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Here’s a good article from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “Something About Enrique Iglesias & A Nude World Cup Bet.” . Originally posted here:
Something About Enrique Iglesias & A Nude World Cup Bet.

(Server still okay? Everyone alright in the stampede?)

There are bets and then there are bets. Of course, then there are offhand remarks which probably shouldn’t be said when speaking in the public arena. So if you’re famous and prone to making outrageous declarations on air, at least do so while rooting for a team with no chance to win.

Spaniard Enrique Iglesias promised to jet ski drunk and nude if Spain won the World Cup. You know the rest of the story. (Cue fangirl swooning.)

“I’m going to get drunk and ski naked in Biscayne Bay.” That’s what the hunky singer said when he got to talking about the World Cup and his home team’s chances of winning it.

So is the heartthrob crooner going to make good on his bet?

“A bet is a bet!” he told “Access Hollywood.”

And suddenly there isn’t a tree limb unoccupied in or around Biscayne Bay.

Undoubtedly it will happen at 3am under a sudden and inexplicable electrical grid failure, but props nonetheless for promising to go through with it. Now go root for Andorra.

Originally posted here:
Something About Enrique Iglesias & A Nude World Cup Bet.

Here’s a good post from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “Del Bosque: Messi Should’ve Won Golden Ball” . More here:
Del Bosque: Messi Should’ve Won Golden Ball

There are those that feel Lionel Messi was a disappointment in South Africa. There are those who feel he was good, but not great. And there are those who feel he was simply the best player at the tournament.

Toss Vicente Del Bosque into that latter category, because if he was in charge he’d be snatching the Golden Ball from Diego Forlan and handing it over to little Lionel, whose trophy cabinet is probably feeling unloved after a month without a trinket.

Of course that is if it wasn’t a Spanish win:

“Apart from our own [players] I preferred Messi,” he said. “Each game he played he made 20 chances to score, he is a phenomenon.

“We would have liked it to have been one of us. But Messi deserves the Golden Ball more than Forlan.”

For four games, Lionel was a cut above the rest. He was simply unstoppable until it came to the goal mouth, where keepers were suddenly finding an inner Lev Yashin and deflecting all that crossed their path. And then he met Germany, an excellent team with an excellent coach and excellent tactics, who shut down Diego Maradona.

Golden Ball material? That’s another story altogether, but who are we to argue with the man who just won a World Cup?

More here:
Del Bosque: Messi Should’ve Won Golden Ball

Here’s a good post from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “FIFA’s World Cup All-Star Team” . Read the original here:
FIFA’s World Cup All-Star Team

There are plenty of World Cup best XIs floating around. Mr. David Beckham did one just before the final, and we did two ourselves, split between semi-finalists and non-semi-finalists.

There’s only one XI that goes in the history books though, and that’s the FIFA one. The FIFA World Cup All-Star Team was decided by the votes of FIFA.com Club members (that’s folks who’ve signed up at the FIFA website) and the results were announced today. So, as voted for by fans, the World Cup All-Star Team is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Defenders: Philip Lahm (Germany), Carles Puyol (Spain), Maicon (Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Midfielders: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Xavi (Spain)
Forwards: Diego Forlan (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain)

That’s six members of the Spain team, and only one player – Brazil’s Maicon – who didn’t make the semi-finals. The teams also features three right backs and no left back.

Obviously it’s not worth being too pedantic about an All-Star team, but I think this shows that maybe an XI can’t really be selected via a fan vote. At least not unless there’s a separate vote for specific positions, like left back, that would otherwise be overlooked. Because now when future generations look back at World Cup 2010, they could easily assumethere were no decent left backs present, which is a shame for players like Uruguay’s Jorge Fucile and Portugal’s Fábio Coentrão. I think I’d much rather see the Best XI as selected by FIFA’s famed Technical Study Group.

Read the original here:
FIFA’s World Cup All-Star Team

Here’s a good post from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “Soccer Goes Mainstream as Team USA Wins ESPY for Best Moment” . Original post:
Soccer Goes Mainstream as Team USA Wins ESPY for Best Moment

That headline might be overstating things, but not by much. The ESPY Awards were created by American sports broadcaster ESPN in 1993. A little like the Oscars, if everyone was a lot more relaxed. Various sporing achievements from the year are honoured, with more than a little ESPN self-promotion thrown in. The important thing is that they’re very much mainstream and popular. Expert panels pick the nominees, and then fans vote for a winner.

