Big day ahead! If you read the English press, you might be forced to believe that the England national team is in a massive crisis. There’s been too much written and said about England’s performance in the last . . er . . 2 matches. This is not being looked at as two bad matches. But if the world cup itself lasts for 7 matches for the finalist, playing badly in 2 matches is quite a proportion. Anyways, in summary, England has played poorly, probably very poorly, in this world cup so far and they need to win the next one to stay in the world cup.

What’s more disgusting that England’s football is the English journalism. I must say that the behaviour of the English press is sickening. They seem so excited with England’s failure than they might feel with England’s success. At the end of the Algeria match, some of the press people might have pumped their fist saying ‘yesss’. See, as I said, it’s clear that England played poorly. And it is fine if the English press criticise England’s performance. It’s gone beyond that. There’s so much fiction and fantasy about what could have caused this instead of proper constructive criticism and proper theories of what could work going forward.

England had a fantastic qualifying campaign. I knew that Capello would make a difference to England but I was still surprised at how England breezed through the qualifiers. They even had a sweet revenge with a 5-1 win over Croatia. It was not without a reason that England had very favourable odds to be world champions, before the tournament began. Capello sacked Terry as captain and that was welcomed by the press (it was more like engineered by the press). When Capello announced his squad, it was welcomed by the press. So, up until the start of the tournament, it was all fine. In the eyes of the fourth estate, Capello was the kind of disciplinarian, tactical master that this England team needed.

As soon as England drew two matches, all hell has broken loose. Unfortunately, there was a dire need to find some scapegoat – Capello, Rooney, Lampard, Heskey, Green – as you see, the press wanted a scapegoat in flesh. The pool of players from which the squad was picked, was poor. That wasn’t a good scapegoat. There are hardly any good, skillful ball players in England. The football training structure or the playing style in England does not reward that kind of play, hence you don’t get those kind of players. That wasn’t a scapegoat.

The FIFA world player of the year is being awarded since 1991. There is not even ONE player from England that has become a world player of the year. Premier league is the richest in the world but England could not produce one world player of the year in two decades? In the last 30 years only once an English player has won the European player of the year (Ballon ‘d Or). Shouldn’t this be the talking point? This is all very fundamental. This is not something Fabio Capello can change overnight. It is the FA that needs to act and not Fabio Capello. But still, the papers are all about Capello, Heskey, Green, Terry, Lampard, Gerrard etc.

Just when the press has created a national uproar over England’s performance, FA organised a press conference to calm the nerves. You had every goddamn press reporter over there just waiting to insult whoever is gonna be behind the mike. So gets behind the mike? Super captain Stevie Me? Nah, he is not the one for close range, he is more like a 40-yard man, isn’t he? Who else then, the most expensive England manager Fabio Capello? Nope. It is the ousted captain John Terry who walks in and dares to speak. I was mightily impressed with John Terry’s interview. He was clear, he was honest and he was confident. It was FA’s idea to get John Terry speak. There was an FA representative sitting right next to him all along.

The key message from Terry’s interview was that (i) they are all together and fully behind the manager (ii) the team recognizes that the performance so far has been poor (iii) they are focussing completely on the Slovenia match and (iv) they are 100% confident of progressing to the next round. Instead, what the press including BBC picked up from the interview was totally different. That’s sad. In most cases, he was responding to questions. He was asked about Joe Cole, so he responded and I think his response was spot on. Yes, Joe Cole and Rooney are more skillful so they can unlock defences. And yes, if he has a problem he will speak to the manager. I thought Terry’s interview was very positive.

The whole battery of journalists were expecting something very spicy. So it didn’t matter what message Terry was trying to convey. They just twisted the whole interview to the stories that they wanted to write and debate. The column by Phil McNulty, Chief Sports Editor of BBC, was really disgraceful. Having listened to the whole 15-min interview, I was astonished at the way McNulty described the whole interview and had woven a pre-meditated story. It’s very sad especially because it’s the BBC and not The Sun or The Daily Mail. Finally, the journalists succeeded in making a traitor out of Terry who’s trying to arrange a coup while all he was trying to do was to exude confidence and provide assurance.

