What you missed while trying to convince Al Davis to hire a GM…

• The complete Carling Cup quarterfinal results: Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham, Portsmouth 2-4 Aston Villa, Blackburn 3-3 Chelsea (Blackburn wins 4-3 on penalties), Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal.
• Carlos Tevez is ready to “torment” Manchester United when Manchester City meets them in the Carling Cup semifinals.
• In spite of losing to Blackburn, Ricardo Carvalho says that Chelsea is stronger under Ancelotti than they were under Mourinho.
• In other Chelsea news, Atletico Madrid have rejected a bid for Sergio Aguero from the Londoners.
• Liga Deportiva Universitaria won the Copa Sudamericana over Fluminese in spite of losing last night’s match 3-0 and being reduced to nine men (they won the first leg 5-1).
• Barcelona are now five points clear of Real Madrid on the La Liga table (mostly because they played midweek and Real Madrid didn’t, but it’s still fun to say).
• Kaka’s battling a groin injury that means Real Madrid will be able to blame all their losses on his absence that he’s trying to play through.

What you missed while HOLY SHIT THAT TIGER’S RUNNING RIGHT AT ME!

• Lionel Messi is your 2009 Ballon d’Or winner, beating Cristiano Ronaldo by 240 votes. Also, Barcelona has four players in the top five spots. Suck it, Real Madrid.
• Charlize Theron will be a guest presenter for the 2010 World Cup draw on Friday.
• Sergio Aguero has hinted that he may be leaving for the Premier League in the summer…which doesn’t make any sense, since Chelsea’s transfer ban should be back on by then.
• Fiorentina’s owners would prefer that the Italian national team not poach manager Cesare Prandelli after the World Cup. La Viola are also planning on tying down Montenegro wonderkid Stevan Jovetic to a long-term deal.
• Barcelona will face Sevilla in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, which is fantastic when you consider that they could’ve drawn Alcorcon.
• Tim Cahill has lamented the fact that Everton can’t “hit a barn door at the moment”; Marouane Fellaini doesn’t know what Cahill’s talking about, because he’s hitting stuff all the time. Just ask Natalie Rooney.
• Didier Drogba states the obvious and hopes that Côte d’Ivoire avoids drawing Brazil on Friday. He’d also like to avoid drawing England, but that was probably just so that he wouldn’t have to embarass John Terry.

Sergio Aguero.

Nors užsienio žiniasklaida skelbia, kad Madrido “Atletico” puolėjas Sergio Aguero turėtų netrukus sukirsti rankomis su “Chelsea”, tačiau pats 21 metų argentinietis tai neigia ir norėtų likti dabartinėje ekipoje iki sezono pabaigos.

“Norėčiau padėti “Atletico” komandai padėti išspręsti visas problemas (Madrido komanda Ispanijos čempionate užima 17 vietą – aut.past.). Esu įsipareigojęs, todėl sausio mėnesį nekeliausiu niekur”, – teigė S.Aguero.

So far, each teams in Spanish La Liga played 11 games. While Real Madrid is securing the top spot in Spanish La Liga, Madrid’s another big club, Atletico Madrid is currently on the relegation zone. They are now at the 18th place among 20 teams.

This team marked 4th place in the last season and was able to enter Champions League. But this season, it would be miracle if they achieve like what they did in the last season. In fact, this team only won one game in 11 games. At this point, they have to be worried about relegation, not the ticket for European club competition.

Biggest problem for Atletico Madrid is their defense. So far, they allowed 24 goals which is the worst record among 20 teams. Judging from the game that I have seen, their defensive line is too slow to defend fast attackers. They need fast defenders who can cover the back space and respond quickly to the ball movement.

Making the situation worse, there are rumors that Atletico Madrid’s Argentinian striker, Sergio Aguero, might leave the team in next winter. According to media reports, English giant Chelsea FC is the possible buyer. Chelsea need a striker since they only have Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka as a pure striker in their squad. In fact, Drogba will be absent from January due to the Africa Nations Cup.

