If we were still at Primary School you fancy Spurs to win about 12-1 this weekend as Wigan beat Villa 3-1 on the opening day and we put 9 past them last Sunday. But we’re not and despite all our euphoria we’re going to have to put in a decent shift to get something from the game tomorrow.

The good news is that we have no further injury concerns so I’d expect an unchanged side the bad news is Carew is fit and he is a handful. Dawson may need to take him as he is more powerful in the air than Woodgate. This is a good test for our centre back pairing and I hope to see them acquit themselves well.  Gomes will certainly be busier and he needs to be careful with his distribution as giving Villa the ball may cause more problems than giving it to Wigan last week.

This is the sort of game we need points from to cement a real challenge and going forward I expect to see some good counter attacking play. Lennon will certainly be double teamed unless Kranjcar can free him by being a nuisance. If the balance I called for last week continues that gives us more of an edge and a greater degree of options. Palacios will be key in the centre of the park and it is up to the others to close down, hassle and tackle to keep him in position and not resorting to ambitious tackles.

This is where Lennon has improved so much. Not only has his crossing improved but his desire to get back and challenge has made us so much more difficult to break down from the opposition’s left flank. We can expect Azza and JD to go flying if they show a clean pair of heels and I hope that we continue to play football on the deck rather than go straight to Crouchy up front with the long ball.

My line up: Those that started last week.

Prediction: Despite being told by colleagues “you’ll win 3-1” I’m more cautious and thinking more the draw.

There are some good games on tap this weekend. The biggest one is probably the Arsenal/Chelsea match Sunday afternoon. Both squads have been playing well and winning. Arsenal is eight points back from first place Chelsea, but is definitely capable of knocking off the leaders. On Saturday, fourth place Tottenham plays away to fifth place Aston Villa in a game that could have major top four implications. And of course, there’s the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, which is always a hard fought match.

Saturday, November 28
Blackburn vs. Stoke – 8:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Fulham vs. Bolton – 5 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Manchester City vs. Hull – 9:55 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Portsmouth vs. Manchester United – 9:45 a.m. ET/ESPN2 (Live)
West Ham vs. Burnley – 10 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Wigan vs. Sunderland – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Aston Villa vs. Tottenham – 12:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Sunday, November 29
Wolves vs. Birmingham – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Everton vs. Liverpool – 8:25 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Arsenal vs. Chelsea – 11 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Being a Spurs fan, it seems that chronic paranoia is an incurable condition. You see, one second Spurs are the adoring puppets of the media frenzy with video clips showcasing the fans shouting “we want ten!”… and the next, we could possibly be paraded as the league’s titanic.

The away match at Villa may very well be the most important fixture of the season. Why? We’ve just come off a paramount win which the media will do everything within its power to theatrically pump up and suck it dry (if we lose).

I tend to say this before every match (chronic paranoia is a bitch) but Villa will be tough. Very tough. Going into this game, Villa are the underdogs playing at home. They tied against Burnley last week so they’ll have a lot to prove in front of their home supporters. Spurs on the other hand have just come off the second highest scoring match in Premier League history. It should be a great thing, but could be the worst thing. Obviously, we’ll see how that pans out tomorrow. Spurs are 4th and Villa are 5th separated by a single win which should make for some very interesting footy.

But I look at all the positives. If the squad remains the same (cue the song above), we have 4 players at the front who are pure assault weapons. The former Portsmouth trio and Lennon are all creative in their own right. Each one possesses a totally different physique and skill set from the other which in the end balances out quite nicely. To add to this, we are the 3rd highest scoring team in the Prem. Technically that should mean that we will come to your town, and yes, we will score.

Concerns? The defensive mistakes. Villa are an attacking team and they will try to expose our trend of crumbling under siege. But they also tend to break under pressure. This game will be won by the side that attacks right from the start, continuing all the way through.

‘Arry could possibly play Keane on the left again (please, please, please… ‘Arry don’t do it). Should we start the same team who played Wigan? I think yes. We looked balanced and creatively in control. Mind you, it was to an awful Wigan side (that day) but we were mentally in control. This will be crucial to taking 3 points out of an injured Arsenal side playing Chelsea this week, and crucial for us in securing 3 points to hold onto 4th.

COYS!

I have said for a while that I think that Ligue 1 is the best league in the world from top to bottom. Thomas, our other contributor on here, has written a few articles saying the same thing.

But, as of today, Ligue 1’s site has come out and said it. So, therefore, it is game on between the Ligue 1 and the other leagues.

