World Cup 2010 Blog: “Soundoff: What’s Your Favourite World Cup Moment?” plus 1 more

---

Soundoff: What’s Your Favourite World Cup Moment? Posted: 20 Apr 2010 04:30 PM PDT As you hopefully know by now, we’ve been running a series of posts titled World Cup Moments, where we highlight memorable events from World Cup past like Dennis Bergkamp’s goal vs Argentina in 1998 or Andrés Escobar’s tragic own goal vs USA in 1994. We’re also planning a special “World Cup Moments” edition of the Total Football Soccer Show’s World Cup 2010 podcasts, and so now we want to hear from you: What is your favourite World Cup moment? Please let us know in the comments with a description of your favourite moment, and maybe a little explanation of why you like it so much. The best ones will be read out on the radio show, and any good ones we haven’t covered so far will hopefully get a World Cup Moments post.

Adidas Jo’bulani: The Official Match Ball of the 2010 World Cup Final Posted: 20 Apr 2010 09:10 AM PDT We’ve already seen the adidas Jabulani, official match ball of the 2010 World Cup. But superb as that ball might be, it’s not good enough for the actual World Cup 2010 Final on July 11th. Such an event requires a whole other ball, and so adidas and FIFA unveiled the adidas Jo’bulani this morning, so called because the final will be held in Johannesburg. You can’t argue with a good pun. Aside from the name, the other main difference between the Jabulani (for all other World Cup matches) and the Jo’bulani (for the final) is the colour. Where the Jabulani features 11 colours, representing the 11 languages of South Africa, the Jo’bulani is gold, reflecting both World Cup final host city Johannesburg’s “City of Gold” nickname and – presumably – the fact that gold is for champions. Here’s a second image of the ball: Also, video of the ball being unveiled this morning, with adidas CEO Herbert Hainer, Franz Beckenbauer, South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira and local organizing committe chief Danny Jordaan: The Jo’bulani 2010 World Cup final ball will be available soon from the World Cup Blog store. The Jabulani World Cup 2010 ball is available here.

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
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

World Cup 2010 Blog: “10 World Cup Questions: Brazil” plus 1 more

---

10 World Cup Questions: Brazil Posted: 19 Apr 2010 11:00 AM PDT Chris and myself have been trying our best to profile each of the 32 teams that will compete at World Cup 2010, but our knowledge about each team is miniscule (or at least mine is anyway) when compared to that of our team bloggers. If you’re unfamiliar with World Cup Blog, then allow me to explain: The blog you’re reading now is the front page, but the core of WCB is the multitude of team specific blogs, including one for each of the World Cup 2010 teams. The authors of these team blogs have forgotten more about their sides than I’ll ever know, so I decided to tap that knowledge by asking each of them a set of 10 questions. Over the next few weeks we’ll be publishing the answers from our team bloggers and sharing their expert knowledge and opinions here on the front page. Today it’s the turn of Duvel from Brazil World Cup Blog. Read on to see his 10 answers, which include the ridiculous imbalance in quality between Brazil’s right back and left back situations. 1. Who is Brazil’s best player? Kaka. Basically he is the guy that sparks the counter-attack, which is a big part of the team under Dunga. Additionally, when teams just load up the box against Brazil, he is the most creative player in Brazil's starting XI to try and break through. 2. What do you think of your coach? I think Dunga’s player selections have been rather dubious over the years. There has been speculation about his motivations for certain call-ups. I think it's an insane idea to pick a player like Julio Baptista, who rarely plays these days, over the likes of Ronaldinho. However, the team plays a much more consistent, disciplined form of football under Dunga, and he deserves credit for that. 3. What do you think of Brazil’s World Cup 2010 kits? The home kits aren't anything too different. The yellow dots/stars on the away kits are pretty stupid. 4. What is Brazil’s biggest strength? The right back position. In my opinion, Brazil has the two best right backs in the world on the same roster in Maicon and Dani Alves. 5. …and biggest weakness? Left back. Historically this is not a position Brazil has struggled at. However, since the retirement of Roberto Carlos this has been a bit of a black hole. Dunga has called a ton of players to this position. None have really stood out. He needs to give Fabio Aurelio an opportunity, which he has not up to this point. 6. If you could steal one player from any other World Cup 2010 team, then who would it be and why? Lionel Messi obviously because he is playing absolutely out of his mind. Hands down the best player in the world this year. A close second would be Phillip Lahm since he would fill a position of real need for our team. 7. Tell us one thing about the Brazil team that the rest of the world might not know… Dunga has called, to my count, 8 different left backs to the national team in the last two years. 8. What would you consider success/failure for Brazil at World Cup 2010? Only winning the World Cup would be considered success. Anything else is an absolute failure when you're talking about a nation blessed with the amount of talent Brazil has. 9. What are you most excited about at World Cup 2010? Call me crazy, but the nervousness of the lead up to the match, and the stress of watching it in progress. 10. Who do you think will win World Cup 2010? If Kaka stays healthy, and Michel Bastos is an average left back, Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup as cup holders. I think both things will happen. - Read more from Duvel over at the Brazil blog, and please ask any follow up questions in the comments.

The World Cup 2010 Commercials Have Begun Posted: 19 Apr 2010 09:25 AM PDT Have you seen this Visa World Cup related commercial yet? It’s about a slightly overweight (possibly English) gentleman who sees a goal on TV, jumps out of his armchair to celebrate, and keeps celebrating all the way to South Africa, where he somehow (and the commercial’s not very clear on this) gets selected to play for one of the 32 teams. Possibly he was picked for his celebratory skills? Good stuff, and it has me excited for the avalanche of expensively assembled football related commercials that will herald the arrival of World Cup 2010. A possibly naive question though: Do you ever wonder why certain companies even bother advertising? Visa is a good example. Their product and symbol is seemingly everywhere already. Very likely it’s in your wallet right now. Yet they still felt the need to put together this ad. Strikes me as money wasted, but I like the idea of companies so ubiquitous making unnecessary commericals purely to entertain us, and to give bloggers something to post on Monday afternoons. [vid spotted on It's Nice That] If that’s got you in a World Cup commercial mood then check out this ESPN tournament primer, and this classic bit of salesmanship from the swoosh. If you spot any quality World Cup commericals, please let us know in the comments, or send an email to tips[at]theoffside[dot]com.

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
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

World Cup 2010 Blog: Soundoff: Who Do You Most Want To See Your Team Knock Out in South Africa?

---

Soundoff: Who Do You Most Want To See Your Team Knock Out in South Africa? Posted: 17 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT Did a similar themed post over at the England World Cup Blog yesterday and thought it might be interesting to throw it open to everyone. Who is the team you would most like your team to beat in South Africa. For me, I’d like to see England beat Argentina to get a bit of revenge on Diego Maradona for 1986 and all that. Perhaps there is an age-old grudge that you would like to see finally settled. Perhaps you’d like to see your team beat the side that knocked you out four years ago, or perhaps you’re going to be traditional and hope your team beats your traditional rivals. Perhaps you just want to get one over the big boys, Spain and Brazil. That’d give your team the confidence to go a long long way. Perhaps you follow a smaller side, and you are just hoping to beat anyone. Maybe though, you’re not worried as long as your team goes as deep into the tournament as possible. Whichever way, let us know.

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
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610