If Aguero leaves, I know it is a huge loss for Atletico Madrid. But the good side is that they will get a big cash and with that money, they can rebuild the team. I will still suggest Atletico Madrid to keep Aguero, because he is the best attacking option that the team have. But if the team have to sell him, then they should buy new defenders and strengthen the defensive line. By that way, I think Atletico Madrid could minimize the loss of Aguero and promise better future.

The Sun report that Chelsea are to make a £45 million bid to secure the services of Frank Ribery in January. Not only would this be the record British transfer fee ever paid, but would be the first time in a while I’ve been consciously aware of a free-spending Chelsea.

The Blues have been somewhat overshadowed in recent times by Manchester City, Manchester United and even Liverpool – a long way from when Roman Abramovich first took over at Stamford Bridge.

With the signing of Sergio Aguero from Athletico already in the bag (also reported in The Sun) they will be some side come February. The Aguero signing will likely be overshadowed by any move for Ribery but there can be no doubting his quality as one of the best strikers anywhere in the world.

If Chelsea are to get through any potential transfer ban, currently set for next summer, then they are going to have to spend big in January. The question is, how big will they go? Will Ribery and Aguero signal the end of it?

Something tells me not.

Well folks, it’s November. Which means it’s almost December. Which means it’s almost January. Which means it’s almost time for the transfer window to open once more. Which means it’s rumour time.

In the past week I have seen several articles detailing certain high profile clubs (English) monitoring the movements of a “new Kaká,” a “new Didier Drogba” and so on and so forth. I’ve heard rumours about Roman Pavlyuchenko coming to Roma in a swap for Julio Baptista, of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar going pretty much anywhere but Milan, and of pretty much every single pleasant surprise of this year being on their merry way out the doors of their respective clubs. Not to mention players like Nani, Guti and Phillip Lahm, who have taken nasty swipes (however accurate) at their clubs via the press recently; with rumours of Lahm to Real Madrid and the other two far from spectacular, could these be foreshadowings of events to come in the new year?

I’ll rattle off some other trade rumours: Juan Manuel Vargas to Real Madrid, Edin Dzeko to AC Milan, Marek Hamsik to Chelsea, Sergio Agüero to Chelsea, Angel Di Maria to Chelsea, (and so on and so forth), Raúl to Retirement, Cesc Fàbregas to Barcelona, and even Wayne Rooney to Barcelona (ha!).

Will any of these rumours come true? Eh, maybe one or two. For the most part it’s probably all just a load of crap; the unfounded conjecture and speculation that always precedes the opening of the transfer window. It will be interesting to see just what does materialize in the new year, and especially how much the transfer window will be affected by the Real Madrid-inflation that occurred over the summer. In the meantime, let the rumours fly; ’tis the season!

Sergio Agüero es el último gran ídolo de los hinchas de Independiente. Cuanto extrañan los simpatizantes rojos a este crack que les dio tantas alegrías con sus gambetas, desfachatez y goles.
A los 15 años debutó en primera división y a pesar de su corta edad ya evidenciaba una calidad pocas veces vista. César Luis Menotti no dudo en compararlo con el astro brasileño Romario, y todo el mundo futbolero empezaba a hablar de éste pequeñín que deleitaba con su  talento en el campo de juego.
En el Clausura 2006 frente a Central se despidió de Los Diablos Rojos, lo que significó una decepción para los seguidores del Rey de Copas que veían partir a su más preciado jugador.

El día que vuelvas los Ángeles bajarán del cielo, para maravillarse con la más perfecta obra del diablo.

 Nicolás Vazzoler

Cubrimiento total en menos tiempo. Los pecosos se ponen eficientes.

Premier League: Liverpool en manos de los árbitros y una pierna de Steven Gerrard. Poca gloria y mucha pena en el Chelsea-Man U. Arsenal a lo Barça.

La Liga: Real Madrid 3 Agüero 2. Ibrahimovic iluminado. La primera cabeza rueda en Santander.

Europa: Van Gaal en problemas. Milán rejuvenecido. Lyon y Marsella dan ejemplo con su 5-5.

México: América recupera la economía con su regreso a la Liguilla. Lavolpe apunta a Colombia.

