http://www.worldcupblog.org/europe/ World Cup South Africa 2010 en-us World Cup Blog http://russia.worldcupblog.org/1/three-major-transfers-for-the-national-team.html http://russia.worldcupblog.org/1/three-major-transfers-for-the-national-team.html nick Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:57:50 -0700 The January window was pretty busy this year and three major transfers took place involving the national team. This is not too unusual as most players will be looking for more playing time ahead of Euro 2012 and the most unsettled are the likeliest to find new employers for the spring. Roman Pavlyuchenko, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, and Pavel Pogrebnyak did just that in an effort to stay in shape for this summer's European showpiece. Dick Advocaat will be monitoring these and all other players as he approaches his decision in a few short months on the final 23 man squad. Roman Pavlyuchenko, http://italy.worldcupblog.org/euro-2012/euro-2012-survival-kit.html http://italy.worldcupblog.org/euro-2012/euro-2012-survival-kit.html elaine Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:28:31 -0700 I am all about being prepared, and with Euro 2012 kickoff only 4 short months away, it is never too early to start packing. In addition to all of the necessities of life, a football fan has special items to pack in order to survive. http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/team-cruyff-celebrates-victory.html http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/team-cruyff-celebrates-victory.html Jan Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:56:52 -0700 Johan Cruijff and Ajax' youth coaches feel they are winners after the court's decision that the appoitment of Van Gaal and Sturkenboom were unlawful. "The court has been quite clear: the behavior of the board was wrong," says the law firm of Baker & McKenzie, which representend Cruyff, Jonk, Bergkamp, Roy, De Boer, Bosman, Overmars, Kreek and Trustfull. "This is a victory for the football club Ajax!". The supporters club is happy too. "Johan won another game," Daniel Dekker - chairman of the supporters club - stated. "We have 90.000 members. Close to 80% supports Cruyff in this conflict. This is http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/ruud-van-nistelrooy-i-decide-when-i-quit.html http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/ruud-van-nistelrooy-i-decide-when-i-quit.html Jan Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:31:25 -0700 Ruud van Gol is the autumn of his career. He has found his final destination, lowered his ambitions and lives in realism. "I'm nearing the point where football is costing me more than it yields, in energy terms. If that is the case, I call it quits. I do look back a bit already and I'm amazed at how good I was.... Once...." Today, Van Nistelrooy lives the quiet life in Marbella, Spain. He walks home from a meal out and the locals greet him with a smile. "Man, when I lived in Spain in Madrid and played for Real, life http://italy.worldcupblog.org/euro-2012/the-next-big-thing.html http://italy.worldcupblog.org/euro-2012/the-next-big-thing.html elaine Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:59:31 -0700 Well we all survived another weekend of Serie A, even if mother nature tried to screw that up for us. Oh, and there was that little spectacle called the "Super Bowl," in which some sort of beings of human form but superhuman size hailing from New York claimed the title of World Football Champions. Only they were playing some strange form of football, where they in fact used their hands instead of their feet. And the contest featured only teams from one country, not the entire world as implied. And some pretty lady in the middle of all of it made a bunch of sounds and wiggled a lot and then audaciously declared World Peace in pretty little lights. It sounds like a strange dream, I know, but it was real. Millions of dollars in advertising don't lie. But now, it's on to the next big thing. http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/bas-dost-from-promise-to-nightmare-to-all-time-high.html http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/bas-dost-from-promise-to-nightmare-to-all-time-high.html Jan Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:01:52 -0700 Well, you know the traditional start of these articles by now. "Every couple of seasons a new striker emerges on the horizon, blablabla...". We had Geels, Cruyff, Koolhof, Kist, Kieft, van Basten, Bosman, Gilhaus, Van Loen, Mols, Houtman, Van Nistel, Kluivert, Haisselbaink, Makaay, Huntelaar, Van Persie, Luuk de Jong, Van Wolfswinkel... And some time back, we heard the name Bast Dost. Which got Finn in particular in stitches for some reason. He didn't impress me much. Tall, lanky and devoid of any elegance. Or so I thought. Came through the youth system of Emmen. Not my favorite team. A bit http://sweden.worldcupblog.org/euro-2012/2012-here-we-come.html http://sweden.worldcupblog.org/euro-2012/2012-here-we-come.html aron Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:28:08 -0700 And we are back… Since the last post, I have found a new job and gotten twins so there has been a lot to do. In between changing diapers and walking a baby-carriage, I have found a moment to update the dear readers of this blog. Lets start with the national team. Since beating the Netherlands to make it to the Euro 2012 endgame, we have been absolutely piss awful. We have played like amateurs and not shown all that much drive. Sure it could be the fact that we have just been playing friendlies, but I don´t think that is such a great excuse. For the last two friendlies of 2011 we met Denmark and England (both away games) and we lost 2-0 and 1-0 respectively. http://italy.worldcupblog.org/marcello-lippi/the-italian-job.html http://italy.worldcupblog.org/marcello-lippi/the-italian-job.html elaine Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:07:35 -0700 Wanted: One good National Team to coach to Brazil 2014. Experience: Won World Cup in 2006, Also coached in 2010 http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/where-are-they-now-joop-hiele.html http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/where-are-they-now-joop-hiele.html Jan Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:39:40 -0700 Interesting to have a goalie here in the week inwhich Tim Krul saves points for Newcastle again and Stekelenburg plays anonymously in Italy... He was one in a long line of great Dutch goal keepers. And he was one of those that hardly played the number of international games his talent would suggest, as he had one Hans van Breukelen in front of him. The young Hiele made a name for himself in the Feyenoord youth already. His looks and his courageous and catlike keeping style made him popular rapidly, but his risk taking resulted in him never really reaching the absolute http://greece.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/greek-transfer-window-winter-2011-12.html http://greece.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/greek-transfer-window-winter-2011-12.html nick Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:01:24 -0700 Hello to all Greek fans. The Greek transfer window was pretty quiet this time but a couple of major transfers did take place in the last few of days earlier this week. It looks like several players in the national team are transferring to clubs in order to maintain fitness ahead of Euro 2012. Georgios Tzavellas, Eintracht Frankfurt to AS Monaco One of several left backs in the Greek national squad, Tzavellas spent the eight months injured at Eintracht Frankfurt. His departure seemed imminent as he fell out of favor since the club was relegated from the German Bundesliga. He moves to http://italy.worldcupblog.org/2012/so-that-was-interesting.html http://italy.worldcupblog.org/2012/so-that-was-interesting.html samcalcio Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:24:09 -0700 The dust has settled. We wake up on a bleary February morning, looking around at the aftermath of the January transfer window like a hungover student attempting to piece together the previous nights escapades. Did we really buy him? Are you sure he's not lost? If we act quickly, none of this could have ever happened... However, that's not the case, and once the name is on the dotted line, they're yours 'till June. A Serie A player is for 6 months, not just for Christmas. Sort of. Anyway, despite the fact that the transfer window was mainly taken up by column