For anyone who has been living under a rock for the past week, or who just doesn’t get the appeal of soccer, here’s a little primer about the World’s Greatest Game, AKA the World Cup.

The very first World Cup was played in 1930, in Uruguay. Played every four years (with the exception of the WWII years, 1942 and 1946), the ‘Cup brings together the national teams of all the soccer-playing countries in the world for a month-long celebration of the sport. All regional soccer confederations hold qualifying matches in the years and months leading up to the WC, to bring only the best 32 teams to the World Cup tournament…

The teams play a round-robin within the first stage of the WC, called the Group Stage. Wins earn 3 points for a team, a draw earns one point, and a loss earns you nothing. The top two teams from each group (based on points earned, and scoring differential in the case of a 3-way tie) move on to the 16-team knock-out stage. From there, teams play within a single-elimination bracket, with the winners advancing to the next round, and the losers getting on a plane to come home… At the end, there can be only one…

Some stats for you all:

Total World Cups Played: 18, including WC 2006
Most World Cup Appearances: Brazil – 18 World Cup participations (out of 18 WCs? No wonder they're popular and favorites...)
Most World Cup Titles: Brazil – 5-Time World Cup Champions (WCs 58, 62, 70, 94, and 02)
Highest scoring Game: (AUT) 7 vs (SUI) 5, WC1954, Quarter-Final Match
All-Time Scoring Leaders: Gerd Muller, (GER), Ronaldo, (BRA) 14 Goals
Best Scorer, Single Match: Oleg Salenko, (RUS), 5 Goals
Most WC Matches Lothar Matthaeus, (GER) – 25 matches
Most World Cup Participations: Lothar Matthaeus (GER), Antonio Carbajal (MEX) – 5 World Cups
Hosted WC More than Once: Italy, Germany, France, Mexico (twice each)

For my US friends, here are some interesting factoids:

The US was among the countries to play in the very first World Cup…
They even made it to the Quarter-Final round by beating Paraguay 3-0 and Belgium 3-0. They lost to Argentina 1-0 in the QF, but it’s still a pretty impressive showing, IMO…

They also played in WC 1950, and even beat ENGLAND 1-0… Major upset, that match…

Their participation in WC 1990 marked their resurgence to the world soccer stage. They have been getting progressively better, as evidenced by their qualifying to play in WC 1990, WC 1994, WC 1998, WC 2002, and WC 2006. Their opener against the Czech Republic today is billed as a tough match for them, in one of the toughest groups, the so-called “Group of Death”.

So, are you going to root them on, or just stick your head in the sand and continue to say that soccer is a kids’/womens’ sport? Yeah, sure it is...

A little more US Soccer History for ya, HERE

I’ll admit, I prefer to watch soccer over baseball, football, and hockey, but I still love to watch the World Series, Super Bowl, and Stanley Cup… If there's no EPL/Bundesliga/Serie A games to be watched...

Growing up in Brazil, the sports I grew up playing were soccer, basketball, and volleyball . The National Team players were my sports heroes growing up, the likes of Zico, Socrates, Junior, and Leao.

The country comes to a complete stop whenever Brazil plays an international match, friendly (hah!) or anything close to WC-related… Businesses close, schools let out early, and the restaurants, bars, and bistros around the major squares and plazas become soccer-party central. City governments set up jumbotrons in the squares, so everyone can party and cheer the Canarinha on together.

Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) questions the appointed coach’s choices, from player rosters to playing formations. There is only one outcome that will shut everyone up, and that is for Brazil to WIN. A tie might as well be a loss, and a loss, well, the coach might as well not even get on the plane to come home…

I’ve been watching every game that I can from WC 2006, but none as intently as when Brazil opens their Group Stage games on Tuesday against Croatia. My national team jersey is ready, the beer is in the fridge, and my boss knows I’m NOT coming in to work that day…


It’s a National Holiday for me, after all…

soccer is nice, football i enjoy watching just a bit more,

i grew up and played four seasons fo soccer on two apposing teams and was the only player to score on either team all four years, brought us to the only tie we had and the one win of my first year, sad we lost all the other games, but i was a star 7 year old being the only player to score and tie one game for us,

but as much as MLS and FIFA Video games are fun, so is Madden,

and the same goes withplaying it in real life, soccer is lots of fun a little exhasting but well worth it, and the same goes for football,

brazil is most definatel one of the best soccer teams i've ever seen and can't wait for them to win this WC so i have my chance at that Graphics card for life thingy

Unfortunately I misread something in a contest where they asked what country you thought would win and they would enter you if that country won, but I thought I said which country you were from, so I put USA, and now I'm screwed.

So, in-short...I'm hoping America wins. (INCREDIBLY FUTILE RIGHT?)

Quote: Originally Posted by Gzim Unfortunately I misread something in a contest where they asked what country you thought would win and they would enter you if that country won, but I thought I said which country you were from, so I put USA, and now I'm screwed. So, in-short...I'm hoping America wins. (INCREDIBLY FUTILE RIGHT?)

its possible, but very unlikely, i dunno the current standings but im too busy to watch all the games

67 minutes in and 2-0 for Czech, so very unlikely that they will win. But Czech is also one of the favorites this time around.

And 5 yellow cards, 3 to Czech, must be a harsh game.

USA got stomped today, was hoping they were going to do better.

owell still got the hurricans game tonight to pick my spirits up

Ok, so I didn't get the WHOLE day off to watch the game, but I plan to watch as much as I can before I have to go back this afternoon...

Got a chill hearing the national anthem again... I wear the US flag on my shoulder, but my heart is green, yellow, and blue...

GAME ON!

Thankfully I'm on my summer break right now. If I wasn't I might have had to take a few "sick" days. I love watching the games and the whole atmosphere. Hopefully one day when I'm older I will be able to travel to a world cup. During the Trinidad vs Sweden game though it was so intense I loved it.

I wish I could watch more of the games, but this year they are timed PRECISELY to line up with work

I haven't been able to find a way to watch/listen at work, so I'm left to spam "refresh" on live update sites... ::sigh::

I hope the US can rebound from the whooping they got from the Czechs (sp?), but they really need some help up front... Donovan needs to figure out that the object of the game is to put the ball in the net...

So far, of the games I've gotten to watch, Netherlands and Sweden both looked very nice, although Sweden couldn't find a goal to get the win.