Argentina: Taladro para todos. Estudiantes aguerridos.

Brasil: Goles gordos y borrachos. Sao Paulo al mando.

Colombia: Cortina de humo Sub-17. Aparecen compradores al América, aunque no está en venta. Pasto llega a la B y se acerca a Sudamérica.

MLS: 180 minutos para un Beckham-Blanco.

Extra: Una defensa asesina.

How bad has Atletico Madrid’s season been?  A draw followed by a loss conceding a combined five goals is a sign of optimism.  But, that’s what it has been as Sergio Aguero seems to have reemerged as an elite player.

Before last Wednesday, Aguero had scored just two goals in 11 appearances for Atletico Madrid.  He had lost his starting place before the match against Chelsea.

However, Aguero came off the bench to score both goals in a 2-2 result against the English club.  He also scored another Saturday, as Atletico nearly erased a three goal deficit with 11 minutes remaining against Real Madrid.

Atletico don’t have the midfield or defense to compete for honors this season, but they need to avoid relegation.  If Aguero again becomes one of the best players in Spain, as he was the past two seasons.  That should help them tremendously.

A couple of very big (in my not-so-humble opinion, at least) matches went down this weekend, with some producing more exciting results than others. This week there was a double countdown to what I thought were two of the biggest Red v. Blue matches this year. In England we had arguably the two largest Premiership contenders in Chelsea and Manchester United going head-to-head, while in Italy Scudetto favourites Internazionale went testa-alla-testa with my beloved (but struggling terribly) AS Roma.

Football:

Arsenal 4-1 Wolverhampton – Sure, Chelsea and United are probably the two favourites in the Premiership race this season, but I’m not fool enough to dismiss Arsenal as also-rans just yet. For one thing, the Gunners are on a hot streak of 13 unbeaten matches in all competitions. For another thing, one of those matches consisted of something of an Arsenal youth squad (but then again, aren’t all their squads youth squads?) defeating admittedly-struggling Liverpool in Carling Cup play. On the other hand, this weekends performance in particular wasn’t all that impressive, and it might be more appropriate to say that Wolverhampton lost the match rather than saying Arsenal won it. The Molineux Stadium offered the Wolves no security, as the visitors went up 3-0 before the end of the first half, with 2 of those goals being put into the Wolves’ own net by their defenders Ronald Zubar and Joey Craddock. Cesc Fàbregas would provide the third. Andrei Arshavin added his name to the scoresheet in the second half, and Joey Craddock somewhat atoned for his errors by scoring a consolation goal (in Arsenal’s net, this time) in the 89th minute. Along with the result of the Chelsea-United match this afternoon, this win in Wolverhampton sees Arsenal climb to second in the League table.

Perhaps one day Drogba will follow the footsteps of Vinnie Jones to Hollywood.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester Utd A fairly controversial match – but then again, it was always going to be. There’s bound to be a million gripes from United fanboys about the various ‘injustices’ committed against them today, so if you’re a Blues fan gloat with caution, because you’re likely to receive a long series of whines in response. Let me say a few things: Darren Fletcher’s foul was not a foul, Drogba should probably retire and become an actor, and Jonny Evans is a little punk. Many tempers flared during the match, and it seemed as if a full-out brawl was imminent at points, but alas they kept their heads and all that came of it was a flurry of yellow cards. It was nevertheless dramatic, though, with such highlights as the constant battle between Didier Drogba and Wes Brown providing (me, at least) with much entertainment. It would be Mr. Chelsea himself, John Terry, who would make the difference between the two sides, heading in what I believe was the only goal United have conceded from a set piece this year on 76′. I suppose that earns him a man of the match nod, but other contenders include Wayne Rooney, Nicolas Anelka and Michael Essien, who all gave 110% and played hard-nosed games (must’ve eaten their Toast’n'Butta this morning). Though Drogba’s theatrics were shameful, and he may have hauled down Wes Brown in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, I have to call out Jonny Evans here, for his kung-fu kick to the chest of Drogba and then his tackle on Ricardo Carvalho long after the whistle. Horrific performance for the youngster; he should consider himself lucky that he wasn’t sent off. A win that sees Chelsea sitting 5 points clear atop the EPL table, and which should boost their morale for weeks to come. As for United; well I’m sure we’ll hear all about how they feel.

