32 Nations, 32 Days, One Goal
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Today the countdown truly begins for Nelson Mandela World Cup Trophy -- just 32 days until 32 nations convene in Africa's southernmost country for sport's greatest spectacle. To get the ball rolling, we've compiled 32 fun facts and figures to get you ready for the 19th edition of the World Cup, celebrating the greatest hands-free device ever invented: the game of soccer (pipe down, Ireland, we hear you).
32. The Format. U2's Bono provides the basics in that ESPN promo, but just so we're clear: 32 nations will be divided (we're going to avoid the term "segregated" here) into eight four-team groups. The opening round is an intra-group round robin, or three matches for each team. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw. The top two teams in each group advance, and from there the 16 remaining sides play a single-elimination tournament.
31. The Host Nation ... or Continent? With only African nations permitted to bid on this World Cup, South Africa beat out Egypt and Morocco in the voting back in May 2004. The World Cup marks the largest international sporting event ever to take place on the continent and five other African nations beside South Africa (which, as the host, receives an automatic bid) will be represented: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
African soccer has come a long way since 1974, when Zaire's Ilunga Mwepu cleared a free kick as the Brazilians prepared to take it (Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, was the first sub-Saharan country to take part in the World Cup). Sixteen years later Cameroon upset defending champion Argentina in the opening game and since then, African nations have won three Olympic gold medals.
South Africa, however, lacks the proud legacy, not to mention talent, of a Cameroon or Ghana. In the eighteen previous World Cups, the host nation has advanced to the second round every time. That will be a tall order for South Africa's Bafana Bafana, seeded in Group A along with Latin American powers Mexico and Uruguay and 2006 finalist France.
Share 30. 30. That's the number of referees who will work the entire World Cup. The group that has been assembled from 28 different nations. Thirty referees, but not this guy.
29. Will Landon land one? As a 20-year-old at the 2002 World Cup, Landon Donovan showed off his precocious skills by scoring two goals. The U.S. advanced to the quarterfinal stage in South Korea, making its greatest World Cup dent since reaching the semis in the inaugural event back in 1930. Four years later in Germany, Donovan failed to score and the Yanks were ushered out in the opening round. Now 28, the Californian is in his prime. If the USA is to play a fourth match in South Africa, Donovan will need to display the form that has resulted in 42 international goals, the most ever by an American.
28. Where's Becks? The world's most famous soccer player -- if not athlete -- of the past decade, David Beckham, will not participate. On March 14, the English midfielder ruptured his left Achilles tendon while on loan with AC Milan. He left the field on a stretcher and, at 35 years of age, almost certainly has seen the end of his national team career.
Curiously enough, Becks is married to a former Spice Girl, while South Africa's European colonization was a consequence of sailors voyaging from England to the East in search of spices.
27. The World Cup's version of Thunder Stix. It's called the "vuvuzela" and it has been a ubiquitous, if not euphonious, presence at South African soccer matches for nearly two decades. A one-meter long plastic horn, it produces a sound that has been likened to that of either a foghorn or a wildebeest in its death throes.
26. Giving 100 percent on the pitch, and 10 percent to his church. Brazilian midfielder Kaka, one of the half-dozen top players in the world, is part of Brazil's burgeoning evangelical Christian movement. Kaka (real name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite -- his younger brother could not pronounce "Ricardo") donates 10 percent of his salary to the Igreja Renascer em Cristo (Reborn in Christ Church), a significant sum when you consider that Kaka earns more than $12 million annually with Real Madrid.
25. Topless cover boys to meet in "Group of Death". Every World Cup has a foursome that, because of the top-notch talent contained within, is dubbed the "Group of Death." This time around that quartet is Group G, which comprises Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea. FIFA currently ranks Brazil and Portugal No. 1 and No. 3 in the world, respectively.
The most anticipated match, at least among the distaff portion of the world's soccer audience, could be the June 15 match between Ivory Coast, which boasts striker Didier Drogba, and Portugal, which counters with winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Until then, you can see the pair together -- and jersey-less -- on the cover of Vanity Fair.
24. And waiting for whomever survives ... Spain. The nation finishes second in the aforementioned Group of Death will likely have Spain, the world's No. 2 ranked side, waiting for them. La Furia Roja are the clear class of Group H (Honduras, Chile, Switzerland), having won 33 of their last 34 competitive matches, including all ten World Cup qualifiers. Spain-Portugal or Spain-Brazil, either of which could take place on June 29 in Cape Town, could have more hype than the final itself.
23. Oh no, Diego. In the good ol' USA, retired sports legends who morph into obese, dissipated has-beens turn up either in Deadspin, in Nutri-System ads, in court, or all of the above. In soccer, they manage their national team. While Argentina may very well field the world's best player (Lionel Messi), their problem is that they are coached by the world's best player of a quarter century ago, Diego Maradona.
