World Cup 2010 Blog: “Larissa Riquelme Gives Everyone a Reason to Support Paraguay” plus 4 more

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• Larissa Riquelme Gives Everyone a Reason to Support Paraguay
• Oscar Tabarez: A Man So Bold.
• Spanish Superskills With Juan Mata
• Nigerian President Suspends Super Eagles From International Football
• Ashley Cole Hates England. And All Its People.

Larissa Riquelme Gives Everyone a Reason to Support Paraguay Posted: 30 Jun 2010 02:13 PM PDT I didn’t know who Larissa Riquelme was before today. I’d seen her picture in Chris’ World Cup Awards post last week (and had felt an overwhelming desire to make phone calls for the rest of the day) and had seen multiple photos of her since, but had assumed the attractive lady in red, white and blue was just a particularly stunning soccer fan. Turns out she’s actually a Paraguayan lingerie model with massive massive… enthusiasm for la albirroja. I should credit Dirty Tackle with my putting two and two together and figuring out who Riquelme was: Described as Paraguay’s No. 1 fan, Riquelme is a model like so many others you’ve never ever heard of but seen pictured in popular alleys of the Internet. Yet because of her emphatic support of her national team and the hypnosis she holds over cameras far and wide, she now overflows from the pages of leading sports sites like Spain’s AS.com, Italy’s Corriere dello Sport, Brazil’s Globo, and has become one of the most popular names in search engines and on Twitter. On Tuesday, Larissa Riquelme searches on Yahoo rocketed 241%. Good news for lovers of, erm, enthusiasm is that when Brazil’s Globo suggested Larissa Riquelme match Diego Maradona’s promise to run naked through the streets should her team win the World Cup, she answered “Of course, but with my body painted with the colors of Paraguay.” So there you have it. If Argentina wins the World Cup we get to see Diego Maradona naked in Buenos Aries. If Paraguay wins the World Cup we get to see Larissa Riquelme naked in Asuncion. I know Argentina plays the more attractive football, but I think I’d prefer a closer look at Riquelme’s enthusiasm than whatever it is Maradona hides under his clothes. If you need any extra persuading to support Paraguay, here are a few more images of Larissa Riquelme supporting Paraguay: Viva la albirroja!!!

Oscar Tabarez: A Man So Bold. Posted: 30 Jun 2010 12:45 PM PDT He may not garner the attention of Diego Maradona, incur the wrath like Dunga or keep the world on the edge of its seat like Loco Bielsa, but Oscar Tabarez is making a name for himself in the inane world of South American coaches. It’s largely due to the exception “start” – if you can call it that – of Uruguay, but it certainly helps that he’s still throwing in his little quirk of naming the lineup days ahead of a match. Even so, you’d think he’d play his cards close to the vest for a World Cup quarterfinal. Never. The lineup’s below, and he dares Milovan Rajevac & Co. to scheme against it. The coach, known as The Master because of his days as a schoolteacher, often names his team well before a match. Asked by reporters to do so on Wednesday, he simply shrugged his shoulders and rapidly reeled off the names. They were Fernando Muslera, Diego Lugano, Mauricio Victorino, Jorge Fucile, Maximiliano Pereira, Diego Perez, Egidio Arevalo, Edinson Cavani, Alvaro Fernandez, Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan. Part of the reason he’s able to do this is that Uruguay is so adept at changing tactical faces on the fly the personnel is largely irrelevant. They could play four strikers – and it’s close – and still run out a 5-4-1 team picture in front of Fernando Muslera. One of the most versatile teams at this World Cup, and to scheme against them means long, sleepless nights with a crack team of analysts and a minority stock in Red Bull. That said, it’s still incredibly ballsy to lay one’s cards on the table and say “beat me now”, whether that’s only half the story or not. One could even say he’s really laying his beef on the grill, and unveiling a whole lot more than his Little Diego given what’s on the line.

Spanish Superskills With Juan Mata Posted: 30 Jun 2010 10:33 AM PDT There’s a two day break in World Cup action, so we don’t have any goal or other match highlights to share today. But that’s OK. Because what we do have is this footage from one of Spain’s practice sessions in which young Valencia attacker Juan Mata completely befuddles Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol with a trick so complex I have no idea what to call it. It’s a roll, it’s a change of direction, it’s maybe a crossover, it’s definitely a nutmeg. It’s good enough to warrant a celebration. It’s the sort of trick that makes me wish YouTube had a slow motion button. I want to study this move in detail and then fall over while trying to repeat it. Don’t expect to see Mata pulling this out during an actual World Cup game though. The 22 year old has so far only played 20 minutes of Spain’s campaign. Which I think underlines the quite unfair level of talent that currently exists in this Spain squad. Can anyone explain the Madonna “Like a Prayer” soundtrack though?

Nigerian President Suspends Super Eagles From International Football Posted: 30 Jun 2010 09:07 AM PDT The important thing when getting knocked out of the World Cup is not to overreact. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just the end of your tournament. So you dust yourself off, get ready to start again and prepare to do better in the next tournament. Goodluck Jonathan disagrees. The Nigerian President was apparently so disappointed with the Super Eagles’ World Cup performance (finishing bottom of Group B) that he’s suspended the team from international competition for two years. “Mr President has directed that Nigeria will withdraw from all international football competition for the next two years to enable Nigeria to reorganise its football,” Ima Niboro, Jonathan’s senior communications adviser, told reporters. “This directive became necessary following Nigeria’s poor performance in the ongoing FIFA World Cup,” he said. So if Goodluck Jonathan gets his way, Nigeria won’t even enter qualification for Africa Cup of Nations 2012. Because… that will help Nigeria prepare for future international tournaments? I don’t follow. What I do follow, is that Jonathan appears to have found a loophole in FIFA’s strict policy against government meddling. Usually any government interference results in FIFA suspending the national team from all international football. Which is usually a punishment too great for the government to risk. But in this case… since President Jonathan actually wants to suspend Nigeria from international football, FIFA’s reaction plays right into hands. So well played President Jonathan, if you pull this off you are officially the first politician to outmaneuver Sepp Blatter. So well done. But it’s still a terrible idea. For more on the Super Eagles, (who we’re guessing will be playing in the next two years), check in with Nigeria World Cup Blog

Ashley Cole Hates England. And All Its People. Posted: 30 Jun 2010 08:06 AM PDT One of the few – very few – bright spots of England’s miserable World Cup campaign was the form of Ashley Cole. The England left back had a decent World Cup 2010, and has avoided most of the criticism directed at the team by, well, everyone who saw the team play in South Africa. But a story in The Sun yesterday has ruined all that. Apparently, before the World Cup, Cole updated his status on his Blackberry (supposed to be visible to only a closed network of people) to read: “I hate England and the f***ing people!” Nice one Ashley Cole. Because now they probably feel the same way. The Sun did allow Cole to comment on his status update, explaining that “I always try my hardest for England and Chelsea but the intrusion and pressure I feel is making my life hell.” Which would be a good excuse if Cole didn’t attract said attention by doing things like cheating on his super-hot ex-wife and sending out status updates about how he hates England all its people. I’m still not sure how The Sun got hold of Cole’s private status update, or what sort ethical boundaries they trampled to do so. But I know the basic equation here is that if Cole had not been dumb enough to insult an entire nation, then he wouldn’t now have that same nation about to hate him back tenfold. Am I overreacting, or is this the sort of scandal that ends in international retirement?

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