Repurposing condoms as soccer socks

Every now and then I read an article that catches me off guard and this is one such piece.

I turns out that the big soccer fashion trend in Cape Town, South Africa, these days is to wear condoms on your feet to keep your socks up.

The need for such an innovated way of using these prophylactics is the result of a lack of proper soccer gear, such as socks with elastic to hold them in place. Since condoms are distributed for free in order to help curb the spreading of HIV, it all makes sense.

Sivuyile Nqawe of the Lingelethu Football Association in Khayelitsha said it was to "ease matters for those who cannot afford expensive brands of football kit on their mission to sharpen their skills to become future soccer stars".

"It is just a creative method and it works to alleviate the situation. You just break a condom packet, grab and stretch it. Then you put it on your leg," Nqawe said.

"You will find that in most instances players bring a box of condoms to a match and share them among teammates for the same purpose."

Another example of necessity being the mother of invention.

Asain 2010 World Cup Qualifying final group draw

The two groups have been drawn for Asia's final round of World Cup Qualification. Each group has five teams with the top two from each group advancing to South Africa. The third place teams in the groups will meet in a two-legged playoff with the winner playing the champion of Oceania.

Here are the two groups:
Group A
Australia
Japan
Bahrain
Uzbekistan
Qatar

Group B
South Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
North Korea
UAE

Although both groups have their difficulties, it looks to me like Group B is the tougher one since three of the teams made it to Germany in 2006 (S Korea, Iran & Saudi Arabia), plus North Korea is always capable of a surprise.

Group A seems designed perfectly for Australia and Japan to make it through.

Group play starts on 6 Sept and runs through 17 June 2009.

Concacaf 2010 World Cup Qualifying schedule - Second Round

The second leg of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying swings into full gear this weekend as 24 teams look to advance to the first group phase. Although there are strong favorites in just about every one of these contests, the constant possibility of an upset will be present. Who knows, an early surprise goal or red card could kill a team's dream.

America will take on Barbados in their opening match at the Home Depot Center. The red, white and blue are coming off a strong tie against Argentina in front of almost 80,000 at Giants Stadium. There are still tickets available for Sunday's match.

Anyway, here is the full schedule of second round matches:

First Leg

Home	Score	Visitor
USA	8-0	Barbados
Guatemala	6-0	Saint Lucia
Trinidad and Tobago	1-2	Bermuda
Antigua and Barbuda	3-4	Cuba
Belize	0-2	Mexico
Jamaica	7-0	Bahamas
Honduras	4-0	Puerto Rico
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0-3	Canada
Grenada	2-2	Costa Rica
Suriname	1-0	Guyana
Panama	1-0	El Salvador
Haiti	0-0	Netherlands Antilles

Second Leg

Home	Score	Visitor
Barbados	0-1	USA
Saint Lucia	1-3	Guatemala
Bermuda	0-2	Trinidad and Tobago
Cuba	4-0	Antigua and Barbuda
Mexico	7-0	Belize
Bahamas	0-6	Jamaica
Puerto Rico	2-2	Honduras
Canada	4-1	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Costa Rica	3-0	Grenada
Guyana	1-2	Suriname
El Salvador	3-1	Panama
Netherlands Antilles	0-1	Haiti

USA advances to group A in Concacaf first group phase with 9-0 aggregate win over Barbados.
Guatemala advances to group A with 9-1 aggregate win over Saint Lucia.
Trinidad and Tobago advances to group A with 3-2 aggregate win over Bermuda.
Cuba advances to group A with 8-3 aggregate win over Antigua and Barbuda.

Honduras advances to group B in the first group phase with a 6-2 aggregate win over Puerto Rico.
Jamaica advances to group B with a 13-0 aggregate win over Bahamas.
Canada advances to group B with a 7-1 aggregate win over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Mexico advances to group B with a 9-0 aggregate win over Belize.

