This month's sports news.

Premier League March Fixtures

Saturday, 04 March 2006

West Brom v Chelsea , 19:45 ESPN

Aston Villa v Portsmouth , 22:00

Fulham v Arsenal, 22:00 ESPN

Middlesbrough v Birmingham , 22:00

Newcastle v Bolton , 22:00 STAR

West Ham v Everton, 22:00

Sunday, 05 March 2006

Liverpool v Charlton, 00:15 ESPN

Man City v Sunderland , 20:30 ESPN

Tottenham v Blackburn , 23:00 ESPN

Tuesday, 07 March 2006

Wigan v Man Utd, 03:00 ESPN

Saturday, 11 March 2006

Birmingham v West Brom , 19:00 STAR

Chelsea v Tottenham, 19:45 ESPN

Bolton v West Ham, 22:00 ESPN

Charlton v Middlesbrough , 22:00

Everton v Fulham, 22:00 STAR

Portsmouth v Man City , 22:00

Sunderland v Wigan , 22:00

Sunday, 12 March 2006

Blackburn v Aston Villa, 00:45 ESPN

Man Utd v Newcastle , 20:30 ESPN

Arsenal v Liverpool , 23:00 ESPN

Saturday, 18 March 2006

Everton v Aston Villa, 19:45 ESPN

Arsenal v Charlton, 22:00 ESPN

Blackburn v Middlesbrough , 22:00

Bolton v Sunderland , 22:00

Man City v Wigan , 22:00

West Brom v Man Utd, 22:00 STAR

West Ham v Portsmouth , 22:00

Sunday, 19 March 2006

Birmingham v Tottenham, 00:15 ESPN

Newcastle v Liverpool , 20:30 ESPN

Fulham v Chelsea , 23:00 ESPN

Saturday, 25 March 2006

Liverpool v Everton, 19:45 ESPN

Aston Villa v Fulham, 22:00 STAR

Charlton v Newcastle , 22:00 ESPN

Chelsea v Man City , 22:00

Sunderland v Blackburn , 22:00

Wigan v West Ham, 22:00

Sunday, 26 March 2006

Portsmouth v Arsenal, 00:15 ESPN

Middlesbrough v Bolton , 19:30 ESPN

Man Utd v Birmingham , 22:00 ESPN

Tuesday, 28 March 2006

Tottenham v West Brom 02:00 ESPN

Thursday, 30 March 2006

Man Utd v West Ham, 02:00

Hua Hin Pool League

The new look Pool League got underway at the very end of January with 25 teams competing, split into three divisions; the Premier Property Center League comprising the best 8 teams from last season; the All In Hua Hin Championship comprising the next best 8 teams; and the Hua Hin Kebabs Fun League with the remaining 9 teams (see right). With most teams now having played four matches there are some early indications of the likely contenders to win their respective divisions and get promotion or relegation. In the top league it's already looking like the 100% record Sugar Cane are the ones to beat, while their second team has also got a 100% record atop the Fun League. In the middle division it's a much tighter affair with only 4 points separating top from bottom, with Billy's Babes the only undefeated team at time of writing. By the end of March the positions will be a lot clearer, and the first round proper of the Toby Charnaud Memorial Cup will have been played (scheduled for 20 th February). The fixtures for March for each division are listed below if you fancy watching or joining in the fun.

The prize winners in the ladies individual competition of last season have now been awarded their prizes, and you can see the proud recipients here and on the Hua Hin Events page in the Local report section. Congratulations to Nok (left) and Pawn (far left) and make good use of your prizes this season!

