Tickets for WC 2010 go on sale in February 2009
July 10, 2008
Tickets for the World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010 will go on sale on 2 February 2009.
The announcement was made by David Will, chairman of the FIFA sub committee in charge of ticketing for WC 2010.
In an effort to beat the black market sales, more tickets will be on sale for the genuine soccer fan. Added to this FIFA will allow only four tickets per customer per seven matches.
The allocation for supporters of teams participating in World Cup games has been increased from eight to 12 percent.
The price of tickets has not yet been decided but the cheapest tickets are likely to be affordable to the South African public.
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Real, Man Utd bosses ´to meet over Ronaldo saga´
July 7, 2008
MADRID (AFP) - Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon and Manchester United chief executive David Gill will hold talks in Switzerland next week over Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, the Spanish sports daily AS reported Saturday.
The private talks will take place on Monday at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on the sidelines of a wider meeting of European clubs, AS said.
United on Friday moved to quell further talk that their prize asset was about to link up with the Bernabeu club, saying the rumours were "utter nonsense and totally laughable. Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale".
Manchester United have repeatedly said the player - whose contract runs until 2012 - is definitely not for sale.
Last month the club reported nine-time European champions Real to UEFA for trying to unsettle Ronaldo, though the global governing body have yet to make their decision known.
Ronaldo, currently an injury concern, is not scheduled to join the club on their pre-season tour of South Africa which begins on July 18.
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Ronaldo going nowhere say United
July 5, 2008
MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Manchester United said Friday the latest reports claiming star winger Cristiano Ronaldo was about to move to Spanish giants Real Madrid were "utter nonsense" and insisted the Portugal international was not for sale.
Ronaldo, a boyhood Real fan, has been linked with a move to the Spanish capital since the end of last season even though he scored a hugely impressive 42 goals in all competitions last term as United won both the Premier League and Champions League trophies.
The 23-year-old may miss the start of next season should he need surgery on an ankle injury.
In the meantime, United insisted their prize asset would not be joining Real within the next few days. "It is utter nonsense and totally laughable. Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale," said a club spokesman.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has become increasingly frustrated by Real’s very public courting of Ronaldo, whose Old Trafford contract runs until 2012. And that led United to report the Bernabeu club to FIFA although the global governing body have taken no action against Real.
Were Ronaldo to leave Old Trafford, it is unlikely he would depart for a fee of much less than 70 million pounds.
United leave for their tour of South Africa on July 18 but Ronaldo was not scheduled to be a member of the squad for that pre-season trip.
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Lippi back at Italy helm
June 27, 2008
ROME, Jun 26 (SW) - The Italian Football Federation announced on Thursday that manager Roberto Donadoni would be relieved of his duties, to be replaced by former manager Marcello Lippi.
Lippi, who resigned after leading the Azzurri to glory in the 2006 World Cup, takes over a squad that was knocked out on penalties in the quarter-finals of a less-than-impressive Euro 2008 campaign.
Donadoni had been criticized for his choice of players during the tournament and met with federation president Giancarlo Abete to discuss the move.
Lippi will sign a contract that will run through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and his first match will be a friendly with Austria in August. Qualifying for the World Cup starts on September 6.
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Euro 2008 Preview: Greece v Spain
June 18, 2008
Group D: Greece v Spain
When: 20:45 CET - Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Where: Salzburg, Austria
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
The Spanish pass masters are back in action on Wednesday, but it will not be a familiar team that goes out to take on the Greeks in the third and final game in Group D.
After qualifying for the quarter finals at the weekend, la Furia Roja’s boss, Luis Aragonés, is keen to give his shadow players a chance to prove themselves in the tournament.
Only one player that has started the first two games is likely to be named in the team with Andrés Iniesta making it a hat-trick due to Santi Cazorla being laid low with a virus.
While it would appear to be a very useful exercise for those players that have not appeared much and for the coach to run the rule over a few names, like Rubén De la Red, Dani Güiza and Sergio García, he also must be careful.
