The latest FIFA World Rankings were released yesterday, and everything looked very familiar with Spain, Brazil and the Netherlands making up the top three. But all that’s about to change. Because after years of complaints about the ranking system, FIFA is finally willing to admit that it doesn’t work. The current system uses international results from the past four years and a mathematic formula to weigh the importance of those games and award points accordingly. It’s all very studious, yet the result is a ranking table that no one can agree on.
So in a move similar to the new Man of the Match award, FIFA will open up the rankings to a public vote, starting from immediately after World Cup 2010.
“We feel it’s important to give fans what they want,” said FIFA chief Sepp Blatter. “We recognize the unpopularity of our current ranking and seeding system and are making these adjustments so that football fans around the world will finally have a ranking table they believe in.”
Fans will be encouraged to submit a list of their top 20 current international football teams via FIFA’s website, and the results will then be collated into the new FIFA Fan’s World Ranking table, beginning in late August of this year.
I have the same reservations about this as I do about the Man of the Match voting. It’s obviously open to partisanship and all kinds of other external biases. But football is supposed to be the people’s game, not the mathematician’s, and so I’ll be interested to see how this works out. Who do you think will be top of the first FIFA Fan’s World Ranking in August 2010?
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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 writing about the national anthems of the 32 team at World Cup 2010 four at a time, group by group. Last week we did Group B. So this week it's Group C: England, USA, Algeria and Slovenia.
To find out why “God Save the Queen” isn’t actually England’s national anthem, why Roseanne Barr should never be allowed to sing anyone’s national anthem, adn why the Slovenian anthem is very much alcohol influences, read on.
National Anthem of England (sort of)
This is a little tricky. England doesn’t actually have a national anthem, since “God Save the Queen” is the national anthem of Great Britain. The Scotland and Wales teams sing “The Flower of Scotland” and “Land of my Fathers” respectively before football matches, but the England team sings “God Save the Queen.” It’s all to do with the semi-confusing crossover English people have between “British” and “English” identity, which we definitely don’t have time to get into here.
The two best things about “God Save the Queen” are:
1. When there’s a male monarch the lyrics are switched to “God Save the King”. Otherwise the whole thing would be very embarrassing. Got to love a flexible anthem though. 2. England fans have developed a tradition of singing “Der-der-der-der-der-der!” along with the instrumentation just before “Send her victorious”.
Important: the national anthem veriosn of “God Save the Queen” is not to be confused with the Sex Pistols version, which isn’t quite so enthusiastic about the monarchy:
Lyrics to the British national anthem “God Save the Queen”:
God save our gracious Queen, Long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen: Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us: God save the Queen.
O Lord, our God, arise, Scatter her enemies, And make them fall. Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks, On Thee our hopes we fix, God save us all.
Thy choicest gifts in store, On her be pleased to pour; Long may she reign: May she defend our laws, And ever give us cause To sing with heart and voice God save the Queen
Not in this land alone But be God’s mercies known From shore to shore Lord make the nations see That men should brothers be And form one family The wide world over
From every latent foe From the assassins blow God save the Queen O’er her thine arm extend For Britain’s sake defend Our mother, prince, and friend God save the Queen
The National Anthem of the United States of America
The lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” are from the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 and later set to the tune of “The Anacreontic Song”. It became widely known and recognized as a patriotic song in the USA and was eventually adopted as the official national anthem in 1931.
One of my favourite things about “The Star Spangled Banner” is that celebrity singers are encouraged to add their personal touch when performing. Sometimes this goes well, as with Marvin Gaye before the 1983 NBA All-Star Game:
Sometimes not so well, as with Roseanne Barr before a Major Leage Basebeall game in 1990:
Shudder.
Lyrics to the American national anthem “Star Spangled Banner”:
Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the glass of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: ‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more! Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
National Anthem of Algeria
Known as “Kassaman” (”The Pledge”), the Algerian national anthem was written by Mufdi Zakariah while he was a prisoner of French colonial forces, and later set to music by Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi and adopted as the national anthem in 1963, soon after Algerian achieved independence from France, a theme very strongly represented in the lyrics.
Lyrics to “Kassaman” (”The Pledge”) in English:
We swear by the lightning that destroys, By the streams of generous blood being shed, By the bright flags that wave, Flying proudly on the high mountains, That we have risen up, and whether we live or die, We are resolved that Algeria shall live - So be our witness -be our witness – be our witness!