Here is what is on the front page of the Ligue 1 website:

So, there we go. Ligue 1 has thrown down the hammer. I think it is quite interesting that Ligue 1 did an article like this, but I am glad they did. And with two teams already in the Champions League, I think they are making a reasonable argument.

Not a good first blog post this week on betting! Ireland were sensational in Paris and put in a performance that neither I nor most people out there could have expected. On its own I still stand by the fact that this wouldn’t have been enough, but France were dreadful and eventually had to cheat their way to victory. The result wasn’t a million miles away from what I predicted though, just the wrong way around. Zut alors.

Just one other quick point before looking ahead to this weekend’s money-spinning picks, the idea that the game should be replayed because of Henry’s cheating is absolutely barmy. It’s part and parcel of the game and if you can get away with something then that’s that. If we start replaying games for every injustice we’ll never get through a season. Yes, this game was bigger than most, but the Irish need to get real and move on.

So, two selections this weekend. Leicester have been on a good run of form recently with two very good away wins, at QPR and Reading. They lost last time out at home to West Brom, but they are one of the best sides in the league whereas Plymouth are at the other end of the scale. That said, they’re not on a bad run of form themselves, having beaten Doncaster at home last time out and an amazing 1-0 win away at Middlesbrough the time before. That being so might put you off but this game just strikes me as a routine home win, so I’ll be having a couple of shillings on it.

Next, Villa away at Burnley. Before the start of the season you’d have looked at this fixture and made Villa heavy favourites without a thought. Now, however, we see an amazing price of 2.3 on the away side, after a remarkable start to the season by Owen Coyle’s Burnley. They’re been simply brilliant at home and if they are to stay up it is how they perform at Turf Moor that is going to be pivotal.

My view here is that Burnley have had their fair share of results at home and they can’t win them all, that and the fact that Villa destroyed Bolton 5-1 last game and will be hungry to capitalise on their chance to move into the top four if they win here. If they have any long-term ambitions to break into the top four, or even maintain top six, they really need to go and get a result at places like Burnley.

Let’s hope I have a more successful day than midweek!

Selections:
Leicester to beat Plymouth, 1.75 Betfair, 3 point
Aston Villa to beat Burnley, 2.3 Betfair, 1 points

Weekend long-odds multiple:
Leicester, Aston Villa, QPR, Liverpool, Birmingham, 42-1 Betfair

Available in 6 different clubs: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United

Retail price for this superb card game is at SGD$14.90. Here at Singapore Soccer, this goes for only $11.90 if you pre-order now!

After another international break, the Premier League is back in action this weekend. The injured stars of Liverpool will also be back on the pitch this weekend (thank goodness). The injured Reds were: Steven Gerrard, David Ngog, Daniel Agger, Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio, Albert Riera, Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun. Torres is the only one still out, so yay for that international break. Man City is one point up on Liverpool in the table, so it’s a must-win game for Liverpool if they want to work their way back into the top four. The Reds have only won one game since Sept. 26 so they need to start winning now to get things back on track.

Saturday, November 21
Liverpool vs. Manchester City – 7:30 a.m. ET/ESPN2 (Live)
Birmingham vs. Fulham – 8:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Burnley vs. Aston Villa – 5 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Chelsea vs. Wolves – 9:30 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Hull vs. West Ham – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Sunderland vs. Arsenal – 10 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Manchester United vs. Everton – 12:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Sunday, November 22
Bolton vs. Blackburn – 8:25 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Tottenham vs. Wigan – 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Stoke vs. Portsmouth – 11 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Meg: Busy casting a spell on Thierry Henry

Poor old Ireland eh? Thierry Henry’s left hand on Wednesday night put an end to the Green Army’s dream of following their national team to the World Cup, and condemned them to yet another summer of drinking bottles of cider in picturesque countryside taverns that border acres of beautiful apple orchards. Or so Magners would have us believe…

Oh well, at least they can turn their attentions back to the Premier League this weekend, where their most cherished top flight English team will continue their fine unbeaten ru… oh… right… that’s Liverpool isn’t it? Never mind then.

I’m not really doing a very good job at cheering the Irish up, so I’ll get on with my predictions. Same form as usual. Beat me and you win a tenner*.

