World Cup!

[Roy Mustang]

Yeah, I heard about the ball complaints and it was talk about a day before the World Cup started on ESPN about the new ball and how it moves funny in the air.

Just thought that it was funny that it got more news after the USA vs England game. But at the same time, the ball looks funny and not fair to have. I don't why they change to this ball as its not the style of ball they teams use.

Germany will win the cup due to the Adidas Jabulani ball. Adidas supplied the ball to the Bundesliga for the past season, and with every player in the German team home based in the Bundesliga. They have had an unfair advantage of a full season to be prepared for using the ball.

To beat the Germany team will depend on how quick other nations come to terms with the idiosyncrasies of the Jubulani ball.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]
Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[blkmage]

It's pretty much marketing. They have to have an OFFICIAL BALL OF THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 ball and if it's gonna be the OFFICIAL BALL OF THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 it needs to look cool and if it needs to look cool, they're going to mess around with how the ball is constructed and give it weird panel shapes and stuff, and when they do that, it's no wonder the ball has weird aerodynamics.

[shooraijin]

Yes, the Australia-Germany game was just appalling. Hopefully AU does a bit better with Ghana.

[GeneD]

The Algeria/Slovenia game was SO much fun! Since it was a bit far to drive there and back in one day, we (my parents, sister, brother and I) drove through on Saturday to spend the night at my brother-in-law's game farm, which is about halfway to Polokwane, where the match was.

We were 20 minutes late for the game. We left too late at the farm and, while the park-and-ride facility worked very well, the sheer amount of people makes for slow operations. In the bus on the way to the stadium, everyone was singing and having a good time though. Our seats were great; in the shade and with a good view of the field.

Most spectators from SA were supporting Algeria, but anyone who had one (including us) wore their Bafana shirts. There was a lot of Algerian colours too. We only noticed the Slovenian supporters when they scored and at the end of the game.

Loud vuvuzelas are LOUD. We took earplugs which made a huge difference. We were lucky enough to not have people sitting right behind us blowing them. The announcements are also really loud, we could hear them though earplugs AND vuvuzelas.

Despite the controversy about the ball, I’m glad that we got to see a (World Cup) goal, even though it was for Slovenia. We were sitting on the side where they scored, which made it even cooler.

Here are a bunch of photos for anyone who’s interested:

Entrance to the city
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9544/img6088ak.jpg

The Peter Mokaba Stadium
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2069/img6104v.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/2194/img6106v.jpg
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/809/img6112n.jpg

Supporters
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3820/img6130y.jpg
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7868/img6133k.jpg

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Mascot, Zakumi
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/451/img6134k.jpg

We were sitting in block 101
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/9696/img6148.jpg

From left; my dad, me, my mom, brother and sister. Note: my family don’t have soccer balls for faces.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5397/img6153s.jpg

Now I want to make a comment about the World Cup music, which you may or may not have heard.
The official song is Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) sung by Shakira and South African band Freshlyground. It’s a reworking of a 1986 song from Cameroon by a group called Golden Sounds. The language other than English is a Cameroonian language called Fang. Apparently (according to Wiki, so interpret as you will) “Shakira reinterpreted the song without permission of the band, and after legal intervention by the band, an undisclosed deal was struck with Sony.”
Be warned, it’s really catchy, I’ve had it stuck in my head on-and-off for about 4 days now. This music video also played during half time at the game we saw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjnU4Dj9gQ

The other song is the one used in the Coke ads and is about just a popular as the Shakira one. Both were preformed at the Opening Concert on the 10th (I think that is where this video is from). It’s called Waving Flag sung by Somali-Canadian artist K'naan, remixed from a 2009 K’naan song with the Coke marketing theme tracks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsN6mbYJGGM

There’s also a song by R. Kelly with the Soweto Spiritual Singers called Sign of a Victory. I only heard it at the Opening Ceremony and it seems to have faded into the shadow of the other two, as far as I can tell.

I like the Coke one best, but I think both could have done with a little more South African influence or that SA bands could have been featured more. I am a little bit disappointed that none of our official languages (except English of course) was used. But there you have it.

[ClosetOtaku]

The Algeria/Slovenia was SO much fun!

Thanks for the description and the pictures!

The official song is Waka Waka...

I thought Fozzie Bear wrote that...