The next day, there was another press conference. Still no signs of Captain Stevie Me. It had to be another Chelsea player to come on. Vice captain Frank Lampard came on to reiterate that there are no problems in the English camp. Lampard’s interview was also brilliant. I like the way he supported Terry’s message. He almost said ‘are you all idiots, don’t you understand what he was trying to say’.

John spoke from the heart and we should be thankful there are players who speak that way. That [headlines on Terry being a traitor] couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t see anyone here trying to win the World Cup and representing your country can be branded a ‘traitor’. Some people won’t say too much. Others want to hit things head on. The message I had was that John was saying some very positive things. John spoke honestly about wanting us to turn this around and move on. John is very tough. I am sure he was pissed off with the headlines and he will react in the right way.

There wasn’t a rebel gang. It’s the only way I’ve known a team be able to recover from results. If people just go to their rooms and don’t talk, how are you supposed to sit down and say: ‘What about when you did this or could you not have done better there?’ That’s completely normal. The fact it’s actually become a ‘rebel’ thing baffles me, really. It’s good to talk, to get problems out in the open.

What he [Terry] said was right. Wayne and Joe have that special ability. I’m sure if you want John to speak about Steven Gerrard or Aaron Lennon, then he’ll tell you they can unlock defences. Players aren’t that sensitive. I wasn’t knocking John’s door down and saying: ‘Are you saying I can’t unlock a defence?’ I didn’t take any offence. Technically he is very good and he brings that little bit of magic to the table.

Top class response from Super Frankie Lampard. He’s telling the journos to ‘GROW UP!’

I might have said this a million times and I would keep saying this – this English press is sickening. It’s all turning out to be absolutely baseless stories, fantasies, fictions, information from ‘close sources’, information from ‘insiders’ etc. There are hardly any quality articles or debates. There is a mad rush to print scoop that sells. These journalists have no moral ground to talk lowly of England’s performance. I’m sure articles would be ready for an England elimination. It is at least to silence these idiots, I want England to win on Wednesday and progress further.

England for the win. Whether England wins or not, I’ll be pleased if the unwanted focus moves away from the players and coach while the real issues are addressed. I’m very clear in my mind that the England players and the coach are not the real issues. The real issues are far more fundamental and deep rooted. It may not be very sensational as John Terry sleeping with his colleague’s ex-wife, but it might add some value in improving the condition of the game in England. England for a 3-0 win.

Great news! David Silva wants to be a bluechampion! And he absolutely means it. In this cryptic world of transfer interviews, he’s come out so openly and clearly that he wants to join Chelsea. In fact, it’s hard to be more clear than this. This is out on every football website so I hope there is some truth in this. I tend to believe stories that have a quote than the ones that don’t. While non-English players are bigger victims of ‘sensational misquoting’ by British tabloids, this one from David Silva cannot just be a misquote. This is too much and too clear to be a misquote. We can expect this to catch some momentum and become the hot news in the next few days. Read this now:

Chelsea have established themselves as one of the best clubs in Europe over the last five years. They might not have the history of Real Madrid or AC Milan but they are creating their own history now. There is no reason why in the future Chelsea can’t be as decorated as Real Madrid. Chelsea probably have, along with Barcelona, the best squad in football and if any player joins Chelsea he knows he is going to win things. In players like John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they have players who would get into any team in the world and it would be a pleasure to play with them. There is no doubt in my mind that Chelsea would be a great club to play for – and a club where I could fulfill my ambition of league titles and the European Cup. The Premier League is still the place to be. No other league in the world has six or seven Champions League-quality teams.