Birmingham vs Fulham

I was happy to see that I predicted yet another correct outcome involving Liverpool in the last round of Premier League fixtures. I haven’t got anything against Liverpool, but I saw Birmingham going to Anfield, defending for their lives (as they have done all season), and getting something. However, my prediction was probably more based on Liverpool not having a clue this season, and the fact that they still have Lucas in their midfield.

What I didn’t see coming though was The Blues scoring two goals, and Alicia Keys lookalike Cameron Jerome pinging one in from 30 yards. However, I can live with that because Jose Reina didn’t see it coming either, and I guess it was more important for him to be ready for Jerome’s strike than me.

Apart from their dancing badger, there’s not much you can say about Fulham. Whilst I was waiting for my breakfast last Sunday I was given a complimentary paper to read (presumably whilst the pub’s manager attempted to get the Gap year student to stop going for fag breaks and actually cook the full English I had ordered – he failed), and I stumbled across a quote from Roy Hodgson saying that he hoped Fulham fans realise that there is a ceiling on what the club can achieve.

Whilst he is 100% correct about that, it sort of highlights the problem with reviewing them. Yes, they’ll have a game every week. Yes, I’ll have to think of something to say. However with no ambition, there’s no real excitement. Just a freak season once in a while where they’ll either have a relegation dog fight, or they’ll break into the top seven and get a place in a competition that noone cares about, (even if it earns them a few extra quid, offers their fans a few European city breaks).

This season they’ll finish comfortably in mid-table again, which means that their recent success needs to be balanced up with a defeat this weekend. So that’s what I’ve gone for.

Verdict: 2-1

Burnley vs Aston Villa

Burnley are a Championship side punching above their weight in the Premier League. Them’s the fact ladies and gents. If they didn’t have the support of all those blokey-looking women in the home crowd scaring the opposition’s wide players, they’d be relegated already and wiping the tears away with their bingo-wings.

Anyway, they DO have that support, and their home form is why they are still afloat (although if Turf Moor was flooded, the players be able to stay afloat just by grabbing one of the massive buoyancy aids sitting in the stands).

This game therefore should be made all the more interesting by that fact. However, in spite of Villa’s pretty indifferent form of late, I think they’ll win this one easily. The wingers are the reason, and they have two of them in Ashley Young and James Milner who are bang on form right now. If they can avoid the Medusan-like effect of looking directly at the female Burnley fans whilst hugging their touchlines, then I fully expect them to tear The Clarets apart.

Verdict: 1-3

Chelsea vs Wolves

If there was ever a home-win to put your house on, this is it**.

The only way Wolves can win is if they, as previously mooted on Eddies Football Blog, put out a team of real wolves that end up killing and feasting on the entire Chelsea team. However, even if they did that they’d be more than likely to still only get a draw, as I don’t think packs of wolves care much for scoring goals.

Verdict: 3-0

Hull vs West Ham

Last week I must have sent good karma out to Phil Brown with my emotional appeal to keep him in his job at Hull. Not only did they win their game against Stoke, but the man who popped up with the winner may well have inadvertently boosted the Geordie crooner’s transfer budget for the January window.

That’s right; sales of replica shirts with Jan Vennegoor Of Hesselink printed on the back have soared following his injury time strike and, at £1 per letter, that’ll be a nice tidy sum come the end of 2009. Enough to buy Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker from Borussia Monchengladbach perhaps.

It’s a novel approach, but then so is having your half-time team-talk in the middle of the pitch. He’s a pioneer, that Brownie.

By contrast, West Ham ‘ave gone and found themselves a spot of bovva. Tree-trunk legged striker Dean Ashton is expected to retire from football imminently, which is a real shame for the club, the player, and English football in general. The person who will benefit from Ashton’s retirement is World Cup hopeful Carlton Cole, but he must be getting tired of having to do it all on his own.

As a result, The Hammers will have to get Cole to form a partnership with their suggestible Italian Allessandro Diamanti, and will therefore be hoping that the Hull fans don’t all learn the Italian for ‘miss!’ by tomorrow afternoon. Expect an entertaining dogfight though, but obviously without any real dogs (unless a plucky Hammer manages to smuggle his Staffy into the ground, and it ends up getting into a scuffle with Stephen Hunt).

Verdict: 2-2

Liverpool vs Man City

What did I say when I started this whole Premier League predictions thing? Well, I gave you all certain rules to abide by, didn’t I? Certain criteria for aiding you in your conquest, if you will. However, I also said that if you are Mark Lawrenson you must, at all costs, write an indescribably biased prediction in favour of Liverpool.