Fixtures for march

Premier Property Center League

Date Home Away Home Away Home Away Home Away

1st Rose A U-Turn Octopussy Lucky Shot London SugarCane Mondo Lips

8th Lips Lucky Shot London Rose A SugarCane Mondo Octopussy U-Turn

15th London Lips Mondo Lucky Shot Octopussy Rose A U-Turn SugarCane

22nd Lucky Shot London Rose A Mondo SugarCane Octopussy Lips U-Turn

29th Lucky Shot Rose A Octopussy London U-Turn Mondo Lips SugarCane

All in Hua Hin Championship

Date Home Away Home Away Home Away Home Away

1st Nervana Sabai P & P Dick's Office Billy's Babes Road Hole JW Red Billy's

8th Billy's Dick's Office Nervana Billy's Babes JW Red Road Hole P & P Sabai

15th Billy's Babes Billy's JW Red Dick's Office P & P Nervana Sabai Road Hole

22nd Dick's Office Billy's Babes Nervana JW Red Road Hole P & P Billy's Sabai

29th Nervana Dick's Office P & P Billy's Babes JW Red Sabai Billy's Road Hole

Hua Hin Kebabs Fun League

Date Home Away Home Away Home Away Home Away REST 1st SSS JW Black Lazy Daze Rose B JJ 1 HSC BG JJ 2 Mats Vegas

8th JJ 1 BG SSS JJ 2 Rose B JW Black Mats Vegas Lazy Daze HSC

15th Lazy Daze JJ 2 BG SSS HSC Rose B JJ 1 Mats Vegas JW Black

22nd Mats Vegas Rose B JJ 2 HSC BG JW Black Lazy Daze SSS JJ 1

29th HSC SSS Rose B JJ 1 JJ 2 Mats Vegas Lazy Daze JW Black BG

Key JJ 1 Jungle Juice 1st Team Rose B Rose Bar 2nd Team SSS Shonas

JJ 2 Jungle Juice 2nd Team HSC Halex SugarCane BG Bamboo Grove

Current league tables as of 17.02.2006

Premier Property Center League

Teams P MW MD ML RPF RPA RPD PTS

SugarCane 4 4 0 0 72 24 48 8

PW London 4 2 1 1 51 45 6 5

Rose A 4 2 0 2 54 42 12 4

Lucky Shot 4 2 0 2 47 49 -2 4

Mondo 4 2 0 2 47 49 -2 4

Lips 4 2 0 2 43 53 -10 4

Octopussy 4 1 0 3 30 66 -36 2

U-Turn 4 0 1 3 40 56 -16 1

All in Hua Hin Championship

Teams P MW MD ML RPF RPA RPD PTS

P & P 4 3 0 1 58 38 20 6

Road Hole 4 3 0 1 52 44 8 6

Billy's Babes 3 2 1 0 43 29 14 5

Sabai 3 2 0 1 34 38 -4 4

Billy's 4 1 1 2 52 44 8 3

Dick's Office 4 1 0 3 48 48 0 2

JW Red 4 1 0 3 41 55 -14 2

Nervana 4 1 0 3 32 64 -32 2

Hua Hin Kebabs Fun League

Teams P MW MD ML RPF RPA RPD PTS

HSC 4 4 0 0 64 32 32 8

JJ 1 4 3 0 1 57 39 18 6

Rose B 3 2 1 0 44 28 16 5

JJ 2 3 2 0 1 42 30 12 4

SSS 3 1 1 1 38 34 4 3

Lazy Daze 4 1 0 3 48 48 0 2

JW Black 4 1 0 3 44 52 -8 2

BG 3 1 0 2 30 42 -12 2

Mats Vegas 4 0 0 4 17 79 -62 0

JWS MOTORSPORT GOES NATIONAL

On the weekend of 4th February the kart race was held at Bira Circuit in the Thailand National Championship. Local boy Steve Zwarts represented the JWS Motorsport team. This is a 4 day event covered by national TV with some 100 karts and drivers. Steve who is 11 years old and only started karting last September put on a fantastic performance. His class is TAG Junior which has boys up to 16 years old and Karts being driven at 150KMH. This was Steve's first ever race, on a circuit he had never driven, and with his kart only 2 weeks old with limited practice the pressure was really on. Two great qualifying performances left him eighth on the grid for the final race and after battling with seasoned drivers Steve finished an excellent seventh, gaining nine championship points. Joseph Smith, owner of JWS Motorsport said “It was a great day we are all very happy for Steve and I join his parents in saying how proud we are of him”. Following his performance Steve has won a fully sponsored opportunity to race in Japan during April, just a week after his next race.

