World Cup predictions: Group G

Group of death number 2?

Group G:

Brazil

Ivory Coast

North Korea

Portugal

Brazil are the most successful team in world cup history winning the trophy 5 times and are the only team to win outside of their own continent. Brazil are everyone's second favourite team, unless you are Brazilian... This current Brazil team are not as other-worldly, happy-go-lucky, football-from-another-planet as they were in the past, or as perfect as this incarnation of the seleção. The decision to leave Ronaldinho behind is emblematic of the new pragmatism that coach Dunga has tried to instil in his team. Arguably Brazil's best player, Kaka, has had a difficult first season at Real Madrid but promises he is ready to deliver for the national side. This team are built around a solid midfield and central defence and boast possibly the two best full-backs in the tournament. Maicon, of Inter and Dani Alves from Barcelona. Much of Brazil's attacking will come from these two overlapping the wide midfielders, it's a shame they both play in the same position. Their strikers aren't bad either, Grafite of Wolfsburg scored the goal of the season before last, plus Robinho, Ramires and Luis Fabiano. Compared to England's group of strikers, I know who I would rather have. Brazil finished top of their qualifying group, losing twice to lesser teams but will have enough to qualify from this group.

The Ivory Coast, despite being managed by this man (who currently is flirting shamelessly with a once proud football club more used to the attentions of A-list suitors), and despite possibly missing their best player and captain Didier Drogba, have a great chance to do well in this tournament. The Toure brothers, Yaya and Kolo and Salomon Kalou make this an already formidable team plus the greater determination to do well in Africa with or without Drogba mean they stand a good chance of going through to the next round. They finished, undefeated, at the top of their qualifying group. Bad luck with the draw put them in this difficult group and finishing second may mean they will face Spain in the next round but I think they will beat Portugal to the second spot in this group.

No-one in North Korea is allowed to travel to South Africa to support their team, and no-one at home will be allowed to watch on the TV. South Korea provide the live TV signals to the North and relations currently are a little frosty to say the least, causing the South to stop their TV broadcasts. Their Dear Leader will decide if it is in the national interest to replay the games a day or two later, and given that they will play Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast it is difficult to see how any of these games will be in the national interest. To further complicate matters the North Korean coach thought up a cunning plan to get more strikers in their team, they named only two goalkeepers and then picked a striker as their third goalkeeper. Unfortunately FIFA rules mean Kim Myong-Won can now only play as a goalkeeper... Brilliant. There is only one other cunning plan I can think of that is better than that one... I don't think I am sticking my neck out when I say North Korea are going to get a pasting.

Portugal... I would like to like them but this man makes it impossible... The best player in the world in his own head, in the real world some way behind Messi. Ronaldo has a lot to prove on the international stage and I hope he doesn't do it at this World Cup. Ronaldo's supporting actors don't have what it takes to outfight the Ivorians or outplay the Brazilians, they will beat the Koreans though. They couldn't beat Cape Verde last week, a side ranked 117th in the world and had to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in a play-off to make it to the finals.

So Brazil and Ivory Coast to go through and Portugal and North Korea to miss out.

World Cup predictions: Group F

Group F:

Italy

New Zealand

Paraguay

Slovakia

World Cup champions Italy weren't the best team in the tournament last time around and they won. They aren't the best team this time either, so can they repeat the feat? They have retained the spine of team that won in Berlin as Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Pirlo, Camoranesi and De Rossi are all included in the squad. No Marco Materazzi this time so everyone's sisters are safe from insults. Also in the squad are two players from Sampdoria, Palombo and Pazzini both had a great season and Pazzini joins an already formidable group of strikers including Di Natale, Quagliarella and Gilardino. I believe this Italian squad is as good as the one at the last World Cup and they will certainly qualify from this group. Although I doubt they will lift the trophy again in July.

I spent a year and a half living in New Zealand and I love the country. Unfortunately I think they will struggle to get a draw never mind a win in the group games. They finished top of their qualifying group, although the other group members were Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and then narrowly defeated Bahrain in a play-off. Their best player is Blackburn's Ryan Nelson who will have a job on his hands to get the other players to play at his level. No chance unless the new World Cup ball is egg-shaped...

