This Week in Sports: Gearing up for the World Cup

My favorite World Cup article so far is by The Unlikely Fan and is called "The World Cup, Translated Into American". The author compares all 32 World Cup teams to what he perceives as their American equivalents, to give Americans a point of reference.

I enjoyed reading every comparison, even if some are a little weird (Mexico) while others seem pretty good (Holland). Although it did really hurt to see my (and Aaron's) beloved Chargers compared to unlikable (okay, hate-able) Portugal. Causing MP to coin the phrase Ronaldo Rivers. Grr.

Which of these comparisons work, and which need to be reassigned?

4 comments:

  1. I included those Ghana-Atlanta pictures because the one of the Hawks is truly my instant favorite sports photo of all time. My Lord. That rivals A-Rod kissing himself in the mirror for the most embarrassing thing I've seen grown men do.

    I thought Greece, Italy, and Ivory Coast were particularly interesting reads and probably good choices. College teams probably need to be removed from this comparison though. We can't find 32 good comparisons amongst all professional American sports franchises?

    Also I should mention that MP found this article, and it's similar to an article that Aaron found called "World Cup Preview for an NFL Fan".

    Maybe the World Cup is resuscitating MP and Scottie?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought the Germany - Dallas Cowboys comparison and the LA Lakers - Brazil were pretty apt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brazil-LA is creepy just because both home jerseys are yellow. How many teams can say that??? Still, and this might just be the nature of international soccer and the difficulty of doing direct comparisons, but it is incomplete because there is no soccer Boston Celtics to serve as the Lakers/Brazil rival.

    That would really round things out.

    Oh, and by the way, France beat Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 WC Final.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AND... Zinedine Zedane is from France...

    ReplyDelete