₦airaland Forum

the team

ANGOLA

How did they get to Germany: Sprang a major surprise by finishing top of a tough group containing Nigeria. The two teams finished level on points but Angola went through with a better record in the head-to-head games.

Qualifying star: Fabrice Akwa. Scored some crucial goals, including the winner against Nigeria and the only strike against Rwanda that clinched their qualification.

Manager: The hugely popular Luis Oliveira Goncalves. Achieved great success with the Under-20 side by leading them to the African Youth Championship and was put in charge of the senior side in 2003.

Captain: Akwa. Angola's sportsman of the year is a veteran of the national side who leads from the front and is highly respected. Not as quick as he once was but has a knack for being in the right place.

World Cup pedigree: Have never qualified for a finals before and rarely looked like doing so. Their goal is usually to make the African Cup of Nations. [color=#990000][/color]

Present star man: Benfica striker Pedro Mantorras has yet to achieve his potential, partly due to a knee injury, but has the ability to take over from Akwa as the focal point of the side.

Strengths: Goncalves has moulded the team into a very efficient defensive unit and they will be looking to cause a major shock in Germany.

Weaknesses: The team lacks a playmaker of international class and they can sometimes struggle for goals.

Did you know? Angola almost got knocked out at the preliminary qualification stage. They lost 3-1 to African minnows Chad in their first leg, which led to the sacking of Brazilian coach Ismael Kurtz, before winning the second leg 2-0 to go through on away goals.

World ranking: 57

Odds: 750/1

Local view: "Angola will be a very, very strong underdog. We have a lot of ground to gain to compete with these powerful nations. They will play a collective game with strong emphasis on defence and try to spring a few surprises on the counter-attack." Jose Cunha, LAC radio station.

Our verdict: they are likely to find the step up to the international stage a tough one.

the squad

IRAN

How did they get to Germany: Iran produced a strong performance and qualified with little trouble, booking their berth with a game to go.

Qualifying star: Playmaker Ali Karimi's dazzling performances won him the 2004 Asian Footballer of the Year award as well as a move to Bayern Munich.

Manager: Croatian Branko Ivankovic earned plaudits for rebuilding the squad after a disappointing defeat to the Republic of Ireland in a 2002 World Cup qualifying play-off.

 
Captain: Ali Daei, who scored nine goals in qualifying for the World Cup finals.

World Cup pedigree: World Cups come every 20 years for Iran - or at least they used to. They made their debut in 1978 and a second appearance in 1998, but bucked the trend with qualification for Germany 2006.

_{World Cup high: In six matches they have tasted victory just once - but that 2-1 win over the USA in 1998 was sweet. World Cup low: After the high of beating the USA came a heartbreaking 2-0 defeat to Germany in the very next game, a result which saw them miss out on a qualifying spot for the knockout phase.}
Present star man: Ali Karimi followed Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian in opting to sign for Bayern at the start of the season.

Strengths: They can boast some good quality in their forward line.

Weaknesses: The squad has a lack of top-level experience.

Did you know? Iran had the biggest attendance for any game in the qualifying for the World Cup finals when Japan visited Tehran in March 2005 and were watched by a crowd of 110,000.

World ranking: 23

Odds: 500/1

Local view: "If they enjoy good morale and self-confidence, they might qualify for the second round." Behnam Saremi, Iran Daily.

Our verdict: THEY'll need all the luck and mathematical possibilites to advance to the next round- imposible is Nothing 

The team

MEXICO: FACTS

Mexico have qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals 12 times  more often than world powers such as France and England for example. And their best results have come when they have hosted the tournament.

They reached the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986, on both occasions losing to the eventual runners-up. In 1970, Italy defeated them 4-1 and in 1986, the home team were devastated after losing the penalty shoot-out with Germany.

The Mexicans have collected their fair share of silverware in regional tournaments, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Central America Championships, CONCACAF Champions Cup and Pan-American Games.

How did they get to Germany: Very comfortably from a weak group, as per usual. Mexico finished second behind the USA in the Concacaf group, seeing off the likes of Panama and Guatemala.

Qualifying star: All-action midfielder Jaime Lozano is more concerned with getting goals than stopping them and he struck 11 times during qualification.

Manager: The Mexicans have only lost twice since Ricardo La Volpe took over in October 2003 and the Argentine predicted his side would qualify with no problems.

Captain: Rafael Marquez is the only player in the team who could argue to be genuine world-class. Marquez plays just in front of the back four for country and club, Barcelona, and helped the Catalans to their Champions League success.

World Cup legend: Hugo Sanchez. The somersaulting Real Madrid striker only bagged once at the World Cup finals, but he played in three tournaments and remains comfortably the country's best ever player.

Present star man: With fiery striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco not selected there will be increased pressure on Bolton's non-scoring, non-playing striker Jared Borgetti in front of goal.

Strengths: The goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez is in the form of his life and along with the solid defence and presence of Marquez, Mexico should be able to keep it tight at the back.

Weaknesses: Scoring against Dominica is slightly different to scoring against Argentina. Of the two who could hit the back of the net, Blanco has not been selected and Borgetti has spent more of the season picking splinters from his bum than the ball from the net.

Did you know? The first substitute to score a goal in the World Cup finals was Mexico's Juan Basaguren against El Salvador in a 4-0 victory in 1970. They have lost more games than any other nation in World Cup finals history (22).

World ranking: 4

Odds: 50/1

Local view: "We haven't ever got to the semi-finals and the only times we reached the last eight the tournament was in Mexico, so we are not hoping for much. But they will qualify from their group." Pedro Ivan Santana, Servicio Universal de Noticias news agency.

Our verdict: one of the favourites might go far!