Paraguay have some great players and defeated Argentina, Brazil and Chile during the qualifying campaign. They finally finished in third place in their group and will expect to progress to the next round. The game against Slovakia will be key for them. Their top scorer was shot in the head in February and unsurprisingly is not in the squad. They will be relying on Borussia Dortmund's Lucas Barrios, Benfica's Oscar Cardozo and new Sunderland player Cristian Riveros to provide them with the goals to see them through.

Slovakia have a young and talented squad and could surprise a few at this tournament. Liverpool's Martin Skrtel and Napoli's Marek Hamsik are the standout players in this team. Slovakia finished top of a qualifying group that contained Slovenia, Poland and the Czech Republic so they are no pushovers. If they can beat Paraguay in the second group game they will go through.

Ok definitely Italy to go through and then I think Slovakia will join them. Could easily be Paraguay though.

World Cup predictions: Group E

Group E, E for easy to predict? No way.

This group is as hard as group D, made even harder by the fact that it is impossible to dislike any of these teams. I want them all to win!

Group E:

Cameroon

Denmark

Japan

Netherlands

How could anyone not like Cameroon. They have qualified for the World Cup finals more than any other African team. My first memories of them are from Italia '90 when they defeated World Champions Argentina in the opening game led by Roger Milla, they finished top of their group and finally lost to England in the quarter-finals (maybe because Mark Wright and Chris Waddle were carrying birds of prey on their heads). In 2004 they had sleeveless jerseys for God's sake! This time around their outstanding footballer is striker and captain Samuel Eto'o, I think he's great but that's because I'm not a Real Madrid fan. They didn't qualify for the last World Cup and had a poor African Cup of Nations this year. They are managed by the former Lyon, Rangers and PSG manager Paul Le Guen and finished top of their qualifying group after a bad start.

How could anyone not like Denmark. They beat Germany to win Euro '92 and gave the world Michael Laudrup, Preben Elkjær and Jan Molby. They have a team built on a solid defence and midfield and their main attacking threat will come from skilful midfielders like Christian Eriksen and Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner. They also qualified top of their group, finishing above Portugal and Sweden.

How could anyone not like Japan. Unless you're Chinese. They qualified second behind Australia and are managed by a Japanese man for the first time since 1998, when the current coach Takeshi Okada resigned after a poor performance at the World Cup that year. Ex-Celtic player Shunsuke Nakamura is deadly from freekicks, CSKA Moscow's Keisuke Honda is quick and direct and 6ft Takayuki Morimoto could surprise a lot of people. Most of the Japanese players are based in Japan and the step-up in quality to a World Cup maybe too big this time around.

How could anyone not like the Netherlands. Home of some of the best players in world football, and Dirk Kuyt. Anyone who remembers Johan Cruyff doing this before it had a name, Marco van Basten doing this or Dennis Bergkamp doing this will always look forward to watching the Dutch. This season Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben made the difference for their respective teams, taking them to the Champions League Final. Definitely one of the favourites to win the tournament outright and Robin van Persie has to be a good bet for the Golden Boot. They finished top of their qualifying group, winning every game, scoring 17 and conceding only twice. In a group of uncertainty, the Dutch are going through.

So it's a difficult decision but I reckon the Netherlands and Denmark to go through but I would be really pleased if it was Cameroon and Japan.

World Cup predictions: Group D

Group D, D for Death....
4 strong teams, every game could go either way. 1 country I used to live in, 1 country I've spent a lot of time in and 2 I've never been to. Only an idiot would try to predict what will happen...

Group D:
Australia
Germany
Ghana
Serbia

Australia are unfortunately having a bad time. They lost the Ashes last year and the Twenty20 final this year. Will the possibility of a game against England in the next round spur the Ozzies on? This is an ageing team of talented footballers and maybe I've been out of Oz for too long but I don't see a new generation of footballers that has what it takes to pull up the slack from the older players. The other teams in this group will be too good for Australia.

Like Gary Lineker said, "Football is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball... and Germany always win". In contrast to Australia the Germans have already won big this year and go into the tournament on a high. Can they achieve a historic Eurovision/Weltmeisterschaft double? The German captain Michael Ballack won't play due to a bad tackle from Ghana's Kevin Prince-Boateng (who will play in the World Cup) in the FA Cup Final, so at least the Ballack-jinx can't be blamed this year. Bayern München did make it to the Champions League final with a team of some talented young Germans and some outstanding foreigners. Bastien Schweinsteiger had a great season and could make a big impression on this tournament. Germany finished top of their qualifying group winning 8 and losing 0. They will make out of this group.