Costa Rica advances to group C with a 5-2 aggregate win over Gernada.
Suriname advances to group C with a 3-1 aggregate win over Guyana.
El Salvador advances to group C with a 3-2 aggregate win over Panama.
Haiti advances to group C with a 1-0 aggregate win over Netherlands Antilles.

US roster for Sunday's 2010 World Cup Qualifier named

US vs. Barbados
Sunday 5pET/2pPT
Home Depot Center, Carson, Ca.
Tickets (Great for Father's Day)

Bob Bradley released his 21-man roster for this Sunday's World Cup Qualifier against Barbados. There are no huge surprises, as just about everyone on the list saw minutes during warm up games. The one major exception, the Houston Dynamo's Brian Ching.

Ching was named to the preliminary roster for the three friendly matches the US played over the last couple weeks, but he did not make the final cut. Oddly enough, during this same time Ching came into his own in MLS play earning 3 goals and two assists over his last three matches. The addition of Ching gives the US a greater threat in the air and an alternative on set pieces to Onyewu.

A name not on the forward list is Nate Jaqua. I don't think he is injured so I'm a little surprise that with all the US's problems in attack, he was not given more of a chance in the warm up games as he had a great year with both Houston and Austrian side Altach. Perhaps he is trying out for club teams or maybe Bradley didn't like what he saw in camp.

Jozy Altidore is also not on the list, but this is nowhere near a surprise. With his move to Spain in the final stages and his likely call up for the Olympic team looming, Bradley doesn't want to hinder the relationship with Villarreal.

One name that is pleasing to see is Frankie Hejduk. He is a workhorse who can bring some needed experience to the squad during these early qualifiers.

Here is the full roster:

GK (3): Dominic Cervi, Brad Guzan, Tim Howard

D (7): Carlos Bocanegra, Dan Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce

M (7): Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Sacha
Kljestan, Eddie Lewis, Pablo Mastroeni

F (4): Brian Ching, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson

My guess for Bradley's starting lineup is very similar to what he put out during the Argentina match, except Bocanegra will replace Califf. The position that I could see changing is Edu in for Mastroeni.

---------------------Howard-------------------

Cherundolo--Bocanegra--Onyewu--Pearce

-Dempsey--Bradley--Mastroeni--Beasley-

-----------Johnson------Donovan------------

Guss Hiddink to stay with Russia through 2010

Guss Hiddink is to every international team what Jürgen Klinsmann was to US Soccer. Meaning, every time a spot becomes available, his name is thrown into the ring.

But it looks like Hiddink has gone the way of Klinsmann and taken his name out of consideration for at least two years as he has signed a new contract with Russia through 2010. This, combined with their relatively easy group draw, means Russia has a good chance of making it to South Africa.

If he does, it will just be a continuation of his streak that includes the Netherlands (1998), South Korea (2002) and Australia (2006).

Confederations Cup spot earns US soccer $1.4 million

FIFA has placed $17.6 million into the prize fund for next year's Confederations Cup in South Africa.

"The winners will receive $3.75 million and the runners-up $3.25 million, while the team finishing third will get $2.75 million with $2.25-million going to the fourth-placed country. The other participants will each receive $1.4 million."

The US joins South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Egypt and Iraq in the Confederations Cup. The winner of Euro 2008 and the Oceania Nations Cup will fill the final two spots.

So where will this money go? Hopefully it will be used to improve the youth system in the US. The better the facilities, coaches and training are for the younger players, the better the national team will be in the next decade.

As far as the Confederations Cup, this will be a test run for South Africa. With five World Cup venues being used, we should have a better understanding of just how many glitches we can expect during 2010. Also, since fewer fans travel for the Confederations Cup, this should give the locals a great chance to see some top quality soccer.

US's road to 2010 World Cup a bit more defined

The US men now know their schedule for the semifinal round of World Cup Qualifying, provided they make it past Barbados or Dominica in the second round (games to be played in June).

