My World Cup Group Stage Predictions

As World Cup fever has hit the country let me give a few predictions as to who I predict will make it to the second round.

Group A: France and Mexico
As a South African I'd like to say we will make it through, but for now I'll go with the experience of the French and the youthful exuberance of the Mexicans to come through this tough group. Its a tight group to call and a lot will depend on the outcomes of the first two games in this group. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

Group B: Argentina and Nigeria
For this group Argentina will have too much quality for the others and as Nigeria will have a lot of support, I can see them edging South Korea for the runners up spot.

Group C: England and USA
This is another group similar to group B, in that England will have too much quality for the others and as a survey has suggested, the Americans have bought the most tickets of the overseas nations. That support coupled with their good run in the Confederations Cup last year, should see them finish at least 2nd.

Group D: Germany and Ghana
This group may prove to be a lot tighter than many think but when it comes to World Cups Germany never disappoint. That being said I think Ghana will give them a good go for top spot but with Serbia losing recently in a warm up game and Australia too, I can't see them getting the better of the Germans or Ghanaians in getting to the next round.

Group E: The Netherlands and Denmark
The Dutch have had an impressive run in the lead up to the World Cup and while the battle for second spot may be a tight one, I can't see Cameroon and Japan being consistent enough to qualify for the next round. With Denmark finishing top of a group consisting of Portugal and Sweden in the qualifiers, I'll give them my vote to finish in second spot, but only just.

Group F: Italy and Paraguay
I think this group will be one of the easier to call. Italy although by no means convincing will progress alongside Paraguay as the other remaining teams in this group, New Zealand and Slovakia, I think have had their moments already when they qualified and may just be overawed on the biggest stage of them all.

Group G: Brazil and Ivory Coast
The Brazilians go into this World Cup as my favourites. Its going to be interesting seeing who joins them in the next round, and as much as I want Portugal to go far, I can't see them doing well now that Nani is injured. With Drogba now fit, the Ivory Coast are going to be dangerous.

Group H: Spain and Chile
The Spanish have got a strong team and should find this group easy. Chile though are a good team and should be able to overcome both Honduras and Switzerland for the runners up spot.

I'll reassess things after the first round before making any more predictions but for now My predictions for the golden boot and best young player are as follows:

Golden Boot winner: David Villa and
Best young player: Mesut Ozil.

Review and Preview of Super 14 Final

Final Review - So the Super 14 final has come and gone and although I would have liked the Stormers to have won the competition, I must admit the team that beat them, The Bulls, are in a class of their own. They really dominated up front, kept possession superbly and in Fourie Du Preez they had the best scrumhalf in world rugby dominating the whole game.

Yes the final result showed the Stormers losing by not so many but ultimately the game was won and lost in the first half. Francois Hougaard scored a rather easy looking but brilliant try and once that ball was dotted down, there was only going to be one winner.

Hopefully the Stormers will learn from the experience of a first super rugby final, and with the additions of Jean De Villiers and CJ Van Der Linde who knows next year might be the Stormers year. If not I can only see the Bulls continuing their remarkable run of being the best team in the southern hemisphere.

Final Preview - What a day to be at Newlands. The atmosphere was simply electric as the Stormers hosted the Waratahs in their first home semi final in 11 years. The game started off slowly as is expected with matches of this significance but it took a moment of magic to swing the game ultimately in his teams direction. Juan De Jongh beat up to four defenders with firstly a beautiful step before secondly showing great speed and ability to finish off a move that left Newlands rocking! From there on it was virtually one way traffic and we all now look forward to the final this week against the Bulls at the Orlando stadium.

As for the Bulls, they were impressive against the Crusaders in their semi final. The likes of Fourie Du Preez and Pierre Spies looked in good form and the Crusaders were just no match for them on the day.

As for the final, Its a difficult one to call. The Bulls are the current champions and have shown to be the best team in this competition for the past few seasons. They boast players with experience of having won the Super 14 before and also Currie Cups, Tri Nations and a World Cup for good measure. They will be at home too, although the 36500 capacity of the Orlando stadium is not exactly as daunting as going to 50000 screaming fans at Loftus, their usual home. That is where the Stormers will feel they have a chance. Their defence this year as been by far the best in the competition and they will need to live up to that billing to swing things in their favour. The Stormers might not boast the type of experience with which the Bulls can call on, but they to have a young team on an upward curve. Many of this team will go on to represent the Springboks, as is evidence with the call ups of Gio Aplon, Francois Louw, Andries Bekker and De Jongh. Add to that the experience of Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie and it really does set things up for a fantastic final hopefully. Habana of course only recently joined the Stormers from the Bulls so that adds another factor to build up of this game. Whatever happens, expect Schalk Burger and Victor Matfield to lead by example though.

