With less than a year to go for the 2010 FIFA World Cup football fans around the world are restless and can’t wait to hear the first whistle blow! After all, it’s a four year wait before one gets to see world class football that’s pure magic! And the countdown has begun. This World Cup will be the 19th tournament and it’s all set to take place in South Africa. So, keep the 11th of June to the 11th of July aside for some adrenalin pumping action!

It will be the first time that the World Cup is being hosted by South Africa. Nine cities across the country are being readied in terms of infrastructure and operations. Thousands of fans and tourists are expected to descend on South Africa to watch their favorite teams take centre stage in their national team uniforms. Overall, an estimated six billion people will watch the matches worldwide.

The CEO of the World Cup Organizing Committee, Dr Danny Jordaan admits that it’s been a tough road at times, but he finds inspiration in the men and women who have worked tirelessly to ensure they go from the planning to the playing stage. “When you look at them and you look in their eyes you get a sense they’ve all decided, ‘we won’t let you down, we won’t let the country down’, and that they’re going to make this work,” says Jordaan. He hopes that when the final whistle has blown, Nelson Mandela and the many other freedom fighters will be smiling in the realization that the World Cup was delivered by both black and white coming together, that all their efforts and sacrifices were not in vain…

This World Cup’s mascot is Zakumi, a cute leopard with green hair! He was born on the 16th of June 1994, the year that apartheid ended. The ‘Za’ in Zakumi is the international abbreviation for South Africa and ‘kumi’ means ten in many African languages. It also means ‘come here’ in some southern African languages. The green and yellow colors of the mascot stand for the host nation’s flag and playing strip. Zakumi’s designer, Andries Odendaal, explains that the animal’s green hair was designed to provide camouflage on the football pitch.

With the qualifiers taking place, the heat is already on! There’s been a global rush to apply for tickets to the 2010 World Cup. Bets are on as to who’ll make it and who’ll be left out. Some traditional favorites are already facing a tough challenge to qualify!

Putting aside relocation rumors, resettling controversies and preparation deadlines, the first FIFA World Cup in the African continent is all set to take your breath away! So, get your custom soccer jerseys out and get into the spirit of things! If you don’t you’re your favorite teams soccer jersey, it’s high time you picked one up or you might not get any later! After all, we’re talking about the World Cup here and fans are seriously loyal when it comes to supporting their favorite team!

By: G Pirelli

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The governing body of the Olympic Games is the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They have been responsible for the games since they revived the Olympic Games with Summer Olympics at Athens in 1896. In 1924, the first Winter Olympics were held in France. Games were held in the same year through 1992 when the IOC began alternating the Summer and Winter Games every four years, but two years apart respectively.

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing, China, and included 31 summer sports. The 2010 Winter Games will be held in Vancouver, Canada. The number and type of games on the Olympic Sport List varies slightly in different years. Occasionally games are added and discontinued. The IOC also may allow demonstration sports, such as dog sled racing and gliding.

Briefly, the IOC’s role is to encourage and support ethics and fair play in sports, nurture and protect the sporting games and the participating athletes through education, drug testing, and to maintain the highest principles of sports organizations throughout the world. In addition, the IOC is the caretaker of non violent games, concern for the environment, and the protector of the Games themselves from political disruption and corruption. They determine any current Olympic Sport List. They are the final decision makers in the event of any dispute. They also select the host cities, and work to ensure the peaceful continuance of the Olympic Games.

2008 summer games included:
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Baseball (only 1 event)
Basketball
Boxing
Canoeing/Kayak
Cycling (BMX, Mountain, Road, Track)
Diving
Equestrian
Fencing
Field hockey
Football (soccer)
Gymnastics
Handball
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Softball (only 1 event)
Swimming
Synchronized swim
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball (Indoor and Beach)
Water Polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling

Additional summer sports recognized by the IOC:
Air sports
Bandy
Billiards
Boules
Bowling
Bridge
Chess
Cricket
Dance Sport
Golf
Karate
Korfball
Life Saving
Motorcycle Racing
Mountaineering and Climbing
Netball
Orienteering
Pelota basque
Polo
Power boating
Racquetball
Roller Sports
Rugby
Squash
Sport climbing
Surfing
Sumo
Tug of War
Underwater Sports
Water Skiing
Wushu

These are now discontinued summer sports:
Baseball
Cricket
Croquet
Figure Skating
Golf
Ice Hockey
Jeu de paume
Lacrosse
Pelota basque
Polo
Power boating
Rackets
Roque
Rugby union
Softball
Tug of War
Water Skiing

Sports scheduled for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games include:
Biathlon (and Paralympic Biathlon)
Bobsleigh (and Skeleton)
Curling (and Wheelchair Curling)
Ice Hockey (and Ice Sledge Hockey)
Luge
Skating (Figure, Speed, Short Track Speed)
Skiing (Alpine, Cross Country, Freestyle, Nordic, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding)

The Olympic Sport List is flexible and changes with the current times and trends. Sports must meet specific requirements to be included. Sports for men and women must be played, respectively, in 75 and 50 countries, on four continents, to be included. The Olympic Games are important as an economic resource as well as global peacemaker. Like the original games, warring countries suspend their conflicts to participate in peaceful competition, reminding the world that yes, we can all get along and have friendly athletic competition.

