Chile, Happy in Defeat

It is a very rare occasion that a defeat tasted so sweet. This is how Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa is feeling right now. Even if their team suffered a defeat 2-1 to Spain, El Loco had his face filled with smiles as their team celebrated their qualification for the 2010 World Cup Round of 16. In the knock-out rounds, the battle between Switzerland and Honduras produced a goalless draw.

Before the tournament started the Argentina squad made an oath that they would do everything they can to ensure team would stay as long as possible in the tournament. Their will to do so is displayed by the enormous status in his accepted country and also the wish to cover up for the disappointment of his Argentina team at Korea/Japan 2002, when the favored Albiceleste unexpectedly left in the group phase. There is nothing that can heal that scar. He made this comment after the confirmation of Chile’s place in the next round. The two are completely different circumstances and this does not make up for that.

Knowledgeable of the pain that Bielsa suffered eight years ago in the Far East, his players had a lot of words of support and praises for their mentor. The players are very happy for him and he was the reason we are now here in the first place and he’s been a major factor to why ware are still here in South Africa, Rodrigo Millar said. He is Chile’s only goal scorer against Spain, Group H winner.

Jean Beausejour Another team-mate reiterated these words, the qualifying of the team is dedicated for him, our families and everyone in all Chile who put their faith in the squad and us all the way gave their support. This is an accomplishment that is to be celebrated.

Chile for the first time is back in the finals since 1998 in France 1998, Chile’s secured negotiation of the group phase signify not a small accomplishment and was appropriately enjoyed by the players, who were delighted to broaden some joy to the fans back home. It is our knowledge that the people of Chile are very happy of what we are doing here, Millar said. We are very sure that they are now having a party, even though it would have been great if we gave them a victory.
It should have been nice to do it but at least we were able to reach the main objective of reaching the last 16. Now we are more motivated in the game versus Brazil.

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Japan Has High Victory Chances over Cameroon at 2010 World Cup?

If Japan has to win, they have to make all arrangements to stop the sensational Samuel Eto to get to the top position in Group E. Both teams haven’t been doing well in their previous qualifying round matches moreover they have Demark and Netherlands in their group who probably have already broken down their confidence. Both nevertheless will give it their best shot and try to make it to the next rounds.

What Cameroon has to their advantage is that they have never ever lost their opening matches in the FIFA World Cup. What Japan can feel proud about and this could be a confidence booster as well as what could turn around Cameroon’s statistics is that Japan could well win this game. The very fact is that Japan has never been defeated by Cameroon and neither have they let them score a goal. So although they do have some mighty tough sides to face in their group, don’t expect the game to be anything less than exciting.

Marcus Tulio Tanka will be marking Cameroon’s highly qualified player Samuel Eto. The Japanese defender has a clear advantage over Eto, since he is not only physically strong considering the fact that he accidentally injured Drogba. Surely he is not an easy tackle and the Cameroon’s will soon find that out for themselves. The Cameroon players can however only hope that the Japanese defender only lives up to his bad reputation of scoring a few self goals for them.

Japan’s midfielder Kelsuke Honda commented saying, “I’m expecting it to be just like an away match, but we’ll make the best of it. We’ll just need to concentrate on our game and show that we have a solid team.”

We never expected the Cameroon team to give up easily and especially when their past performances have titled them the ‘dark horses’.

Cameroon defender Sebastien Bassong says, “We’ve worked hard and we feel ready. We’ll be playing against a team with a pacy front line, but we’ve come up against that before and will deal with it. It’ll be difficult but we’ll manage.”

Participating Countries in 2010 FIFA World Cup

While South Africa is making all the preparations necessary for the most anticipated World Cup tournament, let’s take a look at the list of countries participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. South Africa, being the host country, is automatically qualified (this excludes Italy from being an automatic qualifier though they are the defending champion).

Among the first countries to qualify in the European region were Netherlands, England, and Slovakia. In Asia, we have South Korea, Japan, and Australia. Meanwhile, the South American continent is composed of Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina. Costa Rica and the United States, who both won from the final tournament, are representing the Northern American region. Other countries who made it to the list of participating countries in the 2010 FIFA World Cup include (in random order) Denmark, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Mexico, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland. Will Europe finally make it this time or will it be another South African triumph?

2010 Nike World Cup

We’ve seen Nike take over the basketball scene already through LeBron James. Now that 2010 World Cup is near, the company wants to set its focus on the soccer arena. Their goal for 2010 Nike World Cup: “global football dominance by 2010.”

Nike’s global marketing vice president, Joaquin Hidalgo expressed in the year 2006 that their goal is very simple–”to be unquestionably the No. 1 brand in the world’s No. 1 sport.” The company has already tapped soccer players like that of Ronaldinho. Sounds like a 2010 Nike World Cup phenomenon is taking over.

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