A hat-trick from Villareal’s Luciano Figueroa killed off the Satta King Australian challenge in Nuremberg tonight as Argentina won 4-2 with Figueroa’s three and a Riquelme penalty beating a brace from John Aloisi. The South American champions are now through to the semi-finals with Germany, who lead them on goal difference whilst Australia rue elimination despite having scored five goals in two games.

Figueroa remains behind Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola in the pecking order for the Argentina striker positions but tonight’s hat-trick will force Jose Pekerman to give him more chances in the run-up to Germany 2006. Argentina lead the ten-nation South American qualifying group and it will be interesting if they draw Brazil in this tournament.

Argentina never looked like losing this contest but like Germany succumbed more than once to the underrated Australian attack. Having raced into a 3-0 lead by the fifty-third minute after two opportunist strikes from Figueroa and a Riquelme penalty, Argentina were hit teice in reply.

Aloisi, who plays his football for Osasuna in Spain, reduced arrears with a penalty kick just after the hour mark and then pulled the Socceroos to within one goal of Argentina with a poacher’s goal in the seventieth minute. Gabriel Heinze was the villain this time around, chesting a Josip Skoku cross back to German Lux only for Aloisi to nip in and finish gleefully.

In the last minute however, Argentina killed the game as Riquelme curled a free-kick from the edge of the box over the scrum of bodies and Figueroa ghosted in at the far post to score.

Australia conclude their Confederations Cup campaign against Tunisia in Leipzig on Tuesday whilst Argentina tussle for first spot in the group with Germany in Nuremberg the same night.

Player comments to follow.

Day Two of the Confederations Cup

‘There is still so much to do’ says the cover of Germany’s top selling daily at the previous night’s shipping of three goals to Australia, despite the four scored in reply. Germany have belatedly discovered what the rest of us have known for some time: There has been a big levelling-up of world football standards and the dummies are fewer and further between.

Sat on the train from Hannover to Frankfurt and Franz Beckenbauer’s mug stares back at me from the on board magazine. Why don’t they just make him king of Germany?

Hannover’s stadium is large and imposing but a bugger to get to, a good 15 minute walk from the nearest S-Bahn (tram stop) and poorly signposted. The walk was pretty though, through an atmospherically deserted fairground and fluffs of flying cottonwood romantically drifting through the summer evening air.

Another warm evening bodes well for next year but it won’t be as sweltering as some recent World Cups such as Mexico 86, USA 94 or Korea 2002. The Europeans should have an advantage therefore and remember no South American team has ever won in this continent.

For some reason the Germans had all adopted Mexico as their team for the evening, painting their cheeks in the tricolore and chanting ‘Me-HEE-Ko!’ I did spy two locals bravely cheering for Japan but what the Nippon fans must have made of these gaijins’ Chinese coolie hats…

Sitting a few rows in front of me was Arsene Wenger, who coached in Japan before he came to Arsenal and who knows one day may return there, possibly as national team manager.

Given the friendly occasion and the country involved it was no surprise when a Mexican wave started, except that it took 42 minutes to get going.

More Mexicans than Japanese had made the trip although the latter outnumbered the former 10 to 1 in the press box. Nippon fans have yet to generate the noise their European or South American counterparts do but that is no bad thing. I have to say they are the most friendly and pleasant fans I have yet encountered (the worst would be Yugoslavia or Turkey) and have a healthy proportion of women amongst their ranks.

It is a real mistake to assume fans from a ‘baby’ footballing country like Japan, Australia or the USA are less knowledgeable than us Old Worlders. Quite the opposite in my experience – the need to hunt down information from beyond the major media sources hones their taste and scent for football knowledge.

As a journalist I love the ordeal of international tournament press conferences. I say ordeal because there are so many languages to translate. Last night we had Spanish, Portuguese, English, Japanese and German, rather like the street language spoken by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner.

I must say if there is one regret I have in this job it is that so many football journalists lack a sense of humour or proportion. You could not but raise at least a smile as one of the FIFA interpreters had a sneezing fit into the microphone during Zico’s spiel and a Mexican hack asked a question in Spanish with the velocity of Roadrunner and the voice of Speedy Gonzales in one. One of the Japanese questions seemed to take half an hour to ask and ten seconds to translate, rather like the pretentious commercial director in ‘Lost in Translation’.

