Lorenzo De Silvestri    Defender     (Fiorentina)    Aged 22
De Silvestri, who stands at just over six feet tall, comes from Lazio, where he recently served as fullback.    When he moved to Fiorentina in 2009, De Silvestri came into his own in the form that served him in representing Italy from U16 to U21. A marauding, powerful full back, he gets forward well and looks to be a possible long term replacement for Gianluca Zambrotta in the national team.

Davide Santon        Defender    (Inter)        Aged 19
Able to play down either flank, Santon is a hugely talented young defender who made 28 appearances for Inter this season as well as five appearances already for the Azzuri. Santon’s energy is boundless; his energy on the pitch has earned him a comparison to Paolo Maldini by Italian head coach Marcelo Lippi. We can expect to see the immensely talented Santon in the Italy’s next few squads for major finals events.

Mario Balotelli        (Striker)    (Inter)        Aged 19
Inter’s hot headed and often temperamental striker can play anywhere in attack or as a winger and has been heralded as one of the brightest hopes wearing the official italy soccer jersey for a generation.  Batelli’s run-ins with both fans and management only serve to distract from his excellent record: the player scored twenty goals in 59 games and notched 6 and 16 for the U21 Italian set. His time will surely come in the Euro 2012 qualifiers when Italy are going to need a new look strike force.

Federico Macheda    (Striker)    (Man Utd)    Aged 18
Despite Macheda’s failure to make first team at Old Trafford, soccer pundits agree that Man United’s striker could make a name for himself in the 2010-2011 season, and even gain the attention of Azzuri management. Macheda’s strength as a striker coupled with his intelligence gives him a boost in scoring goals. His particular talent is scoring with his back to the goal, and he has been capped at U21 for Italy; if Macheda makes a difference in the first team for United, he should end up with a spot on the Italian national squad.

Antonio Candreva    (Midfielder)    Udinese    Aged 23
Candreva just may be the only replacement for Italy’s great Andrea Pirlo. The Udinese midfielder follows in the footsteps of Pirlo’s creative play, owning any position on the midfield.

I really enjoyed the World Cup Semi Final last night between Spain who are the Current Euro Champions against Germany who despite having a young team have been strong throughout the whole tournament, I almost felt I was actually there in the stadium as I my spanish friend was endlessly shouting at the television and thinking he was really the manager.

Whilst the match was at half time I joined an online world cup forum where I could discuss my thoughts on the Spanish goal and who should be subsituted at half time. The World Cup has used Internet marketing to its full potential, not only to display previous games but offer all the stats and figures something that you dont get access to on television.

As thousands of people flock to South Africa for the football World Cup we see a huge rise in economy growth and possible boost in future tourism.

So many online business have made a success throughout the time of the World Cup in South Africa, not only through travel and football merchandise but common accessories such as those noisy trumpets they call a vuvuzela which i saw for sale in my village shop, i didnt buy one as i intend on keeping my friends!

The football stadiums in South Africa were very impressive, especially the one in Durban which was were Spain were to get a suprised 1-0 defeat to Switzerland match. A friend of mine was lucky enough to see that match as he was visiting family down there.

My friend predicts that the Netherlands are in for winning the world cup, because he has holland in the sweepstake at the Ecommerce website design business he works at.

Some of the football sites also have some fantastic web design too!

So let’s have a look at some antidotes in the form of a few early Christmas gift ideas, because if we don’t there’s going to be people all over the World still hearing that buzzing in six months time.

If you are looking for an unusual yet practical Christmas present, then look no further than the iLogic Sound Hat available in classy black, white or pink. The added bonus with these beat box beanies is they will keep your ears warm in the winter whilst plugging right in to your iPod and yet, cleverly, not annoy your friends or family with that all too familiar wail associated with normal ear buds.

If hats aren’t your thing, then try out the perfect present for him (or her) wih the awesome Zaggbug noise cancelling headphones. Not only will these headphones protect your ears from Vuvuzela’s, plug them into your iPhone and they’ll detect an incoming call, and let you answer it, have the conversation and hang up, all without having to unplug your headphones!