In the semis, the team will play a round robin format against three other teams, for a total of six games. The red, white and blues will open up on the road for their first two outings, then come home for three and finish with an away meeting. Here are the dates (all 2008):
20 Aug - Away
06 Sept - Away
10 Sept - Home
11 Oct - Home
15 Oct - Home
19 Nov - Away

Although none of the teams have been decided, it is likely that the group will contain the US, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba. The top two teams in the group will advance to the finals in 2009.

The finals will involve a round robin format of 10 games with the top three teams advancing to the 2010 World Cup while the fourth place team will play the fifth place South American side for a trip to South Africa.

US vs. South Africa, who needs to perform?

US vs. South Africa
Saturday - 9am ET/6am PT
TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Internet: Text commentary

The US men are a bit under 24-hours away from playing their first match in Africa since 1999. This might be a friendly, but like any game, players have something to prove. That said, some players have a bit less to prove then others. Here is my look at the pressure each of the 17 men on the roster face:

Heavy Pressure
Freddy Adu (M) - The match against the Swiss was a good tease, but it is just about time for him to prove if he can sustain for more then 15-minutes and prove the critics wrong.
Dan Califf (D) - He is one of the oldest players on the roster and if he hopes to work himself into a regular spot, he needs to prove that with age comes wisdom.
Brad Guzan (GK) - Brad has worked his way into the number two spot, but he doesn't have the lock on it just yet. A great game in South Africa (and a move to Europe) should help get him there.
Sacha Kljestan (D) - He is one of Bradley's boys from Chivas USA. He is good but he must prove that he deserves to be there.
Oguchi Onyewu (D) - As much as it pains me to say this, the Gooch has been off his game since the crap pk call against Ghana in the final World Cup match. He needs to find his mojo again and not let the opposition get into his head.
Heath Pearce (D) - Pearce is always on the edge when it comes to the roster. He adds something to the attack and his defensive play is usually at least okay, but he needs to do something to cement the spot.
Jonathan Spector (D) - Time to prove that the injury problems are past.

Medium Pressure
DaMarcus Beasley (M) - This year has been one of Da Bees best. Another good performance will take the international nerves down a few levels.
Carlos Bocanegra (D) - His work on the backline has been good for club and country and he is a lock as long as he is healthy, however all captains have a pressure to perform in order to inspire their team.
Jonathan Bornstein (D) - Is Bornstein one of the most polarizing figures to US fans? It seems people either think he is very good or a pile of dirt. As one of Bradley's Chivas boys, he has an in, but to win over all the fans, he needs to play a near perfect game.
Maurice Edu (M) - Wonderful first outing against the Swiss, now can the MLS Rookie of the Year do it again?

Low Pressure
Josmer Altidore (F) - The pressure on Jozy will come more from himself then anyone else in his first senior level match. The US needs strikers bad, so even if he bombs out there, he is going to get a few more call-ups.
Michael Bradley (M) - Quickly becoming the key (along with Feilhaber) in the center. Also, another good night might finally get the TV announcers to stop talking about the 'controversy' of the son playing for the father. Note to all, the only people who talk about it are TV announcers.
Steve Cherundolo (D) - The right back spot is his, so should use the time to soak in the spring weather before heading back to the German fall.
Clint Dempsey (F) - The Deuce is making it happen in the EPL and has shown himself to be a smart player internationally. Short of taking a swing at a teammate or breaking someone's jaw (where is Jimmy Conrad?), he is safe.
Benny Feilhaber (M) - Like Bradley, he is quickly becoming the center of the team.
Tim Howard (GK) - Unless he loses an arm, he has the job between the posts for some time to come.

So there is the pressure cooker report for this match. Actually, I think there is one person who has a lot of pressure hanging over them even though they will not be on the pitch. That person is none other then Landon Donovan. With Bradley showing signs of not building the team around Donovan like Arena did, a good combination between the midfield and Dempsey/Altidore, might diminish his star a bit. He is still far from being off the team, but his role is changing and he must change with it.

