England can make it all the way to the final during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa according to coach Fabio Capello. England’s manager believes that his team has some of the best football players in the world, and with a little bit of luck on their side anything is possible.
“The best football players in the world are coming to South Africa, and I am proud to say that I have many such players in my team. I am very satisfied with England’s current squad, so why not winning the World Cup trophy this summer? Our goal is definitely to reach the final because we have a fantastic team. If my players are healthy we could beat any opponent,” said the Italian coach.
Fabio Capello also talks about the Calciopoli scandal, and says it was the main reason for him leaving Italy: “I wouldn’t be the coach of England right now if Calciopoli had never happened. I wouldn’t have left Italy to coach Real Madrid, and come to England right after. But it wasn’t a bad thing after all, it just proves that something negative can create something positive later on.”
Fabio Capello used to be the coach of Juventus in 2006, a team that was heavily implicated in a major Italian football scandal over a network of close relations between teams, managers and referees. Capello left Italy for Real Madrid where he stayed just one season. After 6 months without a job he moved to the UK and started working for the English national football team.
Less than a week away before Raymond Domenech decides on the initial team roster of France during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, rumour has it that Thierry Henry might be out of the picture. Henry who is currently playing for Barcelona has had a very bad season this year, and he watched most games from the bench more often than he played. Even during last week’s match against Inter, and when coach Guardolia was looking for a striker towards the end of the game he never even looked at Henry to step up in the game.
Henry that is mostly playing on the left wing, is uncertain to be selected against more suitable candidates such as Franck Ribéry who also kicks best playing on the left wing. So who will it be? Another option is Loic Remy for his speed that could match the speed of once talended Henry, and who would be even more suitable than Ribéry for France.
Thierry Henry is the last player of the golden French national team that won the World Cup trophy 12 years ago, and maybe 2006 was his last World Cup appearance as the chances to get picked again are not in his favor. Henry will be 33 this summer, and only few players have managed to remain in top shape at this age. We are not sure Thierry Henry belongs to this few lucky players, but maybe we will find out next week once coach Domenech announces his final draw.
Derek Boateng of Ghana will participate in the World Cup for the second time in his career after 2006, when his national team managed to go past the group stage in the country’s very first tournament appearance. The 27 year old footballer is currently playing in the Spanish La Liga with Getafe CF, and there are rumours that maybe next year Boateng will make the big jump to Valencia. Today Derek Boateng talks about Ghana and the 2010 World Cup competition in South Africa this summer.
“We have many new talents in a team that is built around a core of older and more experienced players. This is our second appearance in a World Cup, and we knew what we had to do to get there, and even more important what to do to go even further this time. We are playing in a tough group, but it was the same thing four years ago and we managed to go in the next round. In Germany Ghana was the only African team that was able to do that, this made everyone really proud. In the second round we were unlucky because we had to play against Brazil though. We are ready for South Africa, and the team sees all games like a big challenge. Every World Cup starts as a mini league, but the right mentality is to separate each of the three games and look at it as a final.”
Derek Boateng speaks about South Africa, the first African country to host a World Cup tournament: “It really fills me up with happiness, and it is a good chance for our people to learn about international football. Most Africans will have the opportunity to experience this in person for the first time in their lives, something really important. And the teams also have an opportunity to do more this time, not just Ghana or South Africa, but all African teams participating in the 2010 World Cup. The difficulty factor is always a given, there are many national teams that are much better, years ahead. But every little detail counts, the climate, the fans, the overall support, these will all be very familiar and we need to take advantage of the situation.”
Derek Boateng concludes by saying that Spain is his grand favourite for the World Cup trophy: “Spain finally removed all the pressure after winning the European Championship, their morale is high right now. Spain has some amazing players in all positions, and their bench is much deeper that any other team. They have a pretty low age average, a lot of experience, and huge scoring abilities.”
