Tennis World Cup on the horizon. Could change the sport forever.

ITF, the International Tennis Federation, is trying to shake things up in a bid to reinvigorate Tennis. The move is towards finding new and younger fan base by bringing some interesting and innovative changes to the game. Top men’s tennis players are in consideration towards getting a football world cup like tournament added to the calendar which in turn could mean curtains for Davis Cup.


A lot is still needed to be done on this front but according to top tennis players this might be the best thing for the sport and its future. It could be a tennis version of T20. Following is the summary of the bits currently being evaluated and some of them would be revolutionary:

- World Cup of tennis with 32 countries participating. A 10 day tournament on the lines of football world cup. Davis Cup could be sacrificed if this happens.

- Shorter sets with race to 5 point tie breaker.

- Substitutions allowed. This one could be the most ground-breaking of all. Imagine Federer leading a tired Nadal and suddenly he has to face up with a fresh Verdasco. Could be a great move.

- Reduced time between games and between points. Sort of rapid tennis if you may. Players would have to rush through with an eye on the clock. Great step to speed up the game.


Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan/13/tennis-calendar-proposals-world-cup

African Cup of nations in Jeopardy after firing on Togo's team bus

Togo international football players, including EPL stars Adebayor and Salifu, were ambushed en-route their training base in Angola. Angola is host to this year’s African cup of nations. The team bus carrying Togo’s team was attacked with machine gun fire killing the driver and injuring 9 others.

Latest fallout of this incident could be a pullout by Togo while some EPL clubs demand their players' immediate return to England. It has been a sad start to an important year for African football with the World Cup set to start in South Africa later this year.

Read the full story at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/08/togo-football-team-ambushed-angola

2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw: Pot Luck favors England

I just got off ESPN and draw has been a fair boost for English World Cup aspirations. England has been drawn in Group C which looks like this:

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

England will have a tough game against USA that would possibly decide the group standings. I expect England to go through easily however they would be wary of finishing behind USA as that could mean Germany in the round of 16. The group could have been a lot tougher with either Portugal or France and England has been lucky to avoid both of them.

The Good:
In my opinion, England has been overtly lucky this time around. By being drawn in the first half of the group, England make sure they do not meet any of the following until the Semi-Finals:

Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Ivory Coast

Two top contenders - Brazil and Spain- along with the ever dangerous Italy, Portugal and Holland have been drawn in the south side of the draw- very very good for England.

England is in Group C and I would expect them to top the group ahead of USA. If that happens and Germany top their group 'D' as expected, England would avoid even the Germans until the Finals.

The Bad:
England has a possibility of facing Argentina, France or Aussies somewhere before the semis. While these are good teams they do not match up to Spain, Brazil or Italy. So really it is not too bad for England.

The Ugly:
Only one possibility- England finish behind USA in Groups.

It's already 1:30 AM in India and I am groggy now... More to follow later.

2010 FIFA World Cup Final: Draw is out

The final draw is out. Here it is:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

So what's this world cup worth ?

So you wanna know how much money is at stake in this World Cup? Read on for the details :

http://sportsbizfreak.blogspot.com/2009/12/so-whats-this-world-cup-worth.html

England's journey to glory rests on pot luck- Part 2

A lot is being said about how England's progress would depend on a favorable draw and how Capello's boys would want to avoid certain teams. What's lost with all such theories is that England is a darn good football team who has a damn good opportunity to reach the summit in South Africa

England does not want to be drawn with France or Portugal- well who wants to? It's a huge tournament and no team will win it without a lot of hard work and some luck. It's that slice every team is looking for at the draws and if that means praying for an easy draw - nothing wrong.

It's simple, even mighty Brazil or Spain would want to avoid bigger teams up front. No one would want to go out early from a World Cup. England has possibly as good a chance as any other top team and there is no doubt they would be a handful for even the best team in the world. Draw- good or bad- would eventually assist the teams and their managers to prepare and plan for the biggest tournament in the world.

"Eight matches, eight wins and Capello’s team swept to South Africa. Confidence is coursing through the squad although there is a realization that beyond a core of 14-15 players, England may struggle. Yet if they cannot succeed under Capello then it will never happen. Expect a semi-final - at least. The manager is on a mission and, with luck, who knows? They will certainly be prepared"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/6596762/England-team-at-World-Cup-2010.html

England's journey to glory rests on pot luck

A lot depends on how England fares in South Africa next year including their bid for 2018 and FA's debt.

A nice read below for people who follow English football:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/6720893/World-Cup-2010-draw-Englands-journey-to-glory-rests-on-pot-luck.html     

Spain: Europe's best bet!!

Spain has been the perennial underachiever at the World Cup’s but things are looking different this time around. They have displaced Brazil at the top of FIFA world rankings and have easily brushed aside any competition en-route to finals. They look by far the best European team – and alongside Brazil- are being touted as the tournament favorites.

Since the World Cup started in 1930, no European nation has won the trophy on another continent. Spain has the potential to change this forever in July 2010 provided they have some luck and they keep their top players fit. A lot would depend on Torres’ goal scoring ability and Spain would need him fit and firing. They have talent all across the pitch and for the first time in years they also appear to have the resolve to go far. This Spanish side plays fluid and sumptuous football and is the team to watch out for.

What about the other European powerhouses? Germany and Italy are big match teams and they have the knack of producing their best when it matters. They will be a threat as always and have a fair chance of going deep into the tournament. I would not be able to say the same about France though. I feel they will struggle under Domenech and an early exit for France would be justice for Ireland. The farther that France goes the more will it hurt. I hope they are drawn alongside either Brazil or Spain with USA or Ivory Coast for company. With Capello at helm, England appears formidable if they can keep the squad injury free. This is going to be my team in South Africa and I would root for them all the way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philminshull/2009/12/spain_can_finally_end_europes.html

2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw: The Pots revealed

Following are the pots for the draw coming up this friday the 4th:

Pots for Friday's draw: eight groups of four countries to be drawn, each group containing one country from each pot.

