Germany vs England: England is out of the 2010 World Cup after it was trashed by Germany at Free State Stadium in South Africa. Even though Matthew Upson’s tally gave England the chance to come back, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski made sure Germany is going forward in the World Cup games.

England had a goal disallowed at the end of the first-half scored by Lampard. The ball hit the crossbar, crossed the goal line and got out but the Uruguayan referee disallowed it. Lampard would have scored the 2nd goal for England but the team lost anyway even though at that time the score was 2-1 for Germany.

Both teams used line-ups that were little changed. Three lions boss Fabio Capello used the XI tactic that brought victory in the game with Slovenia, putting all his faith in Matthew Upson, James Milner, and Jermaine Defoe. Also, Klose returned from suspension and replaced Cacau who was injured in attack.

England had troubles in attack from the beginning of the game and Germany took advantage of that, although Podolski missed the opportunity when he attempted a shot instead of passing it to a teammate.

Frank Lampard tried a free-kick in a 25 yards position from goal but he struck the set-piece into the wall.

Germany (4-5-1): Neuer; Boateng, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Lahm; Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Ozil (Kiessling 83), Muller (Trochowski 72), Podolski; Klose (Gomez 72).

England (4-4-2): James; Johnson (Wright-Phillips 87), Upson, Terry, A Cole; Milner (J Cole 64), Lampard, Barry, Gerrard; Defoe (Heskey 71), Rooney.

Argentina has won the third game in a row at the World Cup, against Greece and progressed to the next stage.

Maradona’s team has qualified and is the first team with a perfect record.

They have 3 wins to their name and 9 points, as well as an excellent goal difference – 7 goals scored, with only 1 goal conceded.

The team looked pretty good in the game today, too, even if Maradona decided to use a few players that weren’t in his first eleven in the first games. And he was mostly right. Veron played a good game and Martin Palermo scored the second goal.

Demichelis might have had a few bad moments in the first games, but today he made up for it by scoring his team’s first goal in the 77th minute, and was followed by Palermo in the 89th.

A good performance in front of a Greece team that had mostly defensive intentions throughout the game.

In the other game of the group Korea Republic qualified by getting a 2-2 draw against Nigeria.

World Cup 2010: Mexico vs. Uruguay will be a very interesting match, between the leaders of group A at World Cup 2010.

Both of these teams have 4 points before this last group game and a draw means qualification for both.

If these two draw today, France goes home no matter what.

Still, we have seen some very good football from these two along the first two games and it should be the same today. Diego Forlan scored one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament against South Africa and it looks like he will be one of the top goal scorers of the tournament. They’ve also played a very good game against France.

Mexico won against France and got a draw against South Africa and they will hope to advance in the competition, too.

We’ll have to see what happens. If this one ends in a draw, France will play South Africa just for fun…

The French team’s training session today in South Africa came to an abrupt halt.

Coach Raymond Domenech had a fight with team captain Patrice Evra and fitness coach Robert Duverne.

At the end of the talk, Duverne threw his accreditation down. Right after this, the players have started heading for the bus and back to the hotel, where they regrouped.

Domenech seems to have lost control of the situation almost completely, after the French team has very few chances of advancing to the knockout stage of World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

To add insult to injury, Jean Louis Valentin, the director of the French Football Federation, has announced his resignation, saying that he was disgusted and that this situation is for the whole team, country and federation and they won’t be a part of it. He refused to accept this.

Many think that the cause of the scandal is Domenech’s decision to send Nicholas Anelka home. The striker gave Domenech a piece of his mind after the last game.

Blind and visually impaired fans will be able to enjoy a special live-match experience at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Six stadiums will each have 15 seats equipped with headphones, and trained commentators will report live on the action happening down on the pitch. In addition, each of these six stadiums will have 15 seats that will be allocated to their sighted guides who will accompany them, while specially trained volunteers will provide assistance within the stadiums. This is a premier in South Africa’s sporting landscape.

