Posted on 06/09/2010 6:41:52 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
From Bafana Bafana to who's dating a Kardashian, all you need to know.
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina): Messi wears the legendary No. 10 jersey for his club, Barcelona, and is known for his creativity and ball handling. Diego Maradona declared Messi his succesor, which was validated when Messi was named FIFA's 2009 world player of the year.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): Ronaldo, 25, is believed to be the highest-paid soccer player in the world. In June 2009, Real Madrid paid Manchester United a $132 million transfer free for Ronaldo's services. Along with scoring goals, Ronaldo also replaced England's David Beckham as Armani's spokesmodel for jeans and underwear.
3. Wayne Rooney (England): The English superstar striker, only 24 years old, scored 34 goals in 44 appearances this season for Manchester United. Until last season, Rooney had been paired with Ronaldo at United; many English fans feel that Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid opened Rooney's on-field options.
4. Xavi Hernandez (Spain): More commonly known just as Xavi, the 30-year-old is most often cited as the game's best playmaker. In 2006, Spanish coach Luis Aragones selected Xavi for the 2006 FIFA World Cup even though the midfielder was still recovering from a knee injury. Justifying the decision, Aragones was quoted as saying: "People say it is a gamble to take Xavi with us, but I say it would be a crazy gamble to leave him at home."
5. Kaka (Brazil): The 27-year-old Brazilian midfielder has been slowed by knee injuries, but he's still one of the game's best distributors in the middle. He plays for Real Madrid and was named the 2007 FIFA world player of the year. Kaka is a devout evangelical Christian and often wears a shirt under his jersey that reads, "I Belong to Jesus."
1. Brazil: The singlenamed wonders hold the world's No. 1 ranking, as they most often do. This summer's contingent includes striker Robinho, midfielder Kaka, and defender Lucio. Don't look for former stars Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Both were left off the squad by coach Dunga.
2. Spain: The Spanish come into this World Cup ranked just behind the Brazilians, although they have yet to show well in the FIFA World Cup. Their best finish was fourth in 1950. Spain, with superstars Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, David Villa, and Fernando Torres, was considered the best team in the world - above even Brazil - only a few months ago.
5. Portugal: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, considered one of the best players in the world, is capable of winning Portugal its first-ever World Cup on his own. He's also reportedly dating Kim Kardashian, who earlier this year was by the side of Reggie Bush as he won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints.
4. Netherlands: The "Oranje" are known for precise passing. In the early 1970s, the national team developed what was known as "total football," with each on-field player being able to switch positions with any other. Despite no longer using "total football," the Dutch are highly skilled and always a threat.
3. Argentina: A handful of other nations - Germany, defending champ Italy, England - might snag an unexpected victory in South Africa, but none of those countries boast the 5-foot-7 Lionel Messi, 22, widely considered the game's best player. Messi is often compared to Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona, who is also the team's head coach.
1. In 2009, U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard was drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters; he hasn't played a game for them.
2. At the age of 11, Lionel Messi was found to have growth hormone deficiency. One of the reasons Messi signed with Barcelona was because the club offered to pay for his treatment, which was $900 a month.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo's second given name (his full name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Averio) is in honor of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who was a favorite actor of the player's father.
4. When he was 18, Kaka fractured his spine in a swimming pool accident that threatened to leave him paralyzed. Upon full recovery, Kaka attributed the "miracle" to God and has since increased his tithing.
5. South Africa is ranked 83d in the world; the host nation receives an automatic bid.
Does anybody really care about this silly ass game?
Who gives a damned about the “World Cup”???
Your tears nourish me.
They didn't explain why players roll around on the ground and shriek in pain when someone lightly brushes up against them. From what I can tell that's integral to the sport of soccer.
But if you know the answer, why do you ask for an explanation? Memory loss?
Also, when you win the World Cup, here is a nice concept, you actually play teams from the rest of the world to be considered world champion.
I’m a huge baseball fan. But I can walk and chew gum at the same time.
I used to like baseball until the strike.
My AL-only fantasy baseball team has 75 HR’s, 289 RBI’s, 38 SB, and a .265 BA. Not shabby, but only average.
World Cup Soccer you actually have to be an actor/athlete to play. Players roll around on the ground and shriek in pain when someone lightly brushes up against them. In baseball and softball, the pitching becomes more increasingly more important as the level of competition improves, in soccer, the theatrics become paramount. World Cup is twenty-some thin, prancing twenty-somethings flopping on the grass at the merest brush of contact, screaming in feigned pain, and sobbing for yellow cards.
Probably just the millions worldwide that will view it, and those that earn huge salaries from it.
Not a huge soccer fan, but the ambience and high level of competition make the World Cup must-see TV for me. No event like it.
Corrected...with all due respect.
I’ve always meant to ask someone: if you don’t watch it, how are you an expert on it?
Many do, myself included. I played the game for 3 decades. I’ve played the game all over the world during my travels with the U.S. Navy.
I also played baseball, football and basketball competitively, and surfed in amateur competitions as well.
The ignorantly repetitive rants against soccer are tiring. If you don’t like it, fine. However, others like it. Get over it.
“Players roll around on the ground and shriek in pain when someone lightly brushes up against them”
Sounds like the NBA trying to draw fouls in the paint making themselves fly 20 feet backwards from the slightest breeze.
Baseball is watching two guys play catch. There is nothing going on so there is no risk of contact. They only sweat because it's hot outside.
yeah, thin because they run like stallions. Try letting someone glance their cleat on your shin and see how straight faced you can stay.
Hitting a ball with a stick is hard, but so is throwing a horseshoe directly on the pin.
I was stationed in West Berlin in 1974. I caught the Weltmeisterschaft fever that year, and now I look forward to watching the tournament every four years.
RE: Try letting someone glance their cleat on your shin and see how straight faced you can stay.
In high school PE class, one of our school soccer stars was holding the ball between his ankles, daring my attack, preparing to dazzle me with some dazzling soccer be-dazzlement. I rapidly invaded his personal space and swept my lower shin and ankle thru beneath him, flipping him sideways, completely off his feet and sending the ball all helter-skelter down the field. He hollered up from behind me, “Hey, you can’t do that!” At least he didn’t cry.
Look up David Busst (Coventry player).
His leg snapped in a tackle, a simply horrific injury you couldn’t show a simulation of in any kind of movie, but that played out in front of thousands of fans - and that was mercifully censored from the TV. You can find stills of his injury on the internet, but I won’t post them on FR
And his wasn’t the worst football injury of the last few years.
Look him up, and - please - spare us your appallingly ignorant know-nothing posturing.
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