Two years ago Spain opened the World Cup finals by scoring four times and then secured passage to the next stage with a win over Tunisia, that was not so easy, a few days later.
In the third and final match, Aragonés changed his entire side and scraped a one-goal victory against Saudi Arabia and progressed with maximum points.
At the time it seemed to be common sense to let the second string have a run-out, but the move backfired somewhat in the next round when the first choice stars came back.
They had enjoyed their rest, but also lost a bit of the rhythm and France were able to cruise past a team that passed and passed, but created very little going forward.
Video Games
Against Russia this time around, Spain did their confidence good but may have done their prospects of being able to catch opponents off guard no favours at all.
Sweden must have watched the video of that 4-1 win several times in order to iron out the problems that Guus Hiddink’s side incurred and the plan almost worked.
While both Fernando Torres and David Villa scored, Spain had far fewer chances and the game became clogged up in the midfield for long periods and was reminiscent of some of the qualifiers.
It was performances like that en route to Austria and Switzerland that caused the team to attract more and more critics and lower the confidence of the squad.
Even in the final two friendly games against Peru and the United States, cynics were still sniping because Spain looked sluggish and lacked incisiveness in the final third.
Against Greece this may not matter, but with Otto Rehhagel’s team now out and the Spanish already through, this is now seen as a warm-up game for a quarter final meeting with either Romania, France or Italy.
To be fair to Aragonés, this time, as far as reports have suggested, there is harmony within his squad, whereas 24 months ago players were questioning him and causing trouble.
Loyalty Bonus
For Greece, this final game should have been one that meant something because they came into the tournament with such high hopes after winning the even four years ago in Portugal.
Instead, the sturdy defence and the powerful forward line failed to gel and the magic formula that undid Europe’s finest in the previous edition was missing.
The early exit has not meant that the Greek authorities believe that the coach should go and in a rare show of loyalty at the highest level, have asked him to stay on until the next World Cup finals.
Rehhagel has gladly accepted and will hope to continue his good work at the helm in South Africa in 2010, because many forget that just qualifying this year was a good achievement.
This game will have a sad twist as it marks the retirement from international football of three Greek players and will be a nostalgic night that means an embarrassment must be avoided.
Angelos Basinas, Antonis Nikopolidis and Paraskevas Antzas have all decided to step back from the national set-up to help the country focus on the World Cup and to bring in young hopefuls.
RECENT FORM
Greece
14/06 N Russia 0-1
10/06 N Sweden 0-2
01/06 N Armenia 0-0
24/05 H Hungary 2-3
19/05 A Cyprus 2-0
26/03 N Portugal 2-1
Spain
14/06 N Sweden 2-1
10/06 N Russia 4-1
04/06 H United States 1-0
31/05 H Peru 2-1
26/03 H Italy 1-0
06/02 H France 1-0
TEAM NEWS
Greece
Rehhagel has also said that he will field several shadow players too with Giourkas Seitaridis and Vassilis Torosidis out, while Fanis Gekas has a fractured cheekbone and midfielder Giorgios Karagounis is doubtful. Alexandros Tziolis, Loukas Vintra, Nikos Spyropoulos and striker Dimitris Salpigidis are all set to come in. Antonis Nikopolidis is set to start, despite his mistake against Russia, because it will be his last game for his country.
Probable Starting XI: TBA
Spain
Aragonés is set to play ten different starters from the first two games with Iniesta remaining because Cazorla is out. Pepe Reina will start ahead of Andrés Palop, although the Valencia-bound Sevilla keeper could make an entrance in the second half. It will be unique line-up with Sergio García partnering Dani Güiza up front and a strong performance from either will have the pundits enthralled about the strength of Spain’s striker.
Probable Starting XI: Reina, Arbeloa, Navarro, Juanito, Albiol, Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, De la Red, Fàbregas, Sergio García, Güiza.
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