In light of the South African World Cup 2010 that is going on, I did some research on previous World Cups and their histories… and found some interesting pieces of history!
Barefoot Bengals
In 1950, India had qualified for the World Cup by default due to withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. However the governing body, AIFF, decided against going to the World Cup in 1950. And there are two different stories on why this decision was made:

The Indian national team always played barefoot, but the FIFA regulations required that all …

North Korea is ranked #105 and Brazil is currently ranked #1 in the FIFA world rankings. Most people expected a complete wash-out of North Korea, and it was a matter of how many goals Brazil will put through to this very inexperienced side. I, as a South Korean, expected something close to a 5-0 defeat for North Korea. After all, in 1998, against the experienced Dutch team, South Korea fell 5-0 in a miserable defeat, and this North Korean squad has even less experience in the World Cup stage against …

I’m going to keep this one nice and short, because frankly I have no leanings towards either team, and the whole match was rather slow and boring with little flare of offense from either side save a select few runs and shots.
This is a match that easily could have ended up in a draw if it wasn’t for the penalty kick that was awarded to Ghana at the 85th minute, which they managed to convert for a 1-0 lead in the match. Lukovic, of Serbia, had been sent off in …

Pre-Game Jitters
I was born and raised in South Korea, and I speak the language as my own, so naturally I am rooting for Korea on this match. Korea has a determined, dynamic & fast squad this year, with two big-time players who are playing in the English Premiere League. This is the second appearance in the World Cup for Greece, with their last appearance being one of shame when they exited after 3 losses and 10 goals conceded, with 0 scored! However this squad has won the Euro Cup in …

Day 1, Match 2 – after a spectacular opening match show by South Africa to stun the more experienced Mexican squad with a 1-1 tie, we now have Uruguay and France going at it. These two are pretty tightly matched teams based on rankings and past history so it should be an exciting meetup of European and South American soccer. Uruguay, in case you didn’t know, were the first hosts of the very first World Cup Finals, and they also won it, in 1930.
First Half:
Ribery had a gorgeous centering but …

So I decided I would briefly recap some of the matches I catch during the 2010 South African World Cup. It is the most exciting, and the most worldly sporting event there ever has been, and I love it, so why not?
The first match between the hosting nation (Republic of South Africa) and Mexico, the more experienced football squad was an exciting opening to a spectacular World Cup tournament. South Africa has relatively little experience in the World Cup stage, but never underestimate a determined squad playing on their home …

If you were looking forward to photos from the fireworks, WRONG.
The Vancouver Celebration of Light, or more commonly referred to as “The Fireworks” in Vancouver, has been an annual event for as long as I’ve lived in the Metropolitan Vancouver area. I think it’s been going on before I moved to this place.
When I was younger I was a great fan of this event, as this gave us a great excuse to be downtown late at night among thousands of people (and this was quite a nice contract to the …