WC2010 Ear Worms

Are you wavin' flag?

Just killing some time between matches and I gotta say I'm finding the music of the World Cup pretty dang catchy. The big two have gotta be Knaan's "Wavin' Flag" and of course, the official song of the WC, Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)".

Wavin' Flag by Somali-Canadian K'naan went from album single, to Canadian Haitian relief song, to Coca-Cola's World Cup jingle. If you believe the marketing it's topped the charts in 11 countries. It's got bilingual versions in 15 languages. Check out the Arab version here. K'naan, I can't get your tune out of my head. It's like the perfect afro-reggae-pop (insert-your-cause-here) anthem.

And what's not to like about Shakira? As of this writing the english version of Waka Waka has 56 million views on the YouTubes. The spanish video's even better... love all the Barça player cameos. Apparently she texts with Messi.

How bout ESPN's WC theme music (4:20 in this clip... and no, I'm not talking about U2) Not sure if it's the shear repetition or because I associate it with watching matches but I'm diggin it. Apparently other people are too. Check out a little behind the scenes on it's creation here.

Yeah... how long til the Netherlands v. Brazil kickoff?

Round 3: Quarterfinals (Fri. 7/2/10, 7am PT)

Netherlands

v.

Brazil

Round 3: Quarterfinals (Fri. 7/2/10, 11:30am PT)

Uruguay

v.

Ghana

Round 3: Quarterfinals (Sat. 7/3/10, 7am PT)

Argentina

v.

Germany

Round 3: Quarterfinals (Sat. 7/3/10, 11:30am PT)

Paraguay

v.

Spain

Pool Standings: Round 2 - Round of 16

(click to enlarge)

The Round of 16 is complete, and there has been some movement in the standings. Kudos to Canarinhos, the only pool participants to correctly pick all eight matches for a total of 16 points. Five teams picked up an additional 14 points; four teams found 12.

Night Rider has taken sole possession of the lead as Real Marin dropped off slightly. Clueless in Denver appears much less clueless, sneaking into third place on seven correct selections. Together they are the only three teams who have achieved the 60-point threshhold.

The Quarterfinals begin on Friday. It is important that you all get your picks in on time. Correct picks now increase to 4 points per match, so there is greater ground to be gained and more to lose. We've already seen two teams lose out on points as a result of tardy posting, and that's not fun for anyone.

Lastly, if any teams have not yet sent in the pool fees...please send your payment to jv as soon as possible. Let's get that cash to the Haitian kiddies as soon as possible. C'mon now!

Good luck to all!

Round of 16 Results: Day 4

David Villa is lethal in front of the net for Spain.

Paraguay 0-0 Japan (5-3 penalties)
Both teams play tentatively, even fearfully, in a scoreless snoozer. Heartbreak for the Blue Samarai's Yuichi Komano as his penalty miss gifts Paraguay the win.

Spain 1-0 Portugal
A high energy match in which Spain unsurprisingly dominates possession with their master passing. The Portuguese defense is finally unlocked with a Xavi to Iniesta sequence beautifully finished by David Villa.

Round of 16 Results: Day 3

It's all laughs for Robinho and Luis Fabiano as they celebrate Brazil's third goal against an over-matched Chile.

Netherlands 2-1 Slovakia
Yet another solid but un-stylish win for the Dutch. Robben and Sneijder impress, but questions remain: how will the defense react when tested for real, does the offense have another gear we haven't seen yet? They're going to need all that and more if they're to get past the blazing Brazilians.


Brazil 3-0 Chile
Brazil show just how balanced they are with their defense-first mentality and deft counter attack. Brazil just absorb, absorb, absorb... and then *bang*... goal. Chile provided a lot of entertainment for the tournament and deserve credit for taking the game to the Samba boys. In the end though, they are simply out-classed.

Round of 16 Results: Day 2

No goal? Thanks, FIFA!

Germany 4-1 England
While the scoreline may be a bit more flattering than they deserve, Germany plays a dynamic youthful counter-attacking match against the Three Lions of England. Yet another epic chapter is added to the storied WC rivalry of England v. Germany, this time with the Germans handing the English their worst-ever WC defeat.

However, the controversy that will be discussed for decades to come was the outrageous refereeing failure to allow the Lampard goal where the entire ball was a yard and a half beyond the line. The goal would have tied the game at 2-2 -- no doubt changing the complexion of the match. It seems everyone at the stadium besides the officials could see it was a good goal. When will Sepp Blatter and FIFA remove their heads from the sand and understand that the simple technology being used in sports leagues around the world could easily correct these egregious errors? Their lack of judgment is corrupting the integrity of the competition and exposing FIFA as stubborn ponderous dinosaurs desperately clinging to the olden ways of yesteryear. I call bullshit.

Argentina 3-1 Mexico
Once again poor refereeing affects the outcome of a WC match as they fail to call Carlos Tevez offside on the first goal of the match. Replays show he was clearly offside. Yet somehow, even after the referee conferred with his linesman, the goals stands. Terrible.

