World Cup 2010 Blog: “Things Wayne Rooney Likes.” plus 8 more

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• Things Wayne Rooney Likes.
• Denmark World Cup Team Profile
• MTV’s World Cup Ad Campaign
• Ganso, Robinho and Neymar’s “Single Ladies” Commercial
• World Cup Will Set Social Media Records
• Daily Dose: From Man Love To May 13th, 2010.
• Ghana World Cup 2010 Profile
• 11 Best Reasons to Watch the World Cup in HD
• Soundoff: Which Teams Could Win the World Cup, Realistically?

Things Wayne Rooney Likes. Posted: 14 May 2010 04:40 AM PDT Things Wayne Rooney likes, via the internet. If life were described by the internet, it would be better. What Wayne likes: Goals. Daddy Capello/Playing centrally. “Capello instills fear, like a severe dad,” said Rooney. ”He has explained to us how to do everything. Now I’m playing further forward and in the middle of the penalty area. “It was Capello who suggested this to me. Now I know how to make different moves in the area. He has taught me so much from a tactical point of view. He has also given me a leading role with the England team. People who don’t wink. Youthful indiscretions. “Foolish as it now seems I did on occasions visit massage parlours and prostitutes. “I now regret it deeply and hope people may understand that it was the sort of mistake you make when you are young and stupid.” – 18 year old Wayne Rooney. More goals. The occasional elbow. Demoing shit. Smithy. The occasional dive. Dirty Sanchez & friends. Being a boss. *** Wayne Rooney: Brilliant. Gifted. Tempermental. Wears Nike. Loves England. Like a boss. Remember the name. |Part of our series A Casual Guide to World Cup 2010|

Denmark World Cup Team Profile Posted: 14 May 2010 03:40 AM PDT They didn’t shock the world, but the manner in which Denmark made the World Cup turned a few heads, beating Portugal in Portugal, Sweden twice and pretty much controlling their own destiny throughout. A second spot may have been likely, but to win the group in such emphatic fashion wasn’t expected. Of course qualifying is only a small fraction of the battle and it’ll mean nothing if they don’t at least match the output in South Africa. Their group isn’t an entirely difficult one – it certainly hasn’t the depth of Group D, for example – but it’s a tricky one, as there isn’t a great deal separating the Danish from Cameroon and Japan. There is, however, a great deal separating the Netherlands from everyone else – which might just make you think an upset could be in order. Morten’s boys would fancy that again. Nickname: The Olsen Gang FIFA World Ranking as of April 28th 2010: 35th Group E Matches: Netherlands v Denmark, June 14th, 4:30p, Johannesburg Cameroon v Denmark, June 19th, 8:30p, Pretoria Denmark v Japan, June 24th, 8:30p, Rustenburg Kit:Seemingly one of the few with collars – red with white accent and visual pattern across the chest pour homme, for home. Buy your Danish kit here. Coach: Morten Olsen. Perhaps no team at the World Cup is as tied to its coach as Denmark – they are, after all, the Olsen Gang – and does he ever deserve it: coached 104 games, played 102. The only man in football history in the international 100-100 club – and a club of one is mighty exclusive. Of course that’s the past. The present is that Denmark put on a show in qualifying, winning their group rather easily, only losing the final and meaningless game, while winning their two most difficult: in Lisbon, in Sweden. The players are due much of the credit, but they are his gang. Key Players: Morten seems to love his old gang, because he uses plenty of ‘em. At the top of the formation is Nicklas Bendtner, long a big prospect maybe coming into his own, along with Jon Dahl Tomasson, on the other end of the cycle – going out on his own. Dennis Rommedahl is getting a bit older as well, but his pace is matched by only a handful in the international game which seals his spot – the same could once be said of Jesper Gronkjaer but age and injuries have made him mortal. Soren Larsen would nestle into the equation but he’s battling an ankle injury and his status is TBA, and 34yo Martin Jorgensen rounds out the veterans with the long teeth. In the midfield is Christian Poulsen, who’s never met an opponent he didn’t infuriate, and with Daniel Jensen he forms a very solid veteran midfield. On the younger side are the more attack-minded and versatile Thomas Kahlenberg and Jakob Poulsen; on the infancy side is attacking mid Christian Eriksen, one of Europe’s next great hopes, compared to That Laudrup Guy and called up at just 18, months after his professional debut. Luckily Denmark have one of Europe’s best young central partnerships in Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer, two enormously gifted defenders who’ll make it tough to get through the line, even if you’re Dutch. (A bit easier if you’re Dutch, probably.) At this point who they’ll be protecting between the sticks is a mystery, as No. 1 Thomas Sorensen has one of those injuries which might just run him up to the tournament. Player with best YouTube video: It’s sometimes worth remembering Nicklas Bendtner is awfully talented. Player with best name: There are so many Poulsen’s and Christensen’s and Jacobsen’s…it just seems nice to switch it up: Thomas Enevoldsen. Still a sen, but not the same. Player with best nickname: Normally first/last combo names like CRon make me CRinge, but it’s hard to think turning Daniel Agger into Dagger is anything less than mandatory. It just fits too well. Qualification: Portugal were the clear favorites heading in, but they faltered, aided by Denmark’s 3-2 win in Lisbon and the Danish just ran away with it, finishing two points atop the group with the only loss with qualification assured. Of course the trip to South Africa might only slightly usurp beating rivals Sweden twice. Interesting: Jon Dahl Tomasson needs one goal to tie Poul Nielsen’s record of 52 and two goals to become the country’s most prolific ever. Of course Tomasson is already well over 100 caps and Nielsen picked his 52 up in 38 games (his career began one century ago), but them’s the breaks. National Anthem: Der er et yndigt land (”There is a lovely land”) World Cup History: Expectations:Again a tricky group, with Netherlands the favorite and Cameroon or Japan with enough ability to make the battle for second a sweat. And though you hate to simply tap the Europeans, if the Danish take their qualifying form into the World Cup, they’re the favorites for second and could be an upset squad in the tournament. Squad: Danish World Cup squad. Blog: Cerberus wears the crown of the Denmark World Cup Blog. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.

