Iker Casillas must be the most romantic football player in the world!

...and Sara Carbonero is one lucky woman!

Iker Casillas, the Spanish goalkeeper, is currently dating one of the most beautiful Spanish journalists Sara Carbonero. After the game, they tried to do an interview, but you can imagine being a couple and holding back your emotions in the given circumstances is really hard. Iker just couldn't bear it anymore and he gave us one of the most romantic moments in sport history. I'm so glad we have YouTube. I almost teared up, when I saw the clip. Girls, what do you think?

Iker Casillas sealed Spain's World Cup win with a kiss in front of millions of watching TV fans.

Spain beat Holland and won the World Cup 2010

The game was a bit disappointing, but there was drama

The Dutch Nigel De Jong kicking Xabi Alonso in the chest like Bruce Lee!

Spain beat the Netherlands 1:0 and won the 19th FIFA World Cup. Congratulations! The game was sometimes really hard to watch, because there were too many fouls and too many yellow cards. The game was ugly, it was a battle. Neither Holland, nor Spain played for the spectators, the fought to win. And after 90min we had no winner, it took Spain 116min to finally score, just few minutes before we expected penalty shootouts. It must've really been painful for the Dutch fans to see how they lost almost in last minute. What a pity. I really rooted for the Netherlands, but in the end, Spain was the better team and they deserved to win. They're dominating world football in the recent years, it's unbelievable how strong they are. Will they face their downfall in 2012? We'll see. I can't wait for the qualifications to start, I hope Slovenia will qualify.

The man of the Match: Andrés Iniesta, who scored 1:0, thanked Paul for his divine help ;-)

You gotta see this clip! It's hilarious!!! :-)

I think everyone would like to be Wesley Snijder tonight. The girl below is his current girlfriend and I'm sure she'll console him tonight. Hey, it's not so bad to lose the World Cup finals after all, is it? :-P

Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen, half Spanish, half Dutch model.

THIS IS MY LAST WORLD CUP 2010 POST. It was really an entertaining month for me. I was lucky too see most of the games, if not all of them. Sometimes I stopped watching one, because it was pretty boring, but that was in the beginning, before the elimination phase, Chile - Honduras would be one of these games. But even though some games were not really good during the first 2 weeks, I really loved those days, where I could see 2 games a day and my home country Slovenia was part of all that. I'm always watching the World Cup (since 1990), but when you have your own country participating, it gives you extra thrills. I wish every football fan would have the chance to see his own country be part of the biggest sports event in the world, it's an unforgettable experience. Lucky those from Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Brazil and Argentina! Your teams are almost always qualifying. Nevertheless, I'm happy to be from Slovenia and proud of our young team, that was one of big surprises of the tournament.

Maybe I'll blow this vuvuzela soon O.o

ABOUT THE WORLD CUP: Congratulations to South Africa, the World Cup was organized perfectly. You have a great nation with a great future. I really hope we will see more World Cups in Africa in the future. Everything was top, only one thing could've been less dominant: the vuvuzela. I'm happy not to hear the beehive sound anymore, but my girlfriend just bought one (for fun) and I guess, if I misbehave, she'll punish me by blowing that thing in my ear :-P Ok, I admit, I wasn't really bothered by the vuvuzela so much in the elimination phase, that sound somehow became part of the game, it was like white noise. We'll see, how the vuvuzela story continues in the upcoming months.

Like every World Cup, this one also made some people (and pulpas) rise to fame. Diego Forlán became the best player of the tournament, Paul the Octopus Almighty predicted all the games right, the top 3 teams of the tournament were European. New stars emerged like the Uruguayan Diego Forlán, Thomas Müller and Mesut Ösil from Germany, David Villa from Spain, Wesley Snijder from Netherlands and many more. But there were also so called superstars who totally disappointed like Rooney and Messi. Big teams like Italy, France, Argentina and Brazil went home pretty early and surprised everybody, especially those who love to bet. Underdogs like Uruguay, Paraguay and Ghana came pretty far. And who would've predicted Holland in the finals? Well.. I did. :-P But I totally missed Spain, I thought Argentina will go all the way... I was so wrong. But that's football. The most exciting thing in the world (besides sex, hohoho). I'm looking forward to Brazil 2014, how about you?

• How did you like this World Cup?
• What were your best and worst moments?
• What or who surprised you the most?

[Photos 1, 2, 3: Source, Vuvuzela photo by MKL, 2010]

Paul the Octopus fed up with Germany: Spain wins!

Spain beat Germany in one of their best games so far - Germans are devastated

Everyone was talking about Germany lately, about the supposedly strongest team at the FIFA World Cup 2010. Even Germans themselves thought so, they were full of pride and confidence. Everything seemed to be going fine for them, they were winning like there's no tomorrow and laughing at their competitors. But then they made one big mistake: They messed with Paul the Octopus! They mocked him. German TV RTL dared to say that he will be wrong and if he's right, he'll be deep fried. That was a deadly joke. Spain beat Germany 1:0 tonight and German players were devastated after the game, crying and sobbing like little boys.

From now on everyone knows: Paul is always right. Paul doesn't predict the result, he makes the result! Never question Paul, never threaten Paul. Paul is holy.

This is what happened: Germany had one of the easiest Groups, however they beat the weak Aussies, lost against the medium strong Serbians and struggled against the surprisingly strong Ghana. And then they faced England in the Round of 16.

Germany won 4:1 and made fun of them.

Every German was happy and confident.

Then they beat Argentina 4:0.

That was the only great game they played.

But the match was overshadowed by Boogergate.

And then there were the semi finals. Spain, the current European champions, were the competitor and Germany dared to pester Paul the Octopus again, because they wanted to know, whether they will win or not. They thought Paul predicts the winner. They were so wrong. He was already fed up with them and all the jokes about other nations' teams.