GOOD LUCK FOR THE YEAR STEVE

Hua Hin Darts

Hua Hin Hash House Harriers

The 4th of Feb Hash was held in Hua Hin about 5K along Soi 88. It was hared by Mudman and Melonmasher and was quite testing with numerous checks. For the uninitiated who don't understand checks they are false trails denoted by either circles or crosses or both and when the runners come to them, if they are in a reasonable group, they all spread out and search until somebody establishes the correct trail and shouts a loud "On On" and the run proceeds.

Strictly speaking, I (69 forever) shouldn't be doing this write-up, because, owing to being delayed at the start, I never saw another runner from start to finish and trailed in about an hour after everybody else, that is including the walkers (who do a shorter Hash). The point is that I am probably the slowest runner anyway, and from being a few minutes behind at the start I lost more time at every check having to search for the correct trail on my own. However, it wasn't all bad news, on finally arriving at the finish I was delighted to learn that one of the Hares, Mudman, had been bitten by a dog during the course of the run, which, considering the numbers of checks the swines had inserted, seems to have been only justice - it just seems unfair that Melonmasher was unscathed. There was an unconfirmed report that Mudman had hunted down the offending dog and eaten one of its back legs, but I can't vouch for the veracity of this, as I wasn't there. Anyway, when I finally arrived at the finish, surprisingly, there was still some beer left which helped insulate me from the abuse I received due to my lateness and as I can drink quicker than I can run, we had a good Down Down, with plenty of abuse for all concerned. Another good day, ON ON!

On Saturday, 4 March 69 Forever and Ballbanger will hare the run in the Cha Am area. After the run, the On On will be held all around the bus station area by the beach in Cha Am as the 1st Annual Cha Am Food and Beer Festival will be in full swing. We will have a meal together as usual and then split apart to the various participating pubs and restaurants in the area.

The H2H3 run for the 18th of March has not yet been determined except for the assurance that there will be one. Watch the KobWeb, www.huahin-hhh.com for more on this run.

Finally, the April Fools run will be hared by Old MacDonald, Long Ron, and maybe a couple other old fools. After this run, Old MacD' and Long Ron will be off to the UK and to Oz respectively for a visit. Old MacD' will be gone until about October but Long Ron will be back with us by June.

Hua Cha Hash Pedalers coming our way soon. This will happen with the birth of the first Bicycle Hash House Harriers group in the Hua Hin and Cha Am area. The Bangkok Bicycle Hash has been pedalling their asses for years and we intend to join the fun. More information on this coming in the April edition. Watch the KobWeb for announcements on the Hua Cha Hash Pedalers. If you are interested in tripping with us please e-mail donaltetley@yahoo.com.

Formula 1 Season 2006

The 2006 season kicks off in Bahrain on March 12 th , replacing the Australian Grand Prix as the season's curtain raiser, and winds up in Brazil on 22 nd October. By then we will know if Fernando Alonso has left Renault in a blaze of glory by defending his title, if Michael Schumacher and Ferrari have put their sorry 2005 behind them, or if the revamp of F1 brings a new name to the fore. This season promises to be one of the most eventful and exciting for years, with the changes introduced to engines and qualifying, as well as the shuffling of drivers and new teams emerging. Our guide to the rosters, circuits and all the changes for the new season starts here, and will continue next month with the remaining circuits and any last minute changes to the teams. Watch those green lights and go, go go!

Team rosters

Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (Renault)

01. Fernando Alonso

02. Giancarlo Fisichella

Last year's No. 1 team remains the same with 2005 World Champion Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella filling the driver spots. With lame-duck Alonso already signed to McLaren for 2007, he is likely to aggressively defend his title for Renault before departing. And Fisi will be auditioning for the lead role in 2007. Test-driver will be Heikki Kovalainen.

