Brazil Champion

Brazil regained the Futsal World Cup after gap of 12 years. They defeated Spain in a thriller. Twice Spain equalizes but lost in the penalty shootout. This is sixth time Brazil played Spain in the World cup. They won 4 times. Last year they lost to Spain in the semifinal. Brazil in the whole tournament played like a champion. They won all the matches they played in this World Cup.

Italy finished third by defeating Russia 2-1. Italy played well throughout the tournament. They have really coming to the age. Russia and Iran is the revelation of the tournament. Russia scored 62 goals just 2 less than Brazil. Pula is the top scorer of the tournament with 16 goals. Iran deserved a place in the top 4. Mostafa Nazari was spectacular in all the matches. He is the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Iran drew 5-5 with Italy with Edgar Bertoni struck in the dying seconds.

We haven’t got a new winner this year also but we hope to get in the next edition.

World Cup 2010: Argentina lose Basile

In the two rounds of World Cup 2010 qualifying match again there was a mixed performance. In South American group Paraguay has opened up 6 points gap with others. They won both their matches against Columbia and Peru by the narrowest margin 1-0. Brazil played beautifully against Venezuela to win 4-0 but played very ugly against Columbia to draw 0-0 at home. Basile resigns as Argentina lost against Chile 0-1. Argentina defeated Uruguay 2-1 in the earlier match. Venezuela bounced back after going down to Brazil defeating Ecuador 3-1. Bolivia defeated Peru 3-0 and drew with Uruguay 2-2 to move up the ladder. Still eight rounds to go lot of action is left.

England continued their superb form and won both their matches. They defeated Kazakhstan 5-1 and Belarus 3-1 to top the Group 6 standing. In Group 5 Spain like England is maintaining their 100% record. They defeated Estonia 3-0 and Belgium 2-1 to lead the table with 12 points.
In Group 1 Portugal is struggling. They drew 0-0 with 10 men Albania and with Sweden. Hungary defeated Albania 2-0 and Malta 1-0 to move to the 2nd place. Denmark is leading the group with 7 points. In Group 2 Greece lost their 100% record when they went down to Switzerland 1-2 at home. Israel drew with Latvia 1-1 to be in second behind Greece. Switzerland is lying in the third position with 7 points. In Group 3 Slovakia defeated Poland 2-1 to lead the group with 9 points. Czech Republic defeated Slovenia 1-0 to register an important win after losing to Poland 2-1. Czech surprisingly lying in the 5th position with one match on hand. In Group 4 Germany registered two important wins against Russia (2-1) and Wales (1-0). They are on the top of the group with 10 points. Russia defeated Finland 3-0 to move to the 2nd place with one match on hand behind Germany.

Lithuania continues to surprise me with their performance despite losing to Serbia 3-0. They defeated Faroe Islands 1-0. They are jointly on top of the group along with Serbia. Serbia registered two big wins against Lithuania (3-0) and Austria (3-1). France continues their dismal run and drew with Romania 2-2. Faroe Islands drew with Austria 1-1. Italy and Netherlands is leading Group 8 and Group 9 respectively. Italy drew with Bulgaria 0-0 and defeated Montenegro 2-1. Republic of Ireland defeated Cyprus 1-0. Netherlands defeated Iceland 2-0 and Norway 1-0.

USA, Costa Rica and El Salvador qualified for the next round but Mexico is struggling in Group 2. Mexico lost to Jamaica 1-0 and then drew with Canada 2-2. Honduras defeated Canada 3-1 but lost to Jamaica 1-0 to open up the group. El Salvador drew with Haiti 0-0 and defeated Surinam 3-0. Costa Rica defeated Haiti 2-0 and Surinam 4-1 to qualify for the next round. Trinidad and Tobago defeated USA 2-1 and drew with Guatemala 0-0 to keep their qualifying hope alive.

In Asia Japan is struggling with their form. Japan drew with Uzbekistan 1-1. Australia defeated Qatar 4-0. Iran defeated North Korea 2-1 and South Korea defeated UAE 4-1.

Futsal World cup : Second Round participants identified

The 6th Futsal World cup is being played in Brazil. The tournament started in 1989 in Netherlands. The Dutch Football Federation was also celebrating their centenary in 1989, so the event was held in a doubly festive spirit. Sixteen teams took part, setting a trend that has been followed in all tournaments since: six European sides, three from South America, two from Africa, two Asian sides and two from CONCACAF joined the one representative from Oceania to compete for the world crown. Brazil won the tournament defeating host by 2-1 in the final. USA and Belgium finished third and fourth respectively.

