April 21, 2010

World Cup 2006 Highlights Reel

Know what happened at the world cup 2006 between Italy and France, (Italy won by the way) so that you can make some references at the bar and look like a complete football Stud.

Want to Know How Intense Footballers are?

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"My Dad played professional soccer for the USSR, So I didn't have a choice, I HAD to play soccer" - Yelena

What's Yelena and Chris' deal?
In the big ole' state of Texas, the only sport that matters is American football and I'm sure it has caused more than one shoot out between those cowboys. However, on Friday night at Nevada's we happened to bump into two Texans that enjoy the proper kind of football, Chris and Yelena. Born and bred Texans with an affinity for European football are a rare breed, so of course we took the opportunity to interview them. Chris, presumably a party boy, who graduated from the University of Texas supports the U.S. team and gal pal, Yelena supports Spain (Real Madrid in particular) and is convinced that they're going to win this year's South American World Cup.
So typically you'd assume that the man had dragged his lady friend to the bar to watch sports right? Not the case with this duo. Of the two Yelena was the self-professed soccer fanatic, who'd been raised on the sport by her father who played professionally for Russia. Pretty unexpected, but that's why soccer fans are so f-ing cool. After trying to get a job in soccer twice, Yelena has settled for doing PR at a high end jewelry company.

Their advice to New Soccer fans?
"Drag a group of friends to the bar, grab a beer and sit back and watch the game"







April 04, 2010





"Football is life" -David

What's David's deal?
David's played his way to the semi-pros from the time he was just a wee lad. As a hardcore United Fan (and of course, an English fan when it comes to the Wolrd Cup), David has seen his share of matches, banter, and of course fights resulting from one too many pints and intense supporter dedication. Too young to witness the 1966 win of England at the world cup, David is pulling for his team in the 2010 WC.

As a seasoned Football Fan david has some suggestions for all you football newbies:
1. "Don't sit at home and watch it on your own. Go to the pub and watch it with some friends, then you can talk to some people who actually know about the game. Anything you're not sure about, you can ask."
2. NEVER call a manchester united supporter a "ManU Fan" They don't take kindly to that. They are "United Supporters"

What does David have to say about Nevada Smiths?
"If you want to go to a pub and watch football this [Nevada Smith's] is the only place to come. There's nothing that can match it. I've never been to another bar in any part of the world that matches this. The mixture of football supporters here and the supporters in england does not happen. In england you cannot have someone go into a Manchester bar that supports Chelsea.... He wouldn't come out again"


In New York City, we have the opportunity, not only to encounter multiple diverse groups, but more importantly, we get to experience an array of football fanatics. And Nevada Smith's is precisely the location to check em' all out. You're hard-pressed to find an American accent in this bar, which is typically overrun with rowdy Aussies, South Americans, and the English. What makes Nevada Smith's such an anomaly for football fans, is that it's a non-discriminant zone- all are welcome whether you're a supporter of the English, Italian, German or Brazilian national team. Surprisingly enough, after a few pints, the rivalry seems to dissipate and a sense of camaraderie ensues. So we've decided to document the football holy land that is Nevada Smith's by focusing on it's many charismatic patrons in what we've dubbed "The World Cup Fan Project"

April 01, 2010

National Football Teams for Dummies

So, as a newbie football fan, there are a few things you need to get down before trying to engage a true fan in witty banter. One of these things being a tid bit of information about all the major teams in this year's 2010 World Cup. You know what they say... if you can't make it, fake it. So read up below and fake your way through the 2010 world cup


German National Football team

Head Coach: Joachim Low entrepreneurship

Where they play: They have no national stadium

Street credit: Germany is one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions having won a total of three world cups and three European championships, they are also one of the most consistent teams with 3 world and continental titles, runners-up three times in European championships, four times in the world cup and won 3rd place in the world cup three times.

