World Cup News - April 25

Two months from now, we will be getting ready for the US's first knockout game against the second place Group F team (seeing as the US won their group with 3 wins). Will we face Japan, Australia or Croatia? Or could the completely unexpected happen and Brazil some how comes in second in their group. Needless to say, Monday June 26th will be a fun day for us all. But let's not think about what will be, instead let's look at what is; here's your World Cup news.

French midfielder Zinedine Zidane will retire from the game after the World Cup, telling a local paper, ""I am stopping for good and I am stopping everything. Most of all, I think it's my body. I told myself that I can't do another year."

Meanwhile, Real Madrid teammate striker Antonio Cassano is concerned that he will not make the Italian side after a bad outing on Sunday.

Argentina's Sergio Kun Aguero is trying to make his case for inclusion on the team's squad. Team coach Jose Pekerman has three weeks to decide if the 17-year old is up to stuff.

Australia find themselves in serious injury land after their keeper Mark Schwarzer broke his cheekbone, Tim Cahill injured his knee while star midfielder Harry Kewell and captain Mark Viduka are both suffering from groin injuries in the last week. My favorite part of this article is "Kewell's groin has been the centre of so many problems in recent seasons." That said, John Aloisi is trying to show what he can do by scoring goals for his Spanish side.

Trinidad & Tobago winger Collin Samuel has said that he would be in paradise" if he gets to play for his country.

Meanwhile in Costa Rica, many past stars will be missing from their lineup, as manager Alexander Guimaraes is almost set to announce his roster. Some players that look to be missing are Lokomotiv Moscow striker Winston Parks, top-scoring Alajuelense forward Rolando Fonseca, and Oscar Rojas of Mexico's Veracruz.

Wayne Rooney is expecting a rough ride from defenders, saying that after his performance in the European Championship, no one will see him as a surprise.

Even with Rooney's rough ride, England head coach Sven Goran Eriksson thinks his team will walk away with the cup. Adding, if we don't, fire me.

Okay, Sven didn't say fire me, but the English FA might just end up waiting till after the finals to name his successor. However, he will not be the only coach moving along.

FIFA is looking for something different this time out as they will require coaches, players and refs not to gamble on the games. Really. I mean they are only just now making this a rule. I think there are plenty of other ways for players to make money.

Here's a good way to make money: win the cup. Brazilian players have the chance to make $200,000 by bringing home the Championship. Oddly enough, they will not start their quest from home as, for the first time, they will not train for the cup in Brazil.

You might need that $200,000 if you are planning on getting a hotel room during the finals as German is reporting that one million hotel rooms have been booked. This might explain why people were so interested in a German pensioner's offer of free accommodation in his shed.

Another announcement about World Cup Ticket scams has been made. Seems EBay is now working a little harder to keep such things from happening.

The marketing of the cup has hit computers as Toshiba has launched their golden World Cup laptop.

Another tie in to the World Cup has not been received as well as the laptop as Germany's largest brothel has upset Muslims by including flags of countries from the middle east in their advertising. By the way, the brothel's slogan is, "A Time to Make Girlfriends."

Finally, FIFA president Sepp Blatter says that South Africa will host an excellent cup in 2010, so stop all your worrying.

45 days till kickoff...