MTV’s World Cup Ad Campaign Posted: 14 May 2010 12:10 AM PDT I know what you’re thinking: what does MTV have to do with the World Cup? I rebut: what does MTV have to do with music? Exactly – nothing. This is actually the non-American MTV, where they know that for one month this summer the whole world will be focused on one channel – that one with the funny audio buzz. So they’ve called themselves out on it while slyly poking fun at football fans. (MTV of all people…) They get top grades for the concept, but the commercials themselves are quite odd – which if the few times I’ve flicked by the channel in the last half dozen years is any indication, means it’s business as usual. Russia: Spanish (speaking?): Korea:

Ganso, Robinho and Neymar’s “Single Ladies” Commercial Posted: 13 May 2010 09:10 PM PDT From left to right, that’s Santos attacking trio Ganso, Robinho and Neymar. Don’t they look happy? You will do too if you click below and see the three doing a football themed re-enactment of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” video. Superb. Wondering they those three players are in Brazil kits, and why this ad is World Cup themed? Turns out Seara is a fully paid up member of the World Cup sponsor gang. Of the three players, Robinho is a a fully paid up member of the Brazil World Cup squad, Paulo Henrique Ganso is on Dunga’s seven man reserve list, while Neymar didn’t quite make the cut. So maybe it doesn’t entirely work as a World Cup ad. But it still works. Last but not least, here’s Beyoncé doing her thing in the original: Big thanks to Marco from mCalcio for sending this to tips[at]theoffside[dot]com

World Cup Will Set Social Media Records Posted: 13 May 2010 07:40 PM PDT Do you remember social media at World Cup 2006? We had YouTube, sure, but the videos were a bit blocky. Twitter didn’t properly launch until July 2006 and Facebook wasn’t opened to the general public until that September. So basically social media just missed World Cup 2006. Now it rules the world. Every website has a little f and a little t, and most feature content from the big YT. Every big event drives traffic and usage further. And apparently no event is bigger than World Cup 2010. This didn’t occur to me until CNN pointed it out. But it’s actually kind of obvious. World Cup 2010 will be the biggest thing to ever hit Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and will set records for social media activity. “Football is the world’s biggest sport, so the world will practically stop for the month of the World Cup,” Matt Stone, head of new media for world soccer’s governing body FIFA, told CNN. “There will be so much more media consumed, used and published in 2010 than in 2006. Social media can bring fans closer together and give fans more opportunity to communicate with each other,” he added. But that’s the FIFA guy talking. So we can’t necessarily trust him. What does the Twitter guy have to say? “Our notion is that [the World Cup] will eclipse everything we have seen so far [on Twitter] including the U.S. election, the Oscars or the Super Bowl, simply because it is so international,” Robin Sloan, a Twitter employee that works on media partnerships, told CNN. Which is a timely reminder of just how big a deal this World Cup thingy is. Obviously it’s a big deal to us football fans. It’s the biggest event in the sport we obsess about every day, and it only comes around once every four years. Which – for me at least – makes it easy to forget the very important fact that the World Cup is a big event even for non-football fans. Obligatory reminder: You can find World Cup Blog on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also follow all 32 World Cup team blogs on Twitter and find us on Facebook.

Daily Dose: From Man Love To May 13th, 2010. Posted: 13 May 2010 05:40 PM PDT DaMarcus Beasley’s twitter page has a picture of a keeper grabbing his man parts. He just can’t stop being an exhibitionist, can he? The Palestinian “soap opera for social change”. (The Global Game) Treating professional footballers to a pizza party. (Dirty Tackle) Pondering Spain’s Plan C. (Just Like Watchin’ Brasil) Making friends at the Dutch WCB. (Netherlands WCB) The World Cup going green? (euronews) Breaking down the La Liga weekend. (La Liga Loca) Another quiz to consume your Friday. (Avoiding The Drop)

Ghana World Cup 2010 Profile Posted: 13 May 2010 04:01 PM PDT They were one of the big stories at World Cup 2006, the debutant emerging from one of the more difficult groups in shocking fashion and making us think Razak Pimpong is a lot better at football than he really is. (He’s not going to South Africa – sad, really.) Now, there will be no Ghanaian surprise. They’re quite good and stampeded through qualifying like it wasn’t even there, not to mention making the African Cup of Nations final with what may have been three and a half healthy players total and many of their best missing. Unfortunately they’re still a bit injured, particularly that Michael Essien guy, who’s battling the calendar for fitness, but they’ve got an awfully impressive crop of youngsters, one which shocked the world once again under the Ghanaian flag at last year’s u20 World Cup, beating Brazil in the final. It’s an African World Cup so the focus is in the present, but we may just be watching the evolution of an African giant. Nickname:The Black Stars Group D Matches: Serbia v Ghana, June 13th, 4p, Pretoria Ghana v Australia, June 18th, 4p, Rustenburg Ghana v Germany, June 23rd, 8:30p, Johannesburg Buy Ghana World Cup tickets. FIFA World Ranking as of April 28th 2010: 32nd Coach: Milovan Rajevac is not, as you may already suspect, Ghanaian. And to be fair, not too many outside of Serbia knew just who he was before taking over in Africa back in ‘08. However, they’ve looked pretty good under him in short time, and he’s made the most of the physical talents in midfield and the back line. Proof positive sometimes it isn’t always the big names that make the best fit. Key Players: Ghana’s strength in midfield is an embarrassment of riches – though slightly raw. Everyone knows Michael Essien, one of the premier defensive mids in the world, Stephen Appiah, the captain, and Sulley Muntari, whose big left foot is back in the squad. But this team is about youth, and in Kwadwo Asamoah they have one of Europe’s best midfield talents, compared to Essien with Muntari’s booming foot. There’s also Anthony Annan, still up in Norway, another a physical midfield battler, and teenager Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, who’s filled in with the injuries to Essien, Appiah and Muntari. Defensively John Mensah would be a no-brainer, but he’s also in a race for fitness, so Isaac Vorsah and Lee Addy may have to fill in defensively, while Hans Sarpei and Samuel Inkoom will take to the flanks. Richard Kingson is the keeper, and they don’t get much more fun. The attack will be based around the tremendous speed of Asamoah Gyan and skill of Andre Ayew, son to the great Abedi Pele, while the world will want to see Dominic Adiyiah, Golden Ball winner at that u20 World Cup. Player with the best YouTube video: Defenders and defensive mids take obvious priority. Player with best name: I want it to be Mahatma Otoo – anyone with four letters three of them “o” is simply tooo good to be true – but he didn’t make the squad. Therefore it’s a royal cast: a king (Richard Kingson) and three princes (Prince Buaben, Prince Tagoe, Kevin Prince-Boateng). Player with best (actual) nickname: Michael “The Bison” Essien. Tough name for a tough player. Interesting: If this edition is young, they might have some work to do to reach down to the ‘06 squad: Ghana were the youngest team in the 2006 finals – with an average age of 23 yrs and 352 days. National Anthem: God Bless Our Homeland Ghana Kit: The white with shaded black star home kit. Buy Ghana World Cup kits. World Cup History: Expectations: A good showing irrespective of advancement. Group D is the deepest group in the tournament, some might even say the Group of Death, and it’s very possible that two teams who don’t deserve to go home will. Squad: Ghana World Cup squad. Blog: Gary mans the Ghana WCB. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.

11 Best Reasons to Watch the World Cup in HD Posted: 13 May 2010 02:25 PM PDT It’s true that World Cup 2006 was available to watch in high-definition. But not for everyone. HD technology is much more widely available and much more affordable now, and so plenty of people will be watching World Cup 2010 in high definition. If you’ve never seen football in high-definition, then my advice is not to do so. Not unless you plan on immediately getting it for yourself. Because once you’ve seen soccer in HD, it’s pretty hard to go back to the comparatively blurry world of normal television. You’ll definitely want to watch World Cup 2010 in HD. And so here are the 11 best reasons to do exactly that: 1. Andrea Pirlo’s hair. The higher the def, the more locks you can see: 2. Leo Messi’s goals. They already look good in normal def: 3. Attractive fans will be twice as attractive: 4. Player names and numbers will be visible without squinting: 5. Fernando Torres’ freckles. In HD, you can count them: 6. Robinho’s stepovers. In HD they’re almost not blurry. But only almost: 7. If one of the games is a bit dull, you can literally watch the grass grow: 8. Controversial refereeing decisions will be even more visible: 9. Vicente Del Bosque’s silver horse shoe. No definition is too high for that thing: 10. If you don’t like your commentator, you can just turn the sound down and enjoy the picture: 11. In HD, you can actually about see the (alleged) guilt on John Terry’s face:

Soundoff: Which Teams Could Win the World Cup, Realistically? Posted: 13 May 2010 10:03 AM PDT Interesting quote from Fabio Capello today, discussing his and England’s World Cup expectations: “There are many talented sides in the tournament,” he said. “Spain, Argentina, but especially Brazil. They are a battleship. “But it is not added pressure for me that [England] expects to win the World Cup. That is part of the game and that is why I came here. For me, not reaching the final would be failure.” Maybe it’s not sensible that England expects to win the World Cup. Maybe it is. The whole thing has me thinking about expectations. Specifically: How many of the 32 teams competing at World Cup 2010 can have realistic expectations of winning the whole thing? It’s hard to define a criteria for this. You can’t say that any team that’s won it before can expect to win it again for example. Because by that logic Uruguay has a more realistic chance of World Cup glory than Spain. Which I think we can all agree is not true. So this has to be more of a gut feeling. For example, I think it’s realistic that Brazil could win the World Cup. Champions Italy are also a contender, and go into every tournament aiming to win. Which is fair enough. Same goes for other in form teams like Germany and the Netherlands. I can picture those teams with happy faces and the trophy. More interesting are the traditionally powerful teams who struggled in qualifying and have a general air of instability about them. I’m thinking Argentina and France here. Neither can claim to have been at 100% recently, yet both have enough quality – looking at you especially Leo Messi – that a 2010 World Cup win is certainly a possibility. But is it a realistic expectation? On the next tier there are teams like Portugal. Semi-finalists in 2006 and Cristiano Ronaldo leading the charge, but should they just be happy to do the same again? Or should they have expectations of winning the trophy? And how about England? Is Fabio Capello right to have such high expectations for his team? So here’s the question: In your opinion, which teams at World Cup 2010 can enter the tournament with realistic expectations of winning the whole thing?

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