World Cup Round Up: A Caps Record for Zanetti, Keep the Lights on in Durban

The year was 1994. The game was against Chile. His coach was Daniel Passarella. It might seem like a lifetime ago, but that was the day that Javier Zanetti made his international debut for Argentina. Flash forward to Saturday when Zanetti could set his country’s record for most international caps if he plays in the World Cup qualifier against Bolivia. He’ll break the record held by former captain Roberto Ayala, who retired from international football this summer.

The preliminary World Cup draw will be held next week in Durban and you can rest easy that we won’t be left in the dark because there won’t be any power outages. Ain’t that a relief. It would be awful to miss one second of the men in suits drawing balls out of a bowl. Actually, this would be a tragedy if Heidi Klum were involved so I say “let there be light”.

What would it mean if England does not qualify for Euro 2008? The world would end. Well, at least for organizers of the tournament who want the English money and attention. Personally, I think the tournament will survive with or without them. The British economy….not so much.

Italy has a reputation for being unflappable under pressure, but as the papers in Scotland gleefully point out, this hasn’t always been the case.

It was madness in Togo when supporters attacked players following their recent match against Mali. To make sure this doesn’t happen again, Togo has been slapped with a 3-game ban. That means they’ll have to play their first three World Cup qualifiers on neutral ground.

You know that there isn’t equality when it comes to women’s football. Here’s further proof.