The 2nd FIFA Futsal World Championship, held in Hong Kong in 1992, proved to be great success. As in the first tournament, sixteen nations took part: six from Europe, three from South America, three from Asia, two from CONCACAF, one from Africa and one from Oceania. Brazil won the tournament second successive time defeating USA 4-1 in the final. Spain and Iran finished third and fourth respectively. Iran is the biggest surprise in this tournament.

The 3rd FIFA Futsal World Championship was organized with great style by the Spanish Football Federation in 1996. It was a very popular with the fans. Sixteen nations travelled to Iberia in search of glory: six from Europe, three from South America, three from Asia, two from CONCACAF, one from Africa and one from Oceania. Brazil won the tournament for the third consecutive time. They defeated the host nation 6-4 in a thriller. Russia and Ukraine finished third and fourth respectively.

The 4th FIFA Futsal World Championship was organized by Guatemala in 2000. The tournament ended the domination of Brazil. They lost to Spain 3-4 in a thriller in the final. Brazil defeated the host 29-2 the biggest winning margin broken recently by Russia against Solomon Islands in 2008. Portugal and Russia finished third and fourth respectively.

Brazil failed to enter the final for the first time in the 5th FIFA Futsal World Championship. The tournament was hosted by Chinese Taipei in 2004. Spain continued their dominance ion the tournament. They won the final against Italy by 2-1. Spain defeated Brazil 5-4 in the penalty shootout. Brazil defeated Argentina 7-4 to finish third their worst performance in the history of the tournament.

The 6th edition of the Futsal has now reached the second stage. Brazil and Russia qualified from group A. Brazil won all their matches including defeated Russia 7-0. Brazil defeated Solomon Island 21-0, Japan 12-1, and Cuba 9-0 to enter the next round. But Russia responded with two bug wins against Solomon Islands and Japan. They broke the all time victory margin record by defeating Solomon Islands 31-2. They crushed Japan 9-1 and Cuba 10-5 to enter the second round. Italy and Paraguay entered the second round from Group B. Portugal, Paraguay, and Italy finished with 9 points. But Paraguay and Italy qualified for better goal difference. Paraguay defeated Italy 4-2, Thailand 8-0, and USA 5-0 before losing to Portugal 2-3. Italy defeated Thailand 1-0, Portugal 3-1, and USA 6-1. Favorites Spain and Iran qualified from Group D. Iran has held two time champion Spain 3-3 in the first match and then defeated Libya (4-2), Uruguay (4-2) and Czech Republic (3-2) to qualify for the next round. Spain defeated Libya (3-0), Czech Republic (4-0) and Uruguay (3-0) to qualify. Argentina and Ukraine qualified from Group C. Argentina defeated Guatemala 2-1, China 5-0, and Egypt 5-2 and drew with Ukraine 2-2. Ukraine defeated Guatemala 6-2, China 4-2, and Egypt 5-1.

Liverpool: New Character

Character, Never say die, Fight to the end … these are the words that are being associated with Liverpool this season. I have seen them to come back against AC Milan in Istanbul from 0-3 deficit. But they were not consistent in previous seasons. They are showing lot of character. What a match they played against Manchester City. Down and out at half time they came back strongly at half time. They put lot of pressure on City and scored three goals to be joint leaders with Chelsea. Torres and Kyut is just outstanding. Will they win English Premier League or not that is question only time will tell?

Chelsea and Manchester United played very professional football to register comfortable win against Aston Villa and Blackburn rovers. Manchester United is lucky to get the first goal for the second successive week but they deserved to win. They are catching up the top 3 fast. Chelsea played great soccer against high flying Aston Villa and showed the difference between the top four and rest in EPL.

Arsenal is losing ground fast. They have to consistent to win laurels. But Hull is maintaining their good run. They defeated Spurs 1-0 to move to third place alone. But Spurs and Newcastle have to climb the mountain to stay in upper league.

Next we will see the next round of Fifa World Cup matches. I will come back on that later.

New Sun on Horizon: CFR Cluj-Napoca

English clubs are flying in the champions league. They are registering big wins in Europe. Liverpool started with a bang. They started with two facile wins against Marseille and PSV Eindhoven. They are lying second in the group D behind Atletico Madrid due to goal difference. Gerrard scored two magnificent goals in two matches. He has scored 100th goal for Liverpool.

