WORLD CUP 2009

Paraguay first up for holders Italy

Holders Italy will begin the defence of their world title against Paraguay on 14 June in Cape Town after the draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place in the South African city.

Top seeds
Of UEFA's other seeded teams, Germany are in Group D alongside Serbia; the Netherlands are in Group E with Denmark; England were drawn into Group C alongside Slovenia; and European champions Spain find themselves in Group H with Switzerland. Portugal, meanwhile, feature in a testing pool alongside five-time winners Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea.

Host nation
Ballon d'Or winner and FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi will try to guide his Argentina side past Nigeria, Korea Republic and Greece in Group B. Finally, 2006 runners-up France will meet hosts South Africa along with Mexico and Uruguay. The final will be held at Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium on 11 July.

2010 FIFA World Cup group stage draw
Group A	Group B
South Africa	Argentina
Mexico	Nigeria
Uruguay	Korea Republic
France	Greece
Group C	Group D
England	Germany
United States	Australia
Algeria	Serbia
Slovenia	Ghana
Group E	Group F
Netherlands	Italy
Denmark	Paraguay
Japan	New Zealand
Cameroon	Slovakia
Group G	Group H
Brazil	Spain
North Korea	Switzerland
Ivory Coast	Honduras
Portugal	Chile

WORLD CUP 2009

Paraguay first up for holders Italy

Holders Italy will begin the defence of their world title against Paraguay on 14 June in Cape Town after the draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place in the South African city.

2010 FIFA World Cup group stage draw
Group A	Group B
South Africa	Argentina
Mexico	Nigeria
Uruguay	Korea Republic
France	Greece
Group C	Group D
England	Germany
United States	Australia
Algeria	Serbia
Slovenia	Ghana
Group E	Group F
Netherlands	Italy
Denmark	Paraguay
Japan	New Zealand
Cameroon	Slovakia
Group G	Group H
Brazil	Spain
North Korea	Switzerland
Ivory Coast	Honduras
Portugal	Chile

Wallpaper: Barcelona 1 - RealMadrid 0

Zlatan scored an amazing goal to beat Real Madrid in the Spanish "Clasico" of November, 2009. To save this wallpaper, just choose your size and click on the image to expand it. Then, right click on it and select "Save image as".

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Superb Barcelona beat Real Madrid with Ibrahimovic's goal

The two most powerful and millionaire teams in Europe took part of the Spanish derby. Barcelona, with Messi, Henry and Xavi among others, defeated Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid with a single goal scored by Ibrahimovic.

With Pellegrini's side going into the match one point ahead of Barcelona at the top of the Spanihs League, it was a key clash in this seasons title race.

It was first half full of chances for both teams, but Zlatan was not on the field. In the second part, the swedish forward replaced Thierry Henry, and some minutes later he would score the blessing 1-0.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic "Ibra" scored the winner and was more than delighted: "It's a very happy moment now because it was my first derby and I scored the goal that won the game. It was an amazing, so I'm really happy."

Pep Guardiola was elated with the performance of his team too: "we showed great character to play the last half an hour with 10 players. Four points would have been a big difference and so it was crucial that we won the 'clasico' to move a point blear of them again. Of course we are happy becasue we have won this match. But whether we can go on and win the title is another question. Usually, the most difficult encounters against Real Madrid are the ones such as this one when we are the clear favourites. It was a real test for us and we came through it."

Thierry Henry's hand causes a big polemy in Europe

Barcelona's striker Thierry Henry used his hand to stop the ball and pass it to Gallas, in the move previous to the French goal against Ireland on Wednesday. With the 1-1 tie, France classified for the 2010 World Cup and crushed all Irish illusions.

Thierry admitted to the press that he touched the ball with the hand almost, but it was not on purpose. What's more, he claims that "he is not the referee" to judge the goal as invalid.

The Irish Federation has sent an official document to UEFA complaining about the incident and the elimination of their national team. Now this has become the most polemic match in the whole European qualifiers.

"Robinho is interesting but not essential"

Coach Josep Guardiola and Captain Carles Puyol agree that it would be a good thing to have Brazilian star Robinho playing for Barcelona, but it's not the most important requirement right now.

What's more, Guardiola is not keen to commit to a permanent contract and would initially prefer to take the Brazilian footballer on loan till the end of this season.

In the other hand, Manchester City head Mark Hughes claims that Robinho is comfortable at the club and they don't inted to sell him.

Gabriel Milito returned after serious injury

Argentinian player Gabriel Milito returned to action after recovering from a terible knee injury. Milito took part of the game where Barcelona beated Bolivia's Bolivar 4-1. It was the Argentina defender's first match since he injured his right knee in a Champions League semifinal against Manchester United in April 2008.

The defender stated that he'd recovered those "old feelings" after playing the first half of the game: "This was a very special day for me. I recovered those old feelings," Milito said after his return at Barcelona's Joan Gamper training ground. "I played the first half just as the coach planned."

We must remember that the troubled player had two operations on the knee -- which he had previously injured eight years ago -- in the last 18 months. But now he is confident and almost completely recovered: "I have confidence, security and optimism. I'm making very important steps but I'm still in the midst of the recovery stage. I don't know if i'm ready to play an official match. How long? There's still some time to go."

new barca reading material

under the title "fc barcelona 2010. covering the race to the presidency of the greatest sports club in the world", i have launched a small niche blog that will focus on next year's presidential electionswe will follow all pre-electoral movements and will start with a series on the espionage case that was made public last weekyou can visit the new blog at:http://barcaelections2010.blogspot.com/

new barca reading material

The End (final draft)

Today, I have to basically repeat what I already said a little two months ago. Some changes in my personal life mean that I won't have the time anymore that I think is necessary to keep up the level of this blog nor to get things organized for people to join in and deliver more of the same. The quality of the content has always been our main concern and quality asks time.We didn't only bring the

The End (final draft)

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