2010 World Cup

[TooLiveBrew]

Hah! Thanks for linking that, Straw

[TooLiveBrew]

Essien will miss World Cup

 

Ghana's Michael Essien has been ruled out of the World Cup, according to the country's football association (GFA).

 

The Chelsea midfielder has been struggling with injury and has been told he will not fully recover until the end of July.

 

The GFA said that the decision was taken after a joint evaluation of his fitness by them and his club.

 

His last competitive match was for Ghana during the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.

 

He took part in the early stages of that tournament despite not being fully fit, having torn a hamstring in December.

 

He then injured his knee and has not played for either Ghana or Chelsea since.

[Mr QL]

Is it wrong that I want North Korea to win?

[strawbossisevil]

The official song for the World Cup, sung by Shakira:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXOSDcT3H0&feature=related

[bacon06]

According to Grant Wahl, Ching simply lacked pace and speed. With the absence of Chuck Davies, we lacked a burner. Then again, I seriously doubt Bobby Findlay's fleet feet ever see the pitch.

If that is the case, then why even bother bringing Ching in to camp because pace and speed have never been his game. Hopefully Findley can prove everyone wrong and actually contribute positively.

[Diskono]

I think the issue was that Ching's pace was off, even by his standards, due to recent injuries. Dempsey (when played as a CF) can do all of the same things and will probably play 90 minutes of every game anyway, so Bradley likely decided to give that last roster spot to someone who is more likely to play/be needed.

[tigerbrew]

Is it wrong that I want North Korea to win?

I think rooting for North Korea to win is just wrong after what they did to South Korea this year.

 

 

 

[Brewtacular]

Japan nets three vs England! Sadly, two were of the own goal variety. I've made a note to write a letter to Japan explaining that own goals are not actually preferable.

[tigerbrew]

This Nike World Cup commerical is very funny.

[Sixtofan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz4O-ayTIwg&NR=1

[Sixtofan]

The backline had some trouble against Turkey also. This is a little scary. Although it was good to see the US come back and get the win

[Baldkin]

These ESPN Shorts are simply phenomenal. Just a short 3-4 minute video interviewing and recapping people who have scored in the World Cup.

 

Alcides Ghigga's was especially awesome: "The Maracana has been silenced by 3 people, The Pope, Frank Sinatra, and me."

[TooLiveBrew]

Germany have named their final World Cup squad, with Hoffenheim defender Andreas Beck the man to miss out.

 

Joachim Loew's side have suffered a series of blows with captain Michael Ballack and midfielders Christian Traesch and Simon Rolfes injured.

 

Germany also lost first-choice keeper Rene Adler because of a rib injury.

 

Heiko Westermann was ruled out earlier through injury and, by dropping Beck, Loew has decided to take six forwards among his 23 for South Africa.

Link

 

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was the surprise omission from Fabio Capello's 23-man England World Cup squad.

 

Walcott, 21, who has 11 caps, started both of England's recent friendly victories against Mexico and Japan.

 

Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, Scott Parker, Michael Dawson, Leighton Baines and Tom Huddlestone also miss out.

 

Gareth Barry is included after a fitness test on his ankle injury, while Stephen Warnock, Michael Carrick and Ledley King also make the squad.

 

Walcott was a shock member of former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson's 2006 World Cup squad, having never started a Premier League game but he did not feature in the tournament and the then-17-year-old's inclusion was widely criticised.

 

The right winger has since scored three international goals, all coming in a 4-1 World Cup qualifying victory against Croatia in Zagreb on 10 September 2008.

 

But after suffering with shoulder, back, knee and hamstring problems he has been restricted to 15 starts for Arsenal last season, with his form suffering as a result.

Link

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

OnMilwaukee.com's village idiot Dave Begel has chimed in on the World Cup.

 

http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/begelworldcup.html

 

I'll hang up and listen.

[yoshii8]

The backline had some trouble against Turkey also. This is a little scary. Although it was good to see the US come back and get the win

 

I agree w/ that, I really hope they have something else figured out, I don't want to see Bornstein or Spector starting at one of the outside backs. After watching the last 2 games, I really hope they go w/ a backline of Bocanegra, Demerit, Oneywu, Cherundelo.

