FIFA WORLD CUP 2010: PART THREE - COMMENTARY OF GROUP C

The third part of FIFA World Cup 2010 preview will look at the teams in Group C. Group C consists of England, United States, Here are yet again my amateur opinions.

C1: ENGLAND
Nickname: The Three Lions Coach: Fabio Capello FIFA Ranking*: 8 Last 5 matches: v Slovenia (2-1), v Brazil (0-1), v Egypt (3-1), v Mexico (3-1), v Japan (2-1) Past appearances: 13 - 1966 (Champion); 1990 (Fourth Place); 1954, 1962, 1970, 1986, 2002, 2006 (Q-Finalist); 1982 (Round 2); 1998 (Round of 16); 1950, 1958 (Round 1); 2010
The Squad: GK 1 David James, 12 Robert Green, 23 Joe Hart DF 3 ashley Cole, 6 John Terry, 18 Jamie Carragher, 2 Glen Johnson, 20 Ledley King, 15 Matthew Upson, 13 Stephen Warnock, 5 Michael Dawson MF 4 Steven Gerrard (C), 8 Frank Lampard, 11 Joe Cole, 14 Gareth Barry, 17 Shaun Wright-Phillips, 22 Michael Carrick, 7 Aaron Lennon, 16 James Milner FW 10 Wayne Rooney, 21 Emile Heskey, 19 Jermaine Defoe, 9 Peter Crouch

The Three Lions - a team where all of these started and history has pointed out that indeed the Englishmen who were the first to play football. England has been consistently been in the quarter-final round, occurred 6 out of the 12 World Cup campaigns. Duly noted, they won the trophy back in 1966 and remained down the history as the only time they made that far. England is not a winning team, not even close to the year when Alf Ramsey was the manager. However, they remained one of the most respected and fearsome team in the world. Like I said, England will definitely not win this year's World Cup, but Fabio Capello's side has been radical under his management and have seen a much improvement since they were dumped out of Euro 2008 when Steve McClaren was unable to propel them to the Final rounds, at the expense of Croatia and Russia. Time have changed ever since and the lions are back to roar. They have finest players on crops like John Terry on the back, Steve G and Frank Lampard are the key middle-men while the recent bullish performances by Rooney and Defoe could made them a lethal goal machine. But here's the problem, Capello is currently worried about his players' fitness and many of them had injured in the recent months. Rio Ferdinand was ruled out due to injury while Rooney has seen some drop in pace after suffering injury. Gerrard (calf), Barry (ankle), Warnock and Terry are all on the injury list too. This could be a major setback for Capello because he has only little time to ensure the whole England team functions well. Looks like old lady luck is not on his side.

(L) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, 80 caps, 16 goals); (C) Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 78 caps, 20 goals); (R) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, 60 caps, 25 goals)

After the jump, more on USA, Algeria and Slovenia.....

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010: PART TWO - COMMENTARY OF GROUP B

The second part of FIFA World Cup 2010 preview will look at the teams in Group B. Here are yet again my amateur opinions.

B1: ARGENTINA
Nickname: La Albiceleste (White and Sky Blue) Coach: Diego Maradona FIFA Ranking*: 7 Last 5 matches: v Costa Rica (3-2), v Jamaica (2-1), v Germany (1-0), v Haiti (4-0), v Canada (5-0) Past appearances: 15 - 1978, 1986 (Champion); 1930, 1990 (Finalist); 1966, 1998, 2006 (Q-Finalist); 1974, 1982 (Round 2); 1994 (Round of 16); 1934, 1958, 1962, 2002 (Round 1); 2010
The Squad: GK 1 Diego Pozo, 21 Mariano Andujar, 23 Sergio Romero DF 2 Martin Demichelis, 3 Clemente Rodriguez, 4 Nicolas Burdisso, 6 Gabriel Heinze, 12 Ariel Garce, 13 Walter Samuel, 15 Nicolas Otamendi MF 5 Mario Bolatti, 7 Angel Di Maria, 8 Juan Sebastian Veron, 14 Javier Mascherano, 17 Jonas Gutierrez, 20 Maxi Rodriguez, 23 Javier Pastore FW 9 Gonzalo Higuain, 10 Lionel Messi, 11 Carlos Tevez, 16 Sergio Aguero, 18 Martin Palermo, 19 Diego Milito