The Argentine national hero was thrust into the job after Alfio Basile quit during qualifying. But it soon became apparent that the man who gave us the "Hand of God" goal in 1986 rules with an iron hand, and is loathe to accept advice from his assistants even though one of them, Carlos Bilardo, was Maradona's coach when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup.
Argentina's most lethal weapon twenty-four years ago may be its largest liability in South Africa.
22. Long Time, First Time. Brazil is the only nation that has appeared in all previous eighteen World Cups, beginning with the inaugural event hosted by Uruguay in 1930. Slovakia, which became an independent republic in 1993, is the only newbie among the field of 32. The Slovaks will face lightly-regarded New Zealand in their inaugural match.
21. The need for security. In January the bus carrying the Togo national team was ambushed by rebels as it traveled in Angola prior to the start of the African Nations Cup. The bus driver, an assistant coach and a media relations representative were killed in the attack, Togo withdrew from the tournament.
The attack underscored the fact that Africa can be a dangerous place. South Africa, which experienced some 2.1 million "serious crimes" last year, is no different. In fact, Newsweek recently reported that South Africa has fifty murders per day, in a country whose population is one-sixth that of the United States.
South Africa is deploying 41,000 police officers, almost enough to fill the World Cup's smaller stadia, specifically for World Cup detail.
20. O, Captain! My Captain! Christmas arrived eleven months early for the British broad sheets when it was revealed that John Terry, England's captain, had an affair with teammate Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend. Terry is married while Bridge and French underwear model Vanessa Perroncel have a child of their own.
English coach Fabio Capello stripped Terry of the captaincy and in a much-publicized snub in late February, Bridge refused to shake Terry's hand prior to a league match. Bridge has withdrawn himself from World Cup consideration.
19. The Beautiful Gamers. No squad may embrace the artistry of the sport more than Spain. With a fluid and intricate possession-oriented style orchestrated by Barcelona midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, sometimes it seems as if the Spaniards are playing keep-away as much as they are soccer.
18. New Zealand may have the worst game -- and name -- at the World Cup. Taking a page from their world-renowned rugby team, the All Blacks, the Kiwis refer to their soccer team as the All Whites. That moniker may make it difficult for a large segment of the host nation, which suffered under apartheid from 1948 to 1994, to warm to them. New Zealand has been to just one other World Cup, in 1982, and did not advance past the first round.
17. A Bafana Bafana by any other name. Besides All Whites, you will hear the announcers refer to many of the countries by their soccer-exclusive nicknames. Many are related to the color of that nation's jersey, some are self-explanatory, and others are just plain abstruse. Here are some of the better-known pseudonyms:
Algeria........................ Desert Foxes
Argentina....................Albiceleste (White and sky blue)
Australia.....................Socceroos
Brazil...........................A Selecao (The Selection) or Canarinho (Little Canary)
Cameroon..................Indomitable Lions
Chile............................La Roja (The Red)
England......................The Three Lions (For its logo)
France.........................Les Bleus
Germany.....................Nationalmannschaft (National Team)
Ghana..........................Black Stars
Holland........................Oranje
Ivory Coast..................Elephants
Mexico..........................El Tri (for its tri-colored uniforms)
Italy...............................Azzurri (Blues)
Nigeria.........................Super Eagles
South Africa.................Bafana Bafana (The Boys)
Spain............................La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)
USA...............................Yanks
16. Miracle Man. Last January, Paraguayan striker Salvador Cabanas was shot in the head at point-blank range while in the bathroom of a Mexico City nightclub. The 2007 South American Footballer of the Year in 2007 survived the shooting. A bullet fragment remains in his skull and while Cabanas will miss the World Cup, he is expected to be discharged from a Buenos Aires rehabilitation clinic in the next two weeks.
15. Sepp Blatter, the anti-Bud Selig. Here's the FIFA president's provocative response to those who criticizing the choice of South Africa to host the World Cup: "There is still, in the so-called 'old world', a feeling of 'Why the hell should South Africa organize a World Cup?' Why the hell? It was easier for them to go down to Africa, the colonialists in the past hundred years, to take out all the best, and now to take out all the best footballers. And when you have to give something back they don't want to go. What's that? It is a lack of respect, a lack of respect for the whole of Africa."
Blatter, for the record, is Swiss.
14. Princeton's other Bradley. NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley is probably the most renowned sports figure to graduate from Princeton, but U.S. coach Bob Bradley is gaining on him. Bradley took over as national team coach in 2006 following a successful spell in Major League Soccer. His two younger brothers also have a hand in athletics: Scott, a former major-league catcher, once caught a Randy Johnson no-hitter with the Seattle Mariners. He now is the baseball coach at Princeton. Jeff is a writer for ESPN The Magazine. And Bob's son Michael likely will start in midfield at the World Cup.
