This theory points to Brazil as the winner

This theory is currently being circulated in the cyber world. Will it work this year? Lets just wait and see if this theory is proven right.


1. Brazil won in 1994 and before that won in 1970

1970 + 1994 = 3964


2. Argentina won its last world cup in 1986 and before that in 1978

1978 + 1986 = 3964


3. Germany won its last world cup in 1990 and before that in 1974

1974 + 1990 = 3964


4. In 2002 and 1962, Brazil won the championships

1962 + 2002 = 3964


5. So it is logical, if we want to predict what will happen this year, to then look for another year that would verify the formula .

3964 - 2006 = 1958 ...


Brazil was the champion in 1958, so we conclude Brazil will win this year .

Good luck to all of you who put on bets this World Cup.

(Many thanks to Prem for this tip off)

Hungry England wins comfortably

In the end it was a comfortable 3-1 victory for England against Hungary in a friendly at Old Trafford earlier today.

Two headed goals in a four-minute spell in the second half by Steven Gerrard and John Terry should have ended the Hungarian’s resistance but give credit to Hungary for taking the initiative to counter England. They did score a thunderbolt of a goal and at times played better than England in the middle of the park.

Sven Goran Eriksson brought in Peter Crouch later in the game and he scored the third goal to settle England’s nerves. It was Crouch’s second international goal and he proves to be an effective substitute.

The game started with England trying out a new system – with Gerrard playing just behind Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher playing the holding midfielder.

The decision to play Gerrard up front proved to be effective but the Carragher decision was a bit difficult to understand. More so when in the second half, Owen Hargreaves was brought in to play the holding midfield role.

I must say that of the two, Carragher did better but what I don’t understand is why Michael Carrick was not used in that role, especially when he is used to play there, and he plays well in that role.

Otherwise, the game also saw the introduction of Theo Walcott as the youngest England player in the final 20 minutes. He did well with one or two speedy runs and two shots on target. With time, he will do well for England, I reckon.

England started with what looked like the definite first 11. I still think that for the World Cup, Sven will play Carrick at the holding midfield role. Both Joe Cole and Ashley Cole also had a good game today.

In all, England looked comfortable in this game although at times they were stretched by Hungary.

A funny World Cup advertisement

With World Cup just days away, advertisers are getting into the picture with some interesting ads for their products. Here is one funny ad for Umbro. Enjoy it:

World Cup trivia

Did you know that no captain has ever lifted the World Cup twice.

The ones that have come the closest are Diego Maradona of Argentina and Brazil’s Dunga.

Maradona lifted the cup as champions in 1986 when he almost single-handedly won it for Argentina (pix) and as runners-up in 1990.

As for Dunga, his led his team to the trophy in 1994 and to the runners-up spot in 1998.

Germany’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has the unwanted distinction of being the only captain to have lost in two finals – in 1982 and 1986.

Another reason to be a football superstar

A female fan runs to hug Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho at the world champion’s training camp in Weggis, Switzerland.

Would she had done the same if he was NOT such an outstanding footballer? A photo of him at the age of 7 might provide an answer.

Strikers hitting targets in friendlies

This is an article from the official World Cup site which gave a round up of all the lastest friendlies played in the past two days.

With the big kick-off in Germany approaching fast, there were promising signs from several strikers who looked in fine fettle in the FIFA World Cup warm-up games played this weekend.

With new tactical systems being tested and much chopping and changing of line-ups, the last try-outs before the start of the tournament are always of dubious value as a form guide. But on this occasion, the most striking feature was the sharpness of the goalscorers, many of whom are clearly already up to competition speed.

Read more about the on-form strikers here.

Trinidad and Tobago no threat for England

Yesterday I watched on telly a friendly between Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) versus a young Wales team. Although the Caribbean islanders controlled the games, they nevertheless lost to Wales by two goals to one.

T&T had some interesting moments in the game. Their wing-backs were good in going forward. In Chris Birchall, they have a good midfielder who has a wicked shot and is full of running. He is very ably assisted by their veteran playmaker Russell Latapy. And their goalkeeper looks steady.

Up front, Stern John looks good in air but he missed some easy chances too. T&T’s only known name is striker Dwight Yorke but he is used by the team to play in a deep midfield role.