Ghana are another team missing their best player, Ballack's Chelsea teammate, Michael Essien. Essien is an immense player and will be a bigger loss to Ghana than Ballack will be to Germany, and the World Cup will be worse without him in it. That said Ghana have a great team of talented, powerful players like Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari, who enjoyed great success with Inter this season. Ghana won their qualifying group and I think will be too good to not make it into the next round.

It is hard to say that Serbia won't qualify. They have some excellent players in Vidic, Stankovic, Ivanovic plus 6ft 8 Nikola Zigic and finished top of their qualifying group, above France. They will be strong defensively and well organised but I don't know if they will be able to score enough against the other big teams in this group. They are undoubtedly a quality team but ultimately I think not good enough to go through.

So this is really hard to call and will probably end up being totally wrong but I think it's Germany and Ghana to qualify and it's bad luck for Serbia and Australia in ending up in this group in the first place....

World Cup predictions: Group C

The big one...

1773 the Boston Tea Party, 1775 the War of Independence starts, 1950 the USA defeat England 1-0, 1953 David Hasselhoff was born... America has a lot to answer for.

Will June 12th 2010 (the day after my birthday...) be the next date on this list of insults to dear old England?

Group C:

Algeria

England

Slovenia

USA

Algeria made it to the semi-finals in the recent African Nations Cup and have a few strong players. Their coach Rabah Saadane is taking charge of the team for the fifth time and his fourth World Cup. Their play-off win against North African rivals Egypt showed they can handle pressure situations but I can't see them having enough to make it out of this group.

England had a great qualifying campaign and finished top of an admittedly easy group. England have always had talented players but this time I think the important factor will be Fabio Capello. After the dismal Steve McClaren years, Capello took a group of under-achieving, wag-roasting prima donnas and has managed to get them to perform. The old problems on the pitch still remain however. Who will play on the left of midfield? Can Gerrard and Lampard play together? Why do we only have one decent striker? How can we win a game if can't keep possession? Wayne Rooney has had a great season but if he gets injured, England will struggle to score goals with only Crouch, Defoe and Heskey as back-up. England's real strength is in midfield and defence. There are big players at club level with a lot to prove on the international stage, in what will probably be the final World Cup appearance for Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand and Carragher. I actually think one of the main assets England have will be the full-backs, Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole, I expect to see a lot of attacking down the flanks from these two. How far England go in the tournament is anyone's guess but they will qualify from this group.

Slovenia, like Algeria, are in danger of being overlooked as the hype builds around the other two teams. Slovenia have never won a game in the World Cup finals before and they have a slim chance of changing that in this group. They finished second in a qualifying group containing Poland and Czech Republic and won their last four games scoring 13 and conceding 0. However I don't think they will seriously trouble the other teams in Group C.

The USA had a great tournament in the Confederations Cup last year making to the finals and leading Brazil 2-0 at half-time, finally losing 2-3. They knocked out European Champions Spain on the way to the finals. The majority of their players play for European teams and one of those who doesn't, Landon Donavan, impressed in a 4 month loan at Everton this year. I expect whoever wins the USA v England game to qualify easily and there will a lot of pressure on the English team to beat a supposedly inferior USA side. An upset is definitely possible.

England and USA to qualify, Slovenia and Algeria to go home early...

World Cup predictions: Group B

Group B:

Argentina

Greece

Nigeria

South Korea

Argentina have to be among the favourites to win the whole tournament, they boast the best player in world football, Lionel Messi, who has been ridiculously good for the last 3 seasons. This World Cup should be the time when he does it on the biggest stage possible. They also have the player that scored the goals that clinched the Italian Cup, the Serie A title and the Champions League for Internazionale, Diego Milito. He has been in outstanding form this year although he almost didn't make the Argentina team. The reason for that is the enigma Diego Maradona. In my opinion the best player ever but an erratic and accident prone manager. Argentina have the most talented team in the whole tournament but whether Maradona can get the best out of his players remains to be seen. They struggled to qualify, beating Uruguay in the final game to avoid the play-offs. That said they should easily escape this group.

