Sven-Goran to Ivory Coast?

Doesn't he need to get one of these job soon or risk looking silly?

Talking about Sven-Goran Eriksson and Ivory Coast here. Our favorite former England and Mexico coach apparently is a candidate for the open job at the 2010 World Cup.

Let's see, what other jobs has SGE pursued?

His name came up in connection to the North Korea job, but it never actually came open, perhaps because North Korea had another bad harvest and can't afford him.

Then it came up for discussion when Nigeria went looking for a coach, and the England media seemed to think he would get it, and he was one of five finalists. But the job went to another Swede, Lars Lagerbeck, instead.

And now SGE is chasing Ivory Coast. And perhaps vice versa. He seemed to have the right idea when he denied being interested in the job when he saw Ivory Coast lost (2-0) to South Korea in London on Wednesday.

Everyone's first choice is Guus Hiddink, of course, but he still is being paid by Russia and perhaps the Ivorians don't want to deal with what could be a messy buyout.

So maybe Sven-Goran has a chance. But if he doesn't get this one, he officially becomes The New Bridesmaid of international soccer. Someone throw that man a bouquet. Read more!

China Plays a Friendly; Dutch Do Not

Interesting story out of China.

China played Portugal in an international friendly in Coimbre on Wednesday, and when it was over China's coach told the Chinese media that he instructed his players not to play too roughly.

He didn't want anyone to get hurt. And miss the World Cup. Including Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he mentioned by name. "We don't want a World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo because of our fault," he said.

The United States must wish the Netherlands approached these things in the same way.

The U.S. played the Dutch the same night, and they didn't bother with politesse.

One of their players, midfielder Nigel De Jong, made a truly ugly, over-the-ball, shin-high tackle of American midfielder Stuart Holden, one of his country's rising players, and inflicted a broken fibula on Holden.

Holden will be out at least six weeks. It could be longer. He might miss the World Cup.

De Jong has been pilloried by American fans for his tackle, and rightly so. It is hard even to imagine what he was thinking, when he went in so hard and so high and so late. He clearly took the "friend" out of "friendly."

We know why the Americans played the Netherlands and not China. Because the Netherlands is in the World Cup and China is not, and because the Netherlands vaguely resembles England, whom the Yanks get in their opening match, June 12.

But now that it is over, the U.S. coaching staff must wish the Dutch had approached the match with the same "let's make sure no one gets hurt" spirit that China's coach said was uppermost in his mind. Read more!

Hiddink to Ivory Coast?

Guus Hiddink has a spare couple of weeks, so it makes sense that someone would hire him to lead their team to South Africa 2010.

That someone appears to be Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast confirms they are in talks with Hiddink -- who failed to get Russia to the upcoming World Cup.

But the Dutchman has had plenty of World Cup success before, which is why countries are lining up to hire him.

In 1998, Hiddink got Netherlands to the semifinals at France.

In 2002, he took South Korea to the semifinals.

In 2006, he led Australia to the second round.

In 2008, he got Russia to the Euro semifinals.

So Russia bombing out of the European qualifying for South Africa ... not exactly a career-wrecker for Guus.

He is under contract to Russia through the World Cup, and after that he will take over Turkey.

Presumably, he (or the Ivory Coast) will have to buy out the rest of his contract with Russia, and maybe even pay some sort of premium, if the Russians bargain hard.

Ivory Coast may be more inclined to do whatever it takes to bring in Guus, considering their coachless team was knocked around by South Korea, 2-0, at a neutral site in London. Not a good result for a team most people were touting as the most likely African team to make a long run this summer.

Look for it to happen, if Guus can escape the Russia contract maybe two months early. Read more!

Winners, Losers from Today's Friendlies

Twenty-six of the 32 nations headed to South Africa 2010 played today, an "international" day that also coincides with "100 days to go!" before the first match of the World Cup.

Seven matches were head-to-heads between teams headed for the World Cup.

Not yet critical moments, but definitely interesting.

Let's look at the winners and losers ... and those who didn't quite do either. And the score isn't always what we will base our opinions on.

Big winners (alphabetically): Argentina, England, Nigeria, Serbia, Spain, Uruguay.