As a consequence of FIFA’s desire to simultaneously interpret, the time for questions is limited but both games I have attended have suspiciously included questions from what I think are FIFA plants, who ask the managers what they think of the host city, its people and the welcome they have been given. Nobody is going to offend all and sundry by saying, ‘Well actually everyone is so rude around here and the food sucks!’ so why prolong this eternal bliss view of football promulgated by the FIFA website and magazine? It is at odds with the reality as experienced by fans, players and owners alike so why bang on with this Disney-esque myth?

Germany however is a decent World Cup host although not everything is perfect. I have experienced bureaucratic and logistical problems and tonight had to ask five FIFA people where the media centre was before I found someone who did know.

My day ended with arriving at the hotel the Hannover tourist office had booked for me only to find the concierge closes at 6 and so I could not check in! I have never come across such a place. A German lady called Dagmar took pity on me and offered me her floor to sleep on but I saved her and my blushes by finding the first place I came to. “You have an expensive hobby going to football tournaments”, a German tourist told me in Sweden in 1992 during the European Championships. He is still right.

The Croatian coach Slaven Bilic has said he will stay on the national team’s bench beyond the European Championship in spite of a sweet offer from Germany’s Hamburger SV.

Bilic announded his decision to stay at a press conference putting an end to speculations caused by the Croatian FA’s inertia. The FA inexplicably hesitated to renew the supremely popular coach’s contract after the momentous win at play bazaar Wembley last November, fuelling the nation’s concern Bilic could accept a financially more profitable offer abroad.

“I’ll stay as Croatia’s coach. Salary doesn’t matter to me.

Let them give me a blank contract and I’m going to sign it,” said the former West Ham and Everton defender.

“I do want to work at a club, but it will not be before 2010,” added Bilic.

What the fans think of the Croatian FA’s slowness to tie the coach for at least two more years has been reflected in a poll conducted by Vecernji list daily. No less than 77% of the voters believe the FA’s president Vlatko Markovic should quit if Bilic goes.

Record ban for a Chilean coach

Marcelo Vega, former coach to the youth team of Chile’s Santiago Morning was hit by a record 50 game ban for assaulting a referee. The former international was found guilty by the FA for knocking out the ref at the game between his team and Universidad de Chile on March 8th.

This is the heaviest ban ever imposed in the history of Chilean soccer. The club’s vice president Luis Faundez called upon Vega to “leave the club in order not to cause more damage.”

The 37-year-old coach collected 30 caps and one goal for the national team between 1991 and 1998 playing as a midfielder.

Capello recalls Beckham for France friendly

David Beckham will finally get his chance of making his 100th appearance for England as Fabio Capello showed him mercy after several months of uncertainty. Capello, who was at odds with Becks during their spell at Real Madrid, had said he had left out the former captain for the Switzerland game due to his lack of fitness.

Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson has also won his return to the national side instead of the injured Scott Carson, Liverpool’s keeper on loan to Aston Villa. On the other hand, other two in-form Spurs’ players, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe, have been left out by the Italian coach, traditionally determined to keep the public guessing about his moves and motives.

Donadoni’s future at Italy uncertain

Roberto Donadoni has not reached a new deal with the Italian FA, whose leaders say they will not consider extending his contract before the end of the European championship.

“The issue will be dealt with when the current coach’s contract expires on July 18th,” said FA’s chairman Giancarlo Abate.

The man growing increasingly linked to the spot is Carlo Ancelotti, whose era at AC Milan is inexorably reaching its finale.

Ancelotti has admitted he is interested in coaching his country but not before 2010.

“I believe Donadoni deserves to stay. He has worked well so far and I trust he will do well at the European championship and the next World Cup,” said Ancelotti. Ever the fair player, Milan’s coach does not want to make an impression of being too eager to replace Donadoni, his former teammate for club and national team.

Athletic’s keeper has his head smashed by a Betis fan

The Spanish FA has punished Betis with two home games behind closed doors and awarded their game against Athletic to the visitors, confirming the scoreline of 1-2 prevailing before an incident forced the referee to signal the end.

