WORLD CUP 2010 |
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2010 CUP MATCH REPORTS: Matches start June 2010 |
WORLD CUP 2010
The World Cup in 2010 takes place in South Africa (Zuid Afrika) -- the first time the World Cup takes place in the continent of Africa. All the World Cups have been won by either Europe or South America. This will be World Cup #19. And it will be the tie-breaker World Cup. With Italy winning the title in 2006, it is now South America 9 and Europe 9, in World Cup titles by continent. Only seven teams have ever won the World Cup: Brazil (5 times), Italy (4 times), Germany (3 times), Argentina (twice), Uruguay (twice), France (once) and England (once). The best team to have never won the World Cup is without question The Netherlands. They have the best performance of any non-champion team, and they were one of the first teams to qualify for this World Cup. The Netherlands has been runner-up twice, and have also once finished in fourth place in a match that they showed little interest in winning. It was in the 1998 bronze medal match as it were against first timers Croatia, who were much hungrier than the Dutch to win the consolation prize. And that's one problem with the Dutch. They have a habit of not mentally showing up for matches "oranje" deem as unimportant. Nevertheless, Netherlands comes into this tournament ranked a gaudy #3 in the world by FIFA, behind only Spain and Brazil. Surprisingly, Poland - a team currently in disarray and shambles who didn't qualify for the party this time - enjoys the 12th best record in World Cup history, with two third place finishes under its belt. That's better than most teams, even humongous Soviet Union who with all it's vast resources could only muster a single fourth place finish during it's dominant existance. Same story with powerhouse Spain -- the current European Champions have only a single fourth place finish on its World Cup resume. The 32 nations who have qualified for World Cup 2010 (officially known as FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa) have been divided into eight groups of four nations each. They will play three games against group opponents to determine the final 16 teams. The final 16 teams will then play in the "knockout round", where it's lose a game and you're out. There are some freshmen World Cup teams this year, and interesting North Korea makes an appearance after a long World Cup absence. One of the most anticipated matches will most certainly be Brazil versus their former colonial masters Portugal. Both teams are among the world's elite. This has all the makings for another spectacular World Cup finals! |