Where will the battle be won or lost? Personally I feel its going to come down to Bekker vs Matfield, Devenage vs Du Preez, Pietersen vs Kirschner and Spies vs Vermeulen. I feel the Bulls will edge it slightly, but I'll be over the moon if I was proved wrong!

Newcastle United Goals Thread 2009/2010

Championship Goals
West Brom Away
Goal: Duff (1-1)

Reading Home
Goal: Ameobi (1-0)
Goal: Ameobi (2-0)
Goal: Ameobi (3-0)

Sheffield Wednesday Home
Goal: Ameobi (1-0)

Crystal Palace Away
Goal: Nolan (1-0)
Goal: Ryan Taylor (2-0)

Leicester City
Goal: Guthrie (1-0)

Cardiff City Away
Goal: Coloccini (1-0)

Blackpool Away
Goal: Carroll (1-0)

Plymouth Argyle Home
Goal: Steven Taylor (1-0)
Goal: Nolan (2-1)
Goal: Carroll (3-1)

Ipswich Town Away
Goal: Nolan (1-0)
Goal: Nolan (2-0)
Goal: Ryan Taylor (3-0)
Goal: Nolan (4-0)

QPR Home
Goal: Harewood (1-1)

Scunthorpe United Away
Goal: Nolan (1-1)

Doncaster Rovers Home
Goal: Carroll (1-1)
Goal: Nolan (2-1)

Sheffield United Away
Goal: Ryan Taylor (1-0)

Peterborough Home
Goal: Gutierrez (1-0)
Goal: Carroll (2-0)
Goal: Simpson (3-0)

Preston North End Away
Goal: Nolan (1-0)

Swansea City Home
Goal: Harewood (1-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (2-0)
Goal: Harewood (3-0)

Watford Home
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-0)
Goal: Pancrate (2-0)

Coventry City Away
Goal: Ameobi (1-0)
Goal: Ranger (2-0)

Barnsley Away
Goal: Nolan (1-0)
Goal: Harewood (2-1)

Middlesbrough Home
Goal: Harewood (1-0)
Goal: Ameobi (2-0)

Sheffield Wednesday Away
Goal: Nolan (1-1)
Goal: Ameobi (2-1)

Plymouth [FA Cup]
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (2-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (3-0)

West Brom Home
Goal: Guthrie (1-1)
Goal: Lovenkrands (2-2)

West Brom [FA Cup]
Goal: Carroll (1-2)
Goal: Carroll (2-4)

Crystal Palace Home
Goal: Derry Own Goal (1-0)
Goal: Ranger (2-0)

Cardiff City Home
Goal: Carroll (1-0)
Goal: Gyepes Own Goal (2-0)
Goal: Carroll (3-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (4-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (5-0)

Swansea City Away
Goal: Carroll (1-1)

Coventry City Home
Goal: Routledge (1-1)
Goal: Carroll (2-1)
Goal: Lovenkrands (3-1)
Goal: R.Taylor (4-1)

Preston North End Home
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-0)
Goal: Nolan (2-0)
Goal: R.Taylor (3-0)

Watford Away
Goal: Coloccini (1-0)
Goal: Carroll (2-0)

Barnsley Home
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (2-0)
Goal: Guthrie (3-0)
Goal: Gutierrez (4-0)
Goal: Guthrie (5-0)
Goal: Nolan (6-0)

Middlesbrough Away
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-0)
Goal: Carroll (2-2)

Scunthorpe Home
Goal: Carroll (1-0)
Goal: Lovenkrands (2-0)
Goal: Carroll (3-0)

Bristol City Away
Goal: Gutierrez (1-2)
Goal: Carroll (2-2)

Doncaster
Goal: Carroll (1-0)

Nottingham Forest
Goal: Ameobi (1-0)
Goal: Enrique (2-0)

Peterborough Away
Goal: Nolan (1-1)
Goal: Barton (2-1)
Goal: Ameobi (3-1)

