Round 2 of the group stage has officially begun, if you want to call it that. With Mexico beating France this afternoon, things are beginning to shape up in some groups and we’re starting to see who’s a contender and who’s a pretender.

It’s always nice to take a look into a team’s history, though, so let’s look at 10 things you need to know about England vs. Algeria:

England

1. England, along with Scotland, are the two oldest football teams in the world as they first played each other in a match in 1872.

2. Of the current squad, captain Steven Gerrard is the most internationally experienced, holding 81 caps, while Wayne Rooney is the leading goalscorer with 25 goals in 61 matches.

3. Tottenham Hotspur have the most representatives on the squad with 5 north Londoners on the team (Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch)

4. Their sole win of the glorious trophy came at the 1966 World Cup at home in London where they won 4-2 against ze West Germans. Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick in the final.

5. England is currently ranked 8th in the FIFA World rankings. Their most capped player is Peter Shilton at 125 games played, Sir Bobby Charlton is the leading goalscorer at 49 and they have never fallen below 27th on the world rankings

Algeria

1. The Algerian football team nickname is “Les Fennecs” which translates to “The Desert Foxes.” I’m undecided as to whether that’s cool or lame.

2. Algeria will be making their third appearance at the world cup, having been eliminated in the first round in their prior appearances in 1982 and 1986.

3. They are currently ranked 30th in the FIFA World Rankings. Their highest position in the rankings was 26th, while their lowest was at 103rd, telling you that they have come a long way.

4. The Algerians’ biggest accomplishment on the international stage is certainly their win of the 1990 African Cup of Nations.

5. Their most capped player is Yazid Mansouri at 67 matches played. Their leading goalscorer is Raifik Saifi, scoring 19 goals in 63 matches.

England and Algeria have never played each other on the international stage, but if I were to go by whether three lions or desert foxes would win a fight, I would certainly go with the three lions.

If you liked this, check out Zan Rathore’s Sports Blog.

You can watch England v Algeria live online through our partners at Live Sport Network. Click here to sign up.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Japan vs Cameroon
Group E, 2010 World Cup
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Sunday, 14 June 2010
Kickoff: 14:00 GMT, 16:00 Local

It’s always nice to read about whatever team is in the spotlight (i.e. England and Robert Green), but somtimes I find it nice to look into the less popular teams to get a good grasp on what else is going on in this tournament.

Tomorrow Cameroon and Japan go head to head in a battle of a pretty tough group E. Here are some things you might not have known about the two sides.

You can watch Japan vs Cameroon live
online through our partners at Live Sport Network.

Japan

• Although they have no official nickname, they have apparently been recently dubbed the Samurai Blue, which is pretty kickass if you ask me.
• Japan is currently ranked 45th in the FIFA world rankings. They have qualified for the last four world cups and their best result came in 2002 when they were knocked out in the round of 16 by Turkey.
• The Japanese’s biggest success has come at the Asian Cup, which they have hoisted three times (1992, 2000, 2004) out of the six appearances they have made.
• Of the players on their current squad, captain Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi leads all players with 116 caps. If you’re wondering why it’s taking him so long to get a goal to his name for Japan, it’s because he’s a goalkeeper. Defender Yuji Nakazawa is not far behind at 105 caps, with Shunsuke Nakamura (97) and Yoshi Endo (94) rounding out a fairly experienced team. From the current squad, Nakamura leads all with 24 goals.
• Japan has one of the highest sponsorship deals of all national teams, making about 16.5 million pounds based on sponsorships alone. Some of their sponsors include Adidas, Sony and Fujifilm.

Cameroon

• Possibly one of the best nicknames in sport, the indomitable lions are Africa’s most successful nation when it comes to football. They have qualified six times for the tournament and their successes include a quarterfinal appearance in 1990, 4 African Nations Cups and a runner up spot at the Confederation’s Cup.
• They are currently ranked 19th in the FIFA World Rankings
• For those that can recall the promising talent that was Marc-Vivien Foe, you must have played a lot of championship manager in years past. In 2003, he collapsed on the field in the 72nd minute in a Confederations Cup match against Colombia and later died of hypertropic cardiomyopathy, which is a fancy way for saying that you are prone to sudden death while exercising. It was the saddest moment in Cameroonian football history, and a sad moment in football history on the whole as well.
• Of their current squad, Rigobert Song holds the most caps at 133. Not far behind him is Geremi at 109, and captain Samuel Eto’o at 96.
• Eto’o is also the all time leading goalscorer for his country, scoring 43 goals, presumably in a fashion that only Samuel Eto’o is capable of.

