For many, the World Cup is the most romantic of all the tournaments up to a certain point, when an elite group take over and relegate Cinderella to “thanks for the memories”. Turns out it’s not quite as romantic in the land of romantics, as 5% of those polled witnessed a relationship dissolve as a result of the tournament. (Isn’t the WC supposed to bring people together?)
The same study says 14% broke the rules at work to watch the Cup during the summer, which leads to the theory most took this survey with a boss standing directly over their shoulder.
According to ESPN, fourteen percent of Americans surveyed said they or a friend broke work rules to watch the tournament in South Africa.
The cable network Monday cited research by Knowledge Networks’ Total Touch that found 77 percent of out-of-home Internet usage during World Cup matches occurred at offices and 50 percent of out-of-home ESPN mobile use was at offices.
Eighteen percent of people said they or a friend wore their favorite team’s World Cup jersey to work during the tournament from June 11 to July 11, and 5 percent said they or a friend broke up with a significant other because of the World Cup.
If the World Cup cause early termination in five percent of relationships, we can safely assume Football Manager is in the high eighties. (Conservatively, of course.)
Confession time: I must admit I did not have high hopes for the highlights of a “World Cup” for those still in the midst of a high school education. I was very, very wrong and rather blown away by the astonishing expertise with which these “women” (they’re girls, really) can hit a Jabulani. The men from the summer’s edition should be blushing in shame.
South Korea beat Japan on Saturday to win the Women’s U-17 World Cup, and it’s a good thing they did or else maternal areas the world one would’ve felt too much pain to continue on. The South Korean keeper, Minah Kim, had an adventurous normal time to say the least: the first Japanese goal was just cruel – how is a child supposed to jump high enough?; the second was a proper Jabulani’ing, which makes her qualified to start for most senior teams of the male persuasion; and the third was a bad spill into the six.
However, she’d have her chance for retribution in extras – South Korea would actually pay back both on their second goal – and Minah would come good, with some added help from So Dam Lee’s monster volley in the 79th to equalize. Maternal areas of the world are now safe, though it’s best not to scope out the Japanese post-game photos.
Superdramatic highlights set to superdramatic metal-cum-choir follow, with an added bonus of some Jabulani specials:
I’d just like to explain something for those not from the States:
Morgan Freeman narrates absolutely everything in the US. Everything. It’s a little-known rule his spoken presence to all things video been added as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution and he’s so omnipresent most Americans wake up from dreams with the sudden urge to watch March of the Penguins. Rumors even suggest Chuck Norris can woo the Sirens, but goes mute around Morgan Freeman.
However, they really dropped the ball by not concluding this video in classic Morgan Freeman form: Pretty please…[dramatic pause]…pretty please. I mean really dropped it.
(And, oh yes, the United States would like the World Cup – like everybody else.)
Much like UEFA’s official match reports, FIFA’s general quotations are laden with bullshit. Sepp’s the galaxial high chief of clowndom, which has been well documented, but it trickles down the organization like some sort of maple from hell, clinging to all in a slow-moving avalanche of inevitability.
Their stance that this was the standard-bearer for all future World Cups might just fall under this effect.
Speaking after a wrap-up meeting in Johannesburg of the board of South Africa’s 2010 local organising committee (LOC) Valcke said South Africa had set ‘the bench mark for future World Cups’.
‘This was rated as the best World Cup ever. It was a fantastic success and Brazil who host the 2014 know they will have a lot of work to do to match South Africa,’ he was quoted by the South African Press Association as saying.
‘But we have time to help Brazil host as good if not better event,’ he added.
Best what exactly? Best football? Because it surely wasn’t. Best organization? The empty stadiums would seem to disagree. Best refereeing? George Best? Best buy? What?
Best job of lining FIFA’s wallets? Well, we might have a winner there, even if we may never know – it’s at least the most plausible theory, since it’s difficult to see just how this World Cup was the best from an overall or majority standpoint. The last quote is more warning than anything: Brazil’s going to have to make it rain.
Slovakia have already upset Russia at home – which other teams are capable of following their lead?
The Euro 2012 qualifiers are underway, and though it is still early in the process, it is never too early to start making predictions! At this point, most teams have already played two games and its mathematically possible for every team to still qualify. There is no guarantee that the teams struggling (or excelling!) now will continue that trend. Afterall, a lot can happen between now and the end of qualification (October 2011) – players can get injured, lose their place on their club team, lose confidence, become embroiled in off-field scandals etc. Of course, things can also improve and get better. But despite all these “what ifs” – there are a few teams that look like they can beat the odds to qualify for the tournament hosted by Poland & Ukraine in 2012.