I don’t see them troubling England too much in their group match on June 15. England have enough fire power and midfield control to win this game easily.

I also managed to catch some highlights of friendly games played by Paraguay. They looked uneasy with the high balls Norway were pumping into the D box in the friendly with ended 2-2 earlier last week and yesterday again failed in the same area in their 1-1 draw with Denmark.

The Paraguayans however played some dangerous counter-attacks.

Players’ injuries update

It is not just England that is sweating over an injury concern to a star player. Germany too is worried over their talismanic player Michael Ballack’s ankle injury while Brazil hopes to have striker Ronaldo fit soon. Important players from Australia and Paraguay are also fighting against time to be able to play in the tournament.

The German Football Association believes that Ballack is just suffering from a minor injury which will keep him out of a warm up game against Luxembourg on Saturday.

The news that is coming from the German camp is that the injury is just a strain and that Ballack will need three to four days before returning to full training.

They hope to have him fit by the time they open the tournament against Costa Rica on June 9.

Meanwhile the England camp has been rocked by news that Wayne Rooney is still long way from kicking a ball in the competition. They will only know on June 14 on when he can return to action. And even if Rooney is given the green-light, he will just have about 10 days to get fit for a last-16 tie.

England’s opening game is against Paraguay on June 10 and another player who is fighting against time to get fit for the match is Paraguay’s most popular player, striker Roque Santa Cruz.

The Bayern Munich star suffered a cruciate ligament injury that saw him miss most of the Bundesliga season. He had had two knee operations in the last 18 months and now has tendonitis.

Paraguay coach Anibal Ruiz however remains hopeful that Santa Cruz will be fit for the opening match.

As for record winners Brazil, their star striker Ronaldo has been suffering from a series of niggling injuries for some time now. His last competition match was on April 8 for Real Madrid.

However both the team manager and the player believe he will be ready in time for the opening clash with Croatia on June 13.

In fact Ronaldo says he will be ready and fit to play in one week. At the moment he is training on his own to regain fitness in the Brazil camp.

Australia meanwhile will be hoping to have three vital players fit when the play their opener against Japan on June 12. At the moment they have Harry Kewell (pix), Tim Cahill and John Aloisi on the sidelines.

Aloisi is suffering from a foot injury, Cahill is recovering from a knee injury and Kewell is undergoing treatment on his groin injury. Of the three, only Kewell looks doubtful for the game against Japan. Six days later the Socceroos meet defending champions Brazil.

Rooney situation looking gloom

Looks like inspirational striker Wayne Rooney will not be going to Germany after all. After so much of hype that he is recovering well from his broken foot, news are coming out today that all is not well.

Wayne Rooney has been told he will not discover when he can resume training for another three weeks.

Soccernet reported this positive spin this morning:

In what appears to be a potentially fatal blow to Rooney's chances of appearing at least in the group stage of this summer's World Cup, Manchester United have released a statement saying they are satisfied with his period of recovery but confirmed he will require another scan on June 14 to determine when he can start training again.

'A further CT scan will be performed in Manchester on June 14 to assess further his recovery and a decision will then be made as to whether he can begin to participate in football training,' said the statement.

Read the full story here.

Welcome to my World Cup blog.

Over the next one month or so, I will give my biased and lopsided comments and opinions on the ongoing tournament. However there will not be any personal attacks or defamatory remarks made by me on any of the teams, their players or their fans.

Obviously everyone will have a favourite team to win the World Cup. For me, this time around, I have decided not to root for any particular team.

So in the course of the next few weeks, I will try my best to stay away from openly proclaiming my support for any team, or any individual player. That means any team or player playing well will be highly praised, and only utter contempt for poor teams and bad players.

I will write on what I think is interesting. I will tell about funny incidents that I saw during the games. And I will also give a preview and a review of the games. And at times, I might write about any player who catches my eye.

I have also enlisted some help from my friends to contribute to this blog as guest bloggers. Now, they can have a favourite team and they can openly proclaim their support for that team.

And as usual, if you find anything offensive here, do tell me and I will try to solve it in a jiffy.

Lets hope for a wonderful tournament.