 

I was very dissapointed w/ the whole squad after the 1st half, but was amazed how much better they played in the second half. It gave me a lot of hope that they will be ok. I thought the Torres for Clark substition and the switch back to the 4-4-2 formation were the keys.

[thebruce44]

OnMilwaukee.com's village idiot Dave Begel has chimed in on the World Cup.

 

http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/begelworldcup.html

 

I'll hang up and listen.

Jeez, who is this dolt? He says he knows nothing about soccer because he doesn't care, then proceeds to talk about soccer as if he is a real reporter. Why would you start out an article saying you know nothing about what follows.

 

Its not that I even care that he doesn't like soccer, its just that he is so close minded about other countries cultures. This is why Americans get a bad rap from the rest of the world.

[davemakovec]

That guy really reads like an idiot.

[tigerbrew]

I bet that idiot would be singing a very different tune about the world cup if United States have one of the best men's soccer team in the world, like the US women's team is for over two decades.

[TooLiveBrew]

Not good:

United States striker Jozy Altidore has been taken to hospital for a scan on his right ankle after being injured in training on Wednesday.

 

The 20-year-old, who spent last season on loan from Villareal at Hull, is expected to play in his side's opening game with England on 12 June.

 

"His status is considered day-to-day," said a statement from ussoccer.com

 

"He will undergo a fitness test on Friday to check his availability for the 5 June (friendly) with Australia."

Link

[TooLiveBrew]

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba has been sent to hospital for a scan after suffering an elbow injury in the friendly against Japan.

 

The Chelsea striker, 32, picked up the injury 16 minutes into the game after clashing with Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka.

 

"It's an elbow injury. How bad it is, I don't know. He had a lot of pain," said Ivory Coast boss Sven-Goran Eriksson.

 

"Of course I'm worried. He's captain and one of the world's best players."

 

Drogba helped open the scoring in favour of the Africans with a 13th-minute deflected free-kick.

 

Ivory Coast - who kick-off their World Cup campaign against Portugal on 15 June - went on to win the game 2-0 with defender Kolo Toure also scoring.

 

Drogba, who went to hospital for a scan, is key to Ivory Coast's hopes in South Africa and Eriksson will anxiously await news of his injury.

 

But the former England boss said he did not blame Tanaka for the incident.

 

"It was unlucky. It wasn't bad or stupid. He didn't want to hurt anyone. Football is a game of contact," added Eriksson.

 

Unconfirmed reports from Switzerland suggest the Premier League's top goalscorer has fractured his elbow, an injury which would almost certainly force him out of the World Cup.

 

Ivory Coast face Brazil, Portugal and North Korea in their World Cup group.

Link

[TooLiveBrew]

England's World Cup preparations have suffered a setback after captain Rio Ferdinand was taken to hospital for a scan on a knee injury.

 

The centre-back, 31, hurt his left knee after a challenge from Emile Heskey at the end of Friday's training session.

 

"We hope it will not be so bad but we have [Tottenham's] Michael Dawson on call," said England boss Fabio Capello.

 

Goalkeeper David James sat out the session with a slight knee problem, but midfielder Gareth Barry did train.

 

"Gareth Barry is improving every day," Capello added. "In the afternoon he is training in the gym with the physio and in the morning always with the team.

 

"He is not completely training with the team as we have to be very careful."

 

James's injury is not thought to be too severe and is related to Thursday's 11-hour overnight flight from London to South Africa.

 

The news about Ferdinand will give Capello more cause for concern, particularly considering the Manchester United defender's injury-hit season.

...

 

"The bad news is in the last moment of the training, Rio suffered a problem with the knee," confirmed Capello.

 

"It was a normal tackle. He turned and then he had a problem. He has gone to hospital and we will have to wait for the scan."

 

Ferdinand was restricted to only 21 appearances for his club this season, starting only 13 Premier League games, in a campaign disrupted by a back injury.

 

But he had appeared to have overcome his injury problems as he trained with no setbacks at England's two-week training camp in Austria and he also came through the friendly victories over Mexico and Japan.

