Soccer Fever Ladies?

For the past few weeks I have been hounded with a barrage of questions by my clients all around the world as to which soccer team I was supporting. Each of them clamoring and professing support for their country of origin, some actually requesting that I also pledge my allegiance to theirs. I must confess that though I am aware of the popularity of the Soccer, in general I am not a fanatic over any sport. I admit to once in a while getting on board enthusiastically over the Los Angeles Laker’s which inevitably leaves me frustrated over their loss, but for the most part I do my best to stay clear away from being emotionally involved with any sport.

I enjoy having the freedom to go as I please; never having to schedule my life around the Super Bowl or the NBA Playoffs like a lot of people do. On the rare occasions that I have been invited to such gatherings I inevitably find myself looking at the player’s face and general good looks to determine my judgment of him as an athlete.

This brings me to The World Cup. By the way Soccer is the most played sport in the world, the most widely viewed even more than the Olympics and during the last World Cup, more than 30 million people tuned in to watch the game. In light of the forgoing I have recently sat through more than a couple of games and have done some general research on the subject. At first my only motivation was so I’d have something remotely intelligent to say the next time where engaged in a conversation about the sport.

Here are some of my findings: Though different cultures such as the Chinese, Greeks, and Romans have made the claim of having invented the sport; an early form of the game in Japan, goes as far back as 1004 BC. Until today there exist no concrete evidence as to how the game spread from Asia to the European continent; but variations of the game can be traced back for almost 3000 years.

Though the people loved the game it did not earn a great reception among the royals and thus during the 1300’s it was banned by Edward III, Henry the IV, Henry the VIII and by Queen Elizabeth I. Players where either Jailed or made to perform some sort of church penance for participating in what was thought to be a useless, vulgar and indecent game.

The development of the sport, is credited to Public school young men that loved to play the game, and aided to the worldwide popularity of soccer. In 1815 Eton College made the first attempt at writing down some rules to govern the game, and then came Cambridge in 1848, Sheffield in 1857, and Uppinham in 1862, followed by The Football Association in 1863 which eventually merged with Sheffield to form the rules by which the game is played today.

But after all the history and rules of the game, what has captured my attention the most has been the following; my co-workers and I have looked through tons of pictures of some of the teams that have participated in this year’s World Cup and we are convinced that the wealth of good looks that exist among the players cannot be a result of coincidence.
I find it necessary to ask. It you are also of the opinion that good looks may be a pre-requisite in qualifying a player for that game?
Below are some names of players that we considered to be the yummiest!
But please do not take our word for it pick up a news paper or a magazine and match the names to the pictures that you see, and be ready five years from now when the World Cup comes around again. And ladies if you are not an enthusiast of the game do not worry; just go with the flow of it all and admire the scenery.

Australia.
Scott Chipperfield, Mark Schwarzer, Brett Emerton, Archie Thompson,

Portugal: Simao Sabrosa’s

Paraguay: Carlos Gamarra, Carlos Paredes, Roque Santa Cruz, and Carlos Bonet

Mexico: Carlos Salcido, Guillermo Ochoa, Oswaldo Sanchez, Gonzalo Pineda and Omar Bravo Pavel Pardo, Guillermo Franco.

Costa Rica: Gilberto Martinez, Paulo Wanchope, Mauricio Solis.

Germany: Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Odonkor, Torsten Frings,Tim Borowski , Miroslav Klose, Jens Nowottny, Michael Ballack and Mike Hanke’David Odonkor,,Gerald Asamoah

Switzerland: Philippe Senderos, Johan Djourou, Tranquillo Barnetta, Alexander Frei
Philippe Senderos, Patrick Mueller

Ghana: Asamoah Gyan

Sweden: Erik Edman, Andreas Isaksson, Niclas Alexanderson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Tobias Linderoth, and Christian Wilhelmsson

England: Scott Carson, John Terry, Peter Crouch, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole

Czech Republic: Radoslav Kovac, David Jarolim, Karel Poborsky, Pavel Nedved and Martin Jiranek.

Italian players: Gennaro Gattuso, Vincenzo laquinta Simone Barone, Fabio Grosso, Fabio cannavaro, Massimo Oddo Alessandro Nesta

Dutch players: Edwin van der Sar, right, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Arjen Robben, Mark van Bommel

Brazilian players: Kaka, Emerson, Ze Roberto, Ronaldinho, Adriano Ronaldo, Cafu, Robinho, Cicinho and Roberto Carlo

Croatia’s players: Stjepan Tomas, Niko Kovac, Ivan Leko.

Argentina: Esteban Cambiasso, Maxi Rodriguez, and Javier Saviolala, Gabriel Milito, Carlos Tevez and Juan Roman Riquelme

Spain: Luis Garcia, Pablo Ibanez and Sergio Ramos, Michel Salgado, Jose Antonio Reyes, Xabi Alonso, Joaquin Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas

Polish goalie: Artur Boruc

Japan players: Shinji Ono, Alessandro Santos, Keisube Tsuboi, Hidetoshi Nakata and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto

France:: Claude Makelele, right, and Lilian Thuram

The are only the ones whose pictures I looked at.

By
Murielle Stephenson