Manchester City 3-3 Burnley – Bad news all over Manchester this weekend, it seems. City have been struggling for weeks now, and had drawn their 4 previous fixtures. Well, make it five, Citizens. Newly-promoted Burnley are notoriously shoddy away from home, yet a late goal helped them to steal a point at the City of Manchester Stadium in a 6-goal draw. Burnley in fact took an early 2-0 lead over their hosts after Graham Alexander converted a spot kick and Steven Fletcher found the back of the net. City fought back, and goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy saw them take control of the game by the 56th minute. However, they were unable to keep hold of that control and on 87′ Burnley substitute Kevin McDonald scored to bring his side level for once and for all. I’m sure Burnley won’t be happy to have given up that initial 2-0 lead, but all in all, this is a result which should leave Owen Coyle pleased and Mark Hughes with his head in his hands.

Futbol:

The dangerous duo nearly gave Los Blancos a run for their money.

Real Madrid 3-2 Atlético Madrid – Well, El Clásico never fails to disappoint. Even in a season where Atléti has struggled so badly that they have been forced to make a change in management, against Los Blancos they always bring their all. It seemed at first that Real would simply stroll to a Clásico win this season, after Kaká gave his side the lead on 5′, with Marcelo and Higuaín adding their names to the scoresheet on 24′ and 64′, respectively. However, Los Colchoneros would battle back late in the second half after Sergio Ramos was given his marching orders on 66′; a frenzied 2 minutes would see Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero pull two goals back for their side with 10 minutes left to play. Manuel Pellegrini’s men would ultimately be able to hold off their crosstown rivals, but Quique Sánchez Flores can at least take heart from his side’s spirited fightback. An exciting Clásico, to say the least.

Barcelona 4-2 Mallorca – Samuel Eto’o commented this week that if he had not been bound by his duties to Inter, he would have traveled to the Camp Nou to see his ex-sides face off against one another – he would have sat directly at the centre line so as to not betray his allegiance to one over the other. I gotta say, Sammy, from a Romanista’s point of view, I wish you’d gone. But I digress. Barcelona youngster Pedro gave his side an early lead on 10′, only for Mallorca’s Nunes to equalize from a corner kick just under 10 minutes later. Pedro wasn’t finished yet, though and on 39′ restored the lead to his side, smashing home the third rebound after Mallorca keeper Aouate denied teammates Thierry Henry and Sergi Busquets. The two would get their chance just a few moments later, when Busquets sent in a cross for Henry, who beat Aouate with a diving header to make it 3-1. Lionel Messi was introduced after the break to further increase Barca’s tally – he would eventually, but he would take his time, and it would only be from the spot after teammate Ibrahimovic was brought down in the area. Mallorca sub Alhassane Keita would earn one back for his side late into stoppage time, but ultimately it was too little too late and Barcelona would cruise to an easy victory.

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Schalke 04 – Bayern have been demoralized over and over again the past two weeks, and were perhaps unenthused to face the stiff challenge of Schalke this weekend. Schalke sit above Die Roten in the standings, and looked to pressure the home side early, forcing them into rash challenges and using their wingers to cause Bayern problems on the break. Both sides traded chances in the early stages of the match, but ultimately it would be Bayern who would get ahead first, with a little bit of luck. On 31′ Holger Badstuber lofted in a long ball to Miroslav Klose, whose headed effort deflected off of Kevin Kuranyi and landed at the feet of Daniel van Buyten, who duly buried it. However, Joel Matip, making his debut for Die Königsblauen, was able to cancel out the home side’s advantage with a strike of his own on 43′. The teams would go into the half level, and when they came back it was all Bayern – Louis van Gaal’s men poured forward and for the better part of the half had their visitors pinned in their own end. However, no matter what Bayern did, they were unable to find the back of the net, and both van Gaal and Felix Magath’s sides would come away from the game with a point. Bayern need to get themselves out of this current slump if they are to have any chance of keeping alive their hopes of European and domestic conquest.

