Thunderball

News Bits (6/21 Part 2)
5. Wolves have completed the signing of Stephen Hunt from
   relegated Hull C.

6. Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is still in the hunt for
   Lorient centre-back Laurent Koscielny.
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

It's time to review the status of WC Group G
1. Standings
                               P     W     D     L     F       A      Pts     GD
1. Brazil                 2     2       0     0     5       2       6        +3
2. Portugal           2     1       1     0     7       0       3        +7
3. Ivory Coast      2     0       1      1     1      3       1         -2
4. N.Korea            2     0       0      2     1      9       0         -8

2. Remaining games
6/25  N.Korea vs Ivory Coast
           Portugal vs Brazil

3. Comment
3.1 Portugal need only to draw with Brazil to qualify.
   Will Brazil conspire with Portugal?
3.2 Ivory Coast need to beat N.Korea by a big margin (e.g. 7-0)
  and also hope Brazil beat Portugal in order for them (Iovry Coast)
  to qualify.
3.3 It come back to the old question.  Will Brazil and Portugal
  conspire to play out a draw so both qualify without any troubles.
  --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

It's time to review the status of WC Group H.
1. Standings
                             P      W      D      L      F       A      Pts     GD
1. Chile               2       2       0       0      2       0      6         +2
2. Spain              2       1       0       1      2       1      3         +1
3. Switzerland   2       1       0       1      1       1      3          0
4. Honduras      2       0       0        2     0       3      0          -3

2. Remaining games
6/25   Switzerland vs Honduras
            Chile vs Spain

3. Comment -- The situations are very tricky for this group.
3.1  Spain need to beat Chile by a wide margin (e.g. 3-0)
   in order to qualify. Any results less than 3-0 may not be
   good enough for Spain in the photo-finish.
3.2 Switzerland must beat Honduras and also by a wide margin
  (say 3-0) in order to qualify. Any results less than 3-0 may see
  Switzerland ruled out in the photo-finish.
3.3 If items 3.1 and 3.2 both happen, three teams will have 6 pts each.
  A photo-finish is required. Readers can take the rules already
  described to see for themselves.
    --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

News Bits
1. Bulgaria winger Martin Petrov has agreed to join
  Bolton on a free transfer afte leaving Man C.

2. Cologna have signed midfielder Martin Lanig from
  rivals Stuttgart on a 3-year contract.

3. Serbia international Milan Jovanovic has revealed
  he could pull out of his move to Liverpool.
  The 29-year-old signed a pre-contract agree with
  Liverpool in February.

4. Nadir Belhadj admits he is honoured to be linked
   with Lazio.  Belhadj is one of those players earmarked
   to be off-loaded by Portsmouth.
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

Results of WC games last night.
Gp A
S.Africa 2-1 France  (HT 2-0)

Mexico 0-1 Uruguay (HT 0-1)
Scorer -- (Uru) L.Suarez 43'.

Gp B
Greece 0-2 Argentina  (HT 0-0)
Scorer -- (Arg) Demichelis 77'; Palermo 89'.

Nigeria 2-2 S.Korea  (HT 1-1)
Scorer -- (Nig) Uche 12'; Yakubu 69'-pen.
                  (Kor) J.Lee 38'; C.Park 49'.

Comment -- The following teams qualify for next round.
Gp A -- Uruguay (Ch), Mexico
Gp B -- Argentina (Ch), S.Korea

Who will meet who in the last 16.
6/26
Uruguay (A1) vs S.Korea (B2)
C1 vs D2

6/27
D1 vs C2
Argentina (B1) vs Mexico (A2)

6/28
E1 vs F2
G1 vs H2

6/29
F1 vs E2
H1 vs G2

Note -- List two examples for the reader's benefit.
A1 = Champion (1st place) of Group A
B2 = Runner-up (2nd place) of Group B
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

Results of WC games played yesterday (6/23).
Gp C
Slovenia 0-1 England  (HT 0-1)
Scorer -- (Eng) J. Defoe 22'.

Yellow Card --
(Eng) Glenn Johnson
(Slo) Jokic, Birsa, Dedic.

USA 1-0 Algeria  (HT 0-0)
Scorer -- (USA) Landon Dononvan

Yellow Card --
(USA) Altidore, D.Beasley.
(Alg) Yebda 62'; Lacen 83'.
Red Card -- (Alg) Yahie 92' (2 Yellow --> 1 Red)

Gp D
Ghana 0-1 Germany  (HT 0-0)
Scorer -- (Ger) Ozil 60'.

