Meet the champions

Mexico captain Gerardo Torrado is relishing the chance to face France on Thursday. Both sides go into their second game in Group A with one point apiece after draws in their opening encounters. France hosted the FIFA World Cup™ in 1998 and beat Brazil in the final while four years ago, they...

Didier Zokora has set his sights on denting Brazil's FIFA World Cup™ hopes as Côte d'Ivoire attempt to pile the pressure on Portugal. The 29-year-old Sevilla midfielder, employed alongside skipper Kolo Toure in central defence for yesterday's 0-0 draw with the Portuguese, knows one of the Group...

Sven-Goran Eriksson heralded the new-found discipline and organisation shown by his Côte d'Ivoire side in their goalless draw with Portugal in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday. Les Eléphants now face Brazil in Johannesburg before their final group match with Korea DPR, and the Swede reckons his side are...

Italy midfielder Riccardo Montolivo believes the FIFA World Cup™ holders were too "stressed" about the start of the defence of their crown. Marcello Lippi's side could only draw 1-1 with Paraguay in Cape Town on Monday as they came from behind to salvage a point. They are now under pressure...

Roque Santa Cruz hopes to play a major role in Paraguay's 2010 FIFA World Cup™ campaign in South Africa, despite revealing a niggling injury kept him out of Monday's opening match. The Manchester City striker surprisingly started on the bench in the 1-1 draw with FIFA World Cup holders Italy in...

USA striker Clint Dempsey claims England's players seemed "edgy" during the FIFA World Cup™ 1-1 draw on Saturday and believes they were struggling to deal with the pressure. England got their South Africa 2010 campaign off to a flyer when captain Steven Gerrard gave them the lead inside four...

Midfielder Junichi Inamoto believes Japan can flourish at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ after Monday's win over Cameroon ended a five-match winless streak. Japan had lost all four warm-up matches before being held to a goalless draw by Zimbabwe in a hastily arranged final friendly last week. But...

Wayne Rooney has vowed to do himself "justice" during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ after admitting he was well below his best in Germany four years ago. Rooney was playing catch-up during the last tournament after suffering a broken foot in the April before in a tackle by Chelsea's...

Midfielder Sami Khedira is looking for more of the same as Germany attempt to inflict on Serbia the same punishment they handed out to Australia in their opening FIFA World Cup™ fixture. The Germans turned in arguably the most impressive performance of the opening round of games to date on...

Brazilian superstar Kaká has thanked the thousands of South Africans that attended their opening match against Korea DPR on an incredibly chilly evening in Johannesburg. Despite sub-zero temperatures, the packed Ellis Park stadium, with attendance figures reaching 54,331, was swarming with...