Thanks for coming back to check us out.RSS feed. Stay connected!

European Championship Qualifying Fixtures: Friday to Sunday 25th to 27th March 2011:

Match 1: Serbia – Northern Ireland (Group C): Friday 25th March 2011: (7.30pm):

Northern Ireland had a disappointing result in their last Group game when they could only draw 1-1 in the Faroe Islands. It could have been worse for the Irish as they were 1-0 down in the game & only a latish saved them the humiliation of defeat against one of the minnows of International football.

The Irish after that result stand third in the group behind Italy & Estonia. The good news is that they are unbeaten after three games, one win & two draws. One of those draws was at home with Italy & their win was of course away against Slovenia which was an excellent away win.

Northern Ireland now play Serbia way who have already lost at home in their qualifying games when they went down 3-1 to Estonia who are doing much better in the group than I thought they would. In fact Serbia have failed to win both their home games as they drew their other home game 1-1 with Slovenia. Serbia’s only win in the group so far was away in the Faroe Islands when they won 3-0. A much better result for Serbia in The Faroe Islands than Northern Ireland.

Last time out Northern Ireland lost 3-0 to Scotland in a friendly played in Dublin. That was in February & to be honest I don’t think that result will have any bearing on this game against Serbia because basically players don’t give two shits about friendly games.

I think that as Northern Ireland have a recent bad a way form then they will struggle to win despite Serbia dropping four points at home already. Can’t really see Serbia dropping any more points at home & northern Ireland to feel the backlash of that poor home Form.

A home win & I don’t think that Northern Ireland are going to be playing in Poland & the Ukraine next summer which of course is a shame.

Result Prediction: Serbia to win
Correct Score Prediction: Serbia 2 Northern Ireland 0

Match 2: Wales – England (Group G): Saturday 26th March 2011: – (Cardiff) 3pm:

England won their last game a friendly against Denmark 2-1. This was a welcome win as they had lost 2-1 at home to France in their previous game. In their last Euro Qualifying game England had failed to break down a very defensive Montenegro side & had to settle for a 0-0 draw. Cue the predictable boo’s from some of the England supporters at the final whistle. Wonder how many of them read the tabloid papers?

England are however second in the table behind leaders Montenegro who have played a game more. England are not that good which we all know but they should fingers crossed still qualify from this group which will mean more humiliation next summer in Poland.

Wales lost their last game a friendly against the Republic of Ireland 3-0 in Dublin. That game was manager Gary Speed’s first game in charge & to be honest I don’t envy him in his task of trying to revive Wales Fortunes. They are bottom of group G with zero points & even managed to lose at home to Bulgaria in one of their games which considering Bulgaria’s recent bad form was a bad result.

I think that England will win this game but knowing England they will struggle for large parts of the game as the Welsh will obviously be up for this game for obvious reasons. Unless you are from the British Isles it is pointless trying to explain why the smaller countries on Britain don’t like England at Sport or anything else come to think of it.

Should be a good crowd & atmosphere in for this game but an England win.

Result Prediction: England to win
Correct Score Prediction: Wales 0 England 2

Match 3: Republic of Ireland – FYR Macedonia(Group B): Saturday 26th March 2011: – (Dublin – 7.45pm):

The Republic had an easy three nil win against Wales in their last game which was of course a friendly. The republic are third in group B after a 1-1 draw away against Slovakia which was a good point & made up for them losing 3-2 at home to group leaders Russia in their previous game at home.

The republic should at least qualify for the playoffs in this group but I am beginning to think that the group is already Russia’s as backed up by their win in Dublin. The republic should at least win this game against Macedonia who are one of the minnows of International Football along with Scotland. Ha.

Macedonia have already lost twice in this group to Slovakia & Russia but it must be noted that they only went down 1-0 to Russia. On the plus side for them have already gained four points which were all gained against Armenia, 2-2 at home & a 2-0 win away. Those four points might be the only points they gain in this group methinks.

A home win then which isn’t a particularly brave prediction. It is really only a matter of by how many betting goals the Republic win by & with an Italian manager It can’t be more than a 2-0 win. Ha.

