Big Guns through to Quaterfinals

Uruguay, Portugal, Argentina, and Italy reached the quarter final. Madjer scored 5 goals to take his tally to 7 in this world cup. What an amazing goal scorer he is. He has scored 48 goals in four World cup. Portugal defeated Solomon Island 13-4. Spain and Russia scored important wins. Spain defeated Mexico 2-1 in a close match to stay alive in the tournament. Russia defeated Cameroon 4-0. This is the first time in this tournament a side could keep a clean sheet. This is third time in the history of Beach World cup a team could keep clean sheet. Portugal in 2005 against Japan (4-0) and Canada in 2006 against Spain (4-0) France continues to struggle. They scrape past Iran in penalty shootout. Uruguay defeated Senegal 8-7 in extra time. Pape Koukpaki of Senegal scored 4 times but still ended in the losing side. Brazil registered their second win in as many matches. They crushed Japan 8-1 in style. Banjamin played wonderfully.

Fifa Beach Soccer 2008: Close matches

In the first round of 4th FIFA Beach soccer tournament in France, most of the results were on the expected line. There are few surprises as the host nation fumbled against Senegal. Italy, Portugal, Uruguay registered a comfortable victory on the first day. The only surprise was Senegal's victory over the host nation in a thriller. Senegal was leading 3-0 and 5-3 at one point of time. France came back strongly with Didier SAMOUN equalizing in the last minute. Senegal ultimately prevailing over France in the penalty shootout.

In the second day the focus was on the group of death. True to its name, both the matches were very close. Brazil won 3-2 against Spain and Mexico won 4-3 against Japan. In group C Argentina defeated Russia 5-3 and UAE defeated Cameroon 10-4. All the matches were decided in the last period. UAE scored 5 times in the last period.

All total 72 goals have been scored in 8 matches with an average of 9 goals. Bakhit ALABADLA of UAE and Federico HILAIRE of Argentina are top scorer with 3 goals each. Buru of Brazil and Madjer of Portugal have scored 2 goals each. Madjer has taken his tally to 43 goals in the World Cup till now.

More excitement is stored for the next round of matches. The matches to watch are Senegal vs Uruguay, Brazil vs Japan, Argentina vs UAE and Spain vs Mexico.

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008: Curtain Raiser - 2

Majder – Legend in Beach Football

I am not sure how many people are aware of the name Majder. He is already a legend in the history of FIFA Beach football. He has twice (2005 and 2006) won the Golden Boot and Golden Shoe. He is the top soccer of the tournament history. I cannot recall if anybody has achieved the same feet in any other FIFA tournament including World cup. He has scored 41 goals in three tournaments. He is again going to a star attraction in this year edition.

Buru of Brazil has won the Golden Boot and Golden Shoe in 2007. He had scored 10 goals in the last edition. He will be one of the key players for Brazil. The other key players are Benjamin, Bruno, Sidney, Junior Negao and Bruno.

Brazil the favorites

Brazil has won the tournament twice, 2006 and 2007. They are one of the favorites in the tournament along with Spain, Portugal, and France. Brazil is the top scoring team in the tournament history. They have scored 134 goals followed by Portugal and France with 88 and 79 goals respectively. Spain the European champion this year will be another favorite. 2008 is turning out to be a great year for Spain. They won the European championship this year and Nadal won both the Wimbledon and French Open. We also have to wait and see

Goals Galore

Beach football sees lot of goals. In 2005, 164 goals were scored in 20 matches at an average of 8.2 goals. Brazil though failed to qualify for the final is the top scorer team with 39 goals. Portugal and France scored 27 and 26 goals respectively. Majder of Portugal was the top scorer with 12 goals.

In 2006, 286 goals were scored in 32 matches at an average of 8.9 goals. Brazil, the champion, is the top scorer team with 52 goals. Portugal and France scored 43 and 32 goals respectively. Majder of Portugal was the top scorer for the second time with 21 goals, which is a record till date.

In 2007, 261 goals were scored in 32 matches at an average of 8.1 goals. Brazil, the champion, is the top scorer team with 43 goals. Mexico and France scored 24 and 21 goals respectively. Buru of Brazil was the top scorer with 10 goals.

Tomorrow the tournament starts in France. We now start enjoying the action. Will the old guards dominate the tournament or a new surprise like Mexico (2007) will be there.


Reference: www.fifa.com

Olympic Football 2008: Argentina and Nigeria are favorites

Argentina Hot Favorite

In my last article, I have written will Brazil win the elusive Olympic gold medal. They are taking a strong team no doubt. Now let us discuss about the prospect of other teams. Last time gold medalist Argentina is hot favorite. They have won the under-20 FIFA World cup in 2005 and 2007. They are bringing their U-20 stars along with Messi to challenge other teams. Argentina is placed in Group A along with Côte d'Ivoire, Australia and Serbia. They will face little challenge on their way to second round. They may face Netherlands or Nigeria in quarterfinal. There is mouth watering match can be a possible in semi final, Brazil vs Argentina. If it happens Olympic football will reach dizzy height with stars like Messi, Robinho and Ronaldinho will play.

