Of course I am worried, he's our captain and one of the best players in the world," said the Ivory Coast manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who attached no blame to Tulio. "It was unlucky, he didn't want to hurt anyone. Football is a game of contact."

Just bad, bad news ... at the age of 32, will we ever see Drogba in a World Cup again?

2 - MORE injury news, as England's captain Rio Ferdinand will miss the World Cup.

This after injuring his left knee in training.

The England captain broke down after a tackle in the final few minutes of his team's first training session since landing in South Africa, and was taken to hospital for a scan.

The results of the scan are believed to indicate knee ligament damage and the 31-year-old will take no further part in the World Cup.

Michael Dawson, who was part of Fabio Capello's initial 30-man squad, is the likely replacement, while Steven Gerrard will be promoted to the captaincy.

UGGH!!

3 - Team USA plays one more friendly, against Australia, before the start of next week's Cup.

4 - Speaking of Team USA, is the opening match against England the Revenge of the Colonies??

Sounds like a Star Wars movie.

5 - Fears and frustration temper the pride many locals feel about hosting the World Cup, according to the Guardian's Anna Kessel.

What I Think I Think

A week away and just a question:

Who do you think will win the 2010 World Cup?

I'll write an analysis of my thoughts tomorrow.

10 Days To Go: Time Flies

Time sure does fly.

I feel like I started this blog a few months ago.

But it's been 3 years now and here we are, a mere 10 days away from the 2010 World Cup.

Time flies!!!

Today's Tidbits

1 - Brazil will win the World Cup! According to an executive producer of the BBC, at least.

2 - Theo Walcott fails to make the final England squad. Tough break for the young lad.

3 - A movie review of 'Looking for Eric.' The Eric in question is Man U legend Eric Cantona.

4 - Speaking of movies, if you're in the New York City area, check out the 2nd annual Kicking and Screening soccer film festival. Some great films here, folks.

5 - D.C. United midfielder Andy Najar is the first MLS academy product to make a major impact. Many could follow, altering the landscape of American soccer.

What I Think I Think

Now THIS is a soccer advert ... are we all ready for the USA-England match? Should be a classic!

12 Days To Go: Protracted Edition

We're less than two weeks away from the 2010 World Cup and we here at 'Road to 2010' pause to reflect during a holiday weekend in the USA ...

(pause)

And how was that for everyone?

Today, a short edition of the blog as it's Memorial Day in the US and we'd like to get our BBQ on.

Today's Tidbits

1 - USA defeated Turkey 2-1 last night in their final domestic tuneup before traveling to South Africa. Not bad. But June 12th is what counts.

2 - Quick! What's the best country never to win a World Cup? Yep, the Dutch. Can they win it all this year?

3 - Samuel Eto'o whined and threatened to take his ball home if people didn't stop bad mouthing him. All for naught, as Eto'o plans on playing for Cameroon in the World Cup. Baby ...

4 - England didn't look too hot in a 2-1 win over Japan.

5 - Mexico '86: The World Cup that had everything! According to Four Four Two magazine, at least.

What I Think I Think

I think I need to get off this computer and enjoy some sun! You do the same. See you tomorrow!!

Chelsea-Liverpool: Football Heaven!

This is a blog about the 2010 World Cup but allow me to digress and focus on what was one of the most exciting matches I've ever seen in my life: Yesterday's Champions League quarter final between Chelsea and Liverpool.

For those who haven't seen, please check out the video below.



When the draw for this round of the Champions League was announced, most football fans let out a collective groan.

Liverpool-Chelsea again? They'd met in 2005, 2007, 2008 ... every season, no?

With all that familiarity, was this going to end up the insipid affair most have seen between the 2 clubs the past few seasons?

Former Real Madrid sporting director Jorge Valdano has this to say about the English wars ahead of their 2007 semi-final clash.

"Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion - and, in that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a shit hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a shit hanging from a stick.

"Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct," he added. "But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don't be ridiculous. None of that. The extreme control and seriousness with which both teams played the semi-final neutralised any creative licence, any moments of exquisite skill.