Head-to-head

Japan and Cameroon have squared of a grand total of 3 times with Japan winning twice and drawing once.

Watch Japan vs Cameroon Live Online

You can watch Japan vs Cameroon live online as well as other World Cup matches plus hundreds of football games from across the world. Read our live World Cup football page for more details.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Netherlands vs Denmark
Group E, 2010 World Cup
Soccer City, Durban
Sunday, 14 June 2010
Kickoff: 11:30 GMT, 13:30 Local

The greatest competition in the world is in full swing, well underway, and every other cliche you could think of for ‘having started already,’ but how much do we really know about all these teams? The Netherlands and Denmark kick off the action tomorrow morning (or afternoon, depending on what part of the world you live in) so let’s take a look into both sides before making and assumptions about either team.

You can watch Netherlands vs Denmark live online through our partners at Live Sport Network. Click here to sign up.

The Netherlands

• The Dutch have gone to the tournament 8 times, making their maiden appearance at the World Cup in 1934, but have never won the competition. Johan Cruyff and his brilliant left foot helping the nation to appear in two straight finals in 1974 and 1978 (although he wasn’t in the 78 side), but losing each to ze Germans and Argentina, respectively.
• The team’s greatest success at the international level is being crowned European champions in 1988. The victory was sweetened a little by the fact that they got revenge over the Germans, who had beaten them in the world cup finals in 1974 by kicking them to the curb in the semi-finals.

  

• Clockwork Oranje also got revenge over the Argentinians in the 98 world cup, after the now famous “pulled down by Bergkamp!!!” 89th minute goal knocked out Argentina in the quarterfinals.

• Edwin Van Der Sar is the most capped Dutchman of all time, appearing in 130 matches for the Netherlands. Patrick Kluivert has kicked the most balls (into the back of the net) for the team, scoring 40 goals in 79 matches. Captain Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (remember him?) will lead the team into the tournament as captain, and is also the most experienced, sitting at 99 caps before the tournament began. Robin van Persie is the man with the most goals on the current squad with 18.
• The Netherlands are currently ranked 4th in the FIFA world rankings.

Denmark

• Denmark have appeared in the World Cup on three previous occassions in 1986, 1998 and 2002. Their best result came in 1998 when the made it all the way to the quarterfinals. Their current FIFA ranking is 36.
• Denmark’s biggest triumph on the international stage is winning the 1992 European championship. Fortunately for them, they were never meant to be in that tournament, as they only qualified due to Yugoslavia having to pull out because of the Yugoslav wars. They also took home the Confederations Cup in 1995 in their only appearance in that tournament.

  

• Danish fans have adopted the notion of “Roligism”, which, contrary to what it might seem like, is actually the opposite of hooliganism. The term “rolig” translates to “calm”something that is reinforced by all Danish supporters.

• Although you might not notice it until it is brought to your attention, Denmark employs the old school system of numbering their players based on their position. The goalkeeper will wear 1, the defenders 2, 3, 4, and 5, and so on and so forth. All substitutes will wear numbers 12-16.
• The highest capped Dane in the current squad is John Dahl Tomasson with 110 appearances. Not far behind him are Dennis Rommedahl (96), Martin Jorgensen (96) and Tomas Sorensen (87), making for an experienced squad. Currently sitting at 51 goals, if Tomasson manages to score 2 goals in the tournament, he will surpass Poul Nielsen (52 goals) for the all time lead.

Netherlands v Denmark – Head-to-head

The most important statistic of all, however, is the all time matchup between these two nations. In 27 matches against each other, the Netherlands hold the advantage, winning 11 times and losing only 6. They have drawn 10 times. The Dutch have also historically outscored the Danes 55 to 36. The most important match between the two took place in the 1992 European championship semi-finals, where Denmark beat the defending European champion Oranje on penalties and then proceeded to beat defending world champs Germany in the final.

