There was romance in the first game, South Africa looking for a short time as if a cracking goal against generally superior opponents mights secure a memorable victory for Africa in the opening game.
That one ended 1-1, a fair enough result.
World Cup 2010
England v USA: a World Cup “Who Are You?”
So, they kick off today: South Africa v Mexico with Nelson Mandela, sadly, absent following the death of his 13-year-old great granddaughter in an accident after last night’s concert, and France v Uruguay tonight. And tomorrow Fabio Capello’s finest, minus Darren Bent, open the Group C campaign against the United States of America, the country from which we gratefully accepted Claudio Reyna at Sunderland. From the US fans’ site Sam’s Army, the highly knowledgeable Mark Spacone* looks forward to the game through American eyes, with American spelling and terminology …
Salut! Sunderland: What are your feelings about the composition of Group C and how do you rate your chances of progressing?
When the first ball came out of the pot and it was England, I threw up and once I cleaned up and regained some composure, I thought the world was against us and the pots were stacked to ensure we Yanks would be in the group of death and eliminated in the first round just to show the world we don’t know the difference between a football and, well, a football! As the draw continued, it became clear the American dollar is still worth something in Sepp’s pocket because he drew us in with Algeria and Slovenia. Wait, I forgot, the draw is random! On this side of the pond, we think the US and England will advance into the second round (any order will do for us). Slovenia, however, may be the wedding crasher! Many are hoping the U.S. comes out of the England game without any injury regardless of the result, but the hopeful are looking for a draw, and the plain down right crazy who want to give others the ultimate “I told you so” are looking for a win. I wonder if Landon Donovan scores the winner if Everton supporters will chant “USA” again should he return there and perform as well as he did on loan this past season!
Can the World Cup help Kick Out Racism?
Thanks to people of the calibre of Niall Quinn and Darren Bent, and many more than we could hope to mention, Sunderland AFC have played a commendable role, through such campaigns as Show Racism the Red Card, in combating racial prejudice and discrimination in football. The opening of the World Cup in South Africa – sadly, after all, in Nelson Mandela’s absence following the death of his 13-year-old great granddaughter in an accident after last night’s concert – sends out a powerful message of its own today. But with thanks to Jeremy Robson, whose exchanges with me here a week ago inspired these thoughts in today’s edition of The National, Abu Dhabi, only so much progress has been made …
Image: from Frerieke‘s Flickr pages. The posting is repeated at my main Salut! site
After the French football team defeated the much-fancied Brazilians in the 1998 World Cup final, two snappy phrases became part of the legacy of a swashbuckling victory: un-deux-trois-zéro to describe the impressive scoreline and blanc-black-beur acclaiming the multiracial composition of the team.
From Hartlepool and Bradford to the World Cup
The blurb that comes with the clip explains that is a competition in which contestants dream up their ultimate World …
World Cup: flying the flag for France, and 31 others
Bill Taylor lives in Toronto, Ontario but, as a former resident of Bishop Auckland, near Toronto, Co Durham and a Sunderland fan with strong Wearside links, is a regular visitor to this site. So how is his adopted city gearing up for a distant sporting event in which it will play no part? With a smile it is unlikely to offer all the flunkeys, fixers and functionaries due in town for a G20 summit …
Toronto supports… everybody.
A few years ago, the United Nations called this the world’s most cosmopolitan city. Which is why, everywhere you look right now (including outside the little shoe store at the bottom of my street), you see the flags of all nations.
All nations that are in the World Cup, that is. It’s certainly not in honour of the G20 Summit later this month which is turning downtown Toronto into an armed fortress, with photo-passes for anyone who lives or works within the fenced-off area and a bill for security that has passed the $1 billion mark and is still climbing.
World Cup: Saffron, Republica and Sunderland
David Jaymes, who occasionally sends information in my direction for use at Salut! Sunderland’s folk and roots music offshoot, Salut! Live, may well be unaware that Ready To Go and Republica – whom he manages (he is not, as I suggested when first posting, their publicist) – are inseparable from the recent history of Sunderland.
England, Heskey and Bent: measuring failure and success
Imagine the scenario: Emile Heskey has a blinder of a tournament, setting up Defoe and Rooney for winners in two games, feeding Crouch for a couple in another and even scoring himself as England storm to World Cup triumph. Sunderland fans who moaned about Darren Bent’s exclusions begin to look small-minded and absurd. But none of this has happened yet and we are entitled to question not only the nature and basis of decisions made on our behalf, but also whether Bent was ever more than a token member of the provisional squad. Let
Jeremy Robson do battle …
Once, I worked with someone who described his boss as being “more content at the centre of failure, than at the edge of success”.
Psychologists often speak of a personality trait which defends against failure. Kids at school will often say that they “didn’t try” in an exam, thus providing an excuse to protect against the embarrassment associated with failure.
Soapbox on England: book a holiday now Darren
Did anyone in the England camp actually want Darren Bent to go to South Africa? Do Rooney and Lampard have as much say as Fabio? Did Darren miss a sitter or just a half chance in a token appearance in which it was pre-ordained that he’d barely see the ball?
I watched the first half of the England game today. I was hoping to see a sparkling performance from Darren which would ensure that he would be joining Lampard, Gerard, Cole and Terry on that flight to South Africa.
Darren Bent: dynamite news from Capello
Sunderland’s welcome signing of Cristian Riveros, on a free transfer from the Mexican club Cruz Azul, may have deepened our fondness for Paraguay. We like to think, having voted already for Paulo da Silva and their red and white stripes, that we’re their official British site for the World Cup (though we’re not).
But let’s hear it tonight for Darren Bent, included in Fabio Capello’s provisional squad for South Africa.