2006 SOCCER WORLD CUP - Day 10 Thread - Brazil, France, Audtralia on display

I am a hardcore fan of baseball (my NY Yankees ballcap that I'm wearing is turning orange--the black part of it!), but I'm still not willing to say that baseball requires more skill than soccer. I've played both, and it takes a lot more skill to not trip over yourself while dribbling (let alone try to dodge other players) in soccer than it does to hit the ball in baseball. With that said, I should also note that playing as a pitcher is probably one of the most skillful jobs in all of sports and is more difficult than any position in soccer. But on average, I would say that soccer is a much more difficult sport. To say otherwise, IMHO, is hubris.

Sorry, I disagree. I have seen way too many people who can do the things you claim to be so difficult yet look so silly playing softball, let alone baseball, which is much harder. The proof is in the pudding, soccer owes its popularity to being one of the most simplest to play. If Europe can field a team that is remotely competitive in baseball, maybe then they can run their mouths.

From the NY Times blog:

Angola: Palancas Negras (Black Antelopes)
Argentina: Albicelestes (White-Sky Blues)
Australia: Socceroos
Brazil: Seleçao Canarinho (Canary Selection)
Costa Rica: Ticos (from the local linguistic habit of creating diminutives by adding “tico” instead of “tito” to the end of words)
Croatia: Vatreni (the Fiery Ones)
Czech Republic: Lokomotiva (the Locomotive, rarely used)
Ecuador: La Tri (Tricolors)
England: Three Lions (rarely used)
France: Les Bleus (Blues)
Germany: Die Nationalmannschaft (National Team)
Ghana: Blacks Stars
Iran: Team Melli (National Team)
Italy: Azzurri (Blues)
Ivory Coast: Les Eléphants (Elephants)
Japan: Blues
Mexico: El Tri (Tricolors)
Netherlands: Oranje (the Orange)
Paraguay: La Albirroja (White-Red)
Poland: Bialo-Czerwoni (White-Reds)
Portugal: Seleçao das Quinas (Selection of the Shields)
Saudi Arabia: Al Akhdar (the Green)
Serbia and Montenegro: Plavi (Blues)
South Korea: Reds
Spain: La Furia Roja (the Red Fury)
Sweden: Blagult (Blue-Gold)
Switzerland: Die Eidgenossen (the Oath Comrades)
Togo: Les Eperviers (Sparrow Hawks)
Trinidad and Tobago: Soca Warriors
Tunisia: Les Aigles de Carthage (Carthage Eagles)
Ukraine: Zbirna/Sbornaya (Selection, in Ukrainian and Russian)
United States: None, really, but we’ve been using Yanks and Amerks.

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