Watch Netherlands vs Denmark Live Online

You can watch Netherlands vs Denmark live online as well as other World Cup matches plus hundreds of football games from across the world. Read our live World Cup football page for more details.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Whether you’re a die hard fan who calls in sick to work just to watch your team play, or you’re a casual fan who happens to be in little Italy during an Italy match and gets caught up in the excitement, there’s this little thing called the World Cup of football that you will be unable to avoid wherever you are on this planet in the upcoming month.

Let’s face it, most of the time in the world of football, we care a lot more about the individual players than the actual team. Case in point: the most capped player for North Korea is named Kim Yong-Jun. He has made 53 appearances for the North Korean football team, and yet I am certain that nobody has ever heard of him (or any of the other North Korean players, for that matter), and thus we hear nothing about North Korea in the days leading up to the World Cup. They would probably have more publicity if they just let Kim Jong-Il play striker. Wouldn’t that be something?

Anyhow, individual accomplishments at the World Cup are what players are remembered for, how legacies are created, and how legends are made. If you can’t succeed at the World Cup, you will not necessarily be forgotten (see: George Best), but you will most certainly be remembered worldwide (obviously) for your accomplishments or failures on the grand stage (see: Roberto Baggio).

Some individual facts for your enjoyment (and your enjoyment only):

• Antonio Carbajal (Mexico) and Lothar Matthaus (Germany) have both played in the most FIFA World Cups, appearing in 5 each. Of the two, Matthaus holds the record for most matches played, appearing in 25 world cup matches for ze Germans.
• Pele (do I really need to put ‘Brazil’ here?) has his name on the most world cup trophies, being a champion on three separate occasions (1958, 1962, 1970)
• Paolo Maldini has been up on the silver screen for the longest amount of literal time. In his international career, Maldini logged 2,217 minutes for Italy at the coupe du monde.
• Cafu (Brazil) has won the most matches as a player, having been on the winning side of a world cup match 16 times.
• Diego Maradonna (again, you should know he’s from Argentina. If not, perhaps you should consider not coming to this website anymore… or killing yourself) has captained the most matches for his country at the world cup, getting that lovely yellow armband 16 times.
• The youngest ever player at the world cup was Norman Whiteside for Northern Ireland in 1982 at 17 years and 41 days. The youngest player to appear in a final was Pele at 17 years and 249 days. The youngest player to appear in a qualifying match was Soleymane Mamam (Togo) at 13 years and 310 days. That would make him an 8th grader. Remember what you were doing in 8th grade? That’s right. You were discovering the wonders of touching your penis. Shame on you for not being in a world cup qualifying match.
• The oldest player ever at the world cup was Roger Milla for Cameroon at 42 years and 39 days (1994). The oldest player to appear in a final was Dino Zoff (Italy) at 40 years and 133 days (1982). The oldest player in a qualifying match was MacDonald Taylor from the US Virgin Islands (which is here, in case you were wondering) at 46 years and 180 days in 2004. The oldest ever captain was Peter Shilton for England at 40 years and 292 days (1990)
• (fat) Ronaldo has tickled the twine the most times of any international player. He has 15 career goals at the tournament. Of those 15 goals, he scored them in 11 different matches, which is also a record.
• Overall, including qualifying, (you won’t see this coming) Ali Daei of Iran has scored the most goals of any other player. He has 35.
• Just Fontaine of France is by far the best golden boot winner of all time. He somehow managed to net 13 goals in the 1958 installment of the tournament. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire due to injury a few years later and could not add to this total. Impressively, though, his 13 goals in the single tournament put him at 3rd place in the standings for all time career goals scored by a player.
• Archie Thompson proved that Australians are complete dicks (okay, well maybe not entirely, but for this match they were) as he holds the all time record for most goals in a qualifying match. He scored an unheard of 13 goals in a qualifying match against American Samoa. Go on then. Guess the final score. 13-0 you say? Take a look at this.
• Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick for England against ze Germans in the 1966 final remains the highest total of any player in one final.
• Sander Kocis of Hungary gets little attention from anyone, but his records are certainly impressive. He holds the record for most matches played in a world cup with at least 2 goals or more, scoring at least twice in four different world cup matches. What’s more impressive? He did it in four straight world cup matches. He’s also tied with three others for the most hat tricks in a world cup with two. Yeah. He did that in consecutive games too.
• Alcides Ghiggia of Uruguay (4 goals in 4 matches), Just Fontaine of France (13 goals in 6 matches, and Jairzinho of Brazil (7 goals in 6 matches) are the only three men to ever accomplish the feat of scoring in every match they ever played at the world cup.
• Pele holds the record for youngest goalscorer at the world cup, youngest player to score a hat trick at the world cup, and youngest player to score in the final, doing it all in fine style at the 1958 tournament at the tender age of 17.
• Hakan Sukur’s (Turkey) 11 second goal in 2002 against Korea was the fastest in world cup history. Ebbe Sand (Denmark) took 16 seconds to score off the bench in 1998 to have the fastest goal after being substituted on. Johan Neeskens (Netherlands) took a wee bit longer at 90 seconds to score the fastest goal in the final.
• The man, the myth, the legend, Alessandro Del Piero is the War Machine of world cup goalscoring – it’ll make sense in a second, I promise. His 121st minute goal against Germany in the 2006 is the latest goal to be scored in the tournament’s history. The Ironman title, however, belongs to Geoff Hurst. He left his late game heroics for the best time by scoring in the 120th minute against Germany in the 1966 final to lead England to their one and only title.