13. Not a fan of the USA. General Bheki Cele, the South African police commissioner, recently told an audience in Cape Town, "Our famous prayer is that the Americans don't make the second round. That they get eliminated and they go home." Cele was referring to the security headaches that would result if President Barack Obama decides to attend the World Cup.
12. Not fans of France. Ireland will stay home and France will be at the World Cup due in large part to a hand ball by Thierry Henry that set up the winning goal in their November playoff in Paris. Henry, one of the world's top players and the French captain, confessed to the transgression, saying, "I will be honest, it was a handball. But I'm not the ref. I played it, the ref allowed it."
During a rehearsal for the televised World Cup draw last December, South Africa-born actress Charlize Theron drew another team from the bowl and playfully announced, "Ireland."
11. The most pertinent number at the 2010 World Cup: The opening match takes place on June 11 and the final on July 11. Adidas has designed an official ball that will feature 11 colors, denoting both the number of players on a team as well as the fact that the host country has 11 officially recognized languages.
10. The number traditionally worn by a team's top playmaker. It began with Pele, regarded as the greatest footballer ever. In South Africa you will see that number on the backs of Landon Donovan (USA), Wayne Rooney (England), Kaka (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon) and Lionel Messi (Argentina), the FIFA World Player of the Year, among others.
9. Nine different cities featuring ten venues will host the matches. The largest, Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg (cap. 94,700) will host the final. The smallest, Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenberg, seats just 42,000. The most spectacular, recently constructed Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, features a cable car which runs along an arch that at its apex is more than 300 feet above the pitch.
8. The eight seeded nations: Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and -- by virtue of it being the host nation -- South Africa. Non-seeded nations who have a decent shot at advancing to the later rounds include France and Portugal.
7. The number of nations that have won the previous eighteen World Cups. Brazil has won the title five times, followed by Italy (4), West Germany (3), Argentina and Uruguay (2 each), and England and France (1 each). A Selecao and the Azzurri have met twice in the final, in 1970 and 1994. Brazil won both.
6. A keeper who's a keeper. During Italy's run to the 2006 World Cup title, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon recorded a 453-minute shutout streak. The only goals he conceded were an own-goal by teammate Cristian Zaccardo against the USA and a penalty kick by France's Zinedane Zidane in the final. In true Euro soccer legend fashion, Buffon is engaged to zaftig Czech model Alena Seredova.
5. The Five Can't-Miss Opening Round Matches.
--June 12: England-USA: The English, playing in a former colony, take on a former colony. These two allies last met in World Cup play in 1950, when the Yanks pulled off an incredible 1-0 upset.
--June 12: Argentina-Nigeria: Africa's most populous nation should have the crowd behind them as they face the FIFA World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi.
--June 15: Ivory Coast-Portugal: The cover boys, Drogba and Ronaldo, plus the knowledge that the loser is going to have to take down Brazil in order to advance to the knockout stage.
--June 19: Cameroon-Denmark: Holland is head-and-shoulders above these two fellow Group E sides, so the winner here likely advances.
--June 25: Portugal-Brazil: Two nations separated by the Atlantic but united by two common languages (Portuguese and soccer). Lionel Messi and Kaka are as popular, talented and humble as any two sportsmen in the world today.
4. The U.S.A. in S.A. Which overseas country sent in the most ticket applications for the World Cup? That's right, the United States, with 50,217. Who says we don't like soccer? England was second with 41,529.
3. Baby, it's cold outside. Remember, it's winter in South Africa in June and early July. Plus, Johannesburg is located more than a mile above sea level. Soccer players are accustomed to playing in foul weather -- you've watched an English Premier League match, no? -- but fans, especially Yanks traveling abroad, may be in for a shock. Another curious, slightly depressing fact about Jo'burg: it is the largest city in the world not located along a river, lake or coastline.
2. Controversy looms. The world's most-watched single-sport spectacle (FIFA estimated that 715 million people worldwide watched the 2006 final between France and Italy) surely will generate some drama and controversy. You cannot expect to gather squads from six of the seven continents -- Antarctica still lagging behind the rest of the globe athletically -- playing the most popular game in the world without a little discord cropping up (no matter what Bono says).
Will it be an insult that results in a head-butting? An own-goal that carries dire consequences? A swiftly-issued red card? Maybe none of those -- after all, those things have already happened -- but certainly something unexpected and incredible awaits.
1. The Opening Match. South Africa will host Mexico in a Group A match from Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday, June 11th (10 AM ET, ESPN). Expect 91-year-old Nelson Mandela to make an appearance for the historic event.
posted @ 10:31 AM,
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