The 2006 World Cup begins tomorrow in Germany. The first game will be between hosts Germany and Costa Rica. Thanks to the resourcefulness of a fellow soccer fan, I will have the distinct pleasure of being able to watch the game in the company of the German military. It promises to be a raucous affair and I am busy brushing up on my rusty German. I am especially concentrating on how to say "Gooooooaaaaaaal!!!" auf Deutsch.
Instead of posting scores and match results from the games, I thought I would instead try to call attention to some memorable moments from past World Cups. And, what better way to begin than with the artistry of one Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known to most of the world as Pelé.
In the final match of the 1970 World Cup, Brazil beat Italy 4-1 to hoist the World Cup trophy. Pelé scored one of the 4 goals. But the goal that is remembered as arguably the greatest goal in the history of the World Cup was the last goal. It was scored by Carlos Alberto who hammered home a magical pass from Pelé. The ball touched nine of Brazil’s eleven players before it found the back of the net. The Italian players were left dazed by the Brazilians as they developed the attack from deep within their own territory. The culmination came after Pelé received the ball just outside the box on the Italian end. He paused and then effortlessly pushed the ball into empty space to his right. Out of nowhere came Carlos Alberto to drive the ball into the net.
The goal was pure ballet on the field. It was Brazil at their artistic best. It was Pelé with a magical sense of the game. It is why I love the Beautiful Game.
You can click on the image above for a video of the goal. You can also read Carlos Alberto’s retelling of the goal here.
[Note: The naked guy streaking the blog will likely stay for the duration of the World Cup. You can turn him off by clicking the German word for "close" on the right hand corner.]
C’mon England \:d/
Dang, the naked guy doesn’t show up in Opera :((
groan :-s
You are right. Opera needs to fix this so more people can see the naked guy!
It refuses to close for me (using the Linux flash player under firefox).
Umm, is your phone working?
GO IRELAND!!
James, thanks for informing me that my cell phone is dead. I have trouble with the simple chore of plugging the damn thing in at night.
Oh well, send me your # via the contact page since I have it stored in…my phone.:-w
By the way, saw the Germany game over lunch. The last goal was absolutely a beauty. Not bad for a boring sport! \:d/
Will, I’m sorry the naked guy refuses to go away.
Whats the verdict, should I axe him? Or should I keep him on the front page? or should I move him to World Cup posts only?
Let me know. If i get complaints, he’s history! :-h
Naked guy? Go T & T (ok, fat chance)
KEEP the “German streaker”…I love it.\:d/:x
ok, MHB, my prediction is that Sweden will be upset today and you will get your wish.
My post on things political will be up later today. My daughter’s been ill and I haven’t been able to focus on anything else until now.
Brigitte, nothing scarier than a naked German guy running across your screen :d
Incidentally, England played horribly today even though David Beckham’s right foot carried the day. I keep expecting Beckham to be more involved in the game…but I’ve been waiting 3 world cup’s for that.
Good Call Mash! A great showing by T&T – who woulda thunk a tie down a man! Good ole underachieving Sweden!
MHB, that was pure heart by Trinidad & Tobago. I think we just found this World Cup’s hero in the T & T goalkeeper. And what about that Edwards. Unbelievable to be able to hold Sweden off with one man down.
I was on the edge of my seat the entire second half.:-ss
And I’m quite proud of myself for smelling out the upset. *-:)
…I’m thinking I should give up my day job and lose my shirt on sports betting. :d
Ad-block took car of it for me (stupid buggy flash plugin, grr). I just wanted to let you know there was a problem.
Will, turn off ad block for a minute, the naked guy is worth it @-)