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Know Thy World Cup Teams

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 10:01 AM

Here's an essay writing assignment to underscore the quadrennial excitement of the FIFA World Cup™ Football. Based on the KTE essays, I'm soliciting works of literature about each of the 32 competitors taking to the pitch in Germany June 8-July 9 --- Frankfurt, Lepzig, Nuremberg, Hamburg. Bryan Adams! Simple Minds! The Beatles! Well, not the Beatles, but damn, they should be there too. And Bryan Adams should be, um, elsewhere. What can you tell us? Among other things, tell us the nation's top players, their top players ever, when football came to them and where it fits in their culture, who are their craziest fans, what style do they play? What's their historical record in World Cup play? Have they won any cups? What was their best finish? How'd they do in qualifying? How pathetic is their prima donna? How cowed does he have the coach? What celebrity fans do they have backing them? Is Enrique Iglesias the honorary captain of Spain's team? Is Fiona Apple inexplicably pushing Tunisia? Tell us! As always, you can trade. You can flake also. I mean, you didn't ask for this grief. But I'd have more fun if you didn't flake, so if you don't have time for this assignment, I'd appreciate it if you'd try and get your kid to do it for you. Group A Group B Poland Johnny Dickshot England OlerudOwned Germany metirish Paraguay DocTee Costa Rica *62 Trinidad and Tobago A Boy Named Seo Ecuador Transmonk Sweden G-Fafif Group C Group D Argentina Rockin' Doc Mexico Zvon Cote d'Ivoire Edgy DC Iran SI Metman Serbia and Montenegro lubitul Angola holychicken Netherlands Old Original JB Portugal Willets Point Group E Group F Italy ABG Brazil metsmarathon Ghana Elster88 Croatia ScarletKnight41 USA abogdan Australia MFS62 Czech Republic Gwreck Japan sharpie Group G Group H France Methead Spain Steve J. Rogers Switzerland soupcan Ukraine seawolf17 Korea Republic centerfield Tunisia Rotblatt Togo RealityChuck Saudi Arabia duan

Johnny Dickshot Jun 01 2006 10:16 AM

I am so on this. Shall these assignments also be our entries in the CPF World Cup Challenge? Or should that be a separate drawing? I'm cool with the Poles -- just have to ask anyone in my hood.

metirish Jun 01 2006 10:22 AM

Super cool, I love it, and I get the host Nation.

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 10:23 AM

These assignments are pretty random (excepting I deliberately gave centerfield the Koreans, and left out posters like Vic Sage and Frayed Knot who I think have expressed an animus toward soccer in the past), so yeah, if you want to take up rooting interest in your assignee and start a $5 pool, that'd be cool.

Willets Point Jun 01 2006 10:29 AM

Cool, I'll have to interview my Portugeuse landlord for the inside scoop. Crib notes if you need them.

Farmer Ted Jun 01 2006 12:01 PM

I can't read that...it's in some weird computer text, like COBOL or some shat. In any case, I hope I'm in. On aside, the Teds have a good friend who missed the last cut for the Trinidad and Tobago team. Bummer.

Vic Sage Jun 01 2006 12:17 PM

so this is about ... what... soccer, right? have fun.

Gwreck Jun 01 2006 01:13 PM

Here we have an somewhat-amusing general preview. Aside from the occasional error like not knowing the name of the Chancellor of Germany, it's not too bad. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=davies/060601

Rotblatt Jun 01 2006 02:05 PM

Tunisia, huh? Well, I'm game!

sharpie Jun 01 2006 02:06 PM

I also have animus toward soccer. I wish the Japaense team well but I don't have the time right now to research it and, besides, I have that animus thing.

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 02:08 PM

Rottie's on board. Who wants to take over the Ham Fighters?

Elster88 Jun 01 2006 02:23 PM

A seperate thread for each?

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 02:28 PM

That wasn't my intent, but it appears to be happening.

metirish Jun 01 2006 02:59 PM

Maybe it should have it's own forum for the duration of the cup?