Calcio:

AS Roma 1-1 Inter – I think I’ll tackle this one in its own article.

Mauro Camoranesi makes the difference for Juventus once again.

Juventus 5-2 Atalanta – It seems that when Mauro Camoranesi is on form, so is La Vecchia Signora. Forget Brazilians and expensive summer signings (and those that are one and the same); the success of Ciro Ferrara’s squad depends on the performance of the Italian international, who has been with i Bianconeri since 2002. In the case of yesterday’s game, it was Camoranesi’s brace which opened up the scoring in a 5-2 drubbing of Atalanta. Felipe Melo, Diego and David Trezeguet would account for the other 3 goals on Juventus’s part, while Valdes and Fabio Ceravolo pulled back 2 for the home side. This is a very positive result for Juve; while Atalanta generally climb to midtable at the best of times, they are nonetheless notoriously difficult to defeat at home. With Inter tying Roma and yesterday’s drubbing in Bergamo, Juve move to 5 points off of first place.

AC Milan 2-1 SS Lazio – I give Davide Ballardini until the end of the month. After the horrendous loss to Villareal in Europa League play on Thursday, Lazio needed some kind of result to break them out of a long, long losing streak. Admittedly, this revived AC Milan team are not the easiest team to achieve it against, but if they are going to do it anywhere, it would be in their Roma’s house, the Stadio Olimpico. As it can plainly be seen, they did not achieve said result. Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato both found the Lazio net with first-half goals to dash whatever hopes could still be held in the Curva Nord even before the halftime whistle. However, Lazio were handed a lifeline when Thiago Silva deflected the ball into his own net after some deft play by Mauro Zarate. After that own-goal, gli Aquilotti seriously threatened to equalize, with Tommaso Rocchi and Mauro Zarate both coming close to restoring parity. In the end though, AC Milan would grab a valuable 3 points, while Lazio return to their fortress of solitude media silence to ponder what continues to go wrong.

Fiorentina 1-0 Udinese – It took them 84 minutes, but la Viola were able to to squeak by midtable side Udinese with some help from a Juan Manuel Vargas strike. It was  night of missed chances for both sides; a race to the finish where both teams were misfiring on all cylinders. Fiorentina had the bulk of the chances, with 14 shots and 5 on target, compared to Udinese’s 7 and 2. However, only one of those shots would make a difference tonight at the Stadio Friuli, and it would be Vargas’ set-piece shot. That shot earned i Gigliati a victory which sees them only 1 point behind AC Milan in the standings, sitting comfortably in 4th place.

Real Madrid will look to maintain their impressive recent record against city rivals Atlético Madrid when the two sides clash tonight at the Vincente Calderón.

Real have not lost at the Vicente Calderón for 10 years and have won four and drawn one of their last five league visits.

Atlético have managed just one win from their nine Primera Division games which lead to coach Abel Resino being replaced with Quique Sánchez Flores on October 23.

Under their new coach Atlético produced an impressive 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the Champions League mid-week and Real veteran striker Raúl admits they will be in for a tough game.

“It is always complicated to play at the Calderón,” Raúl said. “Atlético have improved with their new coach.

“They deserved to win against Chelsea and they are more confident now despite their Champions League elimination.”

Raúl has been reduced to substitute appearances in Madrid’s last two games but insisted he had no problems with the decisions of coach Manuel Pellegrini.

“I am just another player on this squad,” said the 32-year-old. “I have to work. I can’t complain about the season I’ve had so far.

“I believe the team as a whole is what really matters and we have improved of late. We must focus on our games against Atlético and Alcorcón [in the Copa del Rey].

“I don’t know [if I will play tomorrow]. The coach will decide. The team responded well in the last two games, but one must always be ready and be in optimum form in order to make good use of any chances one may get.

“All my team-mates are doing a great job and I wish to play.

“The coach knows exactly what he wants, but this is a new project and it’s hard for things to work out right at the start of it. We have to polish some aspects of our game, but we are doing a great job and I’m sure we’ll soon improve.”