"If Didier Drogba was the best player in the first match it was purely because he was the one who ran the fastest, jumped the highest and crashed into people the hardest. Such extreme intensity wipes away talent, even leaving a player of Joe Cole's class disoriented. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century."

Bold words from a passionate man.

Although I don't agree with all of Valdano's opinion, he had a point.
The games had become predictable and bland, defensive nightmares to watch.

Yesterday's match and their encounter last week at Anfield were anything but defensive nightmares. There were 12 goals scored overall, an avalanche compared to the one goal scored in their 2005 semi-final encounter.

But more than that, it was the passion and grace exhibited in the two ties.

Two of the biggest clubs in the world going toe-to-toe in a heavy weight battle. It's not often we watch two behemoths such as these slug it out in an encounter as free-flowing, as physical, as intense.

It was a true joy to watch. It's the kind of game that serves as an advert for the uninitiated. When someone asks me why I love football, this is a game I can point to.

'This ... this amazing match is why I'm so addicted to this game!'

Who didn't think Liverpool had another Istanbul 2005 in them after Xabi Alonso scored that penalty? Who gave them up for dead after Chelsea's second goal, only to see them fight back?

What about that Alex free kick? Or Frank Lampard's two goals at the end of the game to send Chelsea to the semi-finals once and for all?

Was this the greatest Champions League match of all-time? The Guardian ranks it up there but doesn't rate this number one.

So which is? And what did you think of yesterday's match?

Carling tonic leaves Foster primed

Reality will hit home for Ben Foster on Wednesday when Manchester United travel to take on Newcastle at St James' Park in the Premier League.

The Old Trafford understudy took his big chance against Tottenham in the Carling Cup final at Wembley last Sunday and grabbed it with both hands in the absence of Edwin van der Sar.

The 25-year-old was making only his seventh senior appearance for the world club champions and managed to steal the headlines by keeping out Jamie O'Hara's spot-kick to secure the Premier League leaders their second major piece of silverware this season.

However, Foster will return to bench warming duties when Sir Alex Ferguson's side look to restore their seven-point advantage over nearest challengers Chelsea and Liverpool.

Even the notoriously unsentimental Scot admitted the decision to leave out Foster was harsh.

He said: "It is not easy and after watching Ben's performance on Sunday, it would seem a bit unfair."

Ferguson has a case-hardened history when it comes to unceremoniously dumping goalkeepers, so his later assertion that Foster's best years are ahead of him should not be ignored.

Dutch veteran van der Sar has only just signed a new one-year contract, so Foster may also have to prove he has the patience to cope with waiting for his opportunity to finally oust the 38-year-old.

Ironically, Foster may feel his best chance of firing a reminder to Ferguson will come with England.

England coach Fabio Capello witnessed first hand Foster's heroics against Tottenham, although David James has kept goal in England's opening four 2010 World Cup qualifiers - conceding just three goals - and appears to have made the position safe.

However, the Portsmouth number one will be approaching 40 when England hopefully board the plane for South Africa and is still prone to the odd rush of blood.

Foster could yet jump the queue and emerge as his natural successor, but he may just have to bide his time.

Nick Walsh writes features and betting previews for Betfair.

Capello caught cold by Spanish lesson

Fabio Capello wanted his players to prove they can cope with the best but in the end he was left to deny that England had taken a step backwards in their 2-0 humbling by Spain.

The wily Italian has masterminded an unblemished start to qualification for the 2010 World Cup but England on the night were no match for the technical mastery of the Euro 2008 winners.

It was England's first defeat in nine games but it was the manner of the dismantling by Vicente Del Bosque's men at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium that will have given Capello his biggest headache.

England were missing the dynamism of Wayne Rooney and athleticism of Steven Gerrard but lacked the mobility and fluidity to shackle the vibrant Spain playmakers Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick did a manful job of putting the brakes on the Barcelona favourites, but ultimately spent a large part of the night chasing shadows.

And while Spain can boast an impressive front partnership of David Villa and Fernando Torres, England, without wishing to be unkind, looked a tad inferior as Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey failed to strike up any kind of understanding.

The need for a genuine world-class threat up front could not have been any more palpable in Seville.