Paul the Octopus decided Spain should win.

In all fairness to the Germans, England had their own share of confidence, that was beyond the common sense. But well... all that is part of football :-)

Those were the times, huh? :-P

I'm just happy, that we'll get a totally new World Cup winner. And although I think Spain has a better chance to win, I will be rooting for the Netherlands. On July 11, I will be wearing oranje. Both teams deserve to win, but who would not like to see the sexy Dutch football fans go crazy?

Who are you rooting for, Spain or Oranjelands?

[Photo sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7]

My World Cup prediction: 87.5% right so far!

So far I predicted 7 out of 8 winners right

In one of my previous posts, just before the Round of 16 of the World Cup games started, I predicted these results and winners:

I guess it's a pity I haven't been betting, hehe. I could earn a lot of money by now ;-) Sure, I did not get the actual result right in any of these games. But it's about the winners now, the results don't matter anymore. The only mistake I made was giving England too much credit. I didn't follow my reason, but my heart. I really rooted for them and thought they will be strong enough and a bit lucky to beat the Germans. Sadly, that wasn't the case. I should've followed my mind and predict Germans as the winners and I'd have all 8 games right. But still, 7 out 8 is amazing, don't you think? Does that qualify me as a psychic already? :-P

Looking forward to the games ahead, I think I made some good predictions for the quarter finals. Since I think Argentina has the best chance to win the trophy, it did not matter to me whether they have to play the Germans or the English, in any case, I predict that they will move on. Of course it will be very hard to beat Germany, but I think they can. Both teams are excellent and I think it will be a big drama with many twists and turns and a lot of goals.

I must admit that betting on the Netherlands in the game with Brazil was not based on reason either. Brazil are definitely stronger, but I always think that one "big" team doesn't make it due to bad luck or something unpredictable. That's the only reason I didn't put Brazil into the finals. Sure, they're besides Germany and Argentina the top contenders for the final victory. But we'll see. I'll stick to my predictions from June 26.

Who do you think will become the next football champion of the world?

My World Cup prediction: It will be Argetina!

I took 5 min of my time to predict the winner of the FIFA World Cup 2010

The World Cup is exciting, isn't it? Maybe a tiny bit less exciting since my home country Slovenia didn't move on to the round of 16, nevertheless, there are some promising matches coming up already in the next few days: Germany - England, Spain - Portugal and Argentina - Mexico. These games will really be battles, you can be sure. I'm really looking forward to England and Germany and I'm rooting for England. I'd really like to see them come at least to the quarter finals. But then again, here's a table of the upcoming games. I wrote my predictions for the next games and for all the other possible games and I came to the conclusion, that the final game will be between the Netherlands and Argentina and the latter will become football champions of the world.

Some of the results surprised me, because I tried to base my decision on the teams' performances so far and who might be in better form or may have a bit more luck this time. I may be completely wrong or I may be right in some parts. We'll see :-)

Who do you think will become the winner of the World Cup 2010?

[Table source]

Congratulations to Slovenia, our heroes!

Our national football players are our heroes. Thank you, guys!

SO LONG, SLOVENIA!: The World Cup came to an end for Slovenia after the loss against England and after the American striker Donovan scored a last minute golden goal in the game USA vs. Algeria. The hearts of 2 million Slovenians were broken, while tens of millions of ecstatic Americans crashed Twitter and celebrated their lucky, but well deserved victory. That's football! Unpredictable until the very last moment. We thought we were through... but then... we weren't. I admit, I was very sad, however I'm not a sore loser. The game was fair and the better one won. Congrats!

Our heroes, the Slovenian national football team. This was the start-up against England, from left to right: 1 Samir Handanovič, 4 Marko Šuler, 11 Milivoje Novaković, 5 Boštjan Cesar, 9 Zlatan Ljubljankič, 10 Valter Birsa, 17 Andraž Kirm, 2 Mišo Brečko, 8 Robert Koren, 18 Aleksandar Radosavljević, 13 Bojan Jokić.

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU: It wasn't meant to be this time for Slovenia, but one thing is sure: Our team did not disappoint in a single game. I'm so proud of our players, they really gave viewers in Slovenia (and abroad) a lot of unforgettable moments. We have won, we have drawn, we have lost. But most of the time we played smart and attractive, we were fearless and fair. No red cards, no mean fouls, no shady tactics. We showed the world that a team from a small nation can play great football and can leave a great impression on the people around the world. Once again, congratulations to England and USA for moving on to the round of 16. Also hats down to Algeria, who also surprised everyone by being a very tough contender. There were no winners or losers in Group C. There were only lucky and less lucky teams.

ABOUT THE WINNERS: When it comes to those who moved on from Group C, I'm rooting for England. It seems they finally woke up. Rooney played amazingly well, so did others. Capello's man played tactically incredibly smart and totally disabled the Slovenian offense. Now they're playing the Germans in the round of 16 and wholeheartedly hope that they finally beat them at the World Cup. It's been like over 40 years since they did it the last time. I hope they break the curse and that game will be a delight to watch. When it comes to USA, I think they play rough and sometimes unfair, which was clear in the game against Slovenia. I hope Ghana can beat them and from how I saw them playing against Germany today, they have a great chance. They're definitely the best African team. Sorry USA, but I like teams who play attractive and technical football.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WORLD CUP SO FAR: I'm not really impressed with "big" teams such as Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy. Some of them disappointed completely, some of them picked themselves up, like England and Germany. France with their shameful performances, did not belong on the World Cup at all. Had it been Ireland, I'm sure we'd have a Slovenia like story, a small country with a big heart making it hard for the big teams. It's a pity. However, there are countries that were quite ok, like the Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil. But their form is a bit unstable. I'm not really convinced with the Portuguese and Dutch, but I see Brazil as one of the teams, that will make it up to the finals. And the other one for me are Argentina. I must say, I was always a fan of Brazil, since USA 1994. But this time, I'm supporting Argentina.

