S 'n' S: World Cup Part 4

France is now officially out of the World Cup. What a disappointment. The surprise exit had left many wondering why.

The beleaguered coach, who now leaves his post, made six changes to the team that had gone down to Mexico in their previous game – with captain Patrice Evra one of those dropped.

The Anelka incident had made many team members protesting and even refused to train. This whole incident had left the coach with no choice but to drop those players.

They were the finalist 4 years ago, but now they can't even pass the first round. A total disappointment. This might just be the biggest shock of this tournament.

S 'n' S: World Cup - Jabulani

Jabulani: The official match ball




On the day of the Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, the official ball for the competition has been unveiled. The adidas Jabulani, which means ‘to celebrate’ in isiZulu, is the 11th edition of adidas's FIFA World Cup balls.

The 11 colours on the Jabulani pay tribute to both football and the country in which Africa’s first-ever FIFA World Cup will be held. They represent a colour for each team player, every official South African language and for each of the 11 South African communities that will welcome the world next year. The design celebrates two of the most important facets of the South African nation - diversity and harmony - as it is these principles that make it such a colourful and welcoming nation.

Grip 'n' groove
Jabulani ushers in some major advances in football technology. Running your hands over the ball, the first impression is the grip’n’groove texture, which allows for maximum control, stable flight and perfect grip under all conditions.

The grip ’n’ groove’s profile circles twist around round the entire ball in an optimal aerodynamic way and the integrated grooves provide unmatched flight characteristics, making this the most stable and most accurate adidas ball ever.

Minimal seam, more perfection
As opposed to the flat-paneled molding of previous adidas footballs, Jabulani comprises eight thermally bonded 3D panels that have been, for the first time ever, spherically molded to make this ball a perfectly round football that is more accurate than ever before.

"According to the rigorous FIFA specification range for footballs, we have created a ball that is small and heavy allowing for maximum accuracy, perfect grip and exceptionally stable flight," said Thomas Van Schaik, the adidas Head of Global Public Relations.

A number of the world’s best players have echoed Thomas’s sentiment. Frank Lampard remarked: “It's a very strong ball, true to hit.” While on the receiving end of one of Lampard’s strikes goalkeeper Petr Cech said “You can feel the energy coming towards you, like a shot.”

Even though the perfectly round ball "is small and heavy allowing for maximum accuracy, perfect grip and exceptionally stable flight", many have blasted this ball for its erratic bounce and unpredictable flight results in stray passes and miskicks.
For goalkeepers, the consequences are even more dire. England keeper David James has described the Jabulani ball as "horrible", Spain's Iker Casillas says it is "rotten" and Gianluigi Buffon of Italy fears its "unpredictability" could ruin the World Cup.

In my opinion, I think the teams should just try to get used to it and not just blame the ball. In 2002, the Fevernova was too light and had too much spring. In 2006, the Teamgeist was unpredictable and swerved too much. And now, in 2010, everyone is blasting the Jabulani.

16th Jun 2010 - Flash floods wreak havoc

Flash floods caused by heavy downpour on Wednesday morning wreaked havoc on many parts of central Singapore, flooding basement carparks and shops, and making roads impassable to cars. It was the worst in area since 1984 and losses likely to run into millions of dollars. The flood turned roads into tea-coloured canals within 3 hours.

Orchard Road was the worst-hit and officers had to be deployed to help people off buses and cars.

Retailers estimate losses from flood damage to be in the millions of dollars. Retailers at Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza were inundated, with water reaching waist-high in some places. Many shops situated at the basement of Lucky Plaza tried to pull down the shop's grille shutters but they ended up trapping themselves instead as water levels continued to rise both inside and outside the shop, and the force of the water prevented them from being opened again.

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On the 16th June 2010, I witnessed such a disastrous rainfall that I myself could not believe it at first. It was just another day and I woke up at 8.30am, and saw the rain pouring down like a machine gun. It was hazy and everything outside the window was a blur. Even the buildings nearby was a blur, not to mention the amphitheatre which was at least 80m away. Spottiswoode Park was flooded. The roads were filled with dirty water and the ankle-deep water on the pathway was just undesirable. My grandparents who had woke up early to go the market, did not expect such a downpour. I had to bring umbrellas downstairs to fetch them, something I did not want to do. I arrived at the 1st story, saw the mini flood and hesitated. As I approached the building they were stranded in, the splashes made by my slippers were just annoying. I detested it. And I thought that was the worst flood I had ever seen. I was wrong. The worst-hit was actually Orchard Road and the pictures I seen on the newspaper made me feel lucky.

S 'n' S: World Cup Part 3

Argentina vs South Korea. Its already predictable that Argentina will win with ease. The outcome? A 4-1 win for Argentina with forward Gonzalo Higuain scoring the first hat-trick of this FIFA World Cup. The Argentinian was elected the Man of the Match. He scored in the 33th, 76th and 80th minute to secure another win for Argentina and reached in top 16 group of FIFA World cup 2010.

Spain vs Switzerland. Spain were clearly the favourites to win. However, the Swiss shocked the king of Europe. Gelson Fernandes's strike against the run of play earned them a 1-0 win against European champions and joint-tournament favourites Spain. Spain had clearly dominated possession but 24 shots with 8 on target is just pathetic when they have so many top players such as David Villa and David Silva.

With more brilliant matches to come, who knows what other shocks could happen. I am still rooting for England and I hope England will at least reach the semi-finals. All the best!

S 'n' S: World Cup Part 2

The World Cup has already started a few days ago and there were quite a few surprises already. The new ball, Jabulani, which was the official world cup ball, had got many furious over it. Many complain that the perfectly round ball was a problem when shooting. Even goalkeepers whined about it. The ball is too fast and goalkeepers would have to be more alert.

In the England vs United States match, United States were clearly the underdogs. However, a costly mistake by Robert Green made England lose 2 precious points. The 1-1 tie meant that England would have to buck up if they want to have a chance to win the World Cup. However, things are not looking great for the England coach, Fabio Capello, as he faces a goalkeeping dilemma. After Robert Green made that fateful mistake, Fabio does not know which goalkeeper to choose from. David James was a calamity, Robert Green is rob-bish and Joe Hart is just too inexperienced.

All in all, I wish England all the best.

S 'n' S: World Cup Part 1

The World Cup is just a day away! I just can't wait for it! The opening match is between South Africa, the World Cup hosts, and Mexico. I am rooting for England this time as their team looks invincible.

Let me give you a brief introduction of World Cup.

The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation.

Brazil have won the World Cup a record number of 5 times, followed by Italy with 4, and Germany with 3.

Italy, the defending champions, does not seem to have any chance of winning. Hopefully England's Wayne Rooney will try to curb his temper or else England's hope of the title will disappear into thin air.