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2010 Fifa World Cup: South Africa


Rafa

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Amazing Nike commercial... Indeed, Rooney appears with Umbro t-shirts!!! :blink:

The Chilean commercial is also great... Great idea!!! Lesotho!!!

You guys can imagine that almost 90% of Brazilians ad now are about World Cup, even those woman-related...LOL

Argentine supporters trying some good beer "imported" from Brazil... LOL

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THis one is from Argentina and is very funny... It was made for a newspaper related to sports

A guy tells its father he is... ... ... Brazilian!!! LOL

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Umbro is now owned by Nike, that's why Rooney and England are in the ad.

I didn't know... So, eveything is explained!!! ...for me, the last to know it :D

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hahahaha... the Brazilian-Argentinean videos were great... I loved how they put the Argentineans as men with long and dirty hair (not far from truth) xD and the video with the father teaching tango to his son and Martin Fierro, hahaha... great

Some days ago, it was released "Ojos Rojos" ("Red eyes"), a documentary about the Chilean national team. It was recorded after the elimination of the WC 2006 and the terrible campaign in Copa América 2007... it follows the change in the national football after Marcelo Bielsa became the coach and it analizes the importance of football in the Chilean society. It has received very favourable critics and is already the most viewed movie of the year and the highest grossing documentary in Chilean history.

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(Reuters) - South Africa re-opened its showpiece Soccer City stadium to a glittering fanfare on Saturday, marking the last of the 10 World Cup venues to display its readiness ahead of the tournament.

JOHANNESBURG

Sat May 22, 2010 9:52am

South African President Jacob Zuma cut a ribbon on the pitch and declared the venue open before the kickoff of the South African FA Cup final.

...

The stadium was half-empty for the ceremony, an hour before kick-off, as thousands of fans battled traffic congestion which led to the final being delayed by 30 minutes.

Some 80,000 tickets were sold for the final, one of two matches scheduled at the venue before the opening game of the World Cup between hosts South Africa and Mexico on June 11.

The stadium will have another dress rehearsal Thursday when South Africa meet Colombia in a World Cup warm-up match.

Soccer City was originally opened in 1989 as the home of South African football and underwent an almost complete overhaul for the World Cup, with three years of construction turning the stadium into a 94,700-seater venue built in the form of an African calabash, or cooking pot.

The renovation cost 3.3 billion rand ($416.9 million), well over the original budget of 2.2 billion.

The new arena has three seating tiers, 230 private boxes, 184 suites, 32 turnstile entrances and parking for approximately 19,000 cars. It will also host the final of the World Cup on July 11.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64L1LF20100522

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Less than 3 weeks!!! Time to set a fire on this topic!!!

Where is all the discussions??? Healthy rivalry!?!?! Where are the Argentines!!!???

Well, time to say.

BRAZIL WILL BE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

who thinks like me???

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BRAZIL WILL BE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

who thinks like me???

I think so. Of course I support Brazil, but I´m trying not to think as a fan.

Brazil is kind of underrated now, after Dunga´s choices for the team. Everybody cried out loud when he choosed not to call Ronaldinho, Adriano, Ganso, Neymar.

His team is not a team of "flashing stars", like Parreira´s 2006 team. It´s a hard-working team. They will fight to win, like they did at the Confederations Cup.

Nevertheless, let´s keep our eyes open for Spain and Netherlands... Maybe this is the time for a new Champion, if Brazil doesn´t win

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I think so. Of course I support Brazil, but I´m trying not to think as a fan.

Brazil is kind of underrated now, after Dunga´s choices for the team. Everybody cried out loud when he choosed not to call Ronaldinho, Adriano, Ganso, Neymar.

His team is not a team of "flashing stars", like Parreira´s 2006 team. It´s a hard-working team. They will fight to win, like they did at the Confederations Cup.

Nevertheless, let´s keep our eyes open for Spain and Netherlands... Maybe this is the time for a new Champion, if Brazil doesn´t win

I too will support Brazil: they managed to ultimately succeed in continents other than Europe in World Cup play. Argentina has too, but that's only in both North and South America.

I too won't be surprised if Spain wins it all at last. The Red Fury played beautifully through European qualification. But I worry the Euro champs may be due for a letdown in South Africa with many of its players needing a rest from UEFA club championships like those on FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Torres can be fit in time for it after his Liverpool injuries, though the Liverpool fans may not like it. History owes the Netherlands a World Cup with its progressive play from the Total Football years of the 1970s and that great talent of Gullitt, Van Basten, Koeman, and Rijkaard that won Euro 88.

Look for some World Cup broadcast updates since you loved them so much from Beijing up to Vancouver from me soon... :D

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I live next to a charming square here in Rio and the streets surrounding it were closed late night yesterday so that painting could beging! I will snap a picture later! :D I love World Cup Painting!

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Prediction for the WC are tough because this competition has proved to be controlled by a small club. This club has very limited access. Out of the 18 competitions, 3 teams (Brazil, Italy and Germany) won 12 and at least one of them was in 16 of the final matches. The 4th member is Argentina, with it we have all the 18 finals, but with only 2 appearances in the top 4. Uruguay seems to have left the club in the late 70's and France has joined it recently, but its performance without Zidane is still to be seen. England, with 1 title, seems like an outsider having reached the top 4 only twice, i.e. as many times as Portugal, less times than the Netherlands and Sweden. So, regardless of how well they are Brazil, Germany and Italy are favorites. Italy and Germany has won with questionable (1954, 1982 and 2006). In 1994, Brazil won playing against its nature of favoring the offensive and creative play. So, those countries have proved to always be good bets.