The Reds go into this weekend with the following form in the last 9 games (in all competitions) – LLLLWLLDD. Despite Gerrard’s return, they are without key striker Fernando Torres, and play a Man City side who have only lost one game in all competitions all season (against Man Utd), and sitting nicely above them in the league. This is why i find the following from ‘Lawro’ the most hilarious piece of biased piffle I have seen in a long time…

“The good news for Liverpool is that it looks like Steven Gerrard has got himself fit, although I’m not sure that Fernando Torres will make this one. Manchester City had four players starting for England last week so it’s not as if they’ve had a rest and that could be a factor.

I think Manchester City now have players capable of taking the game to Liverpool and that might suit the home side as a lot of teams go to Anfield and shut up shop. But this could be an open game and Liverpool will like that. “

So, not only has he turned the potent threat of Man City’s attacking options into an advantage for Liverpool (when, in reality, they will have haunted Jamie Carragher’s dreams this week), but he is also claiming that City’s top-class athletes will need more rest after a game they played 7 bloody days earlier!

This, my friends, is exactly what I was on about. It’s safe to say that I don’t agree with him in the slightest.

Verdict: 1-2

Man Utd vs Everton

This is traditionally a big game, and a game in which Everton I’m sure would want to give a good account of themselves. However, with 11 of their first team players either with knocks or long term injuries, it has turned into a fixture in which David Moyes’ men will just defend in numbers and hope for a point.

With captain Phil Neville absent, a player all too used to winning games at Old Trafford, Everton’s midfield will be outclassed and I can see a United getting three points. Not an easy three points. Or a pretty three points. But three points nonetheless. As Ian Holloway once put it, in gentlemen’s terms, it’ll be like going out and pulling a bird who isn’t the prettiest but, sod it, you’ll still take her home.

Verdict: 2-0

Sunderland vs Arsenal

A really interesting match-up.

Sunderland got mugged last time out against Spurs. Plain and simple. They should have won that game, but for the first time this season they showed their wastefulness in front of goal. They also missed the battering-ram presence of Kenwyne Jones.

If you were to fault Arsenal this season, you could justifiably point a finger at their inability to deal with aerial balls into the box, so they will be relieved to hear that the somersaulting powerhouse is still serving a suspension. However, it is still a weakness that Bruce will target.

That said, Cesc ‘Harry Potter’ Fabregas is in the form of his life, and he will have been rubbing his hands in anticipation after viewing the amount of space that Tom Huddlestone was allowed at White Hart Lane by Sunderland’s midfield. Expect Mackems captain Lorik Cana to return with typical hatchet-man style to remedy that, and make things difficult for the Spaniard (unless, of course, he’s still drunk, and staggering around in his pants somewhere in Algeria).

With Van Persie out for Arsenal, this one is very nicely balanced. I’ll go for a high-scoring draw.

Verdict: 2-2

* N.B. You won’t actually win a tenner. I lied in order to get you involved. I’m sorry. Here’s a tenner to compensat… Balls. I’m at it again. I better stop now before I offer you the keys to my house.

** N.B. If Chelsea don’t win, and you did end up taking my off the cuff remark as actual advice, then you’re an idiot. However, if you need to crash on my sofa for a couple of days whilst you find somewhere new to live, then fine. Just don’t try to sue me. Or drink the beer in my fridge.

Check back tomorrow for my predictions for Sunday’s games (including the weekly 0-0, if you were wondering where it was!)

OK, let’s see what I’ve got in the queue today. Hmmm… debt consolidation. A $4,000 line of credit. An invitation to meet Cherice tonight and flirt over the phone. Things are looking up for ‘ol Ed Honcho, baby!

Q: So that we may prey on your biases, who are your favorite teams? And don’t wimp out and give us some politically correct hooey. We want answers!

- Mick McMike, Point Roberts, Washington

A: You’ve stumbled upon one of my weaknesses, Mick. Actually, more than one. First, your use of the word “hooey”. I’ll never be able to refuse a question that incorporates it so expertly. For instance, take this sentence: Senator Jones regaled the gathering with standard political terminology causing most of the crowd to fall asleep. Now, listen to it like this: Senator Jones regaled the gathering with standard political hooey causing most of the crowd to fall asleep. The former? Typically boring, technically proficient styling. The latter? I don’t know… there’s something to it, right? It has a little kick, like it’s been sprinkled with crushed red pepper. Chalk it up to hooey… not as it’s defined, but as it’s used… as a word. I encourage all of you to go out and spread the word, literally, of hooey.

