The FIFA World Cup 2006 is just around the corner..

The official opening match will due to start on this coming Friday, 9th of June 2006, in Germany..

Everyone is talking aloud which are their favourite teams and all..

Most Malaysians will support the few great teams of all-times..Namely Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Holland, and Spain..

But the most.?? I have to say England, coz Malaysians are brought up with English Premier League thrills..Not much on other leagues in Europe..

So indirectly, they'll support England as if England is their home country..

As for me, I'm rather a rational football fanatic, as in having a realistic perspective in everything in football..

Well, you see, I supported the Charlton Athletics since 1999 and still am one of the very few supporters in Malaysia, or perhaps the only one, I guess.?

I too used to support the great teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Newcastle when I was in primary school..

Back then in the year of 1995/96, Arsenal was nothing but an Everton, if compared to the rankings now and then..

Anyway, now, I too support Arsenal because they played different style of football from any other teams in the EPL..

But of course, as I said, I'm rational and realistic..I do support Charlton but I know they won't be able to compete the champion's trophy..

Still, I support them because they are a great team..And I support Arsenal to vie for the champion's trophy..

Everyone who knows me well enough where football matters, you sure know I'm the kind of person who support the underdogs, rather than powerful teams..

Why am I talking bout leagues here.? Shit..Out of topic once again..

Let's get back to the World Cup..

Ok..The same thing applies..Rational and realistic..I'm a supporter of Sweden since World Cup 1994, and still am til now, with the greats of Henrik Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Fredi Ljungberg..

And not to forget our Asian roots..I'm an all-time Hidetoshi Nakata's fan since his appearance in the World Cup 1998..

Therefore, I'm also a fan of Japan, the country of the rising sun..

Again, I know Japan is up to the standard to vie for the World Champion title, but I wish them best of luck to go as far as they can, just like what South Korea did 4 years ago..

Probably Sweden could match the so-called prodigies in everywhere of the great teams in Europe and South America..

Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott could make a great impact in this coming World Cup..Unfortunately Wayne Rooney has a metatarsal injury or something, whatever..

Lionel Messi, regarded as the new Diego Maradona..Robinho, as the new Pele..Francesc Fabregas as the new whoever it is..

Duh..Whoever they are..What about Ronaldinho.?? Personally, I strongly agree that Ronaldinho is the best player of all-time being..

Yeah..You heard me..I do think he's better than the so-called legends of Pele, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, and whoever the legends were, you name it..

Ronaldinho is the only player that plays beautiful football with his feet just for the sake of entertainment for the supporters..Enough said..

Ok..Perhaps i haven't watched the 'Legends' play before..But just by the skills, you'll know who is better now..

I didn't forget about Thierry Henry, Rafael van der Vaart, David Beckham (satisfied when I add him in the list.??), Michael Ballack, Jose Antonio Reyes, Francesco Totti, yada yada yada..

I know they are great players with excellent ability to read the games well..I know Brazillians are not the best..Perhaps they are one of the best..

Ruud van Nistelrooy is the best striker (duh~).?? What about Andriy Shevchenko.??

To be realistic, Ukraine will be hardly to compete for the trophy even if Shevchenko is a god or whatever organisme he is, he can't play alone..

But I'm pretty sure Shevchenko will be one of the great contenders for the Golden Boots..

Alright, perhaps Didier Drogba, Ronaldo, Adriano, Miroslav Klose, Thierry Henry, and umm, who else, Cristiano Ronaldo (again, satisfied.??), and few more stars will be vying for the Golden Boots as well..

Has anyone forgotten Serie A's topscorer, Luca Toni.?? Perhaps not much Malaysians know about it when they only indulged themselves with EPL..

But I don't think I want to see Peter Crouch dances on the pitch everytime he scores a goal..Meaning.? I don't want to see him score goals..Nono to 'The Crouch Dance'..

Favourites.?? I mean the favourite to win the title..It has to be Brazil, no doubt, although it's a bit of boring to see them lifting the trophy for the 6th time..

Dark horse.?? I would have to say Sweden..And perhaps and African country, Ivory Coast.?

Senegal and South Korea did it 4 years ago..Why not Sweden and Ivory Coast this time, right.?

Let's have a little prediction here..Who'll advance to the 2nd round of 16..

A - Germany, Poland..B - England, Sweden..C - Argentina, Ivory Coast..D - Mexico, Portugal..

E - Czech Republic, Italy..F - Brazil, Japan..G - France, Togo..H - Spain, Ukraine..

What's your say.??

I'm not bias..I'm not un-realistic..I'm not irrational..It's just my pick that I feel..Like Kennysia says "No say, just feel"..

Before I stopped my topic, there's something funny to look at..

On The Star's newspaper, Monday, 5th of June 2006 issue, StarBiz pullout section, page-12, talks about some CEOs passion for the World Cup..

I found one funny thing about some of the CEOs involved in the interviews, particularly Michael Lai, TM Net CEO..

He thinks Holland is the dark horse..WTF~?! Holland would absolutely be one of the unicorns to challenge for the trophy, although I didn't choose them to be in the 2nd round of 16..

And the CEO's fondest memory about watching a World Cup match.?? You wouldn't remembered any or believe it..

His fondest memory is watching the 1998 World Cup Final between France and Brazil..

The extraordinary thing is, he watched another 'version' of the game..Ya, you heard me..Another 'VERSION'.!!

He said, "France won based on penalty shoot-outs, after they had played extra time and still were at a draw..That was really heart-wrenching to see Brazil lose the Cup due to that"..

No wonder that was his fondest memory..He was watching his own game, I guess..A very different thing from my 'version'..

I 'thought' France won the game fair and square on 90-minutes full-time with the score 3-0..Hmm, I guess I need to revise my football knowledge and facts..

That's something for us to laugh about eh.. *grins*