1.MEXICO

2. IRAN

3.ANGOLA

4. PORTUGAL

Hmm take your chance!! yes that's right they'll be suprises in this group as long as the underdogs take their chances

just Imagine Angola Vs Portugal!! who wont like beating their colonial master 

_{analysis n infos below of bbc.co.uk n fifa.com}

hey shoo osee me don become prefect o

kia Mr akolawole Thanks oga i will start doing research, ive been jobless on nairaland looking for something interesting

thanks man

_{Listened to} Elton John Live @ charlton football club(sunday) _{the gay midget is a piano genius}

I have read countless number of posts advocating Nigerians to stop depending on govt and "create their own jobs" and i wonder if those people have ever been to other countries to see what obtains there and why things are so different in Nigeria.
Nigeria has no economy, all the government does is sell oil blocs to oil companies who then destroy our environment in the name of oil exploration. We are a consumerist nation, everything from toothpicks to matches is imported from everywhere but Nigeria.
In more developed countries, government creates the enabling environment to allow private enterpreneurs generate their own income by:

Thank you jare @ Mr Davidylan!!!

Seun as u say the business section- with topics likes "What can one do with N4000,N15,000,N50,000" < all these are just enough for a second hand generator!!! so what next .,.,.,.,? ? ? ?

hucarson:
Football calls for FAIR PLAY.
Why would u manipulate fixtures to favour your own team.
He was also the same guy that made Arsenal's unbeaten run to stretch for so long.
There were matches Arsenal should have lost and some bad officiating got em a draw.
I remember Portsmouth Vs Arsenal match in 2003/04 season. The gunners were losing 1-0 and Pires made the most stupid of dives and the ref fell for it even though he was as close to the incident than anyone on the pitch.
He ruled a penalty kick and Arsenal equalised.
Rumours claimed David Dein was behind the thingy.

and David Dein ??  

I am happy he got voted off too, though he is highly regarded many people will accused him of using his influence to favour arsenal but i don't think that is the case i think he just uses the law to the fullest and i am sure Man U fans wont complain if they gain 1 or 2 days extra for resting, choice of playing home or away rest since its within the law! now that David Gill has been appointed  

thanks man

hey cactus is that u? _joking Nice job

damseremie:
I plan to post regular tutorials for begineers in 3ds max. Not that i am a pro or anything but i think those i will improve myself by sharing the little i know. The tutorials will begin on Monday the 5th of June. i would also like grafikdon and others to contribuite 2 this section.
Holla.

Good Idea, i'll be looking forward to it    *** _{Can you please list the softwares you'll be using} thanx

but it can play each others CDs unless it is chipped

do u mean can't? play,

e.g If i buy a PSP _console from yankee and if i buy a game from the U.K will it work? or if i want to buy a game in lagos will i have to ask for the american version?

cheers

I need to ask ma lecturers about this thing tomorrow

@Bolex----Cancel the Engineer in you name  and give it to Largerwhenindoubt

All bridges are designed to vibrate to a certain degree, but not too much 

wannabe

try Charlton

people

I am trying to get some consoles from the U.S and they are clearly marked (U.S) some marked as JP-japanese, will they work with any games ? you know they way dvd n videos have regions n some dont play other regions dvds

any1 understand? help?

i thought u were meant to be studying engineering @ bolex    and your mentioning God 

ur imagination has a limit mate!!<> you've got limited imagination 

me html learner

Where can one get very cheap land like the one JosBoy got?

in the north or try kwara lol

josboy do u know the value of the land now and how long ago did u buy it?

if u are refering to me

no im not, i will be happy to see him play in the priemership and i hope he gets a goood Agent

This is very wrong.  Most developed countries started with the idea of government providing just law and order.  As they got more prosperous people started crying on government to provide more and more.  The example of Sweden is similar to many other developed countries: How the Welfare State Corrupted Sweden.

like u said most started with the idea of gov providing just law and order,  In a country that is already developing with laws they(governement>people) themselves do not abide by, the economic situation in the country will obviously not flourish significantly to warrant self-employement or private investments as these so called private investors are already the government- "the rich few"

Nice info on the link u provided

When i said the governemnt should provide the basics- i meant Security, good electricity structure (which can then be sold to investors)

It is not the job of the government to invest in anything; it is the job of the private sector which is you and I.  Instead of asking the government to invest in agriculture, you should go and start your own farm.

If anything, it is the Nigerian citizens that are too lazy.  Always crying to government for everything.

you must have said this 1 million times now BUT THE UNDERLYING FACT IS THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE THE BASICS, the infrastructure, most things have to be put in place first then any sensible private investor will take do their bits with gov making sure competition is healthy ofcourse and monitoring them!

Most developed/developing countries started with the government providing everything!! until theres enough structure in place! why would anyone go and build power station just to start a business 

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=378324&CPID=8&clid=4&lid=4163&title=Nigerian+claims+Toon+interest

It might be lame but there are unconcluded reasearch into the effects of a mobile phone mast

http://www.metronews.co.uk/news/article/1/1759_schools_fury_over_phone_mast_move.html

I will be graduating soon with a B.Comm (Honours) and want to know where I stand in the Nigerian market

its da same everywhere as in you can get 1st class, 2.1 (called second upper class) 2.2 (second lower class)
B.comm 1st
B.Comm 2.1
B.comm 2.2

i think

Bagoma Bagoma Bagoma!!!

didnt u hear obasanjo when he talked about 100% loyalty  now go get the polish n polish that "gun" ready for another thrilling adventure next season 

football is a team game -11 platers!! _{henry is a winger-striker, he was playing midfield,defence n striker! when he works for the bal in midfield who does he pass to erm no one- thats enough to make him tired, henry to me actually enjoy making others (team-mates) the hero, goal scorer , the main man!}

i didnt see people crucifying shev, Rrrrrruuudebwoy Van N for not reaching the finals 

and this 1