The wrong England for right now

With the Euro 2012 just one week away, Roy & his team of scientists have sat down & decided to put together a relatively predictable England team for 2012. Being English myself, I know how we do hate a surprise. Sure, there was the Rio/Terry controversy - this ended with Terry being selected purely for "footballing reasons". Which is also why Downing was selected, purely for his excellent "footballing reasons" like goals & assists. Controversy aside, Roy has put together a nice & safe team, with lots of experience between them & some youthful talents ready for battle. If you missed it, here's the latest England team for the Euro's (age in brackets):

GK: Joe Hart (25), Rob Green (32), Jack Butland (19)
DF: Glen Johnson (27), Ashley Cole (31), John Terry (31), Gary Cahill (26), Leighton Baines (27), Phil Jones (20), Joleon Lescott (29), Phil Jagielka (29)
MF: Steven Gerrard (32), Frank Lampard (33), Ashley Young (26), James Milner (26), Scott Parker (31), Stewart Downing (27), Theo Walcott (23), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (18)
FW: Andy Carroll (23), Wayne Rooney (26), Danny Wellbeck (21), Jermaine Defoe (29)

The England team is, as expected, a decent one with well known names and lots of experience. Although it is this experience I've rated as one of the problems in the current squad:

• Public opinion
• Experience
• Age
• Vision

The media & social media relay many messages between Roy & the public. We know Roy isn't on twitter, but when youngsters become "popular" they're usually in the team. Large transfer fees also seem to be an England draw-card over and above stats & figures. This also applies to players with "legendary" status amongst their fans.

"what did we do last time? Did it work? Nevermind, let's do it again." 
England's Euro 2012 team has lots of experience. One problem is that the experience they have is not of winning. In fact World Cup 2010 was one of England's worst performances, yet 2 years later, England still has 11 of these players in their 23 man squad. The Euro's is the perfect opportunity to build experience in some of the other players. This experience would be key to a successful WC2014 campaign.

"if he's good enough, he's old enough"
Age is something which should be seen as a huge problem. The average age of this midfield is 29!  6 of the current squad are over 30 already, 5 of them being starting line-up candidates. Another 3 are 29 years old & also possible starters. In 2 years time for World Cup 2014, 9 members of this team will be well over 30 & likely retired from International football. Why are England taking 9 players who will likely retire as soon as the Euro's ends? Is this their last chance at glory?

"failing to plan is planning to fail"
This leads to the question of England's vision.  Given the current strength of the squad, it would be hard to say they look better on paper than Spain, Holland or Germany. Is it impossible for England to win the Euro's? Maybe not, but is this the team you would pick to win the Euro's? The tournament after this is the World Cup which is the greatest trophy in the world, without a doubt. Why give 9 players their last chance at glory with little to no focus on 2014?

Having a vision to compete successfully in World Cup 2014 starts by forming a team right now in 2012. With the national teams already receiving very little time together, "gelling" the team together is tough to achieve. However, a youthful England team for the Euro's, young enough to stay together until 2014, would have 2 full years of playing, training, travelling & staying together. Surely this can only be good for the team. The amazing thing is, England actually have very strong youth options & the migration from their U21 team to the top team is very common. 21 of the current 23 man squad have played in the U21's. So it's safe to assume that the majority of England's current U21's will be in the top team within the next 2 years. Why would it be a better idea to play 9 players on the verge of retirement over the players England will take to the World Cup? It really brings in to question the vision of the England management. Hodgson has signed a 4 year contract, covering 2 Euro's & 1 World Cup. This team selection can realistically only be together in 1 out of 3 of these tournaments.


Here's an alternate selection:

GK: Joe Hart (25), Jack Butland (19), Ben Amos (22)
DF: Micah Richards (23), Kyle Walker (22), Chris Smalling (22), Phil Jones (20), Martin Kelly (22), Danny Rose (21), Kieran Gibbs (22), Ryan Bertrand (22)
MF: Ashley Young (26), Theo Walcott (23), Tom Cleverley (22), Jack Wilshire (20), Josh McEachran (19), Jack Rodwell (21), Scott Sinclair (23), Adam Johnson (24)
FW: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (18), Danny Wellbeck (21), Daniel Sturridge (22), Wayne Rooney (26)

Now I wouldn't say that this team would do better in the Euro's than the current squad, although I'm not sure they'd do any worse. The above team may not be your pick. i.e. the many Liverpool youths missing from the above. The players might currently be injured. "I would've taken Rio & Carrick". Who's Josh Mycockrun? Scholes isn't too old! Why's Scott Parker's hair so perfect? But if you noticed that then you've missed the point.

