36 days and counting until the 2010 FIFA World Cup begins in South Africa with South Africa playing against Mexico in the opening match.
Go Bafana Bafana!!
And for those of you who aren't too familiar with the sport (I'm just learning myself), the FIFA World Cup takes place once every four years. During the two years prior to the World Cup, countries compete for spots in the tournament through World Cup qualifying. These World Cup qualifying matches are broken up into different geographic regions. FIFA's goal in World Cup qualifying is to find the best teams in the world to play in the World Cup. After all of the qualifying matches have been completed, the teams with the most points make it into the actual World Cup tournament.
32 teams from the different FIFA regions are ultimately chosen to play in the World Cup. These teams are first broken up into 8 groups of 4. Each one of these groups is given a letter name, A through H. Within each group, each team plays 3 games, 1 game against each team. For a win, 3 points are awarded, for a tie 1 point is awarded, and if a team loses no points are awarded. After all the group stage matches have been played, the top 2 teams with the most points from each group advance to the knock out stage of the tournament. The 2 bottom teams from each group are eliminated from the tournament. The rest of the tournament is a single elimination knock out tournament where the last standing team is awarded the world cup.
The team I'm supporting (South Africa's Bafana Bafana) is in Group A with Mexico, Uruguay, and France. Dora will be supporting Team USA (of course) and they are in Group C with England, Algeria, and Slovenia.
Go Bafana Bafana!
And guess what? Each World Cup event chooses an official song. This year, FIFA and Sony have chosen Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The song was written by our very own Shakira, who will perform the song with South African band Freshlyground.
Remember, the event runs from June 11th to July 11th. It will be interesting to see how South Africa performs as the host country. And it will be interesting to see which team is left standing.
Go Bafana Bafana!!!!LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, TODAY IS CINCO DE MAYO!!!!! And to clarify a few things, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, but it should be. And it's not an American holiday, but it should be. Many people get Cinco de Mayo confused with el dies y seis de septiembre. Mexico declared her independence from Spain in September. Remember the holiday like this: September begins with the letter "S"...Spain does, too. So what is the significance of Cinco de Mayo? Cinco de Mayo commemorates the day the Mexican army trashed the much larger French army at the Battle of Puebla. You see, Mexico owed money to several countries including France. Benito Juarez decided to stop making payments. The French became pissed off and decided to occupy Mexico. At first, the French succeeded...until May 5th, when the Mexicanos defeated a much larger French army. The French eventually occupied Mexico anyway, placing Emperor Maximilian I on the Mexican throne. After much pressure from the U.S., the French withdrew and Maximilian was executed. The funny thing about Cinco de Mayo is that the holiday has greater significance in the U.S. than it does in Mexico. In Mexico, it's virtually ignored. The U.S. observes this day to celebrate the Mexican ancestry and heritage of many of its citizens.
3 comments:
Hey, Sara! Good topic and good content as always. I am also excited about the FIFA World Cup 2010 this summer. I know why you are backing Bafana Bafana (South Africa) and it is duly noted. One day we shall visit South Africa ourselves. Along with France, of course, and several other countries including India, Greece, Great Britain, etc...Anyway, back from that tangent I just went off to there. I am supporting the U.S.A. for obvious reasons, plus, it is rare for our team to be so good as they seem to be during this WC, and they have the best shot at winning it this year. I really don't see that happening, though. It also doesn't hurt that the U.S. was placed in a "soft" group; but that's just my opinion. I also like the fact that Shakira's song was chosen to be the official song of the World Cup. I did not know that so "thanks" for the heads up. You know me, I like to have a plethora of knowledge so when any data/facts eludes me, I research it until I am so fact-based that my head could burst (lol). Anyway (another tangent there, my bad), I researched the song and some say that is may be too militarized in its nature. Something about that it begins with the word “You’re a good soldier”. I think it is a ridiculous claim myself and they need to quit hating on our Shakira. I am glad she is using the South Afican band Freshlyground as backup. I love this soccer event and have been an avid fan for years. The song, by the way, does kick ass. I find no military overtones to it at all; it just seems to be an anthem for goodwill as Africa welcomes the many nations across this world to their homeland. They are proud as they should be. I will support a few other teams/nations in the end if the U.S. goes out before the championship. I.E. France, Italy, Argentina, Australia, Great Britain (never will support Germany, though) and probably even Bafana Bafana if they are in the running at the end. It is all good. The summer appears to be excellent. We have Wimbledon, FIFA, Le Tour de France, the NBA finals. Ready, set...go!!!
Correction! I meant to write the word phrase before “You’re a good soldier” instead of the word word. Wow, does the fact that I just made a self-correction to my previous post imply that I may perhaps also be anal?!! (rhetorical, of course)
No, self-corrections do not imply that one is anal--just conscientious.
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