World Cup Round Up: An Oceania Mess, Germany love South Africa, Trezeguet is Pissed

We start in Oceania where World Cup qualifying is already underway and so are the controversies. Because of inadequate stadiums in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, the qualifying schedule has been changed with Fiji taking on New Zealand on October 17 in Auckland. The only problem with this plan: the Fijian players might not be able to secure visas in time and the game might have to be moved to a neutral country.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in South Africa Friday and she gave her vote of confidence that the country will be a most excellent host for the 2010 World Cup.

The rosters for next week’s Euro 2008 games continue to be announced and one guy who is none too happy with the French selection is David Trezeguet. He was left off the squad for their games against Faroe Islands and Lithuania, a decision he can’t understand: “[Raymond] Domenech claims that he calls up players based on their club performances. And I’ve managed seven goals in six matches! I can’t do any better than that. I’ve never had such a good start to a season as this one.”

It seems like we have all been waiting for Africa to emerge as a dominant football continent. Truth be told, it already has. Sportingo thinks there are even better days ahead.

Who’s the best player in the world? The players think it is Kaka. They are probably right but some of their World XI selections make you scratch your head.

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