THE World Cup

Now that the soccer season is winding down it's finally time to talk about the big one. The greatest sporting event in the world. The World Cup in South Africa. It's less than two months away and my excitement is already building. I know that every game of this tournament will be available to watch from Honduras vs Switzerland to Brazil vs Portugal. I'm definitely going to take advantage of this and watch as many of the 64 matches as I can. This will do much to annoy my girlfriend, alas this is a small sacrifice in the name of football watching glory! Last time around I managed to catch probably 20-30 of the matches, skipping many of the less interesting group stage matches but watching many of the big knockout matches. Argentina vs Mexico, Portugal vs Netherlands, and the final Italy vs France were probably my favorite matches of the 2006 tournament. I remember watching that last match outside with my father as he watched soccer for the first time. I used that tournament to pull in many new fans!

There is perhaps no game I am anticipating more in the 2010 tournament than England vs USA. The battle of the English anglonations, and the best way to introduce doubters in our country to the beautiful game. My country vs my favorite footballing nation. This campaign is going to be one to remember for England, with the phenomenal Fabio Capello as the teams manager. I'm sure that the United States are going to be slaughtered by this impressively strong English side. We'll be the first step on their vault to glory.

Of course this tournament will feature the traditional powerhouse nations as the favorites:
SPAIN, BRAZIL, ARGENTINA (featuring Lionel Messi), ITALY, FRANCE, ENGLAND, GERMANY, NETHERLANDS

But there are also some underdog teams that I have a strong feeling will make a very good showing out there this year. It's the first time in Africa and teams from that continent will be looking to make a big impact. Of those African teams qualified I think Ghana and Ivory Coast will be the most likely to get into the knockout stages, and Drogba's Ivory Coast team will have a damn good shot at taking the whole thing. Here's a list of teams to keep an eye on:
NORTH KOREA, IVORY COAST, GHANA, MEXICO, UNITED STATES

Even so I really think this is England's year to take the world by storm. Capello has managed to turn this team around from their failure to qualify for Euro 08. Wayne Rooney is in fabulous form as are Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Heskey, and Terry. This is the year for the Three Lions, mark my words.

The excitement begins June 11th. I can barely wait for this tournament to get going. 2010 World Cup South Africa, COME ON YEAH BITCHES!