Whoops! That’s quite a lot on a club that’s not your own isn’t it? About 75% of that text is Silva talking about Chelsea as if he’s already a Chelsea player. He talks about the club’s status, ambition, squad and players in a very crisp few lines. I like the part where he says Chelsea are creating their own history. Now, one might ask ‘isn’t this the same Silva who wanted to join Man Utd about a month or so back?’. Well, Silva’s contract is expiring at Valencia this month. He doesn’t want to stay at Valencia. He is not getting a chance in either Real Madrid or Barcelona. Any other club in Spain does not match his ambitions. He wants to play in the premier league because it is more challenging and competitive. In this backdrop, when he was asked if he would join Man Utd if there’s an offer, you’d expect him to say ‘yes’. That’s natural isn’t it? Or do you expect him to say, ‘No, I won’t join the stinking manure. I want to win the league by playing good football on the pitch with no help from the referees and authorities’. No, he just responded like any player in his position would do.

By the way, here is what he had said about him ‘joining’ manure.

When you hear a club like Manchester United is interested in you it is an honor. I am very aware of the Premier League, and in recent years it has been the stand-out league in the world. If it came calling, especially if it was a club like Manchester United, it would be very hard to resist. I am happy at Valencia but every player has his price and if they get an offer they think is good business anything is possible.

Now you see the difference between how he’s taken to Chelsea and Man Utd. What he has said about him joining Chelsea makes me feel that he has almost signed up for Chelsea already. It’s very obvious that Chelsea wants to keep their transfers very low key. And probably, David Silva has spilt the beans?! I hope so. David Silva was not one of the players in my ‘wishful thinking’ list because I was kind of sure that he’d join one of the Spanish giants. There were also rumours that JM wants Silva. Now that Silva’s come out and said this I can’t wait to see him in a Chelsea shirt.

David Silva would be the perfect replacement for Joe Cole. In fact, he would much much better than having a Joe Cole on the pitch. He is younger, hungrier, more effective and less injury prone. Silva can play either in the right wing or the left wing – both with consummate ease. He can also play as an attacking midfielder or the support striker. In short, he is exactly what we need now. I had written earlier about strengthening our right hand side. He could just be that. Remember, Bosingwa would return as the right back plus one of Essien or Lampard could play as the right midfielder. Now if David Silva is the right winger, this can make a big difference and can have a telling effect in our defence of the league title.

Some could say that he is a bit lightweight and could be muscled away by the big bullying defenders of the premier league but then you could say that for most pacy, nifty wingers. You don’t see any burly, heavyweight winger who is also lightning quick, do you? These players are of the light mould but they make it up with their skill.

Ok I’ll stop now. There’s no word from Silva’s agent or from Chelsea FC. It’s just Silva talking about Chelsea being a great club and a club where he could fulfill his ambitions. I really hope that there is something that’s happening behind the scenes and one day morning I wake to the news in the official website that David Silva has joined Chelsea. Please let that day be tomorrow!

Here comes the first round up of World Cup 2010 here at BlueChampions. Let’s talk about the biggest talking points of this world cup – England’s perceived ‘disaster’ with USA, how much does the jabulani ball do, what do we do with the vuvuzelas, Germany’s ascent to the hot favourites in one match, lack of goals in the ‘boring’ world cup, empty stadia in the most awaited spectacle in Africa and that’s about it.

First up, you don’t how much I feel relieved that there’s some footie to watch. And if that happens the world cup, I can’t complain. I must say I’m enjoying this world cup thoroughly. There is a notion that this is becoming something of a boring world cup. I completely disagree with that thought. This world cup so far has seen some fantastic matches. I can see that teams are more competitive and hence the days the top teams mauling the smaller ones by hockey scores look to be over. You see some big European/Latin American managers coaching unfancied teams which only means the theory, knowledge and practice of football being shared with the wider world and thereby making the sport much more competitive.