Elster88 Jun 01 2006 03:00 PM

Does anyone want Ghana?

Willets Point Jun 01 2006 03:02 PM

Edgy DC wrote: That wasn't my intent, but it appears to be happening. Should we follow the precedent or just paste things into this thread as well as putting new material in this thread. I'd think the latter would be better than 32 threads.

seawolf17 Jun 01 2006 03:03 PM

Unfortunately, I'm going to pass also. Futbol kinda bores me, and I wouldn't be able to give the Ukraine Fighting Kievs their proper due. (Heck, I wouldn't have even opened this thread, but it was getting a lot of responses and I thought I was missing something funny.)

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 03:09 PM

You'd do us a great favor if you could trick somebody else into writing it for you. Thirty-two previews in one thread? Why not?

Elster88 Jun 01 2006 03:10 PM

At most one thread per group.

metirish Jun 01 2006 03:16 PM

Sounds good to me, also I think peeps should give a prediction on how they think there team will do. Team USA prepares for a possible game with Iran.

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 03:22 PM

]At most one thread per group. Liking this. Will the two who've posted already please retitle your threads?

Willets Point Jun 01 2006 03:24 PM

metirish wrote: Team USA prepares for a possible game with Iran. It was a big deal for Iranians when Iran beat the USA in the 1998 World Cup. Of course, everyone beat the USA in that World Cup.

duan Jun 01 2006 03:40 PM mise mise mise

i'll do anyone and everyone. It'll give me an excuse to buy world soccer!!!

Elster88 Jun 01 2006 03:42 PM Re: mise mise mise

duan wrote: i'll do anyone and everyone. CF already did Latvia.

seawolf17 Jun 01 2006 03:43 PM

Hey duan, what if I offered you this once in a lifetime opportunity to write a KTE on the Ukraine?

seawolf17 Jun 01 2006 03:43 PM Re: mise mise mise

Elster88 wrote: ="duan"]i'll do anyone and everyone. CF already did Latvia. Funniest. Spammer. Ever. Sometimes I just think about that and laugh. And I wasn't even around when that happened.

duan Jun 01 2006 04:07 PM hey!

i'll take you up on that opportunity!!!

Elster88 Jun 01 2006 04:10 PM

Duan....Ghana is available too if you really want. Or are you kidding?

ABG Jun 01 2006 04:33 PM

It's not that I know next to nothing about soccer...it's that I know nothing. Where do I even start? "Italy has a bunch of guys that try and kick the ball in the goal."

metirish Jun 01 2006 04:35 PM

This will help ABG... http://www.ireland.com/sports/soccer/worldcup2006/teams/italy.htm

Edgy DC Jun 01 2006 04:41 PM

Excellent start by Bart. Duan is heading to Italy, so you might want to trade him for Ghana or something.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 01 2006 05:54 PM Re: mise mise mise

seawolf17 wrote: ="Elster88"] ="duan"]i'll do anyone and everyone. CF already did Latvia. Funniest. Spammer. Ever. Sometimes I just think about that and laugh. And I wasn't even around when that happened. I broke into the giggles just thinking about that <g>

duan Jun 01 2006 06:22 PM

i'll take ghana too. Viva Michael Essien

Willets Point Jun 01 2006 07:49 PM

These National Geographic articles may be useful as well.

Willets Point Jun 01 2006 11:48 PM

It occurs to me funny that Edgy's World Cup initiative comes the day after the Mets most soccer-like game score wise. It's good that Endy got the golden RBI so the Mets and Diamondbacks didn't have to go to penalty hits.

ABG Jun 02 2006 10:28 AM

Edgy DC wrote: Excellent start by Bart. Duan is heading to Italy, so you might want to trade him for Ghana or something. Does Ghana also have a bunch of guys who try to kick the ball in the goal? Seems like a fair trade then.

