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

Sunday games in the 2006 FIFA World Cup will kick off at 9 a.m. ET (ABC) in Nuremburg with a meeting between the only two winless teams in Group F, Japan and Croatia. They will face each other knowing that a defeat will put an end to their World Cup adventures.

In their opening match against Australia, the Japanese could not maintain a 1-0 lead and they were scored on three times in the last 15 minutes. Croatia's debut was not any better, as Brazil's Kaka scored to give the South Americans a 1-0 win over the Europeans.

In Sunday's other Group F match in Munich (11:30 a.m. ET, ABC), Brazil will continue the defense of its title in facing Australia, which enters the game with high hopes after earning its first ever victory by defeating Japan 3-1. In that game, Tim Cahill became a 'Socceroo' hero when he scored two goals after coming off the bench.

Leipzig will be the stage of Sunday's only game in Group G, pitting 1998 champions France against the Republic of Korea (2:30 p.m., ABC), with the pressure of improving on their first game in which they could only muster a scoreless tie against Switzerland.

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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