Austinist Gets Soccer Mad in Preparation for the World Cup

(Ed. Note: If you’ve paid even the slightest bit of attention while out and about around Austin’s many parks, you’ve noticed that we’re a fairly big soccer town. Men’s leagues, women’s leagues, co-ed leagues, indoor leagues, etc. thrive all around town. With that in mind, we thought we’d bring you a preview of the biggest sporting event in the world, the World Cup. One of the hosts of KOOP radio’s Soccer Mad, and friend of Austinist, Ben Gardner, is heading over to Germany for the festivities this summer. In advance of his trip, each week he will break down one of the eight groups. And, should he be able to stay sober enough long enough, he will be sending us dispatches from the field once he gets to Deutschland.)

Update: French footballer and international superstar Zinedine Zidane has announced he will be retiring after the 2006 World Cup Final.

Hey out there, time to quit sniffing glue and get ready for a totally huge soccer tournament. It’s so big it makes me feel like a little, little antelope. WOW. World Cup 2006 is coming up faster than a speeding bullet, and if you don’t know how to catch bullets with your teeth you might just get shot into a world of scintillating, international futbol madness. Oh my God, it’s incredible!

The World Cup is the most important, and prestigious, soccer event on the planet. The month-long tournament is held once every four years in a location voted on by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. In 2002 it was held jointly by South Korea and Japan. This summer it will take place in Germany, with twelve cities hosting matches.

The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay, and was won by the host nation. This year’s tournament will be the 18th world cup. Defending champions, Brazil, hold the most titles, with five. Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, and France are the only other nations to have won the trophy.

The popularity of the World Cup is unparalleled. In 1998 the cup was held in France, with a cumulative worldwide televised audience of 37 billion people. The final between France and Brazil was watched by 1.3 billion people. With all 64 games being shown live in the United States you’ll have no choice but to quit your day job and join in the fun.

The tournament is comprised of 32 countries from six continents. These countries arrive in Germany after surviving a two-year long qualifying campaign that begins with 212 nations. The 32 countries are broken up into eight groups. Each group will play a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stages. Defending champions Brazil are favorites to lift the cup again.

Each week we will preview one of the eight groups. This week will be Group A, consisting of the host nation, Germany, as well as Poland, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

So, Austin, who do you think is going to take home this year's cup? Or do you care?

If you love soccer, or would like to learn more about it, check out Soccer Mad, every Thursday at 6:00 pm on 91.7 fm KOOP.

Official World Cup Site

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By matthewodam in Other on April 25, 2006 12:12 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Bre

"a little, little antelope"? God, I'm so glad we're friends.

Tedd

dude, sweet! I liked your show on Koop the time I heard it. I'm heading over to Germany this summer, as well to follow the US for the first round.

Match Striker

We got tickets by entering the lottery on the FIFA website. You can buy packages that are associated with teams but we entered the “general” lottery where you apply for as many as seven games (per drawing) and then it is up to the Futbol gods. We got three games including Brazil vs. Australia where futbol arte will be on full display.

Perry Nation has already sent a fair-haired representative over to warn the Europeans of three hairy-chested legends who will soon step foot on their soil. However, after the Truffles and Saffron convention… the caveat was hardly required.

Justin Cox

uhh... "online" = "on-air"

too.much.internet.in.my.life.

Justin Cox

Matt, I heard them talking about it online. You could buy packages that were associated with nations. Some of the smaller nations who had less of a follow (due to economics or population limiting the travel of national fans) where relatively inexpensive and much easier to obtain (vs say Argentina or Germany). Also, you got to root for the underdog and see them play good teams (dependent on their pool)

odam

Perry Nation has access to all of the finest gloabl events. You should see the Truffles & Safron convention we attended last year. Deloosh.

matt wright

how the hell did you get tickets to the world cup???

Justin Cox

At work, everyone has to pick a day to stay late. I specifically picked Thursdays so I could listen to SoccerMad while stuck in traffic on the way home. I fucking love that shit. I'm not a hardcore soccer fan by any means but those guys are fun to listen to. They have an amazing understanding of the game and its really impressive and entertaining to hear them rant and rave about so-and-so from this-or-that league.

Iftikhar

Nice! Glad to see Austinist recognizes how exciting the World Cup is. I'm looking foreword to group previews.

ERic

Kick ASS! I've been dreaming about a soccer show on KOOP for years! Didn't know someone was FINALLY doing it! Segues very nicely into 1600's show on FCD on Thursday!

Re: going to Germany -- you (lucky) bastard!