The 2010 FIFA World Cup!

[Tiger Awan]

Great game Fabi. You proved why you are a Star

And hope your assist to Iniesta tonight will be on top of this list. He played a great ball towards Iniesta because he was at time of impact facing his own goal. Was a great pass

 

[LURKER]

that paul is a f****** ominous soothsayer. enuff of his stupid predictions . its time to kill the ba*****.

im bummed up

or wait a minute may be we should use him for matches of indian football team and see how we'll do in world cup qualifiers .
i'll fwd an email to AIFF

 

[Tiger Awan]

Yellow Card Day

no dear. Netherlands's old hobby. Check this. Its world record. 16 yellow cards resulting in 4 red cards

 

[Skies]

Paul

If like me you are still a little bit curious as to where Paul comes from and what his claim to fame is, carry on reading because I have put in some work for our sheer enlightenment.

This little smarty pants, believe it or not, was hatched in 2008. He is what wikipedia call a common octopus hatched from an egg at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, England and then relocated to a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany. His name was derived from the title of a poem in a children’s poetry book in Germany, written by Boy Lornsen.

According to Sea Life's entertainment director, Daniel Fey, Paul demonstrated intelligence early in life so they decided that they had to find out what his special talents were. The rest, as they say, is history.

Germany began to use Paul as an animal oracle to predict the results of football games in international matches in which they were playing. Here’s how it works : In the build up to German internationals, Paul is presented with two clear plastic boxes, each containing food: a mussel or an oyster.

Each container is marked with the flag of a team, one the flag of Germany, and the other the flag of their opponent. The box which Paul opens first and eats the contents of, is judged to be the predicted winner of the game.

Paul officially began his career as an oracle during the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament but has now achieved worldwide acclaim in the South African hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup because his predictions are just so accurate! Including all seven of Germany’s matches in the 2010 World Cup up to the third place playoff win over Uruguay on 10 July, his success rate rose to 85 percent, with 11 out of 13 matches correctly predicted.

All this attention might be getting to the little man’s head however because during his selection of the third place winner between Uruguay vs. Germany, Paul first settled on top of the Germany container and then, after a few minutes, shifted to the Uruguay box. Then after another 15 minutes he went back to the Germany container, quickly opened the lid, and ate the morsel of food inside.

Way to keep us in supense buddy!

He has predicted a win for Spain against the Netherlands in the World Cup final today, and we will just have to wait and see if he is right again. That said there is no doubt that this little creature has added quite a lot of excitement to the fixture with Netherlands hoping to prove him wrong.

 

[Tiger Awan]

Ugly or not the dutch have reached the finals..

Even if they become runners-up it wont say Netherlands -runners up ( Ugly)

I fear now world will use this word. Ugly football again

 

[DesiGuy]

spain won the FIFA world cup!!!

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

Any one know a recipe for cooking a Octopus

 

[DesiGuy]

Octopus Recipes -- How to Cook Octopus
Cooking with octopus is a bit trickier than cooking with squid, but if you follow these octopus recipes you can enjoy the tender, rich flavor of octopus.
Spanish Braised Octopus in Paprika Sauce
A recipe for pulpo a la gallega, a Spanish braised octopus recipe with a garlic-paprika sauce; you could also use calamari for this recipe.
Polpi in Umido -- Italian Octopus Stewed in Wine and Tomatoes
This recipe is for the Southern Italian polpi in umido, or stewed octopus in white wine and tomatoes. Of the many Italian octopus recipes, this is among my favorite.


Octopus Recipes -- How to Cook Octopus

 

[Unbeliever]

That was a pretty weak finale.. Some parts of it really sucked. Only one goal, lots of fouls.. not many great dribblings..

compare that to the awesome game yesterday of Germany and Uruguay, that was the REAL finale!

 

[blain2]

Spaniards made my day. The better side won the World Cup. The control of the ball all over the pitch was quite evident in the Spanish game.

Amazing game!

 

[Comet]

Octopus for president of Germany

Please don't mind my ignorance but whats up with this Octopus?

 

[baker]

Please don't mind my ignorance but whats up with this Octopus?

Paul (hatched January 2008) is a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, who is used as an animal oracle to predict the results of football matches, usually international matches in which Germany is playing. He came to worldwide attention with his accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup.