Some people think high scoring matches are interesting and low scoring matches are boring. Hell with them. I would ask them to appreciate the sport than glaring at the scoreline all the time. I could see this world cup being much more intense. It’s not anymore the world cup that belongs to the Brazils, Argentinas, Germanys and Italys. You see smaller teams coming in to the world cup with bigger ambitions. There is so much at stake. This has also contributed to this tournament being more tactical. In a tournament that could last just 7 matches even for the champions, you don’t have too much time to experiment. You’re playing against unfamiliar opponents, some you’re facing for the first time ever, you’re not sure what’ll work and what won’t. You don’t have too much time to work all this out. You have just 7 matches, thats if you get to the final. So what do you want to do? Win 5-4? Play pragmatic football built on tactics than on flair and magic. That’s why we see tighter matches. And I love tactical battles on the football pitch and hence I think this has been a very good tournament so far.

I’m very annoyed to see thousands of empty seats in the stadiums. You see that the whole of Africa is celebrating at the time of this world cup. You know that people would die to get the tickets. FIFA told us all that the matches have been sold out completely and still there not just hundreds but thousands of empty seats. In a world cup, which happens once in four years, and the first time ever in Africa, you just can’t allow this to happen. What’s even worse is, there are millions out there who might have been turned down for world cup tickets. Such a sad state. Hopefully, this would be sorted out before the knock out stages of the competition. If I see a world cup final with about 3,000 empty seats, I’ll die of intolerance.

The stadiums may not be full but you wouldn’t guess that if you have to go by the noise (music?) of the vuvuzelas. What’s my take on Vuvuzelas? Personally, if I have a choice, I’d like to turn it off. It’s been quite a nuisance for me when I watch the matches on the telly. To be there at the stadium or on the pitch, it would feel like hell if you’re not used to it. Some teams have the advantage having been used to it. South Africa holds the biggest advantage. They might even insist on using the vuvuzelas. Teams like Brazil, Spain, USA have played to the vuvuzelas during the confederations cup. For the rest, it could be very tough indeed. So am I in favour of banning it? Hell no!

Doesn’t it sound weird for you to go to a country and tell them to stop doing something that they have been doing for years? Why should South Africa stop doing it? If that’s how they watch football, you better get used to it. With today’s technology it shouldn’t be too difficult to simulate the crowd noise during practice, at least from a sound point of view. I mean, this is something teams could have prepared for, if it’s such a big thing. You knew that there would be vuvuzelas in the world cup in South Africa. If you hadn’t prepared for it because it’s not a big thing, don’t complain about such small things. I’m surprised that this is even considered. What’s next? Banning the chants when the world cup happens in England. It appears that vuvuzelas are part of the football culture in South Africa. They even blew in their parliament in celebration ahead of the world cup. Probably, we should all be talking about how we get used to or work around different cultures instead of knocking them off because we find it difficult for ourselves.

Okay then, from one African lingo to another. Jabulani. Please allow my naivety. When a new ball is being introduced for a massive tournament like the world cup, I would definitely want to start using the world cup much ahead of the world cup. In fact, I would want all may practice sessions only on the Jabulani, if it’s so different from the regular ones. I hear that not all teams got to use the Jabulani. This being an Adidas ball, all the Adidas sponsored teams such as Germany have had the privilege of using the Jabulani since much earlier. Since you look interested, here is the list of ‘Adidas teams’ in this world cup that can have this little advantage – Germany, Argentina, Spain, France, South Africa, Japan, Nigeria, Paraguay, Greece, Denmark and Slovakia. Draw your own conclusions.

I understand that because of sponsorship related legalities, non-Adidas teams like England couldn’t play with the Jabulani. This sounds so stupid. This is when I get really angry. While FA is watching what John Terry does in his spare time, I’d love to have them work this little things like preparing a football pitch at the Wembley, doing something about the talent drain in terms of players and managers in England and doing things that would improve England’s chances in tournaments. Finding a scapegoat in the ball is not something new. This happened in Euro 2008 and Germany 2006 too. Stevie Me making a reference to the Jabulani when he was ‘showing support’ to Rob Green was downright cheap. As you can see, my views on the vuvuzelas and Jabulani are quite similar. It’s like you woke on the match day in a world cup and saw ‘these vuvuzelas are noisy and I need to play with the Jabulani ball’. Just get over it.