Also see: World Cup Statistics | World Cup Facts: Longest Streaks | All Time World Cup Facts.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Whether you’re a die hard fan who will lay down in the street and wait to be run over and killed when your team is eliminated from the tournament, or whether you wil simply go and cheer for Portugal or Brazil once Portugal or Brazil is eliminated, there’s this little thing called the World Cup of football that you will be unable to avoid wherever you are on this planet in the upcoming month.

Yesterday I went through a bunch of all time facts about the World Cup, but today we’re going to take a look at some of the all time best streaks that have occured in the tournament’s history (unfortunately, we’re not talking about the kind of streaking as seen above). So without further ado, here are some top streaks from the World Cup:

• Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962) have won the most consecutive world cups at two.
• Germany (1982-1990) and Brazil (1994-2002) have made the most consecutive finals appearances at three in a row each.
• Brazil has made the most consecutive world cups, appearing in all 19 tournaments.
• Luxembourg has attempted to qualify for the tournament 18 times (1934-2010). They have failed 18 times in a row.
• Brazil holds the record for most consecutive wins (11 from 2002-2006) as well as most games without a loss (13 from 1958-1966).
• Mexico has the worst losing streak, having 9 straight losses from 1930-1958. Ouch.
• To add insult to injury, during that same losing streak, Mexico also formed another record; most consecutive matches allowing 2 or more goals in a match.
• Bulgaria was winless for 17 straight matches from 1962-1994.
• Brazil and Germany both found the net in 18 straight matches. That is a whole lotta scoring action.
• From 1930-1954, Uruguay scored 2 goals or more in every world cup match they played.
• From 1934-1994, Switzerland just couldn’t keep their sheets clean. They allowed at least 1 goal in 22 straight world cup matches.

Also see: World Cup Statistics | World Cup Facts: Individual Achievements | All Time World Cup Facts.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Whether you’re a die hard fan whose heart breaks a little when one of your friends chooses Manchester United over Liverpool to support (it happened to me the other day. A little part of my love for that friend literally died on the spot), or a casual fan who thinks that they’re talking about (fat) Ronaldo when they’re really talking about (gay) Ronaldo, there’s this little thing called the World Cup of football that you will be unable to avoid wherever you are on this planet in the upcoming month.

As it looms, I thought it would be nice to do what I do and take a look back at the previous World Cups and have a little preview of this one. Some all-time statistics you should keep in mind for this upcoming month’s spectacle (some of which you’ve probably already read somewhere, and some of which you probably haven’t):

• The World Cup of football has been played 18 times overall. It has been won 5 times by Brazil, 4 times by Italy, thrice by West Germany, twice by Argentina and Uruguay, and once by England and France.
• Hungary holds the record for highest margin of victory after they beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982.
• Switzerland and Austria (is it wrong that every time I hear Austria all I think about now is Bruno?) had the most goals between them in a match at 12, when the Austrians prevailed 7-5 at this 1954 world cup match.
• Brazil and Germany are tied for the lead in games played at the World Cup with 92 a piece.
• Brazil leads all countries with 64 world cup wins, 201 goals forward, and a +117 goal differential.
• Mexico is the biggest loser at the tournament, having had 22 losses. They also have the worst goal differential, allowing 36 more than they have scored overall.
• Germans and Italians are the most sharing, drawing 19 matches each.
• Germany has allowed the most goals at 112.
• Brazil leads all countries with 40 sparkling clean sheets.
• Indonesia has played the least world cup games with only 1 (they lost 6-0). If you’re wondering why they only played one match, it’s because they refused to play Israel in their next game (presumably because they’re Jewish).
• Germany and Brazil have made the most appearances in the world cup finals at 7 each.
• Ze Germans have also made the semi-finals the most out of any country, standing their ground until the final four a total of 11 times.
• Scotland is the most heartbreaking of all nations, failing to make it out of the first round 8 times (they’ve made the world cup 8 times, ouch).