ABOUT ARGENTINA: Argentina played the best football so far and not only is that obvious in three clear victories, they played consistently well, didn't make many mistakes and scored a lot of goals. Of course some people may think playing well sometimes isn't enough, you need a bit of luck. But I think, they have such great team spirit and with Diego Armando Maradonna, such an amazing leading figure, that they should make it to the finals without any big problems. Of course they will face resistance, they will have tough games, possibly with Germany or England, but even their B-team plays better than some other teams at the World Cup. My heart beats for Argentina from now on. I always loved Maradonna, especially since I was a young boy in the 80s, he was a football God. For me personally, he will always remain the best player in the history of this game. Yes, Pelé was great, but Maradonna is pure passion and pure genius. I'd die to see him all in tears holding and kissing that World Cup trophy in Johannesburg on July 11, after Argentina beat Brazil 3:2 in the best game of the tournament. Can that happen? Yes, it can. Will it happen? Well, that's another story. Football is so unpredictable, anything can happen. All teams are great this time, there really will be no real losers (apart from France) this time, I think we can look forward to some amazing surprises. Only time will tell. Let's hope for great games and an amazing atmosphere. Heck, I don't even hear the noise of the vuvuzelas. I guess that's good, right? :-)

THANK YOU again, Slovenia! I'm really proud to be your countryman today. Football united us and I hope we stay as united as long as possible. And finally the world has gotten to know our little country a bit better. Now you know Slovenia: A small country with a big heart.

• How did you like Slovenia's performance at the World Cup?
• For which team are you rooting now, when Slovenia's out?

[Sources: Photo 1 by me, Photo 2 and 3 by Dylan Martinez, Photo 4 by Eddie Keogh]

Congratulations to England and USA

Unfortunately the worst case scenario for Slovenia has happened.

I'm a bit sad, but I want to congratulate England for a good and fair game. The victory has been well deserved and all the best for the upcoming matches.

Also congratulations to USA, great fighting spirit and well deserved to move on to the round of 16. All the best for the upcoming matches.

Hats down to the Slovenian team as well. Thank you for all the amazing moments during this World Cup. You're still our heroes. I'm sure this team has a great future ahead of them.

Good luck to everyone.

No comments, thanks.

My Slovenia vs. England predictions, World Cup 2010

A view from Slovenia

If you've read FIFA's predictions for Group C before the World Cup, you would not believe, that in the last game between Slovenia and England, Slovenia would be considered the favorite as the leader of the group and the team, that has performed the best among all four in the first two games. But what happened this year at the World Cup to England is typical: Big teams disappointed, from France, Italy, Germany to Spain and Portugal, all these teams have struggled in their first games with supposedly small irrelevant teams. Some have even lost. So the chances for Slovenia, the football dwarf from middle Europe, stand good. But do they really?

Here is the table of Group C after two matches played. Slovenia first with a win and a draw, USA and England second and currently last is Algeria. The best chances to advance (when it comes to math), has Slovenia. This is what needs to happen, if my country Slovenia wants to advance to the Round of 16:

- We win over England, we move on and become no 1 in the group. England is out.

- We tie with England, we move on, Algeria is out, either USA or England move on.

- We lose against England, but USA and Algeria tie. England and Slovenia move on.

When it comes to England, they only have one option: They must win! They are already in the knock out phase. And that's what makes them dangerous.

Before the World Cup, England was considered as one of the favorites, not only to be first in Group C, but to go all the way up and become champions of the world. Two disappointing matches later and they're fighting to survive. But isn't a lion the most dangerous when he's down? I think, that it will be extremely hard for Slovenia not to lose against England. I have no idea, what kind of tactics will our coach Kek use against the English team, but whatever he'll do, it will be extremely hard to defend the wounded and highly motivated English players. I think just defending over 90min is not a good idea. Slovenia need to play, they need to attack, because that's the best defense. They need need to shoot from afar, because the English keeper is always a weak point. But they also need to play smart, like they did against USA in the first half. I'm sure English are stronger, more physical. Who knows what Rooney will do, if he's mad. I think it may become a bigger battle than Slovenia vs. USA. Can our boys be strong enough to fight the English over 90min? I have my doubts, especially for the 2nd half. However, I am hopeful. The pressure on the Slovenian team is by far not as big as on the English, we have no issues within the team, there are no rifts, everyone supports each other and the whole country stands behind them. When it comes to England, that's a different story. English may be motivated, but they may want too much and try to hard to win without thinking straight.

So here's my prediction: Slovenia vs. England: 1-1

I think Slovenia may score the first goal in the first half and England will eventually tie in the second half. Then there will be chances on both sides, but our keeper Handanović will have a great day and save a lot of great shots.

When it comes to Algeria vs. USA, I think it will be 0-0, because USA only play well for one half and Algeria has a very strong defense and they're hard to play. It will be a tough game as well.

Of course I'd love to see Slovenia win, even if it's 1-0. It would be a historic win and an amazing achievement. Even if they only tie with England, it would be equally great, because we move on to the round of 16 as well. But there's a possibility, that a worst case scenario happens and both England and USA win and the chances for that are not that bad. It's something I really dread and strongly hope that it won't happen. Algeria, we need your help in this. I really hope you play well and at least tie with USA. I know you can do it.

We'll see what happens on Wednesday. Anything can happen basically and I would not dare to say which team will definitely advance to the round of 16. Any of the team has a real chance, if only they play well and give us a great match, everyone will respect the outcome, whatever it may be.

May the best teams win! Good luck to Slovenia.

