World Cup 2010 Blog: “Unfriendly Friendlies: Hernanes Unleashes His Inner de Jong” plus 1 more

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Unfriendly Friendlies: Hernanes Unleashes His Inner de Jong Posted: 09 Feb 2011 03:10 PM PST Brazil’s Hernanes greeted France’s Karim Benzema with a very unkind handshake this evening, that in the form of a Nigel de Jong* to the chest. He was obviously sent off for his unfriendly greeting, landing instant infamy in the land of the YouTube and semi-creative GIFs. Of course while the tackle was unfriendly, he was given consolation from Jeremy Menez of Roma, archenemy to Hernanes’ Lazio. See? Even horrendous tackles can bring people together. * Source: Urban Dictionary. When you are unexpectedly kicked in the chest by a male or female wearing cleats. Has a tendency to break multiple ribs which then puncture lungs causing internal bleeding and death. That Guy just got De Jonged! (Benzema would get his revenge, too.)

David Trezeguet’s ‘98 Shirt Stars In The Score II Posted: 09 Feb 2011 08:14 AM PST The script reads likea straight-to-video sequel of the Robert De Niro/Edward Norton movie The Score: Customs officials have priceless French artifact in their possession, only they don’t quite know the true identity of what they hold, readying it for destruction. Only David Trezeguet’s shirt from the 1998 World Cup Final, though valuable, isn’t exactly priceless and this one is missing the elaborate heist aspect in which the artifact is saved from the fire so that it can be stolen. This one burned. Burned, burned, burned. Collector: angry. Very, very angry. Because while customs officials thought the shirt was a counterfeit, it wasn’t. Oliver Demolis bought the shirt from a Brazilian over the internet and had agreed to pay 7,350 euros ($10,030), which he is now trying to claim back through the courts. "It was a well-known seller and the jersey was official. It was the last piece in my collection," he told newspaper Le Dauphine. "When I went to get it they told me the shirt had been destroyed by customs because it was counterfeit. I went mad." You have to wonder if, a. by “last piece in my collection” he means the entire France side from that World Cup final. Sounds possible at the very least. b. and if so, why the hell did he give out his real name? A real life De Niro’s going to be burrowing into his rumpus room in the middle of the night very shortly. So basically this is The Score II, only this one involves lawyers and tearful memorabilia collectors rather than the staging of an epic heist.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “Mercedes Brings Schweinski Back Together” plus 1 more

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Mercedes Brings Schweinski Back Together Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:12 AM PST With all their free time during the international break, Mercedes had the German men’s team film a supportive commercial for the women’s team, hosting the World Cup in the summer. The boys are acting like crazed fans, and Lukas Podolski even has a Pohawk™. During these times of co-mingling footballers, you’d expect even one of Cupid’s arrows to be removed from its quiver, and you’d be right: it hit Schweinski. Again. And spawned yet another round of creepy slo-mo YouTube montages set to uber-dramatic soundtracks, featuring what appears to be a slightly jealous Thomas Mueller. The actual making of:

Football and the Revolution in Egypt Posted: 08 Feb 2011 08:53 AM PST While the protests in Egypt have subsided from their peak last week, hardy anti-Mubarak protesters still occupy Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo. While the world was enraptured with images broadcast by organizations able to avoid the secret police, such as Al-Jazeera, what effect did the protests have on football in the country? Or more importantly, what effect did football have on the protests? A number of outlets reported that the protesters who engaged in the initial battles with the pro-Mubarak camp were using tactics very similar to those use by Ultra’s for both Al-Ahly and Zamalek. Football journalist Robert Layne, after watching the protests, noted: "There were designated rock hurlers, specialists in turning over and torching vehicles for defensive purposes and a machine-like quartermaster crew delivering projectiles like clockwork on cardboard platters.” While Ahly’s ultra’s almost immediately made clear that they were to remain non-political during the demonstrations, it seems likely that individual or even groups of Ultra’s participated in some way during the demonstrations, and likely still do today. Moving to the pitch itself, as the violence escalated, a number of Ghanian players currently playing across the top two divisions of Egyptian football desperately sought a way to leave the country, but the Ghanian government now says that they are safe, and have no reason to be fearful. Probably easier to say for the Ghanian government in Accra, but nonetheless surely the scenes in Tahrir were nerve wracking for the players and their families back home. In terms of the Egyptian domestic game, all matches have been called off, including Zamalek’s African Champions League tie with Kenya’s Ulizni Stars, due to the unrest. The national team, also scheduled to host the United States in a match which would have been excellent preparation for their March AFCON qualifier against South Africa, has had to cancel the February 9th match after the Americans withdrew. While the protests seemed to have ebbed somewhat, the situation is far from being resolved, and it will be fascinating to see how football affects, and is effected by, the ongoing revolution. Particularly fascinating will be determining exactly what role ultra’s have had on the final outcome. In a world where many desire for a separation of politics and sport, Egypt shows us that sometimes the two are simply inextricably linked, regardless of rhetoric. *Egypt WCB Blogger Hany spent days protecting his Cairo home from looters, before he was able to fly to the United States. See his story in the comments section of his most recent article.

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World Cup 2010 Blog: FIFA World Rankings – February 2011

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FIFA World Rankings – February 2011 Posted: 03 Feb 2011 07:30 AM PST Down goes Africa, Asia takes its place. Half the battle with rankings is dropping those old results at the right time. For African countries, this was the wrong time, should they put a good deal of stock in their FIFA rankings (one would imagine they do). While Japan and friends were busy duking it out for Asian supremacy, Africa was busy tumbling down the list. Football’s full of shorter than short memories. But firstly, your monthly Montenegro watch: nada. Shameless fawning to resume after official games. Moving on we have Egypt, now rightfully out of the top 10, but taking a massive tumble 23 spots down – just outside the 32, appropriately. AFCON 2008 is losing its weight by the year, in other words, hence Africa’s fall from FIFA’s grace. Meanwhile Japan is enjoying their current rise, all the way up to the 17th spot, along with similarly scaled leaps from the Asian Cup successes. (Uzbekistan obviously the biggest jumper at 31 spots.) All this movin’ and shakin’ meant a freed up spot in the top ten with Egypt now all the way down there. The country to assume that lofty status: Greece. What year is this?

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