They struggled in the Qualifying - almost lost the fourth automatic place to World Cup while the worst of missing the cut for the last chance play-off too. They lost 1-6 to Bolivia, lost to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay at away matches. Diego Maradona was once a legendary player but his coaching skills put too much emphasis on try and error in matching up the payers. His method proved to be disastrous and controversial - leading to an unexpected inconsistency in form during the Qualifying round. Huge call up and he had tested more than 60 players since 2008 but the quality of games have improved tremendously over the last few games. The team can depends on a strong attacking squad led by Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain and Man City's Carlos Tevez. Adding in Veron, Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez on the central line up, the team could be one of the strongest team in the tournament. While the Argentinian players are skillful in individual display, their team-work as an unit is still far from captivity of their rival, Brazil. All the terrible past of qualifying means almost nothing but usually Argentina can breeze past the group stage. They are however, in the same group with South Korea, Greece and Nigeria - dubbed as another tricky group as well. If Argentina can pass the group stage, they are most likely to face France or Mexico in the Round of 16. For the record on the previous World Cup, Argentina can assured of a spot in the final if they were able to pass through the quarter-final round! Can the Argentinian do magic like what they have did for their club? Most likely they can!

(L) Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid, 5 caps, 2 goals); (C) Lionel Messi (Barcelona, 44 caps, 13 goals); (R) Carlos Tevez (Manchester City, 52 caps, 9 goals)

B2: NIGERIA
Nickname: Super Eagles Coach: Lars Lagerback FIFA Ranking*: 20 Last 3 matches: v Congo DR (5-2), v Saudi Arabia (0-0), v Colombia (1-1) Past appearances: 4 - 1994, 1998 (Round of 16); 2002 (Round 1); 2010
The Squad: GK 1 Vincent Enyeama, 16 Austin Ejide, 23 Dele Aiyenugba DF 2 Joseph Yobo, 3 Taye Taiwo, 6 Danny Shittu, 17 Chidi Odiah, 5 Rabiu Afolabi, 21 Uwa Elderson Echiejile, 15 Dele Adeleye MF 10 Mikel John Obi, 13 Ayila Yussuf, 12 Kalu Uche, 14 sani Kaita, 20 Dickson Etuhu, 19 Lukman Haruna, 11 Peter Odemwingie, 7 Chinedu Obasi FW 4 Nwankwo Kanu, 8 Yakubu Aiyegbeni, 22 John Utaka, 18 Victor Obinna, 9 Obafemi Martins

The Nigerian or Super Eagles as they preferred to be called that, has achieved a moderate success. Once, they are the mighty giant in the African football but has saw slight drop on performances over the years. They missed out the last edition; following a dismay qualifying campaign, at the expense of Angola who created history. Currently ranked 21st and third in Africa behind Egypt and Cameroon, the Nigerian need to find more excitement to return to the glory of their past. The last time they won an African Cup of Nations was back in 1994 and since then, they have constantly chalked up the third prize. With the talents from crop of players who played in domestic leagues in England and Israel mostly, the Super Eagles may be another dark horse that need to be cautioned for. The midfielders like Mikel John Obi and Chinedu Obasi are some of the finest in their generation while the attacking force relied heavily on veterans like Kanu, Utaka or Aiyegbeni. Should we look at their past three World Cup entries, they managed to slot themselves in 1994 and 1998 but scrambled in 2002. While their performance is no where near the 1998's squad which has Jay Jay Okocha, Rashidi Yekini and Daniel Amokachi - all whom were the best Nigerian ever had.

(L) Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth, 82 caps, 13 goals); (C) Mikel John Obi (Chelsea, 34 caps, 2 goals); (R) Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton, 51 caps, 19 goals)

Click Read More for more on Group B - after the jump - South Korea and Greece

WHO SHOULD BE THE NEW DIRECTOR OF THE HOBBIT?

The Hobbit production suffered an upset over the weekend, Guillermo del Toro announced that he was leaving The Hobbit's directorial seat and the movie is still stagnated on the shelf with the financial woes of MGM. Not only that, there is chance that Jackson will not taking over the job too. Although he publicly announced his intention to direct if he had to, there are some problems around - particularly his binding contracts with other jobs.

In today's feature, Green Tea Movie lists who should replace Guillermo del Toro if Peter Jackson isn't. Ideally, Peter Jackson should but what if he is not? Too bad, there are only three who realistically should take over del Toro's job.

REALISTICALLY....

1) Alfonso Cuaron

He's Mexican too but that's not all. He is the director who made Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to become the most favourite Harry Potter movie among the fans. Yes, he is a good story-teller and a good film-maker as well. His vision for the third Harry Potter has changed the way how a middling fantasy art can be a dramatic adventure. Besides, he shared the same passion with Guillermo del Toro and they have been friends for the last 20 years. Cuaron produced del Toro’s incredible Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006 and the two are co-owners of Cha Cha Cha Films with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Anyone who had watched Children Of Men (Owen Wilson's searching the missing baby was one of the most highlighted scene in the movie) and Y Tu Mama Tambien will know how brilliant this director is.