After Greece's success in the 2004 European Championships they became the team I love to see get beaten. Coach Otto Rehhagel will be the oldest in the tournament at 72 and he is not going to change his style of play now. If only Greece's politicians had been as cautious with the country's finances as Rehhagel is with his football. Greece will be negative and defensive and hopefully will get opened up by more skilful opponents. They beat Ukraine in a play-off to qualify but will not have enough to make it out of this group.

All of Nigeria's squad play for European club teams and there are some famous names. Almería's Kalu Uche is the standout player. They appointed Swedish manager Lars Lagerbeck after firing the previous coach for finishing third in the African Nations Cup. Expectations are high for Nigeria's team and they have lots of experience but I don't think they have enough ability to go far in this tournament. They won't get to the next round.

South Korea have done well at the previous two World Cup's both under Dutch managers. This time they have a home-grown version, Huh Jung Moo. South Korea's captain Park-Ji Sung has had his usual consistent season for Manchester United and their team finished top of their qualifying group. They will match the Nigerians for athletic ability and will be too skilful for them and the Greeks. They may even give Argentina a game.

Argentina and South Korea to qualify and goodbye to Greece and Nigeria...

World Cup predictions: Group A

National managers are whittling down their squad lists to the 23 players they think will give them the best chance to do well at the tournament.

Players are either smug or nervous.

I am still excited.

So risking internet ridicule, I am going to make some predictions on who I think will be the two teams to escape from each group.

Group A:

South Africa

Mexico

France

Uruguay

Obviously France look to be the favourites and this is going to be the final tournament under the leadership of funny man Raymond Domenech. Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc will take over after the World Cup. Domenech famously proposed to his girlfriend after France were eliminated from the European Championships in 2008, what surprises will he have in store when France get knocked out this time? I think they will get through this group but I can't see them going any further...

The next three teams are harder to separate.

Hosts South Africa have a good manager with World Cup experience and the excellent Steven Pienaar in midfield, however apart from some of the best player names (Surprise Moriri, Macbeth Sibaya and er...Bernard Parker) that is all they have on the field. The deciding factor may be the support from the stands. World Cup hosts traditionally perform better than they should do and the fans at the first World Cup to be held in Africa will certainly create an atmosphere that would inspire anyone. If the players don't get sick of those bloody vuvuzelas....

I would love to see South Africa continue in the tournament even if it means I have to watch with the volume turned down. I think African teams will go far in this World Cup but unfortunately I don't think it will be South Africa.

The problem is that I think Mexico have a better team than South Africa (despite only picking 5 midfielders...) and I think they should qualify along with France. They played excellently despite losing against England last week and will make it hard for anyone to beat them. They play the hosts in the opening game on June 11th and a good result here should stand them in good stead to qualify. New Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez will be hoping to impress and Alex Ferguson says his price would have risen substantially after the tournament as he expects him to play well.

Uruguay missed out on the last World Cup and had to qualify through a close play-off against a disorganised Costa Rica side this year. Uruguay haven't made it past the knockout round since 1970 and, despite having two of the best players in this group in Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan, I think they will struggle to make it out of their group this year.

So I am going for France and Mexico to qualify, sorry South Africa...

Mundial!

We are currently in the run-up to my second World Cup outside of England. But this isn't stopping me from getting excited... I am glad to be missing out on the tabloid crap of all or nothing swings from either ridiculously high expectations to England are the worst team in the world. That aside I am also missing the England flags everywhere, the feeling that the whole country is coming together to watch a few games (apart from my Mum), Match of the Day and of course Panini. At least it will be easier to deal with the inevitable disappointment when England go out at the quarter finals on penalties again.

Anyway to keep me going until kick off I have been watching some of my favourite World Cup goals, Bergkamp, Cambiasso, Tardelli, Carlos Alberto, Owen, Maradona, Negrete, Letchkov and of course, this.... They think it's all over...

Come on England!

Terremoto in Costa Rica

For some reason the two countries I have lived in since March 2008 have been pretty seismically active. Japan and Costa Rica.

Today we had a pretty big one. Rocky and I were walking in the coffee field, on top of this little hill that separates two plantations (where we saw monkeys a few weeks ago). It was pretty shaky and the trees threw all the residual rain on us. I think I was more scared than she was though.

