World Cup: 32 teams and one dream

  

World Cup 2010 - South Africa

World Cup: 32 teams and one dream

South Africa and Mexico open the World Cup on June 11^th. The stage will be the magnificent Soccer City, in Johannesburg

A ball called Jabulani, a team nicknamed Bafana Bafana, a noisy, irritating trumpet known as a Vuvuzela and when a goal is scored a shout of “Laduma” (a Zulu word). Welcome to the land of the World Cup, of the famous neighborhood Soweto, of safaris and the hero Nelson Mandela. For 30 days the world will be following a World Cup played on the African continent for the first time. This World Cup has also gone down in history for other reasons. It is the first time the event will involve the two Koreas. And there are two other unprecedented facts: two teams from Oceania – Australia and New Zealand – and six African teams. It is very unlikely that any of these teams will be in the final on July 11^th.  In the 18 World Cup finals played so far, only European and South American teams have won the titles. Each continent has won it 9 times.

Europe versus South America

Spain is the current Champion of Europe and is one of the favorites to win the World Cup, alongsideEngland (trained by the excellent coach, Fabio Capello) and Holland. Europe also has at least another three teams who could win the competition: Italy, France, and Germany.  In South America, Argentina, coached by Maradona and starring Messi, is also a strong candidate for the title, along with Brazil.  If it has anything to do with logic, tradition, and statistics, two of these teams will be in the final on July 11^th, at Soccer City. But soccer is always full of surprises...

A edição de junho da revista Maganews ainda traz os seguintes destaques da Copa 2010:

* Brazil: 6 reasons to believe in the sixth World Cup win

* Brief profiles of Robinho, Kaká and Luis Fabiano

* Brazil’s opponents: the hardest group in the World Cup

* South Africa at the center of the world

* Stars of world soccer – Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

* The official World Cup album craze

* Music and Soccer – One World Cup and two songs

* The world celebrates Nelson Mandela

Audio – Thiago Ribeiro

Photo - Chris Kirchhoff