SPAIN THE TEAM TO BEAT

World Cup favourites Spain sent out a clear message to the football world last night with a clinical 2-0 victory in Paris against the 2006 runners-up.

Despite Raymond Domenech using the match to experiment with a new central defensive partnership, the class of the Spanish was evident throughout and the European Champions are rightfully favourites to land the 'big one' this summer.

Diego Maradona's Argentina, poor in qualifying, secured a morale-boosting victory against Germany in a heated encounter in Frankfurt thanks to a goal by Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuian on the stroke of half-time.

England, dogged in recent weeks by off-the-field scandals, came from a goal behind against African champions Egypt at Wembley to claim a 3-1 win, inspired by a brace from substitute Peter Crouch.

Holland saw off the USA 2-1 in Amsterdam, and World Champions Italy were held to a scoreless draw by African hopefuls Cameroon in Monaco.

The Ivory Coast, considered by many as dark horses for the tournament, suffered a surprise 2-0 reverse against 2002 semi-finalists South Korea.

KEY FRIENDLY RESULTS

France 0-2 Spain
Holland 2-1 USA
Italy 0-0 Cameroon
England 3-1 Egypt
Germany 0-1 Argentina

ONE HUNDRED DAYS UNTIL SOUTH AFRICA 2010

Just 100 days to wait now until the big kick-off...

Brazil have just beaten Ireland 2-0 in a friendly at the Emirates stadium in London. After a poor first half in which Brazil only took the lead via an own goal just before the break, the Samba stars improved in the second period and Robinho scored a fine second goal to wrap up a deserved victory.

Tomorrow most of the other nations who will be present in South Africa will also be in action, giving coaches the chance to further fine-tune their thought processes in the build-up to June 11. Germany play Argentina, England take on African champions Egypt at Wembley, France meet tournament favourites Spain, Holland play the USA and defending World champions Italy face Cameroon.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

See previous post for questions!

Sweden played Romania in Stanford, California, and the side from Scandinavia emerged triumphant in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw. In the semi-final the Swedes met Brazil for the second time in the tournament, having qualified for the knock-out stages from the same group as the eventual champions.

Cuba was the nation on the end of that trouncing - way back in 1938. That remains the Caribbean nation's only appearance at the Finals, and to qualify for the dizzy heights of the last eight they only had to beat Romania, which they did in a replay. Their World Cup record therefore reads: played 3, won 1, drawn 1, lost 1.

Italy and Spain, with the former emerging victorious on both occasions. In 1934 the match had to be replayed after a 1-1 draw, and in 1994 Robert Baggio scored a late winner shortly after an incident involving Mauro Tassoti's elbow. Spanish midfielder Luis Enrique was left with a bloody nose, but the incident went totally unnoticed by the referee.

In 1954, in a fiercely contested quarter-final between bitter rivals and central European neighbours, Austria overcame host nation Switzerland 7-5 in the highest scoring match in World Cup Finals history. The Austrian reward? A semi-final with mighty West Germany - and a 6-1 thrashing.

13 of the 18 World Cups have used a format that included a quarter-final stage. The five tournaments that DIDN'T were 1930, 1950, 1974, 1978 and 1982.

Uruguay were beaten 4-0 by West Germany, and Argentina lost out by a single goal to host nation England, who went on to win the World Cup for the first and only time so far in their history.

Peru were beaten 4-2 in Guadalajara by the best Brazil side ever. This was Peru's best showing of their four appearances at the World Cup Finals, the last of which was in 1982.

Three quarter-finals were decided by the dreaded spot-kicks. West Germany put paid to host nation Mexico after a dour 120 minutes of goalless football, France beat Brazil in one of the most riveting World Cup matches ever, and the surprise team of the tournament Belgium progressed to the last four by beating perennial underachievers Spain.

Of the 13 tournaments that used a format including quarter-finals, Germany have only failed to reach them on one occasion. Their 12 appearances in the last eight is two better than the next best team, which - unsurprisingly - is Brazil.