2) Neill Blomkamp

He is the apprentice of his fellow mentor Peter Jackson. He made a bold attempt of bringing in his brainchild and visionary story in District 9 and it proved to be a hit. District 9 was so loved by many - helm as one of the best science fiction of the decade, grossing $200 million despite a $30 million budget. He is the new boy in town but do not discredit his skills and talent just because he is a new boy. He did a mesmerizing visual concept on Halo before the production goes blank over budgeting under the guidance of Peter Jackson. This could be a chance for him to step more into the mainstream world; since Halo doesn't work, maybe he deserves another chance. He employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects - a perfect ingredient for The Hobbit.

3) Andrew Adamson

He is not a well-known yet, but Adamson is the man behind the first two Chronicles of Narnia. The concepts of the story is perfectly made and taking advantage of the beautiful scenery of New Zealand. Although both are mixed-received, his ability to take things down smoothly into a live-action transition is well praised. Like Jackson, he is also from New Zealand. The fact that he made the Chronicles of Narnia should be enough reason for him to be in the contention. he also made Shrek and Shrek 2 - both of been the best on its series. He is one of the under-rated director in the Hollywood!

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010: PART ONE - COMMENTARY OF GROUP A

A1: SOUTH AFRICA
Nickname: Bafana Bafana (The Boys) Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira FIFA Ranking*: 83 Last 5 matches: v Jamaica (2-0), v Thailand (4-0), v Bulgaria (1-1), v Colombia (2-1), v Guatemala (5-0) Past appearances: 3 - 1998, 2002 (Round 1), 2010 as host
The Squad: GK 1 Shu-Aib Walters, 16 Itumeleng Khune, 22 Moeneeb Josephs DF 4 Aaron Mokoena (c), 14 Matthew Booth, 3 Tsepo Masilela, 2 Siboniso Gaxa, 5 Lucas Thwala, 19 Anele Ngcongca, 20 Bongani Khumalo 21 Siyabonga Sangweni MF 6 MacBeth Sibaya, 10 Steven Pienaar, 11 Teko Modise, 8 Siphiwe Tshabalala, 13 Kagisho Dikgacoi, 17 Surprise Moriri, 7 Lance Davids, 23 Thanduyise Khuboni, 12 Reneilwe Letsholonyane FW 16 Siyabonga Nomvethe, 9 Katlego Mphela, 15 Bernard Parker

South Africa is the host nation for the first time and also the first African nation to host the biggest football event in the world, South Africa has a mountain of challenge to overcome. With their 83rd ranking in the world and not in the 80 years history of World Cup did a host nation failed to qualify to the second round, they need to prove something out of nothing. With them in Group A are Mexico, France and Uruguay, the Bafana Bafana should face a tough fight in this tricky group. Bad news are; top-scorer Benni McCarthy has been sidelined for injury and their last two appearance in World Cup only saw them stuck on Round 1. Out of six games in World Cup, they only won one - against Slovenia in 2002. They also failed to qualify for this year's African nation Cup - a major setback for the team. However the good news are; with their recent on-form and expected home support, they may emerge as a dark horse and the underdog in the group, seriously possessing threat to the underperformed French squad. Under the Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, the team is currently unbeaten in their last 11 matches, stretches back to 2009.

(L) Steven Piennar (Everton, 46 caps, 2 goals); (C) Katlego Mphela (Mamelodi Sundowns, 30 caps, 14 goals); (R) Aaron Mokoena (Portsmouth, 100 caps, 2 goals)

A2: MEXICO
Nickname: El Tri (The Three-colored) Coach: Javier Aguirre FIFA Ranking*: 17 Last 5 matches: v Angola (1-0), v Chile (1-0), v England (1-3), v Netherlands (1-2), v Gambia (5-1) Past appearances: 14 - 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1978 (Round 1); 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 (Round of 16); 1970, 1986 (Q-Finalist); 2010
The Squad: GK 1 Óscar Pérez, 13 Guillermo Ochoa, 23 Luis Ernesto Michel DF 2 Francisco Javier Rodriguez, 3 Carlos Salcido, 4 Rafael Márquez (c), 5 Ricardo Osorio, 12 Paul aguilar, 15 Héctor Moreno, 16 Efraín Juárez, 19 Jonny Magallón, 20 Jorge Torres Nilo MF 6 Gerardo Torrado, 8 Israel Castro, 18 Andrés Guardado FW 7 Pablo Barrera, 9 Guillermo Franco, 10 Cuauhtémoc Blanco, 11 Carlos Vela, 14 Javier Hernández, 17 Giovani dos Santos, 21 Adolfo Bautista, 22 Alberto Medina

