A month to go! Does anybody else feel that it's not that close? There hasn't been much talk of a World Cup yet. But now that domestic seasons are ending I'm sure the build up will ramp up. Or just stick with me everyday.
A quick aside before getting to South Africa 2010. The ongoing saga of Peru's captain's ban for drug use took another twist today. Paolo Guerrero's original 12 month ban for testing positive for cocaine was halved by Fifa's appeals committee at the end of last year. Conveniently, that meant he would be able to return in time for Peru's first World Cup appearance since 1982. But the World anti-doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport who lengthened the ban to 14 months. What next? Let's see how political this is going to get. Will Peru give up easily on not having their record goalscorer at the World Cup. Will Guerrero stand for it? Will Fifa stand strong?
South Africa 2010 saw the French return to their grumpy days of 2002. Reaching the final in 2006 seemed like a temporary, and almost unexplainable, moment of sunlight for French football. France's dismal performances on the pitch were not the only problem. After Nicolas Anelka was sent home for swearing at the manager, Raymond Domenech, at halftime of their defeat to Mexico, the rest of the team refused to train at their next session. To make it worse it was an open session for fans and the media who got to witness the players return to the team bus and Patrice Evra having a shouting match with the fitness coach. To complete the spectacle, the players handed Domenech a statement which he had to read out to the reporters. Fun times. Not surprisingly, France were home by the time the second round started.
In other comical, first round news, Robert Green let in this goal in England's 1-1 draw with the US.
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