World Cup News - April 5

Has it really been over two weeks since I did a World Cup News update? Well let's get to it.

England assistant Tord Grip says he is not worried that Michael Owen might play only one competitive match before the World Cup squad is announced.

Argentina midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron's chances of playing at the World Cup are all but gone after a bad clash with captain Juan Pablo Sorin during Tuesday's Champions League match.

Japan striker Atsushi Yanagisawa is recovering from surgery on his right foot and might not be fit in time for the finals. Meanwhile, Japan's coach Zico is still having headaches over what strikers to take.

Now for someone who will not be at the World Cup, but not due to injury, Mexico forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco. He is still baffled as to his failure to make the preliminary list of players.

Jurgen Klinsmann has ordered most of his German squad to undergo an intensive medical check-up in the next couple of days to help him plan individual training programs for each player.

Sweden might just shed their dour image and become an attacking club this June.

The Swedish FA has rejected a call from the country's sexual equality ombudsman for the team to pull out of the cup due to the legal sex trade that will be in full swing in Germany.

The Swedes might want to stay away, but the government of Ghana is going to help their citizens make it to the cup. The package includes; a fully booked Accra-Germany-Accra in connection LTU Charter Company based in Germany, 14 days accommodation, Coach Transportation to all three Group matches of the Black Stars as well as travel insurance.

Trinidad and Tobago has pledged financial help to their team. The government will give roughly $7 million to the FA. The team will receive a $2m bonus if they progress from Group B. No word yet on how much Jack Warner gets just for being near by.

Man U's chief executive wants FIFA to give clubs a cut of the World Cup profits. He feels that since the club pays for most of their training, they should get some of the reward.

So how much money are we talking about? I don't know, but FIFA just inked a $150-200m deal with Visa today to become the new credit card of soccer.

Were you, like me, upset not to see a US ref on the World Cup roster? Well we in the states are not alone as Vietnam is also sad about missing out. That said, our national league has not had numerous scandals over the last few months, so maybe we have a couple extra reasons for our bitching.

By the way, it seems to a leading disaster expert that Germany is not ready for a major terrorist attack during the finals.

That news will not stop the Socceroos from getting a fantastic send off in their final match at home. Ticket sales for the match against Greece are around 98,000! Someone is excited down under.

In future news, South Africa says all the bad talk about their 2010 hosting is stupid.

Brazil is getting excited about hosting the 2014 finals. However, seeing that they lost the last time it was there in a match that still gives the country shame, I would think they would want to keep it as far away as possible.

Finally, in honor of the great DCenters blog turning one year old today, I would like to direct your attention to Seattle where 500 breweries from 55 countries will take part in the World Beer Cup. Happy birthday DCenters.

Only 65 days till kickoff...