The current age of the above team is 21. The oldest player is 26. Using a calculator, you'll notice by the next World Cup the oldest player will be 28 & by Euro 2016, the core of that team will be 25. Keeping more than half the squad together for that amount of time can only produce a stronger squad. The above team has featured in a combined total of 616 games this season for their clubs. The youth above also have a better combined "goals per game" ratio. And all of this while including Jack Wilshire - injured for the entire season.

This was the time to make a choice: give the legends one last chance, or invest in the youth to achieve your future goals. It would have been great to see the legends step out, led by Gerrard, Beckham behind with Scholes joining in and maybe even ask Shearer to play with for a laugh. The choice to swing either way really wasn't made so a simple mix of what is safe & acceptable was chosen. I would have preferred if they took a risk....a show of faith....a dream to chase. The respect and future of a football mad nation rests with a manager, their FA and a vision. Do you share the vision of this manager?

I'd like to see your suggestions or comments on England's Euro 2012 squad. Who would you have chosen?

The Numbers Gang

Greetings.

Hope you've had a good week to date.

Football. Shirt numbers. Special players who in turn made certain numbers remembered and wanted by generations that followed them.

I'm sure, for those of us that play club football, we still have the odd one or few rushing to get the number 10 or 7 or 9 out the kit bag.

We could all rattle off the 1-11 of top players who wore the respective shirt numbers.
Beckham 7, Ronaldo de Lima 9, Zidane 5, Maradona 10 and so forth

In the 8 Nations Challenge we are covering now, it's been noted [again] that both Brasil and Argentina still work on the 1-11 starting system. With numbers 9 [striker] and 10 [creator of all things fantastic and/or conductor of the orchestra] being the most revered.

Also worthy of a mention is that both Argentina and Brasil rely on their no.8 as the ball-player. Sitting in midfield, stroking the ball about and being the link between defense and attack.

General. Alan Ruiz

Moving on then to the crux of the matter. There have, over the past decade or so, been players who have pushed the ticket in terms of shirt numbers. Requesting the unusual...often with somewhat good reason, while others did so just to be absurd.

Rogerio Ceni #618

Rogerio Ceni, at 39years of age, is still playing for Sao Paolo FC. He is known for his set-piece abilities and is now listed as the goalkeeper who has scored the most goals. This rather odd shirt number came about when he surpassed the clubs' record for most appearances, which was 617. He has since gone on to make 1000appearances for the club.

Ivan Zamorano #1+8

The Chilean striker, known for his partnerships at international level with Marcelo Salas and admirable showings at both Real Madrid CF and Internazionale Milano. This creativity sprang about when Roberto Baggio joined Inter, requesting the no.10 shirt...Ronaldo then grabbed the no.9, which he is now famous for and Zamorano opted for this. Quite sharp from Ivan!

Ronaldinho #80

The much publicised move from FC Barcelona, became an even bigger topic of discussion when 'dinho opted for this number. The reason for this was that Clarence Seedorf, club legend, had the no.10 shirt and Ronaldinho was in no position to demand that from him. 1980 is the year of his birth though and started somewhat of a trend at the club with Flamini [84] and Shevchenko [76], on his return to the San Siro, opting for these DOB shirt numbers.

Michael Ballack #13

Not really that odd and there is a story behind this. Ballack, on arrival at Bayer Leverkusen took the no.13 shirt as it was Rudi Völler's number. He has not changed numbers since. As superstitions go, 13 is said to be an unlucky number...would make sense of why Ballack has so many runners' up medals, right?

Nicolas Anelka #39

Nicolas reasoning for wearing this number is quite simple. He wore no.9 at PSG and Arsenal, then at Real Madrid CF he donned the no.19 shirt. When he arrived at Manchester City FC he could not wear 9, 19 or 29, so opted for 39. Apparently he sees himself as the no.9 [striker] so took this number as it was the closest one [available] with 9 in it.

John Terry #26

 

The only logical reason he wears this shirt number, has to be because he steals former teammates women, no?!

 

On the local front, I think you'd recall that Orlando Pirates FC played in three-figured shirt numbers in the 2005 season. Tso Vilakazi donning number 115. Not sure what that was about.

Shirt numbers have their place in football. Top players are remembered, irrespective...

 Follow us on twitter

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@Potz56

@thembasweet

Saffers of old in the EPL

'Sup Footie nuts? Today I thought we'll pay tribute to some of the South Africans who plays or STIIL play in the UK. We all know some of the former famous ex Captains, but what about the less known South Africans? Those are the ones who I thought we'd focus on.

The Recent

Matty

So I thought we would start with someone who recently played for Engen Santos in the PSL. Matthew "Matty" Pattison. The JHB born "Matty" moved to England with his folks in 1997. At the age of eleven Matty joined Newcastle's youth academy. His career never really took off in the UK. Making his debut in 2004 for the senior team albeit a friendly vs Celtic, Matty's memorable performance in a Magpie shirt came against WBA In 2006 where he received his one and only man of the match performance. He never really featured again for the senior team. Most of his appearances were from the Substitutes bench. He later moved on to Norwich city FC before being snapped by Sundowns just before the 2010 World Cup. Coincidence?

