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The 30-year-old Inter Milan striker, who has been sent out on loan in the past three seasons to Benfica and Genoa, suffered an unspecified muscular injury but said that he was back in training with his teammates and was hopeful of making the Group H clash.
"My recovery is coming along well," said Suazo, who was given his break in European football by present Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez when he was in charge of Serie A side Cagliari in 1999. "Today [Saturday] I trained with my team-mates and each day I feel better. We are hoping that from now to Wednesday I will be able to respond positively as regards my being available to play and to how much of a role I can play.
"My heart tells me that I would like to play in all the matches, to stretch myself to the limit, but that depends on other factors. There are two days to go to decide and everything will depend on these two days."
Aside from Chile, Honduras -- playing in their first World Cup since 1982 -- will play European champions Spain on June 21 and round off their group stage campaign against Switzerland on June 25. |
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Serbia coach Radomir Antic is confident his team will be able to cope with the "huge psychological pressure" they are set to encounter as they begin their FIFA World Cup™ campaign against Ghana in Pretoria tomorrow.
Playing in their first finals as an independent nation, Serbia will be determined to get off to a good start against Ghana, with matches against Germany and Australia to come in Group D. But, with it being their opening appearance of the tournament, Antic admits there will be additional pressure on the players.
"The beginning of the World Cup is when we think about many things -- we fight against Ghana but also ourselves," he said. "We have great ambitions and the first game is a game with huge psychological pressure, as always."
However, Antic believes that the club successes that some of his players have enjoyed over the last few years will stand them in good stead. The likes of Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic, Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United, Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic and Standard Liege forward Milan Jovanovic have all enjoyed trophy-winning campaigns in recent years.
"We are a team comprised of champions, players who know how to play under great pressure," said the vastly experienced Antic, who replaced Miroslav Djukic as head coach barely two weeks before Serbia's opening qualifier back in 2008.
For me, my players are champions.
Radomir Antic, Serbia coach
"Ever since I became coach, each year our players have managed to win 10 trophies, which means that my players know how to play well when they have to. The important thing is to know how to play under pressure. For me, my players are champions."
Antic has a fully-fit squad at his disposal, with the players all eagerly wanting the action to begin. "What our team wants is for the World Cup to finally start and I can tell you that all the guys on the list are more than well prepared," the former Real Madrid and Barcelona coach said.
"They have no physical difficulties and we have a squad of 23 players I can count on. Of course, our opponents are a very good team -- four times winners of the African Nations Cup and winners of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup (2009). Ghana also reached the final of the African Nations Cup this year, but I believe in my players. I have faith in them.
"I'm also very content with the conditions in which this game will take place. The pitch is very good, conditions are very good and I'm sure that it will be a true and good game." |
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The fans packing the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg were treated to a veritable master class from Argentina’s Lionel Messi this evening in his side's 1-0 win over the Super Eagles. With the ball glued to his left foot, every dribble and feint had the spectators off their feet as he tested the Nigeria back line throughout.
“I always want to see Lionel near the ball, and that’s where he was today. When he’s enjoying himself, everybody enjoys themselves. Football wouldn’t be such a beautiful game if he didn’t get on the ball,” said La Albiceleste coach Diego Maradona on the FIFA World Player for 2009. “I’m happy for him, he deserves this acclaim,” said Juan Sebastian Veron, who shares a room here in South Africa with La Pulga.
We were able to put some passages of good football together and we deserved to have won by more.
Argentina's Lionel Messi
And what did the man himself have to say after making only his second start at the finals of a FIFA World Cup™? “I felt really comfortable with the ball today, which is what really matters to me,” said the Barcelona superstar. “We were able to put some passages of good football together and we deserved to have won by more. It was really important to win our opening game, much more so than how I played today.
“We knew that we had to kick off the tournament on the right foot and we didn’t slip up,” continued the Rosario-born little magician. “We shed the pressure that we’d been under in qualifying, which was important, and we put the bad things behind us. Now we need to start thinking about Korea [Republic], but we’ve got time.”
Universal appeal
Over in the Nigeria camp too, there was only praise for Argentina's No10. “He’s the best player in the world and he proved it this evening,” said Super Eagles keeper and Budweiser Man of the Match Vincent Enyeama. “The Argentinians are good going forward but he’s simply unbelievable. Our defence did what they could but we just couldn’t handle him.”
Nigeria substitute Peter Odemwingie concurred: “We’ve just been talking to each other in the dressing rooms and we all said how difficult it is to play against Messi and how fast he is. I think we did the best we could to try and stop him and the rest of them, but they’re a first-class team.” Up next for Messi and Co in Group B are Korea Republic, 2-0 victors over Greece earlier in the day, while Nigeria have the opportunity to get their bid for a place in the knockout rounds back on track against the Greeks. |
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Joachim Low says his Germany side must take advantage of any opportunity against Australia tomorrow in their FIFA World Cup™ opener. The three-time world champions are considered favourites to top Group D but Low has warned the German fans they can not underestimate the Socceroos.
