David Villa became the talisman for the Spanish national football team, scoring five of Spain's six goals in the tournament. Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta controlled the midfield with their incisive passing and ball possession. Fernando Torres could not get into stride as he struggled for form from his April knee surgery and was eventually […]

Through some fortuitous timing on my part, and the benevolence of my wonderful wife, I was able to spend a large part of our recent honeymoon in South Africa…for the 2010 World Cup! Since arriving back Stateside, I’ve attempted to settle back into a life devoid of 24/7 football and the sweet hum of the […]

When Spain fell to the hands of Switzerland in the opening match of World Cup 2010, the vultures suddenly appeared from the sky and circled around their "dying" carcass. No team has ever won the World Cup after losing its first match. The ghosts from yesteryear are rising from the dead and haunting this current […]

There's been an interesting undercurrent of first choice World Cup goal keepers performing brilliantly in the tournament so far who represent Premier League clubs. Besides a few early blunders from keepers, the goalkeeping has in fact been quite solid throughout the majority of the tournament. Maybe they've gotten used to the controversial Jabulani ball, or maybe they've […]

As the World Cup is attracting all headlines related to soccer, there's always a small echo of transfer market news which now, after Italy's elimination from the World Cup, becomes much more than an echo for Italy fans. And as you read about transfer rumors and deals, you hear the names like Di Maria, Maicon, […]

In all actuality, shouldn't we have seen this coming like some run away freight down the frozen road of Precedence St. set by all those England players before? A capitulation of the highest order, a failing against those we least want to fail against and lastly, an outcome that was so sure to happen, we […]

In the crucial last 16 clash v Germany, England boss Fabio Capello elected to stick with his winning eleven that saw off Slovenia in the last group stage match. Unchanged and with growing confidence, England took the field against one of, if not their most hated international rival. The footballing history between the 2 countries […]

With an unfathomable yet realistic possibility of an unceremonious exit from FIFA World Cup 2010, the Spanish national football team tussled with a Chilean side that has been one of the most impressive teams in this tournament thus far. Marcelo Bielsa, Chile's manager, insisted on a positive approach with an indirect emphasis on flair that […]

In this weekend's tastiest World Cup fixture, long time rivals Germany and England will meet in a head on battle with dramatic implications and a quarter final birth on the line. Will the English get their chance to conquer their demons during a dramatic penalty shootout, or will the young and organized Germans overrun the tired looking […]

Leave it up to the world's largest online video portal to come up with some pretty hilarious stuff, from idiots dancing in front of a camera to people falling flat on their faces while attempting some ridiculous stunt, YouTube has now added a Vuvuzela button featured on some soccer related videos. Seriously. On select videos, some football […]

What should be considered a fair result; Slovakia were better, and Italy were poor, it's just as simple as that. In the end Italy ends up right where they deserve to end up, the bottom of the table, behind New Zealand, Slovakia, and Paraguay. Italy has not played well throughout their three games, only turning […]

Despite Italy's lackluster performance in their first two group stage matches, the Azzurri have the chance to advance into the next round of the World Cup with a win or a tie plus help. Some excellent analyses of the Italian team's weaknesses have been published over the last few days, and the negatives about this Italian […]

Today the US progressed, and not just to the next round of 16 in this World Cup. They progressed in the ranks of world football. Their status, their pedigree was elevated. How so? They did something that they as a nation have never done before. Something that Brazil, Argentina, Germany do in every World Cup. […]

Lippi has a strange team of players for this 2010 World Cup, while he's decided to stick with some of the old guard, we've also seen him pick a couple of youngsters. But one thing is constant throughout Lippi's selections, Marcello Lippi's omnipresent affection towards picking and relying on Juventus players. This has led to […]

Italy managed to draw 1-1 against both Paraguay and New Zealand while failing to impress despite having seen a lot in terms of ball possession, in particular against the Kiwis when the Italians had just over 70% in terms of ball possession. Pundits and fans alike are debating what has gone wrong for the Azzurri […]