Finally, if you’re after something a little more drastic, you could cover the noise with a Flying Animal. Once you throw them they make a noise during the flight, until smacking against your chosen target; the pig ‘oinks’, the rooster crows and the monkey … yodels for some reason. There is an additional upside to the throwing of these animals. They’re designed only to be used by those aged 12 and above, so if you have children younger than that age, you can happily inform them it’s illegal for them to throw the animals back at you. They pretty much believe anything you say to them at that age, poor kids. Even that England are going to lift the World Cup!

Ill Or Not?

One of the worst things about all of this for the people in charge of the companies is that they cannot tell someone off for being ill because if they are not well you have no proof to say that they were faking it or not, if you are wrong it is going to cause some serious troubles. If someone was actually ill and you go out to fire them or discipline them over something then it is going to cost you a lot and you do not want this to happen at all.

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

One of the main alternatives for this is to join them and get a television to go up into the office and let people watch it in the background when the big matches on. In many ways we are quite lucky this year because the majority of the matches are in the evening so not too many people will be trying to skive off. If you do this for them then you are likely to see a lot of gratitude in return.

Losing Out

By not coming to compromises when it comes to the World Cup a  office to rent could hit disaster because of the fact that people are going to be hungover, off “sick” and not interested in work at all. Hiring new people is going to take a lot of time and effort, why bother.

So there you have it, whether it isserviced offices Soho or Serviced Offices Paddington it doesn’t matter this World Cup.

In the end it up to management on what happens during this World Cup year, what will your company do?

Who is going to replace England’s greats in the next few years? Some likely replacements include…

Joe Hart    (Manchester City, Goalkeeper) – Joe Hart has made a name for himself at Birmingham, where he has been on loan, and is enjoying status as a third choice goalkeeper to be used in the finals.  James gets closer to 40 and Green continues to be unimpressive, and this may mean big things for Hart, who could see a promotion to first goalkeeper, if he makes his way onto Manchester city’s first team or another big Premier League Club team. When he does, it may be some time before England are looking for a new number 1.

Kieran Gibbs    (Arsenal, Defender) – Injury has stalled Gibbs career at Arsenal, but the young left sided defender will come back stronger than ever.  With an excellent ability to play anywhere along the left flank, Gibbs is only expected to grow more confident as he gains more experience.  I wouldn’t be too surprised if we see Gibbs on the bench with the national team in a few years.

Jonjo Shelvey    (Liverpool, Midfielder) – Replacing Steven Gerrard for Liverpool and England is going to be a tough task but Shelvey, whom Liverpool recently signed from Charlton, is the man the Reds feel will eventually fulfil that role. At 17, Shelvey could probably use a couple years to rise through the ranks at Anfield, but once he does, he could follow in Gerrard’s footsteps and join the England national team.

Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea, Attacker) – Although Sturridge was never really given a chance to prove himself at Chelsea, his future is extremely promising  we can expect to see Sturridge grow as he becomes a stronger player in the fiercer contributor for Chelsea in the next season, and he may even be expected to claim Anelka’s place on the team.    Still young and naive at times, he does have an unerring knack for goals and could prove to be a boon for both Chelsea and England.

Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town, Attacker) – Not heard of him? The enormous talent is being linked to a Premiership giant and is only 17 years old. A clinical striker who has improved a great deal since forcing his way into the first team at Portman Road just a few days after his 16th birthday.  Now everyone is just waiting on his move into the Premier League, and waiting to see what his price will be.

The end for many World Cup stars marks a new beginning for England’s hopefuls trying to write World Cup history.

South Korea is the best example of the latter who managed to make it all the way to the semis in the 2002 competition, beating Italy. Or, speaking about Italy, how many people did really expect them to win the 2006 cup? In every competition bookmakers and journalists try to persuade the crowds about the favourites which definitely has an impact on the outcome of the whole competition. Brazil and Argentina are the no1 favourites given their skill, history and the fact that the competition will take place outside Europe. Germany and Italy are the second favourites to win it, although England, France and Holland have their chances too. Germany is a team to admire because one way or another they will manage to reach the semi-finals or even the final, without having nay of the world’s best players in their team.