Paul (octopus) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SBD-3]

Soccer's World Cup Will Stay Italian, No Matter Which Team Wins the Final
No matter what happens in the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands on July 11 in Johannesburg, the trophy will remain Italian.

The cup that will be lifted for the first time by either the Dutch or Spanish captain is made by GDE Bertoni Srl, a family-owned company based in a Milan suburb. Bertoni was selected to produce the current trophy for FIFA, soccer’s ruling body, after a 1972 contest.

Bertoni was selected among 53 bidders by FIFA to design and manufacture a new trophy that was awarded at the 1974 World Cup to the German captain Franz Beckenbauer.

FIFA chose the model designed by Bertoni’s artistic director at the time, sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. Made with a malachite base, it weighs 6.18 kilos (13.6 pounds), with almost 5 kilos of pure gold, and stands 36 centimeters (14.2 inches) tall. The trophy depicts two human figures holding up the Earth.

“The 1972 gold trophy is priceless,” Giorgio Losa, the owner of GDE Bertoni, said in a telephone interview. “If you melt the gold, you’ll get around 150,000 euros ($190,400), but the real value is much, much higher.”

The first World Cup, won by Uruguay in 1930, was named in honor of a FIFA president, Jules Rimet, and was last awarded to Brazil in 1970. After winning the title three times, Brazil got to keep the cup, which disappeared from an exhibition in Rio de Janeiro in 1983.

Gold-Plated

FIFA did away with the rule allowing three-time champions to keep the trophy. The FIFA trophy designed by Gazzaniga is awarded to the winning team immediately after the match and then is returned to FIFA for safekeeping at its Zurich offices. Bertoni makes a gold-plated replica for the winning country to keep on display. The company also cleans and maintains the real trophy.

Bertoni already has made the copy for the 2014 tournament that will be hosted by Brazil, and it probably will be shown after the July 11 final, Losa said.

Bertoni, founded by Losa’s grandfather in 1920, employs 10 people and also makes the Champions League and the Europa League trophies for UEFA, and medals for the International Olympic Committee as well as cups for universities and companies. Bertoni will have revenue of more than 2 million euros in 2010.

“The World Cup trophy gives us a lot of media attention but we can’t monetize it because we are not allowed to produce any copies of the trophy,” Losa said.

Italy’s team crashed out in the opening stages of this year’s event in South Africa after failing to win any of its three games. It was the first time since 1974 that the country, a four-time champion, didn’t get beyond the first round.

It was different in 2006, when the Italian squad defeated France in the final. More than one member of that team asked Bertoni to make a replica of the trophy as a souvenir, Losa said.

“They have to be happy with the photo of holding up the trophy because we have rigid rules,” Losa said.

 

[ice_man]

Spain win World Cup with lowest goal tally

Spain win World Cup with lowest goal tally

JOHANNESBURG: Spain needed just nine goals to win a first ever World Cup Sunday, the lowest tally for any nation since the introduction of the group phase and Round of 16 system in 1986.

Andres Iniesta's extra-time strike against the Netherlands at Soccer City secured a fourth 1-0 victory in a row for Vicente del Bosque's side and also means Spain head home as world champions with only three players having managed to score in South Africa.

David Villa's five goals accounted for over half of Spain's tally while midfielder Iniesta managed three, leaving La Roja's goalscoring hero against Germany, Carles Puyol, as the only other player to have made it on the scoresheet.

Brazil's 11 goals when winning the 1994 title is the second-lowest total while, in contrast, the Selecao managed 18 in 2002.

Diego Maradona's Argentina scored 14 on their way to victory in 1986 while the then West Germany managed one goal more when lifting the title four years later.

France accumulated 15 goals when winning on home soil in 1998 and Italy only managed 12 when securing a third World Cup four years ago in Berlin.


i feel so bad for the DUTCH they have finally won a unique distinguished record in WORLDCUP!! which is: 3 WORLDCUP FINALS ALL LOST! NO OTHER TEAM HAS THIS BAD RECORD! the sad boring football that the spanish played brought back memories of greece in euro finals in 2004!! aimless small passes putting the defense to sleep and scoring late goals! THIS FACT IS PROVED BY THEIR RECORD OF 9 GOALS ONLY TO WIN THE TROPHY!

 

[game over]

this world cup was way too bad...................