[MBlight]

LOL GeneD, inside the stadium is sooooo green compared to outside! Welcome to SA Winters I guess XD Also love your family's "new look", tell your bro the ball suits him XD

Much jealousy for you getting tickets and not me... lousy husband says it's a waste of money so I bought a Vuvuzela and I'll blow it in his ears during EVERY SINGLE MATCH that my work hours allows me to watch.

And for the ones that I'm stuck at work for I call him for every single goal or significant event during every single game, because our boss was kind enough to install a tv in the office so we could watch. It's annoying him senseless. But hey, he could've just bought me tickets and I would've kept quiet about it LOL

I'm suffering from vuvu-lip though, looks like I've had my lips surgically enlarged from all the blowing!

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Dude. Epic photos!

Anyways. Congrats to Paraguay. A tie against Italy? That's pretty hardcore.

And congrats to Japan! That was unexpected. But I'm not sure how strong a team Cameroon is.

[Sammy Boy]

The referee for the Australia/Germany game absolutely sucks. The red card was absolutely undeserved as well as the following yellow card. Then the following penalty wasn't carded when it was an actual penalty. Really?

Germany is dominating Australia. Absolutely DOMINATING. The third goal was hilarious. "Yo ima charge full speed with the ball to your goal! Lol jk Ima stop and score".

I didn't watch this as I was on the road. But quite disappointed in Australia. I know ... soccer is not one of our strong sports. But 4-0?

[ClosetOtaku]

Nothing exceptional about today's games, except that maybe North Korea kept Brazil to two goals -- and then managed to score on the (allegedly) world's best goal keeper.

[ClosetOtaku]

I thought Chile looked pretty good today, some nicely coordinated attacks, they may be the tourney 'sleeper'.

However... Spain... What happened to Spain? This one is going to send shock waves...

[Etoh*the*Greato]

SWEDEN SMACKED DOWN SPAIN WHOO!

I have no idea why that makes me so excited. None.

[Whitefang]

Switzerland beating Spain is the game of the tournament so far. Very exciting play even though a lot of the chances missed the net. Now I'm hoping for a South Africa victory for the host nation!

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I am a bit grumpy nobody checked for this.

Spain will bounce back. They are too talented not to go through.

France will not. Every WC, a "big fish" doesn't make it through the group. France, step right up!

I think Holland will be the surprise package, from those outside of the favorites (Brazil, Argentina, Spain) and go quite far.

Not sold on Germany yet, b/c they only beat the Socceroos. Not saying they won't win the gorup, but we shouldn't read too much into this and declare them favorites. Their squad is quite young, and if that set-piece in the opening minutes gives the Aussie's a goal, then the game could've been VERY different. Show me something against Ghana and England in the next round (should Eng. finish 2nd in the group), and I will be more impressed.

[ClosetOtaku]

Didn't agree with the PK call in the SA-Uruguay game, but then again I had the benefit of slow-motion. Uruguay player clearly did some acrobatics. Not saying SA wasn't outplayed -- they were -- but other incidental contact in the penalty area has been routinely brushed off, this one earned both a PK and a red card for the goal keeper.

[Nate]

The best soccer game OF ALL TIME.

[MBlight]

I didn't have very high hopes that SA would actually beat Uruguay, but as a die-hard SA fan I was bitterly dissapointed at some of the decisions made by the ref and feel that we didn't lose fairly...

Also Luis Suarez really was the comic relief of the game. The amount of times he fell down without being touched was just absolutely crazy, and the icing on the funny-cake was when he got smacked at the back of the head, fell down and then clutched his eye in aparant agony... seriously dude, if you want to score with the ref, at least make your sob-story believable! Here's my photo of the game, gives a new meaning to "cottonmouth": http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/photo/124/755/9/picture.html#1247559

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Argentina beat S. Korea 4-1. Ow my soul. I officially quit life.

I think in terms of reflecting their skill, I think a 2-1 or a 2-2 would have been much more appropriate. The first goal by Argentina was an absolute fluke. Corner kick bounced off a Korean into their own goal. I'm sure he felt horrible. The second one could have been blocked better, for sure. The last two goals I'll accept, but even they could have been avoided had Korea kept up their defense.