By: Ivy Johnson

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Argentina won the silver medal in football in the Olympic Games in 1928. The players Olympic were: Ludovico Bidoglio, Angel Bossio, Saul Calandra, Alfredo Carricaberry, Roberto Cherro, Octavio Diaz, Juan Evatristo, Manuel Ferreira, Enrique Gainzarain, Alfredo Herman, Segundo Luna, Angel Segundo Medici, Luis Monti, Pedro Ochoa, Rodolfo Orlandini, Raimundo Orsi, Fernando Patenoster, Adolfo Zumelzu, Luis Weihmuller, Domingo Tarasconi, Natalio Perinetti, Feliciano Preeduca.

Argentina- it is about 5 times the size of France- qualified for the quarter-finals of the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea.

This Latin American won the FIFA U-20 World Championship in Tokyo (Japan) in 1979. Under the leadership of Diego Armando Maradona, best known as “Pelusa”, Argentina defeated the USSR/Soviet Union (currently Russia) 3-1. Ramon Diaz (Argentine player) was a top scorer and won the “Golden Shoe”. His countrymen, Maradona, also was awarded the Golden Ball.

Argentina won the bronze medal at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. Under the direction of Cesar Menotti, Argentina defeated Costa Rica 3-0. The players were: Ricardo Alonso, Pablo de las Mercedes, Jose Luis Ceballos, Aldo Espinoza, Pedro Evaristo Farias, Pedro Agustin Fernandez, Sergio Fortunato, Americo Gallego, Luis Galvan, Eduardo Marillack, Manuel Pereyra, Carlos Suarez, Carlos Salinas, Jorge Salas, Juan Cesar Silva, Daniel Valencia, Jose Santiago Tello, Alberto Vivalda.

This South American nation won the FIFA U-20 World Cup -for the third time- in 2001. The Latin American country downed Ghana 3-0 in the final.

This country has famous Olympic players: Luis Islas (Olympic player in 1988), Javier Saviola (Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Sergio Romero Olympic player in 2008), Carlos Tevez (Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Pablo Zabaleta (Olympic player in 2008), Hernan Crespo (Olympic silver medalist, 1996), Jose Sosa (Olympic player in 2008), Diego Simeone (Olympic silver medalist, 1996), Lionel Messi (Olympic player in 2008), Roberto Ayala (Olympic silver medalist, 1996/Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Sergio Aguero (Olympic player in 2008).

Argentina won the gold medal in soccer in the Pan American Games in Dallas (Texas,USA) in 1937.

In 1977, Diego Armando Maradona was one of the greatest youngest players in the world. However, he did not qualify for the 1978 World Cup in Buenos Aires (Argentina).Why? Cesar Luis Menotti (coach) said: “I told him that he would be great, very great. But he could not bear the blow. He cried like a child”. Under the direction of Cesar Luis Menotti, Argentina won the FIFA World Cup in 1978. Diego was born on October 30, 1960 in Villa Fiorito, Buenos Aires.

Like Brazil, Germany and Italy, Argentina is one of the best teams in the world.
Historical results:

1921: America Cup-1st place
1925:America Cup-1st place
1927: America Cup-1st place
1929: America Cup-1st place
1930:FIFA World Cup-2nd place
1934: FIFA World Cup-10th place
1937:America Cup-1st place
1941: America Cup-1st place
1945: America Cup-1st place
1946: America Cup-1st place
1947: America Cup-1st place
1951: Pan American Games-1st place (gold medal)
1955: Pan American Games-1st place (gold medal); America Cup-1st place
1957: America Cup-1st place
1958: FIFA World Cup-13rd place
1959: Pan American Games-1st place (gold medal); America Cup-1st place
1962: FIFA World Cup-10th place
1963: Pan American Games-2nd place (silver medal)
1966: FIFA World Cup-5th place
1971:Pan American Games-1st place (gold medal)
1974: FIFA World Cup-2nd place
1975: Pan American Games-3rd place (bronze medal)
1978: FIFA World Cup-1st place
1979: FIFA U-20 World Cup-1st place
1982: FIFA World Cup-11th place
1983: FIFA U-20 World Cup-1st place
1986: FIFA World Cup-1st place
1987: Pan American Games-3rd place (bronze medal)
1990: FIFA World Cup-2nd place
1991: FIFA U-17 World Championship-3rd place
1994: FIFA World Cup-10th place
1995:Pan American Games-1st place (gold medal); FIFA U-20 World Cup-1st place; FIFA U-17 World Championship-3rd place
1996: Olympic Games-2nd place (silver medal)
1998: FIFA World Cup-5th place
2001: FIFA U-20 World Cup-1st place; FIFA U-17 World Championship-4th place
2003: Pan American Games-1st place (gold medal); FIFA U-20 World Cup-4th place; FIFA U-17 World Championship-3rd place
2004: Olympic Games- 1st place (gold medal)
2005: FIFA U-20 World Cup-1st place
2007: FIFA U-20 World Cup-1st place

By: Alejandro Guevara Onofre

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