We are soldiers in revolt for truth And we have fought for our independence. When we spoke, none listened to us, So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm And the sound of machine guns as our melody, We are resolved that Algeria shall live - So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
O France, the time of reproof is over And we have ended it as a book is ended; O France, this is the day of reckoning So prepare to receive from us our answer! In our revolution is the end of empty talk; We are resolved that Algeria shall live - So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
From our heroes we shall make an army come to being, From our dead we shall build up a glory, Our spirits shall ascend to immortality And on our shoulders we shall raise the standard. To the nation’s Liberation Front we have sworn an oath, We are resolved that Algeria shall live - So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
The cry of the Fatherland sounds from the battlefields. Listen to it and answer the call! Let it be written with the blood of martyrs And be read to future generations. Oh, Glory, we have held out our hand to you, We are resolved that Algeria shall live - So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
National Anthem of Slovenia
“Zdravljica” (”A Toast”) is a poem written by France Prešeren in 1844. The seventh stanza of that poem is mostly about Slovenian unity and independence, and so was adopted as the Slovenian national anthem after indendence from Yugoslavia.
The brilliant thing about Prešeren’s poem is that the lyrics to each verse of “The Toast” are designed to form the shape of a wine cup. This can be seen in the English translation, but is more obvious in the original Slovene. Here’s the first verse, just so you get the idea:
Spet trte so rodile, prijat’li, vince nam sladkó, ki nam oživlja žile, srce razjásni in oko, ki utopi vse skrbi, v potrtih prsih up budi!
Nice, eh?
Here are the English language lyrics to “The Toast”:
The vintage, friends, is over, And here sweet wine makes, once again, Sad eyes and hearts recover Puts fire into every vein. Drowns dull care Everywhere And summons hope out of despair.
To whom with acclamation And song shall we our first toast give? God save our land and nation And all Slovenes where’er they live, Who own the same Blood and name, And who one glorious Mother claim.
Let thunder out of heaven Strike down and smite our wanton foe! Now, as it once had thriven, May our dear realm in freedom grow. May fall the last Chains of the past Which bind us still and hold us fast!
Let peace, glad conciliation, Come back to us throughout the land! Towards their destination Let Slavs henceforth go hand-in-hand! Thus again Will honour reign To justice pledged in our domain.
To you, our pride past measure, Our girls! Your beauty, charm and grace! There surely is no treasure To equal maidens of such race. Sons you’ll bear, Who will dare Defy our foe no matter where.
Our hope now, our to-morrow - The youths – we toast and toast with joy. No poisonous blight or sorrow Your love of homeland shall destroy. With us indeed You’re called to heed Its summons in this hour of need.
God’s blessing on all nations, Who long and work for that bright day, When o’er earth’s habitations No war, no strife shall hold its sway; Who long to see That all men free, No more shall foes, but neighbours be.
At last to our reunion - To us the toast! Let it resound, Since in this great communion By thoughts of brotherhood we’re bound May joyful cheer Ne’er disappear From all good hearts now gathered here.
Today we turn our sartorial eyes to Argentina, and the home and away shirts the team will wear at World Cup 2010.
All World Cup 2010 jerseys are available in our World Cup 2010 jersey store, but the idea with these posts is that we play (uneducated) fashion critic and cast judgments over colours, patterns and forms. If those are even the correct terms. Read on for my best attempt at a review, and I’d love to hear your reactions in the comments.
I’ve always been a big fan of Argentina’s albiceleste stripes. It’s one of the iconic football images, even more so since so few teams wear a similar style. So this jersey is off to a good start. What I’m not entirely happy with is the way the stripes are interrupted. There’s a separate panel on the shoulders to accommodate the adidas three stripes, and that panel interrupts the flow if you ask me. Couldn’t adidas have gotten their striped in there without ruining the more important albiceleste stripes? So I’m not 100% sold on this version, but it’s still a classic design, and will likely look good when matched with black shorts and the black socks.
I’m giving this 10 out of 10. Not just because the dark blue contrasts nicely with the white trim, but because this kit is a very clear nod to the Argentina away shirt of the 1986 World Cup. Don’t believe me? Here’s a snapshot of Diego Maradona against England from that year:
With Diego Maradona now in charge of the team, and Leo Messi doing Maradona-esque things with the ball, I see this away shirt as both homage to the past and optimism that the current team can maybe match that World Cup winning team of 1986.
What do you think of Argentina’s home and away shirts for World Cup 2010?
My name is Mamudu Nurudeen popularly known as Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious born on 25 Feb. 1985, to Mr Mamudu and Hajia Safura at Bawku Central in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
I am currently a student of Sunyani Polytechnic offering HND General Agriculture.
I am also a freelance Journalist, a motivational speaker and the founder of PERSONALITY AND HUMAN RELATIONS (PHR)
PLEASE THIS WEBSITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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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 writing about the national anthems of the 32 team at World Cup 2010 four at a time, group by group. Last week we did 
Today we turn our sartorial eyes to Argentina, and the home and away shirts the team will wear at World Cup 2010.
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