Real will be without foward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been ruled out for another two weeks with an ankle injury.

Atlético winger Simão Sabrosa has mixed feelings about compatriot Ronaldo’s absence with Portugal’s two-legged World Cup play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina looming later this month.

“Cristiano was the best player in the world last year but Real Madrid can’t just depend on one man,” he told the club’s website.

“It’s important for my country that he recovers from his injury.”

Simão believes the draw against Chelsea, which saw Sergio Agüero score two superb goals against the English Premier League leaders, will have given his side a major boost ahead of the derby.

“Against Chelsea we did everything, we fought and the fans were on our side,” he said.

“Together we are stronger and, even though we are in a difficult period, we believe in ourselves and we know we have what it takes to win on Saturday.”

Team sheets:

REAL MADRID:

ATLÉTICO MADRID:

GOALKEEPERS:  Asenjo, De Gea.
DEFENDERS: Valera, Antonio López, Ujfalusi, Álvaro Domínguez, Perea, Pablo Ibáñez.
MIDFIELDERS: Ignacio Camacho, Raúl García, Jurado, Maxi Rodríguez, Reyes, Simão, Cléber Santana.
STRIKERS: Forlán, Kun Agüero, Sinama-Pongolle.

Didier Drogba puts up two goals in his UEFA Champions League return and Chelsea advance to the knockout stage with a 2-2 draw in Madrid. (Photo: uefa.com)

Atlético Madrid came out hot in front of their home crowd, carrying the run of play with 56% possession in the first half. And when an errant defensive header by John Terry fell to the foot of Madrid striker Sergio Aguera, Chelsea fell into a 1-0 hole.

Drogba Stages The Rally

After clanking the post on a free kick in the 51st minute, Drogba seemed more determined than ever to make an impact in his first game back from a multi-game UEFA suspension – and when The Blues faced a deficit, his resolve culminated in two fantastic strikes.

The first came on a Lampard corner to even the score, and minutes later he ran in unassisted for a determined rebound goal to give Chelsea the lead.

With 12 goals in just 13 appearances, the Ivory Coast forward is on pace to have a monolithic year – even better than his career-high ‘06-’07 campaign where he netted 33 goals in 60 appearances.

Madrid Fire Back In Stoppage Time

Not discouraged by the fine play of Didier and some great first half saves by Petr Čech, Atlético found redemption from yet another Aguero marker. The young Brazilian took a brilliant, curling free kick over the Chelsea wall in the 91st minute that Čech didn’t have a prayer on.

Despite the late heroics, Chelsea will advance to the next stage of Champions League and Madrid will fall to some heated competition in the Europa League.

Rally Man of The Match:

Didier Drogba (1)

Carlo Says:

“I want to keep him [Drogba] and I don’t want to change him with another striker,” said Chelsea’s Italian coach Ancelotti. “He is in a good moment, I’m very happy. I hope he can continue.”

Rally Blues Champions League Predictions

Atlético Madrid 0:3 Chelsea FC [Result - 2:2]

APOEL 0:4 Porto [Result - 0:1]

Olympique de Marseille 1:1 FC Zürich [Result - 6:1]

AC Milan 2:3 Real Madrid [Result - 1:1]

Maccabi Haifa 0:1 Juventus [Result - 0:1]

Bayern Munich 1:2 Bordeaux [Result - 0:2]

Beşiktaş 1:3 Wolfsburg [Result - 0:3]

Manchester United 1:1 CSKA Moskva [Result - 3:3]

Matchday 4 Record: 5 correct (1 with scores), 3 incorrect.

Apologies to Ireland, Slovenia, Ukraine and Bosnia. FIFA does not want you at the World Cup in South Africa next summer. So fervent was its determination that the rules of the competition were changed midway through it with the introduction of a seeding system in the qualifying play-offs. So these four countries will take on France, Russia, Portugal or Greece for the final four spots on the road to Cape Town. Now that is as fair as O.J. Simpson’s trial. FIFA might have wanted to give France and Portugal two goal head starts in their matches but apparently, that’s too obvious!

