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United States National Soccer Team coach Bob Bradley just announced his final 23-man roster in anticipation of the upcoming World Cup.  The tournament will be held in South Africa from June 11-July 11, 2010, and this marks the very first time that the World Cup will be held on the African continent.   Bradley’s final roster features few surprises, except for the fact that the only experienced National Team forward he has on the roster is 20-year old Jozy Altidore.  The other forwards are Edson Buddle, Herculez Gomez and Robbie Findley.  Brian Ching was the odd man out in this scenario, so he will not be making the journey to South Africa with the squad.

The opening match of the tournament is June 11 and it features host nation South Africa and Mexico, the United States’ rival from the CONCACAF confederation.  The US National Team kicks off its tournament against mighty England on Saturday June 12.  This game will be featured on the ABC television network live and in High Definition starting at 2:00 PM eastern time.  Their next match is Friday 6/18 against Slovenia and the final first round match is Wednesday 6/23 against Algeria.

While many US soccer fans considered this group draw one of the best-case scenarios, it is certainly not a straightforward task for the United States team by any means.  Having to play England the first match complicates matters a great deal, because assuming a loss against the heavily favored English team the US would have no margin for error the rest of the way.  This will put an enormous amount of pressure on the US team as they will need, at the very minimum, some combination of a win and a tie (4 total points) from their final two matches against Algeria and Slovenia in order to advance to the knockout stages.  That is certainly within the realm of possibility, as the US will feel they are the superior team in both those games, but you’d always rather avoid unnecessary pressure in a tournament of this magnitude.

After their success at the 2002 World Cup, and then the disappointment of the 2006 tournament, the US will want to show that they’ve progressed as a soccer playing nation these last four years.  It is essential that they qualify for at least the knockout stages for it to be considered a successful tournament.  The 2010 World Cup will hopefully be remembered as the tournament where the United States become a nation to be respected and even feared in major international soccer competitions.

Football, or soccer as it’s known in the western hemisphere is the most widely played sport on the planet.  It doesn’t take much to get football fans excite about a big tournament, and the Europa League, is just one such event.  It was previously known as the UEFA league, but has since been given a face lift by the marketing gurus to a moniker that should be a little more fan friendly.  At least, that’s the hope.  Like all high profile football leagues, there is europa league betting at a number of places.  It’s a fun activity that is sure to get fans just a little more interested in the outcome of the matches.

Like most high level tournaments, there are qualifying and championship rounds leading up to a semi finals and finals match.  These different phases are often referred to as the qualifying rounds, the group phase, the knockout phase and the finals.  There are a fair number of teams involved in the tournament.  In total there are fourty eight teams, broken down into twelve different groups.  It’s a tournament with a long tradition, considering the first UEFA match was played in the early 1970′s.  With millions of Euros up for grabs, you can rest assured that all teams will be in highly competitive form.  The two final teams will get one million each just for playing, plus another million for the winner.

My knowledge of Argentine football is pretty poor I know of Maradona, his golden hand and that the national team wears sky blue and white jerseys. On a recent visit to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, I thought it was time to expand my football knowledge and there is no better way of doing that than going to a football match.

I knew of only two teams in the national league, River Plate and Boca Juniors. When these two main rivals play against each other it is known as a suprerclasico, the match may not be the best of the season but the crowd and atmosphere have made it one of the top sporting events to visit in your life, or so says Life Magazine! Read the rest of this entry »

Scheduled to begin play in late June 2010, the anticipation of the World Cup continues to build.  Being one of the premier sporting events in the world, it’s not surprising that there has been plenty of news, rumors, controversy, anticipation and problems associated with the planning and preparation of the World Cup.   The least of not which has been preperation by the host country, for getting venues completed and infrastructure in place on time for the event.  There have been strikes and protests along the way, but in the end it appears that the games will be held on time and with lots of spectators actively engaged.   Construction workers did go on strike in July of 2009, and threatened to do so again in 2010.

If you were thinking of getting world cup tickets, it would be a good idea to act sooner than later.  Ticket sales have been pretty brisk, and it would be far better to have some in hand prior to the events, than taking chances when you get there.  There are ten stadiums being used for play that seat anywhere from 42,000 to 95,000 spectators.  Five of the stadiums have been created specifically for the World Cup, while five other stadiums were upgraded to meet the requirements of FIFA for World Cup play.

Soccer is generally considered to be the most widely played sports in the world.  While North America has been slow to catch on, the same cannot be said for the rest of the world.  Considering the low barrier to entry in learning the sport, it makes sense that it is played by virtually every country in the world.  As long as you have a ball (or some facsimile) to kick around, and you can fashion a few goal posts out of whatever is lying around, your good to start playing.  You don’t need fancy equipment, like clubs, rackets, helmets, protective gear, or specialized foot wear.

As long as you can run and kick, soccer comes naturally to everyone.  Easy and cheap to learn, it’s the choice of children around the world, whether they are rich or poor.  My kids have played, and one of them continues to enjoy playing to this day.  It’s a real kick!