Willets Point Jun 02 2006 10:50 AM

ABG wrote: ="Edgy DC"]Excellent start by Bart. Duan is heading to Italy, so you might want to trade him for Ghana or something. Does Ghana also have a bunch of guys who try to kick the ball in the goal? Seems like a fair trade then. They do. And they also have one guy who tries to stop the ball going into the goal.

ABG Jun 02 2006 11:23 AM

Willets Point wrote: ="ABG"] ="Edgy DC"]Excellent start by Bart. Duan is heading to Italy, so you might want to trade him for Ghana or something. Does Ghana also have a bunch of guys who try to kick the ball in the goal? Seems like a fair trade then. They do. And they also have one guy who tries to stop the ball going into the goal. That's too much for me to deal with.

Willets Point Jun 02 2006 03:33 PM

Just a question for those of us who'll want to discuss the games when they occur, should we discuss them in the appropriate group threads we already established or just one APFWC thread? Or this thread?

Edgy DC Jun 02 2006 03:53 PM

Seems like the group threads would be nice during the intitial round.

Willets Point Jun 02 2006 04:01 PM

I agree. Just don't want to po the soccer-haters too much.

Nymr83 Jun 02 2006 09:16 PM

the soccer haters can skip over the threads... (i'm not a soccer hater, just kinda indifferent)

A Boy Named Seo Jun 03 2006 12:47 PM

Trinidad and Tobago. Neat. After I get to know thy Dodgers, I'll meet these guys (unless Farmer Ted wants them. I can always pick up another squad). Great idea.

Elster88 Jun 08 2006 04:45 PM

This could also be the AP World Cup thread to keep general World Cup talk out of the AP Soccer thread.

Elster88 Jun 08 2006 04:47 PM

So the two teams that advance out of the E bracket play against the F bracket in the round of 16. My assumption is that if the US advances they will be the #2 team out of the E bracket....which means they would probably face Brazil and get squished.

Johnny Dickshot Jun 08 2006 08:33 PM

Know thy World Cup uniforms [url]http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/060608[/url]

Elster88 Jun 08 2006 08:47 PM

I'm always a fan of the Italian jerseys.

Methead Jun 09 2006 10:36 AM

Shit. I didn't realize I'd been assigned a task here. Honestly I hadn't been that excited for the World Cup. I never am.... until it starts. Sorta like the way I am with (American) football season. At least France doesn't play for a few days... I've got time to pull something together.

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 10:41 AM

Today's games: Germany vs. Costa Rica, noon Poland vs. Ecuador, 3:00 PM Edit: I'm posting as Ed Kranepool in the Crane Pool Forum. Seems appropriate.

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 02:20 PM

How do they actually do the draw? Do they put all 32 teams together and draw them one by one? Or do they take the top 8 teams in the world and seperate them and then fill up the remaining spots by drawing the 24 other qualifiers out of a hat, thus keeping the top 8 teams out of each other's Groups? Or do they do some other version of the second way?

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 02:42 PM

I think I found it. [url]http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/releases/all_zones_draw_procedure_en_4.pdf[/url]

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 02:48 PM

Okay maybe that wasn't it. That looks like it is explaining how teams from each region of the world qualify for the World Cup. What I'm wondering is, once the teams have all qualified, how do they break them down into Group A, B, C, etc?

metirish Jun 09 2006 03:01 PM

IIRC the top 8 eight seeded teams are calculated by a combo of World Rankings and where they finished in the qualifying groups, it's kinda complicated...here is an article regarding England form last year... ] England must carry on winning or risk losing World Cup seeding Daniel Taylor Tuesday October 11, 2005 England face an anxious wait to discover if they will be among the eight nations to be seeded for the World Cup after learning that their poor performances could see them excluded. At present England are likely to be the eighth-seeded nation in next summer's tournament, but Holland and the US could overtake them. England need to beat Poland tomorrow and play well against Argentina next month to consolidate their position before the World Cup draw in Leipzig on December 9. Fifa has a points system to determine the competition's most likely winner based on the last three World Cups and the world rankings since 2002. England's defeat against Northern Ireland saw them slide from seventh in the world rankings to 11th and, in the worst-case scenario for Sven-Goran Eriksson, it may yet hurt them in the draw. If England do not beat the Poles and subsequently finish second in Group Six, it remains a possibility that their world ranking could slip again. Holland are the side most likely to pip England and Eriksson's team talk at Old Trafford should include a reminder that if they go to the tournament unseeded they could face Brazil in the group phase.

holychicken Jun 09 2006 03:05 PM

Just saw this. I am all about Angola. If you have any angola soccer related questions, I am your man.