--Argentina went to Munich and throttled the Germans, 1-0, and even 100 days out from the World Cup that is an important result for coach Diego "The Dope" Maradona. Arguably the most significant victory for his side since he took over. Gonzalo Higuain got the goal for the Argentines before a crowd of 65,000. Btw, the Germans were described as "tired, timid and disorganized" in a wire report. Hmm.

--England didn't venture further than Wembley, but the Three Lions fairly thrashed the recent winners of the Cup of Africa Nations, Egypt, 3-1, before a crowd of 80,000. The gangly Peter Crouch scored twice and winger Shaun Wright-Phillips also found the net. A nice result over a quality opponent that led 1-0.

--Nigeria was playing Congo (the big one), which is no great shakes, but thrashed it, 5-2. The fact that Nigeria showed any life is an improvement on its CAN performance and a nice start for new coach Lars Lagerback. Midfielder Osas Ideham had two goals, and both starting forwards (Peter Utaka and Victor Obinna) scored, as well.

--Serbia went to Algiers and nuked Algeria, 3-0, before 60,000 Algeria fans. This is the most impressive score of the night and will get the attention of those who play in Serbia's group (such as Germany). Zdravko Kuzmanovic scored a goal and assisted on another for the Serbians, who probably now rate as co-favorites to win Group D.

--Spain walked into the Stade de France and pretty much dominated the French, 2-0. It was Spain's first victory over France on French soil since 1968 and no fluke: Spain dominated time of possession 60-40 percent. David Villa and Sergio Ramos scored for Spain, which has lost only once in its last 45 internationals -- to the U.S. in the 2009 Confederations Cup semifinals.

--Uruguay is generally overlooked by those trying to forecast who gets to the knockout round, but winning 3-1 over the Swiss, in Switzerland, in cold weather, certainly is an attention-getter. Diego Forlan got the first goal for Uruguay, after the Swiss scored on a penalty. And Group A (France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay) now looks as if it has another real contender for the knockout phase.

Semi-big winners: Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea.

--Portugal defeated China 2-0, at home, in Coimbre. Pretty much as they should have, considering China is a mess. Hugo Almeida scored for Portugal, as did Liedson, a sub at halftime for Cristiano Ronaldo. Not much of a crowd (20,000) and apparently an unimpressive performance by the winners.

--Slovenia blitzed Qatar, 4-1, at Maribor, and the Slovenes' coach suggested they should have scored more. And maybe they should have; the Gulf teams are particularly weak just now. A bit disconcerting that only 5,000 turned up for the match. Still, four goals ... will get the attention of fellow Group B sides Algeria, England and the U.S.

--South Korea played in London, at the home field of Queen's Park Rangers, and dominated Ivory Coast at a neutral venue, 2-0. Lee Dong Gook and Kwak Tae Hwi scored for the Koreans, who will be no pushover in South Africa. Ivory Coast generally is touted as the African side most likely to make a deep run at South Africa, and their excuse for this one is not having a coach. They fired their Serbian coach last week, and Guus Hiddink (or whomever) is not yet on board.

Tweeners: Cameroon, Ghana, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States.

--Cameroon played Italy to a 0-0 tie at Monaco. Any time a non-Euro side gets a result on European soil, it's not a bad day. Not scoring makes it not a good day.

--Ghana played at Bosnia-Herzegovina, which narrowly missed the World Cup, and got beat, 2-1. They can shrug it off, though, because the Black Stars scored and they were playing on European soil against a solid opponent.

--Italy tied Cameroon in the match mentioned a few paragraphs ago. Nothing to be excited about, but coach Marcelo Lippi tried out a 3-4-3 formation with a half dozen guys who are unlikely to start in South Africa, and Italy had the better of the run of play, it seems. So, a little creepy not to score, but this wasn't the A Team that started, and those weren't stiffs on the other side.

--Mexico went to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, sort of "Azteca Norte" for El Tri, and rolled over New Zealand 2-0 before a crowd of more than 90,000. (Biggest crowd of the night.) Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela scored for Mexico, but this isn't a big victory because New Zealand is feeble; Mexico was playing, essentially, a home game; and because El Tri didn't score until the 54th minute.

