Soccer!
Corona brought me the new album and a box full of sticker packets. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but expect the progress report, just like before, soon. Friends and family (and strangers), start saving those repeats. It’s hard to find people collecting these things in Austin, TX.
This is the official song for the upcoming World Cup, titled “Waka Waka”. It’s not a joke, and it’s not performed by Fozzie Bear. It’s sung by Colombian hottie Shakira. On the video you can see Osvaldo Sánchez, Omar Bravo, David Beckham, and some other players that are not attending the World Cup. This is appropriate, because Colombia is not attending either.
The song didn’t quite do it for me. When I want to get into World Cup mood, this is what I listen to. And this. And this. And this. Wow, now I am in World Cup mood. I wonder if I can still find tickets…
Scary post from futbol y más regarding the history of World Cups and the host nation. As you know, the opening match of the FIFA World Cup is Mexico vs. host South Africa. As the table below shows, the host nation has never lost their first match, and they have always qualified to the second round. If this holds true for the 2010 edition, this means that Mexico will not win their first game and since only two of four teams qualify, they’d be fighting for that other spot against France and Uruguay.
| Year | Host | 1st match win? | 2nd round? | # won | # tied | # lost | Group rank |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1934 | Italy | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1938 | France | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1950 | Brazil | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1954 | Switzerland | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1958 | Sweden | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962 | Chile | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1966 | England | Draw | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1970 | Mexico | Draw | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1974 | W. Germany | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1978 | Argentina | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1982 | Spain | Yes | Yes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1986 | Mexico | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1990 | Italy | Yes | Yes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1994 | U.S.A. | Draw | Yes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 1998 | France | Yes | Yes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2002 | Korea | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2002 | Japan | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2006 | Germany | Yes | Yes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Last night, Club de Fútbol Monterrey (previously featured) won the Interliga 2010 by defeating América 3-1 in penalty kicks. This is the second title they’ve won recently and it gets them into this year’s edition of the Copa Libertadores, the continent’s most important club competition and the oldest soccer tournament in the world. This will be the second time “Los Rayados” play in this tournament, and the first time ever that the current Mexican champion represents Mexico in this Cup.
2010 is shaping up to be quite a soccer year for me…
In order to be at their best possible level, several soccer stars all over the world are transferring to different clubs ahead of the World Cup:
Oy.
Please enjoy your next 6 minutes by watching the video below of the ten best goals of 2009.
The Final Draw is over. Here are the results:
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
Yes, Mexico will be opening the World Cup. Pretty cool.
They announced the pot allocations for the Final Draw to be help in Cape Town in two days. CONCACAF teams were placed in pot 2 together with Asia and Oceania. This means that no matter how lucky we get, things will be tough for Mexico.