Result Prediction: The Republic to win
Correct Score Prediction: Republic of Ireland 2 MFYR Macedonia 0

Once England departed these shores for South Africa a few short weeks ago, there was much anticipation that at long last, the football team could quite possibly bring the trophy home. Yet, that dream was destroyed in no uncertain terms by the old enemy Germany in Bloemfontein as England crashed out of the competition losing 4-1. How could quite possibly such an experienced team who qualified so effortlessly fail to perform? Not surprisingly, the English media has produced no dearth of scape goats and causes for what was England’s worst defeat at a World Cup. There has been enough talk about the Italian manager, formations and more but the issues are a good deal deeper.

Since its formation in 1992, the Premier League has achieved outstanding success as an international brand. The price of this success has been felt by English football. Greater TV earnings has pushed wages higher and higher. In turn this has meant there has been a growing gulf among club and country. Clubs pay their players an awful lot of money and are increasingly more reluctant to let their footballers turn out for their national teams.

In turn, players get greatly rewarded by Premier League clubs to the extent that success is classified by getting valuable contracts and not anything they achieve on the field. Ordinary players who rarely turn out for their teams are still millionaires and as these footballers put money ahead of playing games at club level, there is little doubt they do not have the mental strength or hunger to play international football.

Traditionally, there was always a regional reserve league which allowed young players from lower league teams may perhaps be guaranteed to play against decent reserve teams from more established clubs like Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United. Nonetheless, in recent years, the Premier League has changed which means they will only play against other EPL reserve clubs. This means that Championship reserve clubs no longer get to play against Premiership sides. For clubs like Ipswich Town, it means their reserve team now plays against Stevenage rather than Tottenham and this drop in standard in opposition little doubt has a negative effect on the learning curve of young footballers.

With such a lot of wealth at stake, everything is tailored for Premier League survival. Clubs spend large amounts of money recruiting allegedly superior foreign managers and players in a bid to retain their Premiership status. The ambition of promoted clubs to the Premiership extends no further than finished 4th bottom. The Premiership cash bonanza means that Premiership clubs can provide £1-2m for young footballers at lower division clubs. The footballers are keen to move and secure their financial futures but it may perhaps also signal the finish of their careers. The young Crystal Palace star joined Spurs but almost never made an appearance and was last heard of on loan at Brentford, a division lower than when he was at Palace. From a football view, Bostock would have been best served staying at Palace and learning his trade. How many more young players careers are curtailed like this seeking the money as opposed to playing the fixture?  It’s difficult to blame the young players for taking the money.

There is also the widely used accusation that teams take part in too many games in England and an increasing number of managers want a winter break. Yet, players don’t seem to be tired when asked to fly off to the United States or Far East on pre-season excursions. Or how about England’s friendly match next June away in Thailand?

There are so numerous ready made excuses for failure that footballers are ready to accept. They live a life well away from real life with their mansions, flashy cars and trophy wives. Basically, there is not enough hunger or desire.

The match in Thailand also illustrates another difficulty. Along with the Premier League being a global brand name, so are the England team. Supporters want to watch the big Premier League stars play for England and in friendly matches like this, those stars will be expected, if not contracted, to turn out.  Of course, it is not the case that the very best 11 footballers make the best team. Too lots of players are in the team based on reputation rather than performances. Young footballers should be promoted into the senior squad sooner.

For the approaching Euro 2012 campaign, England should do away with the services of all footballers aged 30 or over. None of them have performed in South Africa hence why should we persevere with them. It would be better to promote younger footballers who may still be hungry for success. Even so, while the worshiping of the Premiership persists, things are probably not going to improve anytime immediately.

World Cup Quarter Final Predictions: July 2nd /3rd 2010:

Hello everyone. My predictions are getting better for this World cup as I correctly predicted 6 out of 8 of the last 16 games in terms of Result Predictions & got two correct scores. The two correct scores were Uruguay beating South Korea 2-1 & Argentina beating Mexico 3-1. I correctly predicted the correct results for Germany beating England, Brazil beating Chile, Spain beating Portugal, Holland beating Slovakia & of course Uruguay beating South Korea & Argentina beating Mexico. My percentage rate in terms of correct Predicted results in now around 47% & rising. This is good after the crap start I had. Good luck for the Quarter finals & see you all for the semis next week.