McLaren Mercedes (McLaren Mercedes)

03. Kimi Raikkonen

04. Juan Pablo Montoya

Kimi Raikkonen returns as McLaren's No. 1 driver, but will be shopping around for a new team before Alonso joins in 2007. Juan Pablo Montoya came on strong at the end of last season a little too late to matter. He'll remain as No. 2 but may fade away into oblivion if he doesn't come to play for the entire season. Test-drivers will be Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (Ferrari)

05. Michael Schumacher

06. Felipe Massa

Michael Schumacher remains as the lead driver after a disappointing 2005 and Felipe Massa joins as his shadow for one year. There was a time when Brazilian drivers were champion racers. Lately, it seems they are content to accept understudy roles. Test-drivers will be Luca Badoer and Marc Gene.

Panasonic Toyota Racing ( Toyota )

07. Ralf Schumacher

08. Jarno Trulli

Toyota 's fascination with Michael's little brother Ralf Schumacher is a little mystifying. He must have the world's greatest agent. Ralf returns, as does the underpaid Jarno Trulli who outqualifies, outdrives and outperforms Ralf consistently but makes a heck of a lot less money for the privilege. Test-drivers will be Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta.

WilliamsF1 Team (Williams Cosworth)

09. Mark Webber

10. Nico Rosberg

Mark Webber retains his position as lead driver for Williams. He developed a cranky streak last year and hopefully he can channel some of that energy into his driving. Nico Rosberg, son of former F1 champion Keke Rosberg, joins the team as second driver. Test-driver will be Alex Wurz.

Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team (Honda)

11. Rubens Barrichello

12. Jenson Button

Jenson Button remains and is joined by former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello. It's about time Button proved himself after going 100 races without a win. Test-driver will be Anthony Davidson.

Red Bull Racing (RBR Ferrari)

14. David Coulthard

15. Christian Klien

The experienced David Coulthard brings his wisdom and leadership back as No. 1 driver. Christian Klien wins the second spot after sharing last season with Vitantonio Liuzzi. Red Bull was surprisingly fast last year. Hopefully the new Ferrari engines will make the team even racier. Test-driver will be Robert Doornbos.

BMW Sauber F1 Team (Sauber BMW)

16. Nick Heidfeld

17. Jacques Villeneuve

Quick Nick Heidfeld moves to BMW Sauber from Williams. Nick had a strong showing last season and is likely to show steady improvement this year. Partnering him will be former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Test-driver will be Robert Kubica.

MF1 Racing (MF1 Toyota )

18. Tiago Monteiro

19. Christijan Albers

Last season's backmarkers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro join the Russian-backed Midland team. Their test-drivers will be Germany 's Markus Winkelhock , Roman Rusinov from Russia , Switzerland 's Giorgio Mondini and Germany 's Adrian Sutil. That extensive line-up means at least three drivers - Winkelhock, Mondini and Sutil - are expected to share the Friday third-driver role for MF1 over the course of the 2006 season.

Scuderia Toro Rosso (STR Cosworth)

20. Vitantonio Liuzzi

21. Scott Speed

Red Bull's junior team features Vitantonio Liuzzi and young Californian Scott Speed. Speed is the first American driver in F1 since Michael Andretti tried it in 1993. Test-driver will be Neel Jani.

Super Aguri F1

This new team will join the F1 course in 2006, after the unanimous agreement of the existing teams. It is named after its founder, Aguri Suzuki, who was a Formula One driver himself and participated in 88 races. Their engines will be supplied by Honda, and will initially use the 2002 Arrows chassis before introducing their own design later in the year.. Former BAR driver Takuma Sato has been targeted as their first choice, with Yuji Ide, Kosuke Matsuura and former Jordan test driver Sakon Yamamoto all linked with the second seat.