Is Fabio Capello the right man to lead England? This is the question I’ve been waiting for the Press to raise because they’re so predictable. I thought this would come after the group stages but the English press just outdid themselves. It took just 90 minutes in the world cup for them to ask this question. Granted, England weren’t really smashing the Americans out of the park but they got a draw in the first match of the group league and have got the toughest match of the group out of their way. It was a not-so-convincing start but it’s not like you need to maul every opponent in the most stylish way match after match to be world champions or semi finalists (in this case:).

All said, I did think that Capello got certain things wrong. By track record and form, Joe Hart is better than Rob Green. Heskey should not start. SWP should be avoided. Play with a single striker formation. Allow both Lampard and Gerrard to express themselves. Replace Heskey’s role with another midfielder. Carragher is a time bomb. Stay away from him. Play Joe Cole. Make England play with some calm and with some belief in their skills. That’s it. England is set.

My predictions are going fine I guess. The biggest one is Japan doing well. You’ve got to give it to me:) I also mentioned that Ballack not being there will not affect Germany and they have shown what a fine unit they are. They were just brilliant with their attacking play. But remember, in Germany 2006, Argentina were supposed to be ‘the best team’ but they were beaten by an ‘efficient’ Germany in a shootout. Playing great football and peaking too early does not help Germany. I want to see how well they can play against better defences. I’m happy for Germany doing well because it will make my man Michael Ballack, ex-Chelsea player, happy while he is injured and looking for another club. I will miss him.

Quick udpates on where my loyalties lie in this world cup. I’m hoping that one of England, Germany, Brazil or Argentina win it – in that order. Would be delighted if these four teams make it to the semi finals. I definitely don’t want Spain to win it. France to get eliminated as early as possible (didn’t happen in the qualifiers thanks to Henry’s handiwork). Wouldn’t mind if Italy win it again. Want the African teams to do well. Go England/Germany/Brazil/Argentina! Note: While England remains on top of my list, the second, third and fourth choices do normally undergo changes as the tournament progresses. I tend to support the teams that play intelligent football and also give it all – like Chelsea.

That’s it for now. Hope to put in a blog end of this week with updates on more about football on the pitch at South Africa. You can keep in touch with me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/bluechampion) or if you have any questions, you can ask me. Luckily for you, I won’t speak like a pundit and I won’t say ‘it depends’.

For many of us this has come as a news which could be best described as a ‘curate’s egg’. Personally, for me it came as a shock but I knew that it was coming, so at least the shock was minus the surprise factor.

News channels are flooded with this topic and it really pains me to see how media goes against us. Forget the biased British media even the Indian NDTV described Chelsea as “rude” in releasing the duo.

We are sure that Ancellotti wanted both of them to stay despite Joey failing to fit into the boss’ tactical nuances. And we are also sure that it is solely Roman’s decision to let them go.

Economically, Ballack came for free and left for free, Joey had cost us around 6 millions but both of them had fetched us billions and for that we would always remain thankful. Had we renewed Joey’s contract we could have been benefitted despite his greedy measures. Buying a new substitute is a way more expensive than increasing the wage of the one who is already a player. But the increase would cause turmoil in the wages of Chelsea players and this was what Roman wanted the last. If I had been Joey, I would accepted the offer (£90,000-a-week) and prove his worth on the field thereby getting a raise in the salary. But it is the question of paying so high to most probably warm the bench and the willingness of Joey to warm the bench. I think the player of his caliber deserves to be in the starting 11.