It’s pretty clear that Germany and Brazil are the standouts in the all-time record holding departments, with Italy just a little way off. It should be intriguing to see if they can add to their legacy this June or whether we’ll see Brazillian fans lying in the middle of the street waiting for a car to run them over in mid June. Only time will tell.

Also see: World Cup Statistics | World Cup Facts: Longest Streaks | World Cup Facts: Individual Achievements.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

A belated congratulations to Chelsea for winning the Premier League, but I’ve been a bit under the weather recently so I haven’t had a chance to come up with one of these fascinating little comparison pieces for your pleasure. Of course, I’ve made a habit of comparing this Premier League campaign to that of last year’s, predicting on three separate occassions that three different teams would win the title.

West Ham and Portsmouth failed me, but my prediction of Chelsea to win the title a few weeks ago did (albeit luckily) come true. So without further adieu, here are some final interesting and random facts about the 2009/2010 EPL season as compared to the 2008/2009 season:

15 Possibly Interesting and Random Facts About the 2009/2010 Premier League Season in Comparison to the 2008/2009 Season:

1. For the first time in six seasons, England has a potential new face in the Champions League. Although they still have to go through qualifying, Tottenham will replace Liverpool as the fourth team to make it into Europe this season.
2. Chelsea won the title with 27 wins and 86 points this season, edging out runners up Manchester United by a single point. Last season, United won by a margin of four points, beating out Liverpool for the top spot with 90 points.
3. Liverpool had won the title of most goals scored with 77. Chelsea smashed that this season with 103. Liverpool also had the best goal differential last season at +50. Again, Chelsea smashed that this season by scoring 71 more goals than their opponents.
4. Newcastle, Middlesborough and West Brom were all relegated with totals of 34, 32 and 32 points, respectively. This season, Burnley (30 points), Hull (30 points) and Portsmouth (28 points) go down with significantly less points. For all West Ham fans out there, had this season’s West Ham (35 points) been playing in last season (perhaps through use of a TARDIS), they still would have stayed up on goal differential. Then again, last season’s West Ham (51 points) was much better.
5. West Brom had the worst back line last year allowing 67 goals. That seems excellent when you look at this season’s worst defence, Burnley, who allowed a whopping 82 goals.
6. The winner of the league in each of the past two seasons has been the team that has failed to score the least amount of times. Last season, Manchester United failed to score 4 times, less than any other team, and won the league. This season, Chelsea were shutout only once.
7. Newcastle split the points on 13 draws last season. This season, Stoke was the most sharing with 14 draws.
8. Versus top half opponents, Chelsea and Manchester United were tops, snatching 33 points from the opposition (Chelsea takes top spot on goal differential). Last season, Liverpool took 37 points off of top half opposition.
9. Manchester City managed to score a season high 6 goals in one game last season (against Portsmouth). This year, 6 goals were scored four times (twice by Arsenal, once by City, once by Liverpool), 7 goals were scored on three occasions (all by Chelsea), 8 goals on one occassion (by Chelsea) and 9 goals on one occassion (Tottenham). Let’s hope for double digits next year.
10. Birmingham had the streak of the season, going 12 games unbeaten. Last year, Arsenal went 21 matches without a loss. Arsenal also had the longest winning streak of the season, winning 6 straight at one point. This is dwarfed in comparison to Manchester United last season, who took maximum points from 11 games straight.
11. Of the 380 total games played this season, the home team won 193 (51%), the away team won 91 (24%) and there were 96 draws (25%). Last season, the home team won 173 (46%), the away team won 110 (29%), and there were 97 draws (26%).
12. The top five goalscorers this season were: Didier Drogba (29 goals), Wayne Rooney (26 goals), Darren Bent (23 goals plus 1 beach ball), Carlos Tevez (23), and Frank Lampard (22). Last season, the top five consisted of Nicolas Anelka (19), Cristiano Ronaldo (18), Steven Gerrard (16), Fernando Torres (14) and Robinho (14). Put in perspective, last year’s golden boot winner Nicolas Anelka would have finished sixth in scoring with his 08/09 total.
13. Frank Lampard was the most giving of all players, with 14 assists, compared to Frank Lampard being the most giving last year with 10 assists (tied with Robin Van Persie). Conclusion? He likes to pass.
14. Lee Cattermole had the worst discipline in the league last season with 10 yellow cards and 2 reds. Javier Mascherano followed in his footsteps this year, seeing yellow 9 times and red twice.
15. The average attendance at premier league matches was down this season from 35,560 to 34,150.