Next up for England is a friendly against Slovakia on March 28 ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifier with Ukraine on April 1 and Capello has acknowledged his players need to raise the bar again.

"You learn more in defeat and yes, this could be our most important lesson of the year," Capello said after the Spain defeat.

"The next time we play a game like this we will all understand what we have to do."

Nick Walsh writes features and betting previews for Betfair.

Who Will Host the 2018/2022 World Cups?

With FIFA having received a total of '11 formal expressions of interest' to bid for the 2018 and/or 2022 FIFA World Cups, Road to 2010 wonders: How do the candidates stack up?

England's fine newspaper the Guardian Unlimited does the work for us, with an interactive map digesting the pros and cons of all 11 bids for the '18/'22 Cups.

The 11 bids are from Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Spain and Portugal, and the USA.

Here's a small dosage of the Guardian's analysis. For more, please click here and enjoy the full article.

Australia

Pros - Has a proven track record in hosting major tournaments, such as the 200 Olympics, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Bid will not want for money or influence thanks to their chief football powerbroker, billionaire property developer Frank Lowy. A perceived boost to the moderately successful A-League would also be a boon for FIFA.

Cons - The time difference with Europe, the largest and most lucrative television audience for football, is the biggest problem and that may be accentuated should UEFA and FIFA succeed in their legal bid to open the bidding to subscription channels. A lack of purpose-built football stadia is also a problem.

USA

Pros - The likely voting pact between England's bloc and CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Carribbean Association Football) gives the United States a good chance of securing the 2022 Cup. Top class infrastructure, stadia and transport links also work in their favor, as does a perceived positive impact on the ailing MLS.

Cons - Hosted the finals as recently as 1994, a dull tournament remembered for draconian regulations imposed by TV companies ignorant of the tempo of football regarding the intake of fluids and the amount of time the ball spent in play. Brazil 2014 may work against another bid from the Americas.

Save Your Money to Get to 2010 World Cup!

With news that the economic vitality of South Africa 2010 in the face of a worldwide economic meltdown is good, word that fans better start saving their cash should they wish to attend the World Cup in approximately 600 days time.

An article in England's The Sun lays it all out for fans wishing to see the Three Lions in South Africa - should they make it ...

For no-frills fans:

Those on a shoestring who fly economy, stay in budget accommodation and take cheap seats at the matches would need to amass £3,372.76 – which means they need to put away £169.76 per month.

At today's rates, that's about $5,626.91 total or $283.21/month.

Yikes!!! That's economy class ... going on the cheap!

Now, if you have some disposable cash or tucked some money away before every bank in the world collapsed ...

Those looking to fly business class, staying in luxury accommodation and taking premium stadium tickets will need to amass a whopping £11,174.79 - and squirrel away £562.46 per month.

That's $18,645.44 total or $938.42/month ...

Better call that rich uncle of mine ... oh wait, I don't have one ...

GULP!!!!

Premier League Destroying African Football?

Cause and effect. It's something we learned about as young kids.

Now, we get to see cause and effect in motion in the world of professional football.

The cause: The rise of African football, coupled with the advent and wide use of satellite teleivion.

The effect? The crippling of the African game.

What causes one to be so successful is also it's eventual downfall.

This report by Andrew Walker of the BBC draws light on the strange conundrum of African soccer.

Matches between English Premier League sides are widely watched across Nigeria.
But as the popularity of the English game goes up, the domestic game slips.

As an executive for a local club says, "Whenever we play at the same time as an Arsenal game, nobody shows up."

In a country of 140 million people, where crowds will stop and watch amateurs playing in the park, professional league games struggle to get more than 20,000 paying fans to come on match days.

What can be done?

Please read the entire article by the BBC here. Here's a small preview.

Tony Collins is from Anambra State in south-eastern Nigeria - and he supports Manchester United. "I like Man Utd because they're winners. Actually I like any club that wins in Europe. Nigerians like winners, we're simple people. Nigerian clubs? Can you really compare? They're rubbish, I don't waste my time with that."

Only one or two teams have the following to sell out their home grounds, says Ismaila Lere, sports editor at the Daily Trust newspaper.