Andy

Next up, another JHB born player and current Norwich City midfielder Andrew Surman. His parents fled to the UK in 1995 and shortly after that, he joined the Saints' academy. Not many people know this, but this lad had bags of potential. He was Southampton's youngest ever reserve team player a record beaten by the highly over rated Theo Walcott. Surman went on to make over 100 appearances at St Marys. His highlight was a hat trick against Barnsley in a 5-2 rout. A Mick McCarthy led Wolverhampton Wanderers saw the potential and snapped up Surman for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.2M. He never really got a look in at Wolves making only 9 appearances before being shipped off to (then Championship side) Norwich City. Paul Lambert, played him regularly in their run into the premier league. This season however, he hasn't really started due to a formation change. However, when he does get a run, this chap hardly puts a foot wrong. Surman had the chance to play for BAFANA but turned it down, due to his thinking that he had the talent to make England's senior team. And like I said the potential was there, he was regularly picked for the England u/21's. Andrew... we would welcome you.

Davide 

A relatively new boy to The BAFANA set up, ANOTHER JHB born (What is in the water there?!) player Davide Somma. We all know about Davide now, however, what most of us don't know is that he is quite well traveled in Europe and the States. The biggest difference between Davide and the other 2, is that he didn't go directly to the UK. His parents fled to the USA instead. Davide Somma used his Italian passport to good use. He signed a 4 year contract for Perugia but never got a kick as the club went bankrupt after 6 months after his arrival. After that, Davide did "I'll-play-anywhere" tour of Italy and Spain, mostly playing for unpronounceable teams names. It's only when Davide went back to the States, that he signed for San Jose Earthquakes. This is where he met former Norwich City striker Darren Huckerby who encouraged Somma to go and try out in the UK. That's exactly what the American/Italian/South African did. He held trials at Newcastle, Hull, QPR and Leeds United. With the latter signing him on a four year deal. Somma is curently out with a torn ACL.

The not so recent

Gerry

Many people won't know who Gerry Francis is, and what he did for players of colour in the UK. So let me enlighten you a bit. Gerry Francis is credited in the UK for paving the way for people of colour to play in the top division in England. He never really set the league alight with his dazzling displays having only played a handful of games for Leeds before being shipped off to York City.

Fun Fact: He is the first of FIVE South African players to play for Leeds. Can you name the other four?

oh yeah... he was born in JHB

Mark

My second favourite Saffer to play in the UK... can you guess who? I bet you can't. It's Mark Stein. Who I hear you ask? Well, allow me to explain. Mark Stein has played for no less that 11 teams in the UK (9 league teams and 2 non-league teams) Mark's most notable and most famous team that he played for? Chelsea FC. Now most Chelsea fans wouldn't know too much about him, seeing as he did play before Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich. But, this JHB born south African once held an English top flight division record for NINE years. He was the first person to score in SEVEN CONSECUTIVE league games. A record only beaten in 2002 by a Dutch superstar Ruud Van Nistelrooy. He went on and scored 25 goals in 63 games for the Blues. Quite a decent return for someone who only cost £1.6M. A far better return than someone else currently in a Blue shirt (Torres) Currently Mark earns the GBP at Crawley Town where is their head physio.

Gordon

Now then, at the risk of sounding like a biased Liverpool FC fan (you know who you are) the next person who I am going to mention is South African born striker Gordon Hodgson. Granted, it was in the 1920's, he went on to be become a legend at Liverpool FC. Currently Hodgson is STILL Liverpool's third all time leading Goal Scorer with 241 goals to his name. His prolific goal scoring was in the wrong time for Liverpool FC, as at the time, Liverpool were nowhere near their best and hardly ever challenged for the top of the league (sort of like now hey) Liverpool FC had 2 other South African born players to turn out in the Red of Merseyside. Can you guess who?


Other players who DESERVE a mention in this feature are:

Lucas Radebe

Quinton Fortune

Benni McCarthy

Phil "Chippa" Masinga

Hope you enjoyed.
POTZ

Follow us on twitter:

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@ThembaSweet
@BCM_82

8 Nations. The Challenge [with reference to Day 3]

Greetings

I return from Cape Town Stadium, having witnessed some fantastic football. Rather heart-warming, as it is the host nation, South Africa, turning on the style today.
An up-for-it performance, seeing them beat the early pace-setters Ghana by two goals to nil.


Very disciplined. Coach Solomon Luvhengo getting the tactics right and when he saw a player struggling to keep up with the requirement, in true Mourinho fashion, he made a change...as early as the 36th minute.

