©2010 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
England preliminary team has “unlikely faces”
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The names of the 30 players who could play for Switzerland in the World Cup football matches in South Africa starting 11 June are now out. The squad of 23 plus reserves still requires approval by Fifa, the world football body.
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld lists the preliminary team as:
Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg/GER), Johnny Leoni (Zurich/SUI), Marco Woelfli (Young Boys/SUI)
Defenders: Mario Eggimann (Hanover/GER), Stephane Grichting (Auxerre/FRA), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lazio/ITA), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal/ENG), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Steve Von Bergen (Hertha Berlin/GER), Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria/ITA)
Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Valon Behrami (West Ham/ENG), Gelson Fernandes (St Etienne/FRA), Benjamin Huggel (Basel/SUI), Goekhan Inler (Udinese/ITA), Marco Padalino (Sampdoria/ITA), Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Xherdan Shaqiri (Basel/SUI), Hakan Yakin (Lucerne/SUI)
Strikers: Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Alexander Frei (Basel/SUI), Blaise Nkufo (Twente/NED), Marco Streller (Basel/SUI)
Reserves: Fabio Coltorti (Racing Santander/ESP); Francois Affolter (Young Boys/SUI), Fabian Lustenberger (Hertha Berlin/GER), Albert Bunjaku (Nuremberg/GER), Nassim Ben Khalifa (Grasshopper/SUI), Valentin Stocker (Basel/SUI).
Final England team to be named 30-31 May
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Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Football fans the world over are waiting for the 17:00 (local time, South Africa) Final Draw to see which teams play each other in the 2010 World Cup matches in South Africa. Once the draws are made, the mad rush to get tickets will begin. Meanwhile, Zurich-based Fifa (world football federation) announced 3 December that it has signed a media rights agreement with Sony for the latter to provide 3D versions of as many as 25 matches.
Links to other sites: Fifa, TelevisionBroadcast
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – International football federation Fifa has dashed Irish hopes for a 2010 World Cup qualifying re-match, saying in a brief statement that it had replied to a request for a re-match from the Football Association of Ireland: “In the reply, Fifa states that the result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed. As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.”
Ireland put in the request after France won Wednesday 2-1 in extra-time when France captain Thierry Henry used his hand to stop the ball from going out of play.