With 23 minutes remaining, a 40-year-old Betis fan threw a full plastic bottle in Athletic’s keeper Armando’s face.

The Bask goalie suffered a deep cut and an injury to the left eye, which doctors fear may lose its function due to the detachment of the retina.

The fans helped the guards and the police catch the perpetrator, who was arrested and released on 3000 euros bail. Betis hoped the FA would enable them to play the remaining 23 minutes of the game, but the authorities would not heed their pleas remembering last year’s incident in which the former Sevilla’s coach Juande Ramos was also hit with a bottle thrown from the stands.

The perpetrator of that incident will likely be sentenced just to a hefty fine since Ramos was not seriously injured. The recent bottle-thrower may be looking at a prison sentence should Armando lose the sight in the injured eye.

Francesco Totti prefers Champions League to scudetto

If he could chose, Roma’s captain Francesco Totti would rather win the Champions’ League than the Italian league, since an European club trophy is what is missing from his trophy room.

“To win a title would be special because it would mean overtaking Inter, but I would prefer the Champions League as I have never won an international trophy at club level. Who knows, maybe it would also boost my chances of achieving the Golden Ball. Still, if the performance at the European Championship turns out to be decisive for the Golden Ball, then I will not win it because I’m not going back to the national team,” said the forward who has not played for the Azzurri after the victorious World Cup in Germany.

On Roma’s path to the European title lies, lest we forget, Manchester United.

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THE FOOTBALL HAIKU WORLD CUP TEAM

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* Matthew Devereux, Woking, Surrey, England

* Alan Summers. Founder of With Words

* Tim Souster. A primary school teacher in London, England; reviewed for “The Times Literary Supplement” and “The Financial Times”.

* Timmy Killeen runs the English Football Post and is based in Galway, Ireland.

* Peter Ulrik Roeder is the author of “Game Over” and is based in Lyngby, Denmark.

* Adriana Piccardo, creator and administrator of a haiku group at Facebook and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

* Roxana Elena Roseti is an editor on the Romanian newspaper Jurnalul National

The basic idea is very simple.

Firstly, there will be an ongoing ebook of the haiku we receive that can be downloaded. People downloading that ebook can choose to pay any amount that they like, based on the same funding model as the seminal satta king Radiohead album “In Rainbows”. Once we have received a decent number of initial haiku, we can then offer the first version of the ebook for download. So please send your haiku to us as soon as possible.

After that, in the long-term, those haiku can be put together along with specially commissioned illustrations for a book that will be published and available in shops at a set price. We are interested to hear from artists and designers.

Of the initial money that is received from those donating for the downloadable ebook, 25% will go to the small team orchestrating and editing the ebook. 25% will be paid equally to contributors of haiku that are selected to be part of the project. 25% will be provided as special prizes to the writers of the three haiku that are voted as the best by readers of the ebook. The remaining 25% will be given to a football-related good cause voted on by contributors and readers of the ebook. So if you contribute a poem or download the ebook, please also send over the name of the football-related good cause you would like to see money donated to to iq.high2010@gmail.com.

If you are an individual or organisation that would like to become a partner or patron or supporter of the project, and would be able to contribute financially to it to help us make it happen (no matter how small a contribution), please also contact us immediately at iq.high2010@gmail.com. In exchange for your contribution we will provide you with a link in the ebook.

The story of another South Korea star’s adventures in Europe started last weekend as Ki Sung-yong made a first appearance in the famous green-and-white hooped shirt of Celtic.

The 20 year-old played the full 90 minutes on Saturday as his new team drew 1-1 with Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League. It was a disappointing performance from the Bhoys but a promising debut from Ki who was impressed with his free-kick skills and was named Man of the Match.

After agreeing to join the famous Scottish club last summer, Ki, had to wait until the end of the year to join his new team as he played out the rest of the K-League season with FC Seoul. Now he is ready to help the 1967 European champions satta king result recapture the Scottish title from Glasgow rivals Rangers.

Ki has already impressed off the pitch with his fluent English and pleased journalists, players and supporters alike by coming up with a more familiar first name. “I spent some time in Australia and there my friends called me David as it’s difficult for some to pronounce my name,” he told the local media upon arrival. “If that helps make it easier, it’s fine with me. Communication is so important if players are to be comfortable with each other.”