Strike threatens 2010 World Cup stadiums

The stadium issue has again come center focus in the South Africa's 2010 plans. In the past, they have had problems with environmental concerns, lack of construction material and the diversion of funds from other needs (such as building hospitals) in order to pay for the new complexes, but now the issue is wages.

Hundreds of workers at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban have stopped working due to poor pay. They have gone to town hall to demand a minimum wage of $1.60 an hour plus project bonuses of $222 a month in addition to safety improvements. Workers at the other stadiums have threatened to join those at Durban in a sympathy strike if their conditions are not met.

In addition, the union has threatened disruptions to the 2010 preliminary draw scheduled in Durban on Nov. 25.

With just about two years remaining till these stadiums are suppose to be operational, any strike could make it difficult to meet the completion date. Also, South Africa 2010 has been getting much better PR over the last few months, but if a strike happens, expect that to change.

Donovan, Lewis off South Africa roster

The US roster for South Africa got a bit of a shakeup yesterday when Landon Donovan and Eddie Lewis were both dropped. Lewis's club requested that he not play in the match due to the strain of travel. Donovan's absence is the result of a calf strain he suffered during Sunday's friendly against the Minnesota Thunder.

Without Donovan, the side goes into the match with just two named forwards meaning Jozy Altidore is all but certain to get significant playing time.

Here is the full roster for Saturday's match in Johannesburg.

GK (2) – Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

D (7) –Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathon Spector (West Ham United)

M(6) – Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA),

F (2) – Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC)

Overall, the represents a great lineup to test in South Africa as many of these players will make up the core of the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup squads.

The game will air live on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision at 9am ET on Saturday. If you are going to be in DC for MLS Cup, why not join the good folks from DCenters and Du Nord for their viewing party.

Concacaf President Jack Warner lies about meeting Nelson Mandela

Everybody's favorite scandal plagued President of Concacaf and Vice-President of FIFA Jack Warner has found himself in the middle of another lie. Mr. Warner, who is running to become Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago went to South Africa last week to meet with Nelson Mandela in hopes of scoring political points back home. However, there was a little problem with this as 'Warner did not meet Mandela after he refused to sign an agreement that the meeting would not be used for political purposes.'

Yet Fifa put out a press released that stated: 'Fifa vice-president Jack Warner paid a whistle-stop visit to SA today to meet with Nelson Mandela as well as executives of the country’s Premier Soccer League [PSL].'

Oddly enough, Fifa has now removed the press release from their website, but here is the cached version from google.

So it looks like Jack Warner does not limit his creative ways to his soccer dealings alone.

On a different matter, if Warner did become Prime Minister, would he have to resign as Concacaf boss? It would make sense, but I can't find anything to suggest that he would.

Uruguay and Argentina want to host the World Cup

Back in 1930, Uruguay hosted the first ever World Cup and they want to do it again 100 years later. However, they realize that the current version of the finals is a bit too big for them to do it alone, so they have joined with neighbors Argentina for the right to host the 2030 World Cup.

AFA president Julio Grondona expressed his desire to help Uruguay host the event through a formally written letter that was sent to the AUF headquarters in Montevideo earlier on in the week.

“Working for this goal together will bring the relationship between both nations closer than ever. The sporting authorities, and both governments, must work together so that we can reach our objective by 2030,” he stated.

Grondona (76) feels that both nations have a lot of work to do, and they will only send in their proposal once they have a detailed outline of the whole project.

So these two have joined together to host an event that is still 23 years away.

But there might be a problem with this desire. FIFA is expected to soon pass a rule that will end the World Cup rotation after 2014 and that will open up future finals to all continents except for the last two that have hosted World Cups. Because of these changes (and other things coming out of FIFA), it is very much speculated that Europe will again play host in 2018. So here is the way future cups look:
2010 - South Africa
2014 - Brazil
2018 - Europe (most likely England)
2022 - Asia or North America
2026 - Asia or North America
2030 - ?

