Portugal promised a festival of football and so it was delivered although probably not the football they would have wanted to showcase. Firstly to the Ivory Coast who play North Korea with the only hope of qualifying from the group coming in the Africans putting over half a dozen goals in and hoping that Brazil [...]
The second game presents a problem for Ivory Coast – and teams in a similar position – in this World Cup with the change from count back to goal difference giving significance to the scoreline that was not previously there. Ivory Coast take on Brazil with Sven Goran Eriksson putting out two lines of four [...]
The best thing about the World Cup is its elusiveness. Try as they might in forty four years England have yet to catch up with the thing again – in a winning sense at least – and they are not alone in this near fruitless quest. The list of countries to have tried and not [...]
Injury has become the metronome of the run up to the World Cup. Famously it was David Beckham who had the nation praying for a small bone in his foot to heal but latterly every nation has a Beckham – England’s include the man himself ruled out and his partner in deadly play Michael Owen. [...]