Both RSA goals came from set-pieces. In truth there should've been at least two more. Top result and huge morale boost going into the final game.


The second game wasn't as bright. Argentina beat a rather flat [again] Nigeria side by one goal to nil in a game which was dominated by the referee.


____________________________________


I left the stadium with two questions though. Actually two challenges.


1. For South African football, where does the responsibility of cultivating natural goalscorers lie?
Today a fellow media representative posed a question to Mr Luvhengo regarding the number of missed opportunities we had and what he was doing about this. His paraphrased response was: "It is a national problem" Nail on head "It is not my responsibility to address this issue, it should be addressed at grass-roots level" Spot on again


Let me say that Solomon Luvhengo does know how to address even the trickiest questions posed by us media. His responses are thought-provoking and he does his homework, and the above response shows that.


So, what's the problem then? If we look at the PSL, we note that our top marksman [Nomvethe] bagged 20goals, next best Rodgers with 13. This isn't a problem which appeared overnight either. It's an issue which has been around for as long as i can remember.
It's an issue at Cape District level. How do we fix it?

Ngidi. The future is now

2. How do we get the public interested in the future of WORLD football?

On the two days that I've been fortunate to be at the games, there have been at least 5 players who have looked really really impressive. Ngidi [RSA], Meyiwa [RSA], Ruiz [ARG], Abdul [GHA], Anaezemba [NIG]...one of these may very well go on to be the next household name.
That being said, neither Athlone nor CPT Stadium games were even reasonably well attended. Such a shame!
It would be more of a shame if the tournament continued to draw handfuls of support instead of Cape Town supporting in their droves.

Come and witness some of the finest young talent on the planet [rhymns doesn't it] and be one of the first to see a [possible] future star in the making.

8 Nations Monday 28 May Fixtures:
Brasil vs Kenya at 18h00
Cameroon vs Japan at 20h30
both games at Athlone Stadium

______________________

8 Nations Challenge [Brazil vs Cameroon]

26th May - Kenya vs Japan 2pm   /   Brazil vs Cameroon 4pm

Footiecall only sent 1 representative to cover today's games, but he unfortunately missed the first game since he was at the Spur for lunch. He did, however, manage to walk in to the Kenya / Japan press conference and ask questions without even watching the game.

The Japanese manager speaks Japanese. Although we found this impressive, we weren't so impressed that they had done no research on either of the African teams in their group (Kenya & Cameroon).

Kenya have played a few friendlies & trained for a month together, which is more than the Japanese, but still  this did not help them as they lost 3-0 to the economically strong Asian nation.

BRAZIL vs. CAMEROON

The game started off at a slow pace with Brazil easily knocking the ball around at the back before launching searching balls to all sides of the pitch. A structured back-line with 3 deep midfielders and 3 loose forwards. Cameroon employed 2 giants at the back with a 3rd giant in the centre. Similar to South Africa, Cameroon rely mainly on the individual ability of some skilful wingers & forwards. Similar to Ghana, Cameroon use their physical strength to dominate the close or man-to-man plays.

Brazil took the lead after a defensive error coming from 2 of the 3 giants, who sandwiched a Brazilian forward, but failed to get the ball which kept rolling to the edge of the box. A simple FIFA "finesse finish" saw Brazilian #10 - Thomas Santos score.

The game then became overrun with, what appeared to be, consistent diving from the Brazilians. The constant stop-starts slowed the game down & by the time one of the Brazilians got a yellow card for diving, the football had almost taken a back seat. 

Brazil received 2 red cards; 1 for an off the ball incident which saw #5 Conde knock a player off his feet with an aggressive barge. The 2nd was a quite impressive attempt at Maradona's "hand of God" when #16 Deretti punched the ball over the Cameroon keeper & tapped in afterwards.

A grey interpreter, captain Joao Felipe & head coach Eder Bastos

Stand-out players from Cameroon: their giant centre mid #20 - Carlain Mbah. Power in the middle!!

Stand-out players from Brazil: Right-back #2 Fabio Tavares was excellent! In defense & attack. The man of the match for me was their captain & centre mid, #8 Joao Felipe.

We'll keep our eyes on these players in order to produce a Player of the Tournament & Team of the Tournament after the final.

8 Nations Challenge [Ghana vs Nigeria]

There have been a few mouth-watering encounters between these two African footballing rivals, today would be no exception.

Ghana
Annan. Amartey. Abubakar. Sarfo-Gyamfi. Salifu. Safiu Abdul. Apau. Rahman Abdul. Lartey (c). Bafoe. Bassit Abdul.

Nigeria
Okani (c). Kingsley. Tolulope. Nnadozie. Abonima. Ikechukwu. Henry Uche. Nzube. Salisu. Abdullahi. Aminu.

