Archive: Paraguay
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)
The Stretch Run
Ok, after a nice holiday weekend off, it's time to get geared up for the Cup. If you're curious what's going on inside The Post's Soccer Central (aka "at my desk"), today most of the stories for the World Cup preview section are due. I'll be editing those over the next couple days, as well as planning some other stories you'll see in the paper over the next 10 days. Steve Goff leaves for Germany on Thursday, and Camille Powell and Jason LaCanfora leave Sunday. It's really hitting all of us that the big event is upon us ... Enough about us. Here are a couple newsy items I've spotted recently: - Injuries: Spain's Xabi Alonso, Italy's Gianluca Zambrotta, England's Michael Owen (!!), Holland's Rafael Van der Vaart, - Good news on the injury front for the Czechs (bad for the U.S., I suppose). Also good news for Tunisia's Hamed...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 30, 2006; 12:55 PM ET | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
Midnight Kick-About
Hey there ... I was away from my computer most of Thursday, so I have not had a chance to post. Here's one for you guys who might drop by late at night ... - Bad U.S. news: Cory Gibbs is out of the World Cup. It's not like Gibbs and Frankie Hedjuk are quote-unquote players you can't afford to lose, but two injuries at defense already? Yeesh. Gregg "Two Gs" Berhalter replaces Gibbs ... - We'll get Wayne Rooney MRI news Friday. BTW, how wild is the news that Man United fired the doc who was overseeing Rooney's recovery? He seemed to be giving the national team physio positive reports, and many figure Sir Alex Ferguson did not like that. In the spirit of fairness: United insist the departure of Dr Mike Stone, the physician who was in charge of Rooney's recovery, is not connected with the England star....
By Jon DeNunzio | May 25, 2006; 11:55 PM ET | Comments (10) | 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)
Who Do You Like in Group B?
Friday looks like it will become prediction day ... seven more Fridays till the World Cup opens, and we did Group A last week, so we're right on schedule. Here are your study aides: - Steve Goff's group analysis (done the day of the draw). - BBC.com on: England (Great stuff: "World Cup pedigree: Invariably qualify and invariably flatter to deceive. Their underachievement on the world stage is only "bettered" by Spain. World Cup high: 1966 and all that.)" Paraguay Sweden Trinidad & Tobago - The Post's look at the whole group (again, done on the day of the draw). My predictions: I hate to be boring, but this seems pretty obvious: 1. England. Obviously the best team in this group. 2. Sweden. Dangerous on the attack, battle-tested ... I like 'em. Just not as much as England. 3. Paraguay. In another group, they might find a way through. I...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 21, 2006; 02:30 PM ET | Comments (33) | TrackBack (0)
Holland's Young, Santa Cruz is Okay
Odds and ends ... Dutch Coach Marco van Basten reminds the world that his team is young. All good coaches know how to play the expectation game ... "Day-to-day reality is that we are less experienced than the so-called big countries - than Argentina, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany and England, among others. These teams are ahead of us. We only have a fair chance of a good account against these top-class teams. Everything would need to go according to plan." Bayern Munich/Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz seems to be recovering nicely. Bremen forward Nelson Haedo Valdez and Santa Cruz are the two main stars of a Paraguay team that hope to upset the formbook in FIFA World Cup Group B. Paraguay face England in their first group game in Frankfurt on 10 June and then take on Sweden and outsiders Trindad and Tobago. Well said, FIFAWorldCup.com ... who will forget...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 13, 2006; 04:40 PM ET | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
