Egypt's robbery caused by womanising and drinking?

Egypt's team at the Confederations' Cup was robbed after they beat Italy.

And the media - especially the western variety have had a field day with proclaiming the veracity in South Africa's high crime rate.

Now after the robbery these were some statements and reactions. First, Thembi Nkhwashu, a spokesperson for the Gauteng South African Police Services:

“Five players have reported a case of theft, with the total sums lost amounting to US$2,400. The period when the money could have disappeared is from the time they left the hotel for the match [against Italy] until this morning when we were notified.

"All the players had a safe in their rooms and were given information on how to operate those services, but for one reason or other they did not follow the instructions.”

However, the Sunday World quoted a police officer as saying this bizarre thing:

“We have confirmed that some of the [Egyptian] players brought prostitutes [after beating Italy], whom they picked up on Oxford Road [in Rosebank], to their hotel rooms and we have strong suspicions that they were cleaned out by those ladies of the night.”

Well, if it is true...

However according to IOL another police spokesman claimed "they could have come up with the robbery claims to avoid being caught out or embarrassed by their spouses and girlfriends back home in Egypt.

"No money was taken from the safe, but we have heard that they had been drinking and womanising, and the same women later robbed them.

"We have reason to believe that they brought the women on to the premises and were celebrating with them before they were robbed of their money.”

Talk of pretenders.
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Balotelli, too, is going to Inter

Now there's a Ghanaian born Italian in this world somewhere who plays for Inter...

Aaaah, there he is > Balotelli.

It’s a new day and yes, you’ve guessed it Hammers’ fans, Gianfranco Zola is being linked with another loan move, another Italian and another player from Inter. Are the Nerazzurri becoming West Ham’s feeder club?

This time the rumours focus on centre-forward “Super” Mario Balotelli, the 18-year-old striker who is considered the next big thing in Italian football.

Super Mario had a difficult first few years on this planet. Born to Ghanaian immigrants, at just three years old Balotelli was struck down with a mystery illness and, with his parents sadly unable to cope with the needs of their sick child, were forced to put their son up for adoption.

Mario was placed in foster care with the Balotelli family and his formal adoption was legalised last year.

Are the Nerazzurri becoming West Ham’s feeder club?

During his teens Balotelli was spotted by Inter scouts whilst playing for Lumezzane, and it wasn’t long before the Serie A giants made their move. Just two years later, at the young age of 17, Balotelli made his first team debut and to-date the forward has chalked up 33 first team appearances, netting 11 goals in the process.

Balotelli is a player with the lot. Standing at 6ft 2 inches, Balotelli has the upper body strength to mark him out Didier Drogba II. He is blessed with exceptional speed to boot, and once he has reached full throttle he is almost unstoppable. And crucially, unlike many young strikers composure in front of goal is not a problem for Mario, leading to his impressive 1:3 goal ratio so far in his career.

However, mimicking Chelsea’s second-striker back in his heyday, Balotelli comes with a severe health warning. Much like Nicolas Anelka back in his youth, Super Mario’s character swings from self-confidence in his own ability to what others describe as extreme arrogance. This can then play out on the field from petulant tantrums to reckless bookings and red-cards.

Balotelli’s difficult character was flagged up by Jose Mourinho back in January after the Special One chose to axe the striker form the senior team due to behavioral problems. As explained by Mourinho at the time,

“As far as I’m concerned a young boy like him cannot allow himself to train less than people like Figo, Cordoba or Zanetti. I can’t accept that from someone who is still a nobody, who hasn’t made it yet, who is still a talent with potential.

"He needs to train harder, to understand what are the important things for me which I think are important for him and his future. Because if he was to train half as hard as players like Zanetti and the others, he would be one of the best in the world. But he only trains 25 percent as hard.”

Italian Under-21 coach, Pierluigi Casiraghi, has also has reason to criticise Balotelli for his attitude. Only a month after his troubles began with Inter, in February 2009 Balotelli then irked his international boss by reportedly oversleeping so as to miss a flight to Trieste, where he was due to meet up with the rest of the squad. Said Casiraghi:

“Seeing a lad of his talent who at 18 behaves like this, both with the national team and his club is infuriating.”

Sometimes however, trouble also follows Balotelli. The striker has repeatedly found himself the victim of racial abuse both on and off the field. Incidents have ranged from Roma fans reportedly throwing bananas at Balotelli in a bar, to Juventus being forced to play behind closed doors after their fans were found guilty of racist chanting towards the teenager.

Cute as a somewhat divisive and disruptive figure, risks attach to any move for Balotelli. His potential is undoubted, but his ability to cause trouble comes in a close second. Hammers fans beware.

As I like to say, enough talk. See him.

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Confed Cup: goals from Egypt- Italy and Brazil - USA

Hello, all. It is a warm and gloriously sunny - but hot! - day here in Accra.

It's a rest day in the Fifa Confederations' Cup but I gleaned some videos for you.

Even with a three pointed attack of Giuseppe Rossi, Iaquinta and Fabio Quagriarella, Italy only looked like World Cup winners in the second half on Thursday. And Marcelo Lippi knows that:

“For the first 20-25 minutes we did well. The match was well balanced but we were not aggressive enough, we did not take the initiative,” said Lippi.

“Then Egypt began to play, moving the ball well. When they scored their goal from the corner we stopped playing for the rest of the first half.

“It picked up after the half time. This group of players has the will to react, to reverse things.”

As for Brazil, who beat USA 3-0, they are full of confidence heading into their game with Italy.

Former Arsenal man and Selecao midfielder Gilberto Silva: “We are very comfortable. Everyone is very experienced to deal with the criticism. We did our job. We were very comfortable on the pitch. We learned from our mistakes. Also, the team was not as tired as we were after the last game.”



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Result: Egypt beat Italy. Incredible!

After taking a painful last minute penalty from Kaka's foot, Egypt's players walked out of the stadium with their heads held high - but they had no points to show for it.

Today, they've just beaten Italy 1-0.

A crucial goal by Momonos ensured that the North Africans have proven themselves worthy of the tag of African champs.

They got two yellow cards in the dying minutes of the game to goalie El Hadari and Wael Gomaa.

But who cares?

They've won!

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