Michael Ballack ruled out of the World Cup.

Horrendous news! Ballack is out of the World Cup. The culprit for this evil situation, a right ankle injury which Ballack received during the FA Cup final (which he won) against Porthsmouth (challenge by Boateng). Ballack has been ruled out for 8 weeks, which means he will clearly miss the world cup. Painful news as this would probably be Ballack's last World Cup appearance given his age (unless a miracle happens). Should Germany win the World Cup this year it will surely seal Ballack's reputation as the "runners up" man.

This is truly a big loss for Germany. Not only have they lost their beloved captain, they have also lost the player who at many times carried their team.

It's weird this World Cup. Many of our beloved "older" superstars will be not be starring (Beckam, van Nistelrooy, Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo (Brazil), Raul, Totti). I guess it's time for the younger ones to shine. Go Rooney!

Chelsea – FA Cup Winners

(image via BBCSports.com)

Congratulations to Chelsea for winning for FA Cup.

Chelsea won the game 1-0 with Drogba scoring the winning goal.

I was hoping Portsmouth would win this to give them a bitter sweet end to a horrible season. But I guess its Chelsea year this time. Credit to Portsmouth for making Chelsea work for the Cup.

Cause I am a sucker

How do you get me to part with my money? Just show me something football related.

I saw these selling at 7/11 and I just could not resist. They are boxes containing Impact brand breath mints. Bravo to the marketing guys at Impact for capitalising on the World Cup fever by packaging their mints in world cup theme cases.

I bought the England one and my friend bought the Germany one. Then I gave all the mints away as I did not quite like them. Hehe. 3 bucks gone.

Umbro's World Champions Collection - Sexy much

(image via Umbro.com)

Really sexy looking collection from Umbro. Pity the England one (modelled by Abbey Clancy) is a bit blah. The crest could do with a bit more colour. Also it's a bit too big.

Like the German one the most. Simple yet elegant. (I know, I know…sleeping with the enemy. But if that enemy is Michael Ballack….)

Question: How do I wear this outside without looking like a whore? It is a bit too slumpy to wear it with a pair of jeans. Or this a bedroom restricted item?

Why can't they design a chic looking outfit for women without the need for it to look like a sex kitten? I guess this line must have been designed for the benefit of the male population.

Here's something I found rather amusing while viewing the collection online…. it talks about the models, the crest, the behind the scenes of the photo shoot and it even has wallpapers of the girls in the outfits. But there is nothing on the website that speaks about the product itself! Nothing about the material, design or sizes available. Nope nothing. So, tell me again what exactly are they selling?

Women's cut

(image via FA.com)

So I went to the sports shop today intending to splurge some moolah on the England away jersey. Unfortunately, this is what the retail assistant said to me "Got men and boys one only. Why don't you try the boys one?".

Ahhh….! Why is it that my sunny island does not import the women's cut of the England jersey? Addias and Nike have both have realized that there is market for women football fans here. When will the importers of Umbro jerseys realize this?

And no, the boy's cut simply won't do it for me. I have boobs, a waist and a hip. I am not a ruler to fit into boys' clothes. I need a jersey that will do justice to my curves. With most sports stores run by men, they simply don't get it.

Look's like it's a trip to the England website to buy it offline. This means extra money to be spent on currency conversion and freight charges.

Preliminary list for England Squad

Capello has announced his preliminary 30-man World Cup squad for England.

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).


Some surprising additions. Adam Johnson and Michael Dawson? But question is, who will be regulars in the first team. Slightly ashamed that Chelsea has got 4 players in the squad while Man Utd is tied with Liverpool with 3 players each. Bearing in mind Capello can only bring 23 players to South Africa, I am afraid that number may be reduced. Kudos to Tottenham for having the most number of players in the list (6 players).

Players I wish who had made to the list: Beckham (injured), Owen (injured), Gary Neville (a bit stale), Ben Foster (lack of first team experience) Phil Neville, Owen Hargreaves (forever injured). Ok, ok, so they are all players with Man Utd credentials. What can I say, I am biased.

Will be interesting to see how England does without last world cup's star players Beckham and Hargreaves. It must be bloody heartbreaking for both players. Cries!!!!!

And Owen, that poor poor boy. Denied by injury again.

Book: Soccernomics

In anticipation for the World Cup, I am reading a book entitled "Soccernomics". It's like freakonomics but with respect to football. This book will supposedly explain why certain countries/clubs do better than others and why England is not winning the World Cup. Interesting…..

Expensive much

Why is the FIFIA World Cup 2010 South Africa official book damn bloody expensive? 38 bucks! No way! I only paid like 10 to 15 buck for the last World Cup official guide. And the official guide this time round is not as comprehensive as the last one. I will be looking for alternative world cup guides.

Hot babies mystery

(image via kickette.com)

Why do all footballers' kids look damn bloody cute? It does not matter if the footballer looks like a frog, his offspring always will turn up looking like a potential super model. I want one!

Oh my Man Utd

Man Utd did not win the BPL this season. My heart is in pieces. In one night we lost 4 things. The chance to hold the record for most number of league wins (and thereby knocking Liverpool off it's perch). We lost our record for the most of number of goals scored in a season to Chelsea, Rooney lost the golden boots award to Drogba and we lost the chance to make history by being the first team to win the BPL 4 consecutive times. There was no chance of a miracle that night when Chelsea hit 8 past Wigan. Well done Chelsea. You played hard for the trophy.

As for Man Utd, we look forward to the next season. We'll bounce back like champions do (to sort of quote Sir Alex). It will be interesting to see how Sir Alex will strengthen the squad. We need to get over the loss of Rolando and stop over-relying on Rooney. That said, I did we did decent this year. We won the Carling Cup. Which I guess is better than not winning anything at all (ahem..Arsenal and Liverpool). We got further in the Champions League than Chelsea and Liverpool. And we were placed second in the league by only a point behind the Champions. We can still hold our heads up.

The morning after the miracle-less Sunday night, I was playing the song "Smile" by Charlin Chapin on repeat mode to comfort my aching heart. My colleague thought I was crazy and over dramatic. Well, that's me. Passionate and dramatic. I get moody when my team loses.

Looking on the bright side, the World Cup is next!!!!!!!!! I have finally signed up with my cable operator for the World Cup package after months of worrying whether I would need to go to Johor Bahru to watch the matches. Thank goodness the telcos settled a deal with FIFA. At $70 bucks for the early bird package, it's an ouch indeed. But I am that very sucker cable companies love. I will pay any price to watch my football. I am an addict. The price I pay for love.

Here's me crossing my fingers for England. Hope we do well.

Ohh… and p.s. Well done Michael Ballack. You finally got your BPL medal!