World Cup 2010 Blog: “The All Non-World Cup XI” plus 2 more

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• The All Non-World Cup XI
• Yes, This Man Is Running The World Cup™: Sepp Blatter.
• This Lucky Lucky Fan Will Soon be a World Cup Record Holder

The All Non-World Cup XI Posted: 12 Feb 2010 02:40 AM PST There was a very real chance in recent months that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably possibly the two best players in the world, wouldn’t be making the trek to the football’s greatest showcase this summer. What would’ve been a huge blow to the tournament – a huge blow to the game – was narrowly averted and both will be dazzling. Others, however, weren’t so lucky and South Africa will be devoid of some big names and, in the case of a few, bigger personalities. Their loss is our loss. Obviously these aren’t the XI best players who won’t be going to South Africa – that will only be determined oncee squads are announced – and they likely aren’t even the best XI players whose country didn’t make the World Cup. But we tried… The All Non-World Cup XI: Petr Cech Vedran Corluka, A Belgian, Cristian Chivu, Yuri Zhirkov Darijo Srna, Mohamed Aboutrika, Seydou Keita, Luka Modric Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andrei Arshavin Goalkeeper: Petr Cech. It was largely a toss up between Akinfeev and Cech, but Petr gets the nod for form and for continuing to rock the helmet with style. Rightback: Vedran Corluka. Slaven Bilic once called him the best rightback in the world. He’s not, but he’s good enough. Centerback: A Belgian. It was Thomas Vermaelen but, despite the goals, after watching Jan Vertonghen this year, Arsenal may have bought the wrong Belgian centerback from Ajax. Strong at the back and silky smooth through the middle, which should land him on Barca or Real’s roster soon enough. Then there’s Vincent Kompany, phenom since, oh, the beginning of time, finally in form at Man City. Pick a Belgian – you probably can’t go wrong. Centerback: Cristian Chivu. Sami Hyypia so nearly pipped this spot for shepherding Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the table, but Chivu is, when on his game, a world class defender. Leftback: Yuri Zhirkov. Now that Ashley Cole’s ankle is cooked, Yuri will finally have his chance to shine in London. And by shine, it means ‘run faster than everyone else’. South Africa will miss his blurry runs from the back. Rightwing: Darijo Srna. Free kicks: check. Crossing: check. Armband: check. Like Beckham’s right foot on a footballer who can do a bunch of other stuff, too. Central mid: Seydou Keita. Good enough for Barcelona, good enough for us. Central mid: Mohammed Aboutrika. The best player in Africa should be at the biggest tournament in Africa, simply. Leftwing: Luka Modric. One of the smartest footballers in all the world – perhaps the biggest ping of disappointment given all he brings to the game for connoisseurs. Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. There’s every chance he’s right behind Lionel and Cristiano on the list of the world’s best players. And there’s every chance he would’ve disappointed for Sweden, again. But there’s also every chance he could’ve pulled off something like this, which would’ve made it all worth it. Striker: Andriy Arshavin. It is a tragedy on par with the death of a loved one that Andriy’s skills won’t be in South Africa. That he won’t be fielding media interviews daily makes one question the very will to live.

Yes, This Man Is Running The World Cup™: Sepp Blatter. Posted: 12 Feb 2010 12:10 AM PST Were there to be an award for the least intelligent man alive, Sepp Blatter would be lapping the field by the turn. Not a week goes by without some sort of head-turning comment which defies all logical reason coming from Zurich or thereabouts. And this is the man running the biggest football organization – perhaps the even the biggest sporting organization – in the whole wide world. So when he was asked about The John Terry Chronicles, pandemonium was bound to fly. Sepp did not disappoint. There’s no way to set this up. Sepp at his finest: “Listen, this is a special approach in the Anglo-Saxon countries,” he said. “If this had happened in let’s say Latin countries then I think he would have been applauded.” Because in Latin countries, adultery is not only acceptable, but laudable. Because their moral standards are of such bedrock levels, violating one of life’s most sacred pacts is encouraged. This must mean theft is cool, murder just isn’t that bad and rape gets a bad rap. How this man can function in the real world is simply unfathomable. How he’s been voted into office multiple times is simple beyond comprehension…if not legality.

This Lucky Lucky Fan Will Soon be a World Cup Record Holder Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:39 AM PST The man in the picture there is football fan Thulani Ngcobo, and by July 11th, 2010 he should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for having watched the most matches in a single World Cup tournament. Ngcobo, 29, won a competition held by one of the the World Cup’s many sponsors, to find the number one soccer fan in South Africa. As the winner he’ll be going to a whopping 38 of World Cup 2010’s 64 matches, and – assuming he survives seeing that much football without exploding – he’ll have seen more live games from a single tournament than anyone ever. The current record is 20 matches. Ngcobo didn’t win the competition accidentally. The Kaizer Chiefs fan emerged victorious in the Last Fan Standing competition in South Africa, with the public voting him #1. “I won a very tough competition but I cannot claim to be the number one football fan in the country,” said a modest Ngcobo. “I don’t know what it takes to be considered as such.” So now – according to sponsors MTN – Ngcobo will see 38 live games in 31 days, taking in 9 cities, 10 stadiums, 3,420 minutes of football and 17,000 km of travel. With tickets, travel and accommodation all paid for by MTN. I’m officially jealous. It’s very easy (and usually very worthwhile) to be completely dismissive of the World Cup’s corporate sponsors. For the most part, they add nothing to the event, and usually take away fans’ freedom to choose a rival product on gameday (thirsty World Cup 2006 fans were forcefed Budweiser for example). But in this case it’s genuinely hard to find fault. I’m sure Thulani Ngcobo would agree.