There you have it. 15 possibly interesting and random facts about the 2009/2010 season. It’s been a good season, and although West Ham and Portsmouth helped make my predictions at the beginning of the season a failure, it was fun doing this over the course of the season. Look out for more silly things like this when the World Cup rolls around.

Zan Rathore also plies his trade on the Zan Rathore Sports Blog

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Today I realized that the most anticipated sporting event in the world is approaching in just one, lousy, unbearably long month. No, it’s not the Stanley Cup Finals. No, it’s not the NBA Finals. No, it’s not the UEFA Champions League, and it most certainly isn’t the Blue Jays’ inter-league date with the Colorado Rockies.

The World Cup of football is upon us, my friends. Once every four years, this entire planet hovers around whatever television sets, radio or internet connections they can find to see who will earn the title of best footballing nation in the world. This year’s world cup begins on June the 11th, but I can’t seem to contain my excitement any longer; I NEED to talk about this tournament.

Before I give you any audacious predictions, though, it’s important to take a look back into the ghost of world cup past, considering that history is the basis for anything that is happening in the present. What would have happened if Baggio could take that penalty again? What would have happened if Beckham didn’t see red in 98? What if John Terry wasn’t a bastard?

The flip side to the answer of all of these questions is a very interesting concept to ponder. History is an important thing, people, and it most certainly should not be forgotten. That is why I have decided to enlighten you on the history of the world cup from beginning to end. It all started in Uruguay.

Before I get into what happened in the tournament, let’s take a look at some important world events of 1930:

Things That Happened In 1930:

1. Mickey Mouse made his first comic strip appearance
2. 3M begain marketing scotch tape
3. Twinkies were invented
4. The BBC radio service reported ‘that there is no news’ on April the 18th
5. Turkish women were given the right to vote
6. Europeans were 38% of the world population

1930 was also the year that the very first world cup of football was held in the month of July, as opposed to the June that we have become accustomed to in recent history. The format was a little bit different, considering the fact that there weren’t as many teams willing to participate. There were no entries from any European teams until two months prior to the tournament when Yugoslavia and Romania decided to make the journey across the ocean.

Remember, this is at a time when people travelled worldwide by boat, so it would’ve taken a month or two to get to Uruguay from Europe. Imagine not being able to bathe for two months. Then imagine not being able to shave for two months. Also imagine hundreds of people around you not being able to do so either.

I imagine the boat smelled like a pair of underwear with six month old skid marks that have been soaked in vinegar and urinated upon and covered in cheese… not that I’d know anything about how that smells, or anything…

Eventually, 13 teams participated in the inaugural world cup, with 7 from South America (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay), 4 from Europe (Yugoslavia, Romania, France, Belgium), and 2 from North America (United States, Mexico). The teams were divided up into four groups, with the winner of each group advancing to the semi-final stage.

Random Facts About The Tournament:

• Lucien Laurent of France was the first man to ever get on the score sheet with a goal against Mexico
• Mexico was awarded the first ever penalty in World Cup history in their group match against Argentina
• Placido Gallindo of Uruguay was the first man to be given a red card in the tournament
• The first hat-trick in world cup history was scored by Bert Patenaude of the United States against Paraguay (USA! USA! USA!)
• The final between Argentina and Uruguay was a rematch of their 1928 Olympic gold medal match
• Guillermo Stabile of Uruguay won the golden boot with 8 goals in four matches

Hosts Uruguay eventually won the tournament with a 4-2 victory over Argentina in the final, in what started something that I don’t think anyone imagined would turn into the massive world event that it is known as today.