Before we get into my nominations – I’d like to clarify what I mean by “surprise.” No one wants to hear that their team isn’t considered a European heavy-weight that strikes fear into the heart of their opponents fans. I wouldn’t be too offended. Frankly, a lot of those so-called heavy-weights that always qualify (France, Italy) have been less than impressive- and at the most recent World Cup those same ‘giants’ were the teams least able to put on an intimidating performance.
For the purposes of this list, I only considered teams eligible if they hadn’t qualified for a major senior international tournament since Euro 2004. Meaning that Slovakia – who already gave their fans a reason to book their Euro qualifying tickets by upsetting Russiain Moscow- are ineligible for this list….
And without further ado…my nominees!
Norway: They haven’t qualified for a major international tournament in a decade (Euro 2000) but they’ve looked strong in their recent outings since the World Cup. Their recent displays have demonstrated why they are the only team to have played Braziland not lost yet (2 wins, 1 draw). In August, they beat France 2-1 at home in a friendly and won both of their qualification games earlier this month (2-1 vs Iceland away, 1-0 vs Portugal at home). Most football fans will be familiar with players like John Arne Riise and John Carew – but they may surprised when they see Toulouse’s Daniel Braaten lead the line for Norway. Braaten has already scored 3 goals and made 1 assist in Ligue 1 this season, enjoying the spotlight since Gignac’s departure for Marseillethis summer.
Scotland: They haven’t qualified for a World Cup or European Championship since 1998. In their first two games, they accumulated 4 points (0-0 vs Lithuania away,2-1 vs Liechtenstein at home) – the same number of points they had after their first two games during qualification for World Cup 1998. In 2009, the selection for Scotland’s national team went through a major transition as the team’s captain, Barry Ferguson, and Allen McGregor were (initially) banned from every representing Scotland again. Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher later became the captain and leads a team that is capable of continuing Scotland’s legacy of being both fantastically good and bad.
Belarus: Belarus have never qualified for either a World Cup finals tournament or European Championship. Yet they sit tied with Albania on points at the top of Group D – which includes France, Bosnia & Herzegovinaand Romania. They beat Les Bleus in the opening game of the campaign at Stade de France in Paris before drawing with Romania in game two. Both Aleksandr and VyacheslavHleb showcased their ability to anchor and lead the team in both games – providing Belarus fans with a chance to cheer for their national team for the first time in a major international tournament in their own neck of the woods.
Israel: Its been 40 years since Israel qualified for a major international tournament – last making the cut in 1970 when they won the chance to compete at the Mexico edition of the World Cup. In the 1950s and 1960s they were a successful team in the Asian region, placing 3rd or better in 4 consecutive tournaments between 1956 and 1968. However, since gaining European membership in 1994 – they have come close but ultimately failed to qualified for the European Championship each tournament. For 2012, they are tied on 4 points with Croatia, who sit on top of the group, having beaten Malta 3-1 at home and produced a draw with Georgia away. October will be a tough month that will test their qualification credentials because they will face Croatia andGreeceback-to-back. But with players like Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea), Tal BenHaim (West Ham) and Biram Kayal (Celtic) they stand of chance of collecting a few points from those matches.
My name is Mamudu Nurudeen popularly known as Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious born on 25 Feb. 1985, to Mr Mamudu and Hajia Safura at Bawku Central in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
I am currently a student of Sunyani Polytechnic offering HND General Agriculture.
I am also a freelance Journalist, a motivational speaker and the founder of PERSONALITY AND HUMAN RELATIONS (PHR)
PLEASE THIS WEBSITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION
For many, the World Cup is the most romantic of all the tournaments up to a certain point, when an elite group take over and relegate Cinderella to “thanks for the memories”. Turns out it’s not quite as romantic in the land of romantics, as 
Confession time: I must admit I did not have high hopes for the highlights of a “World Cup” for those still in the midst of a high school education. I was very, very wrong and rather blown away by the astonishing expertise with which these “women” (they’re girls, really) can hit a Jabulani. The men from the summer’s edition should be blushing in shame.
Much like UEFA’s official match reports, FIFA’s general quotations are laden with bullshit. Sepp’s the galaxial high chief of clowndom, which has been well documented, but it trickles down the organization like some sort of maple from hell, clinging to all in a slow-moving avalanche of inevitability. 
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