Team and Supplier changes

• Williams is no longer affiliated with BMW and now runs with engines supplied by Cosworth. Also, it changed to Bridgestone tires.

• Toyota has switched tyre manufacturers from Michelin to Bridgestone.

• Honda bought out British American Racing and now owns the team outright. The Japanese automaker has dropped "BAR" from the team name.

• Red Bull Racing switched engine manufacturers from Cosworth and now Ferrari will supply it with V8s.

• Red Bull bought team Minardi and will run a junior team called Scuderia Toro Rosso. The new team will run on modified Cosworth V10 engines.

• Sauber was taken over by BMW and will use the name BMW Sauber for 2006. The team will use BMW engines and switch to Michelin tyres.

• Jordan was bought out by the Russian-backed Midland Group and will use the name MF1 Racing. Toyota will continue to supply the engines.

Rule changes

Engine: There is a huge change to F1 engines for 2006 and beyond. The plan to drop the 3 litre V10 brings an immediate 20% power loss for 2006, the new engines will be 2.4 litre V8's which will most probably lower the horsepower from around 950 to 750bhp. However, some teams will be allowed to continue using the V10 with a rev limiter in order to cut costs. In the long run, the FIA intends to introduce greater restrictions on testing and the introduction of standardised electronic units and tires.

Aero: 2006 brings a very slight increase in downforce to the cars. Now that the engines are smaller, there will be more room to move when designing the rear of the car so expect the rear of the cars to be more air 'efficient'.

Tyres: Tyre changes within races are back! This means that strategy won't simply be down to fuel. The tyres will only have to last around 20 laps rather than a full race distance and drivers also have access to slightly more tyres than in 2005 - seven sets of dry-weather, four sets of wet-weather and three sets of extreme-weather. Drivers must make a final choice of dry-weather compound ahead of qualifying.

Qualifying: One of the biggest changes to the race weekend in 2006 will be the new qualifying format. One lap qualifying is now gone... instead, there is a 'drop out' system which takes place over two 15 minute sessions, followed by a final 20 minute shoot-out for pole. The format is as follows for a 20 car grid:

All 20 cars must run in the first session - the slowest five cars will be dropped. They will make up places 16-20 on the grid, according to their best time of that session.

The remaining 15 cars will run in the second session - again, the slowest five cars will be dropped. They will make up places 11-15 on the grid according to their best time of that session.

The last 10 cars then battle it out for pole in the final 20 minute session; their best times will determine places 1 - 10 on the grid.

The catch - All cars that get 'dropped' in the first two sessions are then allowed to re-fuel in parc ferme before the race. BUT, the final 10 cars must start the last 'shoot-out' session with the amount of fuel they will start the race with. The amount of fuel they used during the last session will be replenished in parc ferme before the race.

SIX NATIONS RUGBY FIXTURES

Saturday, 25 February 2006

France v Italy, 21:00

Scotland v England, 00:30

Sunday, 26 February 2006

Ireland v Wales, 22:00

Saturday 11 March 2006

Wales v Italy 20:30

Ireland v Scotland 22:30

Sunday 12 March 2006

France v England 22:00

Saturday 18 March 2006

Italy v Scotland 20:30

Wales v France 22:30

Sunday 19 March 2006

England v Ireland 00:30

RESULTS (4 & 5 February)

Ireland 26-16 Italy

Ireland made a winning start to their 2006 RBS 6 Nations campaign but produced a poor display as underdogs Italy went close to claiming a rare championship victory. This performance has left O'Sullivan with plenty to consider.

England 47-13 Wales

Lawrence Dallaglio made a try-scoring return to international rugby as England enjoyed a perfect start to their RBS 6 Nations campaign.

Scotland 20-16 France

Two-try hero Sean Lamont inspired Scotland to a famous and surprise victory over pre-tournament favourites France in their opening match of the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Murrayfield.

RESULTS (11 & 12 February)

France 43-31 Ireland

Tournament favourites France held off a late Ireland fightback in Paris to claim their first win of the RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Italy 16-31 England

England were pushed all the way by hosts Italy at Stadio Flaminio.

