0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/13/2014
Portugal don’t begin World Cup play until Monday, and that may be the best possible bit of news for the side since it arrived in Brazil. That’s because on Thursday, star striker and FIFA Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo was seen limping off the practice pitch. According to reports, Ronaldo practiced for 15-20 minutes before […]
0 comments by Matt Yoder
Four years ago in South Africa, the Dutch made an unexpected and incredible run to the World Cup Final. Led by playmakers like Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, the Netherlands played an attractive brand of football that took the Orange Army back to the glory days of Total Football. With Spain’s renowned tiki-taka, fans were […]
0 comments by Matt Yoder on 6/12/2014
Throughout the World Cup, we at 32 Flags will be giving you a complete recap of the action at the end of the day in our World Cup Roundup. Not only will we run down the biggest winners and losers, but the highlights and most talked about moments of each day and a look ahead […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
It took all of 70 minutes for the 2014 FIFA World Cup to awash itself in controversy on the field, and boy what a controversy it was thanks to Fred’s pretty obvious dive (have a look for yourself). Neymar would put home the penalty, just overpowering Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa to the goalkeepers right. That conversion […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
This Hooters commercial was apparently created to encourage people that no matter if they’re watching football or futbol, they can come to Hooters and watch their game/match and have a good time. The only major issue with this ad is…well…it’s terrible. If you’re trying to get me amped up for the World Cup, don’t include Joey Chestnut, Jon Gruden, and John Daly (?!?!?!) in your commercial. I’m not going to hop on the train of it being disrespectful, however, that doesn’t mean that it’s stupid and ill-conceived.
Who ever thought this was a good idea? They probably could have created a cheaper, more entertaining, less stupid commercial by only using the Hooters girls and keeping their highly-paid celebrity endorsers out of the picture.
0 comments by Matt Yoder
The 2014 World Cup begins today as host nation Brazil takes on Croatia in the first of 64 matches that will decide the champion of the world. But before we begin the journey of the 2014 World Cup, what better way to spend our last moments in anticipation before the first kick than by reliving […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
http://youtu.be/TVxcyUXSDlE
It remains to be seen whether or not vuvuzelas will be en vogue in Brazil during the World Cup this year, but Budweiser is attempting to make them a thing in the United States. They’ve created this pretty great beer cup that can be turned into a vuvuzela, meaning that after you’re done drinking, you can annoy the hell out of everyone else at the bar!
In all honesty, I’d probably order one Bud Light just to get what they’re calling the “vuvuchela”, then switch to something with actual substance to it while honking away for the rest of the match. You don’t see unique pieces of memorabilia like this every day.
0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/11/2014
The World Cup in Brazil has become one PR and logistical nightmare after another. Whether it’s the ongoing transportation workers strike in Sao Paolo, or citizen protests over the cost and broken promises by the Brazilian government—it hasn’t been a great lead up to the World Cup. However, the hope has been that once the […]
Credit: USA Today Sports
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
There’s one hard and fast rule about soccer in the United States: Landon Donovan = ratings gold. ESPN knows it and the page view numbers of websites all over the globe know it thanks to him not heading to this World Cup. However, that hasn’t stopped ESPN from finding a way to involve the giant […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/10/2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyWVia7hzGs&feature=youtu.be
Fervor over the World Cup is picking up extreme speed here in the United States, and ESPN is the latest to drop a gem of a hype video leading in to Thursday’s opening ceremony and match. Instead of harping on past performances, ESPN did the best thing possible and feature the American Outlaws. The group happens to be an ever-growing independent supporters group for the USMNT. Its famous chant is the “I believe” one and in this video is a fitting tribute to the group and to the growing group of fans soccer is picking up in this country.
0 comments by Phillip Bupp
If you are looking for star power in this group, you’re going to have to look somewhere else. All four teams come into the World Cup without a breakout player for each team to rely on. Belgium is the seeded team of the group and has been considered as the popular sleeper of the World […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/9/2014
To say FIFA has been a joke for some time is a complete understatement. However, when a joke of an international governing body is taken down by jokes — well, you end up with pure brilliance. That was the case on Sunday night’s This Week Tonight with John Oliver.
He manages to take down the organization in a humorous way, but also exposes fans in the United States to the corruption and death that this group has caused. Oh, and as he also states…despite it all, I can’t wait for the World Cup to start.
Such is the power of an organization that feeds fans the best soccer we could hope to see over the course of one month.
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy1rumvo9xc
Nike has given us some fantastic ads so far heading in to the 2014 World Cup. In fact, it’s “Winner Stays” ad is one of the best produced ads released in advance of the World Cup. But, the latest ad, titled “The Last Game” may be its most inventive to date.
Personally, I love the fact that Nike uses the Favelas that are prominent in Brazilian cities as a backdrop and shows how technology can’t replace the human element of sport. What is your take on this new Nike ad?
0 comments by Phillip Bupp
Welcome to the Group of Death. This is the group that everyone dreaded during the draw last December. Unfortunately, these four teams were the unlucky ones to get drawn into the Group of Death but all four teams have been meeting the Group of Death head on in their own unique ways. Germany, the consensus […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/8/2014
French Lightning!!! @Benzema @AntoGriezmann @usainbolt (The Pogfamily) pic.twitter.com/mZBMEppxS9 — Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) June 8, 2014
