FIFA World Cup 2010

[Rational Gaze]

Even though I do not like sports, and do not like football, the world cup is one of the few occassions I actually care about sports. As such, I plan on keeping everybody updated with all the fixtures and scores etc.

Whilst many of you probably have no clue what any of this means, I'll go ahead and post it anyway. Note all times will be in GMT.

Group Stages
Group A
France
Mexico
South Africa
Uruguay

Group B
Argentina
Greece
Nigeria
South Korea

Group C
Algeria
England
Slovenia
USA

Group D
Australia
Germany
Ghana
Serbia

Group E
Cameroon
Denmark
Japan
Netherlands

Group F
Italy
New Zealand
Paraguay
Slovakia

Group G
Brazil
Ivory Coast
North Korea
Portugal

Group H
Chile
Honduras
Spain
Switzerland

South Africa vs. Mexico 15:00 11 June 2010
Uruguay vs. France 19:30 11 June 2010
South Korea vs. Greece 12:30 12 June 2010
Argentina vs. Nigeria 15:00 12 June 2010
England vs. USA 19:30 12 June 2010
Algeria vs. Slovenia 12:30 13 June 2010
Serbia vs. Ghana 15:100 13 June 2010
Germany vs. Australia 19:30 13 June 2010
Netherlands vs. Denmark 12:30 14 June 2010
Japan vs. Cameroon 15:00 14 June 2010
Italy vs. Paraguay 19:30 14 June 2010
New Zealand vs. Slovakia 12:30 15 June 2010
Ivory Coast vs. Portugal 15:00 15 June 2010
Brazil vs. North Korea 19:30 15 June 2010
Honduras vs. Chile 12:30 16 June 2010
Spain vs. Switzerland 15:00 16 June 2010
South Africa vs. Uruguay 19:30 16 June 2010
Argentina vs. South Korea 12:30 17 June 2010
Greece vs. Nigeria 15:00 17 June 2010
France vs. Mexico 19:30 17 June 2010
Germany vs. Serbia 12:30 18 June 2010
Slovenia vs. USA 15:00 18 June 2010
England vs. Algeria 19:30 18 June 2010
Netherlands vs. Japan 12:30 19 June 2010
Ghana vs. Australia 15:00 19 June 2010
Cameroon vs. Denmark 19:30 19 June 2010
Slovakia vs. Paraguay 12:30 20 June 2010
Italy vs. New Zealand 15:00 20 June 2010
Brazil vs. Ivory Coast 19:30 20 June 2010
Portugal vs. North Korea 12:30 21 June 2010
Chile vs. Switzerland 15:00 21 June 2010
Spain vs. Honduras 19:30 21 June 2010
France vs. South Africa 15:00 22 June 2010
Mexico vs. Uruguay 15:00 22 June 2010
Greece vs. Argentina 19:30 22 June 2010
Nigeria vs. South Korea 19:30 22 June 2010
Slovenia vs. England 15:00 23 June 2010
USA vs. Algeria 15:00 23 June 2010
Australia vs Serbia 19:30 23 June 2010
Ghana vs. Germany 19:30 23 June 2010
Paraguay vs. New Zealand 15:00 24 June 2010
Slovakia vs. Italy 15:00 24 June 2010
Cameroon vs. Netherlands 19:30 24 June 2010
Denmark vs. Japan 19:30 24 June 2010
North Korea vs. Ivory Coast 15:00 25 June 2010
Portugal vs. Brazil 15:00 25 June 2010
Chile vs. Spain 19:30 25 June 2010
Switzerland vs. Honduras 19:30 25 June 2010

Second Round
Winner Gp A vs. Runner-Up Gp B 15:00 26 June 2010
Winner Gp C vs. Runner-Up Gp D 19:30 26 June 2010
Winner Gp D vs. Runner-Up Gp C 15:00 27 June 2010
Winner Gp B vs. Runner-Up Gp A 19:30 27 June 2010
Winner Gp E vs. Runner-Up Gp F 15:00 28 June 2010
Winner Gp G vs. Runner-Up Gp H 19:30 28 June 2010
Winner Gp F vs. Runner-Up Gp E 15:00 29 June 2010
Winner Gp H vs. Runner-Up Gp G 19:30 29 June 2010

Quarter Finals
QF 3: Wnr Gp E/R-Up Gp F vs. Wnr Gp G/R-Up Hp H 15:00 02 July 2010
QF 1: Wnr Gp A/R-Up Gp B vs. Wnr Gp C/R-Up Hp D 19:30 02 July 2010
QF 2: Wnr Gp B/R-Up Gp A vs. Wnr Gp D/R-Up Hp C 15:00 03 July 2010
QF 4: Wnr Gp F/R-Up Gp E vs. Wnr Gp H/R-Up Hp G 19:30 03 July 2010

Semi-Finals
SF 1: Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 3 19:30 06 July 2010
SF 2: Winner QF 2 vs. Winner QF 4 19:30 07 July 2010

Third Place Play-Off
Loser SF 1 vs. Loser SF 2 19:30 10 July 2010

Final
Winner SF 1 vs. Winner SF 2 19:30 11 July 2010

[themuzicman]

If the US beats England, it has a good shot at going to the Quarter Finals!