I don't think earthquakes are something I will ever get used to.

US in decline? The Chinese century?

These are two of the things I want to write my MA thesis about.

I just watched a very interesting lecture by Joseph Nye at Chatham House in London talking about those two things.

In short his answers were no & no. The reasons why were interesting.

Firstly our conception of power is too narrow, we should take into account military, economic and transnational power. Militarily the US will remain the global superpower for some time. Economically we are already in a multipolar world economy. The EU has the largest economy in the world. Japan is still a major player and even if China's economy is bigger than the US by 2027 (Goldman Sachs estimate) this will not mean that China is economically more powerful than the US. Mainly due to the unevenness of Chinese development and the huge lead the US has in the most important industries like technology and biotechnology. Transnationally problems such as climate change, terrorism and pandemics can affect every state across national borders, not only the US, more cooperation is needed.

One other thing we have to be more aware of than ever before now is the diffusion of power from states to groups, organisations and individuals. The massive reduction in cost of computing power means that it is difficult to know exactly where threats come from. Again this is a problem for every state not just the US.

A very interesting talk. And afterwards there are some very interesting answers to some questions too.

Wisdom teeth extraction in Costa Rica

It is late in my life to have my wisdom teeth removed. They only started to cause problems about a year ago in Japan and after my visit to the dentist here to get a check up I decided the time had come to remove the bottom two wisdom teeth.

The right hand side one was done last week and didn't really cause too many problems. It hurt afterwards and swelled up pretty big but after 2 days I was able to eat reasonably normally, chewing on the other side of my mouth.

The left hand side one was removed on Monday this week. Big difference. It was growing downwards into the next tooth, and the dentist had to make a deeper cut. The whole process took about 1 hr 45 mins with lots of grinding and pushing and pulling. Eventually he had to split the tooth into 3 pieces to get it out. I had 3 shots of local anaesthetic but I could still feel the pain... Ow. The healing process has been worse too, my mouth swelled up like I had a tennis ball in there and still hasn't gone down. I can't open my mouth more than a centimetre and it hurts when I talk or chew. Luckily Stephanie has made me some wonderful blended food items and smoothies but I am craving proper food now.

Hopefully by the weekend...

On this day in history...

The final verdict for the Baader-Meinhof/Red Army Faction was delivered in Stuttgart in 1977...
http://www.baader-meinhof.com/timeline/1977.html

I was 1 year and 10 months old...

Radio Free Europe

I arrived back in Europe yesterday morning, after a 15 hour journey from San Jose.
I feel I can now come clean and say I hate flying... I hate being on a plane and breathing all the recycled, air-conditioned air, I hate air-conditioning on the ground but on a plane there is no escape, and I hate being cramped up in a seat for so long.
Anyway that out of the way, I love being back here...
I love the cold, I love that it is still light outside at 8:30 at night, I love the cheese selection, I love not being eaten alive by insects and I love how fresh the air tastes.
I am listening to FM4 which we used to listen to in the ski shop in Scheffau, may be my favourite radio station... What 6music could be if the BBC didn't want to close it down and they spoke German occasionally.

One of the striking things about coming back here after living in Costa Rica is how clean and well-made everything is. I guess that's one of the things about living in a developing country, people are making the best out of what they have but they don't have a lot. They do the same here but they have more, or at least they have better. Either way it feels great to be back...

P.S Hi Frank, see you on Saturday...

TLC

Today in Costa Rica, the bill to institute free trade agreements between Costa Rica and China and Singapore was due to be signed into law. This will be the first between CR and any Asian country and will eventually see China becoming the second biggest market (overtaking the EU) for CR after the US.

On the plus side for Costa Rica will be a huge market for the high tech items and other exports (such as coffee) but on the downside will be the added exposure of Chinese economies of scale that are impossible to compete with for smaller Costa Rican firms and farmers.

A look into any shop here in Costa Rica will reveal an already high proportion of poorly-made Chinese products and Chinese food items (like the vegetables that were so "dangerous" in Japan). So I am ready for more crap that I don't need and don't want.