Those years spent in high school in Brisbane may have helped his English skills but life on the Gold Coast is a far cry from that in Glasgow. Ki got a taste of that in his first full week in the UK with severe snowstorms and cold weather bringing the country and soccer to a halt and delaying his debut for the club.

That wouldn’t have bothered him too much, Seoul is colder than Scotland in the winter months and the classy youngster has a perfect attitude to match his skills. Already a regular in the Korean team, Ki has been one of the hottest properties in Asia for the past two years or so since he broke into the ranks at FC Seoul. He quickly became one of the nation’s biggest stars and the fact that he is tall and handsome didn’t do him any harm.

Now he has the challenge of charming the legions of Celtic fans that fill Parkhead, the club’s famous 60,000 capacity stadium, on a regular basis. Despite such numbers, Scottish football is in the doldrums these days with the two big clubs, Celtic, and city rivals Rangers, a little less flush with cash than in the past and with the rest of the league unable to compete regardless, many eyes will be on Ki, the 2009 Young Asian Player of the Year, to lift the profile of the Scottish scene.

“In signing Ki, we are sure we will welcome a whole new audience to Celtic,” Celtic Chief executive Peter Lawwell said recently in Seoul.

“This (creating new audiences) is something which proved very successful through the signing of players such as Shunsuke Nakamura previously and we are sure Scottish football will again benefit through this signing. In difficult economic times for Scottish football, we are delighted to make this commitment and bring Ki to Scotland.”

Nakamura arrived in Scotland in 2005 and spent four years there. The Japanese playmaker was a big hit with the fans and the coach. Before leaving for Spain in the summer of 2009, he certainly helped raise Celtic’s profile in Japan and Asia but Ki has warned fans that he is not a ‘Naka Mark II’ but is more similar to a certain all-action Liverpool and England midfielder.

“People will be expecting me to be the new Nakamura, but I’m not. He was a wonderful player and really gifted technically, but that’s not the style I play. I’m younger, faster and stronger. In South Korea people compare me to Steven Gerrard, and I’ll admit that’s who I’ve based my game on.”

“But Gerrard is one of the best and most recognized midfielders in the world. At the moment I’m not, but that’s what I want to become.”

The World Cup is always exciting but for fans of South Korea, June 2010 is going to be fascinating.

If being in a group with South American powerhouse Argentina, 2004 European champions Greece and African giant Nigeria wasn’t exciting enough, there could be some familiar faces around this summer.

Pim Verbeek is one. The Dutchman was the assistant coach at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and then took the helm in July 2006 for a period of one year during which he led South Korea to third place at the 2007 Asian Cup. As soon as the competition finished, so did Verbeek’s time in the Land of the Morning Calm and he resigned.

A few months later, he surfaced in Australia, after satta matka Dick Advocaat, South Korea’s 2006 World Cup boss, refused the job, Verbeek took charge. Charged with leading the Socceroos to South Africa, the laconic European did just that.

Australia strolled through qualification and finds itself in a tough-looking group with European heavyweight Germany, talented Ghana and a tough-looking Serbian team. Such a line-up reads slightly scarier than the one at the Asian Cup which involved Indonesia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia but Verbeek is feeling confident.

“I can honestly say there was one word that shot through my mind when we came out in a group with Germany – great!” He wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

“It’s the second-toughest group overall, I’m sure about that. But when the stakes are so high, we’ll be up for a fight. Germany are very strong…Over the years they have shown how successful you can be with a team that works together.

“Ghana are playing on their home continent but that’s a double-edged sword. They will have support for sure, but as with Germany will also face pressure to live up to the fans’ expectations. We beat them last year in a friendly in Sydney, though neither side was at its strongest. Serbia will be quick but also strong.”

Verbeek will always have a special place in the hearts of South Korean fans. As well as his time in charge of the national team, he will be remembered as an assistant to Guus Hiddink in 2002.

Hiddink took Australia to the 2006 World Cup and after subsequent spells with the Russian national team and a temporary job in charge of London club Chelsea, it looked for a time as if the man, who was granted honorary citizenship of Korea after his exploits with the Taeguk Warriors, was going to be at the 2010 World Cup.