As for my favorite teams, I am going to spout some politically correct hooey… I’m a journalist now, damnet… admittedly, more pseudo than actual… nonetheless, I need to start exhibiting some professionalism and impartiality. So I won’t reveal my biases, though I will give some clues. Most of my favorite teams demonstrate comedic levels of ineptitude. And I’m not talking about that G-Rated Bill Cosby stuff, or the harmless shenanigans of Gallagher… no, I’m talking Raw-era Eddie Murphy stuff, or Chapelle’s Show level rollicking. Dare I say it, they’ve gone Richard Pryor on my ass. If I weren’t such a fan, it would be uproarious. That should at least give you a start.

Q: What kind of a name is Ed Honcho?

- Wendell Bundlebotham, Vickerstown, Cumbria, England

A: My family originally comes from the Latorca region of what is today Bereg county in eastern Hungary. My great great great grandfather, Fessler Hunszas, entered Ellis Island on January 3rd, 1892, where he was given the name Wesley Honcho. And so it was that the Honchos came to America. As for Ed, my mother was hooked on Mr. Ed reruns when I was born. Other than my good buddy Secretariat Jones, I’m the only one I know named after a horse. I do take sort of a twisted pride in it, yes.

Q: You’re like a film/music critic trashing somebody’s art without ever having tried it yourself. I bet you’ve never played a sport in your life.

- Wally Wednesday, Little Elm, Texas

A: Can we get the questions in the form of questions, please? I don’t ask for much… just everything you’ve got plus 53%… and still you torture me with your incompetence. Am I asking  too much? Should I scale it back? I mean, I thought you could give that much. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong.

And I was about to defend myself against these heinously false allegations, when I thought to myself… why? I’m Ed Honcho. EMFH. Why should I stoop to mentioning my state championships and MVP awards? Why should I belittle my accomplishments… accomplishments such as my All-American award, and national championships… by using them to defend myself against someone that goes by Wally Wednesday? Why should I use my Espy, and my Heisman Trophy, and my Nobel Athletics Award, to prove myself to you? And you know what? I didn’t have a good answer for myself, so I’m not gonna do it. Next question.

Q: Try this on for size; Ben Johnson is to integrity as Ed Honcho is to ________.

- Archer Daubee, Discovery Bay, California

A: Annoying posters who don’t phrase their questions in the form of questions. That is to say, I treat it like a bitch. Now that’s some top-notch language twisting there!

Q: English Premier League, ten years hence… is there still a Big Four?

- Buford Buckley, Semmes, Alabama

A: Yes, but it might not be the same four teams. The issue here, is that the EPL has four Champions League spots. As long as that’s the case, it’s going to create a system that allows four teams to dominate. Does Manchester City enter that foursome? I don’t know. Aston Villa? Maybe. Everton? Could be, though it seems less likely by the day. Tottenham Hotspur? God I hope not. Nothing against Spurs, everything against ‘Arry. But once one of those teams breaks through (and it will happen, that I guarantee), the snowball effect kicks in. Signing new, better players becomes easier. Selling tickets, shirts, various scarves and other knick-knacks becomes easier. Making money becomes easier. Conversely (but related), the team that misses out on the Champions League begins to lose players, and those players have to be replaced with inferior players, as quality players want to play in the Champions League, etc… etc… It’s a slippery slope, and it helps to maintain England’s big four.

Q: Is your fantasy football team really 3-7 this year?

- Joseph J. Levine, Austin, Texas

A: Pffffft. What? Please. Where did you hear that? That’s ridiculous. An expert like myself, 3-7. The very idea is laughable… but… let’s just say I was 3-7… and I’m not, cause that would be ridiculous… but let’s just say, hypothetically, that I was. It would only be because I was getting completely screwed by injuries and matchups. Like, and again, this is hypothetical… like having the 4th highest points in the league but playing the wrong teams. Or losing by 2, 4, 3, 7, 2 and 8 points. Or stupid Greg Jennings playing more like Jonathan Jennings. Or Jason Witten doing his best Kyle-Brady-but-worse impersonation. Or Beanie Wells fumbling. Or Eddie Royal sucking. Or Ryan Grant becoming decidedly average for a 3rd round pick!…. All hypothetically, of course. But wow, you’ve got me steamed just thinking about what that would be like. The idea is so preposterous that… you know what, this mailbag’s over, yo.

Found this list online, here, and thought it was interesting. Good for Spurs and Villa fans at least.

