The Whole Delivery

Former Chelsea teammates status for the World Cup has appeared to improve from Saturday big time (Photos from Getty Images and AFP) Well what do you know, both Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba could not only be available for this World Cup, but they could even play in the opening games of the tournament! First, on the Bundesliga player of the year's situation : Arjen Robben has confirmed he has a small tear in his left hamstring but is hoping intense physiotherapy will help him take part in the FIFA World Cup™. The Netherlands star came on as a half-time substitute in Saturday's 6-1 thrashing of Hungary and scored two goals before being forced off five minutes from time. The initial diagnosis was gloomy but Robben is hoping he can still play a key role in South Africa. With the game being a week away, that greatly improved the chance of Robben playing in comparison to if the game was on the first several days of the tournament. Now towards Drogba, and how his arm will no...

( This is Sports Thread #1 For 6/4/10 ) (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott) It seems that if you are from Chelsea, you are just meant to get hurt for this cup : Ivory Coast lost captain Didier Drogba to injury during its 2-0 win over Japan in a warmup for the World Cup on Friday. Drogba limped off with pain in his groin and right hip after a high 15th-minute challenge by Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka. Two minutes earlier, Ivory Coast scored when Drogba's 24-yard free kick was deflected by Tulio into his own net. Drogba's shot took two deflections, the second off Tulio, to deceive Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and bounce slowly into the bottom right-hand corner. Two minutes later, Drogba and Tulio clashed feet high in the air as the Ivorian captain flicked the ball over the defender's head. Drogba refused a stretcher and limped off to be replaced by Seydou Doumbia. Now the Ivory Coast have good depth at forward from Kalou to Kone to Dindane. But...

Photo from Rebecca Naden of PA Well, the "most exciting league" in the world returns (though La Liga is the best league in the world) with another glorious season of football (soccer) in store for the millions and millions of masses around the world. It has already been an action packed opening afternoon around the country in England, with terrific goals and surprising dominance by almost all the road teams. One of those road teams were Hull, and they almost picked off an impressive point on the road against title contenders Chelsea. But the brilliance of Didier Drogba prevented that, with two fabolous goals to break the backs of the Hull supporters in a great 2-1 Chelsea win. And also, the love for the legend that was Sir Bobby Robson has been so hurt felt today throughout the country. It was the perfect opener to Manchester City's season today, as Mark Hughes beat his old side Blackburn 2-0 off of goals from one of his new much ballyhooed Emmanuel Adebayor and last yea...