Anyway, my money is on Argentina becoming 1B and Korea becoming 2B. Greece is hardly a good team and Argentina will beat them. Nigeria got red-carded so they'll be short a man when they face Korea. And (yay pride) S. Korea is definitely the Asian Powerhouse of International Soccer.

[ClosetOtaku]

Nigeria got red-carded so they'll be short a man when they face Korea.

I think they'll be missing a starter, but they'll still field an 11-man team. The booking bans that particular player for the remained of the existing match and the rest of the Group play rounds (at this point), but it won't force Nigeria to play short.

That said, I'm still liking Korea, providing they don't choke. The goal differential for both Greece and Korea is the same right now, so Korea can win or tie Nigeria so long as Greece doesn't tie Argentina.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

BAN THOSE HORNS.

Gaaaah!

[blkmage]

I wasn't able to tell if North Korea were playing well or if Brazil was just sloppy, and given a few moments, I'm inclined to go with the latter. For South Africa vs. Uruguay, I could see Uruguay coming out on top anyway, but I agree that red card was heavy handed.

I was hoping that South Korea would do a lot better than they did against Argentina, but I'm still expecting them to advance. I'd like to see an Asian team (read: Korea or Japan) get past the Round of 16 again.

[MBlight]

BAN THOSE HORNS.

Gaaaah!

Everyone says that until they blow on their very first vuvu, then it's over, you're hooked, you will never say no again...

[Nate]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/south-african-vuvuzela-philharmonic-angered-by-soc,17625/

JOHANNESBURG—Members of the South Africa Vuvuzela Philharmonic Orchestra, widely considered to be among the best large-scale monotonic wind instrument ensembles in the world, told reporters Friday they were furious over the recent outbreaks of international soccer matches during their traditional outdoor concerts.

"I cannot imagine what is getting into these football teams that they would suddenly begin full-scale international competition just when we are beginning our 2010 concert series," said Dr. Stefan Coetzee, the Philharmonic's program and concert director. "It is disrespectful to the performers, it is disrespectful to the music itself, and by extension, it is disrespectful to the great nation of South Africa."

Spontaneous high-caliber soccer games have thus far plagued every orchestral vuvuzela performance of the season, which opened June 11 at Cape Town Stadium.

[GeneD]

Well done to the US for coming back from a 2-0 at half time.

My family's got soccer fever quite badly, with my brother and sister going on a ticket buying rampage on Monday, so I'm now going to 2 more matches. Ghana/Australia on Saturday and Japan/Denmark on Thursday.

My brother and his friends also managed to get last minute tickets to the SA game on Wednesday in a contest and ended up sitting near the SA national rugby team, which is pretty cool.

[ClosetOtaku]

Officiating, once again, takes center stage at the WC.

Bad calls during Germany-Serbia, bad calls in US-Slovenia. Very bad calls.

In most sports, officiating can certainly influence the outcome of a game, but for the most part, teams can recover, or it doesn't really alter the outcome.

In a low-scoring game like futbol, though, these calls have a spectacular impact.

I'm surprised that, for the amount of area covered, there are really so few officials assigned to a game. The density of officiating versus area of responsibility is much lower in futbol than American football, basketball, or baseball. Heck, there are more officials in Tennis, and they have relatively little more to do than make line calls.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Yeah seriously. US definitely deserved to win. They should be able to go back and look at footage and overrule the calls of referees. Similar to American Football.

[ClosetOtaku]

I don't expect that to happen -- replay is just barely tolerable in football and hockey, and I think it would slow down futbol unacceptably. However, I wouldn't mind a couple more officials on the field.

[GeneD]

I agree about more officials. I couldn't figure out why the ref didn't give the US that 3rd goal. And like ClosetOtaku said, the last few games have had really bad calls and afterwards there seems to be not much that can be done about it.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

A third the more officials....

And England just tied Algeria... 0-0. How boring. D:

[Etoh*the*Greato]

A third the more officials....

And England just tied Algeria... 0-0. How boring. D:

At least that means America doesn't lose out for our Tie today.

[ClosetOtaku]

Strange World Cup results so far. Some of the best teams aren't playing well. Not to say that the underdogs are playing better -- they aren't -- but they are managing to keep up.

Keep an eye on Chile -- guess we'll see at their next game if they are for real, but I'm thinking they might go farther than expected.