Last night the host nation fo the world cup were delat a cruel blow, after drawing their first game against Mexico in a rather exciting game they took on Uruguay who also drew their first game of the tournament. Bafana Bafana (~SOuth Africa) went into the gmae full of confidence but they were soon humbled after Diego Forlans defelcted shot found the back of the net mid way through the first half. Urugua ended up running out 3-0 winners and were considerably better than the host nation. this means that South Africa will need to win the finally group game and rely on other results going their way to get through.

Here are the world cup odds after the 1st round of group matches

9-2 Brazil
5 Spain (from 7/2)
11-2 Argentina (from 6)
15-2 Germany
15-2 Netherlands
8 England
14 Italy
25 France
28 Portugal

All across Europe, league titles were being decided this weekend. Here is a breif round-up of the final standings in europes major leagues.

As you already know, Chelsea are th Champions of England and new F.A cup champions after they beat Portsmouth in the final at Wembley on Saturday.

La Liga
Barcelona retained their Spanish crown after beating Valladolid 4-0 in the final game of the season, and the galaticos of Real Madrid finished as runners-up as they could only manage a 1-1 draw with Malaga. Messi scored twice to take his tally this season to 34 goals, and with took the la liga golden shoe.

Seria A
Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho have their sights on a treble after securing their fifth straight League title, and the domestic cup. They were pushed all the way in the league by Roma, but a 1-0 win against Siena on the final day of the season clinched the title.

Ligue 1
Marseille are this season french league winners followed by Lyon and Auxerre, They did actually win the league with a game to spare, but it is a great result for the team.

Bundesliga
Bayern Munich are once again German champions and they aswell as Inter Milan have the chance to become a treble winning team, the final of the Uefa Champions league will decide which team goes down in the history books.

This is the best time to place a bet on the winners of next season compatitions so check the odds comparison at http://www.odds1×2.com and get your bet in early.

Chelsea went into the last game of the season knowing that a win would crown the Champions of England. With everyone kicking off at the same time all they could do was win, and they did in style. They hosted Wigan at Stamford Bridge whilst their nearest rivals Manchester United entertained Stoke at Old Trafford. Manchester United started the game needing a win and hoping the blues didn’t beat Wigan. Man U did their part of the deal by beating Stoke 4 – 0, but you could see by their muted goal celebrations they had heard the scoreline from Stamford Bridge.

After 6 minutes Chelsea were 1- 0 up thanks to Anelka, and any hope of a Wigan comeback were dashed when they conceded the second from the penalty spot, after Gary Caldwell fouled Drogba and was then sent off. It was 2- 0 at half time and the Trophy was clearly going to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea decided that they were going to end the season on a massive high, and entertain their fans.

The news had got through to Old Trafford of the situation at The Bridge but it didn’t stop united, from scoring 4 goals. No expected the drumming that Chelsea gave to Wigan in the second half though, it was a relentless attack, and in the end Chelsea ran out 8-0 winners. With the goals coming in the shape of, Anelka (2) Kalou, Lampard, A.Cole and Drogba (3). With Drogba getting a hatrick and Wayne Rooney failing to score it meant that the Ivorian won the Golden Boot award, and with it became the first African player to win the prestigious award.

Chelsea have the chance to do the league and F.A cup double on saturday when they take on relegated Portsmouth, they will more than likely be favourites for the cup, so why not make sure and check the odds comparison at http://odds1×2.com. Win yourself some money, and place a bet on a Chelsea victory.

The Premier League meeting had been billed as a cup final, with fourth-placed Spurs travelling to the North West aware that three points would guarantee a golden ticket to the qualifying rounds of next season’s European Cup.

Likewise, Roberto Mancini’s City knew success in front of their home fans would have put their future in their own hands ahead of Sunday’s trip to West Ham and would have given the Italian greater assurance in his job.

But in truth the thought of the Champions League, which brings in excess of £50million and significant player-pulling power in the transfer market, got to both sides on a nail-biting night in Manchester.

It was Harry Redknapp’s Spurs, though, who delivered a resolute and committed team performance throughout and held their nerve as Crouch headed past Marton Fulop in the 82nd minute to deservedly book a long-overdue return to the continent’s top table.

For City, the England striker’s late goal was a hammer blow as millions of pounds of investment last summer failed to produce Champions League football and left Mancini’s future far from clear.

