Nazi vs. Nazi
World War 2 had just ended and Nazi war criminals were fleeing Germany. So where did they go? Well some went to the United States and became meatcutters in the Midwest. But for most, and the most nortorious ones, ended up in Argentina. Adolph Eichmann, the man in charge of the death camps, ended up living in a poor barrio of Buenos Aires.
So it is only fitting that these two will play each other in the quarterfinals of the World Cup next Friday.
Scoring takes on new meaning with the latest World Cup merchandise
Of course, the world’s corporations wanted a piece of the most popular sporting event on the planet, the World Cup of soccer, now being contested in Germany. Big name sponsors like Philips, MasterCard and Budweiser are there and you can buy all kinds of licensed products like colorful hats and scarves — the Euro-version of our big foam “Number 1” hand.
One endorsement deal, however, didn’t make the news a few weeks ago. It seems the German sex shop chain, Beate Uhse came out with Ollie K and Michael B vibrators and a David B dildo. To anyone who knows soccer, it appeared as if stars Oliver Khan, Michael Ballack and David Beckham had lent their names to a line of sex toys.
They hadn’t. After a minor blitz of publicity and a threat of a lawsuit, Beate Uhse dropped the names.
But fear not! The World Cup has still generated a new phenomenon in sports — one we’ll probably see linked to every major international event from now on — the sex product tie-in. And why not? If Viagra can sponsor a NASCAR team, why can’t, say, Manchester United sign off on love balls?
The love balls, used for vaginal stimulation, are out there, shaped like little soccer balls and available from a variety of European and Latin American sex shops. You can buy them for 60 reals in Brazil, and about 5 euros in Italy, Holland, the UK and Germany.
Ousted African stars cheer on Ghana against United States
By DEREK GATOPOULOS
NUREMBERG, Germany (AP) -Ghana’s African rivals are counting on the Black Stars to carry the mantle into the second round for the continent’s other World Cup newcomers.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba has urged Ghana captain Stephen Appiah to beat the United States on Thursday to clinch a spot in the second round of the World Cup. Appiah said he has also heard from Togo players Emmanuel Adebayor and Mohamed Kader about the upcoming game in Nuremberg.
“They said: ‘Guys we are behind you people, we couldn’t make it so you have to represent Africa,”’ Appiah said. “I was very happy when I heard such a thing from my friends … We are prepared very well and it will be a crucial game but as far as we are determined to win, I think we can make it.'’
The Black Stars lost their opening game 2-0 to Italy but rebounded with a shocking 2-0 defeat of the Czech Republic. Ghana can assure advancement with a win, or a draw and an Italy win over the Czech Republic. Ghana can also advance with a draw and an Italy loss by at least two goals.
Ghana is one of four African newcomers in Germany, but Ivory Coast, Togo and Angola have already been eliminated. Tunisia, which is playing in its fourth World Cup, still has a chance to advance from Group H.
“People didn’t expect us to play the way we played. All Ghanaians are happy not only for Ghana but for the whole continent as well,'’ Appiah said. “We are cool and we are ready. Most important, we are ready to meet the U.S. tomorrow.'’
Ghana will play the United States without suspended striker Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari, who both scored against the Czechs.
Mexico loses to Portugal but advances
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany - Portugal fielded its ‘’B” team and still won.
Mexico also won, in a way. Its 2-1 loss to the Portuguese didn’t hurt when Angola couldn’t beat Iran on Wednesday, allowing the Mexicans to advance to the second round of the World Cup.
Portugal won all three first-round games in Group D. It got goals by Maniche and Simao Sabrosa in the first 25 minutes, and Mexico’s Omar Bravo missed a chance to tie on a second-half penalty kick that soared over the net.
New Swedish flop reveals England’s woes
England’s inability to beat Sweden for 38 years is a clue why it has won only one soccer title. And that was even longer ago.
If it can’t beat one of the middle-range teams in world soccer, how is it going to beat the likes of Brazil and Argentina and win the World Cup for the first time since 1966?
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team twice threw away the lead in Tuesday’s group game against the Swedes in Cologne. Although the 2-2 tie meant England achieved the target of finishing atop the group standings and avoided playing host Germany in the next round, the performance showed up even more problems.
Traditionally, England is strong at set-piece soccer. Corners and free kicks with David Beckham as the prime provider are one of its main sources of goals. That means England should also be good at defending against corners and long throws.
Guess how Sweden scored its goals.
Eriksson was horrified that a team with so many players who are strong in the air — John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Jamie Carragher — should allow Sweden to score from a corner and a long throw-in.
Marcus Allback was allowed a free chance off a corner and his glancing header flew past two defenders on its way into the net via the top of Ashley Cole’s head. That was 1-1.
After Steven Gerrard had made it 2-1 five minutes from the end, it looked as if England was about to beat the Swedes for the first time since a 3-1 victory at Wembley in 1968.
US vs Italy
The big match is the United States vs. Italy. We have to win it to have any chance at all of advancing in the World Cup. Italy, remember them. We fought them in World War II. They were pathetic. They blamed everything on Mussolini, and got away with it. The only thing Italy could beat us in is soccer or making pasta. They will kick our ass on Saturday. And then we play a meaningless match against Ghana and our team is on the way home.
what is zzbp?
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