Still, the Argentines prove to have more firepower than El Tri can handle. Of particular note was Tevez's powerful strike from distance. Argentina move on to a tantalizing quarterfinal match against Germany.


Sadly, with England and Mexico's exit, Cantona and half of Eastern Influence's home countries are eliminated from the tournament. Of the pool teams only Canarinhos and Spanish Fingerboarder still have a national rooting interest. As for us, after the USA loss, Real Marin spent a couple of hours aimlessly wondering the streets of Fairfax trying to make sense of it all. Today we're in a much better mindset, watching again as enthusiastic neutrals.

Round of 16 Results: Day 1

The USA's Landon Donovan is left to ponder what might have been.

Uruguay 2-1 South Korea
Uruguay scored their first goal on a lapse by the Korean keeper who, with more conviction, could have intercepted the ground-ball cross. The Koreans responded with an equalizer and controlled much of the run of play, but in the end, it was a spectacular individual goal by vaunted striker Luis Suarez that sees Uruguay through to the quarterfinals for the first time in 40 years.

Condolences to the sizable number of South Koreans in the pool... especially Banana Island who is a native and has followed her national side closely through the two years of qualification. They really were one of the brightest sides of the tournament playing an honest, uptempo, attacking brand of football. They exit with their heads held high having represented the Asian Confederation well with their best ever performance in a WC not on home soil.

United States 1-2 Ghana
The magic for Team USA ran out in extra time against a fundamentally sound Ghana side. The US continued their unfortunate trend of conceding early, giving away the first goal to Kevin-Prince Boateng on a comedy of errors -- starting with Ricardo Clark's giveaway in the midfield and ending with Tim Howard's failure to protect the inside post. Another comeback seemed in the cards when Donovan secured the equalizer on a penalty from a foul on a Dempsey run. As the extra time began the Yanks once again conceded in the opening minutes with poor defensive play on a long ball that Black Star Asamoah Gyan superbly controlled and finished despite being almost shouldered out by Bocanegra. Ghana's advance means Africa continue to have a rooting interest in the next round.

This was a painful exit for an American side who proved to be surprisingly entertaining through the Group Stage. Ultimately they went to the comeback well one too many times. Perhaps the most telling statistic of their campaign is that in 390 minutes of play, they only held the lead for 3. In looking at what the States need to improve it's clear their back line missed a healthy Oguchi Onyewu, but they also need better play from their strikers -- the last American forward to score a World Cup goal was Brian McBride in 2002. While we always knew the US had little chance to win the tournament, it certainly felt like an appearance in the quarters was attainable. The US World Cup ends in disappointment with the team meeting, but not exceeding, expectations. However American fans have something for which to be thankful -- Landon Donovan's game winner against Algeria put an American mark on WC2010 and produced a galvanizing moment for soccer fans nationwide.

Pool Standings: Round 1 - Group Stage

(Click image to enlarge)

We're at the end of the Group Stage and there's a tight race for the prize. Two teams top the table: Night Rider and Real Marin have each attained 50 points through the first 48 matches. But nine other teams have accumulated 40 or more points thus far and are well within striking distance.

After a review of the first round it is clear that certain selections were tantamount. Eleven teams picked South Korea; only three of those teams have fewer than 40 points. Ten teams selected Ghana; only two have fewer than 40 points. Seven teams had both South Korea and Ghana as winners; six of those teams have at least 44 points and top the leaderboard.

Now we enter the Knockout Round. We'll see if the frontrunners can keep their momentum, or if the laggards can make up ground. Good luck!

[Editor's Note: With subsequent rounds worth increasingly more points, there is plenty of chance for teams to close the gaps.]

Round 2: Last 16 (Saturday, 6.26.10, 7 AM PT)

Uruguay

v.

South Korea

Round 2: Last 16 (Saturday, 6.26.10, 11:30 AM PT)

United States

v.

Ghana

Round 2: Last 16 (Sunday, 6.27.10, 7 AM PT)

Germany

v.

England

Round 2: Last 16 (Sunday, 6.27.10, 11:30 AM PT)

Argentina

v.

Mexico

Round 2: Last 16 (Monday, 6.28.10, 7 AM PT)

Netherlands

v.

Slovakia

Round 2: Last 16 (Monday, 6.28.10, 11:30 AM PT)

Brazil

v.

Chile

Round 2: Last 16 (Tuesday, 6.29.10, 7 AM ET)

Paraguay

v.

Japan

Round 2: Last 16 (Tuesday, 6.28.10, 11:30 AM PT)

Spain

v.

Portugal

The Shot Heard Round The World

The celebration of Donovan's game winning goal in San Diego, CA.

Here's the goal.

If you want to see more reactions coast-to-coast check out this great NY Times blog. (Particularly good are Manhattan's East Village and Long Beach, CA).

Even better reaction shots here. The Seattle one is awesome.

And for sentiments from around the world, Liz found this incredible list of comments on the NY Times game summary. Amazing to see the spontaneous outpouring of emotion and congratulations coming in from so many countries, led by the Brazilians. Fuck Yeah!