Spain is playing the best football within the national squads, but I don't know if they are going to take this cup. Their squad is based on the structure of the Barcelona football team, but lacks a special talent such as Messi. Besides, it shares the questionable defense from Barcelona, which can be easily explored by a good game plan. The best way to control Spain is to attack them or to force them to implement their fast-pass game far from the box, which makes this tactic useless. The US played this game in last year Confederations Cup and Inter Milan played it against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League semifinals. The Brazilian team is known to implement that game plan quite well with the fast transition done by Kaká, Robinho and Maicom. Besides, the psychological pressure over the first win is difficult to take if you are not at home.

England has one of the best squads in the world. So, I don't know if Capello will help or be in the way of this team. Italian coached tend to resort to very strong defense plans, which might hurt their chances. For instance, playing behind against Spain is terrible because they won't let you touch the ball. That's probably why the English lost twice to Spain.

Argentina has very strong offensive power, but their ability to organize an effective team is still to be seen. The defense is slow and the midfield depends too much on Veron. I think their future lies with Messi. If Messi leaves up to be what some people are saying about him, he might take this trophy to the Pampas. However, I have seen him hide in important matches too many times. Every time I saw another team put someone to chase him through the pitch, he disappeared. He doesn't seem to be the kind of guy that shows up to decide, like Romario, Ronaldo, Zidane or Michael Jordan, for instance.

Going back to the usual 3, I think that Brazil is in a good position. The team is not great, but it is well integrated and has a very strong attitude. Sometimes in a WC it worths more to want to win than to be the best. Regarding the main opposition, I think that Brazil has a game plan that kinds of matches the Spanish weaknesses. Brazil has at least an psychological advantage over Argentina, who have lost all the matches to Brazil recently (last victory was in the 2006 WC Qualifiers in 2005), not to mention that the fast break attack is fatal to the Argentinian slow defense. England is the team which might be more difficult to beat, because of the strong defense and the lack of creative players in the Brazilian squad. With Italy and Germany, I think the better quality of the Brazilian team will be enough to get it through. Italy has lost twice last year, 2-0 in England and 3-0 in the Confederations Cup.

So, I would bet on Brazil.

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I wouldn't say England has one of the best squads, talent-wise they are no better than Netherlands or Germany. What they don't have in natural talent they make up for in a strong team game. And honestly it’s hard for me to accurately gauge the quality of this team for two reasons, the British media over-hypes the English to astronomical proportions and because I am in Canada, its Premiership only, none of the other leagues can any coverage here. Having to get Carragher out of international retirement is not a good sign for the English and there is the question mark in goal. The benefit to England getting far is that they are likely to face either Mexico or France in the quarter-finals, both teams are beatable. As the English just proved with a 3-1 win at Wembley over the Mexicans. Prediction: Semi-finals: 4th place.

France is an enigma, they were terrible throughout qualifying, Domenesch is a coach past his prime for this team but the quality of some of their players gives every indication they can get far in this tournament. But they are aged and the new faces are just not that good. They have a strong keeper in the back, but that is about all you can say for an old and worn-out Les Bleus. Prediction: Round of 16 loss to Korea Republic.

Argentina, leaving out players like Zanetti and Cambiasso will prove to be a stupid decision on Maradona’s part. The team has talent but the back end is old and slow and their play will be predictable with Messi. The numerous players that have been called up over the last year will prove to provide little team chemistry for the squad and Maradona can be out-coached by a box. A team with talent but without direction. Prediction: Quarter-finals.

My beloved Germany, how injuries have been unkind. It is a young team and will require standout performances from Ozil, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Lahm and Neuer to step up and be the next generation of Germany players that they have all shown they can be, especially during the last few years with German dominance of European youth competitions. There is question mark after question mark on this team and I hope that they can get it together and provide Germany with a fourth star. Yes I am bias and with a clash with Argentina in the quarters likely a semi-final birth is possible but I think a quarter-final's exit is their destiny.

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England has one of the best squads in the world. So, I don't know if Capello will help or be in the way of this team. Italian coached tend to resort to very strong defense plans, which might hurt their chances. For instance, playing behind against Spain is terrible because they won't let you touch the ball. That's probably why the English lost twice to Spain.

We lost twice to Spain because they have better players than us on the whole; they played the ball quicker and were generally sharper than us. But England are certainly not a defensive side, having scored more goals than any other European team in qualifying.

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We lost twice to Spain because they have better players than us on the whole; they played the ball quicker and were generally sharper than us. But England are certainly not a defensive side, having scored more goals than any other European team in qualifying.

Trust me, the Spanish are not that good, but their team seems to be better connected. Their passing game is a direct result of players who know each other and not of pure talent, which they have, by the way. Spain has a backbone with Pique, Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi, all of them Barcelona players who are used to play in this style. Then they add other good players and made up a winning team. However, until recently they had Marcos Senna in their squad. That guy is not a good player, but he fits well in their game plan. Besides, the defense is slow and vulnerable.

Regarding England, a squad with Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney is very strong and can beat any team. But to beat Spain you must force them to defend. If you respect them too much they will walk over you. That´s what Italian coaches usually do.

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