Laughing at: The Daily Mail using Slovakian flag instead of Slovenian

[Sources: Left photo, right photo (my friend Lai San), Group C, ref]

Analyzing your votes

And musing about the World Cup

A while ago, I asked you, my readers, to delurk and tell me why you started to follow my blog. I must say the results of the polls were quite amusing to read. I won't go into every detail, let me just sum up everything in few short notes:

- Most of us found each other through blogging and commenting

- Many people like everything I write. Topic wise fun stuff, travel and women are popular

- Most people have fond feelings towards me, only few were bored, one hated me, lol

- Two people love me! I know one of them, but who is the other one? Ooh, spooky, hehe.

Thank you all, who voted on my poll and left such sweet comments. I'm really happy that I've met so many awesome, funny and interesting people through blogging. That's what drives me to continue. Really thanks, everybody.

I'm currently totally immersed in the World Cup. I'm watching it since Italy 1990, it's my favorite sport event. But this year is very special to me, because our Slovenian team doesn't only take part, the guys play really well. So for another two weeks, my blog will mostly be about football and all the things that surround it.

What are you doing during the World Cup?

Now Americans know where Slovenia is

"Slovenia map" and "Where is Slovenia" topped Google search after yesterday's game

If you watched yesterday's soccer game between Slovenia and USA, you probably watched one of the best games of the tournament so far. Slovenia tied with USA 2:2 and played better than the American team throughout most parts of the game and probably surprising a lot of American viewers, who watched the game at home and didn't even know, where Slovenia is. Right after the game, "slovenia map" was one of the most searched phrases on Google USA, along with "where is Slovenia" and "location Slovenia". I remember that before the match, some American netizens teased us with Where is Slovenia, but after the game, the joke became a serious matter. One thing is for sure: Much more Americans now know where Slovenia is and I hope they will remember it well. This World Cup is really the best promotion we ever had for our small country. Hats down to our guys.

More on the subject from US websites:

Huffington Post: 'Slovenia Map' tops Google with confused searches for 'Where Is Slovenia?'
DAILYNEWS365: USA-Slovenia 2-2 World Cup draw tops Slovenia Map on Google search

Update: Apparently some English need more lessons. Check this: Slovakian flag on Dailymail

[Photo from HuffPost]

Slovenia - USA 2:2, World Cup

This wasn't a match, it was a battle!

Handanović defending the Slovenian goal [Photo by David Gray, REUTERS][Source]

Anyone watched the game between Slovenia and USA at the World Cup today? Oh boy, that was not a game, that was a battle. Our Slovenian commentator has jokingly said: "Americans are wrestling on the pitch." Oh man, they really did. One thing is for sure, USA have a great team, a team that never gives up. Hats down to that, USA. But sometimes your wish to beat us overwhelmed you and you played a bit unfair by pushing and punching some of our players and made the game a bit too rough. Our boys had to push back. That was a bit disappointing to me.

But all in all, it was a great game. It was like a movie: There was suspense, action and drama... It was like a thriller for me. Slovenia was leading 2:0 and our commentator was to quick to talk about a victory, when USA came back, tied at 2:2 and even scored a 3:2, which was nullified by the referee from Mali, Mr. Koman Coulibaly, who btw did a terrible job. US team should've gotten much more yellow cards, on the other hand, he did nullify that possible winning goal for them... Well, it truly was a crazy game. An amazing game! Especially, if you put the things into perspective: Small Slovenia with its 2 million people played 2:2 against the superpower USA with its 310 million people. That's what we now hear in Slovenia from our commentators. I'm just a tiny bit disappointed, that we didn't win at the end, but we've really come far. We're first in our group, a group with USA and England! Isn't that incredible? Compare that to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal... This year anything is possible for any of the teams.

My girlfriend painted her nails with the Slovenian team's colors.

Ain't she cute? Yes, she is. Keep in mind, she's Taiwanese, not Slovenian. I think she did a great job and may she bring good luck to the Slovenian team :-)

It was funny to read reactions on Twitter. Americans are going crazy, I guess the finally got some passion for soccer. Slovenia is a popular trending topic now. Let me show you some funny tweets I found today:

@BluesChronicle People all over #USA are now looking up #Svn in their atlases, trying to work out whether it is a country worth invading.

@klemenj and you play like ones. #svn #usa RT @brittglynn Slovenia celebrates like girls...

@andrewgooding In a historic first, FIFA referee Koman Coulibaly accepted today's Man of the Match award for his defensive efforts for the Slovenia squad.

@SokhonSen RT @MaksimC: WOW!!! The WORST officiating at USA/Slovenia game!!! Don't know about you all, but I say USA won 3-2!!! #badcall

@robmitchum The only bright side of today is that the #usa is finally a mature enough soccer nation to be fucked by a ref in the #worldcup.

@JKxZ I think Koman Coulibaly should be punished by sitting in room and Team #USA gets to blow Vuvuzela's right in his face until he goes deaf.

@boland they only reason they took that goal away from team #USA is cause they hate us for our freedoms. #ripoff #worldcup

@billybragg USA continue their winning streak with a brilliant 2-2 victory over Slovenia.

Some tweets are quite funny, hehe. Americans are so angry at the referee, that they even modified his Wikipedia page, even wrote that he hates America. Lol. The page has been changed meanwhile. And that's what you could see on the Huffington Post's homepage after the game:

[click photo to enlarge]

I can understand your anger, Americans. It wasn't clear to me, why he blew the whistle there, but he did so... And you have to admit, you played rough and pushed a lot. It's time to get over it. Do you know how many times Slovenia got screwed by referees in the past? Too many times. I guess you finally embraced soccer as one of your national sports. Guess what? Bad referees are part of it. I think 2:2 was fair at the end. Great game. One of the best so far at this World Cup.

What do you think?

[A Slovenian netizen made that Statue of Liberty pic. I think it's cool. No offence.]

Korean soccer girls are the cutest!

