Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.06.2006, Side 9

The Grapevine Guide to the World Cup
by sveinn birkir björnsson
The Icelandic subscription-based sports chan-
nel SÝN holds the broadcasting rights to the
World Cup in Iceland. For a subscription pack-
age that includes live broadcasts from every
game played in the tournament you will need to
fork over 14,898 ISK. For further info, contact
SÝN, tel.: 515-6100, or log on to: www.syn.
visir.is. Keep in mind that the semi-finals and
the finals will be aired free of charge.
There are several sports bars in Reykjavík
that show the games live on a big screen. The
Grapevine recommends you visit Glaumbarinn,
Ölver or Players to enjoy the festivities with a
cold lager.
As a rule of thumb, Icelanders generally
support the English team, due to the longtime
popularity of the English Premier Division in
Iceland. Teams from the neighbouring Scan-
dinavia also draw much support and Sweden,
the region’s representative this year, is likely to
gather the support of many Icelanders.
Following the FIFA World Cup is an experi-
ence rivalled only by the Open Bar and the
Mile High Club. Sure, the Olympics are both
bigger and more respectable as an event, but
nothing captures our collective imagination like
the FIFA World Cup. What happens at the
World Cup is the stuff of legends and is retold
in folklore for ages to come. Previous World
Cups have brought us stars like Pelé, who was
so astonishingly talented that every other super-
athlete will be measured against his persona for-
ever. Michael Jordan was the Pelé of basketball,
Wayne Gretzky the Pelé of ice hockey.
In the 1986 World Cup, in the aftermath
of the Falkland Islands dispute, Argentina and
England met in the quarterfinals in front of
115,000 spectators in Mexico City. Five minutes
into the scoreless second half, Argentina’s Diego
Armando Maradonna pounced on a failed pass
back to England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
Maradonna beat Shilton to the ball but clearly
used his hand in the process, although this went
unnoticed by the game’s referee.
Five minutes later, Maradonna eluded five
England players to score what many consider
the best goal in the World Cup history. Argen-
tina subsequently won the game 2-1 and went
on to claim the tournament trophy. After the
game, Maradonna insisted the ball had been
aided by ‘the hand of God’, a phrase that has
since entered the pop culture lexicon. The inci-
dent had a more lasting effect on the relation-
ship between the two nations than the Falkland
Islands war.
This year’s competition is hosted by interna-
tional football powerhouse Germany, runners-
up in the last World Cup in 2002. The games
will be played in Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund,
Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hannover,
Kaiserslautern, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg
and Stuttgart.
Going into the competition, the boys from
Brazil look like the team to beat. They are the
current champions, and have won two of the last
three World Cups. With Ronaldinho, arguably
the world’s best player, fronting a team that con-
sists of spectacular stars like Kaká and Adriano
and savvy veterans such as Ronaldo and Roberto
Carlos, this might be the most combined talent
on a single team in any sport since the USA’s
Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Not surprisingly, Brazil remains a heavy favou-
rite to defend its title among oddsmakers.
England fields its strongest team in decades
built around the midfield of Joe Cole, Frank
Lampard, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham.
With a midfield like this, the English team is a
force to be reckoned with. However, their attack
remains suspect and the team is shrouded in
controversy over the situation surrounding the
eminent departure of the team’s manager, Sven-
Göran Eriksson.
After coming up short in both the last
World Cup and the last Euro Finals, France
looks like it is back on track. ‘Les Blues’ are still
able to field some of the world’s most prominent
players in Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry.
This is an experienced team that no one should
be sleeping on.
Argentina will make a push for the title as
well. With players like Javier Saviola and Pablo
Aimar spearheading a talented team, it is still
probably too young and inexperienced to go
the full distance. In addition, Spain, Portugal,
Czech Republic and even Holland and Sweden
have an outside shot of going far, although none
of them could realistically be considered a likely
bet to take home the trophy.
At the end of the day, home court advantage
is the mother of all advantages. My official pick
to win it all is Germany. In 1974, the last time
the FIFA World Cup visited (then West) Ger-
many, the hosts secured the title in a dramatic
victory over Holland. I predict the Germans will
repeat that accomplishment behind the talent of
Michael Ballack and Sebastian Schweinsteiger,
among others. You read it here first. Germany
takes the World Cup.
Group A
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 9 16:00 Germany v Costa Rica
Jun 9 19:00 Poland v Ecuador
Jun 14 19:00 Germany v Poland
Jun 15 13:00 Ecuador v Costa Rica
Jun 20 14:00 Costa Rica v Poland
Jun 20 14:00 Ecuador v Germany
Group B
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 10 14:00 England v Paraguay
Jun 10 16:00 Trin. & Tob. v Sweden
Jun 15 16:00 England v Trin. & Tob.
Jun 15 19:00 Sweden v Paraguay
Jun 20 19:00 Paraguay v Trin. & Tob.
Jun 20 19:00 Sweden v England
Group C
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 10 19:00 Argentina v Ivory Coast
Jun 11 13:00 Serb. & Mont. v Netherlands
Jun 16 13:00 Argentina v Serb. & Mont.
