With the group stages coming to a climax, there have been a number of enjoyable moments so far.
It’s been great to witness North Korea’s resolute performance against Brazil, New Zealand’s unlikely draws, as well as Argentina and Spain’s general all round play. But so far there’s one thing that has been more enjoyable and intriguing than the rest of the tournament for me and it’s the implosion of the French.
I’m not a typical xenophobic Ingerlund fan who hates the French and the Germans ‘just because’ – I’m a big admirer of Germany’s approach to football – but to see France’s campaign collapse in farcical circumstances has been the best story of the World Cup so far. No matter when England do crash out, which could well be this Wednesday, surely they can’t disgrace themselves as much as our near neighbours?
And on to Wednesday; I’ll be watching England – Slovenia at Glastonbury festival at the Pyramid stage, hoping, rather than expecting, that Fabio’s team can produce a decent performance at the third attempt.
It appears that South Africa has put on a good tournament and fears about safety and security were wide of the mark. However, I notice there have been a number of protests from local people and workers unhappy about costs and wages, so perhaps there are wider issues to consider when deciding if it has been a success or not. Regardless of that, I hope Bafana Bafana go through to at least the knock-out stages as it’s good for the World Cup if the hosts are still involved.
FIFA also continues to embarrass itself with the whole debacle over hijack marketing, drawing attention to Bavaria beer when no-one would have been any of the wiser. And what the hell was Robbie Earle doing with all those complimentary tickets in the first place? Surely they would have been better in the hands of true Dutch and Danish supporters or local children?
I’m still not really paying any attention to brands’ attempts to associate themselves with the World Cup. I like what Carling and Nike have done but I’ve managed to avoid buying any of their products. The only advertising that has influenced me is the offers by online gambling sites.
I don’t know what's possible with the mapped out routes to the final but it’s hard to look beyond semi-finals involving the usual suspects. Brazil and Argentina both seem to be as skilful and clinical as you'd expect whilst the top European teams look to have what it takes too. But, as we’ve already seen with teams playing against Spain, Germany and Italy, it only takes one moment for an upset to occur.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
The opening weekend
I didn’t watch the opening ceremony as I was working on Thursday evening. Had I been at home I would have put the TV on just out of curiosity to see how South Africa would kick-off its big moment and hope no-one would embarrass themselves like Diana Ross did at USA ‘94.
So, it was the following day that my World Cup viewing kicked-off but it didn’t go very well. I visited http://live.itv.com/ and I was impressed that I would be able to watch the matches at my desk at work. However, within seconds of the start of the match the site crashed and despite repeated attempts I couldn’t get it working again.
Not to be beaten I reverted back to tried and tested websites such as Iraq Goals and Justin TV and eventually I found a live stream of the game, albeit with Spanish commentary. Fortunately, the first half wasn’t up to much and I left to watch the second half in a nearby pub with English commentary.
Within minutes of arriving in the pub, South Africa took the lead with a great strike and several groups of people celebrated. It became apparent that there were South Africans as well as Mexicans in the venue supporting their teams which really added to the atmosphere.
The next match that watched in full was Argentina versus Nigeria and I went to a pub with a few friends for that one. After that I got changed into my Rene Higuita costume (see previous post) and went to on a fancy dress pub crawl with seven other people also dressed as former World Cup footballers.
After the England – USA match, I exchanged a few texts with friends and family assessing what we’d just seen. This is usual behaviour for us throughout the season after big matches so there was not really any extra usage.
Now the tournament has started, the main advertising activity I’ve seen is several bookmakers offering free bets when you deposit a certain amount of money online. I already have an online betting account which I use occasionally for big sporting occasions such as the World Cup, FA Cup Final, and the Grand National.
I currently have £5 on an accumulator bet where I have predicted the winners of 15 of the group stage matches, just to make them that bit more interesting. I may be tempted to open a new account with the ones offering free bets as to get £25-worth of free bets for £5 seems like a pretty good deal.