Pot 1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America): Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras

Pot 3 (Africa and South America): Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay

Pot 4 (Europe): France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8390084.stm 

2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw: Seeds are out!!

The seeds for next year's World Cup are out today. Previously FIFA had used a combination of previous 2 world cup performances alongside current rankings to determine the seeds. This year however, FIFA decided to go with the October rankings alone.

The seeds for this year’s draw are:
South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

In one of my previous posts I had made some firsthand calculations based on previous world cup draws to arrive at the probable seeds. Check below for more details:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8390084.stm

France Ireland replay - well not quite...

Sepp Blatter has called for a crisis meeting of FIFA chiefs to deal with the fallout created by the 'Hand of Henry'. It however changes nothing for the Irish since a senior Fifa source told the Press Association: "A replay is impossible. It would be against the rules of football."

The idea of having an extra referee's assistant behind each goal, as is the case in the Europa League, might well be discussed. This would mean another human eye behind each goal line as early as the World Cup.Wait and watch this space for more.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8375320.stm

2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw: Part 3 - An English perspective

England has received a seed boost ahead of the final draw. They are amongst the top 8 and I believe they deserve every bit of it. If England keeps their best men fit, they would surprise a lot people including themselves.

A lot would depend however on the draw and there are umpteen possible permutations and combinations for the possible groups. The two most alluring possibilities for England lie at the opposite end of the spectrum. If England comes out really lucky they could end up with teams like - Switzerland, New Zealand and Algeria which would nearly guarantee a safe passage through at the top of their group. If the draw however is unkind, they could be pitted with the likes of Portugal/Netherlands, Ivory Coast and USA in what could arguably be the group of death. Most likely outcome would be somewhere in between the wide range of possibilities and the 3 Lions would be mighty relieved to avoid both Portugal and Netherlands upfront.

I just wish to see England go the distance this time because this could be their best chance for a lot of years to come, considering most of their top players wouldn’t be around for too long.

A friend of mine has put an interesting spin on the current England squad and what lies ahead. Check it out at:

http://sportsbizfreak.blogspot.com/2009/10/for-england-and-fabio-road-does-not-end.html

2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw: Part 1-The Basics

Speculation are ripe about the formula that FIFA could use to seed the teams before the draw on Dec 4. FIFA’s World Cup organising committee are expected to confirm the eight seeds at a meeting in Cape Town on ­December 2, two days before the draw. These 8 seeds would then avoid each other in the Group Stages.

If we consider that FIFA would use the same formula as for 2006 world cup where last two worldcup performances and last 3 years FIFA rankings are taken into account, then following is the list of teams that would be seeded as follows:

Seed      Team

1            Brazil
4            Spain
7            France
3            Italy
2            Germany
5            England
6            Argentina
8            South Africa
Note: The seeds were calculated using the exact formula that FIFA used in 2006.

These 8 teams would make it to Pot#1 of the draw with each group headed by one of these teams. Rest of the teams would not be seeded and 4 pots would be used to group teams from every continent such that no more than 2 European teams end up in the same group and no more than one country from South America, Africa and Asia is in any group. Pot# 2 consists of all the remaining European nations and the third and fourth pots will divide the remaining qualifiers from the CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, African, Asia, and Oceania regions. Based on the above, following are the four Pots for the final draw. Exactly one team from each pot would make it to each group.

Pot 1: South Africa, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, France, Argentina

Pot 2: Portugal, Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, Greece, Denmark, Serbia, Slovakia

Pot 3: Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Algeria

Pot 4: South Korea, Japan, Australia, North Korea, Mexico, USA, Honduras, New Zealand
 
With one team to be picked from each pot to form a group, draw would be of enormous scale for each of the top teams.
 
Following are the list of references used to calculate exact seeds and rankings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup_seeding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup_full_team_ranking
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/293526-world-cup-draw-2010-england-set-for-seeding-boost

Irish hopes dashed by the HAND of GOD

Ireland have been cheated and it's sad to see such crucial matches being decided by the 'hand of God'. England suffered at the hands of Maradona some 23 years ago and it's ireland now. The sad part is that we have learnt no lessons in more than 20 years.

I understand that human errors are hard to eliminate and that referee's would continue to have bad days at office once in a while. I also completely disagree with the 'moral' arguments made by some pundits blaming Henry and France of being the cheats. The article in Telegraph does just that and puts all the blame on Henry. I found it hard to find even one logical point in the entire article. Read for yourself and decide.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/republicofireland/6609355/Thierry-Henry-must-be-banned-from-playing-in-the-2010-World-Cup.html

There has been a lot of hue and cry about technology in sports and about the shortcomings of some of them, a simple video replay would have settled this issue in not more than 15 seconds.

Check the video at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2D6LdNakzE

World Cup playoff's are over

Finally the playoffs have ended and though I could not catch last night’s matches live on TV, from the reports it appears Ireland got a raw deal and Russia missed out much to my disappointment. I just love Andrei Arshavin and would have loved to see him play the world cup - a chance every footballer plays for. We know some of the biggest footballers who have never been to a final and there are some great names - Gigs, Cantona and Best- to name a few.

Well the good news is that we have the final 32 teams for arguably the biggest sporting event in the world and it’s going to be one hell of a ride. I just wish I could be there in the stadium cheering for England..