Ghana looked the more composed of the two and immediately went at Nigeria. One thing about the Ghanaians, they are not afraid to shoot. The first half ended goalless, thanks mainly to the quality handling and placement of Okani in goal for Nigeria.
Abdul [10] and Salifu [8] of Ghana were bossing things in the engine-room and although Nzube [8] of Nigeria possesses an extremely cultured left foot as well as silky skills, he was being overrun in midfield by the two from Ghana.

Nevermind our goal...how's our celebration?!

The second half started brightly and surprise surprise, Nigeria take the lead, very much against the run of play through Henry Uche [7]. Moments later Safiu Fatam came close to levelling, but his curling effort went just wide of the upright. Was this going to turn out to be a snatch-n-grab?!

This one's even better.

NO. Rahman Abdul [12], the left back, smashes home to level matters. The game ebbed and flowed for about 20minutes, then Nigeria found themselves ahead again. This time a goalkeeping error sees the ball drop at the feet of Aminu who obliges happily and celebrates in style. 2-1 to Nigeria.

Ghana piled on the pressure, which made for a relentless final quarter of this match. At one stage it became so intense there were 3 Nigerian players down injured [at one time]...two of them were substituted and the game continued.

An equaliser came, with about 8minutes of regular time to play. A belter of a freekick scored by Sarfo Gyami [7]. Ghana weren't done though and grabbed the winner with 2minutes to play. The 4th official signalled 5minutes additional time, which was not surprising considering the number of injuries there were.

Scoreline remained Ghana 3-2 Nigeria. A morale boosting victory, which was celebrated in style.

The Post Match Press Conferences brought out the following comments:

Wellington Olando [Ghana]

• Alluded to the intense rivalry between the two sides
• Also spoke of the many chances his side did not convert, but a positive factor was the way they fought back after going behind on two occasions.
• He confirmed that the players had a great level of spirit among them, despite this being a fairly new group.

John Sam Obuh [Nigeria]

• Nigeria are very much a work in progress, with the team only having been together for 3weeks as opposed to 2-3months like the other nations.
• He was happy with the way his side showed character and promised that they would get better as the tournament progressed.

 Celebratory dance



The pick of today's games. A real spectacle and great advert for [young] African football.

So much more to come. Do try and support this tournament, you won't be disappointed.

8 Nations Challenge [RSA vs Argentina]

The tournament kicked off at Athlone Stadium this evening with a welcome speech by Cape Town Mayor, Patricia De Lille.

One of her requests/comments were "that Cape Town would support" and i think for a tournament which has received as little publicity as this, the opening day drew a decent-to-good crowd.

Hosts South Africa kicked off proceedings with a game against Argentina.

Republic of South Africa
Lebu Ngubeni. Junior Sibande. Kgosietsile Ntlhe. Cebo Meyiwa. Snethemba Ngidi. Ayanda Ndlovu. Nkululeko Tshangane. Ebrahim Seedat. Asive Langwe. Jerry Mxabo. Mbongeni Gumede (c). 

Argentina 
Walter Benitez. Lisandro Magallan (c). Carlos Ruiz. Alan Aguirre. Matais Kranevitter. Jonathan Valle. Francisco Pizzini. Alan Ruiz. Federico Andrada. Brian Ferreira. Franco Fragapane. 

No coincidence he dons the same number as Veron #passmaster

The Argentine outfit were very composed in their play and it was evident that they had been given their mandate and were quite comfortable going about their business. Their modus operandi was basically get the ball to the feet of A. Ruiz [8] who was the conductor of the orchestrator. Ferreira [10] and Pizzini [7] are two players with dazzling skill and quick feet and aided Ruiz in the offensive area very well.

South Africa looked good in stages, especially when they let the ball do the work and got it out to their wingers or to Ngidi [7] who played a free role, drifting wide or playing just behind the frontman. He is diminutive in stature, but not afraid to take on the opposition.

The result ended 1-3 to the visitors. Two set-pieces, firstly Magallan rising above the defense to head home a free kick, then Fragapane doubling the advantage after some poor marking again. Aguirre made it three with yet another lapse in concentration by the RSA defense. We did pull a goal back through substitute Mthembu [18] in a move which saw us play direct football instead of trying to hold onto it for too long.

During the post match press conference Argentina's coach, Marcelo Trobbiani, had the following to say:

• It was a very physical game and he was impressed by the pace of the RSA players.
• He felt his players showed more control in possession and took their chances well.
• There are 4players playing regularly for their clubs' first team [which include Gimnasia, River Plate and Boca Juniors]

South African coach, Solomon Luvhengo, said the following:

• The goals came about through poor marking, which will need to be looked at going into the next game.
• He is positive about the way his side played, especially when they kept it simple and played more direct football.