So, it was the following day that my World Cup viewing kicked-off but it didn’t go very well. I visited http://live.itv.com/ and I was impressed that I would be able to watch the matches at my desk at work. However, within seconds of the start of the match the site crashed and despite repeated attempts I couldn’t get it working again.
Not to be beaten I reverted back to tried and tested websites such as Iraq Goals and Justin TV and eventually I found a live stream of the game, albeit with Spanish commentary. Fortunately, the first half wasn’t up to much and I left to watch the second half in a nearby pub with English commentary.
Within minutes of arriving in the pub, South Africa took the lead with a great strike and several groups of people celebrated. It became apparent that there were South Africans as well as Mexicans in the venue supporting their teams which really added to the atmosphere.
The next match that watched in full was Argentina versus Nigeria and I went to a pub with a few friends for that one. After that I got changed into my Rene Higuita costume (see previous post) and went to on a fancy dress pub crawl with seven other people also dressed as former World Cup footballers.
After the England – USA match, I exchanged a few texts with friends and family assessing what we’d just seen. This is usual behaviour for us throughout the season after big matches so there was not really any extra usage.
Now the tournament has started, the main advertising activity I’ve seen is several bookmakers offering free bets when you deposit a certain amount of money online. I already have an online betting account which I use occasionally for big sporting occasions such as the World Cup, FA Cup Final, and the Grand National.
I currently have £5 on an accumulator bet where I have predicted the winners of 15 of the group stage matches, just to make them that bit more interesting. I may be tempted to open a new account with the ones offering free bets as to get £25-worth of free bets for £5 seems like a pretty good deal.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Football, the World Cup and me
I've been a football supporter for as long as I can remember and I regularly attend matches across England following my club.
I won't be going to South Africa due to the cost involved in getting there. However, I was fortunate enough to attend a week of the last World Cup in Germany and it was one of the best weeks of my life due to the party atmosphere created by people of many different nationalities.
Usually, I won't do anything special to watch football on TV other than group outings to the pub. However, this year I am attending a fancy dress party for England's opening game against the USA where everyone has to come as a footballer from a previous World Cup. Due to this I have bought a wig as I'll be going as Colombia's Rene Higuita. I will also be watching England's final game of the group stage at Glastonbury festival on a big screen and, hopefully, in some glorious sunshine.
My Internet habits won't change too much over the course of the World Cup, I am a regular visitor to the BBC Sport website so this will be where I get most of my information from during the tournament. For further analyse of matches throughout the season I generally use the websites of The Guardian and The Times, so again this is likely to remain the same.
The two pieces of advertising which have caught my attention are the following TV commercials:
Carlsberg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66OuJZGDCHE
Nike - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE
Both are really good, entertaining adverts which I feel are helping to create excitement during the build up to the tournament. However, I won't be drinking Carlsberg or buying Nike products.
Hasta la victoria siempre.
I won't be going to South Africa due to the cost involved in getting there. However, I was fortunate enough to attend a week of the last World Cup in Germany and it was one of the best weeks of my life due to the party atmosphere created by people of many different nationalities.
Usually, I won't do anything special to watch football on TV other than group outings to the pub. However, this year I am attending a fancy dress party for England's opening game against the USA where everyone has to come as a footballer from a previous World Cup. Due to this I have bought a wig as I'll be going as Colombia's Rene Higuita. I will also be watching England's final game of the group stage at Glastonbury festival on a big screen and, hopefully, in some glorious sunshine.
My Internet habits won't change too much over the course of the World Cup, I am a regular visitor to the BBC Sport website so this will be where I get most of my information from during the tournament. For further analyse of matches throughout the season I generally use the websites of The Guardian and The Times, so again this is likely to remain the same.
The two pieces of advertising which have caught my attention are the following TV commercials:
Carlsberg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66OuJZGDCHE
Nike - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE
Both are really good, entertaining adverts which I feel are helping to create excitement during the build up to the tournament. However, I won't be drinking Carlsberg or buying Nike products.
Hasta la victoria siempre.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Welcome to World Cup 2010
Welcome to Matt's thoughts about World Cup 2010, and a few other things too...
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