The World of Football

While much has taken place since my last post, I would like to summarize some of the biggest stories before moving on to the African Cup of Nations. First of all, the road to the World Cup in Brazil! While the qualifying round is still in its infancy, we have had some great games as Group A is led by the likes of Belgium and Croatia with 10 points each. Serbia and Macedonia are the next on the list tied with 4 each in third and fourth respectively. As for Group B, Italy has gotten off to a flying start with 10 to their name as Bulgaria occupy second with 6 followed tightly by the Czech Republic who have 5 points. Meanwhile, in Group C, Germany lead with 10 points while Sweden have 7 and Ireland have collected 6. The Netherlands are actually one of the few teams who remain in perfect winning condition with 12 from 4 games played in Group D. Hungary and Romania are not too far off though! They each have 9 to the good. Group E is currently led by the team from Switzerland while Norway occupy second three points behind with 7. Albania and Iceland are right on their heels though - tallying 6 points each. Group F has another perfect leader with Russia going 12 for 12 as Israel and Portugal trail evenly with 7 points each. As for Group G, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece are keeping pace with one another in drastically different manners. The former have lit up the goals sheet with 15 for and only 2 against while Greece have struck 5 allowing only one. Slovakia occupy a healthy third place position with 7 points in hand. As for Group H, Montenegro are the leaders from out of nowhere with 10 while England must content themselves with 8 points in second. Poland are insecurely in third with 5 to the good as Moldova and Ukraine are in striking distance. Last but certainly not least, Group I is controlled by who we all imagined: Spain and France tied at the top with 7 points each (from 3 games). Georgia hold third with 4 from 4 games while Belarus have moved up to fourth position as Finland are two games behind the third and fourth place teams! If the Finns expect anything from this tournament, they are going to have to convert at the very least four points from the upcoming two games though six would obviously be preferable.

While the match-fixing scandal is sure to draw a great deal of attention and speculation, I would much prefer to put it aside in favor of the latest from the domestic leagues. I'll begin with Spain where Barcelona have set themselves up quite nicely with 59 points from 22 games. Atletico Madrid are the surprise team in second with 50 as their rivals Real Madrid occupy third with 43. Fourth place Malaga are admittedly a long way off with with 36 though Real Betis Balompie are looking good in fifth with 35. To Germany now where Bayern are truly back on dominant form with 51 to their name as Borussia Dortmund struggle on in second with 39. Bayer Leverkusen are in third with 37 though fourth place Eintracht Frankfurt could well put a stop to that with 36 already. Mainz take fifth with 30 though they are not safe there despite Schalke seeming out of it with 29 in sixth position. Up in England, Manchester United are well ahead of rivals City as they stand with 62 and 53 points in first and second respectively. Meanwhile, Chelsea hold third by the skin of their fingers with 46 as Tottenham challenge with 45 in fourth. Everton hold fifth loosely with 42. South to Italy now where Juventus continue to call the tune with 52 points in first. Napoli are not giving up the ghost though - tallying 49 in second though Lazio appear a bit away in third with 43. AC and Inter Milan display this even more so as they sit in fourth and fifth respectively with 40 each. For the French league, PSG lead as would be expected though not by nearly as much as may be expected with the money they were throwing around: 48 points for them as Lyon have 45 in second and Marseille have 42. Bordeaux and Nice are tied fourth and fifth with 38 each. Portugal's league is arguably one of the closest in Europe as Porto and Benfica duke it out at the top of the table with 45 points each. Pacos de Ferreira and Braga hold third and fourth with 31 and 30 respectively as Rio Ave take fifth with 25. While it is true that PSV lead the domestic league in the Netherlands with 46 points, Ajax and Twente are close behind them with 43 and 42 respectively; at the same time, CSKA Moskva fight for their lead in the Russian campaign with Anji Makhachkala giving them their biggest challenge with 41 points to CSKA's 43. Zenit St. Petersburg are in third with 38. Olympiacos are simply dominating the Greek league with 51 points compared to second place Asteras Tripolis' 38. Last but not least, Celtic are dominating the Scottish premier league with 52 points as Inverness and Motherwell are offering the largest resistance with 37 points each.

At long last, the African Cup of Nations! While the tournament in South Africa has been great, I'd like to give a brief overview before wrapping up the blog. So, let us start at the beginning with the group stage! While South Africa and Cape Verde escaped unconvincing winners in Group A with 5 points each, Ghana were more secure in earning advancement with 7 from Group B. The battle for second place was far more involved as Mali were given a run for their money by the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nevertheless, the Malians eventually earned a vital point over their closest competition and progressed to the next round with 4 to Congo's 3. Group C was another close affair though Burkina Faso and Nigeria eventually went on to progress though again in an unemphatic manner. Finally, Group D was led by Ivory Coast with 7 as Togo and Tunisia finished up level with four each! Of course, by goal difference the team from Togo ended up winning through. Into the Quarter-Finals now where hosts South Africa met Mali tying through regulation and extra time 1-1 before the South Africans lost heavily to the visitors 1-3 in penalties. On the other hand, Ghana's match with Cape Verde was a straightforward result with the Ghanians winning 2-0 in the 90 minutes. Ivory Coast was edged by Nigeria 1-2 while Burkina Faso pulled the wool over Togo's eyes in a 1-0 win after an extensive match that went into extra time. Into the Semi-Finals, Mali were crushed by Nigeria in a 1-4 meeting between the two sides. It was heart-breaking stuff really as the Malians had shown great courage in getting this far in the tournament however it must be admitted that the best side won! As for Burkina Faso's edging of Ghana, there was probably no more a controversial match with the team from Burkina Faso being denied a number of dead-ball opportunities as well as a goal while they also received a sending off. Putting all of this aside, the Ghanians were unable to outpace their opponents, scoring first though never again. The sending off of Jonathan Pitroipa does not bode well for the Burkina Faso team's performance in the Final however I would not count them out having reached this stage! An important side note: this is the farthest the team from Burkina Faso have went in an African Cup of Nations with the previous record being when they hosted the competition 15 years ago in 1998. Good luck to both Nigeria and Burkina Faso as well as Mali and Ghana in the third place match! I would lean towards the Nigerians and the Ghanians winning though I would love it if the Malians surprised all of us watching! As for Burkina Faso, while their performance has been exemplary, I think Nigeria are too big for the giant-slayers to take-down this time around. But be prepared for the unexpected!