The Ball 2006

Richard sent us a picture from Korea, where he’s currently working. Not the one that hosted the 2002 World Cup, but the one to the north – DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

DPRK v Thailand, Pyongyang

This is the lineup for the DPRK v Thailand World Cup Qualifier at the Yangdakdo Stadium on the 8th September 2004 — sparsely attended by the looks of things. The result… DPRK 4 Thailand 1. “No 10 Mr Hong standing out as North Korea’s answer to Rooney.” reports Rich.

Back in 2002, I heard a rumour that FIFA and DPRK almost reached an agreement for Pyongyang to host one of the 2002 games. I’d have jumped at the chance to see a game there during the tournament, but the plan fell through. Phil and I also tried to arrange a visit enroute to Seoul with The Ball, but neither we nor The Ball made it into the country then either. A couple of weeks ago, however, a copy of the 2002 trip movie (or rather a 55 minute version of it) was hand-delivered to Rich and screened in Pyongyang – a North Korean premiere!

Read the rest of this entry »

According to this BBC report, England kick off their home campaign to qualify for the 2006 World Cup on 9 Oct 2004 against Wales at Old Trafford. Prior to that there will be away games against Austria and Poland. Check out this BBC article for a full list of fixtures.

The other nations in the group are N Ireland, Azerbaijan, Austria and Poland.

So then, FIFA have made their decision, and have selected South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. Excellent news as far as I’m concerned, because, although I’d have loved to have visited Tunisia or Morocco just as much, the journey to South Africa from London should be a great one.

There’s a curious echo of the trip to Korea, during which I found my grandfather’s grave in a small village in Uzbekistan, in that my grandmother’s grave is at the foot of Kilimanjaro, in a little village called Tengeru, where she, my father and my uncle spent the majority of the war years after their ordeals in the (former) Soviet Union. It’ll be wonderful to see her grave on the way to South Africa, if I can find it…

Match Details

Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May 2004
Kick Off 2.30pm on the All Weather Pitches in the south-western corner of Battersea Park
Click here for a map of the park

IMPORTANT
It’s Astroturf, so no studs!

The teams in Battersea Park, March 2002

So then, it’s just gone half-time on the way to the next World Cup, and Football’s Leaving Home is undergoing something of a revamp. To celebrate, we’re first going to play a memorial game in Battersea Park, in the same place where we played the inaugural game in 2002. Afterwards, we’re showing the one hour movie in the function room of The Prince Albert.

Continue reading to find out more…

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I heard on BBC Radio 5 that FIFA had pretty much decided to give the 2014 World Cup to Brazil.

According to the reporter, FIFA first decides which continent it would like to host that year’s competition and then invites bids from countries in that continent. The reporter suggested that no other South American nation other than Brazil would put in a bid. We’ll see…

Well, as I said, I don’t know if the report is true, but I really hope so – another monumental and epic journey to a World Cup lined up already.

FIFA will select the host nation for the 2010 World Cup on 15 May 2004. I’ll be hoping that South Africa win, but largely for selfish reasons – I really want to do the trip from London to South Africa overland.

UPDATE: Congratulations to South Africa, which has indeed been chosen as the host for 2010.

Andreas Heller’s Globe in Berlin

FIFA’s artistic director, Andreas Heller, designed a huge globe which has been on show in Berlin. Dirk went along to take the pictures on this page and to play with the interactive exhibits held inside…

Read the rest of this entry »

The Prize

The date for the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup 2006 has been decided – it will be held on the 9th June 2006 in the new World Cup stadium in Munich. The Opening Game, the start of the contest for the biggest prize in sport (the glittering prize on the left) will follow.

So I guess that’s our goal decided too. Battersea Park to Munich for the 9th June 2006. Easy!

The photo of the Cup was taken by Dirk at the FIFA Globe in November.

So it seems that it’s not so very long to go to the next World Cup after all. And there was I, thinking I’d just about recovered from the excitement of the last one…

The official FIFA website is already up and running:
FIFA World Cup 2006

Looks like it going to be a great one…