A quote from Luvhengo which i found really nail-on-head stuff was: "Often, as South Africans, our greatest strength in a moment becomes our biggest weakness"
Referring to the way we held onto the ball for too long today, instead of allowing it to flow and getting at the opposition.


Both sides have to work on their defense, I feel, as even Argentina looked uneasy when they were run at.

An entertaining game of football, but i believe both sides have not hit their straps yet.

Best we get out to their next games to see it unfold!

8 Nations Under 20 tournament

Starting on Friday 25th May, running till the 3rd June, Cape Town plays host to an international Under 20's tournament called the 8 Nations. Footiecall has been fortunate enough to be invited to attend & cover the event and will be bringing you updates throughout the week on how the tournament is progressing.

2 years ago, South Africa hosted the biggest sporting event in the world with Cape Town being a major part of  the FIFA World Cup 2010. Just before the World Cup began, SAFA agreed that there will be an 8 Nations event that would take place every 2nd year. Its focus is on youth development & exposure. This year some top teams have entered and it promises to be quite a spectacle:


GroupA:
South Africa
Argentina
Ghana
Nigeria


Group B:
Brazil
Cameroon
Kenya
Japan


Footiecall in the 8 Nations
This will be the 1st event Footiecall will cover in full so we'll be assuming new roles, very different from our current research & writing roles. Allow me to introduce you to our staff:

1. Potz: Master photogropher - Having seen many pictures in his lifetime as well as owning a camera phone, there is probably no better qualified person to stand behind the FootieCall camera which we borrowed from Chad (thanks Chad). If someone does something, he might take a picture! 
2. BCM:  Interviewer extraordinaire - After many years of talking to other humans, he has a brilliant background of speech (since age 2) & questions. He'll be leading some interviews with managers & captains all while dressing appropriately & holding a pen. Consummate professional. 
3. Themba Sweet: Research & Twitter liaison (the RT guy) - it's widely known that Football is designed to talk about on Twitter. As long as this man has a charged phone, you can be sure he'll tweet something.

Group A info & key players:
Group A is easily the tougher of the 2.

• South Africa's 25 man squad is made up of 4 foreign based players and can be viewed here. We'll be keeping a close eye on Pirates youngster, Mbongeni Gumede.
• The Ghana team is made up purely of Ghana based players . The Black Satellites (Ghana U20 nickname) won the 2009 FIFA World Cup were runners up twice. In 2009 they also won the African Youth Championship for the 3rd time.
• Nigeria are 6 time African Youth Champs & current holders.
• Argentina are the wild card in this group with the African countries not knowing what to expect. Messi, Saviola & Aguero have all won Golden Shoe for the U20's with Mascherano & Di Maria also graduating from the U20's.

Group B info & Key players:

• Brazil are obvious favourites & with good reason. In their final practice before coming to Cape Town, they won 8-1 with Ademilson scoring 3. We expect Seleção to reach the finals as a minimum given their group.
• Cameroon only have 1 African Youth Championship title to their name, but will be bringing a strong squad who have played together for longer than nearly any other team in the tournament.
• Kenya we call our wildcard. This basically means we know nothing about them. Their 1st game is Saturday 26th so we'll find out soon enough.
• Japan - always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Many runners-up positions, but no winners medals. However they are very young and, similar to Carmeroon, have played together for a while.

All games will be played at Greenpoint & Athlone stadiums with ticket prices starting at only R25 (from Checkers & Computicket). It's a great opportunity to see future stars playing in our back garden. The fixture list is below & you can follow this link for more information: THIS!

Anti-football: the beauty behind the beast

Football - the beautiful game
And what an amazing weekend we had to prove it. Chelsea going to Munich & returning with the Champions League....a true underdog story. Not only did they beat the most successful team in Germany, they also beat one of the best teams this world has ever seen - Barcelona. Yet there were many people who were unimpressed with this feat & their main complaint was that Chelsea had played "ugly football" & were simply lucky to reach the final.
Now this article isn't about the Champions League final nor is it only Chelsea's performance; it's about this "ugly football" which many people were complaining about. For the most part, I saw a tactic being adhered to in a disciplined manner. Anti-football, the worst named tactic in the book, is actually another term for Ultra-defensive. The idea is that you repel the ball from your box at all costs by outnumbering the oppositions attack, disrupt play & wait for a mistake from the opponent.

2 ends of the spectrum:
Over the past half-decade, the world has seem the product of many years of "Total Football" combine with Spanish flair to produce the "Tiki-Taka" style which Barcelona play. We are taught by our peers & social media that this is the pinnacle of what football is meant to be, yet is is simply a tactic embedded into the thinking of each of their players. Since football is a game of tactics, surely there must be an opposite to this tactic...a kryptonite to this Superman.....an anti to this football?  It seems that this Ultra-defensive/anti-football is the tactical kryptonite for Tiki-Taka. Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Celtic & Rangers are some of the more recent teams to take points from Barcelona, who, for all their pretty football, could end this season without a trophy.

