World Cup News

Fixtures and Result

Results

Estonia		1:1 (1:1)	Lithuania	Head-to-Head»
22/11/2008	Kuressaare		Friendly
Myanmar		2:1 (1:1)	Indonesia	Head-to-Head»
21/11/2008	Yangon		Friendly
Spain		3:0 (1:0)	Chile	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Villarreal		Friendly
Brazil		6:2 (2:1)	Portugal	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Gama		Friendly
Greece		1:1 (0:0)	Italy	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Piraeus		Friendly
Trinidad and Tobago		3:0 (0:0)	Cuba	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Port Of Spain		FIFA World Cup™ Qualifier
Germany		1:2 (0:1)	England	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Berlin		Friendly
San Marino		0:3 (0:0)	Czech Republic	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Serravalle		FIFA World Cup™ Qualifier
Romania		2:1 (0:1)	Georgia	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Bucharest		Friendly
Netherlands		3:1 (1:0)	Sweden	Head-to-Head»
19/11/2008	Amsterdam		Friendly

Fixtures

Malaysia		-	Singapore	Head-to-Head»
29/11/2008	Petaling Jaya		Friendly
Trinidad and Tobago		-	Grenada	Head-to-Head»
03/12/2008	Kingston		Continental Qualifier
Jamaica		-	Barbados	Head-to-Head»
03/12/2008	Kingston		Continental Qualifier
Haiti		-	Antigua and Barbuda	Head-to-Head»
04/12/2008	Montego Bay		Continental Qualifier
Indonesia		-	Myanmar	Head-to-Head»
05/12/2008	Jakarta		Friendly
Singapore		-	Cambodia	Head-to-Head»
05/12/2008	Jakarta		Friendly
Barbados		-	Trinidad and Tobago	Head-to-Head»
05/12/2008	Greenfield-Trelawny		Continental Qualifier
Jamaica		-	Grenada	Head-to-Head»
05/12/2008	Greenfield-Trelawny		Continental Qualifier
Thailand		-	Vietnam	Head-to-Head»
06/12/2008	Bangkok		Friendly
Malaysia		-	Laos	Head-to-Head»
06/12/2008	Bangkok		Friendly

Brazil and Italy to play at Arsenal

Brazilian footballers Ronaldinho Gaucho (L), Alex (C) and Roberto Carlos joke during a training session

Players of Italy celebrate winning the FIFA World Cup 2006

(AFP) Thursday 13 November 2008

Brazil are to play a friendly against FIFA World Cup holders Italy at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on 10 February, the Premier League club have announced.

It will be the fourth time that Brazil have used the Gunners' north London home, which seats 60,000, for a friendly match having played Argentina, Portugal and Sweden there since the stadium opened in 2006 following Arsenal's move from Highbury.

"Everyone at Arsenal Football Club is delighted and honoured to be hosting this international match between two of the world's greatest national teams," said Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood.

"Brazil and Italy both have proud and very successful football histories and we are looking forward to welcoming the teams and many Brazilian and Italian supporters to Emirates Stadium in February.

"Some of the world's finest footballers will be on display and we are all very excited at what is sure to be a thrilling contest."

Brazil cruise against Portugal

(Reuters) Thursday 20 November 2008

Brazil gave beleaguered coach Dunga some respite by thumping Portugal 6-2 in a friendly, helped by a hat-trick from striker Luis Fabiano.

The five-times world champions had been held to 0-0 draws in their last three home games, against Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia, and had not scored in front of their own fans since last November.

Dunga was jeered by the crowd and seemed to be in for a long night when Danny opened the scoring for the visitors by turning in Bruno Alves's cross after four minutes. However, Luis Fabiano levelled four minutes later following a break down the left by Robinho and put Brazil ahead in the 25th minute with a shot on the turn from Kaka's pass.

The second half produced four goals in a 10-minute spell. Maicon scored with an angled shot for Brazil in the 55th minute and Luis Fabiano completed his hat-trick with an opportunist goal two minutes later.

Simao Sabrosa pulled one back for the visitors, only for Elano to rifle home Brazil's fifth from another chance created by Kaka. Adriano headed Brazil's sixth in stoppage-time as Brazil completed their first win over Portugal since 1989.

Terry praises Capello progress

England's Captain John Terry (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the 1-2

(AFP) Thursday 20 November 2008

England captain John Terry believes his side's 2-1 friendly victory over Germany proves just how far the team has come under the guidance of Fabio Capello.

Terry headed home England's winner after 83 minutes at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. However, it was the confident and controlled nature of his team's performance - despite missing seven key players including Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand - that will have the world's top teams taking notice.

England have now won five games in a row for the first time since 2006, are top of their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying group and have not been beaten in eight games since a trip to France in March. It's all a big contrast to 2007 when they failed to qualify for UEFA EURO 2008, were beaten twice by Croatia and also lost at home to Germany in a friendly.

"A lot has changed since then," confirmed Terry. "It's been a good year. We started slowly but we gradually got our confidence back and got the fans back on our side. And we got back to winning ways. I think we're progressing very well.

"We still need to keep our feet firmly on the ground, but the work-rate and commitment we're showing for each other is really encouraging. It's something the manager stressed early on when he first got the job. You've seen the quality we've got individually and collectively as a squad and if we add in the work-rate we're halfway there."

It was a good way to end the year against a good German side. The younger players have given the manager a problem in the future because they came in and did very well.

John Terry has been delighted with Fabio Capello's first year in charge.

England, who gave a debut to Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor, certainly showed a good work-rate in Berlin as they took the lead through defender Matthew Upson from a first-half corner. And only a terrible mix-up between Terry and replacement goalkeeper Scott Carson allowed Germany striker Patrick Helmes to equalise against the run of play.

"I take full blame for it," said Chelsea star Terry. "I should have dealt with it and it was disappointing. Someone of my experience should have cleared the ball. It's not Scotty's fault. But I was delighted to go down the other end and get the goal to make up for it. I said to Stewart Downing hang it up at the far post and I'll get my head on it.

"It would have been an injustice if we had drawn the game because we played very well and deserved to win it. We got great support again and they can be encouraged by what they saw. Nobody likes their fans being against them and we did lose the confidence of our own fans after missing out on EURO 2008.

"But they are the best in the world and we've seen that in Berlin. I'm delighted to get a good result for them. It was a good way to end the year against a good German side. The younger players have given the manager a problem in the future because they came in and did very well."

Midfielder Michael Carrick, who played his first game under Capello, believes England are now on a roll. "We're gathering momentum and we're enjoying games," said the Manchester United star.

"And more importantly we're winning them. We played very well as a team and deserved to win against a good Germany side. Confidence is good within the squad at the moment and we want to keep it going now and build on what we've started."

WORLD CUP LOGO BY LOGO

Four years from now the eyes of the world with be on South Africa where the World Cup will be played on African soil for the first time. Today, the logo for South Africa 2010 was revealed. The image above is one that you will become very familiar with in the next four years. Where does it rank in the history of World Cup logos? You can decide for yourself by checking out the logos dating back to first one in 1966 when apparently clip art was first invented.

1966 England