Brazilian girls may be the hottest, but Korean girls are definitely the cutest

Go Korea! More Korean female football fans in pictures here>>

If you're a man like me, you're definitely watching every soccer game you can these days and I'm sure you've noticed all those beautiful female soccer fans at the World Cup, who are sometimes much more interesting than the game below on the field. Have you seen the Dutch girls? Aren't they amazing in those orange mini skirts? How about the Brazilian hotties? Some of them are only wrapped in a thin veil that is the Brazilian national flag. And talking about cleavages, it seems that women from almost every nation compete who will make more men lose their minds while watching the games. You don't believe me? Check this fan, who put her cellphone in her cleavage>> O.o If that ain't hot, tell me what's not?

Alright, since my blog is a lot about (East) Asian themes, I decided to share some photos and links of the South Korean female football fans. While their team is not the one among the top contenders this year and they will also have to struggle real hard to move on to the round of 16, their female supporters seem to be hopeful and ecstatic like never before. While the Korean soccer girls are not showing off too much, they're definitely very cute and beautiful and support their team with the same passion like any other nation's girls. Enjoy some photos of these cuties and click on the links for more...

Debating the game? More girls from the set here>>

Happy that South Korea won the first game.

Go Red Devils! More photos from the set here>>

Ecstatically cheering for Korea!

Praying for the national team, but did it help?

Maybe the Red Devils nearly missed a goal... More from the set here>>

Dazzling Korean beauty supporting her Red Devils.

Looks a bit like Lee Hyori, the queen of K-pop. More from the set here>>

South Koreans are a proud nation and they love their national football team to bits. This year they may not become champions of the world, but their female supporters are my personal champions when it comes to supporting a team. Good luck to the Red Devils and hope they at least move on to the Round of 16. It would be a pity not to see these lovely Korean supporters anymore.

Bonus: Check a video of Hyori kicking a football>>

• How do you like the South Korean female soccer fans?
• Which female soccer fans are the most appealing to you this year?

On my blog: Chinese girls play soccer in the mud (amazing photos)

[Lee Hyori][About Korean Women][Photos source: 163.com]

To our stupid Slovenian netizens

And I mean only to those, not to the rest of us, who are normal

I was Googling some more information about the upcoming game between Slovenia and USA and came across few websites and blogs. I was curious what American bloggers write about Slovenia, their nation's next competitor at the World Cup. I came across a random blog from Seattle and saw this:

So I thought: Ok, again someone mistook Slovenia for Slovakia. Is it a big deal? No. Not for me. I've written about it and hopefully those who don't know the difference will come to my blog and learn about it. Simple as that, right? Well, it should be, but I guess not for everyone. I scrolled down and saw this comment:

What the f...??? Obviously it was one of those stupid Slovenian netizens, who go around the web and comment on every post ever written about Slovenia and complain about it, if they find a mistake or attack the author for no apparent reason. How stupid is that?

Generally Slovenians don't hate Americans, bet there are people like this one, who are a disgrace for my home country Slovenia. In the blog above, the author did not intend to ridicule our country, it was probably just a typo. As I already said in my post on the issue, it's not easy to distinguish Slovenia and Slovakia, because we are historically and linguistically related. I wonder how many Slovenians distinguish Latvia and Litva or Paraguay and Uruguay? Or the Democratic Republic of Kongo and Republic of Kongo? Or Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan? I guess not too many... So what's the big deal?

I don't understand, why there's so much hate against USA among Slovenian netizens. Comments on news websites, blogs and forums and under you-tube videos are full of Slovenian morons who attack USA for no apparent reason.

Check Letterman's funny joke about Slovenia. This video is all over the Slovenian blogosphere. I first saw it on Had's blog. If you read the comments of Slovenian netizens recently, the joke makes total sense. Some of us Slovenians are EXACTLY like that. It's sad...

People, we're playing a friggin football game today, not starting a war or having a debate on imperialism, dammit! Football should unite people, not divide them!

Now, I must say, some American netizens don't behave any better, they provoke and verbally attack Slovenia and Slovenians, but it looks more like fun to them, because they see how seriously Slovenians react and get all riled up. Don't play into their game, it's pathetic. It's like: Where the f... is Slovenia argument vs. Stupid arrogant Americans argument. And in both cases, people who start with these provocations are not real football fans.

The real American football fan will find information about Slovenia online and find out where Slovenia is and respect our team, because they rightfully qualified for the World cup. The real Slovenian fan will respect the US soccer team and focus on the game and not on whatever USA might have done or is doing wrong in the world. Don't forget, it's a football game, not war!

Slovenians and Americans, stop attacking each other on the web, that's not the spirit of the World Cup. May the best one win and I hope it will be a great game to watch. I'm sure, if we play fair and well, many Americans will get to know our country and I hope that in exchange, more Slovenians will learn to respect the US soccer team. Thank god, these noisy morons on each side are in a minority. I hope the vuvuzelas will silence them today.

[Read my respectful comment on an American blog]

Slovenia is not Slovakia is not Slovenia!

Let me tell you about the differences between Slovenia and Slovakia

Not sure, if he really said that ;-)

I couldn't believe it, when I heard that during the World Cup in South Africa, the two glorious European nations of Slovenistan and Slovakistan were mixed up again! Oh yeah, I'm talking about Slovenia and Slovakia of course. It's just impossible for some people to understand that they are two separate and different European countries, even though they share some common historic roots, have a similar name, speak a similar language and have a similar flag. But it's not really that hard to distinguish them, if you just put a little effort and remember the differences. So for those, who still don't know that Slovenia and Slovakia are two different countries, let me share with you the most basic differences...

Slovenia always on the left, Slovakia always on the right

1 The flags: Forget the colors! White, blue, red... it's all the same. Just focus on the two coats of arms, because that's what makes us different. Our flags without them would look like the Russian flag anyway. Remember that Slovenia's coat of arms is "stars, Triglav mountain and sea", Slovakia's coat of arms is "double cross on a mountain". Triglav is Slovenia's highest mountain, 2864m tall and our national symbol. Triglav

(pronounced tree-glau)

means "Three headed" (see the shape).