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MAMUDU, Your February 12, 2010 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue 8-page Olympic Preview: Underdog USA hockey team confident Rams, Raiders, Panthers, Bills make sense for Vick Veteran sluggers who need a strong spring training Johnson, Kahne win Twin 150s, 500 field set SN's DeCourcy on Rick Pitino, Steve Alford, Isiah Thomas If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Email him/her this link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&121790&157720&18993&0000&1236490452&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28202

World Cup 2010 Blog: “Yes, This Man Is Going To The World Cup™: Howard Webb.” plus 2 more

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• Yes, This Man Is Going To The World Cup™: Howard Webb.
• Fashion Faux Pas: No One Wants To Be England’s Goalkeeper.
• World Cup 2010 Team Nicknames

Yes, This Man Is Going To The World Cup™: Howard Webb. Posted: 11 Feb 2010 06:00 AM PST [101gg] I do desperately hope this becomes a regular feature, one in where we bathe in detailed schadenfreude the failings of the men who will be defining our South African experience this summer. For now, we’ll simply start with Howard Webb and hope that others follow his glittering lead. Howard Webb is a much-discussed name in a profession which often marks success by anonymity. This would lead one to believe he’s not very good at his job (feel free to debate amongst yourselves). And yet The Acronyms continually call on him to take part in big, meaningful matches. He was also given a big, meaningful match this week in the English Premier League. During the dying embers of Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Liverpool last evening, the Reds had one last chance to equalize from a free kick. A chance which was put on ice so long Cesc earned a yellow for being a general pain in the ass. Cesc then stopped the resulting free kick from going towards goal by raising a hand above his head, whilst standing on the 18 yard line. Which went entirely unnoticed by Mr. Webb. A blatant hand ball on the eighteen to stop a ball going to – perhaps even in – goal in the last seconds of a colossal one goal win for the guilty team. Yes, this man is going to the World Cup.

Fashion Faux Pas: No One Wants To Be England’s Goalkeeper. Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:10 AM PST England, now famously, unleashed their World Cup away kit – perhaps unknowingly – through rock band Kasabian in Paris. There’s a French Connection UK joke in here somewhere, but we’ll pass. Continuing with the retro is the new future fashion theme, England have gone back to the future with this ode to a 1930’s widow’s faded sun dress. The hideousness of the yellow is on par with Chelsea’s old day-glo kits, just on the opposite end of the yellow spectrum. Now Fabio Capello must go from “who to play?” to “who will play in this?”. [Football Fashion]

World Cup 2010 Team Nicknames Posted: 10 Feb 2010 03:00 PM PST It’s time we started getting to know the 32 teams who will compete at World Cup 2010, and what better way to get familiar than with a nickname? Below you’ll find a list of the 32 teams, followed by their most common nickname or nicknames. Team nicknames usually refer to the colour of the shirt (eg the Azzurri or Les Bleus) or some element of the football association crest (eg The Three Lions). Others are a bit more imaginative (eg The Desert Foxes) and some refer specifically to recent events (eg The Pirate Ship and Olsen’s Eleven). Some may surprise you. Until very very recently I genuinely thought that everyone in Germany referred to the national team as Die Mannschaft. But then I read Jan’s post here and learned that wasn’t true. For one or two teams below I was either unable to find a translation or explanation for the team nickname (why are Slovakia called the Repre, why are Greece referred to as the Galanoleyki?) or unable to find any nickname at all (looking at you Slovenia). So feedback, corrections and suggestions are all welcome in the comments. Support your team and buy their World Cup 2010 jersey. Algeria – Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes) Argentina – Albicelestes (White and Sky blue) Australia – Socceroos Brazil – Seleção (The Selection). Also Canarinhos (Little Canary) and Verde e Amarelo (Green and Yellow). Cameroon – Lions Indomptables (Indomitable Lions) Chile – La Roja (The Red) Cote d'Ivoire – Les Éléphants (The Elephants) Denmark – Olsens Elleve (Olsen’s Eleven) – In honour of popular head coach Morten Olsen. England – The Three Lions – From the FA crest. France – Les Bleus (The Blues) Germany – National Mannschaft (National Team) or DFB Elf (DFB Eleven) or National Elf (National Eleven). The nickname Die Mannschaft (the team) is only used by non-German media. Ghana – The Black Stars Greece – To Piratiko (The Pirate Ship) – Since Euro 2004. But another common nickname is apparently Galanoleyki, though I have no idea what that means. Honduras – Los Catrachos which is apparently how other Central Americans refer to Hondurans. Also La H (The H) – The crest is a large H, which looks extremely cool on the shirt.. Italy – Azzurri (Sky Blues) Japan – Blue Samurai Mexico – El Tri (after the three colours or “tricolor” on the Mexican flag). Netherlands – Oranje North Korea – Chollima (some sort of mythical horse) New Zealand – All Whites (rugby union team are the All Blacks) Nigeria – Super Eagles Paraguay – La Albirroja (The White-Red) or Guaraní (an indigenous people) Portugal – Selecção das Quinas (Team of the Five Shields) – Referring to the five shields on the FA crest. I think. Serbia – Beli Orlovi (White Eagles) – Referring to the white double headed eagle on the Serbia coat of arms. Slovakia – Repre (at least according to Wikipedia, but there’s no explanation as to what this means). Slovenia – Zmajceki (Dragons) – Because there’s a dragon on the crest of capital city Ljubljana. South Africa – Bafana Bafana (The Boys) South Korea – Taeguk Warriors. Fans are often called The Red Devils. Spain – La Furia Roja (Red Fury) Switzerland – Schweizer Nati United States – Often referred to as the MNT (Men’s National Team) or The Yanks. Uruguay – La Celeste (The Sky Blue)

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