Month: June 2010

Diehard English patriots might not love the fact their national team is coached by an Italian but not since Terry Venables has an England manager been regarded so highly as…

As we gear up for the opening of the 2010 FIFA World Cup this coming Friday we are in store for a month of a carnival football as the ‘Rainbow…

A vastly talented team hopelessly mismanaged – the story of Argentina under Maradona. Will it be more of the same in South Africa? Remember France For an example of a…

It’s a Monday and we’re still in that tangible pre-tournament lull. As a result it’s a bit of a slow news day, but there are still some choice nuggets available…

Monday Monday, can’t trust that day. The new week has brought with it a flurry of fresh transfer rumours, some perfectly feasible, some a little dubious and some completely and…

Welcome back to my pre-post review of South Africa 2010. For those of you have just come in from the pub please refer to part one of my report lest…

Now I can point to endless articles I have written on here that have been so on the money, in terms of their predictions/forecasts, that it’s scary! Only recently I…

The Socceroos final pre-World Cup hit-out has ended in a disappointing 3-1 loss to the United States at Ruimsig Stadium. With national coach Pim Verbeek fielding a strong side, they were…

Ghana had for some reason delayed their departure to South Africa preferring to head to the delights of roundabout city instead of an alpine training camp. They had come in for some stick from their own fans for heading to Milton Keynes instead of Durban, but if you close your eyes then they both look the same anyway.

Whether you’re a die hard fan whose heart breaks a little when one of your friends chooses Manchester United over Liverpool to support (it happened to me the other day….

It’s interesting that the U.S. men’s team should be in this curious situation on the eve of this great stage next weekend. Striker, at one point in the not-too-distant past,…

Today’s Soccerlens World Cup column is brought to you by the number ‘4’ and by the word ‘curse’. There’s an awful lot, and I mean an awful lot of injury…

Dutch winger Arjen Robben’s contention is this summer’s World Cup has been cast into real doubt following Holland’s 6-1 friendly victory over Hungary. The Bayern Munich player suffered the injury…

There is no doubting Kenny Dalglish’s pedigree as a player, having won five league titles and three European cups during his time at Liverpool. He was just as successful as…

After the highs of last week’s narrow victory over Serbia, New Zealand were yesterday schooled in the consequences of missed opportunities by a very capable Slovenian side . Slovenia may not have carved out…

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlepeeps, to the inaugural edition of Soccerlens’ daily 2010 World Cup column. Allow this newsletter, if you will, to become your South African grapevine, your go-to point…

A week to go to the World Cup and all our media is overflowing with relating themselves with the biggest tournament in football by all means possible – overflowing to…

Every four years when the World Cup is approaching there are always complaints about how bad the ball is – mostly from goalkeepers. This time it’s no different. But what…

So many people are backing Brazil to win the World Cup. It’s an easy choice given their history with the competition. Traditionally, Brazil have boasted a super-abundance of talented, flamboyant…

After yesterday’s revelations, I’m slightly surprised we haven’t got a few more ‘Liverpool exodus’ stories this morning, but I’m pretty sure we won’t have to wait too long before the…

The energy and sports drink Lucozade sent two guys to sneak up on Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard with a video camera to capture his secret of the powerful…

International Friendly: New Zealand vs. Slovenia Venue: Ljudski Stadium, Maribor, Slovenia Kick off: Friday 4th May 5:45pm(GMT) Capacity: 12,435 Threat of injury worries Herbert All Whites coach Ricki Herbert is…

I knew one thing – Scotland were going to win the cup. How did I know that? Because Rod Stewart told me (well, not me personally) on Top of the Pops when introducing Andy Cameron and the Scottish World Cup Squad singing “Ally’s Army”. They were going to Argentina and they were going to win the World Cup. I didn’t see Germany, France or Holland on TOTP so I assumed they would not be even challenging. After all the concept of “hype” does not exist to an 8 year old.

In Argentina, there is one psychologist or psychiatrist for every 1000 people. Most Argentineans think it would take a doctor to understand the team selections of Argentina boss, Diego Maradona….

Blog readers, football fans, sod it, people of the world… We all owe Kevin Prince Boateng a pint. Thanks to his awful tackle in the FA Cup final, Germany are…

As Portugal gear up for only their fifth ever FIFA World Cup we begin to ponder once again if they will ever mount a serious assault on football’s grandest stage….

The World Cup kicks off in exactly 7 days, and hundreds of thousands of football fans will descend on South Africa to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event. However, where there are…