(Bolasepak) Ramalan FIFA World Cup versi pemenang

6.6.2010 9.50 a.m

Less than a week before the official kick-off of pertandingan bola sepak terbesar di dunia, dan banyak perkembangan terkini baik dari segi keputusan friendlies dan kecederaan yang dilanda oleh pemain-pemain ternama just adding the spice to this year’s tournament. Kali ni, I would like to tell who am I picking as the possible winner for the whole damn thing. Aku akan rank top 5 pilihan aku berdasarkan potensi dan chances untuk mereka memenangi World Cup. Tanpa membuang masa lagi.

1) Brazil

In my opinion, pilihan paling utama untuk menang kali ni. Under Dunga, they may not be the most fun and visually attractive Brazilian sides in history, but they are the most practical and determined. Defensive mentality yang baik adalah key untuk memenangi apa jua tournament dan Dunga berjaya menyerapkan mentality ini ke dalam skuad Brazil kali ini, terutamanya di bahagian pertahanan dan defensive midfield. Besides that, creative flairs from Kaka and Robinho, accompanied by lethal finishing by forwards such as Luis Fabiano will truly help their cause.

2) Spain

I am installing the EURO 2008 winner behind the Brazilians simply because of one factor; tenacity. Despite the world-class talent that they have, I do not think that they have enough character to go all the way. Namun, harus diingat yang they are very good in all areas. Their three goalkeepers are easily in and fitted into many people’s top 10 goalkeeper list. Their midfield juga adalah yang paling creative di antara 32 nations competing this year. Dengan tahap penyerang-penyerang mereka seperti Torres dan Villa yang terbukti sangat hebat, there will be plenty of goals coming from this European side.

3) Holland

Pasukan Oranje pada kali ini still lagi star-studded just like what they have in the previous years of World Cups. However, ada sense of unity dan lack of ego dalam skuad ni akan menjadi satu petanda yang mereka akan pergi jauh. This team also has a lot of power offensively with the lights of Sneijder, van Persie, Robben (if he’s not injured badly) dan ramai lagi. Selain itu dengan van Bommel, mereka ada midfielder yang boleh bertindak as a brute force in that area. Namun, barisan pertahanan yang kurang solid mungkin merencatkan kempen mereka this time around.

4) England

Pasukan yang akan aku sokong dengan sepenuh hati pada kali ini. The Three Lions might be seen as a bit weak but their tactical awareness and discipline has improved tremendously under Fabio Capello. Mereka pasti akan member impak dalam pertandingan kali ini. The talismanic Wayne Rooney will be key, as his performance can truly define their course in this tournament. Besides that the balanced midfield line-up that they have in their disposal is crucial as they will face various opponents with various style of play throughout the World Cup.

5) Argentina

Perhaps the underdog team besides France among the big nations to go far in this tournament. Tapi aku ada faith in Diego Maradona. He will get his tactics right and get his players head together for the World Cup. Kempen kelayakan yang sangat grueling is a test to their great character in the field. Dan dengan kehadiran perhaps the best football player in the world in Messi, jangan count them out just yet. This side also packs with forwards and attacking midfielders yang full of flair dan talented.

That is my top 5 pick untuk kejohanan kali ni. But let’s not forget the other top nation yang mampu memberi impak yang tersendiri seperti Italy, Germany dan sebagainya. The next entry will focus on the Asian nations yang layak pada World Cup kali ni dan kemampuan mereka untuk leave a good impression this time around.

Notakecil:

-Key players for their nations such as Drogba, Ballack, Mikel and Essien (all playing for Chelsea) are out of the World Cup. Chelsea’s curse I must say.

- Cuti sekolah pula. Looks like I will be more into blogging now that my sisters are conquering the TV set. But I will not be denied when it comes to the World Cup.

- Now that I have the World Cup sticker book, aku akan be heavily involved dalam aktiviti mengumpul stiker, dengan matlamat menyudahkannya sebelum tamat World Cup.

- Academic Writing is starting to haunt me. No worries, that is the work that I want to do.

- Serangan Israel ke atas kapal bantuan ke Gaza is a huge PR mistake on their part. Now the world has been awaken by what they have done towards the people of Palestine.

K-POPified! (part 2)

1.6.2010 3.25 p.m

Let’s continue shall we.

5) 4minute, T-ARA, and f(x) – 3 songs each

Bercerita sedikit tentang 4minute, another energetic girl group that only debuted last year, tapi telah member impak yang sangata significant kepada dunia K-POP as a whole. They have some really catchy tunes under their belt, such as ‘MUZIK’ and their latest track, ‘HuH (Hit ur Heart)’. They even have an ex-Wonder Girls member which is Hyuna. She’s my favorite member dari girl group ini juga. Another charismatic performer and I am digging his solo track ‘Change’, released earlier this year.