"We have respect for Australia," said Low. "I think it is going to be an intense match. With respect to four years ago, teams have improved and I expect to see a fascinating World Cup.
"We have studied Australia repeatedly and this team is great in defence. They play a great defensive system and the strength of Australia is the capacity to get organised. Of the last 28 games they have played, they didn't concede a goal in 17 games and that says something about their defensive system. They can also destroy their rivals' game."
The Germans, however, have not lost a group game since 1994, winning their last five opening games. Low is confident his team will find a way through Australia's defensive wall.
"I think we can crack this defensive wall with fast counter-attacks," he said. "We must catch them unaware. We have to apply this tactic. This team will not allow many goalscoring opportunities and we have to make the most of our chances. We must be able to put pressure and create opportunities. I am positive because when my team finds rhythm in a game, we create chances and we have many players that can score."
Low has selected the youngest Germany squad in 76 years for this tournament and has been impressed by the talent he has at his disposal. "We have a very young team that can develop," he said. "I have been with the team for six years and we have developed players and acquired international reputation in recent years. For us to reach the Euro 2008 final was a success." |
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Daniel Agger is anxious for Denmark's 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ campaign to get started, and says he and is team-mates are targeting nothing less than a win against the Netherlands on Monday.
The Netherlands are the clear favourites to top Group E, while the Danes are widely expected to be competing for second place along with Japan and Cameroon. The Scandinavians could be forgiven for looking to take at least a point from their opening game. But that is not the case according to Liverpool defender Agger.
There are four teams in the group and everybody's competing for those top two places, not only Holland.
Daniel Agger, Denmark defender
He said: "We're looking forward to getting started. There are four teams in the group and everybody's competing for those top two places, not only Holland, the other teams as well. A team like us is always going out to win and it's the same against Holland. We'll be trying to win the game."
His team-mate Jesper Gronkjaer was slightly more circumspect, warning that their opponents are amongst the favourites for the title. "They are a very good team, a very young team with players who play all around Europe at big teams. They are surely one of the favourites to win the World Cup. It will be a hard task for us, even though we will be going in to win the game. If we can get something out of the game we will be happy |
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Algeria coach Rabah Saadane is currently gearing up for his team’s opening encounter against Group C rivals Slovenia on Sunday, but despite that imminent engagement he agreed to take time out to share his thoughts with FIFA.com. With his charges hoping to shine at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Saadane shed light on their preparations and his pride at being the sole African coach in the competition.
The 64-year-old is one of a kind at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, being not only the sole ambassador for African tacticians but also the only Arab at the helm of one of the 32 contenders. Unsurprisingly, many are waiting to see what ‘Le Cheikh’ (The Sheikh) can achieve and whether he can inspire Algeria on the grandest stage of all. “It’s a huge honour for me to be the only representative of African coaches,” he said.
“It’s a heavy responsibility, however, as an African coach must always put in more work than coaches from elsewhere to earn the confidence of national association officials. I know there are lots of good African coaches in every country on this continent.
"Unfortunately, people always hesitate to give them a chance and encourage them to achieve their goals. But, in my opinion, all of that will change with time. For myself, it’s an immense honour and a huge responsibility, and I’ll do my best during this World Cup to show the qualities that Africans possess.”
Some have put the limited number of African coaches managing high-profile teams down to a lack of credentials, but Saadane has a different theory. “I’ll say it again: in all honesty, we have real talents in Africa and a profound understanding of the game,” he explained. |
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Diego Maradona wants his Argentina side to get "the flavour of winning" after they opened their FIFA World Cup™ campaign with a 1-0 victory over Nigeria and the coach compared Lionel Messi's love for the ball to a child's love for chocolate.
Argentina created a series of excellent openings in the Group B match but took just one of them, Gabriel Heinze heading home a Juan Sebastian Veron corner after five minutes. Messi in particular suffered at the overworked hands of Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who secured the man-of-the-match award with a string of superb saves.
But Maradona felt the result was the most important thing for the opening game and hopes they can now go on a seven-match winning run that takes in the final at Soccer City in Johannesburg on July 11.
He said: "I really hope that my men will make the most of the support from Argentina's fans, the people in the stadium, I hope they can make the most of that so they can excel and improve. My players will then have the flavour of winning. If our players keep winning the games they are going to feel the need, the hunger to win the game."
Messi looked almost at his Barcelona best for large parts of the game and Maradona says it is easy to get the best out of him -- just give him the ball. "We've talked about this and I want Messi close to the ball," he said. "As long as he has fun close to the ball, then we will all be fine. If you take the ball away from him, it would be like taking chocolate away from a kid. He produced magic on the field today."
The Mexico 86 winner admitted the failure to kill off Nigeria did make him and his team a little nervous. He added: "We suffered a little bit by not converting all those chances, we've won the match but when you fail to take those chances you could end up with a draw every minute." |
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Stiri Cupa Mondiala 
