Archive: Japan
Morning Kick-About
I like stats (good stats, not junk like this), and FIFAWorldCup.com has a good stat-driven piece up today. They crunched the numbers on the average age of World Cup players thru history, and discovered that no winning side in the last 40 years has had an average age of 28 or more. In Chile 1962 [Brazil] weighed in at an average of 30 years and 1 month, a staggering 17 months older on average than the next oldest squad. Since then the average age of the winning squads has been: England (27/01); Brazil (25/02); Germany (27/03); Argentina (26/03); Italy (27/04); Argentina (26/10); Germany (27/09); Brazil (27/11); France (27/04) and Brazil (26/09). ... The average age of every player taking part in the Germany showpiece is 27/05. Remarkably that figure has scarcely changed over recent competitions. Four years ago it was 27/06 as it was in 1998. In 1994 it had...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 6, 2006; 09:20 AM ET | Comments (22) | TrackBack (0)
Who Do You Like in Group F?
Friday. Predictions. It feels like a tradition now. First, the reading material. - Steve Goff's group analysis, written the day of the draw. - Team profiles, also writen in December. BBC.com's team guides: - Australia - Brazil - Croatia - Japan Did you know: During France 1998, the stadium authorities were astonished to find the Japan fans' seating area cleaner after a game than before. On the final whistle, the fans had picked up all the rubbish they could find before depositing it in the bins by the exit. My thoughts ... I hate to be boring again, but how does Brazil not win this group? And how does Croatia not finish second? The biggest question seems to be who takes third -- and the June 12 Japan-Australia game may determine that. I assume most everyone agrees Brazil is the pick for No. 1 here. Anyone think Croatia might stumble,...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 19, 2006; 09:05 AM ET | Comments (50) | TrackBack (0)
Rooney Update and More ...
First of all, it's good to see all those insightful comments on the U.S. team post. I expect to see a similar level of debate when Togo names its squad. Here's what's going on elsewhere: - Wayne Rooney has TWO broken foot bones. When pressed on whether Rooney now needs a miracle, Eriksson ... said: 'Maybe.' - Japan has a guy with a broken metatarsal, too -- striker Atsushi Yanagisawa (a former Sampdoria player whose current club is the Kashima Antlers). - Manchester United/France D Mikael Silvestre thinks he deserves a World Cup spot. La sagesse conventionnelle is that he will not get a spot. Which Frenchmen rate ahead of him at defense? Cobbling together some stuff from World Soccer and SI.com, it looks like the top defenders are: William Gallas (Chelsea) Lilian Thuram (Juve) Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich) Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle) Gael Givet (Monaco) Antoine Réveillère (Lyon) (The Réveillères...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 3, 2006; 01:45 PM ET | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)
Lunchtime Kick-About
A quick read on the news: - The BBC says England has offered its coaching job to Luiz Felipe "Big Phil" Scolari. It will be controversial to take a non-Englishman again, but not as controversial as picking Peter Scolari (bottom left). (Note: If you haven't been following this story, this is England's pick for its 2010 World Cup coach. Sven-Goran Eriksson is still in charge this year. Next week, the FA will start interviewing candidates for 2014 ...) - Argentina phenom Lionel Messi experiences a potential setback. Messi pulled up during a sprint and kicked a cone in frustration but Argentina national team sources said it was not serious, they said. It was not immediately clear whether the problem was with the same leg or the same injury. - Aussie Injury Woes Continue. This item is about MF Tim Cahill (Everton), but also reminds us: [Coach Gus] Hiddink is already...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 27, 2006; 12:40 PM ET | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)