Talking about T-ARA, they are the most active and hardworking rookie girl groups of last year with tons of singles and releases. Tapi, the addictive song entitled ‘Bo Peep Bo Peep’ puts them up as a viable and popular idol girl group in Korea. Member kegemaran aku dari grup ni adalah leader mereka, iaitu Eunjeong. She is visually attractive and can rap as well.

Another girl group darI SM Entertainment yang aku minat selain SNSD adalah f(x). This rookie girl group yang debuted pada 2009 ada auranya yang tersendiri. What is more interesting about them is that their members consist of girls from different countries and not just Korea alone. Not a fan of their first two singles, but definitely loving their latest track, ‘NU ABO’. My favorite member is the tomboyish Amber, which is also the rapper within the group and the more masculine, perhaps?

Now that we are done with the girl groups, aku akan beralih focus kepada idol groups lelaki pula. My sisters are huge fan of these groups. I am not into them that much but they do come up with quality and catchy tunes that kept playing in my head. Without further adieu, here it is (rankings is based on the songs that I have when this entry was written):

1) 2PM – 8 songs

First place is of course my favorite from the bunch, 2PM. Perhaps the best and most complete male idol group out there because they come with full package of looks, vocals, and most importantly unbelievable dance move on the stage. They are also so damn funny in variety shows. Actually, they are the first male idol group that caught my attention. Kiranya tak boleh tak tengok mereka perform. I have several tracks from them yang aku truly suka, such as ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Again and Again’ serta ‘Hate You’, but perhaps the best song from them that I like the most is ‘Tired of Waiting’. My favorite member dari grup ni is actually the ex-member, Jay Park. Walaupun dia dah tidak bersama dengan 2PM, I still follow him closely through Youtube. He is a complete entertainer, to say the least.

2) SHINee – 6 songs

SHINee is another group from SM Entertainment yang aku minat. They are a male idol group that is truly refreshing to see, with nice songs under their belt. Yang penting, my sisters are a huge fan of this group. So, I have to follow suit as well and dare I say, minat aku terhadap grup ni grew by each day. Especially loving the addictive track of ‘Ring Ding Dong’. Favorite member aku dari grup ni adalah Minho, simply because all of my sisters are a huge fan of him.

3) Big Bang – 5 songs

The only male idol group out there yang memperjuangkan irama hip-hop. Truly a big fan of this group because they brought in different sound yang sangat best dan menangkap. I have no preference of favorite members kerana just like SNSD, each of them are very unique on their own. But, given a chance aku sangat meminati leader mereka, G-Dragon kerana he is a stylo and trendy guy. Songs daripada merea yang aku minat adalah ‘Lies’ dan ‘Haru Haru’. I just can’t wait for their comeback scheduled for this summer.

4) Super Junior – 4 songs

The premier male idol group out there right now, aku masih lagi terkilan kerana tak dapat pergi ke konsert mereka hari tu. Sayangnya, kedudukan kewangan memaksa aku untuk tidak pergi ke konsert mereka di sini. Anyways, Super Junior consist of (currently) 10 members that are very versatile and talented in every aspect of the K-POP entertainment world. Lagu-lagu kegemaran aku from them is of course ‘Sorry, Sorry’ serta track terbaru mereka ‘Bonamana’. Heechul is my favorite member because he has a very good and hilarious sense of humor whenever he is on a variety show.

Well, itu adalah ranking male idol grup kegemaran aku. Aku nak letak other groups such as 2AM, Beast, MBLAQ, U-KISS dan lain-lain juga. Namun, tahap minat aku belum sampai tahap yang membolehkan aku menulis more about them. Lain kali, mungkin?

Au Revoir.

K-POPified! (part 1)

31.5.2010 5.45 p.m

Kali ni entri aku agak berlainan sedikit and also membuka satu lagi part of this blog that will talk about a new interest of mine iaitu dunia K-POP, atau Korean Pop. Nampaknya, gelombang hallyu has hit me as I am now a big fan of K-POP music scene especially idol groups that are aplenty in Korea right now. It started way back in 2008, kalu aku tak silap. Masa tu sedang menyiapkan assignment video klip that I stumbled across Wonder Girls’ hit single ‘Nobody’ being played on the V Channel. Mula2 just ignoring it than during that the semester break, I found out more about this girl idol group and thus, began my interest in K-POP.

Awal tahun 2009, thanks to one of my friend aku diperkenalkan dengan Girls Generation atau SNSD in short, satu girl group containing 9 angelic girls yang hit dengan lagu ‘Gee’. I will be putting up an entry dedicated to them after this. Long story short, I became a huge K-POP fan. Thanks to beberapa sources such as Internet and channel 303 of Astro (KBS World), dapat juga aku mengikuti perkembangan K-POP scene in Korea. The KBS World channel truly helps me because of its programming that always had something that is K-POP in it, terutamanya dalam variety shows.