Memorize:

✰ Slovenia's national symbol is a mountain named Triglav.

✰ Slovakia's national symbol is a double cross.

2 Location and size: Both countries are located in central Europe, Slovenia in the southern part, Slovakia in the eastern. Slovakia is more than two times bigger than Slovenia and has a more than two times bigger population than Slovenia (2 millions vs. 5.3 millions). Slovenia is located near the Adriatic sea and has a small coast, Slovakia is a landlocked country. In addition: The capital city of Slovenia is Ljubljana (pronounced Lyoob-lya-nah), the capital city of Slovakia is Bratislava (pronounced Brah-tee-slah-vah).

Memorize:

✰ Slovenia is smaller, less populated than Slovakia and has a small coast.

✰ Slovakia is bigger, more populated than Slovenia, but it doesn't have a coast.

3 At the World Cup: The Slovenian National Football team's main uniforms are green with the Triglav motif on the chest, which is found in our coat of arms. The Slovakian National Football team's main uniforms are blue with the coat of arms on the chest (which includes the double cross motif).

Memorize:

✰ Slovenia -> green -> Triglav
✰ Slovakia -> blue -> double cross

4 The football fans: Same as before, the Slovenian fan loves to wear green, paints small flags (or the coat of arms) on their body or just the Triglav motif. The Slovak fan loves to wear blue with red and white and usually draws the double cross motif on their body.

Memorize:

✰ Slovenian fans wear green, the Triglav motif is most common.
✰ Slovakian fans wear blue, the double cross motif is most common.

Read more about: Ljubljana, Slovenia and Bratislava, Slovakia

So is it really that hard to distinguish these two countries? One is big, one is small, one loves green, one loves blue. One worships a famous mountain, one worships the double cross. It's so simple, if you just spend 5 min to study the main differences. So are you now able to explain the main differences to someone who has no clue about Slovenia and Slovakia? If your answer is yes, then you passed my test and I congratulate you. If your answer is no, study more on the subject here and here.

Slovenia has a small, but beautiful Mediterranean coast. Slovakia is landlocked.

For those who have more than 5 min: Here are some more differences between Slovenia and Slovakia, but read only, if you have basic knowledge in linguistics and history:

5 The similar names: If you go back in history, some 2000 years ago in Europe, there was no Slovenians or Slovaks in the modern sense, but our common ancestors, the Slavs (in their language they called themselves Slověni) and only the later Slovenians and Slovaks kept in the same root "slov-" in their names. "Slov-" means "word" (Slověni were therefore the people who speak same words or language, source). Now, besides us Slovenians and the Slovaks, there are other Slavs or Slavic peoples these days like Russians, Poles, Czechs, Croats, Serbians and others... We share a common historic and linguistic origin. Our languages have many similarities, more than German and English for example. That's why it's no wonder, that the names of our countries (Slovenia and Slovakia) are mistaken a lot, since they sound alike and even share a common origin. But it gets crazier...

ENJOY SOME LANGUAGE CONFUSION! Let me see, if you can understand following:

In Slovenian language:

01 Slovenia in Slovenian: Slovenija (pronounced Slo-véh-nee-ya)

02 Slovakia in Slovenian: Slovaška (pronounced Slo-vásh-kah)

03 Slovenian woman in Slovenian: Slovenka (pronounced Slo-véhn-ka)

04 Slovenian man in Slovenian: Slovenec (pronounced Slo-véhn-ets)

05 Slovakian woman in Slovenian: Slovakinja (pronounced Slo-váh-kee-nya)

06 Slovakian man in Slovenian: Slovak (pronounced Slo-váh-k)

07 Slovenian language in Slovenian: Slovenščina (pronounced Slo-vénsh-chee-na)

08 Slovak language in Slovenian: Slovaščina (pronounced Slo-vásh-chee-na)

In Slovakian langauge:

01 Slovakia in Slovakian: Slovensko (pronounced Sló-vehn-sko)

02 Slovenia in Slovakian: Slovinsko (pronounced Sló-veen-sko)

03 Slovakian woman in Slovakian: Slovenka (pronounced Sló-vehn-ka)

04 Slovakian man in Slovakian: Slovák (pronounced Sló-vah-k)

05 Slovenian woman in Slovakian: Slovinka (pronounced Sló-veen-ka)

06 Slovenian man in Slovakian: Slovinec (pronounced Sló-veen-ets)

07 Slovakian language in Slovakian: Slovenčina (pronounced Sló-vehn-chee-na)

08 Slovenian language in Slovakian: Slovinčina (pronounced Sló-veen-chee-na)

Do you have a headache already? Hehehe... well, I know it's complicated, because it sounds really similar, but we know what we're talking about and so do the Slovaks. But actually you don't need to know all that, screw Slovenka or Slovinka (I mean figuratively), just remember that SLOVENIA is the only country in the world, that has LOVE in its name ;-)

Anyhow, the only thing that matters these days is the World Cup! While Slovenia beat Algeria few days ago, Slovakia has only drawn with New Zealand today. Objectively speaking, we currently have a better football team than Slovakia. ;-) If anyone has arguments against mine, let the debate begin. Until then...

Slovenija gre naprej!*

Links and sources: [Slovenia.info][Slovensko.com][Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5][*Slovenia moves on]

On my blog before: Where is Slovenia? (A cute Slovenian girl explains it for you)

You can also join Facebook groups: I'm from Slovenia....bitch...NOT Slovakia

♥SLOVAKIA♥ IS NOT Slovenia!!!Learn the fucking difference!!!

