Countdown to South Africa: Spotlight on Paraguay

Paraguay are in group F at the World Cup and will play Italy, New Zealand and Slovakia. This is the Paraguayan squad which I believe has the best chance of success in South Africa.

First 11

GK. Justo Villar, Club- Real Valladoid, Age at World Cup (AWC) 32.

RB. Paulo da Silva, Club- Sunderland, (AWC) 30.

CB. Pedro Benitez, Club- Atletico Mineriro (Brazil), (AWC) 29.

CB. Antolin Alcaraz, Club- Club Brugge, (AWC) 27.

LB. Delio Toledo, Club- Kayserispor (Turkey), (AWC) 33.

RW. Marcelo Etigarribia, Club- Le Mans, (AWC) 22.

CM. Edgar Barreto, Club- Atlanta, (AWC) 25.

CM. Jonathan Santana, Club- Wolfsburg, (AWC) 28.

LW. Aureliano Torres, Club- San Lorenzo (Argentina), (AWC) 27.

ST. Roque Santa Cruz, Club- Manchester City, (AWC) 28.

ST. Nelson Valdez, Club- Borussia Dortmund, (AWC) 26.

Subs

GK. Aldo Bobadilla, Club- Independiente Medellin (Colombia), (AWC) 34.

GK. Diego Barreto, Club- Cerro Porteno (Paraguay), (AWC) 28.

RWB. Eduardo Ledesma, Club- Club Atletico Lanus (Argentina), (AWC) 24.

CB. Julio Cesar Caceres, Club- Boca Juniors, (AWC) 30.

CB. Dario Veron, Club- Pumas (Mexico), (AWC) 30.

LB. Claudio Morel Rodriguez, Club- Boca Juniors, (AWC) 32.

CDM. Nestor Ortigoza, Club- Argentinos Juniors (Argentina), (AWC) 25.

RM. Osvaldo Martinez, Club- C.F. Monterrey (Mexico), (AWC) 24.

CM. Cristian Riveros, Club- Cruz Azul (Mexico), (AWC) 27.

LW. Sergio Aguino, Club- Club Libertad (Paraguay), (AWC) 30.

ST. Oscar Cardozo, Club- Benfica, (AWC) 27.

ST. Fredy Bareiro, Club- Estudiantes Tecos (Mexico), (AWC) 26.

Agree with my selections?

Have I included someone who doesn't warrant selection?

Have I missed anybody who should be included?

The Coach

Paraguay are coached by Argentinian Gerardo Martino. Paraguay is the first national team Martino has coached, he has previously coached club sides in Paraguay and Argentina. Martino is a hard working coach who studies his opponents in depth and makes sure his Paraguayan players work as a team. However he lacks international experience and can be inflexible. Martino usually adopts a conservative 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2 for Paraguay.

Paraguay's Strengths

Paraguay's strength is in the front third where they have a choice between three strikers playing in some of the best leagues in Europe. The majority of the remaining starting also are currently playing in Europe.

Paraguay's Weakness

Paraguay's main weakness is their depth, with none of the subs currently playing in Europe.

Countdown to South Africa: Spotlight on Spain

Spain qualified for the 2010 World Cup without losing a game. This is the Spanish squad which I believe has the best chance of success in South Africa next year.

First 11

GK. Iker Casillas captain, Club- Real Madrid, (AWC) 29.

RB. Sergio Remos, Club- Real Madrid, (AWC) 24.

CB. Raul Albiol, Club- Real Madrid, (AWC) 24.

CB. Carlos Puyol, Club- Barcelona, (AWC) 32.

LB. Joan Capdevila, Club- Villarreal, (AWC) 32.

RM. Andres Iniesta, Club- Barcelona, (AWC) 26.

CM. Xavi, Club- Barcelona, (AWC) 30.

CM. Csec Fabregas, Club- Arsenal, (AWC) 23.

LM. David Silva, Club- Valencia, (AWC) 24.

ST. Fernando Torres, Club- Liverpool, (AWC) 26.

ST. David Villa, Club- Valencia, (AWC) 28.

Subs

GK. Pepe Reina, Club- Liverpool, (AWC) 27.

GK. Diego Lopez, Club- Villareal, (AWC) 28.

RB. Alvaro Arbeloa, Club- Real Madrid, (AWC) 27.

CB. Carlos Marchena, Club- Valencia, (AWC) 30.

CB. Gerard Pique, Club- Barcelona, (AWC) 23.

LB. Fernando Navarro, Club- Sevilla, (AWC) 27.

RM. Santi Cazorla, Club- Villarreal, (AWC) 25.

CM. Marcos Senna, Club- Villarreal, (AWC) 33.

CM. Xabi Alonso, Club- Real Madrid, (AWC) 28.

LW. Diego Capel, Club- Sevilla, (AWC) 22.

ST. Raul, Club, Club- Real Madrid, (AWC) 32.

ST. Alvaro Negredo, Club- Sevilla, (AWC) 24.

The Coach

Spain are manged by Spaniard Vicente del Bosque. As a manger del Bosque has an unassuming and understated manner. As manger of Real Madrid at the start of this century del Bosque was in charge of the club when it had it's most successful spell since the 1950's and 60's.

Spain's Strengths

In Iker Casillas Spain have arguably the best goalkeeper in the World. Also Fernando Torres and David Villa are widely considered two of the best strikers in the World. Spain are basically strong all across the field.

Spain's Weakness

If Spain were to have a weakness it would be their depth in the striker position, compared to Fernando Torres and David Villa, the veteran Raul and Alvaro Negredo are a drop down in quality.

Style

Spain like to keep possession of the ball with short sharp passing and with the off the ball players make runs into space and or to create space.

FIFA 10 Review

FIFA 10 Game Review.

FIFA 9 is considered the best football game of all time but after playing FIFA 10 for a week it looks like it's improved on it's predecessor. Some of the improvements are in one on one physical contests; in heading battles and dribbling contests, crossing, corners and free kicks. So basically most of the game play has been further improved on last years version. Another thing that has been fixed up are the throw ins, although not a big thing at least they're no longer are annoying negative.

One of the new additions to FIFA 10 is the practice arena where you can practice playing a match as well as practicing the various set pieces. In the practice arena you can also make your own custom set pieces which you can later use in a match. Also there are supposed to have been more then 50 improvements to the Manger Mode. For most of the time I've been playing FIFA 10 in the week since it's come out I've been playing manager mode and other then the assistant coach setting which I'll get to later, the main change in Manger Mode appears just to be the layout and appearance.

In theory the assistant coach setting look liked a good edition to Manger Mode, basically if you had the assistant coach mode on it would select your match day squad using form, quality and fatigue of your players to choice the best players available. I decided to turn the assistant coach mode off after it started choosing full-backs to play at centre-back, midfielders to play in defense and attacking midfielders to play in defensive midfield positions.

As well as the football with every year the music is getting more important in FIFA. More evidence of this can be found on the front cover of FIFA 10, which has a sticker telling you were you can download an exclusive remix from a band. Unfortunately there are less songs from Australians in FIFA 10 then there has been in past editions.

FIFA 10 rating 9/10.