The “Best Moment” category – as in the best sporting moment of the past year, as decided by the American general public – was contested by the New Orleans Saints Superbowl victory, Phil Mickelson winning the Masters amid much emotion, Joannie Rochette performing at the Olympics after a personal tragedy, and Landon Donovan’s dramatic late goal against Algeria that kept the team in the World Cup.

Somewhat surprisingly, American sports fans voted for the US soccer team beating Algeria 1-0 as their “Best Moment” of the last twelve months.

I know this doesn’t mean soccer is suddenly more popular than the NFL or golf. I know that the US beating Algeria benefitted from being by far the most recent and therefore fresh in the memory of all the moments nominated. And I know that a few people probably thought Carlos Bocanegra was Landon Donovan when he stepped up to the mic. But at the very least this is the sport of soccer taking another step towards the limelight in American popular culture.

Unfortunately, it won’t get the chance to stay there, since the next World Cup is a whole four years away. But Thierry Henry’s arrival at New York Red Bulls is yet another sign of progress. Check in with Dave at Red Bulls Offside for updates on today’s TH14 press conference.

Original post:
Soccer Goes Mainstream as Team USA Wins ESPY for Best Moment

Here’s a new article from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “Argentina to Offer Diego Maradona Four More Years” . Go here to read the rest:
Argentina to Offer Diego Maradona Four More Years

Diego Maradona will apparently be offered a new four year deal to stay on Argentina coach when he meets with Football Association president Julio Grondona next week. At first I thoughtn the BBC were just making things up to fill a slow news days. But a bit of Googling and translating reveals that the news comes directlyfrom the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino website:

Personally, I think this is brilliant news. I enjoyed Maradona at World Cup 2010, not just for his comedy moments (see above) but for his dedication to attacking football and the manic passion he brings to the touchline. No other coach in the world hugs his payers like El Diego does.

The man may need some tactical help (I hear Jogi Loew’s still laughing) and there may be many Argentina fans who want Maradona gone. But for the sheer excitement of it all, I’d love to see Maradona re-sign and coach Argentina at Copa America 2011 (which they’ll host) and World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

- Read more about la albiceleste at the Argentina blog.

Go here to read the rest:
Argentina to Offer Diego Maradona Four More Years

Here’s a new article from FIFA.com – 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ – News

South American football has resumed business, with the countdown to Brazil 2014 already under way and plenty of activity on the domestic and international scenes.

Go here to read the rest:
Non-stop action in South America

Here’s an interesting article from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “The World Cup Final in Lego” . Visit link:
The World Cup Final in Lego

The game recreations at Lego Fussball have been one of the small joys of World Cup 2010. Of course they did one of the final, so if you want to see Spain 1-0 Netherlands, complete with Lego Mark van Bommel slide tackles and Lego Nigel de Jong delivering a Lego kick to the Lego chest of Lego Xabi Alonso, then click play above.

For more football and Lego fun, have a look at our 2008 Offside post When Lego Meets Soccer, featuring famous stadiums made from the little plastic bricks.

Visit link:
The World Cup Final in Lego

Here’s a good article from FIFA.com – 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ – News

FIFA.com takes a look at the European continent, as many countries count down to the start of their new seasons and international coaches look to wipe the slate clean.

Link:
The Old Continent gears up

Here’s a good post from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “Nigel de Jong Is The New Zinedine Zidane” . Read this article:
Nigel de Jong Is The New Zinedine Zidane

Well that sounds awfully wrong, doesn’t it? But it’s true, at least in one sense: Nigel’s taking over YouTube with his kung fu kick on Xabi Alonso’s xiphoid process. It’s garnering the same type of treatment that Zizou earned when he thrust his shiny dome into Marco Materazzi’s sternum.

The YouTuber variations are coming in slowly – it’s only been 3 days after all – but it at least seems everyone is in on the Street Fighter bit. Plus little girls are already copying his every move.

As we await the bulk of the internet’s creative genius to wow us with grainy tensecond videos, a couple of the earlier submissions (and the better Street Fighter edition above). Additions, as always, are welcomed.