World Cup predictions, vuvuzelas and funny Slovenia T-shirts

My musings about the crazy things surrounding the World Cup

Hello people! How's the World Cup going for you? So far so good, right? :-) Well, I'm really enjoying the games, especially because Slovenia won against Algeria 1:0! Yay! Feeling a bit patriotic, I must say, although I seldom do when it comes to my country. And I have to admit, the game was boring and unattractive, comparable to the one between France and Uruguay. Nevertheless, for such a small country like us, winning a game at the World Cup is an amazing thing. Heck, we even have the chance to qualify to the round of 16, if we beat USA this Friday. So please please please support Slovenia in the upcoming game. If we win, it will be a sensation. If we don't lose, it will be one, too. And then on June 23rd, we're playing against England, one of the top contenders. That will be a game I am really looking forward to, even though I'm a bit afraid, that England will beat us big time. But we'll see, anything's possible. We may be a small country, but we have a big heart and appreciate every moment in South Africa.

WORLD CUP PREDICTIONS: I don't think we will come very far. From what I saw, Germany is now for me the best team at the World Cup. They played amazingly well, scored 4 goals and made almost zero mistakes. It was a perfect game and if they keep this pace, they will be unbeatable. Of course, I must see Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Brazil playing their first game to really make a good prediction of the final winner. Argentina impressed me, too. But then again, I think there will be quite many surprises at this World Cup. Maybe a small team will beat a big one, come far, maybe even to the finals? Can that be Slovenia? I highly doubt so, although I would love to see that with all my heart. And I still wouldn't count out England and France, although they haven't played very impressive. I'd like to see England beat Germany in the quarter finals, preferably in a penalty shootout. Imagine Robert Green saving a penalty kick from Lukas Podolski and England wins the game? Whole England would go haywire, I guess :-P


VUVUZELAS: Are you annoyed by vuvuzelas? :-P It's funny, my previous blog post about this plastic trumpet has become hot on the Internets. Even the most popular Slovenian blogger Had has linked to my post and I'm finally getting some Slovenians here. Also over 100 people voted on whether the vuvuzela should be banned. If you haven't voted yet, do so here. People are still googling vuvuzela related stuff a lot (usually connected with shit and fuck, pardon my French). A lot of peeps are upset and that goes for folks all over the world, not just Europe. I guess the vuvuzela won't be banned by FIFA. It's sad, that extremists inserted themselves in the debate, on the one hand white racists abusing the issue to let out their hate towards Africans, on the other hand overly proud Africans, who inserted slavery into the debate. I think both are totally wrong and misleading. It's about a friggin trumpet and an annoying noise, that's driving the rest of the world crazy! Nothing else! The German national TV station ZDF filed an official protest note to FIFA, on the other hand the South African national team is encouraging their people to buy more vuvuzelas and make more noise. O.o Is that the African hospitality everyone's praising so much? I mean, can't there be a middle way like toning it down a little? Looks like the the extremes on both sides are becoming too loud recently, which is not good. I think most of people around the world would be happy, if the sound from the vuvuzelas would have some kind of melody other than the 90min long ear-wrenching beehive sound. It's definitely going kookies and sadly, those who view games from home, who are not in South Africa, will not enjoy the World Cup as much as those who went there and get drunk, party with the vuvuzela. It's a whole different thing and both have their right to enjoy the games. But please, find a middle way. Everyday outside South Africa the vuvuzela is the no 1 topic of discussion. I thought the games should be in the center of a World Cup, not a plastic trumpet.

FUNNY SLOVENIA T-SHIRTS: My girlfriend found these tees (see below and more photos here) on zazzle.com, a website where people can design their own. Actually, she was joking, that she'll buy the I Love My Slovenian Boyfriend tee and wear it, when she'll visit my home country Slovenia one day, haha. I think I would be a bit embarrassed with that, because as an interracial couple, we would already be very obvious, but a T-shirt like that would give us more attention, possibly some people taking photos and uploading on FB or blogs :-P What do you think about wearing such T-shirts? Since Slovenia has become more known due to the World Cup, I'm sure there's many of you out there who would like to show some love or affinity for my country. You can do that by getting a tee from the collection here. I'm not getting paid for promoting these T-shirts, I just think it's a great idea. Don't you think?

• What's your favorite T-shirt? Which one would you wear? See more pics here>>
  
• And what do you think about Slovenia's chances at the World Cup?
• Which team do you support? Do you watch the games?
  

Go Slovenia... Slovenija gre naprej... :-D

[Slovenia T-shirts source here][Chinese girl from a video, source here]

Is the vuvuzela annoying to you?

Will the noisy plastic trumpet overshadow the World cup?

INTRO: Those of you, who are watching the World Cup 2010 games in South Africa, have noticed a very loud never ending never changing noise at every game. Some have described it as buzzing hornets or a beehive, but I see it more like a Formula 1 race with 1000 cars. It's a sound made on a plastic trumpet called vuvuzela, which is a very popular instrument of the South African football fans (see photo above).

COMPLAINTS: I must say when I watched the first few games, the volume on my TV was not turned up a lot and the sound of the buzzing vuvuzelas was not so strong, I haven't even thought about this instrument. But then I watched a game on German TV and another on a Croatian TV channel and the commentators bluntly stated, that they're annoyed by the never ending sound of vuvuzelas. That affected me and I started to get annoyed by the sound, too. Now I'm someone who's easily annoyed by noise. In Taiwan hawkers sometimes use megaphones that constantly advertise their tea or stinky tofu or there are motorcades of scooters on Taiwan's roads. And let's not forget the garbage trucks with their loud "Per Elise". That frankly does annoy me sometimes.