Until next time, keep on rockin’ in a free world and do do do loo do…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

I like this table better what with Liverpool having a chance to win the league and all...

I haven’t done this in a while, but since the season is winding down I thought it would be interesting to once again take a look at how things were shaping up one year ago today in the Premier League. In the past, I predicted that West Ham would win the league and that Portsmouth would win the league on two separate occassions based on their positions in relation to where Manchester United was at that point last season. Clearly, you shouldn’t gamble any money based on any of the information that I give you because those two teams are both headed for a downward spiral straight into the Championship (why is it called that anyways? Championship of what? It makes division one sound glamorous, when it really isn’t). Once again for your entertainment and pleasure, here you are:

14 Interesting Facts about the 2008/2009 Premier League season in relation to the 2009/2010 Premier League season that you may or may not find interesting depending upon your dorkiness for random, useless facts:

1. For some reason, as of April 3, 2010, teams have played 33 games as opposed to having played only 30 at the same date last year. I’m guessing this is somehow because of that little tournament in June called the World Cup.

2. Manchester United (65 points), Liverpool (64 points) and Chelsea (61 points topped the league with Arsenal (55 points) trailing behind for the last Champion’s League spot. This year, Chelsea (74 points), Manchester United (72 points) and Arsenal (71 points) lead the way in a bit of a tighter race, with Manchester City (59 points) occupying the coveted fourth place ticket to Europe (the real Europe).

3. The race to the Championship was being held between Newcastle (29 points), Middlesborough (27 points) and West Brom (24 points). They were all relegated. This year, Hull (27 points), Burnley (24 points) and Portsmouth (14 points) find themselves in the same positions; my money’s on all three of them getting relegated because Hull will desperately miss the acoustic range of one Phil Brown (but certainly not his managerial skills).

4. Blackburn found themselves clear of the relegation zone in 17th with 31 points. West Ham are clear of the relegation zone on goal differential with 27 points as of today.

5. Overall this season, the home team has won 166 times (51% of the time), the away team 78 times (24% of the time), and there have been 80 draws (25% of the time). At the completion of last season, the home team had won 173 times (46% of the time), the away team 110 times (26% of the time), with 97 draws (24% of the time).

6. Newcastle had drawn the most games with 11. This year, Stoke has paved the way to peace (ironically enough) with 12 stalemates.

7. Liverpool had scored a league-high 54 goals; Chelsea has smashed that with 84 goals forward this year.

8. Manchester United has had the best defence in the league this year, conceding 27 goals. Chelsea’s defence was more robust last year allowing only 17.

9. In contrast to the previous fact, the worst defence belonged to West Brom at this point last year (55 goals allowed, -29 on goal differential). This year, Burnley have been even lousier at the back allowing 71 goals, having scored 39 goals less than their opponents.

10. The road warriors this season have been Chelsea and Manchester United with 9 wins apiece away from home. Last season, Chelsea and Aston Villa each had 10 wins away from home at this point.

11. Blackburn have secured the most points when not scoring with 6 this season, while Fulham had 7 goalless points awarded to them last year.

12. No player scored 20 goals last season: Nicolas Anelka (19), Cristiano Ronaldo (18), Steven Gerrard (16), Fernando Torres and Robinho (14 each) lead the league in goals. The list involves four brand new names out of five this season (quick! guess who’s still in the list!). Wayne Rooney (26) leads the way followed by Didier Drogba (24), Darren Bent (20), Carlos Tevez (19), and (you cheated if you looked at this first) Fernando Torres (18).

13. Cesc Fabregas (13), Frank Lampard (12) and James Milner (11) have been willing to share the wealth this season by leading the league in assists. Lampsie and Van Persie shared the assist title (how fitting) last season with 10 apiece.

14. Fulham have the best discipline this year with only 37 yellow cards and 1 red card (compared to Sunderland who have the worst with 63 yellow cards and 6 reds). A year ago today, Fulham held the best discipline again (or before?) with 40 yellows and 1 red. Stoke earned their reputation as a rough team last season with 73 cautioned men and 5 men sent for an early shower.

Chelsea’s win over Manchester United seems to have put them in the pole position to take the league this year and the stats agree with that statement (much like they agreed with West Ham winning the league way back in October. Go figure). Just don’t forget about Arsenal back there.

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