Turkey beat Senegal by a golden goal in 2002 to advance to the semi-finals.

WORLD CUP TRIVIA

Ten Questions On...

The World Cup Quarter-Finals


1. At USA 94, which quarter-final featured a Scandinavian country against an opponent from Eastern Europe?

2. Sweden once won a quarter-final by an 8-0 scoreline. Who were their opponents and in which year did it happen?

3. Which two European giants faced each other at the quarter-final stage in both 1934 and 1994?

4. What is the highest-scoring quarter-final ever?

5. In how many of the 18 World Cup tournaments has the format included a quarter-final stage?

6. Which two South American sides lost in the quarter-finals to the two eventual finalists in the 1966 tournament?

7. Which fellow South American team did Brazil beat in the 1970 quarter-final on the way to winning the trophy?

8. How many of the quarter-finals at Mexico 86 were decided on penalties?

9. Which team has the most number quarter-final appearances?

10. Who is the only team to have won a quarter-final by virtue of a golden goal?

ANSWERS TOMORROW! HAPPY HUNTING!

WORLD CUP STORIES: ENGLAND'S FAVOURITE DOG

In January 1966, the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy was delivered to the English Football Association headquarters at Lancaster Gate in preparation for the 1966 tournament which was to be held in England.

With the exception of some special publicity events, the trophy was to be kept at Lancaster Gate. On Sunday March 20, at an exhibition of rare stamps organized by the Stanley Gibbons stamp company in the Central Hall at Westminster, permission was granted for the trophy to be on display - a major attraction for visitors.

The Jules Rimet trophy was insured for a massive £30,000 (remember that this is 44 years ago) and it was agreed that it would be under continuous guard.

In spite of this, shortly after midday on Sunday 20th March, the trophy was stolen during a church service that was taking place and while the guards were doing a circuit of the Hall. The thieves ignored rare stamps that had a value of £3 million and focused on removing the trophy from its display case and leaving unnoticed with it.

The following day Joe Mears, the chairman of the FA, received a ransom note asking for £15,000 in exchange for the return of the trophy. Mears contacted the police and a plan was made to make a false ransom payment.

Seven days later from the theft of the prized trophy, it was miraculously found by "Pickles" the dog in South Norwood, a district in south London. Pickles was out on a routine walk with his owner, David Corbett, when he came across a parcel wrapped in an old newspaper and tied with string.

Corbett opened the parcel and in utter amazement recognized the missing Jules Rimet trophy. He went straight to the Gypsy Hill police station to hand it in, and whilst he was initially treated with suspicion, was later cleared of any involvement.

The police retained the trophy until April 18, after which they returned it to the FA in good time for the start of the World Cup.

Exactly 19 weeks after Pickles found the trophy under that garden hedge in South London, at Wembley stadium and in front of millions watching around the world, Queen Elizabeth II handed it over to Bobby Moore as the captain of the triumphant England side that had just won the World Cup.

In honour of Pickles' service to the football world in recovering the trophy, he was invited to the celebration banquet of the England team, and was allowed to lick the plates after the guests had finished eating. David Corbett was given a reward of £6,000. Nowadays dog-walking is becoming a popular business, but I've not heard of any rates of pay that compare with that.

IVORY COAST WANT HIDDINK

Ivory Coast have sensationally sacked Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic with just over 100 days to go to the start of the World Cup - and have set their sights on Guus Hiddink as the man to replace him.

The President of the national Football Association cited the Ivory Coast's failure to win the recent African Cup of Nations as the principal reason.

Halilhodzic becomes another 'casualty coach' of an African nation following Nigeria's decision to dismiss Shaibu Amodu earlier this month.

Hiddink's services are in great demand due to his proven record at every level of management. He has displayed a midas touch in international tournaments, leading South Korea to the semi-final of the World Cup in 2002 and Russia to the same stage of Euro 2008. He also took his native Holland to the last four at France 98.

Whoever takes the job faces a tough task in South Africa as Ivory Coast face Brazil, North Korea and Portugal in Group G.