The Latest Football News and Opinions From 90 Minutes Online

Rombling - All roads lead to Capetown

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Created: Monday, 15 June 2009 16:41

Written by The Rome

Alas the season is over and the barren terrain of a major tournament-less summer (the Mickey Mouse curtain raising Confederations Cup doesn’t count) lies before us. I can console myself with the combination of facts that firstly, England virtually guaranteed their place at the World Cup next year with a couple of decent performances (against very meagre opposition, but you can only kick sand in the face of the seven stone weakling put in front of you and both Kazakhstan & Andorra were duffed and dispatched with relative aplomb) and secondly, in lieu of fact number one, I have booked my accommodation in South Africa!

Yes, that is right; 90minutesonline will be ably represented at the World Cup by at least one of its degenerate writers and who better than its internationally trailblazing, ever pompous, continental swashbuckler, The Rome.

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Confederates gather for World Cup warm-up.

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Created: Sunday, 14 June 2009 14:57

Written by Darren Douglas

Today the Confederations Cup gets under way in South Africa, this relatively recent addition to the international schedule will go on for the next two weeks as it continues to establish itself as a credible competition. The basic premise is that the tournament is represented by the spectrum of international teams who are the reigning champions of the other international competitions under FIFA's mandate (the respective confederation championships).

You may be surprised but this does amount to seven nations, with South Africa filling the eighth spot as the host nation. For full clarity the seven title holders are as follows:
Italy- 2006 World Cup Winners
Spain- 2008 European Championship Winners
Brazil- 2007 Copa America Winners
Egypt- 2008 African Nation Winners
Iraq- 2007 AFC Asian Cup Winners
USA- 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Winners
New Zealand- 2008 OFC Nation Cup Winners.

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Bruno Alves, a calculator and a McChicken sandwich

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Created: Friday, 12 June 2009 14:27

Written by Ian Shine

While Real Madrid have made the biggest splashes in the transfer market this summer with Ronaldo and Kaka joining their ranks, Bruno Alves is still looking to make a little ripple of his own.

Despite talking about moving to one of Europe’s giant clubs Alves still finds himself at Porto. Consequently he has started heading balls over the back garden fence of one José Mourinho in an attempt to get some attention.

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England on the verge, but it's just the beginning!

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Created: Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:06

Written by Darren Douglas

After England's 4-0 win away at Kazakhstan on Saturday and the draw that followed it later that evening between nearest group rivals Croatia and Ukraine, Capello and his men are now tantalisingly close to World Cup qualification and South Africa in 2010. The performance may not have been the most convincing, but professional was probably the most frequent and polite description of how England overcame the Kazakhstanis in Almaty.

In the extreme unlikelihood that the Ukraine will fail to defeat Kazakhstan tonight, England would be all but mathematically certain to win the group and be qualified, again withstanding any heroics by Belarus or Croatia in their remaining fixtures. So on that basis we can start to plan ahead for next summer already, my concern is that we will face an increasing frenzy of hype as the next domestic season continues.