Its England VS South Africa For The Title

South Africa will surely start as favourites against the the team they hammered in the group stages, England. The Springboks had 36 unanswered points in the group stages against the defending champions. England who shocked Australia in the quarters and then beat hosts France to make it to the finals are a new and improved team. No one expected them to be at the finals hbut they are here. South Africa have had a relatively easy run to tis stage having beaten the Pumas comfortably in the semis. They cannot take England lightly and will hae to forget about the easy win in the group stages if they are to accomplish what they did in 1995. The surprise of the tournament were minnows Argentina who remained unbeaten till the semi finals where they went down to South Africa. I'm putting my money on the springboks but England will be looking to create history when they begin they fight to save their title.

Managers To Blame?

Im again taking Soccer as a reference but please feel free to cite examples from other sports. Do managers claim to be the dominant force in the team? Do they Think they are the Boss and can do what they want? Ive seen managers think so highly of their ways of work that they fool around with the roster and end up leaving the team in tatters. The 2006 Fifa World Cup, Argentina vs Germany. Argentina were in the lead and then thanks to the manager they found themselves on the losing side. The manger had substituted play maker Riquelme and not even brought on Messi who was supposed to be the next big star. The Real Madrid coach is also to be part of this debate. End of last season he, wasn't even playing Beckham, but even though fans may think he's done, no one can deny that he played and instrumental part in taking them to the title. England Manager Steve did the same thing leaving him out from the national side but then realized that he had to bring him back. The Indian cricket team is also another example where they keep playing the wrong stars and leaving the performers out. One of the main reasons why I saw Beckham leave United was the rift between him and Sir Alex. Alex thought Beckham was getting bigger than the club itself and wanted Alex wanted none of that. Who knows Beckham might still have been playing at United if it hadn't been for the manager.However nothing against Sir Alex for all that he has achieved.

Too Many Stars = No Trophies?

I know many of you wont agree with this but its somehow being proven slowly. Having a team of Superstars doesn't always get you the results that are expected. Take for example Real Madrid had a touted 'dream team', with the likes of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo. Beckham, Raul, Carlos, Hierro, and a host more, but they didn't win the league for a long time. The moment some of them left, Real Madrid won the league last season. It happened in the recently concluded Copa America as well, Brazil playing with a relatively young and unknown team managed to upstage the giants, Argentina, to win the cup. Everyone who saw the Argentian team would agree that it was filled with superstars. Its not only soccer but it happens in all sports. Im not fully aware of the stats in Baseball and some other American games such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc, but I'm sure many will agree that it happens all the time and all everywhere.