i Dream, i Conquer, i Succeed!

Fabio Capello has set the bold target of steering England to the semi-finals of the World Cup at the very least, thereby emulating the national team’s best performance at the tournament since the trophy was won in 1966.

The Italian has had to contend over the past month with injuries to key personnel and serious allegations over his players’ personal lives – one of them cost John Terry the captaincy – together with confirmation that the England team hotel had been bugged before last week’s friendly against Egypt. Yet those distractions have not doused his enthusiasm for a role he accepted a little over two years ago, with his basic target now to take the team beyond the quarter-finals, where Sven-Goran Eriksson twice came unstuck, in South Africa this summer. @Guardian

The government has faced repeated riots over its failure to provide proper homes for millions of people, nearly 16 years after the advent of democracy.

Now squatters are vowing to cause chaos as the global spotlight falls on the host nation when the month-long tournament kicks off in June.

Police could be forced to flood high-risk zones to protect foreign fans from demonstrations which commonly involve the throwing of stones and burning tyres.

The latest threats came on Tuesday in Mamelodi East, a sprawling area of shacks where thousands live without electricity or running water five miles from 2010 host city Pretoria. @Telegraph

Ronaldinho is confident that he can win back his place in the Brazil squad for the World Cup. “I can even play in midfield.”

The Milan star will take to the field in tonight’s Champions League clash with Manchester United.

He has recently been snubbed by Seleçao boss Carlos Dunga, who also dropped teammate Alexandre Pato.

“If I continue to play well with Milan, then I will be part of the squad,” assured Ronaldinho on a Brazilian radio station.

“My objective is to prove I’m going through a good period of form and can help Brazil in the World Cup. @Italia

Back in the days when his peerless prose used to light up the Observer, Clive James used to say that whenever Jane Fonda came out and said something with which he agreed, it made him stop and think in order to re-evaluate his position.

Most people feel the same way about Sepp Blatter. It is easy to laugh at the Fifa president, who often seems deliberately to cultivate an air of the eccentric, and even easier to assume he and his organisation are always in the wrong, pontificating as they do from their Swiss mountain top about what goes on in the distant valley below. @Guardian

To celebrate the countdown to World Cup kickoff, it’s always best to look for the hottest and coolest. Let’s count the days down!

How much is winning a World Cup actually worth? This year, it would seem, that it is more valuable than ever. But is money more important than happiness?

When measuring economies these days two factors are generally considered, money and happiness. A “Happiness Index” is a tool that has been developed to measure the gross national happiness of a country, and in recent times it has become a more accurate tool than by measuring the old GDP.

When the World Cup kicks off in South Africa this summer, FIFA will have set aside some £250 million for prize money. A huge amount you will agree, especially when you consider that the prize money on offer in 2006 was only £140 million. @Bleacher

Fabio Capello’s World Cup preparations have been thrown further into disarray by an illegal recording of an England team meeting before last week’s friendly against Egypt.

The FA launched an investigation into how a bug was planted in a meeting room at the team hotel in Hertfordshire.

It is thought the spies have a six-hour recording and FA lawyers have moved to block any publication of the material, claiming a flagrant breach of privacy laws.

While Capello hoped Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Wembley had brought a scandal-ridden few weeks to a more positive conclusion, the England manager will now be bracing himself for yet more controversy. @Dailymail

“Football is perfect,” declared Fifa’s suits this weekend. “Time for lunch.”

So it’s a ‘No’ to video technology, even for goal-line decisions. “The door is closed. Let’s keep the game of football as it is,” said Jerome Valcke, Fifa’s general secretary.

“We very much appreciate the human side of the game, the debate, the controversy, that’s why the board has taken this decision,” added Patrick Nelson, head of the Irish FA, a body whose opposition to eradicating mistakes is particularly odd given events in Paris last year. @Telegraph

Luciano Moggi has backed Mario Balotelli’s World Cup bid, but he doesn’t believe Italy will win the trophy.

He has told Nazionale coach Marcello Lippi to include the Inter striker so that the Azzurri’s chances of World Cup success are increased.

“The game between Inter and Genoa was one where Mario Balotelli did not shine too much,” Moggi told Gold Sport.

“But people like the torments. First we had Antonio Cassano, and now we have Mario Balotelli and the World Cup. @Goal

Fifa’s press release detailing the decision to “shut the door” on goal-line technology was still being prepared yesterday when the FA Cup quarter-final at Fratton Park confirmed the need for it. With Birmingham City trailing 2-0 and 10 minutes remaining, Liam Ridgewell headed the ball over the line only for Portsmouth’s goalkeeper, David James, to scramble it back into play. The linesman, David Watts, given one look from 30 yards, through the netting, decided the ball had not crossed the line. Within seconds, ITV’s coverage showed it had. There were no further goals as Portsmouth held on to reach a Wembley semi-final.

“We should have had a lifeline with a perfectly legitimate goal,” said Alex McLeish, Birmingham’s manager. “If that goes in, I would not back against my team coming back, they have done it before this season. @Independent