Friday, June 06, 2014

Here comes the World Cup! … by gimleteye

The World Cup pop-up stores are open in Miami International Airport. The qualifying teams are going through final preparations in exhibition matches, a few in Miami.

There is nothing like this competition in the world of sports. One of its defining features is the independent, privately controlled FIFA: the organizing entity that operates behind the lushest wall of secrecy in professional sports. What the World Cup means is that every four years, lovers of soccer/football put away their unhappiness with FIFA's insular leadership and celebrate.

Maybe that's a little harsh, or is it?

There are other questions to be answered in the competition that begins scarcely a week from now; chiefly, will Argentina and the best player in the world, Lionel Messi, finally rise above national psychological mysteries to be among the final four?

Will another player emerge as the game's next great star?

Will Brazilians suspend street demonstrations long enough to welcome the beautiful game and the world's attention, or, will they use the world's attention to showcase anger at their government?

And last but not least, the best player in the world not to participate in the World Cup -- Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovich: will he accept Brazil's invitation to be their guest? Ibrahimovich, a superstar to be sure, said, after his nation was unexpectedly eliminated from the competition: 'The World Cup is not worth watching without Zlatan."



And: the latest odds:


Brazil 11/4Argentina 4/1Germany 11/2
Spain 6/1Belgium 18/1Portugal 22/1
France 22/1England 25/1Italy 25/1
Uruguay 28/1Holland 28/1Colombia 33/1
Chile 50/1Russia 80/1Switzerland 100/1
Hide
Ecuador 125/1Ivory Coast 150/1Bosnia-Herzegovina 150/1
Japan 150/1Croatia 175/1Mexico 200/1
Greece 200/1Ghana 200/1South Korea 250/1
USA 250/1Nigeria 300/1Cameroon 750/1
Honduras 1500/1Algeria 1500/1Iran 2500/1
Costa Rica 2500/1Australia 2500/1

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who the hell came up with these odds?....

Anonymous said...

Who the hell came up with these odds?....

Geniusofdespair said...

Don't care basketball rules.

Geniusofdespair said...

Did you know that Lebron got a leg cramp and couldn't walk? The air conditioning didn't work in that San Antonio rat-hole stadium. The Heat had to play in a super heated arena and all the heat players were flopping around with ice around their necks. Not fair. That is news, real sports news not this soccer fluff.

Anonymous said...

Who cares about any of this crap?