Centre Mirco Bergamasco scored a consolation try that even the most ardent English fan could not complain about.

Wales 28-18 Scotland

Wales kick-started their campaign with a comfortable victory over 14-man Scotland at the Millennium Stadium.

Wales, meanwhile, will travel in confident mood to Dublin, where Ireland await in a fortnight.

England appear to be in a strong position at time of going to press, with either France or Ireland their main challengers - certainly it seems that the competition will go to the final weekend, and could be decided on the highest points scorers. France may appear as slight favourites because they have more matches at home but may well have to beat Wales in Cardiff in their last match to win the Six Nations. Wales on the other hand are in disarray after their coach left them after the first two games.

World Cup Surprise Packages

Serbia & Montenegro (Group C)

Fixtures (all times BST)

Sun 11 June (14:00): Serbia & Montenegro v Holland ( Leipzig )

Fri 16 June (14:00): Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro ( Gelsenkirchen )

Wed 21 June (15:00): Ivory Coast v Serbia & Montenegro ( Munich )

Manager/Coach: Ilija Petkovic is a former international, who coached Yugoslavia for two months in 2001. He has successfully put his faith in young talent after the likes of the world class Predrag Mijatovic retired.

Key Players: Captain and defender Mladen Krstajic, who plays his club football for Germany 's Schalke 04, superbly marshals what is currently the meanest international backline in Europe .

Former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman, now at Atletico Madrid , scored vital goals, including the equaliser in Spain and the winner against Bosnia , which booked Serbia & Montenegro 's place in Germany .

Zvonimir Vukic is the only member of the Serbian squad playing in the Premiership

Assessment: This is their first World Cup, although were part of Yugoslavia previously. They only conceded one goal in qualifying (a 1-1 draw with Spain ) and set a new world record with seven consecutive qualifying clean sheets. They are defensively very hard to penetrate and well organised but may suffer from inexperience and a lack of midfield creativity. They have been unfortunate in drawing a tough group but could well upset either of the two favourites Argentina and Holland and qualify for the knockout stage. However the presence of the Ivory Coast may scupper their chances. This could easily be a group that is decided on goal difference.

USA (Group E)

Fixtures

Mon 12 June (17:00): USA v Czech Republic ( Gelsenkirchen )

Sat 17 June (17:00): Italy v USA ( Kaiserslautern )

Thu 22 June (20:00): Ghana v USA ( Nuremberg )

Manager/Coach: Bruce Arena. He took over after the team's woeful performance at France 1998 and is now preparing for his second World Cup finals.

Key Players: Landon Donovan. The ex-Bayer Leverkusen player - currently at Los Angeles Galaxy - is now used more as a midfield playmaker but still scored six goals during qualifying and laid on a further six more for his team-mates.

Claudio Reyna is first-choice skipper but they got through seven captains during their qualifying campaign.

The big hope for US soccer is 16-year-old Freddy Adu. Raised in Ghana , Adu could represent the Black Stars in Germany but is hopeful of making Arena's squad and has pledged his future to the US

Assessment: This is the USA 's fifth consecutive World Cup finals, and they can no longer be considered a minor footballing nation. They reached the quarterfinals in 2002 to prove that point, but they are hard to assess on their qualifying performance because the other teams are relatively weak in their region. They are a vastly experienced team and have three good goalkeepers in Kasey Keller, Tim Howard and Marcus Hahnemann. Their lack of experience against top international teams may count against them though. They do have the ability to beat all of the teams in their group though, and one thing they will not be lacking is confidence! They should finish second to Italy and depending on the draw could well emulate their performance in Japan .

