The Monday Miscellany

Both the next World Cup in 2010 and the next European Championship in 2012 face major doubts about the ability of the host nations to deal with the task of staging a major international tournament.

First to South Africa, where the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth has already been withdrawn from the list of venues for the 2009 Confederations Cup. FIFA president Sepp Blatter remains resolute that South Africa will be able to host the tournament, but can we be sure that the infrastructure will be in place to cope with the huge influx of supporters in June 2010? The World Cup has become a kind of secular Hajj and, if the level of travelling support is remotely comparable to that of the 2006 competition in Germany, South Africa will have their work cut out to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Meanwhile, it is becoming increasingly likely that Ukraine will not be ready for the task of staging even half of a European Championship in 2012. Ukraine was chosen last year to co-host Euro 2012 with Poland but UEFA are now expected to announce a change of host in September. There are already delays in the renovation of Kiev’s Olympic stadium – set to host the Final – and the country’s roads also present a big problem.

One possibility for UEFA is for Poland to go it alone. The National Stadium in Warsaw could hold 65,000, a far bigger figure than the paltry 52,000 that Vienna’s Ernst Happel Arena could fit in for the Euro 2008 Final. They also have two perfectly serviceable reserve stadia in the south of Poland, in Kraków and Chorzów – the latter of which has been Poland’s main home ground qualifying games against England, Austria, Portugal and Belgium in the last four years.

Another alternative would be to stick with Poland’s four first-choice stadia in Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw with Germany replacing Ukraine as co-hosts. Germany borders Poland and has two fine grounds – Mönchengladbach’s Borussia-Park (46,250) and Düsseldorf’s LTU Arena (51,500) – which could host matches as compensation for not being host stadia in the 2006 World Cup. There is also still the 69,259-capacity Olympiastadion in Munich, no longer in regular employment, which could be put to good use again.

Ukrainian politics might be unpredictable but losing the tournament – for which Ukraine may not qualify without host status – would be a humiliation, especially with co-hosts Poland being better prepared and neighbours Russia having just held the UEFA Champions League Final.

FIFA look like getting things right with the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the hosts for which will both be announced in 2011. A ‘safe’ bet is expected for 2018 – England remain favourites – while a more adventurous decision could be made for 2022, with Australia or China likely to be in the running. This would leave 11 years for a ‘new’ country to prepare for a 32-team tournament in 2022.

UEFA, though, must not take a risk with Euro 2016, which will probably be a 24-team tournament. France and Spain look like the safest options; they have the infrastructure, decent stadia and big tournament experience.

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Whisper it softly, but you might see the odd British player in the Arsenal first team this season. With Gilberto Silva, Aliaksandr Hleb and Mathieu Flamini all having left and with the futures of Cesc Fàbregas and Emmanuel Adebayor still unclear, Welsh teenager Aaron Ramsey, English prodigy Theo Walcott could be set to play key rôles in the Emirates side in the next twelve months. Keep an eye open, too, for two very talented English teenagers in Gavin Hoyte and Henri Lansbury. Hoyte is the younger brother of Justin; another defender while Henri Lansbury has already played a key for the England Under-17s, including scoring in their impressive 2-1 win over Brazil in the 2007 U17 World Cup in South Korea.

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Who will the people of Abuja be supporting when Manchester Utd take on Portsmouth in a friendly next Sunday? Manchester Utd may be hugely popular in Africa but it is Portsmouth who have Nigerian internationals Nwankwo Kanu and one-time club record signing John Utaka on the books, both national heroes back home. The two sides will meet three times in a month; they also contest the FA Community Shield at Wembley on 10th August and then meet in the Premier League at Fratton Park on the 25th.

The first friendly will be played in front of 60,000 in Abuja’s mighty National Stadium, which might be preparing to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games had they not been awarded to Glasgow.

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I admire Roy Keane as a manager but what on earth is posessing him to attampt to spend £23m (£23m!) on four miserably mediocre Tottenham Hotspur rejects? Steed Malbranque is a decent player on his day but Pascal Chimbonda, Younes Kaboul and Teemu Tainio have done little at White Hart Lane to convince that they are of sufficient quality to improve the Sunderland team.

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With Manchester City and Aston Villa both netting two away goals this week in their European qualifying matches, it looks quite likely both will make it to the UEFA Cup proper, which would mean nine – count them, nine – English clubs in Europe this season. And Newcastle still aren’t among them.