The well-travelled tactician takes the Turkey job in August, leaving a window of opportunity to take the vacant Ivory Coast position though he has since ruled himself out. It would have made for an even more fascinating Group G. The talented Africans, defeated 2-0 by South Korea in a recent warm-up in London, have been placed in a group with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea. South Korean fans were already looking forward to seeing how their northern neighbors perform in such a tough environment but the addition of Hiddink into the mix would have been the egg on the top of that particular bi-bim-bap.

Hiddink was also in the frame for the Nigeria job that was vacant until earlier this month. He didn’t get it but one of his predecessors in Seoul definitely wanted it.

Jo Bonfrere arrived in South Korea in June 2004, took the team through qualification for the World Cup before resigning in August 2005. As the man with past experience with Nigeria, he led the team to the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; the Dutchman was desperate for the chance to finally go to the World Cup.

“I know your players very well,” he said last month. “The players have confidence in me, I also have confidence in them, I know what it takes to build a good team for Nigeria, I only needs time for training,” he said.

“I always say that Nigeria can beat any team in the world. But you have to build a team to achieve this. There is no problem of players, the players are there, what is needed is just time to build a team. If you give me the job on time, I will build a team that will reach the final of the World Cup in South Africa,” he added.

Bonfrere’s predecessor Humberto Coelho, who resigned in May 2003, was also very close to South Africa. He led Tunisia through qualification to the stage where the Carthage Eagles needed just to win their last game in Mozambique to make it to the 2010 World Cup. Tunisia lost and Coelho was out of a job. Another former South Korean assistant coach Afshin Ghotbi is now coach of Iran’s national team and came very close to qualifying for South Africa.

If only all had made it. It would have been a Korean reunion like no other!

South Korea’s Park Ji-sung and the north’s Hong Yong-cho

Any meeting between the two Koreas on the football pitch is special but the fact that it is a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup adds a good deal of hot pepper sauce to an already unique dish of that old Korean favourite bibimbap.

Less pleasing for the southern defenders will be another battle with Jong Tae-se, North Korea’s new weapon. Jong scored a fine goal when the two teams meet just six weeks ago during the East Asian championships in the Chinese city of Chongqing. The Japan-based forward has been the subject of much attention.

Captain Kim Nam-il faced Jong again last week in the J-league and has warned his team-mates that they will need to be on their toes.

“We saw in the East Asian Cup what he is capable of and we need to watch him until the very end of the game.”

Southern defender Kwak Tae-hwi was one of a number of players who was brushed aside by the powerful Jong as he scored his goal and the Chunnam Dragons star is determined to ensure that Jong does not repeat his success.

“This time I will stop him,” Kwak told reporters in Paju before leaving for China on Sunday. “Then I was too late with my tackle. When you face strong and fast attacking players you have to concentrate at all times and make quick decisions.”

Coach Huh Jung-moo has been making a few decisions of his own, naming no less than five players without any prior national team experience in the roster of 23.

Even with all the greenhorns available, the boss is likely to turn to tried and trusted stars such as Park Ji-sung. The Manchester United star has made the flight east, following three other English-based players- Indian Matka Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham, Fulham’s Seol Ki-hyeon and West Brom’s Kim Do-heon. All four have struggled to get some serious playing time recently and will be fresh, though perhaps not as sharp as Huh would like.

North Korea arrived in Shanghai on Monday and quickly sped away from the aiport on the bus. Coach Kim Jong-hun then led his players to the stadium for a behind-closed doors training session.

Both teams are looking to build on wins collected in the opening round of games in this the third and penultimate stage of qualification for the 2010 World Cup. The 20 remaining teams have been divided into five groups of four. The top two from each group progress to the final round. Four Asian nations will head to South Africa while a fifth will play-off with a representative from the Oceania region – likely to be New Zealand.

In the first game, South Korea thrashed Turkmenistan 4-0 in Seoul while the north won 1-0 in Jordan.

orth Korea is not a team that concedes many goals and until recently, South Korea was not one that scored too many. Three of the four meetings between the two in the past decade have ended all square and it is a result that would be satisfactory to both sides once again on Wednesday.

