http://www.worldcupblog.org/south-america/ World Cup South Africa 2010 en-us World Cup Blog http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/what-went-wrong-with-carlito.html http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/what-went-wrong-with-carlito.html Maxi Lopez Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:21:44 -0700 Hola amigos, Tevez will probably spend another half-season not playing futbol, between TV shows and golf sessions. Carlitos was loved and cheered years ago because of his personality, energy and leadership, and not only from argie fans. In 2006, he was considered as Argentina's future, next to Messi. Apparently out of Sabella's team, Tevez has repeated a couple of times that he could retire from international futbol. Why is Carlito's career becoming such a huge waste? http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/photo-of-the-day-new-kits.html http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/photo-of-the-day-new-kits.html Duvel Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:16:10 -0700 Ganso and Neymar modeled the 2012 Brazil kit this week. Again, its a huge upgrade from last year's awful kit from Nike. http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/farewell-roberto-carlos.html http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/farewell-roberto-carlos.html Black Matt Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:45:02 -0700 As per Sambafoot and several other sources, Roberto Carlos has decided to retire from Anzhi at the end of the year.  He plans to continue with the club in some capacity, which is very interesting to me.  Despite being the subject of more than one racial dispute, Roberto Carlos seems to have found a home he can love.  It makes me sad that that home is in Russia and not in Brazil.  It makes me even sadder to think about the circumstances that made him leave Corinthians, and Brazil in general, back in 2010.  The way Brazilian fans sometimes treat their legends could be a long and frustrating article in and of itself. Roberto Carlos is one of my three favorite Brazilians of all time – at least of the ones that I’ve been alive to see in their prime.  (The other two are Ronaldo and Lucio, if anyone cares.  Bebeto and Kaka round out the top 5.)  But how do we gauge his place in the history of the Selecão? http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/welcome-back-home-trezegol.html http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/welcome-back-home-trezegol.html Maxi Lopez Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:46:21 -0700 Hola amigos, Trezeguet's comeback in our local league has not made much noise. Maybe because it's not the worth afterall, as River is in second division and Trezegol's career is ending. For me, it's an event. Really. As long as the legs work correctly, this kind of player can play until he's 40 years old. Like Camoranesi, Barrios, and lots of other bi-national argies, Trezeguet is considered as a traitor by few fans. But he isn't. Born in Rouen (France), he got convinced by the French Federation who was more counting on him far more than Argentina at that time. Unlike Grondona http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/interview-with-sabella.html http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/interview-with-sabella.html Maxi Lopez Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:48:13 -0700 Hola amigos, Maybe you've missed it: here is Sabella's interview brought by FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/news/newsid=1565467.html Personally, I was a bit shocked reading his very ankward quote of Mao Tse Tung, the Chinese dictator: "self-criticism is a symptom of weakness". Whether it is right or wrong, I guess it's always better to leave the words of a criminal, which have no value, in the garbage forever. In my opinion, being autocritical and perfectionnist, with constructive arguments, optimizes your performance. And hopefully, Sabella knows that too, as he corrects his words a little bit after. The rest of the interview is nice to read as it's always http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/some-thoughts-on-brazil-vs-brazil-i-mean-milan-vs-inter.html http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/some-thoughts-on-brazil-vs-brazil-i-mean-milan-vs-inter.html Black Matt Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:09:54 -0700 Greetings.  I had planned to continue the 2012 Outlook series this week, with a look at the candidates for the right-back position, but I’ll hold off on that for a week.  I wanted to write a few thoughts about the big matchup over the weekend, Brazil versus Brazil…I mean, Milan versus Inter.  http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/brazil-announces-five-friendlies.html http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/brazil-announces-five-friendlies.html Duvel Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:28:27 -0700 First of all, a massive apology for being absent from the blog the past two months. Long story short, my computer completely died and did not get a new one until after the holidays. Thanks to Black Matt for keeping things going in the meantime. The CBF announced this week five new friendlies against quality opponents this year. As nearly always with the CBF, Brazil will play all of these matches outside the country. Brazil will play Bosina on Feburary 28th, Denmark on May 26th, May 30th or 31st against the United States, June 9th verses Mexico, and June 9th against http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/our-golden-boy-did-it-again-ballon-dor-hatrick.html http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/our-golden-boy-did-it-again-ballon-dor-hatrick.html Maxi Lopez Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:22:44 -0700 Hola amigos, Messi won another Ballon d'Or (for the third time in a row). Like Cruyff, Platini and Van Basten before him. How many Ballon d'Or trophees could Leo win in his career? Vamo que vamos. http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/2012-outlook-the-goalkeepers.html http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/2012-outlook-the-goalkeepers.html Black Matt Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:59:56 -0700 It’s a new year.  I don’t know about you, but I feel much more positive about the Selecão than I did a few months ago.  See this article for the reasons why.  Mano will probably let me down yet, but my 2012 resolution is to be more positive about this team. What is Mano’s resolution?  Frankly, he should have too many to even count.  But a major one should be finally nailing down a consistent squad.  Not just a first XI, but a second one as well.  He’s taken a year and a half to experiment, and a year and a half to call up several players who were deserving long before that.  It’s time to get serious, here.  It’s time to start developing some badly needed chemistry and cohesiveness. To start off the year, I’m going to put up a series of articles looking at each position on the team, and who are the likely candidates for that spot…both as a starter and as a sub.  If Mano can’t settle on who he wants, we can do it for him. We begin with the most overlooked and least troubled position on the field…the goalkeeper. http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/happy-new-year-2012.html http://argentina.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/happy-new-year-2012.html Maxi Lopez Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:37:39 -0700 Hola amigos, All the World Cup Blog team members wish you friends a fantastic new year! I was wondering for some time how giving you fans more room and ways to express your passion on your favorite blog... Since 2006, the quality and structure of the posts have never stopped increasing. To those who are interested, you can send me by email your feelings or analysis via a single post related to any topic linked to Argentina's futbol (tactics, management, corruption, etc). As long as there aren't typing mistakes or out of subject words, I will validate your qualitative post which will http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/selecao-classics-brazil-vs-argentina-1982-world-cup.html http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/selecao-classics-brazil-vs-argentina-1982-world-cup.html Black Matt Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:20:07 -0700 Warning: this article is really, really long. Is there anything that haunts Brazilian football more than the specter of their famous 1982 team? It’s not just that they were loaded with stars.  (They were.)  Or that their coach, Tele Santana, is credited with bringing back “flair” to the national team.  (He did.)  1982 was the apex of “football as romantic expression.”  Of style over substance.  Of the road versus results.  The very fact that the team lost is almost proof of their virtue, as if they eschewed such ignoble ambitions like “winning,” or such robotic practices like “doing whatever it takes to win” in favor of pure artistry.  As the saying goes, it’s not the destination that matters…it’s the journey.