Wales face Germany at Borussia Park, Monchengladbach, this Wednesday. The 54,000 capacity ground is home to Borussia Monchengladbach and is one of the most passionate stadiums in Germany. Dusseldorf is the largest city to Monchengladbach and is connected by an S-Bahn line. For a more cultural experience, staying in Dusseldorf might be the best bet, but Monchengladbach has enough of its own pubs and restaurants if you are only on a short stay. Monchengladbach has a population of about 260,000 people. Book hotels in Monchengladbach Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags World Cup soccer football Monchengladbach Germany Betting

'If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well, It were done quickly' - Macbeth (Scotsman), William Shakespeare (Englishman) Team GB is getting ridiculous. The prospect of Britain fielding a football team at the 2012 Olympics should have been something to celebrate after years of absence. Instead it is fast becoming an almighty calamity. For years, I watched in envy as other nations played soccer in the Olympics, but it was never a huge loss for us to be left out. Now we have finally been invited to (our own) party, we are umming and erring so much we might not even end up going. There are two immovable obstacles at the heart of the current furor, which shows no signs of abating. One is that the UK is four nations in one and those four nations are the oldest football associations in the world, with privileged seats on FIFA’s International Board but in danger of disappearing if enough FIFA nations choose to dissolve them into a UK team. And second is that the UK has no choice but to host an Olympics football tournament in four years. Plus, FIFA President Sepp Blatter does not have the right to veto congress decisions, and in any case is equivocating and fudging the issue instead of showing a clear lead. To complicate matters further, Scottish Nationalists are the largest party in the Edinburgh parliament at the moment and plan an independence vote two years before the Games. What a mess. Try explaining this situation to anyone from outside the UK and you are met by baffled looks. Most Europeans irritatingly use ‘English’ to mean anyone from the UK or even the British Isles. Oddly enough, Americans are more on the ball when it comes to using the right adjective, perhaps because of their diverse origins. I once found myself on the wrong end of a Welsh fist in Cardiff for the crime of having an English accent, and twice in Britain, once at Hampden Park for Scotland v England and once at the Millennium Stadium for Wales v Northern Ireland, have I witnessed the British national anthem deafeningly booed. This is four nations, not one, when push comes to shove. So if there is a solution, it is in a political division which would end the football arguments once and for all. But given this is unlikely to happen by 2012, we are left with an insoluble conundrum. However funny it is to see the Tartan Army in a tizzy, their fears are not to be sniffed at. Four votes is not enough to stave off an African rebellion in FIFA corridors. If we just made our excuses and left before the Games begin that might solve the problem, but refusing to enter a team will also look silly given the tournament is to be staged in Britain. Will Wembley sell out without a GB eleven? And will the IOC not want a GB team there given football normally attracts huge crowds at the Games. Nobody seems to have mentioned their wishes in this debate. And how many international competitions can you recall which did not have a host nation? And since this is the homeland of the sport, there really must be some sort of British team competing. So what the heck do we do? A playoff between the four home nations’ U23 teams could allow one to represent Team GB and still stay under FIFA’s umbrella, but this just seems too far-fetched a possibility. However sensible it might seem, I just cannot see it happening. The Celtic FAs are already dead set against anything ‘GB’ but it might be worth a shot trying to persuade them. The best the Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh FAs can realistically do therefore, is continue to refuse to participate and voice their opposition as shrilly as they can. That also means they insist that Cardiff and Glasgow are not used as venues for the football as planned. What games there are must take place in England alone and Team GB must be made up of only English players, like it was when we used to enter a team and no-one cared a hoot. If that means the fans sing ‘Ing-ger-land’ and wave St George’s Crosses, all well and good: That will help the Celts’ cause. But an all-English team singing ‘God Save the Queen’ in Scotland or Wales??? P-lease! Maybe only when the rest of the world sees British people booing the British anthem and cheering another country against 'Team GB' would they understand what this is all about. When London 2012 is over and Team GB has lost to Croatia or on penalties to Germany, then we can all go back to watching the Olympic football on television like we used to and forget about this unprecedented hullabaloo over what should be a simple matter of the hosts fielding a team. Whatever we decide to do, please let's get it over with. "Lord grant that Marshal Wade, May by thy mighty aid, Victory bring. May he sedition hush, And like a torrent rush, Rebellious Scots to crush. God save the Queen!" (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