Knowing that Europe doesn't like going more then two finals without playing host, it would be hard to imagine them not pressing for the 2030 cup.

This is still along way from anything happening and who knows what shape the world will be in 20-years from now (or what rules FIFA will have changed), but the way things are looking from here, it might be a choice between celebrating the history of the game or letting Europe have another one.

US men vs. Catalonia officially cancelled

For the past two weeks US soccer has tried to convince the Royal Spanish Football Federation to overturn their ruling and allow the team from Catalonia to play a friendly on Oct. 14, however they were not successful.

Even though the US had agreed to terms that would prohibit any of players called into the Spanish camp ahead of their Euro qualifier to take part in the match, the Spanish officials still believe that it is a bad move for their national team.

Due to the late nature, the US does not have time to find a replacement game, so their next match will take place on Oct. 17, against Switzerland. The men then have one last match for the year a month later in South Africa.

USMNT schedule
17 Oct - Switzerland - 2:30pm ET - TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Galavision
17 Nov - South Africa - 10:00am ET - TV: TBD

US men to face South Africa in Johannesburg

The US men will get a sneak peak at the 2010 World Cup on Saturday, November 17th, when they travel to Johannesburg to take on South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup.

This will mark the US men's third trip to Africa with the last game coming eight years to the day before this one. In that 1999 game, they lost 2-1 against Morocco. This will also be only the second time the US men play South Africa. Their last meeting was in June of 2000 when the US won 4-0.

A journey to South Africa will mean the men will play at least six matches outside the US this year.

South Africa might not be a powerhouse team but playing them in a match that is important to them in their home stadium is a good get. The one downside, the next day is MLS Cup so there are bound to be at least a few players that are not available for such a trip.

Hopefully the few days that the US men get to spend in South Africa will give them a taste for country ahead of the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup.

The game will start at 10am Eastern Time but no television broadcast has been announced.

On a different note, I noticed when I was looking at the schedule of games for the team that they still list the 14 Oct match against Catalonia. Seeing as the Spanish Federation voted that game down, I'm wondering why it is still on the schedule. Did someone just fail to take it down or do they still hope to change the Spanish FA's mind?

2010 World Cup Concacaf qualification process set - US gets bye in first round

Concacaf has announced their qualification structure for the 2010 World Cup and it is remarkably similar to the one used for 2006.

The top 13 teams, based on FIFA's May rankings, in the region get an automatic bye in the first round. These teams include the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Canada, Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Twenty-two other nations will be drawn into home-home pairings during the qualifying draw on 25 November in Durban South Africa. The 11 winners and St. Vincent will then advance to the second round.

The first round teams will then be drawn into a home-home pairing with the top teams (note that even though St. Vincent is a top team, they will need to play one of the other 12 top teams). The 12 winners of the second round advance to the semifinals.

These 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four. These groups will play home-home series for a total of six matches each. The top two teams in each group advance to the final stage.

The final stage will have six teams play home-home series (10 games each) with the top three earning a spot in South Africa while the fourth place side will have to play a home-home playoff series against the fifth-place team from South American.

So what does this mean for the US? Their next match that matters takes place in the second round, which will probably take place some time in June 2008.

During World Cup 2006 qualification, there was no second round phase for Concacaf. As noted in the comments, there was a second round phase for 2006. I had it noted as the first round for some reason. Sorry about that.

2010 World Cup News

It might seem like it is a long way away but there is still a great deal happening in preparation for 2010. Here is just some of the news about the biggest single sport event in the world.

The big news is that optimism in South Africa is growing that they will be ready to host the finals, with 70% now believing it will happen. However, only 52% think the country will be able to meet the electrical needs of the tournament.

The good vibrations are inspiring those in the marketing community to come up with a way to 'brand' Africa before the Cup, much the way Germany did with great success.