With regards to a noble motivation, I live to give. I was so moved by Pele’s allure for assist men with erectile brokenness that I consented to pay £10 every month towards the mission, yet sadly I couldn’t keep it up.

Liverpool FC were not really liberal of soul when Luton Town requested monetary help before their FA Cup tie. The Reds were well Dominoqqwithin their freedoms to decline to help, as they as of now care for the penniless by paying Jamie Carragher a week by week wage.

Jamie most likely has the most slender skin in football. A radio DJ once scrutinized his choice to resign from global football as Satta result he wasn’t ensured a beginning spot, so Jamie unimaginably rang him up to organize a meet where they could ‘examine it’ further. Brutality against radio characters is absolutely inadmissible, with the conspicuous special case of Sara Cox.

Carragher hit the features again this week when he purportedly hopped up onto a hindrance to stand up to various oppressive hairpiece wearing Luton allies. I accept the FA should go all out in tracking down an answer for swarm incitement, and I realize that Jamie is glad to toss cash at the issue. A speculation on Middlesbrough to beat Liverpool at 9/2 will place a couple of coins in the kitty.

Mark Hughes is a shrewd administrator. Losses to Larissa in the UEFA Cup and Coventry in the FA Cup have ensured that apparatus clog won’t be an issue. Blackburn are unbeaten in Bolton on their last eight visits, a draw at 23/10 will keep that noteworthy detail rolling.

I attempt to try not to gloat, however I can without much of a stretch connect with individuals of varying insight. Assuming you have an IQ of 160, I can cheerfully examine numerical likelihood or the highs and lows of atomic splitting. Assuming you’re IQ is under 50, I’m similarly at home talking about the advantages and disadvantages of your transition to Derby. Robbie Savage can help the sickly Rams take a point off Wigan at 9/4.

Dave Kitson has been legitimately butchered for offering belittling comments about the FA Cup. The ginger contract killer despicably asserted that he was unable to give ‘the Neville siblings’ about the authentic rivalry. Actually, I’m a fanatic for custom, and Reading have never succeeded at Villa Park in their set of experiences. I’ll back the Villa at 8/13, and afterward backing them once more. That is two hits.

Arsene Wenger has by and by hit it big with the radiant Eduardo. I haven’t seen anybody look so agreeable in the crate since Martina Navratilova. 1/5 for an Arsenal prevail upon Birmingham is just crushing.

Evidently, Everton’s prize room has been burgled. Police are requesting that the general population be keeping watch for quite some time of the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Cup Winners Cup. I’ll have it away with the 6/5 for an Everton prevail upon Manchester City.

Assuming Fulham FC were a kind of frozen yogurt, they would be vanilla. That helps me to remember the old melody, “I shout, you shout, we as a whole shout assuming we unintentionally check out Carlos Tevez.” I’ll screech like Britney Spears when I take the 3/4 for a West Ham prevail upon Fulham.

Portsmouth have been hit incredibly hard by the African Cup of Nations, they’re in a real sense down to the no frills. Sunderland can exploit at 15/8.

The early cash in the ‘following Newcastle chief’ market proposes that Harry Redknapp is an obvious choice for the post. Being something of a non-devotee, I’ve layed Harry at 1.65 and I have no goal of shutting my position. Assuming that you’re perusing this late and Harry has effectively accepted the position, then, at that point, I adjusted my perspective and greened out for a MASSIVE benefit. I’ll toss my normal rewards on Manchester United to beat Newcastle at 1/4.

Ashley Cole was left perplexed when Avram Grant peeled him off the captaincy following an hour last week. He hasn’t been this dazed since Arsenal offended him by offering a derisory £55,000 per week. I almost crashed my vehicle when I heard that bookmakers were offering 5/1 for a Tottenham prevail upon Chelsea.

Such a demonstration of liberality has left me in a condition of reflection, pondering over my own choice to quit supporting the worldwide battle against weakness. I really needed to respect my responsibility, yet toward the day’s end, I’m not an average worker.

Individuals who have never experienced erectile brokenness rush to make fun of the people who have; yet I essentially decline to fall for the trap. In the event that you don’t back Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton and Sunderland in a 10/1 accer, you will not have the option to get up in the first part of the day.

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