Football Wonderkid Scout

 Missing duo Cambiasso and Zanetti

Dawson comes in to deputise. It will be a hammer blow to Fabio Capello who has already endured defensive problems since his arrival. The question mark will be who partners John Terry at the back. The obvious candidate is Ledley King, but with questions surrounding his own fitness, maybe the Italian will opt for the trusted and reliable Jamie Carragher who was bought back from international retirement. The captaincy unsurprisingly goes to Steven Gerrard. It must also be a big concern for Sir Alex Ferguson for a player who struggled the past year with ongoing injury problems.

5th June 2010:
Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel has been ruled out of the World Cup after failing to recover from knee surgery. He is the latest Chelsea player to suffer World Cup heartache after Michael Ballack and Michael Essien have already been ruled out. Meanwhile Didier Drogba is severe doubt for the Ivory Coast which will be a massive blow to Sven Goran Eriksson's plans. Continuing the Chelsea theme is former player Arjen Robben who was rushed to hospital with fears he has injured his hamstring after leaving the field in his teams 6-1 warm up win over Hungary, having scored two goals. It will be a big blow to the Netherlands for a player who has relished his new role at Bayern Munich and has arguably had one of his finest seasons to date. Lets hope there are no more injuries to such key players before the kick-off as this is the optimum of a players career.

7th June 2010:
So England eased to a 3-0 win over the Platinum Stars in their final warm-up match before the World Cup but there is seems Fabio is intent on keeping us guessing who his starting line up against the United States will be. The Italian had previously declared that the intended starting elven would all get 45 minutes. The match started with Joe Hart in goal but was replaced by Robert Green at half-time. While Ledley King looked assured next to John Terry at centre-back, there are further question marks of who will start on the right side of midfield. Shaun Wright-Phillips started the match and was replaced with Aaron Lennon, both of who look uninspiring. The other question will be who partners Wayne Rooney up front. What has been confirmed is that predictably Gareth Barry will miss the opener. Meanwhile, Brazil warmed up with a 5-1 win over Tanzania with Robinho and Ramires both getting two goals either side of one by Kaka.

11th June 2010:
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa got under way with a spectacular opening ceremony at the 94,000-capacity Soccer City in Johannesburg. This was followed by an entertaining 1-1 draw between the hosts and Mexico. Mexico's Rafa Marquez struck 12 minutes from time to deny the hosts a winning start to the World Cup, though they had a chance to win it in the final moments when Katlego Mphela hit the post. The second match ended a goalless draw at the Cape Town Stadium between France and Uruguay. This was further evidence to suggest the Golden era is truely over with France lacking flair and inspiration. It was somewhat surprising to see Malouda left out of the starting line up given such a fantastic season he has had, Govou looked very poor and was guilty of missing the best chance in the match. Meanwhile, wonderkid Nicolas Lodeiro had a rude awakening to his first World Cup after being sent off after just 18 minutes having picked up his second booking. Its a shame as he is a massive talent and could well of been Uruguay's wildcard.

12th June 2010:
In the second day at the World Cup the two games taking centre stage were Argentina v Nigeria and England against the United States. Argentina's 1-0 victory over the Super Eagles was arguably one of the best footballing displays so far at the World Cup. Maradona started with a formation clearly suited to bring the best out of Messi and as the tournament goes in, this should be Messi's time to shine. England's game which finished 1-1, will rememberd for Fabio's selections, with a number appearing to backfire. The uncertainty over who will be number one may have been a factor, but Rob Green's error is yet another in the catalogue of goalkeeping errors for England's keepers. The Italian will certainly have a lot of thinking to do between now and next Friday. James Milner's selection over Joe Cole may have surprised some and the Aston Villa star clearly looked unfit and struggled early on, picking up a booking and substituted after just 30 minutes. Capello will also be worrying over Ledley King's fitness after having to withdraw the Tottenham enforcer at half-time.

13th June 2010:
With many expecting Germany to struggle in South Africa after losing talisman Michael Ballack to injury and with doubts over the future of coach Joachim Low, they posted arguably the finest display in the tournament so far with a convincing 4-0 win over 10-man Australia. Playmaker Mesut Ozil was arguably the star of the show and in Thomas Muller they have a young duo who can go on to make Germany a force once again at international level. Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose continued their remarkable records at international level after scoring the first two goals, followed by goals from Muller and Cacau to complete the rout. The game was marred by Tim Cahill who was shown a straight red and may well miss the rest of the World Cup.

14th June 2010:
The Netherlands topped Group E after a freak own goal from Denmark defender Dan Agger. It was perhaps a little harsh on Morten Olsen's Denmark after matching the Netherlands in the opening period, but the game was wrapped up in the final minutes when lively substitute Eljero Elia raced on to a through ball and after his shot struck the post, Dirk Kuyt tapped in the winner.

16th June 2010:
Forget last night's brave efforts from North Korea, the shock of the tournament is in and who would have bet on Switzerland to defeat Spain in the opening game of the final group stage. This World Cup has been accused of being boring and slow, but the second round of games will certaintly prove interesting with a number of teams needing to prove a point. Most of the pre tournament favourites have yet to get in top gear.

18th June 2010:
So another day of shocks and another poor display from England. Fabio Capello will really need to consider his tactics against Slovenia as the 4-4-2 system is helping no one. None of the players with exception to a few play the system and its clearly not bringing out the best in players like Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard who look increasing frustrated. How Joe Cole remains a spectator from the bench is anyone's guess. Perhaps one of the most talented players England has produced since Gazza, he would certainly offer something a bit different. With Germany also losing against Serbia, the final group games will perhaps kick this tournament into life.