However, it looks like the environment will not be as big a part of the South African brand as it was for Germany as the new Green Point Stadium in Cape Town will not be very green after deciding not to implement any of the recommended environmentally friendly building techniques.

Also in environmental news, a court has delayed a case brought by the Cape Town Environmental Protection Association looking to move the above mentioned Green Point Stadium. They say a decision will be reached by August 13.

But the environment might not be the only thing harmed in 2010 as FIFA is looking to trademark a number of phrases related to the World Cup that some feel would interfere with constitutional freedom of the media. Some of the phrases are: 2010, twenty ten, drawings of the Fifa World Cup, Football World Cup, Soccer World Cup, Win in Africa, Football for a Better World and all names of the venue cities with the figure 2010.

If you will be in Johannesburg 2010™, expect a great airport experience followed by big traffic jams since the main highway in town is so busy that "..traffic moves so slowly that most employers do not mind if an employee arrives an hour late."

Maybe while you are in those jams you can enjoy one of South Africa’s many fine wines. In fact, if you learn enough about them, maybe you could become a sommelier as they are in short supply for the finals.

Tanzania might not be one of South Africa’s direct neighbors but they are hoping to gain from 2010™ as well as they will provide incentives to teams to train in country before heading down south.

Who knows, maybe one of those teams will be Iraq as the new Asian Cup winners are looking at 2010™ qualification as their next goal.

One of the teams Iraq might have to face is China who could hire their Olympic coach Ratomir Dujkovic to take over the senior squad after next year's Beijing Games. Dujkovic led Ghana in 2006.

But the team from Asia that looks to have the easiest path to South Africa™ is Australia as they have been seeded number 1 for qualifying meaning the Socceroos will get a bye to Round 3. With 4.5 spots available, they have to like their chances better then the old .5 spot allocated to former federation Oceania.

Australia is also looking for more soccer glory as they plan on bidding for both the 2015 Asian Cup and the 2018 World Cup.

Talking about 2018, a new FIFA rule might just help England land the tournament. FIFA™ looks likely to approve a rule that would require the World Cup be played in Europe once every 12 years. With 2010 in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil, well what do you know, FIFA would be 'forced' to land the finals in Europe.

Also working out for England is Franz Beckenbauer who said of 2018, "It has to come back to Europe and then England, of course, is the first choice to host the World Cup in 2018."

If this rule does pass (and I think it will), 2022 becomes the big battleground as everyone not in Europe could throw down a bid.

So there you have the World Cup news and remember just 1043 days till first kick 2010™...

World Cup 2010 - team camps and prostitution zones

The preparations for World Cup 2010 are steaming ahead with a number of interesting decisions being made.

Top of the list is a rule that will prevent visiting teams from staying in any of the nine host cities.

The official line behind this is a desire to "spread the benefits beyond the nine host cities" however it might also have something to do with a lack of beds in these cities. Two weeks ago South Africa asked FIFA to allow teams to setup base camps in neighboring countries. They again said they wanted to spread the joy of the games, but added that having teams away from the main cities spreads the demand for shelter amongst fans. With all the other demands they need to work out, taking hotel rooms off the list would be huge.

On a different note, it is interesting to note that the US partly blamed their 1998 results on having a base camp far away from the festivities. They changed that in 2002, which went swell, but 2006 was a different story.

Another idea the South Africans are pursuing is an increase in fan parks as they would like 'every local municipality', not just the host cities, to have such parks. They would also like to see parks in other African countries as well as in the Caribbean "where there are great numbers of Africans, so they can also see and take pride in what is taking place in South Africa". Any addition parks would need to be approved by FIFA.

Finally, the New York Times gives a good rundown of all the issues South Africa is facing in their race to be ready for 2010. Everything from hotel space to stadiums to a lack of good public transportation to training more police in order to decrease the unbelievable crime rate is on tap. However, there is one subject that is bound to get a lot of talk as police commissioner Jackie Selebi's has proposed to set up "... dedicated red-light districts where prostitution and public drinking would be tolerated during the World Cup, as he said they were in Germany."