Sheffield United Home
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-1)
Goal: Nolan (2-1)

Blackpool Home
Goal: Gutierrez (1-0)
Goal: Carroll (2-0)
Goal: Nolan (3-0)
Goal: Routledge (4-0)

Reading Away
Goal: Nolan (1-0)
Goal: Nolan (2-0)

Plymouth Argyle Away
Goal: Carroll (1-0)
Goal: Routledge (2-0)

Ipswich Town Home
Goal: Carroll (1-0)
Goal: Ameobi (2-1)

QPR Away
Goal: Lovenkrands (1-0)

Best Goals of the Season Compilation

Here are games 1-10 of the championship, put into a package by Villene. Special thanks goes to him for that!
Games 1-10

* Credit to Siralicdman and Albiondean for uploading certain goals.

Bale and Messi get my April votes

April certainly was a big month and turning point in many peoples season. When it comes to the individual performance of the month, only one night comes to mind. That night being the night Lionel Messi scored FOUR goals to eliminate Arsenal from the champions league. He was clinical, calm, composed, skillful, the difference and quite simply world class and it made people realise that we are in fact blessed to be watching a true footballing genius on display. Unfortunately Barcelona were later to be eliminated from the champions league by Inter Milan but Lionel Messi gets my vote for Best Individual Performance of the Month, for April.

Individual Performance of the month - March - Frank Lampard
Individual Performance of the month - February - Sachin Tendulkar

The award for the player of the month, in my opinion goes to none other than Gareth Bale. He was the main reason in Spurs resurgence towards the end of the season which culminated in them winning a champions league position for next season (provided they win the qualifying matches of course). He manged to score a goal in each of the home wins against fierce rivals Arsenal and Chelsea whilst his performance against Man Utd was top class too. He set up their goal in that match and his running and attacking style was a pleasure on the eye. He was always tipped to be a quality player and its no surprise to see him starting to mature as a player now that he is playing in an attacking position. Well done to Harry Redknapp for giving him the freedom to express himself rather than playing him at left back and if he stays fit, Spurs could well be a team fighting for better things next season.

Player of the Month - March - Lionel Messi
Player of the Month - Febraury - Wayne Rooney

What an experience it was!

What an experience it was! The previous day a family member told me about how they got see the world cup trophy. It made me realise how much I needed to make an effort to enjoy the pleasures of hosting the world cup. I've got tickets to some matches, but I did two things that have made me wish the world cup started tomorrow! Firstly, I bought the Panini world cup sticker book and secondly I went to go see the world cup trophy. I managed to see it live and what a piece of art it is. 6.5 kg of pure gold, it really is an amazing trophy. I must say well done to Fifa and Coca Cola for doing the tour of the trophy and bringing it to us fans. Whilst waiting in the queue we also got to see a fantastic 3D video and the excitement is really building amongst sport lovers here in South Africa.

We are the champions!

Chennai Come Out On Top When It Matters

So with the IPL now having been completed I'll look back on what was another successful tournament. Firstly, I'm delighted to see that I got my IPL Prediction right, regarding the four semi finalists. I was slightly out with their final standings but never the less its always nice to get the prediction correct. Secondly, Well done to the Chennai Super Kings for winning the tournament despite almost being eliminated before the knockout stage. They were led by a great captain in MS Dhoni whilst also showing that they do not rely on only one or two players. The likes of Vijay, Raina, Murali, Bollinger, Ashwin and all played a key role in guiding them to their first IPL triumph.

As for their finalists, the Mumbai Indians, what on earth were they doing not bringing in the likes of Pollard and Tiwary earlier? They were by far the best team in the tournament but such is sport that one wrong decision and you could be facing defeat. A special mention has to go to Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis for superb batting displays during the tournament and well done to Ojha for finishing with the most wickets in the tournament. The biggest disappointments for me were the Kolkata Knight Riders, who promised so much but failed to deliver. As for individual players who disappointed, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden failed to light up the competition while I was expecting a little more from the likes of Lee and Yuvraj from the Kings XI Punjab and Morgan and Taylor of the Royal Challengers. I'm glad they still managed to make the champions league though which will be staged in South Africa. With the expanded IPL next year its promises to continue to build on what is the games biggest domestic tournament in 2011 hopefully.