Match 56: Quarter Finals: Holland – Brazil: (Friday July 2nd 3pm):

Holland beat Slovakia 1-0 in their last 16 game as I predicted & now face Brazil in the quarter finals after they beat Chile 3-0 in their game. This will I think be a tight game as both sides have obviously come to this World cup to win & not entertain as has been proved by their performances & results. The last time these sides met in the World cup was in 1998 in the semi finals when Brazil won on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Holland will therefore be looking for revenge. I don’t think they are going to get any revenge because Brazil are past masters at winning games that they could so easily lose, in other words they get the luck when it counts. They are the Manchester United of International football. Both sides deserve to be here at this stage of the World cup but I think Holland will be going home which is a shame as I have been hoping that Holland one day will avenge 1974 & 1978 when they reached the final both years yet lost. Oh well at least they can console themselves with the thought that they have a much better record in world cup history than England but then hasn’t everyone bar Scotland. A Brazilian win.

Result Prediction: Brazil to win

Score Prediction: Brazil 2 Holland 1

Match 57: Quarter Finals: Uruguay – Ghana: (Friday July 2nd 7.30pm):

Uruguay are having their best world cup since the 1950 when they surprised everyone including Brazil when they beat them in the final in their own country as they were hosts. They beat South Korea 2-1 in their last 16 game & after toping their group are obviously in good form. Ghana beat the USA 2-1 with an extra game goal which was tough on the states as they played well in the game but Ghana prevailed. They are the only African side to progress out of their group & are flying the flag well for Africa. I think that Uruguay will win this game as they are playing better & have a better defence as well as a very good attack that seems to be taking it’s chances better than Ghana who have missed a few this world cup. Should be a close game but a good one. Both sides have done well to reach this far & credit is due to them especially when you consider the sides that have fallen by the way such as Italy, France & of course England. Good luck to both sides as I think that football needs the underdogs doing well as I gets bloody boring to see the same sides winning all the time. Uruguay to win.

Result Prediction: Uruguay to win

Score Prediction: Uruguay 2 Ghana 1

Match 58: Quarter Finals: Argentina – Germany: (Saturday July 3rd 3pm):

As far as I am concerned this is the best game of the quarter finals & it is not hard to see why with the way both sides are playing. Germany’s young side destroyed England 4-1 in their last 16 game & don’t be fooled by England’s goal that was wrongly disallowed as Germany would have won 4-2 as they were that much better than England. They had a great attack that England’s defence couldn’t cope with. I blame England’s performance on our bloody media mainly as the pressure they put on the players has had a bad affect. More on that at a latter date. Argentina beat Mexico in their last 16 3-1 as I predicted & played well against a good Mexico side that yet again failed to reach the quarter finals in the world cup. Maybe next time chaps. I think Argentina will win this game as they just have enough experience to beat the Germans & will also be looking for revenge after being knocked out by the Germans at the last World cup on Penalties. Should be a really good game & I really suggest you watch this game but watch with the TV turned down as the commentating at this world cup has been so bad that it will put you off. Honest…

Result Prediction: Argentina to win

Score Prediction: Argentina 2 Germany 1

Match 59: Quarter Finals: Spain – Paraguay: (Saturday July 3rd 7.30pm):

I think that Spain are destined to win this world cup. Just a hunch based on the fact that they have got the monkey off their back by winning the European Championships in 2008. They play some great football with their neat passing which makes it very difficult for other sides to get the ball let alone create chances & win the game. Spain beat their geographical rivals Portugal 1-0 with a goal from David Villa who is a superb player with a great scoring rate for Spain. He is the one they will have to watch if Paraguay are to stand a chance. Paraguay do stand a chance because they have a great defence & will therefore make it difficult for Spain just like Portugal tried to do on Tuesday night. Paraguay have to defend & sit back because they will get massacred if they try & attack. For this reason alone they deserve to go out & they will. Spain have never been beyond the quarter finals in a world cup which is a crazy record. They are set to put that to be d by winning this game but they will have to break down Paraguay which could test their patience. & yours if you are going to watch the game.

Result Prediction: Spain to win

Score Prediction: Spain 2 Paraguay 0

Good Luck everyone & see you all next week for the Semi finals

Douglas Martin 

sportingways.com

July 1st 2010

The modern global game of Football first started in 1863 in London.. The English introduced football into France in 1863, founding their first club. The first official  international match which is recognized by FIFA was played between Scotland and England on November 30 1872.. This match was played under the Football Association rules. England won the first international game in 1873.

Read the rest of this entry