Jun 16 16:00 Netherlands v Ivory Coast
Jun 21 19:00 Ivory Coast v Serb. & Mont.
Jun 21 19:00 Netherlands v Argentina
Group D
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 11 16:00 Mexico v Iran
Jun 11 19:00 Angola v Portugal
Jun 16 19:00 Mexico v Angola
Jun 17 13:00 Portugal v Iran
Jun 21 14:00 Iran v Angola
Jun 21 14:00 Portugal v Mexico
Group E
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 12 16:00 United States v Czech Republic
Jun 12 19:00 Italy v Ghan
Jun 17 16:00 Ghana v Czech Republic
Jun 17 19:00 Italy v United States
Jun 22 14:00 Czech Republic v Italy
Jun 22 14:00 Ghana v United States
Group F
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 12 13:00 Australia v Japan
Jun 13 19:00 Brazil v Croatia
Jun 18 13:00 Japan v Croatia
Jun 18 16:00 Brazil v Australia
Jun 22 19:00 Croatia v Australia
Jun 22 19:00 Japan v Brazil
Group G
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 13 13:00 South Korea v Togo
Jun 13 16:00 France v Switzerland
Jun 18 19:00 France v South Korea
Jun 19 13:00 Togo v Switzerland
Jun 23 19:00 Switzerland v South Korea
Jun 23 19:00 Togo v France
Group H
TIME HOME AWAY
Jun 14 13:00 Spain v Ukraine
Jun 14 16:00 Tunisia v Saudi Arabia
Jun 19 16:00 Saudi Arabia v Ukraine
Jun 19 19:00 Spain v Tunisia
Jun 23 14:00 Saudi Arabia v Spain
Jun 23 14:00 Ukraine v Tunisia
Round of Sixteen
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH
Jun 24 15:00 1A v 2B Match 49
Jun 24 19:00 1C v 2D Match 50
Jun 25 15:00 1B v 2A Match 51
Jun 25 19:00 1D v 2C Match 52
Jun 26 15:00 1E v 2F Match 53
Jun 26 19:00 1G v 2H Match 54
Jun 27 15:00 1F v 2E Match 55
Jun 27 19:00 1H v 2G Match 56
Quarterfinals
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH
Jun 30 15:00 Winner Match 49 v Winner Match 50 Match 57
Jun 30 19:00 Winner Match 53 v Winner Match 54 Match 58
Jul 1 15:00 Winner Match 51 v Winner Match 52 Match 59
Jul 1 19:00 Winner Match 55 v Winner Match 56 Match 60
Semifinals
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH
Jul 4 19:00 Winner Match 57 v Winner Match 58 Match 61
Jul 5 19:00 Winner Match 59 v Winner Match 60 Match 62
Third Place
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH
Jul 8 19:00 Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 Match 63
Final
TIME HOME AWAY MATCH
Jul 9 18:00 Winner Match 61 v Winner Match 62 Match 64
World Cup Info
© Peter Marlow / Magnum Photos
Goethe at the World Cup
In relation to the World Cup, the Goethe
Institute in Iceland has organised a cultural
programme, focusing on football and German
culture. Among the programme’s highlights
is the Weltsprache Fußball - Planet Football
photo exhibition in Borgarleikhúsið, featuring
photographs from members of the Magnum
Photos Agency. The exhibition plays with the
world’s fascination with football, focusing on
diverse themes, such as football and religion
and football and gender. The exhibition
opens June 9th, 30 minutes before Germany
and Costa Rica kick off the World Cup’s
opening game.
The Goethe Institute also puts on a film
festival as a part of the cultural programme,
with football as the focal point. June 6th,
The Miracle of Bern will be screened at the
Icelandic Academy of the Arts. The critically
acclaimed film tells the story of the 1954
German national team that won a dramatic
victory over Hungary in the ’54 World Cup
Finals. The team’s success united a nation
torn from the terrors of the WWII and gave
the German people a sense of worth.
June 10th, a movie marathon, aptly
dubbed Shoot Goals, Shoot Movies, is
planned in the Old Library in Hafnarfjörður,
from 11-18. On display will be cartoons and
shorts from 44 directors, selected from a pool
of out of 611 directors from 75 countries who
entered their films in the 2004 Berlin Talent
Campus competition. Also shown will be the
feature films focusing on football.
For more information on the film festival visit:
http://www.goethe.de/ges/spr/prj/tor/film/fpw/
enindex.htm
Hafnarstræti
Bankastræti
Laugav.
Hverfisgata
Læ
kja
rg
at
a
In
gó
lfs
st
ræ
ti
A great selection of souvenirs...
...stock up on souvernirs from Iceland.
2 stores in the Center of Reykjavík
1 store in the Center of Akureyri
You can find our stores at Reykjavik Center, Akureyri and Keflavik Airport.
icelandgiftstore.com
Ewe won´t regret it...
Skipagata
Skipagata
Hofsbót
Ráðhústorg
Hafnarstræ
ti
16