15 Days to Go – The World Meets Landon Donovan

In 2010, American Landon Donovan became one of the most recognizable faces in US soccer, most recently coming off a successful loan spell at Everton in the English Premier League before returning home to the LA Galaxy. He will also of course be a central part of the US effort at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but back in 2002 he was a 20 year old kid with no real track record. However his performance during the FIFA World Cup changed all that.

In the first round the US seemed to be drawn into a very tough group indeed – with Portugal, co-hosts South Korea and Poland – however the USA surprised everyone by sailing through the group, even beating Portugal by a score of 3-2. Donovan scored his first goal of the tournament during the match against Poland, unfortunately the only highlight of a 3-1 loss, the only loss the team picked up during the group stage.

The next round saw the US drawn against another mighty opponent – archrival Mexico – and once again the young Donovan dominated play by adding one goal and assisting on the other to give his team an improbable 2-0 victory. The next match up, the quarter final against Germany proved too much for the young Team USA but they did not go down without a fight.

In a subsequent FIFA Internet poll, Landon Donovan was awarded the Best Young Player of the tournament and it seemed obvious to the whole soccer world that a new soccer star had indeed been born.

16 Days to Go – The Ref can’t Count

English referee Graham Poll was already known for his spotty record as an official at international soccer tournaments by the time he headed to Germany to help officiate the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He had previously been the referee of record during controversial games at both the Euro 2000 competition and the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he disallowed two perfectly valid Italian goals to see them go down 2-1 to Croatia in a shock upset.

But many consider the game between Australia and Croatia to be Poll’s worst hour. In order to keep advancing through the tournament the European side had to beat the upstart Socceroos. During the game Poll apparently forgot not only the basic rules of soccer but how to perform basic math calculations as well.

In a move that stunned fans and commentators alike Poll booked Croatian defender Josip Simunic three times before finally figuring out his error and sending him off. Somehow amid the chaos the Australians held on for a 2-2 draw and advanced into the knock out rounds themselves.

After the game a furious FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that had Croatia won the game he would have in all likelihood ordered a replay because of Poll’s error. Poll himself retired from tournament refereeing of any kind after that match but did continue to officiate in regular English Premier League matches. He is now a TV and radio soccer pundit in England appearing on numerous different soccer shows but he is still best known for his 2006 World Cup blunder.

17 days to Go – The Hand of God

For many England fans, Diego Maradona’s first of the two goals he scored against them during the quarterfinals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup was not so much just a mere memorable moment as one too painful to want to ever remember.

After a deadlocked first half, six minutes into the second Maradona cut inside and played a low pass to the edge of the area to teammate Jorge Valdano, and then continued his run in the hope of a one-two movement. Maradona's pass, however, was played slightly behind Valdano and reached the feet of England’s Steve Hodge, who while trying to hook the ball clear sent it instead flying backward into the penalty area and a still advancing Maradona.

The battle between England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who stood 6’1” and the rather diminutive Maradona should have been one the veteran goalie won easily, but Maradona got to it first, with the outside of his left fist. The ball went into the goal, and the referee (Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser), not having seen the rather obvious infringement, allowed the goal.

At the post match press conference a grinning Maradona simply stated that the goal had been "un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios” (a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God) and that phrase has been ringing in the ears of frustrated England fans ever since.

18 days to Go – Milla and Higuita

There is one memorable FIFA World Cup game that can be considered doubly so, as it not only featured two of the most interesting players that ever took part in the tournament, but it featured one of the most memorable goals in recent memory. The 1990 Round of 16 match featuring Cameroon and Columbia showcased the legendary Roger Milla at his "super-sub" best. The Cameroonian player was 38 years old in 1990 when President Paul Biya personally coaxed him out of retirement to return to the international soccer scene. Milla scored four goals which helped to take the team all the way to the quarterfinals, still the best FIFA World Cup showing for an African nation. Roger celebrated each of his goals with his now famous (and very often copied) corner flag dance.

The second player involved was the frizzy haired Columbian goal keeper Rene Higuita, he of scorpion kick fame and a man known for his own fondness for a bit of fancy footwork off the goalline (and outside his area). During the Cameroon vs Columbia Round of 16 match, Les Lions Indomptables were ahead by a score of 1-0, after a blistering 106th minute shot by Milla. In an interesting move, Higuita was 30+ yards off his goal line when he receive a pass from a teammate and then attempted to pull the ball back behind him to beat Milla.  Milla promptly stole the ball and dribbled through to score, thereby booking Cameroon’s place in the quarters. And then he celebrated with his dance. The incident was one of the most memorable of the 1990 competition.

19 Days to Go - The Roy Keane Affair

Roy Keane had a long and illustrious career both at Manchester United and playing for the Republic of Ireland. He was (and still is as manager of Ipswich) an out spoken and unpredictable character, though his behavior at the 2002 FIFA World Cup will probably always be the tantrum for which he is best remembered.

At the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA Keane had played in every game for Ireland and it was due in great part to his brilliance in the qualifying rounds that the team was going to the 2002 World Cup at all. Under a new manager, Mick McCarthy, Keane had appeared to flourish.

However when Keane got to Saipan he hated the training facilities that had been chosen for the team, calling the training pitch “a car park”. After getting into several arguments with assistant coaches Keane suddenly announced that he wanted to go home. Unhappy as they were with the situation, the Football Association of Ireland agreed and set about arranging a flight back to Manchester for Keane while making plans to replace him with Colin Healy.

McCarthy, in a moment he would live to regret, decided to try to persuade his hot headed captain to stay and play though. Roy agreed and all seemed well again.

That lasted a day. Speaking with an Irish reporter, Keane criticized everyone involved with the team again, especially his manager. MM took offense and called Keane in for a chat. The resulting discussion was, according to Mick’s autobiography, far from productive. The expletive laden explosion that Keane launched at his manager was apparently the last straw and McCarthy dismissed his captain from the team and sent him packing.

It was now too late to add anyone else to the squad so Healy stayed home too. Keane went back to Manchester where the press took endless photos for weeks of him walking his dog Triggs and hanging out at his local. The Republic of Ireland carried on without Keane but was defeated by Spain in the second round.