2010 World Cup Notes

This appears in the Tuesday June 8, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror.

2010 World Cup Notes

by rick olivares

There are 30 referees assigned to the 2010 World Cup.

6 of them are teachers by profession.

3 are businessmen.

3 are seeing service with their countries either as a policeman, fireman, or a naval officer.

2 are lawyers.

Only 3 of the 30 are into football full time.

There are 28 different nationalities among the referees with 2 each coming from Mexico and New Zealand.

9 of them had previous experience officiating in the World Cup and only 2 of them having worked two Finals – in 2002 (Japan and South Korea) and 2006 (Germany).

13 referees are at least 40 years of age. The youngest is 32 years of age and is from Uzbekistan.

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It is reported that Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba has undergone successfully surgery and could play in the World Cup finals. That is some good news for the beleaguered Elephants as the Ivorian team is nicknamed. Not only is Drogba their leading scorer in the qualifications with six goals but also he is the reigning African Player of the Year and a double champion with Chelsea in England (the Premiership and FA Cup). That means Drogba should be coming into the World Cup in imperious form.

In their first appearance in the World Cup Finals (Germany), they weren’t able to get out of the group stage as they lost in two successive 2-1 games to Argentina and the Netherlands. But the Elephants salvaged some pride when they exited Germany with a 3-2 beating of Serbia & Montenegro.

Aruna Dindane who scored two of the goals against the last match ever played by a combined Serbia & Montenegro isn’t in form heading into South Africa. Dindane who plays striker for Lekhwiya in Qatar has only played in one match and scored on goal for Ivory Coast in the qualifiers.

With Drogba possibly out for the first game in Ivory Coast’s Group C – the Group of Death as it features Brazil, Portugal, and dangerous North Korea – it will fall unto Kader Keita, Didier Zakora, Salomon Kalou, Bakary Kone, and brothers Yaya and Kolo Toure to lead Ivory Coast.

This is a squad that has a knack for obtaining good possession of the ball but Drogba doubtful and a suspect bench, the starting eleven will have to redouble their efforts if they want to make it onto the next stage. Keita and Kone should step up.

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Could Thierry Henry be Les Bleus version of David Trezeguet in this World Cup? Trezeguet, the Juventus striker who has made a living poaching off defensive lapses fell out of favor with French boss Raymond Domenech during duty in Germany. If Trezeguet helped secure France’s Eurocup title in 2000, he was one of the goats in the 2006 Finals as he missed his penalty kick that allowed Italy to close it out 5-3.

Henry, after a sterling first year in Camp Nou following a move from Arsenal, found himself on the bench this year with Barcelona. Although the Catalans retained their domestic title and won three others, Henry, scored only four goals in 22 appearances for the club. And he didn’t make things any easier for himself and France when his “Hand of God” moment helped France secure a 2-1 aggregate win over Ireland to send them into the World Cup Finals in South Africa.

The outcry was swift and damning. Although FIFA and France showed that “Fair Play” is nothing more than a catchy slogan when they refused a rematch, Henry has been stripped of his captain’s armband and will be sent to the bench.

Save for their run to the Finals in 2006 that was largely because of the will of Zinedine Zidane, the French have appeared sluggish and far from the dangerous and free flowing form they demonstrated. With Karim Benzema not making the squad, it falls to Nicolas Anelka and a trio of gifted midfielders in Franck Ribery, Yoann Gourcuff, and Jeremy Toulalan to make everyone forget the sainted Patrick Vieira who is no longer with the team. Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will be minding the net as Fabian Barthez has retired. Lloris, an exceptional goalkeeper will be facing dangerous and heady players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba (if he does make it back from injury).