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Posts tagged Football
FIFA World Cup 2010
Dec 6th
The 32 teams participating at next year’s FIFA World Cup™ finals discovered their fate this evening when the Final Draw for South Africa 2010 took place in Cape Town.
While South Africans learned that the host nation’s Opening Match on 11 June would be played against Mexico at Soccer City, it was the Group D line-up which caused arguably the biggest stir. Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana will battle it out for two qualifying places for the Round of 16, meaning two nations with passionate support will depart the tournament early. There could be a high-profile casualty from Group G too, after Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal were drawn together.
An estimated global television audience of 200 million joined the 2,000 invited guests in the Draw Hall in watching the colourful and entertaining ceremony unfold. With African sporting stars such as athlete Haile Gebreselassie, rugby player John Smit, cricketer Makhaya Ntini, and footballers Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu assisting with the draw, along with England’s David Beckham, it was always going to be an exhilarating occasion, but the undoubted centrepiece came when the eight groups were revealed.
An early highlight of the draw was the eye-catching encounter between England and USA, scheduled for 12 June, which evokes the Americans’ famous 1-0 win over their transatlantic cousins at Brazil 1950. Argentina, Nigeria and Greece will get the chance to revive their group rivalry from 1994, while the heavyweight collision between Portugal and Brazil on 25 June also has the feel of a derby.
Ten Reasons Why The SAFF Cup Is Important To India
Dec 1st
1) Continental Rivalry
The SAFF Cup, previously known as the SAARC Championships, is the premier international football tournament for countries in the South Asian region. In a competition like SAFF Cup the Indian Football team gets an opportunity to show off its class against continental rivals like Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nepal. As in cricket where India-Pakistan football matches see overwhelming TRPs, football matches between the two countries can also yield similar results.
2) International Exposure
The national team players are always complaining about the lack of international exposure for them. So the SAFF cup is important for India as it is not only an international tournament but it also gives them an opportunity to play matches against opponents at neutral grounds which is very essential for long term development.
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