Yellow Card --
(Gha) Ayew 40'
(Ger) T.Mueller.

Australia 2-1 Serbia  (HT 0-0)
Scorer -- (Aus) T.Cahill 69'; Holman 73'.
            (Srb) Pantellic 84'.

Yellow Card
(Aus) Beauchamp 41'; Wilkshire 50'; Emerton 67'.
(Srb) Lukovic 18'; Niukovic 51'.

Comment --
1. Progress to next round
Gp C -- USA (Champ), England
Gp D -- Germany (Champ), Ghana

2. Confirmed Round of 16 fixtures
6/26
Uruguay vs S.Korea
USA vs Ghana

6/27
Germany vs England
Argentina vs Mexico
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

News Bits (6/24)
1. Udinese midfielder Gokhar Inler is attracting interest from
   Fiorentina and English clubs, according to his agent.
     The midfielder is currently on World Cup duty with Italy.

2. Former Caglaria midfielder Pierpaolo Bisoli hailed his return
  to the club as "a dream come true" after being unveiled
  as the new Cagliari coach.

3. Kilmarnock have confirmed Finnish tactian Mixu Pasatelainen
   as their new manager.

4. Bolton have rejected a GBP1Mil offer from Newcastle for
  defender Jlloyd Samuel.

5. Man C have been given permission to open talks with
  Valencia midfielder David Silva, but Chelsea could yet make
  a move for the player.

6. Peter Reid has returned to football management after being
  confirmed as the new boss of Plymouth.

7. Liverpool have lined up a move for Galatasaray boss Frank Rijaard
   as they search for a new manager.
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

Let's return to World Cup.
How they match up in Quarter Final (QF)
7/2 (2 Jul)
Uruguay/S.Korea vs USA/Ghana (HK Time 7/3 0230Hr)
E1/F2 vs G1/H2 (HK Time 7/2 2200)

7/3
Argentina/Mexico vs Germany/England  (HK Time 7/3 2200)
F1/E2 vs H1/G2  (HK Time 7/4 0230)
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

Results of World Cup games played yesterday (6/24).
Gp F
Slovakia 3-2 Italy  (HT 1-0)
Scorer -- (Svk) Vittek 23', 73'; Kopunek 89'.
     (Ity) Natale 81'; Quadliarella 85'.
Yellow Card --
(Svk) Vittek 40'; Pekarik 50'; Mucha 87'.
(Ity) Cannavaro 31'; Chiellini 67'; Pepe 76'; Quagliarella 83'.

Paraguay 0-0 NZ  (HT 0-0)
Yellow Card
(Par) -- V.Cacerres 10'; R.S. Cruz 42'.
(NZ) -- R.Nelson 56'

Gp E
Cameroon 1-2 Holland  (HT 0-1)
Scorer -- (Cam) Eto'o 65'(pen)
             (Hol) v.Persie 36'; Huntelaar 83'.
Yellow Card --
(Cam) N'Koulou 25'; M'Bia 81'.
(Hol) D.Kuyt 17'; R.v.d. Vaart 65'; Bronckhorst 70'.

Denmark 1-3 Japan  (HT 0-2)
Scorer -- (Den) Tomaason 81'.
(Jpn) -- K.Honda 17'; Y.Endo 30'; Okazaki 81'.

Yellow Card --
(Den) Koldup 29'; C.Poulsen 48'; Bendtner 66'.
(Jpn) Y.Endo 12'; Nagatomo 26'.

Round of 16 fixtures
6/26  Uruguay vs S.Korea
        USA vs Ghana
6/27  Germany vs England
        Argentina vs Mexico
6/28  Holland vs Slovakia
        G1 vs H2
6/29  Paraguay vs Japan
        H1 vs G2
   --- End of Update ---

Thunderball

News Bits (6/25)
1. Nicolas Anelka has ended uncertainty surrounding his future
  by signing a new one-year contract at Chelsea.

2. New West Ham boss Avram Grant wants to take Ben Haim
  with him to Upton Park but the Hammers are unwilling
  to pay aGPB45K per week salary or pay a GBP1Mil fee
  demanded by his agent.

3. B.Munich winger Franck Ribery is to undergo surgery
  in Munich on Friday (6/25) in a bid to correct a long-standing
  groin problem before the new Bundesliga season starts.
   --- End of Update ---