From the latest singles and songs, I try to keep myself up-to-date. Kind of a bit obsessive, right? Well, that is the impact of hallyu on nearly all of the Asian countries right now, and perhaps throughout the whole world too. The first part of this series of confession will focus kepada several girl idol groups kegemaran aku. I tried to rank them based on the songs that I had in my MP3 right now. Without further adieu (this ranking is based on the date this entry is written, may change in the future):

1) Girls Generation (SNSD) – 1 full album, 28 songs (!)

Wow, terkejut juga aku bila calculate the amount of SNSD songs that I had. Yes, aku admit yang aku seorang hardcore fan SNSD all the way. Consisting of 9 members, bagi aku, they are truly the best girl group in Korea right now. All of them, from Tifanny, Jessica, Seohyun, Hyoyeon, Sunny, Sooyoung, Yuri, Yoona, and their leader Taeyeon ada charm yang tersendiri yang aku sangat suka. That is why kalau ada yang tanya siapa favorite member SNSD, aku akan jawab semua sekali because I just can’t choose. I will tell more about SNSD in a specially dedicated entry nanti.

2) KARA – 7 songs

Grup that was second in this ranking is KARA. Bagi aku, grup yang sangat cute with catchy songs yang sangat menangkap halwa telinga ni and also trademark dance yang menangkap mata. KARA dianggotai oleh Gyuri as leader, Nicole, Hara, Jiyoung and Seungyeoung. They are also very charming as a group. I have to say my favorite songs from them are the butt-shaking ‘Mister’ and also ‘Lupin’, their latest track that shows a darker and sexier image of them. My favorite member is Nicole, sebab she is such a dorky and funny girl, yet sangat sexy at the same time. Yes, she also speak English very well because she is from the States.

3) Wonder Girls and After School – 5 songs each

Wonder Girls, the first group yang menangkap perhatian aku ke dunia K-POP. They are awesome simply because of ultimately catchy songs and dances. Anak buah JYP yang semakin mencipta nama in the world stage. Of course, lagu kegemaran aku is ‘Nobody’. Kalau dengar sejuta kali sekalipun, I am still not tired of hearing it. They also have several songs such as ‘Tell Me’ and ‘So Hot’ yang sedap didengar. Currently, their newest song entitled 2 Different Tears are currently on the loop in my MP3. Can’t get enough of it.My favourite member is Yoobin, the rapper in the group. Actually, she’s the first girl that I like in K-POP.

After School is the equivalent of Pussycat Dolls. The currently 7 member girl group sangat hebat di atas pentas dengan energetic and charismatic moves. Aku start minat grup ni masa akhir tahun lepas, with their haunting track, ‘Because of You’. Sekarang ni, they are promoting ‘BANG!’ dengan image sebagai sebuah marching band. Ahli kegemaran aku dari grup ni is their leader Kahi. In my opinion the best dancer out there among girl idol groups. She will owned Beyonce anytime. Such an energetic presence on stage. Noona nomu yeepo! (Noona, you’re so pretty!)

4) Brown Eyed Girls – 4 songs

BEG is more to a vocal girl group at first, but as soon as ‘Abracadabra’ kicks in, they become just like the other girl groups as well. ‘Abracadabra’ was such a hit last year, disebabkan oleh the hip-swaying dance move yang menjadi kegilaan K-POP last year, beside the ‘Gee’ dance from SNSD. That song truly put this group on the map. Favorite member from BEG is Narsha, simply because dia seorang yang sangat sempoi (watch Invincible Youth for more) and tak kisah walaupun she is 30 years old this year.

Penat pula tangan ni menaip dan otak ni dalam memilih ayat. Time for a rest and I will finish up this rankings in the next entry. Selain itu I will also ranked my favorite male idol groups too.

Au Revoir.

Notakecil:

-Aku sekarang sedang following closely ‘Cinderella Stepsisters’ series at channel 303. A tear-jerker to say the least. Gugur jugala sedikit air mata ni bila tengok series ni.

- R.I.P Paul Gray (1972 – 2010), bassist Slipknot yang telah pergi pada minggu lepas. I was shocked and sad when I heard the news. Truly a big loss for Slipknot and its Maggots, me included.

- Hopefully akan mendapat keputusan yang baik for last semester. But I doubt it.

- The build up for World Cup is as intense as ever. Aku akan membuat prediction sebaik sahaja kesemua team yang ada telah finalize their 23 man squad.

- A fully relaxing semester break sangat membantu aku dalam merehatkan minda dan badan. Harapnya will be fully charged when the new semester comes around.