The initiative, launched by the Swiss National Association for the Blind (SNAB) and the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) and financially supported by FIFA, is aimed at making the tournament accessible to all. FIFA Partner Sony is providing the necessary transmitters that will allow people to receive match-day commentary in the stadiums free of charge. The SANCB is ensuring that the tickets are fairly allocated and only a very limited number of tickets are still available for 19 matches via .www.sancb.org.za.

“Football is a universal sport and it must be accessible to everyone. We are therefore delighted to be able to make this unique live experience in the stadium also accessible to visually impaired and blind people. This project is another launching pad for South African sports and will create a legacy with services and facilities at football grounds for visually impaired and blind South Africans,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.

The Institute of Advancement of Journalism was responsible for sourcing, training and coordinating the audio descriptors, while the Academy of Sound Engineering students will perform the technical audio functions that will be necessary to ensure that the audio descriptions are correctly transmitted to the visually impaired fans at the stadiums.

The stadiums offering this service are:

• Johannesburg – Soccer City Stadium: 8 matches
• Johannesburg – Ellis Park Stadium: 7 matches
• Tshwane/Pretoria – Loftus Versfeld Stadium: 6 matches
• Durban – Durban Stadium: 7 matches
• Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth – Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium: 8 matches
• Cape Town – Green Point Stadium: 8 matches

MATCH SCHEDULE:

• Soccer City: Netherlands vs Denmark 13:30

• Bloemfontein/Manguang: Japan vs Cameroon16:00

• Cape Town: Italy vs Paraguay 20:30

TRANSPORT:

Spectators should be aware of the fact that no private vehicles will be allowed within the stadium precincts and only people with valid, official tickets for the match will be admitted to the immediate surrounding areas. Private vehicles will also not be allowed to park close to the stadiums due to the exclusion zones which will be put in place. Fans are also encouraged to leave home early and get to the stadium well in advance of the start of the opening and closing ceremonies and kickoff on the other match days. Gates to Soccer City will open at 10am on the day of Opening Ceremony. On regular match days gates will open three hours before kickoff.

JOHANNESBURG:

Arrangements the same as match Day 1. Spectators area once again encouraged to get to the stadium early and not to attempt to drive to the stadium.

MANGAUNG/BLOEMFONTEIN:

The City of Mangaung will offer visitors and residents safe and easily accessible public transport during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Bus and other existing services will cater for a wide variety of transport requirements, and will ensure that the Free State Stadium, the FIFA Fan Fest™ and the public viewing areas (PVAs) are adequately served.

Event-related public transport will be added to the regular public transport system i.e. the airport to stadium shuttle that will run from the Bloemfontein International Airport to the Free State Stadium via the rail station and Park and Ride services. Manguang’s inner city will be served by an inner city transport service.

Airport Shuttle: An airport to stadium service will run from the airport, via the Railway Station and major accommodation nodes e.g. hotels and school hostels to the stadium.

Intercity Services: A dedicated inner city shuttle service will operate and this route will include a total of 16 stops including major accommodation and shopping nodes, the railway station and the stadium.

A valid match-ticket will allow the user access to the shuttle service, without any additional charges.

Park and Ride Sites: The following sites have been identified as park-and-rides:

• Bloemfontein Baptist Church, Nelson Mandela Drive

• Bloemfontein Showgrounds, Curie Avenue

Park and Ride services to operate from 4hrs before kick-off to 2 hours the after game ends (for ticket holders). Other shuttle services, to operate from 05:00 to 22:00 from 2 days before first to 2 days after the last match to be hosted in Bloemfontein (for ticket holders).

Park and Walk Sites: The following sites have been identified:

• Grey College

• Fontein Street Parkade.

World Cup 2010: England vs. USA had a fabulous first half.

First of all, England were the ones to score the first goal, showing the fact that they are the stronger team.

Steven Gerrard was the one to score first and everybody thought that the game would be a total demonstration of strength for Fabio Capello’s boys.