By Andy Greeves Cardiff City compete in their first FA Cup semi-final since 1927, when they take on Championship rivals Barnsley at Wembley next month. With only one Premiership side left in the famous old competition, never has the Welsh side had such a great chance of bringing the Cup back to Ninian Park for the first time in 81 years. While City fans are concentrating on getting tickets for the big game, the club’s board is focusing on a far greater issue - a make-or-break ruling over the club’s financial future. City’s creditors Langston are taking the Bluebirds to the High Court this week over £24m worth of unpaid loan notes, which chairman Cardiff Peter Ridsdale insists are not due to be repaid until 2016. Should the Swiss-based financier win the court case, Cardiff City would have to make immediate repayments, inevitably forcing the club, already £30m plus in debt, into administration. Cardiff City are fully aware of the precarious nature of their current position, especially given that building work is already underway on the construction of their new £29m stadium. Ridsdale admits that should City lose their legal battle, the ramifications would “materially damage the club”. The knock-on punishment for entering administration would see Cardiff stripped of 10 Championship league points, which would plunge them into the relegation zone. The financial implications of losing their fight would also bring about a mass sale of the club’s best assets. Young stars such as Joe Ledley and Aaron Ramsey would be amongst those likely to leave Ninian Park in a desperate effort to balance the books. The threat of administration has hung over Cardiff City for a number of years, a situation exacerbated by the uncertainty over repayments to Langston. Welsh international Chris Gunter was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £3m back in January, with Cardiff claiming to be in no position to turn down the offer for one of their best players. “The bid was of the magnitude that we had to say yes”, lamented Peter Ridsdale. “It's regrettably one of the facts of life of Championship football is everybody is for sale”. Cardiff’s trips to court may not end with this week’s High Court appearance. Should City win the FA Cup, or be runners up to a Portsmouth side that finishes fifth or above in the Premiership, they would not be eligible to take a place in the UEFA Cup, open to the other remaining FA Cup sides. The English Football Association have stated on numerous occasions that they can’t nominate Cardiff for a place in Europe, on the grounds that they don't have the option to. As Cardiff City are registered with the Welsh Football Association, but play in England, they are deemed ineligable to play in European competition by UEFA, as are Swansea City and Wrexham. Peter Ridsdale has deemed the current ban on Cardiff City competing in Europe as “wholly unacceptable”. It would seem he has point, given that teams in Cardiff’s situation have recently appeared in the UEFA Cup and Champions League. For example, FC Vaduz have played in European competition, despite being a member of the Swiss league. AS Monaco have also been regular members of the UEFA Cup and Champions League, despite the fact that Monaco is an independent principality and the club plays in France. Ridsdale has vowed to take legal action to ensure City would be able to take part in the UEFA Cup next season, should they be in a position to qualify. “If we win the final and are then not put forward to the UEFACup I am sure there will be a lot of people with something to say”, he remarked in Wales’ Western Mail newspaper. “It is completely wrong that a side like Cardiff City can enter a number of mainstream competitions, yet find every avenue to Europe blocked”. Ridsdale is open to the possibility of Cardiff City having a reserve side compete in the Welsh Premier League next season, with the first team continuing to play in the English Football League in order to resolve the issue. Whether this proposal becomes reality is as uncertain as Cardiff’s future. Cardiff City’s new stadium in Leckwith is set to open at the start of the 2009/2010 season, a date by which the Bluebirds had orginally targeted a place in the Premiership. The current nucleus of talented young players and size of the club’s fanbase are reasons to suggest this target is realistic. Given the possibility of Cardiff entering administration, it is equally fesable to suggest the team could be playing in League One in 2009. By which point, they could have added another FA Cup to their honours list or finally broken back into Europe. While perilous, the next few years promise to be anything than dull for Wales’ biggest club. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Disturbing Durban Draw: Oh no, England vs Croatia again!? An unpleaseant realization for England and Croatia: these teams will meet each other again in the European zone of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers! The whimsical Lady Luck decided that competing alongside England and Croatia in the Group 6 will be Ukraine, Belarus, Kazahstan and Andorra. The draw has not amused the English fans, with the wound inflicted by Croatia very fresh, but the trips to Kiev, Minsk and Almaty cannot be pleasant either. Ukraine, the quarterfinalists of the last World Cup, have had a meagre Euro qualifying campaign, but cannot be easily dismissed, specially in the early stages of the new qualification cycle. The odd Belarus side proved capable of losing at home to Luxembourg, winless for ages, but also of defeating Holland on the last day of the competition. Kazahstan offer more of the same uncertainty: the Asians kicked out Serbia from Euro by beating them 2-1 last March. They will also naturally want to avenge Englishman's Sacha Baron Cohen's massive insult dealt upon the whole nation through the infamous movie featuring Borat, one of Cohen's alteregos.