Arsenal is playing entertaining football this season. I am not sure whether they can win any trophies or not but they very pleasant to watch. They destroyed FC Proto 4-0 on Tuesday with brilliant skill football. They have to be more consistent. Manchester United and Chelsea continued their run. Chelsea though was surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw against little known CFR Cluj-Napoca. CFR Cluj-Napoca from Romania is the surprise of all. They defeated Roma in Italy and now at home they held Chelsea. This is the team to watch who played third division six tears back. They are lying second in group A behind Chelsea due to goal difference.

Another surprising club is Anorthosis Famagusta from Cyprus. They are top of Group B along with Inter Milan. They crushed Panathinaikos 3-1 and drew with Werder Bremen 0-0. Like CFR Cluj-Napoca watch this team also.

Spanish giants are also having 100% record. Barcelona defeated Sporting Lisbon 3-1 and Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1. Real Madrid defeated BATE Borisov 2-0 and Zenit St Petersburg 2-1. Another team performing beyond expectation is BATE Borisov of Belarus. They almost snatched victory against Juventus.

I am disappointed with Zenit St Petersburg. They lost both their matches. I expected them to do much better. Still four rounds left and lot of things can happen. Let’s wait and see

European Leagues

European leagues are in full swing. There are few surprises but mostly the leagues are going as predicted. In English Premier League, Chelsea is at the top along with Liverpool. Aston Villa is just one point behind the leaders. Arsenal is playing the most dazzling soccer on this season. But the most surprise package is Hull. They upset the free flowing Arsenal in Arsenal’s den. Hull also played a 2-2 draw with Everton after faltering against Wigan 0-5. This is most surprise result so far in EPL. Manchester City’s 6-0 win over Portsmouth is another surprising result.

Liverpool started the season with a bang. Their 2-1 win over Manchester United is the high point of the season till now. But they could not beat lowly Stroke at home. The match ended 0-0. Chelsea has usual start. They mean business and they are playing professionally. Of the top four, Manchester United has a slow start. But I believe they will bounce back. They are one of the best club team in the world.

Surprisingly, Newcastle and Tottenham are lying in the bottom of the table. Newcastle is looking vey awful in the start of the season. I am not sure what the future is for this club.

Referring is really very bad in some of the matches. Yesterday it was for Manchester United and today it was Wigan who benefited by the bad decisions.

World Cup 2010:Excitement Started

In the two rounds of World Cup 2010 qualifying match most of the big guns struggle. In South American group Paraguay is marching ahead of others. They drew with Argentina 1-1 and defeated Venezuela 2-0 to lead the group with 17 points. Surprisingly, Argentina is struggling in the group. They started well with three consecutive win but now they failed to win in five consecutive matches. Brazil continued their struggling when they failed to defeat 10 men Bolivia at home. Brazil though moved into second position in the group with 3-0 win over Chile. The picture will be clearer with 2 rounds of matches in November. Chile bounced back with 4-0 win over lackluster Columbia.

England surprised everybody including themselves when they defeated Croatia 4-1 in an away match. Earlier they were very lethargic in 2-0 win over Albania. France was crushed by Austria 3-1 though they bounced back to defeat Serbia 2-1. For me Lithuania was the most surprise package this week. They won both their matches. They defeated Austria 2-0 and Romania 3-0. They are at top of their group which includes France. Italy and Spain won both their matches. Italy won 2-0 against Georgia and 2-1 against Cyprus. Spain won 4-0 against Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0. Germany drew 3-3 with Finland. Portugal surprisingly lost 2-3 to Denmark in their second match. But the most surprising result in the European leg is Switzerland’s defeat at the hand of Luxembourg at home (1-2).

New Zealand qualified for the next stage when they defeated New Caledonia twice (3-1, 3-0). They will play play-off with the fifth-placed Asian side in 2009 for a berth in World Cup.

Nigeria continued their 100% record. They defeated South Africa 1-0. They have already qualified for the final round of qualifying. Cameroon and Benin also joined Nigeria in the next round. Cameroon defeated Cape Verde Islands 2-1. Benin qualified by defeating Angola 3-2.

In Asia two Koreans played 0-0 draw. Uzbekistan and UAE both lost two consecutive matches. It is long way to go. But with start of the European leg the excitement is fully on.