Preview of Wimbledon 2014

So my favourite tournament starts today! And in the women's draw my personal favourite to win is Serena Williams. 

However Serena has had quite a few injuries this year and they seem to be occurring around the grandslams. 

I would say that barring injury then I  cannot see her losing in this tournament. I also think that Maria has a great chance of winning this tournament her confidence would be high after winning the French Open. 

Looking at the draw I would not be surprised if Venus Williams was able to string some results together and win this title.

Li Na is someone else I can imagine winning she has a good draw and will be difficult to beat. 

I am hoping that Britain's Heather Watson will follow up on her Eastbourne success and at least make it to the third round and this could see her getting  back into top fifty. 

In the men's draw my personal favourite to win would be Rafael Nadal. However he faces a stiff challenge from players like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or last year winner Andy Murray. 

The dark horse in the men's draw would be Stanislas Wawrinka he is the current Australian Men's champion and he has got a strong grass court game and will be tough beat. 

World Cup - day seven

Day seven at the World Cup and the Netherlands beat Australia by three goals to two. 

It was a good match and the Australians upped their game from there previous match. 

However in the end The Netherlands just seem to be have players with strength and depth to kill off the game. 

Chile beat Spain by two goals to nil and this effectively ended Spain's participation in the tournament and this was a shock result.

As many including myself thought that Spain would at least make it to the semi-finals. But to be fair Spain where below par for both of their group games. 

 

I think that Vincent Del Bosque should shoulder a large part of the blame as his team selection was a little strange. 

He left established players like  Santi Carzoa and Fabregas on the bench to play players like Diego Costa and this seem to affect there ability to play and win the match. 

So day seven was eventful and the holders going out of the competition was unexpected. 

World Cup - Day six

Day six of the World Cup and Brazil drew nil nil with Mexico and it was pretty lacklustre match. Brazil had few creative ideas and poor finishing. 

The Mexicans where little better had the same problems with a few ideas and poor finishing. 

This draw means that Brazil have four points and are on the cusp of qualifying for the knockout stages.

 

The Mexicans also have four points and our on the cusp of qualifying for the knock out stages.

Elsewhere Russia drew one all with Korea and the Russians probably thought this was going to be easy match.

 But Korea have a good record at the World Cup so this result was not such a big surprise to me. 

World Cup - Day five

Day five at the World Cup and USA beat Ghana by two goals to one and Ghana had an awful start as the USA scored in the first thirty seconds. 

Ghanaian team where on the back foot and finally equalised only for the USA to score from a corner four minutes later. 

For many Ghanaians this result would be hard to take and it is compounded by the fact that the team played well but could not win. 

The USA where very clinical and they did enough to win the match. They played exactly how there manager Jurgen Klinsman would them have wanted to play. 

Only the problem for the USA will be that they suffered injuries with key players and  this might affect them in their next game. 

Elsewhere Nigeria drew nil nil with Iran and it was a lacklustre match with both team not really going for it. 

However Iran will be very pleased with there one point and will be hoping they can build on this draw. 

World Cup - day four

Day four of the World Cup and Ivory Coast beat Japan by two goals to one. This was good win for the Ivorians and there is no reason why Ivory Coast do not progress to the knockout stages. 

One of the tournament favourites Argentina beat Bosnia-Hercegovina by two goals to one and to be fair it would have been more of a shock if Bosnia-Hercegovina had beaten Argentina. 

France beat Honduras by three goals to nil and Frances task was made slightly easier by playing ten men Honduran team for most of the match. 

The French are my outside favourites to win this cup as they have the talent and the experience in their squad so I am expecting them to make it to at least the quarter finals. 

World Cup - Day three

Day four at the World Cup and the stand out game today was Italy beating England by two goals to one.  However the scoreline does not really reflect the match. 

England had many chances and in attack they where excellent going forward and Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge both played very well. Contrary to popular opinion I thought Wayne Rooney played well. 

Where England lost the game was in defence and the goalkeeper. What was most surprising and frustrating about Roy Hodgson pick of these players is that three of four have only played domestic games last season and none of them won any silverware. 

A sign of a defence struggling is when they are backing off as opposed to putting in tackles. 

However despite this poor defence England will I think make it to the knock out stages but that is as far as they can go with this ineffective defence. 

Italy did what they needed to do to win the match and I got the impression that they where not fearful of losing to England and going as far as helping English players with cramp. 

So Italy where not tested in this game but I am sure they will make it through the knock stages and beyond.  

World Cup - Day two

Day two of the World Cup and Mexico beat Cameroon by a goal to nil. I was not too surprised as Cameroon do not have the players they once had. 

Mexico have been getting good results recently and plus they have a fantastic fan base which helped to keep them motivated and focused. 

The shock of the day was The Netherlands beating Spain by five goals to one. It was very embarrasing to wach Spain been humiliated on the world

stage.

On top of that they gave away some really bad goals due to poor defending and goalkeeping. What was most surprising is there manager Del Bosque did not play Santi Carzola at all.

I think this loss will hit Spain badly and it will be a real challenge to recover from this. The Netherlands where fantastic and there two stand out players where Robin Van Persie and Arren Roben. 

Elsewhere Chile beat Australia by three goals to one and I think that Australia where poor and too reliant on Tim Cahill. 

The Aussies seem to lack a little bit of pace and creativity. This was a surprise because four years ago they had a strong squad. 

Day two had it's suprises and I hope that teams watching of these matches realise that there is no hiding place and they need to step up.