Maradona and a transatlantic tussle

Posted by Ahmed on 1:57 PM

AFP

Diego Maradona makes his highly-anticipated return to the FIFA World Cup™ today when two group favourites, his Argentina side and Fabio Capello's England, get their campaigns underway. Maradona will make his debut as a coach in the tournament, hoping to lead La Albiceleste to victory over a Nigeria side hoping for third-time lucky and boosted by 'home' advantage.

The other game in Group B sees Otto Rehhagel's disciplined Greece take on a highly ambitious Korea Republic side, in what has all the hallmarks of a tight encounter. Despite some disappointing warm-up results – two defeats and a draw – Greece's experience may prove crucial although Huh Jung-Moo's Taeguk Warriors, who hope to include injury doubt Lee Dong-Gook in attack, showed in a recent 1-0 loss to Spain and 2-0 win over Japan that they are a force to be reckoned with.

In Group C, England coach Capello will have to compensate for the injury-enforced absences of Rio Ferdinand, ruled out of the competition altogether, and Gareth Barry, who is not yet back to full fitness. The Italian will therefore be doing his utmost to ensure that defender Ledley King remains healthy. England’s friendly results and performances in the build-up did not inspire great confidence, but they will hope to answer their critics in style against USA. The potential repositioning of Steven Gerrard just in front of the defence has the look of a temporary solution, applied to counter the incisive attacking bursts of an American team hoping to reproduce the same shock result they enjoyed in 1950.

The matches
Korea Republic-Greece, Group B, Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, 13.30 (local time)
Argentina-Nigeria, Group B, Johannesburg (Ellis Park), 16.00 (local time)
England-USA, Group C, Rustenburg, 20.30 (local time)

The big game
Argentina-Nigeria

Ahead of Argentina's opening match against the Super Eagles, Maradona is well aware that his chosen starting XI will provoke much discussion, analysis, criticism and praise back home. The former world champion has promised an attacking line-up, possibly with Lionel Messi operating just behind a front pairing of Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain. Maradona is likely to opt for three at the back, with Martin Demichelis and Gabriel Heinze flanking the vastly experienced Walter Samuel. Highly fancied to go far this time round due to their immense goalscoring potential, La Albiceleste will now need to confirm that potential on the pitch.

In the opposing camp, Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback, though deprived of one of his driving forces, the injured John Obi Mikel, has made it clear that his team are not in South Africa to simply make up the numbers. Nigeria have lost to Argentina at the FIFA World Cup twice before, in 1994 (1-2) and in 2002 (0-1). Nigeria fans, however, will hope that on their own continent they will constitute an altogether different prospect.

In focus
Howard v the England attack

USA's athletic goalkeeper Tim Howard may start the match with a psychological advantage over England's strike force, as none of Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch managed to get the better of the Everton custodian in the Premier League last season. Jermain Defoe stands alone in having beaten Howard, netting against him for Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-2 draw, but the American had the last laugh that day, saving the striker's potentially match-winning penalty in injury time.

What they said
"Our squad is made up of experienced players who are used to winning. That’s often crucial in this tournament. You first need to know what it feels like to win before you aim even higher," Joe Cole, England midfielder

Germany top bill on Super Sunday

Posted by Ahmed on 1:56 PM

AFP

The highlight of Sunday’s three games is the Group D meeting between three-time world champions Germany and an Australia side looking to build on the progress they made at Germany 2006.

In the other match in the pool Ghana will put their ability to overcome the absence of Michael Essien to the test against Serbia, who topped their qualification group ahead of France and have a solid core of experienced players to call on.

In the first match of the day Algeria and Slovenia go head to head in a game neither can afford to lose, especially with meetings against Group C favourites England and USA to come. Slovenia are making their second appearance at the finals, having disposed of Russia in the play-offs, while the Desert Foxes clinched their place at South Africa 2010 in a one-off decider against old foes Egypt.

The matches
Algeria-Slovenia, Group C, Polokwane 13.30
Germany-Australia, Group D, Durban, 20.30
Serbia-Ghana, Group D, Tshwane/Pretoria, 16.00

The big game
Germany-Australia
Germany have won all their opening matches in their last five FIFA World Cup™ appearances, a record that will surely be tested by the combative Australians.