It is true that Germany allows prostitution, however it is strongly regulated by the government (not that that means it is a great idea). However, with South Africa also facing an AIDS epidemic, increasing the availability of sex might not be the best move.

One other tidbit from the article that could become very important is that the staging time for the construction is so tight "that even a three-week rain delay could wreak havoc." If the stadiums don't keep moving forward, FIFA won't care much about everything else.

By the way, here is the list of host cities, just in case you are wondering:
Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rustenburg

Colombia removes itself from 2014 World Cup race; South Africa wants to spread the love

Colombia has made it official, they do not want to be considered for host of the 2014 World Cup, leaving Brazil as the sole bidder for the world's biggest event.

Sepp Blatter described Colombia's move last month as a publicity stunt, which caused the country's president to respond, "Before he can say that, he has to get rid of all the mafia who have infected football, and respect Colombia." Looks like both of them were right.

In 2010 news, South Africa wants FIFA to change the rule that requires teams to live in the country during the World Cup. They say this is Africa's World Cup and that surrounding countries should get a bit of fun.

There are two main reasons South Africa wants this. First is to share the fun of having the world cup, but second, and more important in my view, they hope to alleviate some of the demand for housing. If fans follow their team back to Mozambique or Swaziland, then South Africa doesn't have to come up with a place for them to stay or to keep them safe.

This seems like an easy choice for FIFA to make.

2010 will transform South Africa; will locals get tickets?

South Africa's World Cup chief executive Danny Jordaan has said that the finals will transform the country into a better place.

"When there are water shortages in Polokwane, I must answer what is going to happen to 2010; when there are power outages [in the Western Cape], I must answer what is going to happen to 2010; now there are questions about what is going to happen to Mugabe and I must answer what is going to happen to 2010," said Jordaan.

He said that although it is not always easy, he is glad to answer the questions.

"Post-2010 South Africa must be significantly better than pre-2010 South Africa," Jordaan said.

That said, there is one question he is sick of answering, "Will FIFA move the cup?"

He insists that South Africa has met the requirements for starting construction on stadiums (the last of the five new grounds will begin work on Friday) and that 2010 is already the "highest revenue earner in World Cup history."

Now attention seems to be turning to the additional 30,000 hotel rooms the country will need to host officials, the media and fans.

But what about the local population, will they have a chance to see a match or two? There will be reduced prices over what was seen in Germany, but some fear the number of tickets available just won't be enough. Of the three million total tickets, South Africans will get one million of them.

It does seem that stadium construction is moving along a bit more then it was a short time ago, but 55,000 hotel rooms sounds like a low number to me. I must admit that I don't have any background in predicting this sort of thing, but with at least 300,000 fans and thousands of media folks and officials and it does seem a bit low.

Hopefully with a third of the tickets, South Africans will get a chance to see some good games. It would be a shame if all they got out of it come July 2010 was the sight of a bunch of travelers walking into their new stadiums.

South Africa and their illegal coach

I keep waiting to hear some good news out of South Africa in relation to the 2010 World Cup, but it seems not so good stuff is all we get.

What does it say about a soccer federation that is organizing the biggest single sport event in the world if they cannot get the paper work together to get their new coach the proper work visa? Former Brazil coach and new South African manager Parreira faced possible arrest if he attended a soccer match due to visa problems.

However, the bigger charges might be brought against the South African Football Association (SAFA) for hiring an illegal. Home Affairs Department spokeswoman Cleo Mosana said, "The charges will be against the employer, which means SAFA. The charges will be laid at a police station. There is a process that is under way."

Some are jumping to the SAFA's defense saying that the system is setup in such a way as to make it near impossible for businesses to hire foreigners, but in the end, it is yet another black eye for South Africa's World Cup effort.

If you can't figure out how to get a visa for someone after agreeing to pay them $250,000 a month, well perhaps your priorities are in the wrong place.