Ballack’s case is bit different. ADIDAS is Chelsea’s one of the main sponsors and Ballack’s departure might distance ADIDAS from Chelsea. It is not that we are relying solely on the German sportswear but why would we not like anything which comes as a compliment. So don’t be surprised if our kit might have NIKE’s logo within few seasons’ time. I would fancy the beloved UMBRO, though. Ballack’s wage is higher (£130,000-a-week) than Joey’s and he was pretty happy even to take a wage cut last season. He was also happy to extend and was hopeful that it would happen at the current wage rate. But Roman thought that it was too high a stake.

We know they were given new wages but it still fell below their expectations. We don’t know how much Chelsea offered but logically, we could have given Joey 100,000 and Ballack 110,000 (another wage cut) and if they wanted more, then off they go. I feel that is what actually happened. Nico, the unsung hero gets only 90,000 and he is happy with that. Are English and Germans greedier?

However, we need not bother much that they have left because Roman is going to buy and he will be his generous self. What we might miss would be Joey’s creativity and Ballack’s experience but if it came at a too little too high a cost, then Roman did the right thing. May be Roman want to rekindle his chance on the Champions League which had evaded him for so long and may be Ballack and Joey played their part to cause the evasion, may be!

Joey refused to comment on his future and stressed that he is solely focused on the World Cup. And yes his performance in England’s shirt in the coming weeks would determine his future. But it is obvious that he is going to ignite a war amongst the probable suitors: Redknapp, Wenger, Fergusson, Mancini, amongst others. And I fear that he would join one of our arch rivals and take revenge on us, but revenge and Chelsea do not go well when you are not a Chelsea player!

Ballack expressed his sadness and I think he is right. He pointed at Roman as the one who made the decision and vowed to prove him wrong. He said, “I’m even more determined to carry on since I’ve been injured and the motivation is growing inside me every single day.” And I can see the heaviness (of the pun) in the word “injured” and am sure Roman got it too!

Ballack was grateful to Chelsea and the fans and said “Chelsea was always my first choice as I had four great years at the club and enjoyed every minute, but it was not to be. It’s still my first choice, even now, but it was not up to me. The decision was down to Roman.” He is quite straight forward and is so nice of him to acknowledge Chelsea.

He sums it up his departure message here, “I loved the club. They always made me feel welcome and there was a special atmosphere in the team. We won three FA Cups and the Premier League in four years, but winning the Double this season was unbelievable as it was a real piece of history. Chelsea do not have the history of Liverpool or Manchester United but are growing as a club. I wish them well for the future.”

We, as fans are bothered about Chelsea and least about the past and these two are a past now. But if it is money, rather the lack of it that they had to leave us, I doubt if there would be any person willing to meet their costly demand. And even if they got it it won’t be more than a mere addition to what we tabled for them. Joey might get it from Man City or Tottenham while Ballack seems probable to join Real or land up in Bundesliga, Wolfsburg being the first German suitor.

Whatever happens let us all wish them a good luck in their career and once again thank them for their service. Joey’s flick against Manu and Ballack’s gunning down (doing exactly what we all would have done) of that Norwegian wanker would remain as two sweetest moments of the most recent times. If you wish, you can recollect as many as you can, you won’t have to look hard!

In addition let us all take time to express our gratitude to Juliano Belletti, may he have good time back in his Samba land.

Here is the world cup blog. I can’t still not speak about the world cup. Can I? We’re just 5 day away from the start. With predictions flying everywhere, the injury news keeps changing the odds every single day. I thought I’ll anyway make my predictions – from the group standings to world champions. I have a certain luck or judgment when it comes to football predictions.

