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Portugal World Cup Jersey

Portugal is one of the recently emerged European powers, and a team with dreams of lifting the trophy in the 2010 World Cup. The Portuguese had qualified for only two World Cups previous to 2002, but since then they have developed in to one of the stronger teams on the world's toughest continent for soccer. They were a semifinalist in the a finalist in the 2004 European Cup and 2006 World Cup in Germany. They look to better their fourth-place finish in South Africa.

Led by Cristiano Ronaldo, the World Player of the Year in 2008, and Simao, the Portuguese have a dynamic offense capable of lighting up the scoreboard. On defense, the Portuguese feature Ricardo Carvalho and Bruno Alves, both considered world-class defenders. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/team/squad/_/id/482/portugal?cc=3888&ver=global

Despite their talent and their fourth-in-the-world ranking, Portugal battled to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, needing to dig their way out of a third-place hole (only the top two advance in each group) in the final round of qualifying, and then win a home-and-home playoff against Serbia, both games by the score of 1-0, to punch their ticket to South Africa. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html Recently, longstanding star Deco seemed to downplay expectations, declaring that the Portuguese were not favorites.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/777893/ce/uk/?cc=3888&ver=global

Portugal was placed in Group ...

updated 2010-07-17 19:10:51

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Netherlands World Cup Roster

In the early seventies, the Dutch introduced Total Football, a type of play pioneered by Ajax, and adopted by the national team, in which players are not bound to any position, but instead can take over the role of any other player in the team. Execution of this tactical play requires high quality, flexible players, capable of acting on several positions.

The adoption of Total Football by the Dutch national team resulted in two consecutive World Cup finals, in 1974 and 1978, however neither resulted in a World Cup win. The core players of both World Cup teams were Johan Neeskens, Johnny Rep, Arie Haan, Ruud Krol and Rob Rensenbrink. Johan Cruyff, one of the main advocates of Total Football, participated in the 19974 campaign, but refused to take part in the 1978 campaign. The coach of the Dutch team, Rinus Michels (picture), is by many considered the founder of the “Total Football” concept, and because of his tactical insights, is generally known as “The General”. Michels returned to coaching for the Euro '88 campaign, once again proving his managing qualities, by leading the team to winning the European Cup, the only (European or World) cup ever.

updated 2010-07-17 16:50:07

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England Soccer Team

updated 2010-07-17 04:28:56

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Japan World Cup Roster

While the Japan national soccer team has long been unsuccessful to qualify for any World Cup or Asian Cup final rounds, the team started a remarkable improvement in 1988, when it qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in history, and qualified for all following Asian Cups, winning the Cup three times, in 1992, 2000 and 2004.

Japan also qualified to the World Cup final rounds for the first time in 1998, and have qualified for all World Cup finals after that, reaching beyond the group stage in 2002, where they lost against Turkey.

During the 1990's, Kazuyoshi Miura was a major force of the Japanese team, scoring 55 times, in 89 caps, which ranks him the #2 top scorer of all time, only behind Japanese soccer legend Kunishige Kamamoto, who scored 75 times in 76 caps in the 1960's and 1970's.

Several players of the current Japanese World Cup selection are amongst the most capped player ever for Japan, including Yuji Nakazawa (102 caps), Shunsuke Nakamura (95 caps), and Yasuhito Endō (91 caps). Japan Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and Masami Ihara rule the Most Capped players list, with 116 and 122 caps.

updated 2010-07-17 11:12:04

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FIFA World Cup 2018

The inaugural FIFA World Cup was hosted by Uruguay on 1930 and this competition is held for every four years since then. Two competitions could not be held due to World War II. Football took place on the Summer Olympics on 1936 and has grown to one of the most popular contests of the olympics. The FIFA World Cup for 2018 will be held two years before the Summer Olympics 2020.

updated 2010-07-17 05:12:59

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France World Cup Team

1. June 11 - vs. Uruguay
2. June 17 - vs. Mexico
3. June 22 - vs. South Africa

Want to watch live? Learn How to Watch FIFA World Cup Online.

updated 2010-07-17 05:36:36

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FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009

Total Prize: USD 16.5 Million

Winners: USD 5 Million

Runners-up: USD 4 Million

Third Place: USD 2.5 Million

Foutrth Place: USD 2 Million

Fifth Place: USD 1.5 Million

Sixth Place: USD 1 Million

Seventh Pace: USD 500,000http://gulfnews.com/sport/football/uae-to-host-club-world-cup-next-year-1.107117

updated 2010-07-17 05:12:49

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Switzerland World Cup TV Schedule

Switzerland begins its World Cup odyssey on June 16, 2010 with a game against Spain at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. The next game, against Chile, follows five days later, also at 9:30 in the morning. Both of the first two games will be broadcast on ESPN. The final first round game comes on June 25, at 2 p.m. against Honduras, which will be broadcast on ESPN2.

If Switzerland makes the next round, their first game will be played either on June 28 or June 29 (2 p.m. and on ESPN in either case), depending on whether they advance as the first- or second-place finisher in their group. If everything goes perfectly, their final opportunity to play perform in South Africa would come during the July 11 final, which will be televised on ABC. All of the games will also be broadcast on ESPN360, the network's online channel.

updated 2010-07-17 23:19:30

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North Korea World Cup Team

North Korea enjoyed a surprisingly successful qualifying run to make it into its first World Cup tournament in almost half a century. In the decisive round four of Asian qualifying, the North Koreans finished second in their group with twelve points, enjoying a goal-differential tiebreaker over third-place finisher Saudi Arabia. Over the course of qualifying, the North Koreans earned a tie with perennial regional powers and fierce rivals South Korea, and picked up wins against UAE and Saudi Arabia. In that final round of qualifying, the North Koreans surrendered only five goals in eight contests. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/team/qualify/_/id/4860/north-korea?cc=3888&ver=global

In friendlies since the end of qualifying, North Korea earned a draw against South Africa and lost 2-1 in Mexico, with both games coming on foreign soil. In both cases, the performance was respectable though far from dazzling. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=291036&cc=3888

Unfortunately for North Korean fans, the squad was placed in Group G, the so-called "Group of Death", so named for the difficulty of the opposing teams. Along with North Korea, powers Brazil and Portugal as well as up-and-comer Ivory Coast are in the group, which makes North Korea an overwhelming underdog to repeat its 1966 feat of advancing into the knockout stage.

updated 2010-07-17 17:20:07

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