"When you look at the stadiums you'll find that the stands are virtually empty, while the bars and the joints that have satellite TV are full. People will pay to watch the Premier League on TV but not to watch Nigerian football live," he says.

The trouble started back in the early 1990s, he says.

Economic reforms meant many teams went bust and were not able to pay their players.

Those players started looking towards Europe for employment.

Initially, they went to Italy and Germany.
Most Nigerians first got wind of the Premier League when Celestine Babayaro joined Chelsea in 1997.

"In the 1980s, I was the only person in my area who was watching English football," Mr Lere says. Now Nigerians are, like most of the world, obsessed with the English Premier League.

But in Nigeria the obsession is now going too far - after the Champions League final in May, seven people in Nigeria died in clashes between Manchester United and Chelsea fans.

USA World Cup 2018?

As the soccer community prepares for a USA-England friendly today at Wembley Stadium, word comes out that the United States may be prepared to bid for the 2018 World Cup finals.

England travel to Trinidad tomorrow before Sunday's friendly. The primary motivation behind the trip is to get on FIFA vice-president Jack Warner's good side and back the FA's (England's Football Association) World Cup bid.

Warner is also president of the North, Central American and Caribbean Confederation (CONCACAF). Warner has long indicated that he would prefer to see the tournament held in his region, and confirmation that the US is preparing its own bid to host the finals appears to damage the FA's prospects.

"We will be making a decision in the next two or three months, but we are looking very seriously at (making a bid)," said US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati yesterday.

"I can't think of any reasons why we wouldn't bid for the tournament. We've done this before (1994) and been successful at doing it before. The bid process has become very competitive and whether playing a game in Trinidad has anything to do with that I am not sure. But I think the FA are more sophisticated than to think they are going to get Jack Warner's vote on the back of playing one game. There aren't any CONCACAF bidders at this point, and Mr Warner is the president of CONCACAF."

Only last year Warner described England as "an irritant" in an interview conducted with the BBC's World Service and said he'd "fight" moves to bring the competition to England for the first time since 1966. "Nobody in Europe likes England," he said.

He was more conciliatory in interviews earlier this year, but his long-standing belief that the 2018 tournament should be held in the CONCACAF region would suggest he will side with any bid mounted by the US.

While Major League Soccer (MLS) is just coming to prominence, the United States clearly boasts the infrastructure to host the finals with Gulati confident all rival bids from Europe can be deflected. "Clearly England will have a very strong bid, Spain and Germany would be formidable candidates," he said. "But we are going to focus on the quality in the US. There is no country in the world in a better position in terms of stadium facilities and size than us.

"We have got 50 stadia of 70,000 capacities capable of hosting the World Cup. We could have hosted the competition in 1998 in stadiums that didn't even exist in 1994, and the same goes for 2002 and not use any stadiums that existed in 1998.

"We are determined to finish what we started in 1994. We are the most diversified nation in the world. If Nigeria and Ghana played each other, it would sell out. If Australia played Costa Rica, it would sell out. When we staged a third-place play off between Sweden and Bulgaria in 1994 there were 85,000 people there. My point is that it is not a question of fearing any country. We think we'd have a great bid, great structure and a great landscape."

Gulati also hinted at the intriguing possibility that the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the new Premier League season, could be held in the US in the future. Such a plan would reopen the furious debate over the Premier League's controversial scheme to play a 39th league match abroad, though it remains a possibility attractive to the American game.

"We hosted the Italian equivalent of the Community Shield in the mid-1990s," added Gulati. "It would be very different to holding a Premier League game, but we would consider it and be open to the idea."

MY POV: Interesting comments by Gulati. Looks like the USA is very adamant that they (we?) have the infrastructure, the manpower and the money to host the '18 tournament.

As an American, I'd love to see the World Cup in my backyard. Certainly, Gulati is spot on when it comes to comments regarding the stadia and the fact about our diversity.

Speaking of the Community Shield, it was announced today that the Italian Supercoppa between Roma and Inter Milan will be played at Giants Stadium this August. The game was played at Giants Stadium in 2003.

Still, one must think England will be strong competitors for the finals. What do you think? Who would you like to see hosting the 2018 finals?