Get ready for another memorable competition, especially after experts have fore-casted that summer to be one of the hottest ever. There’s nothing better than watching one of those games outdoors, either at a friend’s garden or at the backyard of a pub or a restaurant. What you need is a big balcony, some volunteers to prepare the bbq, a big TV screen, a pair of outdoor speakers and some good company. It will be fun also for the kids as they can run outdoors, play with their remote control helicopter or if you are lucky, just watch the game.

I have the feeling that the forthcoming work cup will be one to remember, mainly because no major team will be missing nor the greatest football stars. So, find your perfect spot and get ready!!

Qualification is never guaranteed but the squad currently head the group table going into the last round of matches. A 3-1 reverse in San Jose put a dent in the US’ hopes but the 4-0 thrashing handed out to their last opponents by their next opponents in August gave Bob Bradley’s boys renewed belief that securing their place for South Africa 2010 is in their own hands.

Some countries have already gained qualification to next years tournament and the list includes many familiar squads but also its fair share of surprises. Five-times winners Brazil who have never missed qualifying for a tournament have been joined by Paraguay from the South American qualification pot. Another previous winner, Argentina, is yet to find consistent form and participation is far from a given. The World crown has never left the continents of South America and Europe and the latter will also produce strong challengers. So far, they include1966 winners England, reigning European Champions Spain, and the Netherlands who are former European Champions and widely considered to be the best side never to have won the World Cup.

2002 joint hosts Japan and South Korea have both qualified as have Australia. North Korea make a surprise appearance after a 44 year absence from the tournament. Ghana are the first African representatives to successfully come through qualifying, although South Africa are already there as hosts.  

The US MNT currently lie 11th on FIFA’s ranking list, lower than 3 of the above teams and with another 2-3 almost certain to join them in South Africa as a minimum. Yet form going into a World Cup is in no way a guide to the identity of the hands who will ultimately lift the trophy.

The USA took part in the initial tournaments in the 30s before appearing in the Brazil World Cup of 1950. However, without an established domestic league and overshadowed by other popular sports in the US, soccer maintained only a minority following. That changed in 1990 when qualification for the finals, on the back of FIFA awarding the 1994 tournament to the US in return for a promise to establish what is now the MLS, when despite losing all three group games the US raised their head above the parapet in the soccer world. Expectations for the success of the national side have been risen further after 3 subsequent qualifications for the tournaments in France, Korea/Japan and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In the 1998 World Cup hosted in France the United States made it all the way to the quarter finals before succumbing to finalists Germany by a single goal.

The current crop of players to wear the Stars and Stripes have regular competition at home and abroad. While US stalwart Landon Donovan plays in the MLS for LA Galaxy many of his fellow compatriots play in Europe and beyond.

Amongst the higher profile stars are DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson (both Fulham FC, England), Carlos Bocanegra (Stade Rennais, France), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany), Oguchi Onyewu (Milan, Italy) and former Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard who currently plays between the uprights for Everton FC also on the English Premier League. However, the list of US internationals on the rosters of foreign clubs continues to grow with representatives of the national squad also in Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Mexico to name but a further four.

With the tournament itself scheduled to take place during the South African winter, the players from North American but with European experience should find the climate to their liking. 1994 (USA) and 2002 (Japan/South Korea) apart, the tendency in more recent tournaments has been for teams from the host continent to win. Brazil have always been he exception to the rule with wins in ’94 and ’02 but the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in Africa for the first time produces an interesting question – who will acclimatise best and enjoy the most success?

The women’s equivalent of the United States national team have experienced success in the Olympics and World Cup tournaments in recent history. As the MLS increases the popularity of the game known to the rest of the globe as ‘football’, the ability of the men to step up to the plate and produce their own piece of history will only grow as more and more players register opening up soccer as a game to those athletes who would previously have been lost to track and field, basketball, baseball, hockey, football….the list goes on.

England’s national game for over a century has produced a single set of World Champions. Meanwhile an impoverished Brazil have picked up 5 separate triumphs and achieved a great reputation amongst neutral supporters worldwide. The combination of available population, facilities, ability to attract the best in the world to both play and train is present in very few nations – the US is one of those. And if all these pros come to bear sometime, a new order may well have started in World Cup soccer.