German preparations for South Africa 2010 have been dogged by injury problems. Captain Michael Ballack, goalkeeper Rene Adler, defender Heiko Westermann and midfielder Simon Rolfes all missed out on places in the squad. And with old hands Jens Lehmann, Torsten Frings, Kevin Kuranyi and Christoph Metzelder having all fallen out of favour since UEFA EURO 2008, Joachim Low’s relatively inexperienced squad has a youthful look about it.

That lack of international know-how did not stop Low’s young guns from racking up nine goals in their three warm-up wins, though their achilles heel could be in central defence, where Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich will be teaming up for the first time.

In contrast Australia have made few to the well-knit unit that clinched a surprise place in the Round of 16 four years ago. The duel between the towering Joshua Kennedy and the German defence will prove crucial to Socceroo hopes of a notable result in Durban.

In focus
Dejan Stankovic (SRB) v Sulley Muntari (GHA)
Just weeks after helping Inter Milan claim the UEFA Champions League crown, Stankovic and Muntari will act out what promises to be an intriguing sub-plot in Tshwane/Pretoria. Operating down the same side of the pitch, the Nerrazzurri team-mates will be keeping a very close eye on each other, with the muscular Muntari hoping to snuff out the threat posed by the accomplished Stankovic. Should he find time to get forward, the Ghana midfielder will be hoping to reprise the spectacular goals he struck against Czech Republic at Germany 2006 and Guinea at the CAF African Cup of Nations Ghana 2008.

What they said
“This is far and away our most important match and it will set the tone for the first phase. A win will give us confidence, but a defeat will put us under a lot of pressure. It goes without saying that this is 'the' game for us,” Karim Matmour, Algeria midfielder.

ITC examining HTC's patent claim against Apple

Posted by Ahmed on 1:52 PM

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday said it plans to investigate HTC's claim that Apple's iPhone infringes on its handset technology.

The trade panel will look into whether HTC's claim will justify its request that the ITC ban the import and sale of iPhones, iPads, and iPods.

HTC complained to the panel in May that Apple infringed on five of its patents related to its handset hardware and software.

HTC's suit is a counterclaim to Apple's lawsuit, which first alleged patent infringement by HTC. When Apple filed the suitin March, CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement, "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it...We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

In its suit, Apple claims that HTC phones violate 20 patents it owns related to the iPhone's graphical user interface, hardware, and underlying software. And although HTC is named in the suit, the legal maneuver was widely seen as an indirect way of putting pressure on Google, whose Android software powers many HTC smartphones.

Judge deals possibly final blow to SCO over Linux

Posted by Ahmed on 1:51 PM

SCO's long-running campaign against Linux may have finally been dealt a death blow.

Late Thursday, the judge presiding over the company's legal battle with Novellrejected SCO's request for a new trial and upheld an April jury decision that determined Novell, not SCO, is the rightful owner of key Unix copyrights.

"SCO argues that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the 'verdict cannot be squared with the overwhelming evidence and the law,'" Judge Ted Stewart wrote in his decision. "The Court respectfully disagrees. The jury found Novell's version of facts to be more persuasive. This conclusion is well supported by the evidence. There was substantial evidence that Novell made an intentional decision to retain ownership of the copyrights....Therefore, SCO is not entitled to a new trial."

So it seems that after seven years, this charade by SCO is finally over. What will it tell the bankruptcy court now? Earlier this year, former U.S. District Judge Edward Cahn, the company's bankruptcy trustee, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the jury decision will not dissuade it from pursuing its lawsuit against IBM. Said Cahn: "The copyright claims are gone, but we have other claims based on contracts."

Thursday's ruling would seem to be a setback for those plans, but SCO has a history of pressing on in the face of repeated defeats. We'll have to wait to see if one of its Iraqi information minister-style press releases is forthcoming.

In any event, the stoning has begun on Wall Street, where SCO stock is trading under 5 cents a share.