The whole world can’t wait for the 2010 Soccer World Cup to begin. After a lot of discussion, bidding and finally votation, South Africa is the selected venue for the 2010 World cup. A lot is in stall on the soccer wall calendar 2010 with the first teams to compete being the host city-South Africa and Mexico.Many forecast that it will become likely for the final world cup winners football game to have an African country involved yet this is yet to be seen. For the many who might not be able to eyewitness the tournament, you might be interested to knowing what kind of stadiums the football stars will be doing their soccer tricks. Actually South Africa took the opportunity to host the Cup very seriously and for the past four years  have been busy constructing the fantastic stadiums. The following are a few for all ‘soccerholics’:

*Moses Mabhida Stadium- constructed on the site of the former Kings Park Soccer Stadium, this teflon-coated, glass-fibre roofed stadium was officially opened on November 2009.

Capacity: 70,000 Location: Durban Design: inspired by the South African flag, the legs of the arch on the southern side join to form a single footing on the northern side. Symbolically, this arch signifies the unity of aonce divided country.The highest point bears a height of 347 feet. The roof produces a translucent glow when lit.
* Green Point Stadium- was demolished in 2007 and reconstructed for the FIFA World Cup in 2009.Scheduled to host six first-round matches, one second-round, one quarter-final and one semifinal match.

Capacity:70,000  Location: Cape Town Design: located between the ocean and has the beautiful mountains as a backdrop. Also equiped with sound proof material. Has a retractable glass roof weighing 4,500-tons.

* Mbombela Stadium- derived from “Mbombela” which is the  siSwati word for  “many people together in a small space.” Capacity: 40,000 Location:Nelspruit Design:  a very ‘wild’ looking stadium which gets inspiration from the many surrounding national parks. * Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium-Will be hosting five first round matches, one second round, one quarter final and the third place playoff. Name taken from the municipality name not the x-president Nelson Mandela.

Capacity: 50 000  Location:Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth  Design:a very beautiful looking stadium. Also named ‘the sunflower’ because of it’s unique structures.

* Soccer City Stadium- The largest stadium in Africa. Will hold the first and last matches of the Cup.

Capacity:94,500 Location: Johannesburg Design: resembles and African pot or “calabash” and has spectacular lighting in the night.

With all these stadiums, this year is surely to be a Cup to remember. Doesn’t it just makes you want to book the next flight straight to the heart of Africa?

Marcelo Lippi’s current Italian squad has been criticised by several soccer pundits as being too old.  The likes of Gianluigi Buffon (32), Fabio Cannavaro (36), Gennaro Gattuso (32), Gianluca Zambrotta (33), Andrea Pirlo (31), Mauro Camoranesi (33), Antonio Di Natale (32) and Vincenzo Iaquinta (30) are all certainly unlikely to be around when the next World Cup in Brazil takes place, so just who can Lippi, or the next manager of the Azzuri, call on to replace this ageing generation?

Lorenzo De Silvestri    Defender     (Fiorentina)    Aged 22
The former Lazio full back cuts an imposing figure for a full back at just over six feet tall.  Since his move to Fiorentina in 2009, De Silvestri has rediscovered his best form that saw him represent Italy at every age range from Under 16 through to the U21 side. With such a solid basis in the skills necessary to become a good fullback, De Silvestri might end up replacing Gianluca Zambrotta for the national team.

Davide Santon        Defender    (Inter)        Aged 19
Able to play down either flank, Santon is a hugely talented young defender who made 28 appearances for Inter this season as well as five appearances already for the Azzuri. Compared by Italian head coach Marcelo Lippi to Paolo Maldini, Santon has fantastic energy and can race up and down the flanks for the full 90 minutes. Thanks to his sound technical skills, and omitting the risk of injury, Santon should be joining the next few major finals Italian squads.

Mario Balotelli        (Striker)    (Inter)        Aged 19
  Mario Batelli, though prone to fights and poor sportsmanship, may be one of the best attackers or wingers wearing the Italy soccer kit in upcoming games.  Batelli’s run-ins with both fans and management only serve to distract from his excellent record: the player scored twenty goals in 59 games and notched 6 and 16 for the U21 Italian set. His time will surely come in the Euro 2012 qualifiers when Italy are going to need a new look strike force.

Federico Macheda    (Striker)    (Man Utd)    Aged 18
A fiercely underrated player that has yet to regularly make the first team at Old Trafford, Macheda is set to have a great next season and catch they eye of Azzuri management. Macheda is a strong, intelligent striker, who has an eye for goal. Particularly good with his back to goal, he has already been capped at U21 level for Italy and if he can start to make a bigger impact in the United first team, full honours should soon follow.

Antonio Candreva    (Midfielder)    Udinese    Aged 23
Candreva just may be the only replacement for Italy’s great Andrea Pirlo. The Udinese midfielder follows in the footsteps of Pirlo’s creative play, owning any position on the midfield.

Jabulani means to celebrate in Zulu, one of the 11 languages of South Africa, and the design of the Jabulani has 11 colors to honor those 11 communities and 11 languages of South Africa, and the 11 players on a team.

Jabulani built with 8 new thermally bonded, spherically shaped, and 3 D EVA & TPU panels, the Jabulani has been equipped with a new Grip’n'Groove technology. New Grip’n'Groove technology is a textured technology that make sure the Jabulani can flies straightforward and true. The Jabulani is designed for control, power, and swerve that you never imagine. This is a ball that you want the best in the game.