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 03:09 PM

metirish wrote: IIRC the top 8 eight seeded teams are calculated by a combo of World Rankings and where they finished in the qualifying groups, it's kinda complicated...here is an article regarding England form last year... So once they have the top 8 teams it's just a lottery to fill the other 3 spots in each group?

metirish Jun 09 2006 03:11 PM

Yeah I think so, I mean they might have a second tier of seeded teams but I don't think they do, they do that for the qualifying groups though.

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 03:15 PM

Thanks.

metirish Jun 09 2006 03:18 PM

Elster this link should help, I can't view it from work but click on " relive the draw", I think they explain how it works.. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/fd/index.html

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 03:41 PM

That's what I was looking for, thanks metirish. Looks like there's a movie in there that shows the draw. I'll have to check that out at home. Here's the Adobe document of the rules for the draw. [url]http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/eu/fifa/proce.pdf[/url]

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 03:45 PM

Yep, that's pretty darn confusing.

Elster88 Jun 18 2006 05:24 PM

I hear the broadcasters using the country names as plural nouns. France are playing well tonight. Italy were tired in their match with USA. Korea have played too respectful today. What's the deal? Did I just not know how to speak English all along?

metirish Jun 18 2006 05:30 PM

Just wanted to link this...football HOF. http://www.ifhof.com/hof/halloffame.asp

metirish Jun 18 2006 10:07 PM

From Heyman's article today... ]Anyone interested in Barry Zito will have to call overseas to multi-tasking A's GM Billy Beane, who's attending the World Cup (his A's haven't lost since he left). Cashman recently was asked if he considered going overseas. "I'm not a soccer fan," he answered. There's that, and there might be one other reason.

Elster88 Jun 19 2006 09:04 AM

I don't get it. What's the other reason?

Willets Point Jun 19 2006 09:21 AM

Elster88 wrote: I don't get it. What's the other reason? He's a beaten puppy tied to a leash in the firm grip of the Boss.

Elster88 Jun 23 2006 12:25 PM

]If Martínez was at all nervous, he did not show it, offering World Cup predictions (Brazil, Argentina or Mexico, he said) Way to go out on a limb there, Pedro.

Willets Point Jun 23 2006 12:33 PM

Well he did mention the unlikely prospect of Mexico winning the World Cup even if they're his 3rd choice.

MFS62 Jun 23 2006 12:45 PM

Is soccer played in the Dominican Republic? Or is it impossible to corner kick off the island? Later

Willets Point Jun 23 2006 12:49 PM

MFS62 wrote: Is soccer played in the Dominican Republic? Or is it impossible to corner kick off the island? Later Played. But not played as well as baseball. Current FIFA Rank: 175.

Edgy DC Jun 23 2006 05:11 PM

Worst fake ever.

Elster88 Jun 24 2006 10:54 AM

Willets Point wrote: ="MFS62"]Is soccer played in the Dominican Republic? Or is it impossible to corner kick off the island? Later Played. But not played as well as baseball. Current FIFA Rank: 175. Too small a population.

Nymr83 Jun 24 2006 01:32 PM

Elster88 wrote: ="Willets Point"] ="MFS62"]Is soccer played in the Dominican Republic? Or is it impossible to corner kick off the island? Later Played. But not played as well as baseball. Current FIFA Rank: 175. Too small a population. so what? Ireland is ranked 31st and Israel 49th and I'm pretty sure their populations are comparable to the Dominican Republic's.