Mexico is undoubtedly the powerhouse of soccer in North America. Having won their eight CONCACAF Cup last year against the rival USA, there is no question on how excellent Mexico is. However, their records in the past World Cups have been mixed - achieving quarter-final in '70 and '86 while only in Round of 16 for the last 4 tournaments. Fortunately, Mexico is built from a mixture of great talents of young and old. Ranked 17th on FIFA ranking, 'El Tri' can place their hopes on their experienced players like Barcelona's defender Rafael Marquez, goalie Oscar Perez and striker C Blanco; although veteran Jared Borgetti - the nation's top-scorer will miss this edition. They also have Carlos Vela (Arsenal), Andreas Guardado and Efrain Juarez whom are having great forms recently. Under the reign of Javier Aguirre, they have won 15 out 23 matches and losing only to 2 European - England and Netherlands over the past one year. It is an impressive record following the failure of Sven Goran Eriksson's stinct to guide the Mexican to an inspiring status. The Mexican was at time proved to be a little bit inconsistent. Placed in the tricky Group A but if they can maintain their fine records particularly if able to hold the host in the opening match and particularly with France, they should be able to advance to the second round with ease.

(L) Carlos Vela (Arsenal, 27 caps, 8 goals); (C) Rafael Marquez (Barcelona, 90 caps, 10 goals); (R) Javier Hernandez (Manchester United, 11 caps, 7 goals)

Click Read More for more on Group A - after the jump - Uruguay and France

SPREAD THE GOODNESS OF MILK!!

It's the month of June. The sun is scorchingly hot, the heat air is burning through my skin and the glowing radiance sun shines everyday. It's an affirmation that the summer has arrived. At least that is for the people living in the customary four seasons climate. Here, it's all about been sunny and rain; sometimes cloudy though. But no matter where you stay and what climate you are experiencing, everyone knows that a glass of fresh milk is what you need to kick start the morning or else...to knock off before sleep.

Ah, speaking of milk, here's something I just remembered (not really, since I planned on this post for hours ago). June 1 is World Milk Day. What a perfect way to celebrate the day by observing some of the nutritious facts about milk. I love milk and I drank it almost, I repeat, almost every day. I love milk as much as I love green tea. Nevertheless, this year's World Milk Day in Malaysia is so special. Why? Because more than 3,200 Malaysians gathered to break a record in The Malaysia Book of Record - The Largest Milk Drinking Event Ever....

The last Sunday (30 May), more than 3,200 Malaysians gathered at Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur to set a remarkable event. It's a historic because for the earnest time of the year, everyone enjoys their pack of milk - full richness in nutritions and deliciously 'brewed' fresh milk for all.

The event is a testimonial for all - enjoy the milk because it is time for us to spread the goodness of milk to everyone. The picture above shows the newly-designed pack of low fat high calcium milk.

I was the lucky 2,796th participant in the record breaking event.

The majority of them are kids. School kids fully dressed in their decent uniforms - from associations like Girl's Guide, Scouts, Boys Brigade and Red Crescent Society. The Malaysians of all walks of life and religious background came together to take part. A truly joyous event that demonstrates the true value of 1Malaysia.

Records broken and what's next? Go and SPREAD THE GOODNESS OF MILK. In conjunction with today's World Milk Day celebration, let's take some initiatives by introducing and to spread the goodness in every Dutch Lady's products. Here are some facts that I picked up from their main sites at here. I guess sharing the truthful value of each glass of milk is probably the only thing I can offered.

So, DO YOU KNOW THAT 2 glasses of Dutch Lady milk daily are recommended?

1) Milk's protein and Vitamin A, help in maintaining healthy skin, gives you beauty from within!!

2) High levels of calcium help to reduce body weight, mainly fat mass. It also helps in the development of bones and teeth. Milk has the essential nutrients such as protein, carbohydrate and Vitamin B2 to help give you a balanced diet!!

3) Milk contains a combination of essential amino acids that could help you to relax and thereby promote better sleep!!

4) Vitamin B2 is needed for the release of energy from protein, fats and carbohydrate!!

Now you know what's good for you. So what's the waiting? Go and grab some milk because it is good for you. Remember to SPREAD THE GOODNESS OF MILK. Happy World Milk Day, people!!

*note: This is not an advertorial post - Dutch Lady didn't paid me for this. This is a purely community message from BernardGT!! Excuse the quality of some pictures as they were captured with my VGA cam-phone!