--New Zealand. See above. Losing 2-0 to Mexico in southern California and not giving up a goal for nearly an hour gives the Kiwis hope they can perhaps steal a point out of SA2010.

--Netherlands defeated the U.S. 2-1 at Amsterdam before a crowd of 46,000. Nice result but not an overpowering one. Dirk Kuyt and Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored for the winners. At home, maybe the Dutch should win this one a bit more comfortably.

--United States. See above. Plus, the U.S. had never scored a goal against the Dutch in the Netherlands until last night, something Carlos Bocanegra managed in the 88th minute. And the Americans, known for their unwillingness to surrender, almost tied it in extra time.

Semi-big losers: Denmark, Germany, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Slovakia.

--Denmark lost 2-1 to an Austria squad last seen being hammered by Spain, 5-1. A mitigating factor: The match was in Austria.

--Germany lost to Argentina (see above), and didn't look good doing it, but the Argentines have some guys who can play and the Germans are known for often going into World Cups not looking like all that much ... and then making the semifinals. Too early to panic.

--Honduras had nearly its entire starting lineup in Istanbul to play non-qualifier Turkey, but the Turks handled them fairly easily, 2-0. We're back to the "difficult for non-Euros to win in Europe" thing, but if Honduras wanted to convince itself (or anyone else) that it isn't just an automatic victory for the other three teams Group H (Spain, Chile, Swizterland), it didn't do a very good job of it.

--Ivory Coast lost 2-0 to South Korea, which is ranked about 20 slots below them in the Fifa standings, but they don't have a coach, remember? Here's thinking they get smarter and sharper once Guus Hiddink (or whomever) takes over.

--Slovakia lost 1-0 at home to Norway, which is a bit disconcerting, but Norway finished second in its qualifying group, and isn't awful. Slovakia, though, is in a bit of a down patch and will need to get a result before heading to South Africa.

Big losers: Algeria, France, Greece, South Africa, Switzerland.

--Algeria should not lose 3-0 at home to anyone in the World Cup. Not to Brazil, and not to Serbia (see above, under big winners). A very alarming result, with 60,000 home fans in the stands. Following on a less-than-impressive Cup of African Nations performance.

--France's defeat at home to Spain, one of the two best teams in the world, would be only marginally worrisome, normally, but with Raymond Domenech still the coach, and still getting poor results, and the way Spain dominated the ball ... the French are shaping up as the top choice among seeded teams to get knocked out in group play.

--Greece lost 2-0 at home to Senegal, and that shouldn't happen. Clearly, the Greek system of fending off all challenges and scoring on a counter broke down. Senegal has talent, but the match was on Greek soil (albeit poorly attended, by 10,000), and non-Euro teams rarely defeat European teams in Europe. Otto Rehhegel needs to get his modestly talented lads back to what they do.

--South Africa tied Namibia 1-1, which would be an utter disaster had the whole Bafana Bafana team been at the match. (Their guys in Europe didn't come down.) Now it's just a regular disaster, because Namibia is ranked No. 111 in the world and started a mostly amateur starting lineup, players who were visibly winded by the end of the match. Namibia also scored the first goal (42nd minute) and led until the 70th minute. Played at Durban, before 50,000 in one of the World Cup stadiums, and with a bunch of hoopla marking the 100-days-till-kickoff point. South Africa still looks likely, very likely, to become the first host to fail to survive group play.

--Switzerland should not be getting blown out (3-1) by a South American team, at home, in early March. A scary result for Swiss fans, who thought their team was about to crack the ranks of the top 15-20 sides in the world. Read more!

2010's Dirty Little Secret: Africans Priced Out

The BBC has brought us up to date on this.

Don't look for many Africans at the African World Cup.

South Africans? Yes, they will be at the 2010 World Cup. Organizers and Fifa set aside some $20 tickets for them, and then diverted about 700,000 more, last month, when foreigners didn't buy tickets in the numbers the officials had hoped for.

But for Africans who aren't South African?

Now we have a problem, as the BBC story points out.