Not so simple:
As footballers & those watching football, we seldom spend much time praising the structure of defenses & tend to focus more on the technical ability of individuals, or the speed of an attack. Defense is an after-thought, or a back-up plan, never the main plan. To have less than 20% possession yet still stick to a plan is quite hard. Teams who play anti-football incorrectly are usually sitting back for an hour & asking a large man to punch them hard in the face - it will happen if not played correctly. If defending accurately for 1,5 hours was easy, Sporting Gijon would be taking points from Madrid & Barca. Instead, it's quite difficult. Man United twice met Barca in the finals & twice tried to play a free-flowing attack against them. It failed.

Parking the bus; Anti-football & the Dark Arts:
Everyone has their own opinion of what these terms mean, so here's my version of the 3.
Parking The Bus - usually when a team uses numbers instead of tactics. A last resort & low IQ tactic.
Anti-football - the positive would be the ability to match stronger teams.
The Dark Arts - this is the diving, time-wasting, scratching, swearing and complaining to the ref, which is so often associated with the anti-football tactic. It's bad, but it does break the play & puts the opposition off. As long as it's within the rules.....even Drogba, for all his diving, managed to stay on the pitch for a full game.

Tactics:
Going toe-to-toe with a stronger team is not a good idea, so how do you give your team an advantage? How do you even the playing field? With tactics. Variations of 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 usually end up as 9-0-1. The outlet striker is important & will be used when the opposition is so focused on attack that they are unable to defend a counter-attack properly. At the back, a key point is to outnumber the attack, using zonal-marking to put more 2 or more defenders on an attacker. Do not dive into tackles & allow the opposition possession outside the box.


I had an issue with the reaction given to a different choice of tactic, a defensive tactic. I believe that it can help a disciplined team achieve great things & that it should be respected (if not watched as often) as an equal to the many free-flowing attacking tactics we're presented with daily. Trophies go down in history with a side helping of either "they played pretty to win it" or "they defended well to win it". Remember "attack wins games, but defense wins championships".

Forget the waffles

With Euro 2012 on our doorstep, well figuratively speaking, that is. All football eyes are now focused on Poland and Ukraine [host nations] and the other 14teams involved in this event.


For a few minutes though, cast your eyes away, to a country who has missed out on qualifying for this event, but who has some of the finest footballers' about right now.


Yes. Belgium. Rode Duivels [Red Devils].


The country is ruled by King Albert II, with Elio di Rupo their Prime Minister. With a population of approx 10.5million and divided by language, French-speaking, the others Flemish speaking...it is said that the national football side is probably the only uniting factor.


So what's there to say about this group of footballers?


How's about we start by mentioning a few of their past masters and relive some of what went down late 80's early 90's.

Michel Preud'homme

 The first winner of the Yashin award for best goalkeeper at a FIFA World Cup. Widely regarded as the best of his generation. This Belgian shot-stopper was sheer class.


Enzo Scifo
The creative midfielder of note. Nicknamed little Pele for his dazzling ability in midfield, he has represented his country at four FIFA World Cup tournaments, only 2 fellow countrymen have done so.


We could also mention the likes of Luc Nilis, Danny Boffin and [current national coach] Marc Wilmots as we reflect on previous talent.

We are United...well the RED DEVILS, that is

Moving on then and focusing on [some of] the rich array of talent currently pulling on the Red of Belgium.


In the goalkeeping department we have Simon Mignolet, current Sunderland no.1, doing so well that The Black Cats have seen it fit to release previous first choice Craig Gordon, who cost them £9m in 2007.
Thibaut Courtois, on loan at Atletico Madrid [from Chelsea FC], this kid has just won the Europa League with the Madrid side at the tender age of 20.


In defense, Toby Alderweireld, just turned 23 and already highly spoken of central defender currently at Ajax Amsterdam. He and another bright young Belgian, Jan Vertonghen [who Spurs and Arsenal are vying for] play at the heart of the Dutch-side's defense. With Manchester City captain, Vincent Kompany, also in the mix, Toby has been shifted to RB, where he will more than likely stay.

Approach with caution...

I could write an entire piece on Steven Defour. I think he's the only player SAF sent a 'get well' card to, after he picked up a serious injury. Widespread reports of us being on the verge of signing him, came to nought, when he shipped off to FC Porto. Quite strange, considering his ability in midfield and the fact he was sold to FCP for just €6m.
We now have Eden Hazard playing silly buggers with the two Manchester clubs and maybe Chelsea too. He's class. Ligue 1 Player of the Season for consecutive seasons, i definitely can understand what the hype is about. Then there's the two big-haired gents. Witsel and Fellaini. The one's a tricky winger, the other a lanky, yet strong box-to-box midfielder. The last in this section is Moussa Dembele. Initially he came to Craven Cottage as a deep-lying striker, but with the arrival of Pogrebnyak, he has dropped into midfield as a ball carrier and pass-master...and the transition has been superb. Such is the talent of this guy. I'd actually like MUFC to sign him and/or Fellaini.