UK election debate

For the first time in UK history, the leaders of the 3 main parties had a live, televised debate. This has been happening in the US for sometime, and whatever happens in America eventually happens in the UK.

I didn't get to watch it but from what I have read (and here) the clear winner was the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. The Liberals can't win the general election but they could take significant votes from the other parties, making it difficult for there to be any clear winner. It will be interesting to see if this US-style debate has any real effect on peoples' opinions in the run-up to the election.

Wet season

One of my students told me this week that the 15th April is the official start of rainy season in Costa Rica. For once nature was bang on time, round about 2p.m. today it started with torrential rain and thunder. One crack felt like it was right outside the door, I could feel the bang in my chest.

The worst thing is Rocky is terrified... She has been hiding under our bed, under chairs, under anything she can get under but it seems like nowhere feels safe for her... It's going to be a long few months til we leave for Rox, if the weather is like this every day...

For me, it's time to buy an umbrella.

A major reason behind Liverpool's poor form

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/danroan/2010/04/liverpool_ownership_enters_cru.html

Non-qualification for the Champions League would cost the club a lot of revenue, and would further increase the pressure on the owners to sell all or part of their share.

A self-made problem. No investment resulted in poor performances and loss of revenue.

As long as new ownership is responsible and sensible, this a good reason for hoping Liverpool finish outside the top 4.

Liverpool 4-1 Benfica (agg 5-3)

Have Liverpool found their level?

It looks like they will only make the Europa League next season, and after the abysmal performance in this season's Champions League group stage, maybe that's not such a bad thing.

BBC report....

Liverpool 4-1 Benfica (agg 5-3): "Fernando Torres scores twice to help Liverpool overpower Benfica at Anfield and set up an Europa League semi-final clash with Atletico Madrid."

Central American Food

A few weeks ago, in protest at the sameness of the food (i.e. rice & beans) we were eating I resolved to try a new recipe a week, using Latin American ingredients as much as possible.

First was a Peruvian Stew - really good.

Followed by Plantain Soup - even better.

Then I tried a Black Bean & Mango soup - good but not as good as the Plaintain soup.

Next were some Potato & Bean Enchiladas - good but the others were better.

What's next...

My Google Reader shared items...

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/alistaircubbon

Plus a picture of me and Rocky...

Ferguson shows a typical awareness of the world outside his head

That "typical German" was Frenchman Franck Ribery... And of course United would never do something like try to get another player sent off.

From the Guardian...

Ferguson slams 'typical Germans' as United crash out: "

• Manager felt Bayern players influenced referee's decision
• 'They got him sent off ... typical Germans'

Sir Alex Ferguson slammed the behaviour of the Bayern Munich players for their part in Rafael da Silva's red card during Manchester United's Champions League exit at the hands of the German side.

Several Bayern players seemed to gather around the referee, Nicola Rizzoli, after Rafael appeared to pull back Franck Ribéry and the Manchester United manager, described their behaviour as being that of 'typical Germans'.

The Italian official subsequently showed United's Brazilian full-back his second yellow card and United were forced to play the final 40 minutes with 10 men.

'There is no doubt about it,' Ferguson told ITV when asked if the dismissal had changed the course of the game. 'They were never getting through that tie; with 11 men we had no problem. The young boy showed a bit of inexperience but they got him sent off. Everyone sprinted towards the referee – typical Germans.'

The Scot also believed United had been the better side across the two legs. 'We played better today than they did in their own ground. Without the extra man they made the ball work and I thought we defended very well. It's taken an exceptional strike to settle the tie. We have done well, the performance was excellent, we were very unlucky.'

Ferguson's gamble on starting Wayne Rooney appeared to backfire when he was withdrawn after 55 minutes, the same time as Rafael's dismissal, but Ferguson denied that playing had worsened his ankle problem. 'I don't think it is serious. It's just that tissue and the blood vessel has just burst. I am sure he'll be fine for the following week.

Times change

I am part way through a International Political Economy course. My current assignment is regarding US economic hegemony. Which is interesting to me, especially living in Central America. There is a huge US influence here, the dollar is widely accepted alongside national currencies and in Panama the dollar is the national currency.