Before Euro 2008 I made certain predictions. I said Russia would be in the semi final. I said France will not go past the group stage. I was sure that hosts Portugal will not win it. Predicted that Spain will beat Italy in the quarterfinal. I predicted a Germany vs Spain final. I expected Ballack to be the European Champion, probably that’s where my club allegiance took over. Anyway, I was truly impressed about how right I was about Russia, France, Germany and Spain. So, take me seriously! I’m not your Sky Sports pundit :-)

Okay, here we go:

GROUP LEAGUE STAGE

Group A – Winners: Mexico | Runners: South Africa

This is a tough group. I’m kind of sure that France will be eliminated. So that leaves three teams from which two will make it. I think Mexico can top the group as they are a better team with good individual players. I can’t see South Africa dropping out at this stage. The certainly have a great home advantage. We saw that in the confederations cup.

Group B – Winners: Argentina | Runners: Nigeria

Argentina should top this group. I don’t see any other possibility. They had a rough qualification phase but having made to the world cup, they are a very strong contender to go all the way. I think Nigeria would pip South Korea for progression. African teams would surely enjoy a lot of support and I think Nigeria would cash in on that.

Group C – Winners: England | Runners: United States

England are going to do a very good job at this world cup. I expect Capello to steer England through this group with some ease. United States would go through to the next round with equal ease. This is probably the group with the least upset potential.

Group D – Winners: Germany | Runners: Australia

Ballack’s absence is a big blow but Germany is always about organisation and team work. This is a tricky group but I would expect Germany to stay on top. There could be a mad rush for the second place. Ghana would certainly miss Essien. Serbia is a very good team but something tells me that Australia would progress.

Group E – Winners: Netherlands | Runners: Japan

No Robben but Netherlands have too much fire power not to top this group. This could also be a hard fought group with some tense battles until the last day. Japan could be the lowest rated team in the group but I think they can spring a surprise.

Group F – Winners: Italy | Runners: Paraguay

When it comes to tournaments, I would put Italy and Germany in the same league. There is something about them delivering in tournaments. This could be an easy group for them to top. I don’t see either a Newzealand or Slovakia progressing over Paraguay here.

Group G – Winners: Brazil | Runners: Portugal

Finishing second is not a Brazilian thing, is it? This is a so-called group of death but not for Brazil. Probably for Portugal it might be a nervy progress ahead of Ivory Coast and North Korea. I don’t see Ronaldo’s team missing out so early. They should be through.

Group H – Winners: Spain | Runners: Chile

Spain must have been relieved when their draws were made. The top world cup favourites should finish above the rest of the group while Chile can clinch progression ahead of Honduras and Switzerland.

PRE-QUARTERS

From this stage on rankings don’t matter and history doesn’t matter. Matches could be turned with moments of magic. There is no second chance. There could be this lottery of penalty shoot out too. Upset-potential is high!

Mexico beats Nigeria

This is anybody’s match. I have thus feeling that Mexico is a much better team than people think. While African teams will do well this time, I have my doubts about their ability to handle pressure. Mexico will progress.

England beats Australia

England has to progress this stage pretty comfortably if Capello has to justify any of this remuneration package. I think they would get past Australia comfortably, though this might sound arrogant.

Argentina beats South Africa

The hosts will have to get their heart break at some point of time. I think it would be at the hands (not literally, but you never know!) of Argentina. It could be a very even match decided by a flash of brilliance just like what Brazil did to them in the confederations cup.

Germany beats United States

United States beat Spain 2-0 in the confed cup. But Germany is no Spain. Germany is not a team that you can beat by counter attacking tactic. I think this will go to the penalties and you know who wins when it comes to spot kicks.

Netherlands beats Paraguay

I expect Netherlands to come out all guns blazing and knocking all the confidence out of their opponent by the half time. This is as much as they can get without Robben. They are getting past Paraguay without breaking a sweat.

Italy beats Japan

This is the part where Japan gets schooled. The masters of football will toy with Japan giving them lessons on various facets of football. In the end, it may not be humiliating but Japan would realise that they were never in the match.

Brazil beats Chile

Brazil might finish off Chile in a hurry. Typically, the Dunga-led Brazil has wiped off some of their traditional flair and replace that with some defensive order and organisation. When a team of Brazil’s quality wants to progress in a world cup, and if they can be less of purists and more of pragmatists, it’s hard to stop them.