[Rational Gaze]

If the US beats England, it has a good shot at going to the Quarter Finals!

The US actually have a fairly decent team nowadays. If England play as poorly as we did against Japan, then I wouldn't be surprised if you guys beat us.

[Jaltus]

Both US and England should make it out of the groups. I feel really bad for the Ivory Coast, they just lost their chance to advance with Broga going down.

[Ben Zwycky]

Drogba's injury is a huge blow for Ivory Coast supporters, he is literally worshiped over there, but there aren't any one-man teams in the tournament and Ivory coast have a lot of quality players, these sorts of setbacks can make the others pull together in a new way.

How about a little poem to get people in the mood?

Goal

A sweeping move that threads a path
Through organised defence,
Exposing pearl-white gates to our
Most hostile of intents.

Trained muscles work in harmony,
Team members' minds are read;
Anticipating well-timed runs
To keep a step ahead.

A bluff, a feint, a burst of speed
Opens up a space.
A deft through ball is trapped and turned
Then fired with fluid grace.

The guardian's taloned outstretched arm
And great despairing dive
Deflects the roaring sphere behind
To keep their hopes alive.

Launched back into the field of play
With fearsome, hissing swerve;
A hunter lurks behind the crowd
With steely eye and nerve.

He leaps and makes full contact true
Momentum steered and upped;
He finds his spot, the net balloons,
The crowd with joy erupts.

[Stevo]

World Cup BBQ at mine. All welcome!

[KingsGambit]

I don't know much about this sport (I never know whether to put football, ,or soccer, or the boring game that ends in 0-0 ties (heh)), but this is the one time that I do watch it, once every four years. I think it's a result of the pure beauty of the format, and the fascination stemming worldwide. It's too bad so many of the games are at 7 am, being that I'm nocturnal.

[Rational Gaze]

World Cup BBQ at mine. All welcome!

This is actually do-able, seeing as I also live in the UK.

[themuzicman]

Both US and England should make it out of the groups. I feel really bad for the Ivory Coast, they just lost their chance to advance with Broga going down.

If the US beats England and comes out as #1 in their group, they should make the Quarter Finals, as their next opponent may well be Mexico.

We own Mexico away from Mexico City.

[Stevo]

This is actually do-able, seeing as I also live in the UK.

Well, if you can get to Edinburgh in time for Englands first game we might have some meat leftover for you

[Rational Gaze]

South Africa: 1
Mexico: 1

The first half wasn't particularly gripping, and Mexico in particular was rather lacklustre. In the second half, South Africa scored after several valiant attempts. Mexico continued to disappoint until South Africa salcked a bit and Mexico turned it around and equalised. Both teams then had fully gotten back into gear, and the remainder of the match was really interesting. South Africa came close to scoring a second goal in the 89th minute but hit the side of the goal. As it went into extra time, both teams were trying, perhaps a bit too desperately, to score and in the end it was a draw. South Africa did really well, and I can only describe Mexico's performance as disappointing given how well they did against England in the pre-world cup friendly.

[themuzicman]

(My two favorite teams: USA, and whomever is playing Mexico )

[Philosophickle]

Gooooooooooooooooal

[themuzicman]

South Africa: 1
Mexico: 1

The first half wasn't particularly gripping, and Mexico in particular was rather lacklustre. In the second half, South Africa scored after several valiant attempts. Mexico continued to disappoint until South Africa salcked a bit and Mexico turned it around and equalised. Both teams then had fully gotten back into gear, and the remainder of the match was really interesting. South Africa came close to scoring a second goal in the 89th minute but hit the side of the goal. As it went into extra time, both teams were trying, perhaps a bit too desperately, to score and in the end it was a draw. South Africa did really well, and I can only describe Mexico's performance as disappointing given how well they did against England in the pre-world cup friendly.

I was watching the gamecast, and unless it was wrong, I was surprised by how many goals Mexico missed from seemingly point blank range... was it that bad?

[Rational Gaze]

I was watching the gamecast, and unless it was wrong, I was surprised by how many goals Mexico missed from seemingly point blank range... was it that bad?

Yes, although South Africa missed quite a few as well.