What is more interesting is the growing Chinese influence here. The new national stadium is being built in San Jose, free of charge, by the Chinese government as a gift to Costa Rica, and I heard a new fleet of police cars were donated. Since the Monroe Doctrine the US has ruled the roost in Latin America, now China is making inroads in to that domination. Access to Latin America's raw materials has always been a goal for the powerful nations, China is just the latest in a long line.

Costa Rica also used to have close ties to Taiwan, and recently switched to deal with China. Certainly this offers more opportunities for CR, and no doubt the promise of Chinese aid played a role in this.

The Japan Times has a different take...

It's a Global Century, not an Asian Century | The Japan Times Online

"Perhaps the coastal areas of South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China's eastern seaboard share some common cultural characteristics and a similar economic strategy. But much of central and western China is mired in poverty; Indonesia belongs to a different world culturally and economically; and India is a very different Asia as well. Nor does Asia cohere politically; parts of it are democratic, other parts are ruled by despots.

Moreover, there is no "Asian" economic system: China's state capitalism does not belong to the same category as the private capitalism practiced in Japan and Korea. India remains largely an agricultural economy, dotted with small business and service-sector dynamism.

Asia also has no decision center, nor coordinating institutions comparable to NATO or the European Union. This is important, because, whereas the West is relatively at peace with itself, Asia is riddled with actual conflicts (within and around Pakistan) and looming ones all around the South China Sea."

Season's change

After 5 months of scorching days and humid nights with the house full of mosquitos, the weather seems to be changing.

The mornings are still hot but the afternoon rain storms are getting pretty constant now, for the past 5 days between 2 & 3 o'clock it rains cats and dogs.

Our dog hides in the back room when it rains, her two least favourite things are water and loud noises so the rain combined with the tin roof are not good.

The other season that has changed recently is the baseball one, from spring to regular...

We had some friends over for the season opener, Yankees v Red Socks on Sunday, crackerjack included. The Padres lost their first game and won the second, if they can keep that record up all season it will be an improvement on last year.

Panamanian river lizard....

I saw this guy on a recent trip to Panama. He crawled out of a river and sat on the grass sunning himself for a while...

Really amazing, look how long his tail is and his floppy lizard mohican...

A lady told me they are called "borrachos del rio" which means river drunks, but I can't find any mention of that.

Anybody know what he is?

Rainy season running

So these are my running shoes. I bought them in Japan last year and so far they have been running in Japan, USA, Germany, England and Costa Rica.

They are doing pretty well considering.

The road I run on here starts with a long decline followed by a long incline and then kind of levels out a little as it winds through all the coffee plantations around here. If I kept going all the way I would get to the UPeace campus.

It is peak rainy season right now, and I underestimated the rain here once. I won't be doing that again... It was kind of fun to run in a torrential tropical storm but I was absolutely soaked when I made it home.

The rain was warmer than the shower I had afterwards, and my shoes got a much needed wash.

So it wasn't all bad.

Sports teams I like

With the principle of only supporting teams I have actually seen play, this is who I like...

Liverpool FC, first game in 1988. Most amazing night - 2005 if you listen carefully, amongst the cacophony at 9 seconds in is me losing the plot...

The first game I ever went to: Preston North End vs Chesterfield 1987, PNE's first game in the Barclay's Third Division after getting promoted. They had just signed Frank Worthington too...

Final score 0-1...

Germany

TSV 1860 München in 2004 against Hannover and they lost 0-2...

They got relegated that season and haven't got back up since. Fun day though, beer in the ground!

San Diego Padres - my new obsession following a 1-10 defeat to the Colorado Rockies in July... They've been pretty good since then though...

Where I live

Go past the gym, turn right at the pile of dirt, down a little hill, through some coffee plantations, turn left when you smell coriander, through the gate and into the first apartment....

Say hi to Steph...

In honour of Scott

I never understood the point of writing a blog, but Scott inspired me.

Plus I am a lazy person so this is a good way of staying in touch with people without writing loads of emails. So if you get an email from me, count yourself lucky...

So I am going to try to stick things on here that I like, that I do, that I see...

For example today I went for a run along the road to UPeace, halfway up one of the hills there was some kind of dead animal on the side and about 15 of these buzzard/vulture type birds that hang around here. Normally you only see them circling round in big spiral gangs but these ones had found something good to eat. I had to clap loudly to get them out of the road and even then they were pretty reluctant to leave the food behind.