 

Should a player be ruled out of the World Cup before it begins, a replacement can be drafted into the 23-man squad as happened in 2002 when England midfielder Danny Murphy broke a bone in his foot and Trevor Sinclair was called up.

 

That would be where Dawson, who was the only centre-back to be dropped by Capello when he trimmed his 30-man training squad to the 23 for the tournament, would come in to the reckoning.

 

However, if a player is injured during the course of the tournament, then a replacement cannot be brought into the squad.

...

 

Capello also revealed his reasons for leaving Arsenal winger Theo Walcott back in England.

 

"It was a really hard decision because I know Theo was important during the qualification games for the World Cup," said the Italian.

 

"But after his shoulder problem and the operation he did not play too many games for Arsenal and he was not the same player that we knew before this injury.

 

"I hope he will be fit for the Autumn, perfect like before the injury, and he will be with me for the qualification for the Euro Championships."

Link

[chrisisoutrunning]

I'm not overly worried about Jozy. If it was serious they wouldn't even be thinking about playing him Saturday (I don't think they should anyway). But for the Ivory Coast, if that's true, that's a killer.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, Ivory Coast is going to have a tough go even with Drogba. Being in a group with Brazil & Portugal is brutal.

[Paulus88]

What is it with Chelsea players, Essien, Ballack, Drogba? England better watch out.

[TooLiveBrew]

England captain Rio Ferdinand will miss the World

Cup after suffering a knee injury in the team's first training session

in South Africa.

The 31-year-old has been ruled out for up to

six weeks with ligament damage to his left knee.

Tottenham

centre-back Michael Dawson is to fly out later on Friday as the

replacement for Ferdinand.

Steven Gerrard will now take over from

the Manchester United defender as England captain for the tournament.

 

"It

is obviously bad news and everyone with the squad is very disappointed

and sorry for Rio," said England manager Fabio Capello.

"It was

an accidental injury in training, but had nothing to do with the pitch."

Ferdinand was sent to a local hospital for a scan after suffering the

injury late on in training in a challenge with striker Emile Heskey,

described by Capello as "a normal tackle".

The defender was later

seen emerging the Fearncrest Hospital in Rustenburg on crutches, and a

second medical opinion confirmed that he had no chance of featuring in

South Africa.

His withdrawal from what would have been his fourth

World Cup is a devastating end to an already disappointing season for

Ferdinand, who, because of a back injury, had been restricted to only 13

Premier League starts for Manchester United and 21 appearances overall.

 

The centre-back had appeared to have overcome his injury

problems when he trained with no setbacks at England's two-week World

Cup training camp in Austria. He also came through the recent friendly

victories over Mexico and Japan.

Dawson was the only centre-back

dropped by Capello when he trimmed his 30-man training squad to the 23

for the tournament.

The 26-year-old enjoyed a fine season as

Spurs finished in fourth place in the Premier League, but is uncapped at

international level.

 

The Italian must now decide whether Ledley King, Jamie Carragher,

Matthew Upson or Dawson should replace Ferdinand alongside John Terry at

the heart of England's defence.

Capello made Ferdinand captain

of England in February, having stripped Terry of the role following

allegations that the Chelsea defender had an affair with the

ex-girlfriend of former team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Ferdinand, who

made his England debut back in 1997 as a 19-year-old, has 78 caps and

has scored three goals for his country.

Friday had started on a

more positive note for England, with the news that midfielder Gareth

Barry - who had been a major doubt after suffering an ankle injury

towards the end of Manchester City's season - trained with the squad.

"Gareth

Barry is improving every day," said Capello.

"In the afternoon

he is training in the gym with the physio and in the morning always with

the team.

"He is not completely training with the team as we

have to be very careful."

Meanwhile, goalkeeper David James sat

out the training session after suffering a slight knee problem.

His

injury is not thought to be too severe and is related to the 11-hour

overnight flight from London to South Africa on Thursday.

England's

World Cup campaign begins with their game against the United States in

Rustenburg on 12 June.

 

Link

 

Ferdinand

emerged from the hospital on crutches

 

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47996000/jpg/_47996893_riocrutches466.jpg

 

 

EDIT: Updated with confirmed story