Winner of 2010 World Cup could emerge at any moment
The winner of soccer’s 2010 World Cup could make itself evident at any moment, 100 days before the tournament in South Africa begins.
It might be Tuesday night’s victorious team, five-time World Cup winner Brazil, which defeated Ireland, 2-0, in London.
Equally likely, it could show up Wednesday night a few miles away at Wembley Stadium, where England plays Egypt amid pleas for English fans not to boo under-siege defender John Terry.
Or it might be in Monte Carlo, where world champion Italy plays Cameroon, or in Munich, where Germany plays Argentina, or in Paris, where 1998 World Cup winner and 2006 runner-up France plays reigning European champion and 2010 favorite Spain.
Those matches, and 17 others involving World Cup-bound teams, are part of Wednesday’s international soccer smorgasbord.
The odds are slightly longer, but the 2010 World Cup winner might even be in Amsterdam, where the Netherlands, ranked third in the world, plays the United States on Wednesday (11:30 a.m., ESPN2 and Galavision).
Thirty-one of the 32 World Cup teams are playing this week, the lone exception being Chile, which canceled its scheduled games in the wake of Saturday’s devastating earthquake.
Brazil, with the AC Milan duo of Ronaldinho and Pato absent from its lineup, was a comfortable winner Tuesday over the Irish, as Robinho played a part in both goals.
Unhappy at Manchester City and sent on loan to Santos as a result, Robinho showed why he almost certainly will be on Coach Dunga’s roster for South Africa. It was his cross from the right flank that was accidentally turned into his own net by Ireland’s Keith Andrews to give the Brazilians a first-half advantage.
In the second 45 minutes, Brazil raised its game and could have scored three more goals. As it was, a Kaka heel-pass to Robinho, followed by an exchange of passes between Robinho and Grafite and a 12-yard shot by Robinho produced the South Americans’ second goal.
“He has shown with his effort on the pitch what he can do,” Dunga said of Robinho.
Meanwhile, the World Cup future for Ronaldinho and Pato looks to be in some doubt, and before the match Dunga made it clear that talent alone will not be enough.
“Most players in Brazil are talented players,” Dunga said. “But we don’t live on talent. We live on results.”
The U.S. is equally concerned about results, which is one reason why Coach Bob Bradley on Tuesday added former Czech standout Lubos Kubik to his staff as an assistant coach.
Kubik, 46, was on the Czechoslovakia team that overran the U.S., 5-1, at the 1990 World Cup in Italy and later won a Major League Soccer championship and a U.S. Open Cup under Bradley while with the Chicago Fire.
The U.S. is 0-3 all-time against the Dutch and has yet to score a goal against the Netherlands. The Galaxy’s Landon Donovan, playing on loan for Everton in England, knows the threat the Dutch pose.
“My last memory of playing the Netherlands in Amsterdam Arena was not the best,” Donovan said Tuesday. “I think we chased the ball for probably 90 minutes, so hopefully it’s a little different this time.”
England seemed more concerned Tuesday with squelching scandals than winning World Cups, and striker Wayne Rooney told reporters he hoped England fans did not give Terry, the deposed England captain, a hard time because of his extramarital exploits.
The buzz in Monte Carlo and Paris had more to do with coaches than with players.
Italy’s media was busily speculating about who might succeed Coach Marcello Lippi, who led the Italians to their 2006 triumph, if he decides to step aside after South Africa 2010. Manchester City Coach Roberto Mancini said “one day I would like to return to Italy and guide the national team. I don’t deny it.”
In Paris, France Coach Raymond Domenech already is looking over his shoulder, with one of two 1998 World Cup winners, Bordeaux Coach Laurent Blanc and Marseille Coach Didier Deschamps, favored to replace him no matter what happens in South Africa 100 days from now.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
