Coaching Youth Soccer

South Africa is the host for the 2010 Football World Cup from June 11 to July 11. Millions of football fans around the world will be glued to their television screens to watch the matches. There are world cup packages available for the lucky ones who can afford it by selected tour operators.

For the football fanatic there are world cup packages available that allow you to watch your team for the duration of the world cup travelling across South Africa. On the other hand if you simply fancy taking in a game or two whilst enjoying the holiday of a lifetime in South Africa there are packages available for this too.

Johannesburg and the nearby cities will host most of the World Cup matches with two of the ten world cup stadiums being situated in Johannesburg itself and four other stadiums within driving distance. Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Rustenburg and Pretoria will host the remaining games.

For the football games in Johannesburg, Rustenburg, Pretoria and Nelspruit you are recommended to secure accommodation in Johannesburg and fly directly there. These locations are all in northern South Africa within a few hours’ drive of one another. About five hours away is Polokwane which is one of the safest areas in South Africa.

Bloemfontein is right in the centre of South Africa and is host to a few football games in its Free State Stadium. It is the judicial capital of South Africa and is a smallish-sized city.

Other games will be played in the cultural city of Durban which has lovely beaches and a busy nightlife. A potentially great place to mix your holiday with some football.

Cape Town will also host several world cup games. It is situated on the southern tip of South Africa and is overlooked by the famous Table Mountain. It is good option for those flying to South Africa from Europe.

Port Elizabeth is sandwiched between Durban and Cape Town on the southern coast. To stay there during the world cup you will have to arrange a domestic flight from Johannesburg or Cape Town.

FIFA have selected tour operators worldwide who are entitled to sell travel arrangements with official 2010 tickets. 350, 000 tickets have been made available by FIFA to them. These companies have accommodation and flights (both international and domestic) available for a wide variety of different world cup packages to cater to all demands and budgets.

Nobody as yet knows what teams will be playing at what location until the December 4, 2009 draw but bookings for the world cup packages are already fully available from the selected tour operators. The timetable of games has been fixed but where and at what time exactly matches will take place is not known.

If you world cup packages in a specific country, for example through an English tour operator you will be assured of an England match ticket as these tickets have been guaranteed (including several semi-final and final tickets).

The draw for the Fifa 2010 World Cup takes place on the 4^th December in Cape Town, South Africa. All the countries that have qualified for the world cup will find out where they will play their opening matches following this draw. There are in total 32 teams competing for the greatest prize in football , made up of countries from Europe, North America, Central America, Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Africa, Asia and of course the hosts South Africa.

Thousands of fans are expected to make the trip to South Africa to follow their country, with many world cup packages from different companies on offer, getting tickets and accommodation should not be problem. A lot of people have already booked their place at the World Cup after seeing their country qualify for the tournament, however they wil not know where in South Africa they will be travelling to yet. They will have probably booked to stay in either Cape Town or Johannesburg and then travel to the various matches by taxi, coach or by air.

There is expected to be a large number of people searching for and booking world cup packages once the draw takes place on the 4^th December, this way they will be able to be sure about how much travelling is required to follow their country and the costs that go with it. It can work out quite expensive to have to find internal flights to different stadiums around the country. Some companies are providing all inclusive packages that include all transfers within South Africa.

The draw doesn’t really affect people that just want to experience some world cup action seeing different countries from around the world. There are many packages available for fans like this to stay in one of the cities and watch the games at that particular stadium, for instance you can book to stay in Cape Town and watch some of the group matches or knockout matches at the Green Point Stadium.

December 4^th is not that far away now for those that want to follow their country, so make sure once the draw takes place you don’t leave it too long to book your place at the world cup as tickets will sell out fast.  Check out the companies offering world cup packages and pick the one that suits you best.

Its official, we now know the 32 teams that will be competing for the greatest prize in football, the Fifa World Cup and there are many different world cup packages on offer to help get fans to see all the action. The countries that have qualified for next year’s tournament are as follows:

Australia,  Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana,  Nigeria, Honduras, Mexico, United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, New Zealand, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and last but not least the hosts South Africa.

Now that we aware of which countries will be there, make sure you don’t miss out on being there too. With many good world cup packages available, getting there shouldn’t be that difficult.

Qualifying for this tournament wasn’t that difficult for some countries either, for instance in Europe, Spain qualified winning all of their 10 matches, beating the likes of Turkey and Belgium along the way. Holland also qualified without any defeats, winning all 8 of their matches, their group included Norway and Scotland. The world champions, Italy, made it to South Africa comfortably but had to settle for three draws, twice with the Republic of Ireland and once with Bulgaria. England also made it through easily with 9 wins and one draw.

It was a different story for Portugal and France, who both had to go through an extra qualifying stage with knockout matches against Bosnia and the Republic of Ireland. France overcome Ireland with a late winner in extra time, this game will be remembered for the much talked about hand ball from Henry which resulted in the goal that put them through. Portugal beat Bosnia in both of their play-off matches, making it 2-0 on aggregate.

In South America, as expected, Brazil topped the group with 9 wins and 2 defeats. Chile, Paraguay and Argentina joined them with automatic qualification, whilst Uruguay had to play against Costa Rica in a play-off stage. Uruguay won the 2 leg match 2-1 overall. This group will be remembered for how close Argentina came to not qualifying, an 84^th minute goal from Bolatti helped them to reach the finals in the end.

There are many companies offering fans the opportunity to see more of these battles in South Africa, with various world cup packages to suit you, whether that is following your country throughout the tournament or just watching the group stage matches in Johannesburg or Cape Town. Out of the 32 teams competing, who will be the best country at the 2010 World Cup?