Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research

With his sunny disposition and a booming voice which echoes around the hotel and his kitchen, Erich Garber has been a big personality in Jeju over the past couple of weeks. But over the past few days the 38-year-old Austrian has been swamped by the arrival of six teams on the honeymoon island.

Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho insisted Friday that Barcelona are more motivated than ever to win back the title they surrendered to Real Madrid last season.

Qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ will soon be getting underway on the host continent. In October, Africa will be staging their first knockout matches - the first step on the road to South Africa 2010. Since the host nation have qualified automatically, there will be 52 countries taking part in three qualifying rounds, all of them hoping to secure one of five spots up for grabs.

On the eve of the final Group D matches, few would bet against Nigeria remaining perched in top spot come Saturday evening. Then again, anything is possible in football. Just take Haiti, who are still on course for an unprecedented, not to say miraculous, surge into the Round of 16, after coming from behind to snatch a well-earned draw with France. This precious point has not only instilled their whole nation with a sense of pride, it has also left the Caribbean dreamers with an outside chance of qualification. First however, they must overcome the champions of Africa, a mission which France and Japan have already failed to accomplish.