The cheapest ticket for a non-South African is $80. Which is serious money in Africa. Well, it's serious money most places in the world. And none of those people are going to go either.

But those other poor non-Africans never intended to go. Fifa, meanwhile, has been calling this "the African World Cup" from Day 1. Some Africans might even have thought they meant it. That somehow it would happen.

It gets worse. To buy tickets, you need to go to the Fifa website. Most Africans don't have access to the internet. Certainly not easy access.

You also need a credit card to buy tickets. Again, a major problem for Africans.

And a concept the BBC didn't broach, but a significant one: How do Africans get to South Africa?

The African continent has very, very few country-to-country air links. Typically, to get to any country that's further away than a drive (which is dangerous) ... you have to fly to Europe, change planes and go back to Africa. Often, to get to the country not all that far from your own. Sounds crazy, but that's how it is -- Africans don't travel between countries on their own continent to generate commercial air routes.

So, getting to South African is almost as hard for Africans as it is for Americans. And harder than it is for Europeans -- who already are in Europe, where the planes for Africa take off.

So, no, don't look for scads of Nigerians, Cameroonians, Algerians, Ghanaians or Ivory Coast-ians at the World Cup, even though their teams will be. Because they can't afford the tickets -- even if they had an internet connection ... even if they had a credit card ... and even if they could get there.

So, let's not call it the African World Cup. Let's call it the South African World Cup, and leave it at that. That is ambitious enough. Let's not try to make this into something it can't be.
Read more!

Another Job Opening: At Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast has fired its coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, barely 100 days before the World Cup opens.

But not to worry. If Nigeria can find Lars Lagerback, Ivory Coast no doubt can drum up some cagey old European of its own for an early summer rental.

The name being bandied about? One guuess.

Yes. Of course. Guus Hiddink, the peripatetic Dutchman. Some think he is locked up by Turkey, and he is, but ...

But ... his contract in Turkey doesn't begin until after the World Cup. And if he doesn't have some clause forbidding him from filling up his dance card for South Africa ... the man who led both Holland (1998) and South Korea (2002) to the semis and Australia (2006) to the second round ... is available.

Hilolhodzic is not happy. He thought he was going to the World Cup. But Ivory Coast apparently decided they needed a heavier caliber man on the sidelines than their 57-year-old Bosnian. The excuse Ivory Coast is giving is that Hililhodzic didn't win the Cup of African Nations (going out in the quarterfinals), but they didn't need a reason. Just felt like changing.

If Hiddink is not available, who's next?

Ivory Coast could do worse than to pick up the search list that Nigeria put together. That includes Sven-Goran Eriksson and Glenn Hoddle.

Like Nigeria, except perhaps moreso, Ivory Coast has the talent to make some noise. Start with Didier Drogba (44 goals in 67 national team appearances) up front, and you're off to a good start. Then take your choice from a surfeit of European-based players, as their wiki page indicates down in the "roster" area.

So, that makes for two flat-out, no doubts about it, foreign mercenary coaches at South Africa 2010. Lagerback and whoever ends up in Cote d'Ivoire, as we say in Paris. Read more!

France Fears Cold at SA2010

One of the more curious comments of the day.

France coach Raymond Domenech suggesting that teams will not play their best at South Africa 2010 because it might be cold.

Huh ... what?

If anything, playing the tournament in June-July in South Africa -- the winter down there -- should make the European teams feel quite comfortable. Because all their pro leagues play right through the Euro winter, which in most cases is more severe than South Africa's. In some cases is far more severe.

This is what has happened in past World Cups, especially outside of Europe:

The Euros have melted in the heat of (fill in the blank) ... the United States, Mexico, Korea, Japan, Brazil ...

European club players rarely play in matches with temperatures higher than 90. And the 1994 World Cup, for one, played in the United States, was brutally hot. European players and teams had significant difficulty with the temperatures.

High temperatures are a common suggestion given for the inability of a European team -- any of them -- to win a World Cup played outside Europe. The Euros are 0-for-forever off their little continent.

South Africa matches will probably be played in the 50-70 degree range (Fahrenheit), and that should be right in the wheelhouse for the Euros. Well, maybe a bit too warm, if anything. Read more!