Uptop we have the player initially dubbed 'the next Drogba' [simulation sold separately] Romelu Lukaku. A beast of a frontman with not only brutish-strength, but also neat skill and an eye for goal. The other forward I'd like to mention is Kevin Mirallas. The lad has hit a purple patch at Olympiacos and is now said to be on the radar of both Stoke and Newcastle. 

Others i haven't mentioned include Thomas Vermaelen, Anthony Van Den Borre, Dedryck Boyata, Jonathan Legear and Kevin De Bruyne, the old guard of Timmy Simmons and Daniel Van Buyten...and there'll be more.
So how does Belgium continue to produce these talented footballers? Firstly, the Belgian league is one of the oldest in 'the business' with their league being established as far back as 1896. Secondly, their is quite a bit of funds and resources put toward development of future talent, which seems to be paying dividends.


Next time you think Belgium. Forget the chocolates and waffles and think Football. Football that unites a nation. A nation that is continuously developing quality contributors to this The Beautiful Game.

I have them down as a [potential] force for Brasil 2014.


___________________________________________


On the evidence given above, do you think Belgium have the personnel to step up from being a 2nd tier side to being serious title contenders at the FIFA World Cup 2014?

Irony or ridiculous coincidence. After writing this piece, i come across this clip on youtube. Pretty much video-profiling all the players mentioned. I'd say it's more a case of the obvious. Belgium have the talent...they now need to make it happen.

FootieCalls Top 10 WORST Football kits

'Sup Footie Nuts?


I wanted to share something with you guys. When Manchester United launched their 2012/13 kit in the last 2 weeks, I thought... "Wow... they based this on my Mom's table cloth?!" But then it got me thinking, how many other kits out there made me want to puke? I went and done extensive research to bring to you FootieCall's 10 worst EVER kits! Now I'm no fashionista, and I don't know all the lines to mystic pizza, but these are just terrible!

Number 10

Mexico 1994 World Cup

Jorge Campos...designed this himself. Nutter! 

The 1994 world cup in the USA was probably my favourite Football World Cup of all time. But this... this monstrosity made me want to stab my eyes out with a plastic Liqui Fruit straw!

Number 9 

England 1996 Euro Cup

Hang your head Umbro.

I don't have too much to say on this. Just read the caption in the picture. That is all.

Number 8

Athletic Bilbao 2004

Really? *vomit*

Now then. I hear your questions. And to answer you, no, I do not know who threw All Gold Tomato Sauce all over this plain white kit. This is awful PERIOD! (See what I did there) 

Number 7

Manchester United (I'm not sure about what year)

Bed time anyone?

So I can honestly say that Manchester United almost featured TWICE. This one, a lovely Pyjama set that is fittingly modeled here by Ryan Giggs. 

Number 6

Bradford City 1991

Couldn't sell. Hence the sponsor.

We know the 90's were infamous for BAD fashion, but this...this... oh my God... this... I need a bucket...


Half Time! 


Second half kicks off now that everyone has stopped barfing. Best you read/look at the next 5 on an empty stomach. 

Number 5

Scunthorpe United

Transfer please????

Oh my... it's vomit. It's vomit I tell you!!!! Why in name of colours and eye sight would you do this?!?!?!? Whyyyyyyyyyyy???? *vomits*

Number 4

USA 1994 world cup

I want a new kit!!!!!

This tournament, was slap bang in the 90's. Another kit to help us remember how bad the fashion sense was. 

Number 3

Arsenal 1991

Lee Dixon... looking like a dick! 

I really think that maybe because they were known as boring Arsenal they tried something new with their kit and got it HORRIBLY wrong....

Number 2

Shimizu S-Pulse

Only in Japan....

And to Japan we go! We all know that Japan are known for their weirdness (see Pokemon) but this has got to take the cake. 

So far the Premier league in the 90's have taken centre stage. But our number 1 hits closer to home... real close.

Number 1

Bafana Bafana 1994

I hang my head in shame...I really do. This kit was probably the worst I've ever seen. I remember someone remarked "It looks as if someone has just thrown up all over it." A very very valid point. 

So while doing this feature, here at the Footie Call offices, a heated debate ensued between myself, Themba and BCM about the kit you see below. Myself and BCM think it's a thing of beauty. But Themba thinks it's a piece of sh*t. Let's all vote and see what everyone thinks. 

Thanks for joining. Get voting in the comment section. 

POTZ

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