Spain beats Portugal

The battle of the neighbours would clearly show how far these teams are in terms of football ability. While Spain have Villa and Torres upfront plus Navas, Silva and Pedro, Portugal is all about Ronaldo. Nani, Almeida etc don’t impress me and I don’t they are the types that would impress in a stage like world cup.

QUARTER FINALS

England beats Mexico

This could be a very close match. I don’t think this would be taken to the penalties but this could be settled in extra time. This is where Frank Lampard delivers a man of the match performance with a late winner!

Brazil beats Netherlands

Again, I’m making a bold prediction here. It’s not about Brazil winning but it’s about how easily they would beat Netherlands. I think Brazil will nearly humiliate Netherlands and beat them to submission. This is when Brazil peak in the tournament and get uber-confident that this is their cup to win.

Argentina beats Germany

Germany would approach this match to take it to the penalties like they did in the 2006 world cup. That would back fire. Argentina will win without ever being threatened seriously. Sergio Aguero finally would finally make a big impact at a stage as big as this.

Italy beats Spain

The top-top favourites Spain would go out to street smart Italy. While Spain would have 70% possession and make 600 passes, Italy would score from a set piece and hold on to the lead to go to the semi finals. Step in Iaquinta, slam home that mighty header!

SEMI FINALS

Brazil beats England

You can only do so much with John Terry not being captain. I see England taking a lead with a goal involving Lennon and Rooney only for Brazil to come back and show who’s the boss. No samba football but a strong performance hitting England where it hurts. Don’t discount the possibility of a goalie blunder. Brazil to win in regulation time. All hell breaks loose in England.

Argentina beats Italy

This could be a nail biter. Probably the best match of the tournament. I think this would be decided in the penalty shoot out. Yes, I mean the Italians losing a penalty shoot out. Leo Messi would hardly make an impact, might even get subbed in the second half. The Italian will fight bravely to win the match in full time but Argentina would go to the finals.

FINAL

Brazil beats Argentina

The global derby of football. The best possible pair in a world cup final. It’s not the just the trophy, it’s also the pride that’s at stake. One would dread to be on the losing side here. Diego Maradona’s dream of winning the world cup as a manager might not happen this time. Brazil, the old rivals and the arch enemy, would be the champions. I think this match would be over in regulation time. This may not quite be the classic that you would expect in a Brazil vs Argentina as a world cup final. There’s too much at stake. Substance will win over the style. And it is Brazil who have a good balance of both of them. Brazil will the be world champions for the sixth time.

THIRD PLACE

England beats Italy

If it’s of any significance, England would clinch the third spot to get their best result in a world cup since 1966. And for once, they would never be beaten on penalties in a tournament.

So this is it.

Probably, it’s so boing and conservative that I think Brazil would be world champions. But honestly, as it stands today, I think they are the strongest. One might say that Spain is the best team in the tournament but they have this disease that Barcelona have. While they are oh-so-beautiful when teams play open football, they have struggled against organised teams. I think they will flatter to deceive. Plus, put this on record, they’re playing style is too slow to win the world cup. They lack pace in their build up. Bottomline – Spain are not going to be world champions this time. This year belongs to Brazil! It pains to say that a Chelsea player won’t win the world cup but that’s all right because Chelsea will ge their hands on all other trophies!

While these are my predictions, who do I ‘want’ to win? Certainly, England. I think I’m an England supporter when it comes to internationals. That’s also probably because of the Chelsea contingent in England and that an England win is what can bring maximum joy to most of the Chelsea players, staff and supporters. Go England!

Future is not future when you can predict accurately, isn’t it? Let’s see in a month’s time if I’m completely wrong. if I don’t get any of my predictions right, don’t say I know nothing about football. You’ve heard about this bloke called Pele right?