Australia (Group F)

Fixtures

Mon 12 June (14:00): Australia v Japan ( Kaiserslautern )

Sun 18 June (17:00): Brazil v Australia ( Munich )

Thu 22 June (20:00): Croatia v Australia ( Stuttgart )

Manager/Coach: Guus Hiddink. The Dutch coach has waved his World Cup magic wand yet again. Taking over from Frank Farina in July, he cast a spell over the Socceroos and completed what he called "almost mission impossible" when he arrived in the job.

Key Players: Captain Mark Viduka. The big hit man will be grateful his missed penalty did not cost his team dearly, but his experience and finishing ability will be a major factor in Germany next summer.

Mark Schwarzer. The Middlesbrough custodian made two stunning spot-kick saves to book a place in Germany .

Harry Kewell. The Liverpool winger showed in the second leg when he came on and tormented the Uruguayans he is their one player capable of truly world-class displays.

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill is superb at late runs and headers on target from set pieces, and has a great engine.

Assessment: Their only previous appearance was a goalless and pointless visit in 1974. The current team though have plenty of flair going forward and a host of options in the middle of the park. Hiddink's main concern going into this tournament will be a telling lack of pace and genuine quality at the back. Neither Japan or Croatia should worry them too much, and under the meticulously brilliant Hiddink, they may never have a better chance to gatecrash football's showpiece and spring a few surprises.

Ivory Coast (Group C)

Fixtures

Sat 10 June (20:00): Argentina v Ivory Coast ( Hamburg )

Fri 16 June (17:00): Holland v Ivory Coast ( Stuttgart )

Wed 21 June (15:00): Ivory Coast v Serbia & Montenegro ( Munich )

Manager/Coach: Henri Michel, the former France captain and coach, took over from Robert Nouzaret in March 2004, after his compatriot resigned.

Key Players: The value of the nine goals from Chelsea 's Didier Drogba during qualifying proved priceless. His double against Egypt meant that they could just about afford a slip-up against Cameroon in their penultimate match - which they did.

Kolo Toure. The experience gained as a regular in Arsenal's backline is proving invaluable at the heart of the Ivorians' defence.

Assessment: This is the first time they have reached the finals in eight attempts, yet they are likely to prove a tricky opponent. Finished top of their qualifying group, which was widely considered the toughest of the African routes to qualification, ahead of Cameroon and Egypt . They have great balance in the team, with strength in attack and defence but do suffer from lapses in concentration. They have the belief that they can at least equal the feats of Senegal in 2002 and reach the quarterfinals. They are without question, the best of the African teams and stand a good chance of reaching the last eight - if they can get out of their tough group.

Switzerland (Group G)

Fixtures

Tue 13 June (17:00): France v Switzerland ( Stuttgart )

Mon 19 June (14:00): Togo v Switzerland ( Dortmund )

Fri 23 June (15:00): Switzerland v South Korea ( Hanover )

Manager/Coach: Jakob 'Kobi' Kuhn. Took over in summer 2001 to become the first Swiss coach of the national side in 12 years. Has overseen an improvement in fortunes, guiding the side to Euro 2004 before securing their place in Germany .

Key Players: Alexander Frei. His 88th-minute header earned a 1-0 qualifying win against outsiders Cyprus in March. Qualifying group four was the tightest of the European groups and had Switzerland not won that match, they would not have reached the play-offs. He was one of the top scorers in the French league last season for Stade Rennais, netting 22 goals in 40 games.

Captain Johann Vogel. The experienced 28-year-old AC Milan player offers a solid presence for the Swiss in midfield, and has won more than 70 caps since making his international debut in 1995.

Assessment: Switzerland has not taken part in the finals since 1994 when they reached the second round, but has not done much better than that in previous finals. They are a young, quick and technical side but can be a tad lightweight and lack experience. Left-back Ludovic Magnin is great at set pieces and sets up lots of goals. Arsenal defender Phillippe Senderos is a real talent - provided he keeps his concentration. They have the ability to surprise a few teams as long as they lose the inferiority complex they have shown before, and we expect them to qualify for the knockout phase.

Features

this month

regulars

stories

free ads

sports

golf

funnies

info

back issues