It was just reward for an incredible season for Harry Redknapp and his men, who may yet pip old rivals Arsenal, who sit thrid, to a place in the main draw.

At the very least they will be in the final qualifier, with a route to riches clearly mapped out.

Last night Barcelona were knocked out of the champions league by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan 3 -2 on aggregate.  Barcelona lost 3 – 1 in the first leg of the champions league tie which meant they had to win 2 – 0 to go through. Some may say that the fact that Barca had to do a day’s travelling to get to the first leg set them at a huge disadvantage but there were few complaints from the Barcelona team and they got on with the job in hand. It was clear to see that the players were tired though and it showed in the results and the stats after the match, Barcelona players had run 1km less on average than they had done in the round before against Arsenal. Inter Milan capitalised on this as they won the 1st leg 3-1 after going 1 – 0 down to a goal from Pedro.

Even after the 3 – 1 defeat many people thought that Barcelona could still go through, the game started and it was evident to see that inter were keen on defending their 2 goal lead. They seemed to employ time wasting tactics as early as the 2nd minute, just over 25 minutes into the game the first major piece of action happened with Thiago Motta already being booked, he caught Sergio Busquets in the face with what seemed like nothing but his little finger and the Spaniard went down rolling around, the referee then brandished the Portuguese midfielder a straight red card. Rightly the Inter team and fans were incised but the decision had been made, it was now a matter of setting up camp on the 18yard line and defending for their lives.

It took Barcelona 82 minutes to break down the Italian side who seemed to be making every stoppage in play last 20 seconds longer than necessary, Pique collected a through ball from Xavi and did a wonderful turn that sent both the Keeper and Defender flying in the wrong direction before coolly slotting the ball in the net. It was now a nerve racking last 10 minutes for Inter. Barca had attack after attack, and when all seem lost Yaya Toure blocked a clearance on the edge of the Inter box and the ball fell to Bojan who smashed the ball into the back of the net, Barcelona fans erupted but the jubilation was short lived as the referee blew the whistle for handball. This was a outrageous decision Toure was no more than a yard away from the ball with his hand on his stomach, yet the referee gave handball. Inter then defended for the last 4 minutes with ease and were through to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final.

Some people will say that Inter Milan were unfortunate to get a player sent off and that they deserved to win because of their performance in the 1st leg, but the fact of the matter is if the referee hadn’t of given the a handball for nothing, the right amount of extra time was added on and Barca hadn’t of had to go on a day long trek to Milan for the 1st leg then Barcelona would be in this year’s champions league final.

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After the shocking relegation of Newcastle United last year, Portsmouth is confirmed to be out of the Big Boys’ list for the next season.  But Avram Grant’s side showed some determination that helped them to beat Tottenham and reach the finals of the FA Cup. Frederic Piquionne and Kevin Prince-Boateng were the stars of the night. Portsmouth is going to fight the battle out against the mighty Chelsea in the final. This is surely great news for the long-suffering fans Pompey who can still end the season on a high.

Initially things looked bright for Tottenham as they started very well. They created their first chance within five minutes when David Bentley’s corner almost found Defoe. Another corner taken a little later was saved by David James as Crouch’s header dribbled past the post.  But Portsmouth never lost their calm and slowly began to move the ball nicely. Dindane was playing with confidence; he provided a nice pass to Piquionne in the first half that failed to beat Gomes.

The second half was also dominated by the Spurs. Mokoena tackled Crouch very well throughout the match and their had been flashes of individual skills. But none of the teams was able to make it look like a thrilling FA Cup final. Pavlyuchenko replaced Defoe and Bentley was replaced by Kranjcar in the second half where as Pompey were yet to use their bench till then. The Wembley Stadium was stunned in the 99th minute when Piquionne coolly placed the ball inside the net from a close range. The centre back Michael Dawson, generally a reliable customer in the defense line, slipped that helped Piquionne to score the first goal.

Crouch converted Bale’s beautiful pass only after a couple of minutes of the first goal. But luck denied to stand by the Spurs as the referee ruled the goal out for a foul. Spurs created a few moves this time but all of them were defended away by the firm and determined Pompey defense line. Things turned even worse for Spurs when Palacios brought Aruna Dindane down inside the penalty box with just three minutes remaining on the clock. Boateng then made no mistake to drill home the penalty against his former team. John Utaka almost made it 3-0 but Gomes made a fine save. Unfortunately, the damage was already done.

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