CULTURE: So, be it South Africa or Taiwan, certain ways of making noise are a cultural particularity. I'm from a small country with lot of nature, traffic jams are very scarce. Most of the time, it's peaceful here, so I guess it's not surprising, that vuvuzela noises would annoy me. On the other hand, I wonder, why the German and Croatian commentators complain, since the football fans from their countries are famous for being one of the noisiest. Then again, they're probably there in the stadium, in their booths, trying to do their jobs, but can hardly hear their own voice, because the vuvuzelas keep horning like crazy around their ears.

PRO vs. CONTRA VUVUZELA: Here are some of the arguments I have heard and read in the past 3 days regarding vuvuzela. I will list the ones of vuvuzela supporters and vuvuzela haters. It's up to you to make up your mind.

Arguments against vuvuzela:

• Vuvuzela sound is a very loud and annoying ear-wrenching noise.
• Vuvuzela makes it hard for the players to concentrate and communicate.
• Viewers at home can't hear the commentary.
• Viewers and spectators are unable to follow chants and crowd's reactions.
• Sensitive people need to either turn off the volume of the TV or not watch.
• It's very un-African to irritate your guest.

Arguments for vuvuzela:

• Westerners are trying to impose their standards by banning vuvuzela.
• Vuvuzela is part of African culture, we should be tolerant to that.
• Africans are also not complaining, when European fans sing anthems or whistle.
• Vuvuzela makes the games more exciting, gives it an African atmosphere.
• Vuvuzela is a (South) African pride.
• Vuvuzela is an important (South) African cultural heritage.

EXTERNAL LINKS: Just few minutes of googling and I came across these websites:

• Banthevuvuzela.blogspot.com (posts from 2009)
• Banvuvuzela.com (many ads and a big opinion poll)
• The vuvuzela is setting the tone for a very annoying World Cup
• The vuvuzela may be uniquely African, but many find its drone annoying
• Ban the vuvuzela! - A vuvuzela-free World Cup 2010 (video)
• Scheiß Vuvuzela, Scheiß Vuvuzela Ergänzung (German blog)
• In defence of the vuvuzela (from 2009 Confed cup)
• In defence of the vuvuzela (BBC article, new)
• South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban (BBC Sport article)
• Vuvuzela, immer das Selbe (a joke in German)
• Zuschauerwut über Vuvuzelas (German article)
• Please South Afrika, make the vuvuzelas stop!
• Christiano Ronaldo complains about vuvuzelas
• Ban the annoying vuvuzela Facebook group
• Vuvuzela ban is possible, says Jordaan
• Vuvuzela - lepatata mi gre pošteno na živce (Slovenian blog)

REACTIONS: There are some extreme reactions from the mentioned You-Tube video:

"It's just waiting till the first 1 gets mad enough to go on a killingspree because he couldnt take it anymore..." (by SuperBuzzFuzz)

"Damn vuvuzelas.. nothing cultural on that plastic-made shit -.-, it's unhealthy for your ears and for the WC atmosphere. I hate them!!" (by OnRage666)

"I fucking hate vuvuzelas, the most retarded sound and my head is aching from it. I can't enjoy this fucking WC, I hope next WC will be much better. Just awful..." (by MoFroBo)

"oh fuck - I'm just watching ENG - USA ... and again.. VUVUZELA SHIT !!! culture my ass !! If that is your culture, you deserve to be erased - black or white! Hell, I'm pretty sure I will punch the next guy I see with a FUCKING VUVUZELA !" (by DreamOfDacialization)

Another set of pro-vuvuzela reactions from comments on BBC's article:

"The vuvuzela is far less annoying than listening to fans in England chanting abuse at the fans of their opponents for the duration of a match!" (Adrian Scarlett, Liverpool, UK)

"...The Vuvuzela is a matter of pride (and religion) for some of us on the African continent and we will not allow our enjoyment of a once-in-lifetime event be overshadowed by someone watching the games from their living room in Europe. You just have to come and join us next year and I assure you 100% that 100% of all foreign fans (including those from Europe) will go back with a Vuvuzela in their bag because they will have been electrified by this little plastic trumpet!" (Isaac Kagula, Zambia)

I never liked the concept of the vuvuzela, but after reading all these stiff upper lip arrogant comments i am arming my entire family with one! Learn to enjoy self - let your hair down - i dare you! (Bruce, Cape Town, South Africa)

MY OPINION: I must say I do not share such strong dislike for the vuvuzela. I'd like them to restrict the number, but not ban them fully. I can understand that some people are annoyed or angry, but I think since that's how South African fans enjoy their games, they should be allowed to continue so. Then again, I'm just watching TV and I can tune down the volume, but the people who bought tickets, can't. The only pity is, that you can't hear the crowd's reaction to goals or near misses or hear fans sing football anthems, all you hear is a very noisy and never changing beehive trumpet sound.

IN CONCLUSION: Looks like my post about vuvuzela's has become very popular, as of this moment over 50 people voted and 80% of them are annoyed by this plastic trumpet. What's more interesting is how much traffic I get from Google, because people (most come from Germany) frequently search for opinion on vuvuzela with phrases like "fuck/fucking vuvuzela", "shit vuvuzela", "vuvuzela annoying", "vuvuzela irritating" and "hate vuvuzela". That just shows that a lot of people are annoyed with the vuvuzela-sound and openly express their anger, be it in the poll below or the comments. That says a lot. Hope FIFA will listen.

VUVU-STOP: Did you know that someone is selling earplugs named Vuvu-stop (see photo on the right) and they're now selling better than the vuvuzelas themselves. Gosh, some people are really good businessmen, ah? :-)

What's your opinion on vuvuzelas? Is it a cultural thing and we should accept it or should the World Cup hosts respect the foreign viewers and ban the vuvuzelas at the games?

Please vote on the poll below, but only if you have watched a game or two. Thanks.

If you can't vote above, please vote here>>

Funny vuvuzela pics: [Blatter][Kanye][New TV][Diversity][New evidence][He likes it]

Sources: [Photo 1: Source, Photo 2: Source]