Nicknames:Nationalmannschaft (National Team), DFB-Elf (DFB eleven), Nationalelf (National eleven), In foreign countries they are called Mannschaft (“The team”)


FIFA Ranking: 5

Noteworthy players:

Captain: Michael Ballack

Top Scorer: Gerd Muller (who also has the second most world cup goals in the league)


Use these interesting facts to strike up football chat with any football hooligan about the German team:

  • Germany is the only nation to have ever won both the men’s and women’s world cup
  • After WW2 Germany was banned from competition in sports until about 1950
  • Germany has won the third most World Cup championships (behind Brazil and Italy)

Italy National Football Team

Head Coach: Marcello Lippi

Street Credit: one European championship, one Olympic football tournament, and two central European international cups

FIFA Ranking: 4

Nicknames: Azzurri

Noteworthy Players:

Top scorer: Luigi Riva

Captian: Fabio Cannavaro

Star player: Luca Toni

What you have to know about Italy:

  • Italy is one of the top teams in international football and the second most successfully national team in the history of the world cup having won 4 titles

Mexico National Football Team

Head Coach: Javier Aguirre

Street credit: Mexico holds on FIFA confederations cup, 5 CONCACAF gold cups, three CONCACAF championships, one North American Nations cup, two NAFC championships


Noteworthy Players:

Captian: Rafael Marquez

Top Scorer: Jared Borgetti

Home Stadium: Estadio Azteca

Nicknames: El Tri

FIFA Rank: 17

What You need to know about Mexico:

  • Mexico is one of the strongest teams in the Americas, but has never won a world cup
  • Mexico has qualified for the world cup consecutively since 1994


South Africa National Football Team

Head coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira


Noteworthy players:

Captian: Aaron Mokoena

Top Scorer: Benni McCarthy

Nicknames: Bafana Bafana (The Boys)

Stadium: Soccer City

FIFA Ranking: 81

Street Credit: South Africa has won the African cup of nations once, and the COSAFA cup three times

Facts you need to know about South Africa:

  • They are hosting the 2010 world cup
  • South Africa returned to the stage in 1992 after being banned from FIFA for 30 years for the apartheid
  • South Africa is the first African nation to host FIFA World Cup
  • South Africa has only made two appearances in the World Cup and has never made it past the first round.



Spain National Football Team

Head Coach: Vicente Del Bosque

Noteworthy Players:

Captain: Iker Casillas

Top Scorer: Raul

Home Stadium: Vicente Calderon Mestalla

Nicknames:

La Furja Roja (The Red Fury)

La Roja (The Red)

FIFA Ranking: 1

Street Credit: Two time winner of the UEFA European Championship, Gold medalist in Olympic football tournament and 2008 winner of the FIFA World Cup

What You need to know about Spain:

  • Spain is the reigning champ of the World Cup
  • Spain has qualified for the FIFA World Cup 12 times
  • Between 2006-2009 Spain went undefeated for a record tying 35 consecutive matches. A world record shared with Brazil





United States Men's National Association Football Team

Head Coach: Bob Bradley

Noteworthy Players:

Captain: Carlos Bocanegra

Top Scorer: Landon Donovan

Nicknames: The Yanks

FIFA Rank: 18

Street Credit: Silver and Bronze medalists at the plympics, third place in the FIFA world cup, Runners-up and third place rankings in the FIFA Confederations Cup

What you should know about the U.S Team:

  • Although Soccer has not typically held a high profile amongst U.S Sports fans, the dedication to Soccer has increased since the 70’s
  • The U.S has had more players win 100 caps than any other nation

March 02, 2010

Who's going to kick ass in the World Cup 2010?


There are only 100 days until World Cup 2010.
Football hooligans worldwide are going nuts, confident that their country is going to kick ass and take names. However for those of us who don't eat and breath football, or go to sleep in our country's jersey, how do we prepare for the world's most stellar sporting event? My answer... Do as the Hooligans do. Whip out the face paint, grab a jersey and a pint and start getting rowdy.

Here are some golden rules on how to break into the hard-core world of the 2010 World Cup without looking like a dumb ass.

1. Know how the game works
If you think a football pitch is when a footballer throws the ball in bounds, you should hang your head in shame. Here's a quick over view of how it all goes down.... There are 11 players on each team, arranged in the below formation.
The game lasts 60 minutes and whichever team scores the most goals by the end of the game is declared the winner.

2. Get the lingo down.
It's "football," not "Soccer"- This is a rookie mistake. You're likely to be labeled a complete D-bag and thrown out of any proper football bar if you screw this one up. And secondly, you "support" a team, you don't "root" for a team- Unless you're cheering your kid on in a pee-wee league, avoid this at all costs.


March 01, 2010

Welcome

Welcome to World of the Cup !