22nd June 2010:
Nearing the business end of the tournament, tonight saw the final group stage games and we have our first teams through with Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina and South Korea. The most notable game of the day was France's defeat to South Africa which sent them packing, picking up just one point in the tournament and the talking point will again surround the disharmony in the national team. With Nicolas Anelka sent home already, it was Patrice Evra who paid the price today as he was benched for the game. There was still no room for Thierry Henry, with Domenech preferring to play Gignac and Cisse. I don't believe I have ever seen such problems in a national team, this will even surprise the Dutch. This World Cup has certainly been a bookmakers dream to date and certainly full of surprises. Here's hoping Fabio and England can turn it around as they will never get a better draw should the top the group.

23rd June 2010:
Another day, another two groups decided. So it will be England versus Germany on Sunday in arguably the game of the tournament to date. Capello will take some heart from England's performance, though it should have been a lot easier over a nation that has just over 400 professionals registered. Germany went through thanks to a wonderstrike from Mesut Özil who looks a potential world class player. He really has stood out in a young German side and could well cause England problems. It was also good news for Ghana who become the first and only African team to progress to the knock-out stages.

24th June 2010:
First it was France, now it is Italy, the shocks keep on coming in this World Cup. What is it with games involving English referee Howard Webb. First he officiated the shock victory for Switzerland over favourites Spain and now in the game of Slovakia against Italy. While it is somewhat understandable with France's internal feuding, the problems of Italy on the field are only too apparent. An age-ing team with no attacking potentcy of any note. It is the first time that the World Cup holders and the runners-ups have finished bottom of the group stages. Who will be next, can Chile do the unthinkable and knockout European Championship winners Spain?

27th June 2010:
England lose 4-1 to great rivals Germany in a one-sided affair which will be remembered as much for England's poor performance as it will be for the controversy surrounding a clearly good goal by Frank Lampard. If this is not a wake up call to Seb Blatter for introduction of goal line technology then nothing will. Sadly this day was a bit of an embarrasment for the sport. If tennis, cricket and rugby are able to effect modern advances then surely the greatest game in the world should follow suit. Whether this would of changed the outcome will have people debating for years to come. Questions will now focus on Fabio's tenure at help of the national team after a simply disastrous campaign, winning just one match against Slovenia 1-0. Little appears to have changed and the English Football Association will need to answer serious questions. Maybe its time to discard with the old guard and give tommorows generation a chance to shine. The likes of Rodwell, Wilshere and Wickham will be key players over the coming years. Meanwhile, Argentina continued their impressive form under Diego Maradona with a convincing win over Mexico, with Carlos Tevez bagging a brace.

28th June 2010:
Todays games saw Brazil knock out an impressive Chile side with a 3-0 victory. The Chileans clearly missing the effects of three suspensions to their key defenders were unable to cope with the pace and flair of the Samba boys, with Robinho looking particularly impressive and very unlike his performances at Man City. Meanwhile, the Netherlands advanced after seeing off Slovakia to set up a mouth watering quarter final between the two on Friday afternoon.

29th June 2010:
Our first World Cup penalty shoot-out came today when Paraguay held their nerve to see off a fighting spirited Japan. The South Americans will now face Spain who saw off Portugal in a tightly contested game with few chances. With Fernando Torres a shadow of his former self and struggling for fitness, it was David Villa who once again shined on the world stage to confirm his status as the worlds best striker. Instinctive finishing and reactions from Villa, led Spain into the next round. What became only to apparent was Portugal's lack of flair going forward and a clearly starved Cristiano Ronaldo lacked the support and service needed to shine.

2nd July 2010:
The first quarter final of the tournament was the much awaited clash between Brazil and Holland. After Robinho gave the Samba stars the lead, there only looked to be one winner but a rejuvanted Dutch side, led by the inspirational Wesley Senijder came back from behind to win the match 2-1. In the evening match, Ghana suffered heart-ache having led the match 1-0 and being drawed level, only to miss a penalty with the last kick of the game by Asamoah Gyan. Penalties decided the Africans fate but two stars in the making appear to be Asamoah Gyan and Anthony Annan who will be wanted men after the tournament.

3rd July 2010:
So the first quarter final of today saw a truely rampant Germany destroy a sorry looking Argentina. It proves their win over England was no fluke in the second round, as the tournaments highest scorers made it three times they have scored four goals. While Mesut Özil was kept relatively quiet it was was Thomas Müller who was the star once again. A second yellow for the tournament means the young talent will miss the semi-final match and will now be a big loss to the Germans. In the second game of the day Spain went in to the match as big favourites and after a poor first half could of found themselves behind after Cardozo missed a penalty. When Alonso missed his penalty just a minute later after a re-take the match looked to be heading towards penalties but it was the ever present David Villa who is just one goal away from Raul now that made the difference once again and rescued Spain to set up a mouth watering clash with Germany.

7th July 2010:
In the first semi-final Holland maintained their impressive form to book their spot in the World Cup final with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay. Sneijder again proving an influential figure after scoring his 5th goal of the tournament ,as Van Marwijk's side edged home to complete a 25-match unbeaten run to reach their first final since 1978. They will meet Spain who reached their first World Cup final after narrowly defeating Germany 1-0. A lone Carlos Puyol header was enough to set up a record breaking final. Pedro who was handed his first start for Spain looked lively early on.