I am starting to plan the trip to South Africa. Fun fun fun!

Brazil will play first two games in Johannesburg (Korea DPR and Ivory Coast) and then off to Durban (to play Portugal). All that is very exciting… until you actually start bumping into prices. I already have the tickets to follow Brazil… but that is not even the beginning of my headaches.

A plane ticket from JFK (I am in New York) to Johannesbourg goes for about 2k… not a joke. I heard some people saying $1300 so if you are one of the blessed ones who have found it at that price please share the goods. Hotels are not even an option unless I become part of the Hilton faimily (or the Marriot family? Or Bill Gates family?), or something… So looking at home rentals will be another 3k at least.

Car? 800 dollars. If they don’t up the price just because it is World Cup time.

Just… awesome…

Yep… I better start making some serious money!

It is hard to imagine a worse season than the one Portsmouth are suffering at the moment. The extravagant and irresponsible excesses of recent years are unravelling by the day as the club careers towards financial meltdown.

Portsmouth’s Premier League odds already make grim reading, but a clutch of incidents this week have left the club on the edge.

The start of the week actually brought good news, with the Premier League partially lifting the club’s transfer embargo, allowing them to sign players on loan and on a free transfer. Ghana striker Quincy Owusu-Abeyie signed on loan to lighten the gloom.

But as the week progressed things took a downward path. It was revealed that talks had taken place with Spurs over the transfer of Younes Kaboul and Amir Begovic. Portsmouth have a threadbare squad as it is so further player sales would put their ability to name a full match day squad into doubt. But with debts of £60 million the bills have to paid somehow and it looks like further player sales are the answer.

However, these talks took place without the knowledge of boss Avram Grant or chief executive Peter Storrie. The talks were handled instead by Daniel Azougy, the Israeli lawyer employed by the club’s owners to look after Portsmouth’s finances, despite his convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice in Israel. Angry at their exclusion both Grant and his chief executive might resign with Storrie admitting his position was untenable.

It gets worse.

An email was sent to club staff warning that their wages may not be paid on time for the fourth time this season and a humiliating week was capped when the club website being taken offline by the clubs digital partner due to unpaid fees. It returned after a few hours when a new payment plan was agreed but the damage to the clubs flagging reputation had been done.

The south coast club face a winding up petition on February 10th and given the events of this week it is hard not to see them becoming the first Premier League side to fall into administration. A sad sorry tale of a club mismanaged from top to bottom, Pompey have not heeded the lessons of Leeds United’s excesses ten years ago.

Their FA Cup triumph in 2008 was supposed to have heralded a great new era for the club. Instead it may be the last major trophy the club will ever win.

The football odds suggest Portsmouth will be playing Championship football next season, but they might not last that long.

image: AP

With more than half the season gone the table has finally settled down and we now know who will be competing for what in the coming weeks.

At the foot of the table crisis club Portsmouth have crammed a decade’s worth of problems into this season alone, and not just on the pitch. With all the uncertainty off it they understandably sit dead last and I can’t see them moving any higher. Their football odds show just what a poor state the team is in.

Above them it looks like a five way tussle between Bolton, Burnley, Hull, Wolves and West Ham. I think the Hammers have enough quality to pull clear but there is also boardroom uncertainty at Upton Park, so the January transfer window could be crucial for them. Hull and Wolves are my tips to slip back down.

The likes of Wigan, Stoke and Blackburn are unlikely to trouble the top half of the league anytime soon, but I feel they should be able to keep their heads above water.

At the other end of the table it is proving to be one of the most fascinating seasons in years. The big four cartel could be broken for the first time in five years, with Man City, Spurs and Villa all vying for 4th spot as Liverpool struggle. Behind them Birmingham and an ever improving Fulham are proving to be the surprise packages of the season. The Champions League might be a step too far, but a spot in next season’s Europa League is not an unrealistic aim for these clubs.

At the very top it has become a three horse race, with Arsenal hitting form at just the right moment. A win at home to Bolton on Wednesday will see them overtake Chelsea at the summit, just a month after falling 12 points behind them following a 3-0 home defeat by Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

At Old Trafford Manchester United are looking more vulnerable than they have done in some time. Without Ronaldo, who was their jewel in the crown, a lot of pressure has been heaped on Wayne Rooney and while the England star is delivering he is getting precious little support. Meanwhile injuries at the back mean United’s defence has been unusually porous this season. A fourth straight title might be beyond Fergie’s current crop and the Premier League title betting reflects this.

With no clear distance between the sides fighting it out at the top and bottom it is still all to play for at either end of the league, meaning it could be one of the closest and most exciting Premier League seasons yet. Just don’t ask me to predict the outcome.

Seriously, I cannot believe this guy. Is the World Cup really the only thing that motivates him to do what he just did yesterday? Whatever it is… I like it. Watch below all the goals from AC Milan 4 – 0 Siena.

Early January will not come near the top of the list in any ‘best time of the year polls’.

The post-Christmas Blues kick in as the decorations are put away and everyone trudges back to work, wrapped up against the cold, wind and rain.

But hidden amongst the winter gloom is one of the best and most famous days of the footballing year – FA Cup Third Round day.

For fans, it is another chance to dream of greater things to come, of a day out in the sun at Wembley, of the captain lifting the famous old trophy aloft.

Last year it was Chelsea and Everton who held those dreams. The Londoners nearly crashed out against Southend in the Third Round last year but recovered in the replay to go all the way to Wembley, taking out London rivals Arsenal on the way. Everton meanwhile faced Mersey rivals Liverpool in the 4th round, eventually coming out on top thanks to a last minute extra time replay winner from youngster Dan Gosling. The likes of Aston Villa and Manchester United were dispatched en-route to their first Cup final for 14 years.

In the end, despite the quickest goal in Cup Final History from Louis Saha, Chelsea came out on top thanks to Didier Drogba and a moment of magic from Frank Lampard, on a baking hot day in London.

The Wembley sun seems a long way away as the winter rain tumbles down but the two finalists for 2010 will take their first steps next weekend. But who will make it through?

Holders Chelsea will begin their defence away at Watford – the team they knocked out en-route to Wembley last year. Everton also face lower league opposition in the shape of Carlisle United, wary of two years ago when Oldham came to Goodison and dumped the Toffees out of the competition.

Elsewhere it’s Lancashire v Yorkshire at Old Trafford where Leeds United cross the Pennines to face United. Aston Villa v Blackburn and West Ham v Arsenal are two all Premier League ties while Man City and Liverpool face tricky trips to Middlesbrough and Reading respectively.

Whoever falls and progresses amongst the 64 teams involved, expect cup shocks, unlikely heroes and fallen giants. The Christmas turkey may have been eaten, the last cracker may have been pulled, but FA Cup Third Round day is one last Christmas present to help you get through January!

Messi took his first FIFA World Player award home by beating C. Ronaldo (who had 352 points against his 1,073). Xavi was third, Kaka fourth and Iniesta fifth. Very well deserved.

Marta took the award for the fourth consecutive time, something never achieved before by male or female player. And she deserves it more then anyone out there. The superiority of her game and skills make it impossible for anyone to win. Germany’s Prinz was second with 290 points (Marta had 833), Kelly Smith had 252, and Cristiane had 239.