Still, USA showed that they’re not just a sparring partner. Robbie Green made a huge mistake and got the ball into his goal. This got the USA on level terms, making it an amazing first half result for them. The goal scorer is Dempsey, but Green played quite a part.

It was an amazing first half, that will lead to believe that the second half will be even better. Wayne Rooney hasn’t played his part in the game yet, so you should definitely watch the second half. There is a lot in store.

World Cup 2010:  South Africa vs. Mexico was a great game, in which an enthusiastic Bafana team managed to get a point against Mexico.

South Africa played some impressive football today, in a game in which they were considered the underdogs, as they played a team from a country that has much more football tradition than the African nation, Mexico.

The first half seemed to go according to plan for Javier Aguirre’s team. Mexico played better football and managed to get close to the South African goal quite a few times. This is actually shown by the possession figure. They had 58 percent possession throughout the game.

On the other hand, this didn’t matter too much, as South Africa, on the wings of a fantastic audience, managed to score first. A long pass for Tshabala and a clinical finish ended in the home country leading in the 55th minute.

Rafa Marquez managed to get the equalizer for Mexico. The FC Barcelona defender scored in the 79th minute and, even if South Africa struck the post once, the game ended in a draw. Mexico also had a goal annulled for an offside position.

A good start for Bafana at World Cup 2010.

World Cup 2010: At World Cup in South Africa, it seems that the United States will have the biggest number of fans, surprisingly enough.

American fans have bought 130,000 of the 2,8 million tickets for the World Cup in South Africa, according to FIFA and the South African organizing committee. This is the biggest amount of tickets bought by another country than South Africa for World Cup 2010.

It would seem that soccer, or football, as it is called in Europe, is starting to be an important sport for Americans.

The United States fans’ number at the World Cup in South Africa will surpass, for the first time in history, more traditional groups of fans’, like the ones supporting Brazil, Germany or England.

The interesting thing is that there are a lot of fans that are coming to South Africa to see the event itself, not necessarily to support their country’s team. Also, many of them could be coming to the World Cup to support their country of origin’s team – Mexico, Honduras, as well as many other countries, especially from Latin America.

Let’s see if their team manages to get a good result against Wayne Rooney’s England.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC) would like to welcome Germany, Ghana, New Zealand, Algeria and Slovenia who landed in South Africa ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Today’s arrivals brings the total number of 2010 FIFA World Cup teams in South Africa to 24, including South Africa as the home team.

“It is with pleasure that we welcome the five teams that arrived today to South Africa. With the majority of the participants now in the country we are one step closer to kickoff on 11 June,” said Chief Executive Officer of the OC, Dr Danny Jordaan.

Germany

“It was a great welcome (when we arrived), it shows the joy and the excitement with which the South Africans are waiting for the World Cup. And, it shows that they will do anything for their guests from around the world,” said German coach Joachim Low.

Germany will open their campaign in Durban against Australia on 13 June. They will then travel to Nelson Mandela Bay/ Port Elizabeth to face Serbia on 18 June, ending the opening round of matches against Ghana at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium on 23 June.

Ghana

Ghana will kick off their FIFA World Cup™ in Tshwane/ Pretoria against Serbia on 13 June before making the journey to Rustenburg to face Australia on 19 June. They will then play Germany at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium on 23 June.

New Zealand

New Zealand will open their tournament against Slovakia at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on 15 June. They will then travel to Nelspruit to face world champions, Italy on 20 June, ending their opening round games in Polokwane, playing Paraguay on 24 June.

Algeria

Algeria will play their opening game in Polokwane against Slovenia on 13 June. From there, they travel to Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium to face England on 18 June. Algeria will then to face the USA in Tshwane/ Pretoria in their final group match on 23 June.

Slovenia

Slovenia’s tournament will begin in Polokwane’s Peter Mokaba Stadium against Algeria on 13 June. They will then travel to the city of Johannesburg to play USA at Ellis Park Stadium on 18 June. Slovenia will then travel from Johannesburg to Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth to face England in their final group match on 23 June.