African Challenge

Recently Africa teams are doing very well in Olympic football. Cameroon, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire will lead the African challenge. Nigeria which won the Under-17 2007 World cup will be another favorite. Nigeria should qualify for quarterfinal from group B. Their main challenger will be Netherlands. USA and Japan can cause few upsets here. Cameroon is placed in group D having Italy as the main challenger. Honduras and Korea are the other team. Côte d'Ivoire has to beat Australia and Serbia to qualify from this group along with Argentina.

European Challenge

Spain is the last European country to win gold medal in 1992. I doubt Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Serbia will emulate Spain in this year tournament. Netherlands won bronze medal in 1908, 1912, and 1920. Italy won gold medal in 1936, and bronze in 1928 and 2004.

Kick off

The tournament starts on 7th Aug’08 with eight matches. We have two very interesting match. Argentina will meet Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria will face Netherlands. In other notable matches Brazil meets Belgium, Cameroon meets Korea Republic, and Italy meets Honduras. So from the first day the tournament will be in top gear. I think teams will follow the attacking football seen in Euro 2008. Argentina , Brazil and Nigeria will lead the pack for attacking football.

Olympic Football 2008: Will Brazil able to win the gold medal?

I thought I will not cover Olympic football in my blog. But after seeing the Brazil team I changed my mind. They are bringing a strong team no doubt. Ronaldinho (I believe Barcelona will leave him), Robinho, Diego will play for Brazil. Brazil wants to win the gold medal by any means. I sometimes failed to understand the mystery a team, winning 5 world cups, failed to win a gold medal. They have to wait until 1984 to win an Olympic medal.

In Olympic South American teams fared very badly. Brazil never won the gold medal. They won the silver in 1984 and in 1988 and bronze medal in 1996. They finished fourth in 1976. Only Uruguay (1928) and Argentina (2004) won gold medal from South America. Hungary is the most successful team in the Olympic. They won gold medal in 1952, 1964, and 1968, silver medal in 1972 and bronze in 1960. Of late African teams have done well in Olympic football. Cameroon won gold in 2000 and Nigeria in 1996. Germany like Brazil also failed to win Gold medal. East German won the gold medal in 1976.

Will Brazil win the gold medal? They are in Group C along with Belgium, China and New Zealand. Brazil should go through the next round. Watch this column for more update …..

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008: Curtain Raiser - 1

The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008 will be held in Marseille between 17 and 27 July. France is holding the tournament for the first time. This is an annual tournament started in 1995. Brazil won the tournament 11 times. All the previous tournament were held in Brazil. In 2005 beach soccer became a part of the FIFA family. The first-ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was staged on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro which was won by France.

Portugal is the first country to win cup other than Brazil in 2001. France won the tournament in 2005. Another interesting statistics was that Brazil never lost a final match. In 2001 and 2005 they failed to qualify for the finals. Uruguay finished runner up thrice.

Sixteen teams have qualified for this year tournament. The qualifiers are:

Africa (2 teams) Cameroon and Senegal
Asia (3 teams) Iran, Japan, and United Arab Emirates
Europe (5 teams) France, Italy, Spain. Portugal, and Russia
North and Central America (2 teams) EL Salvador and Mexico
Oceania ( 1 team) Solomon Islands
South America (3 teams) Argentina, Brazil , UruguayUruguay

The teams were divided into four groups. Group D is the group of death. 11 times Brazil will play European champion Spain, last year runners up Mexico and 2005 fourth place holder Japan. Spain was runner up in 2003 and 2004. Brazil and Spain should qualify from this group.

Group C consist of Argentina, Cameroon, Russia, and United Arab Emirates. This is relatively easy group. Argentina and Cameroon should qualify.

Group B consist of Portugal, Italy, El Salvador, and Solomon Islands. Portugal and Italy should qualify.

Group A consist of France, Uruguay, Senegal, and Iran. France and Uruguay should qualify.

The favorites of the tournament are Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and France……………..

EURO 2008 Team of the Tournament

UEFA has announced the EURO 2008 Team of the Tournament on 30th June '08. It was dominated by Spanish players. There are as many as 9 players from Spain. But I felt two players should have made the team. One is Bastian Schweinsteiger from Germany and another is Arjen Robben from Netherlands. I felt that this two would have added more speed in the attack. Both of them scored magnificent goals in the tournament. Robben has scored an unbelievable against France. Roman Pavlyuchenko from Russia is a good striker but his conversion ratio is poor. Pepe is going to be a star, just watch him in the coming days.

I liked the choice of the best player. Xavi played exceptionally well in this tournament. I have mentioned that in my earlier blog.

UEFA EURO 2008 Team of the Tournament

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands).

Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Carlos Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Carles Puyol (Spain), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia).

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Turkey), Luka Modrić (Croatia), Marcos Senna (Spain), Xavi Hernández (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain).