World Cup 2010 Blog: “Algeria World Cup 2010 Team Profile” plus 2 more |  |
- Algeria World Cup 2010 Team Profile
- World Cup Moments: Roberto Baggio vs Czechoslovakia, 1990
- World Cup 2010 National Anthems: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia
| Algeria World Cup 2010 Team Profile Posted: 27 Apr 2010 01:30 AM PDT
Egypt. Phew – that’s over. (It’s media law that in mentioning the Algerian football team of this World Cup, Egypt must follow shortly thereafter.) The Desert Foxes – but for Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions, probably the coolest nickname at the World Cup if only because it sounds like a scantily clad female pop group – are thrilled to be here. Not only are they at the World Cup, but this did so at the expense of rivals and two-time defending African champs Egypt in the tie-breaking playoff. (Now three-time, but Algeria have requested that go unmentioned.) In derbies, the prize is simply the victory. However this little trinket, a trip to the World Cup, is no small potatoes for Algeria.
Group: C; England, Slovenia, USA. FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: 27th Coach: Rabah Saâdane. No really, that’s correct: an African team does have an African coach. Rabah is in fact, at this moment, the only African coach at the tournament. Better yet: he’s actually Algerian. What a novel concept. Despite not having enjoyed a World Cup since 1990, this will not be Rabah’s first dance: his first gig included the trip to Spain in 1982 with the national team. This now his fifth stint with the team, he’ll get another crack at the big ball. Honestly, this time. Key Players: Beginning in the back Nadir Belhadj begins in the back, but often does not stay there as a very attack-oriented wingback with plenty of pace. Qualifying hero Antar Yahia and Madjid Bougherra will make up the strong, overseas based central duo. Captain Yazid Mansouri leads from midfield along with Karim Ziani, perhaps the most well-known abroad for his tricky attacking skills and ballwork. Youngster Karim Matmour has also begun making a name for himself along the attacking flank as a skillful and quick winger, and Mourad Meghni will provide the creativity. Up top Abdelkader Ghezzal is a strong point man who will likely lead the line now that one-time leading man Rafik Saifi is into his 35th year. They’ll need goals from somewhere, as outside of Saifi’s 18 the next best lies in the back with Belhadj and Yahia at 5 apiece. Player with best YouTube video: Nadir Belhadj. Anytime a “defender” gets a freestyle video, it’s worth the price of admission. Player with best name: Any nation with this many double consonants and uninhibited vowel runs is going to roll off the tongue like a dream. It’s an embarrassment of riches, really, so select at your leisure. However, one stands above the rest: Lounès Gaouaoui. No typos – seven vowel run. And according to Wikipedia: His name is believed to be the only surname with seven vowels in a row, reported by the International Board of Statistics. Player with best nickname: How about all of them? The individual nicknames are few and far between, so it’s only fitting this honor goes to the supremely cool team name. And mascot. Qualification: Coming down to the last day of qualifying, Algeria were ahead by three points over Egypt and anything less than a two goal loss would see them into South Africa. Egypt, of course, won 2-0 on a 95th minute goal in Cairo and that put everything even across the board: 13p, 9, 4, +5. This setup the ultra dramatic one-off playoff with heated rivals Egypt once again, this time in neutral Sudan. Algeria would win 1-0 on an Antar Yahia fireball in the 40th, and the rest is history – along with a lot of global news coverage. Interesting: The Algerian team is heavily influenced by those born in France. In fact there’s a chance more players born in France than Algeria will play at the World Cup: of the eleven starters for the one-off playoff versus Egypt, only 3 were born in Algeria, the remaining 8 in France. National Anthem: "Kassaman" ("The Pledge") More on the anthem here. Kit: The traditional Puma African home kit with the mascot draped over the shoulder is a favorite of many.
World Cup History:
Squad: TBA. Blog: Omar runs the Algerian WCB. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.
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| World Cup Moments: Roberto Baggio vs Czechoslovakia, 1990 Posted: 26 Apr 2010 01:30 PM PDT
However, four years before his 1994 performance, Roberto Baggio was making his World Cup debut in 1990, when Italy hosted the tournament. He wasn’t such an integral player as in 1994, had some sort of mullet instead of his ponytail and spent a lot of time on the bench. But Baggio played in Italy’s final game of the group stage vs Czechoslovakia (which the Azzurri won 2-0) and scored one of the best Worlds Cup goals you’ll ever see. Want to see video of the goal? Then step right this way… It even works on goalkeeper Jan Stejskal, who you can see buy Baggio’s fake-out and dive the wrong way, allowing Baggio to roll the ball home for one of the great World Cup goals. Bellissimo Roberto.
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| World Cup 2010 National Anthems: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia Posted: 26 Apr 2010 11:30 AM PDT
So to find out why Australia’s anthem isn’t “Waltzing Matilda” and why the lyrics to the German anthem aren’t what you might think they are, read on…
National Anthem of Australia“Advance Australia Fair” has been around since the late 1800s, but has only been the national anthem of Australia since 1984. Before that the official anthem was “God Save the Queen” (or “King”) until “Advance Australia Fair” proved popular in a series of national polls, with “Waltzing Matilda” coming second. Full story about the polls can be found on the official Australia.gov page. Lyrics to “Advance Australia Fair”: In joyful strains then let us sing, Beneath our radiant Southern Cross In joyful strains then let us sing, National Anthem of Germany(This one’s tricky, but I’m going to do my best and then hope that someone like Jan steps in and corrects any mistakes in the comments.) The German national anthem is called “Deutschlandlied” (”Song of the Germans”) and the lyricswere penned by August Heinrich Hoffmann back in 1841. The first two lines of “Deutschlandlied” really are “Germany, Germany above all, Above everything in the world.” Which I know raises a few eyebrows. But there are two gigantic caveats. 1. The lyrics were written at a time when German national unity was not guaranteed, and so that line is very possibly a reference to the larger Germany being more important than the individual states, as opposed to Germany being better than, say, France or England or any other rival nation. 2. Ever since 1952, only the third verse of “Deutschlandlied” is officially sung. So it’s absolutely not true to go around saying that Germans sing “Germany, Germany above all” as the national anthem. Only that they used to, and even then it didn’t quite mean what you think it means. Here are the lyrics to the third verse: Unity and law and freedom National Anthem of Ghana<p align="center"< “God Bless Our Homeland Ghana” has been the national anthem of Ghana ever since the nation achieved independence in 1957. I’m particularly happy with the nice, straightforward title. Lyrics to “God Bless Our Homeland Ghana”: Hail to thy name, O Ghana Raise high the flag of Ghana, National Anthem of Serbia“Боже правде” or “Bože pravde” or “God of Justice” was written in 1872, and was the Serbian national anthem until Yugoslavia was formed in 1918. When Serbia became fully independent again in 2006, “God of Justice” was re-adopted as the national anthem. “God of Justice” English lyrics: With Thy mighty hand sustain us, Bind in closest links our kindred Let the golden fruits of union Lord! Avert from us Thy vengeance, When our host goes forth to battle On our sepulchre of ages Through five hundred years of durance - More World Cup 2010 national anthems here.
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Let’s get one thing out of the way early:
Roberto Baggio’s preformance at the 1994 World Cup is lauded. Quite rightly too. His goals took Italy all the way to the final, where he played injured and missed the decisive penalty. Tragic but heroic stuff from The Divine Ponytail.
Before every international football match, the national anthems of the two competing teams are played. It's all about tradition and patriotism, and it's one of my favourite ceremonial things about the World Cup. We're covering the | You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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