The ball is constructed using a new design, consisting of eight (down from 14 in the last World Cup) thermally-bonded, 3D panels. These are spherically-moulded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). . The design has received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University, United Kingdom.

The Adidas World Cup 2010 Ball comes with some features : the Official World Cup 2010 Jabulani Official Match Soccer Ball by adidas, adidas’ 11th FIFA World Cup official match ball. Designed for never before seen power, swerve and control, BLADDER: Latex for excellent rebound, COVER: Thermally bonded PU for exceptionally true and straight flight, FIFA approved.

The Jabulani Ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup features a completely new, ground-breaking technology. Eight 3-D spherically formed EVA and TPU panels are moulded together, harmoniously enveloping the inner carcass. The result is an energetic unit combined with perfect roundness. Following the first tests, players all over the world are enthusiastic and are promising many goals with the new ball. Adidas always involves world-class athletes in the development and testing of its products. For JABULANI, adidas partners FC Bayern München, the Orlando Pirates, AC Milan, and Ajax Cape Town tested the ball in 2008, to improvements in the material composition and surface structure.

One of customer review is Delia De La Torre. Here is what he said about Jabulani Ball “The ball is original, as described. Arrived in time for my husband birthday. He is loving it!.”

So the World Cup fever is starting to subside and the inevitable fallout is in full swing. England’s early exit was a huge disappointment for fans but that somber mood could have been pure bitter anger had the game have been decided on England’s second goal which was deemed to have not crossed the line by the Uruguayan official.

After the game, fans meekly tried to insist that the result would have been different had the second goal been called in, the truth is that the three lions were outclassed by a much more cohesive, effective German side. Some even saw this as a good thing, because, had the score remained 2-1 to the Germans in absence of an England’s leveler, the sport would have been brought into disrepute.

Sep Blatter, FIFA top dog finally admitted two weeks after the game that goal-line cameras needed to be introduced to eradicate the possibiliity of similar occurrences in the future and bring football into line with other sports that have used technology successfully for years. Cameras on the goal-line are an obvious choice but other techniques suggested are a unified communications network between the officials allowing lightning fast negotiations to keep the game flowing.

With regards to the specific technology used, Voice Over IP Phone headsets have been suggested for their ease of use and ability to host multiple conversations at once. This way the referee would have access to instantaneous communications with linesmen. There are some naysayers who champion the theory that such technology would slow the pace of the game, but in sports like tennis which use the Cyclops device , player disputes with umpires have been greatly reduced which actually serves to keep the action going.

All it takes is a camera set on the goal-line and an IP Phone system for officials, ease of implementation and cost is hardly an issue considering the millions of pounds circulating in English football currently. While Blatter has commented that the sport should be kept as traditional as possible with the Premireship sharing strong ties with Sunday league football, players’ bloated wage packets surely negates this argument.

The sport needs technology and quickly, there are too many incidents of clear goals being disallowed with potentially catastrophic consequences. Football is mired in the past and technology is the only thing that can drag it out. Let us all pray that Blatter sees sense, at least before 2014.

The whole world can’t wait for the 2010 Soccer World Cup to begin. After a lot of discussion, bidding and finally votation, South Africa is the selected venue for the 2010 World cup. A lot is in stall on the soccer wall calendar 2010 with the first teams to compete being the host city-South Africa and Mexico.Many forecast that it will become likely for the final world cup winners football game to have an African country involved yet this is yet to be seen. For the many who might not be able to eyewitness the tournament, you might be interested to knowing what kind of stadiums the football stars will be doing their soccer tricks. Actually South Africa took the opportunity to host the Cup very seriously and for the past four years  have been busy constructing the fantastic stadiums. The following are a few for all ‘soccerholics’:

*Moses Mabhida Stadium- constructed on the site of the former Kings Park Soccer Stadium, this teflon-coated, glass-fibre roofed stadium was officially opened on November 2009.

Capacity: 70,000 Location: Durban Design: inspired by the South African flag, the legs of the arch on the southern side join to form a single footing on the northern side. Symbolically, this arch signifies the unity of aonce divided country.The highest point bears a height of 347 feet. The roof produces a translucent glow when lit.
* Green Point Stadium- was demolished in 2007 and reconstructed for the FIFA World Cup in 2009.Scheduled to host six first-round matches, one second-round, one quarter-final and one semifinal match.

Capacity:70,000  Location: Cape Town Design: located between the ocean and has the beautiful mountains as a backdrop. Also equiped with sound proof material. Has a retractable glass roof weighing 4,500-tons.

* Mbombela Stadium- derived from “Mbombela” which is the  siSwati word for  “many people together in a small space.” Capacity: 40,000 Location:Nelspruit Design:  a very ‘wild’ looking stadium which gets inspiration from the many surrounding national parks. * Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium-Will be hosting five first round matches, one second round, one quarter final and the third place playoff. Name taken from the municipality name not the x-president Nelson Mandela.

Capacity: 50 000  Location:Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth  Design:a very beautiful looking stadium. Also named ‘the sunflower’ because of it’s unique structures.

* Soccer City Stadium- The largest stadium in Africa. Will hold the first and last matches of the Cup.

Capacity:94,500 Location: Johannesburg Design: resembles and African pot or “calabash” and has spectacular lighting in the night.

With all these stadiums, this year is surely to be a Cup to remember. Doesn’t it just makes you want to book the next flight straight to the heart of Africa?