Nigel de Jong’s mysterious training in youth:

Nigel defends Sparta:

And of course, the highlight reel from years gone by:

In about 3 weeks, Nigel will have a similar YouTube video to boast of. It must be good to be YouTube king.

Read this article:
Nigel de Jong Is The New Zinedine Zidane

Here’s a good article from World Cup Soccer – South Africa 2010 about “Transfer Talk: The Post-World Cup Meltdown” . See the original post:
Transfer Talk: The Post-World Cup Meltdown

Welcome to the most infuriating window in football: the post-big tournament transfer season. There is nothing more nauseating, unsettling or frustrating than watching rumor after rumor spill out onto the pages as journalists do their best to match which successful tournament performance matches with a particular team. Often, it’s simply an exercise in insulting our intelligence.

So come be infuriated with us.

There will be plenty of time for the mid-level transfers, but for now it’s all about the big movers and shakers of world football. And Ashley Cole.

Along with captaining World Cup winning nations, Iker Casillas also moonlights as Ashley Cole’s Mr. 15% – and he’s thisclose to joining up Real Madrid’s payroll: “From what I am hearing the signs look good,” the Sun quoted the 29-year-old as saying. “I have only briefly spoken to people at the club but I am confident he can be a Real Madrid player next year. I think it will be the right move for him both professionally and personally. A clean break from England is hopefully something he is very interested in. It will be his last big contract and who better to sign for than his old coach Mourinho at Real.”

So much like Titi Henry, he will escape English shores to Spanish sunsets in the wake of a public divorce. Rumors are already circling Iker has proclaimed Cashley will look to complete this career route with a move to MLS in 3-4 years, where he’ll be looking to become “the rich man’s David Beckham”.

Luis Suarez isn’t universally beloved by fans, but he is universally loved in sporting director offices across the globe, so Ajax will be fielding calls left and right and eventually will have no choice in selling him on, the only matter is when. He’ll happily take the well-traveled and well-compensated route to the Prem, naming Manchester United and Tottenham in his little diary.

There were a number of coming out parties at the World Cup, but perhaps none quite so large as Mesut Ozil - Thomas Mueller enjoyed his in the Champions League – so, of course, big teams are banging on Werder Bremen’s doors. But he’s looking to remain in the German north for at least another year, which is wonderful; what’s less wonderful is that he has one year remaining on his contract, and though he hasn’t ruled out an 11th hour extension – which Aaron Hunt did last year – they could lose him for nothing more than a thank you note next summer, while receiving many, many treasure chests this summer. It’s quite the predicament – and the fans are split. Conveniently, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona will be ready to foot the inevitable Bremen hierarchy’s therapy bills.

Keisuke Honda is the new face of Asian football, and as such he’s a very popular man – like head-cheerleader-with-questionable-morals popular. And despite only being on the books of CSKA Moscow for all of 11 games, his agent is still running out that trusty old line: “He is currently under contract with CSKA Moscow and there has not been any serious offers for Keisuke, only inquiries.”

Which is agent code speak for…

(Wait….wrong Jerry Maguire clip.)

Arsenal and Liverpool have been rumored – and the latter was rumored back when Keisuke was still fielding honeymoons at VVV. I suspect they’d love a time machine right about now.

In other CSKA-related news, the Muscovites would like to move Milos Krasic to Man City. Well, why would they ever want to do that….

Milos, however, only wants Juventus. Smells like an impasse; do you fancy the lightweight winger or the Moscow football club part-owned by the Russian Ministry of Defense? Thought so.

Crunch master extraordinaire Alexis Sanchez has been dubbed the second coming of Cristiano Ronaldo, but Udinese DS Giampaolo Pozzo seems to think he’s the Second Coming: “Alexis will return to Udine and will remain here,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Next season will be the year of his consecration. Perhaps he will play as a playmaker in order to be closer to goal.”

In other words: hands off, ManU, Roma, etc.

Luis Fabiano has been at Sevilla for five years and rumored to be leaving for six. Now he wants to stay, despite the annual interest from Milan. You have to wonder how he stays so productive through the constant rumors – apparently the man can juggle.

And finally, the obligatory Transfer Window 2010 capper: Cesc. Arsenal. Barcelona.

(Noticed anything? Club football. The Offside. Do it.)

See the original post:
Transfer Talk: The Post-World Cup Meltdown