The list is correct as of 17/11/09.

Top 20 Teams For Producing England Internationals (all time):

1. Aston Villa – 68
2. Tottenham – 62
3. Everton – 59
4. Liverpool – 58
5. Man United – 57
6. Arsenal – 54
7. Blackburn – 48
8= Man City, West Brom – 42
10= Chelsea, Sheff Wed – 41
12. Nottingham Forest – 37
13. Derby – 36
14= Sheffield United, West Ham – 35
16= Newcastle, Wolves 33
18. Leeds – 30
19. Middlesbrough – 29
20= Bolton / Southampton – 26

CHRISTMAS has been cancelled for… It’s a stock newspaper line for those terrible moments in the weeks before December 25 when things go wrong and ruin the normal festive celebrations. This week, Christmas has been cancelled for Arsenal fans.

Why? The long-loved tradition of football matches on Boxing Day has been trampled on by some fixture arranging bod somewhere who has moved Arsenal’s match with Aston Villa to December 27. What a spoiler. There’s always footy on Boxing Day, it was designed that way as a perfect escape from leftover turkey, nonsense television and games of Trivial Pursuit. Sadly, Arsenal fans have seen so many matchday traditions wither away over the years – the marching bands, roasted peanuts, long ball tactics, singing at matches. Now they’ve lost the main treat of the day after Christmas.

Sepp Blatter isi freaca palmele de bucurie. Nici ca se putea mai bine. In avanpremiera primului turneu final de Campionat Mondial pe taram african, Mondialul rezervat selectionatelor sub 17 ani pune fata in fata in jocul cu titlul pe masa Nigeria si Elvetia. De doua ori “Ura!!!”

Nigeria, tara gazda si campioana mondiala en-titre la Under-17, exemplifica perfect progresul fotbalului african, producator de tinere talente pe banda rulanta. Blatter a militat asiduu pentru globalizarea fotbalului, pentru emanciparea natiunilor si continentelor ce acum cateva decenii, in cazul fericit in care se aflau la “masa bogatilor”, incasau si 9-0 la turneul final, cazul Zairului.

Elvetia este tara de bastina a presedintelui FIFA si totodata gazda a forurilor fotbalistice mondial si continental. Elvetia in finala este un alt triumf al noului val impotriva vechilor scoli, Tara Cantoanelor patrunzand in finala dupa ce se descotorosise in grupa de Mexic si Brazilia, adversare in finala din 2005, iar apoi de Germania si Italia, competitive si in turneele rezervate juniorilor si tineretului.

Nigeria – Elvetia este o finala intre jucatori africani inca netransferati la cluburi europene, provenind inclusiv de la cinci Academii locale, printre care cea a ex-internationalului Emmanuel Amunike, si tineri de pe batranul continent ajunsi deja pe la cluburi ca Arsenal, Aston Villa ori Manchester City.

In semifinala, Elvetia a zburdat in fata Columbiei, scor 4-0, in formula Siegrist / Villa – Goncalves / Zurich, Kamber / Basel (Tosetti / Locarno), Chappuis / Grasshopper, Buff / Zurich (Nimeley / Basel), Seferovic / Grasshopper, Ben Khalifa / Grasshopper (Mijatovic / Bellinzona), Xhaka / Basel, Rodriguez / Zurich, Martignoni / Locarno, Hajrovic / Arsenal. Mai toti la cluburi elvetiene dar destui cu nume de extractie balcanica. Mai conteaza? Stephane Chapuisat, marcator impotriva Romaniei in iunie ‘94, la US World Cup, pare a fi urmat la nationala pentru care strangea 103 selectii de baieti de isprava. Chappuis si altii…

Cat despre nigerieni, invingatori cu 3-1 in semifinala cu Spania, doua ar fi intrebarile… Isi vor pastra oare titlul mondial, in finala de duminica? Si cat va mai dura pana cluburile europene ii vor recruta pe capete?

Oricare ar fi deznodamantul finalei, Blatter e in al noualea cer. Doua mondiale, U-20 si U-17, in aceeasi toamna, pe taram african, si doua finaliste nu dintre marile forte ale fotbalului mondial. Globalizare, omogenizare, nivelare valorica. Politica forului mondial da roade. Iar pe canalele virtuale se pomeneste deja de ziua cand Africa va triumfa si la Cupa Mondiala. Poate nu deja la anul dar… Brazilia 2014, te pregatesti?