If you haven’t realised by now (which makes you really thick-skulled), it’s purely a commercial decision by the bigwigs sitting up in their ivory tower at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Just like in the Lord of the Rings, when the evil eye at Mount Doom did not like the way things were panning out in the war, it moved to intervene. And so did Sepp Blatter and friends. But don’t tell them that the evil eye gets destroyed in the end; we don’t want to ruin the surprise at their eventual downfall.

After all, someone needs to pay for their luxury boats and homes in the Caribbean. Who is going to foot Blatter’s massage bill if the corporate sponsors are angry that not all the money-generating superstars are at the world’s biggest sporting event? Certainly not me, although I would like the massage. Not from Blatter though.

When the possibility that Franck Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrei Arshavin might be spending their summer on a beach in Dubai began to materialise, FIFA swooped down faster than Kanye West takes to interrupt an awards speech, thereby destroying whatever credibility it had left as football’s governing body. The World Cup should be an affair for the top 32 countries based on merit. It is justifiable to use the FIFA rankings when determining the initial qualifying groups, but once that kicks off, previous accolades should be thrown out the window. Current form and results is all that should matter.

When the runners-up of each group face one other for the play-offs, it should be a fair and open (in other words, unseeded) draw. Why should a country like Bosnia (which has overcome so much hardship in its troubled past to put up a commendable performance) be unfairly treated because Thierry Henry’s team didn’t have what it takes to top their group? All’s fair in love and war, but certainly not football.

I would have loved to have seen what FIFA would have done if Portugal or France had not finished runners-up in its group. There probably would have been an additional play-off spot created for the team with the tightest jersey or the most effective play until they reached the penalty box. Or even an expanded 34-team tournament!

Call me idealistic or old-fashioned. But I’ve always believed that the World Cup was where virtual unknowns burst onto the footballing stage and their agents let it be known that they were ‘honoured’ to be linked with the big clubs. Davor Suker, Jose Luis Chilavert, Tomas Brolin and Miroslav Klose wouldn’t have been household names if not for their countries’ better-than-expected outings in previous editions of the Cup. The so-called big names have flattered to deceive on the biggest stage a la France in 2002 and Spain in 2006.

Kudos to Diego Maradona, who tried to foil FIFA’s plans by doing his best to prevent Lionel Messi from booking his ticket to South Africa with ridiculous tactics and even more outrageous goal celebrations. The Argentinians squeaked past the finish line by the skin of their South American teeth. It is football blasphemy to see a team with Messi, Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano and Diego Milito play so badly. You know you’re not cut out to be a coach when you make these players look so ordinary.

But a character like Maradona would be much welcomed by the sponsors. His eccentricity alone guarantees an additional few million television viewers. He’s capable of running onto the pitch and attacking the referee. I hope Alan Wiley loses some weight by then so he can run for safety. Or better yet, imagine if Argentina were to take on North Korea. Maradona would probably create a diplomatic incident of epic proportions. So whilst I think the World Cup could still go on without the big sides, we certainly need our dose of colourful characters.

Oh, by the way, no European team has ever won the World Cup when it’s held outside of Europe. So, this time, apologies to Spain, England and Italy. Lucio will be lifting the Cup for Brazil come July 2010. And Cristiano Ronaldo will be at the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel by then, thinking of ways to be the centre of attention for the coming transfer market.

Argentina’s World Cup qualification hopes hang in the balance, but Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero is confident that the Albicelestes can do what is required to qualify.

“We know that these are the two biggest games of the qualifiers because everything depends on us and everything will be decided here,” Aguero is quoted as saying by Goal.com Spain.

“They are going to hold back and we must not stop attacking them. They have nothing to play for.

“We would finish in the play-offs as things stand, but I have great faith,” ‘Kun’ defiantly declared.

Diego Maradona’s side face Peru next Saturday in Buenos Aires before travelling to Montevideo to play Uruguay in the final round of matches on Wednesday.

The group is delicately balanced at the moment, with five teams currently separated by four points as they all look to qualify for the World Cup finals next year.

Goal