http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/world-cup/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/branding-anzac-day-ostraya-and-the-art-of-cringe/ So the Federal Government is planning to create some kind of Anzac Day brand or motif for the 2015 centenary of the Australian landing at Gallipoli. What a frightful thought. A cartoon wombat called “Digger”, perhaps, or two M&M-like mascots coined “Heads” and “Tails”? Here’s a goodie: how about a paunchy Aussie bloke with a broad Ostrayan twang and a stubby of VB (actually, make that Coopers now that Foster’s has gone offshore), urging us to celebrate Anzac Day with the catchcry “Just Dig It” or “Anzie, Anzie, Anzie, Oi Oi Oi”? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/branding-anzac-day-ostraya-and-the-art-of-cringe/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/branding-anzac-day-ostraya-and-the-art-of-cringe/#item7490 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/well-at-least-we-won-a-soccer-cup-bid/ There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/well-at-least-we-won-a-soccer-cup-bid/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/well-at-least-we-won-a-soccer-cup-bid/#item4836 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/well-at-least-theres-the-2012-lawns-bowls-world-championships-to-look-forwa/ So Qatar has won. And there will be no World Cup in Australian in 2022. Who’d have thought that a stupid cutesy-wootsie video wouldn’t cut through to the FIFA gerontocracy? Obviously there are all sorts of reasons why Australia was overlooked as World Cup host overnight. – not least the fact that our time zone is not conducive to the hefty European TV rights which help keep FIFA $1 billion or more in the black. But let’s focus our anger – or whatever it is we’re feeling – on the shocking, woeful presentation video which made Dot and the Kangaroo look like a film for grown-ups. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/well-at-least-theres-the-2012-lawns-bowls-world-championships-to-look-forwa/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/well-at-least-theres-the-2012-lawns-bowls-world-championships-to-look-forwa/#item4618 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australian-soccers-desperate-last-stand/ In the increasingly likely scenario that Australia fails to secure the necessary votes to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup, soccer in this country will be booted back to sport’s second tier with the thundering force of a John Aloisi penalty. That’s no doomsday scenario. It’s reality as cold as the snow currently blanketing Zurich, where the bid announcement takes place at 2am eastern standard time tomorrow morning. In many simple, reassuring ways, it’ll be business as usual for soccer if our bid fails. The half million registered soccer players will still rock up at training. The A-League will probably still exist. And Australians will still go mad for the FIFA World Cup every four years, and to a lesser extent the Asian Cup and other Socceroos matches of consequence. But soccer won’t come close to displacing the oval ball codes in terms of mass popularity for a generation or more. If ever. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australian-soccers-desperate-last-stand/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australian-soccers-desperate-last-stand/#item4612 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/do-we-really-want-the-world-cup/ In a little under two weeks, at 2am on December 3, FIFA will announce the nations that will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and hopefully all of Frank Lowy’s work will come to fruition. But I know not everyone feels the same way. It seems Australia is split on the possibility of the world’s biggest sporting event making its way Down Under. The majority are behind it and would love to have another international showcase, but there are two other camps – those crossing their fingers that Australia doesn’t win, and those simply shrugging their shoulders and saying, “Meh.” penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/do-we-really-want-the-world-cup/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/do-we-really-want-the-world-cup/#item4515 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/let-paul-the-octopus-stay-in-his-tank/ An event the size of a World Cup will always have surprises but a few weeks ago it must have been impossible odds that at the end of the tournament it would be a cephalopod, not a player, that everyone would be talking about. Paul the octopus is a bigger global star than Andres Iniesta, the man who scored the winning goal deep in extra time to win Spain their first World Cup. And Paul should now be allowed to stay in his tank. Since his predictions started making headlines last month the world’s most media-savvy animal rights campaigners PETA have been arguing Paul should be set free. What a bunch of killjoys. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/let-paul-the-octopus-stay-in-his-tank/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/let-paul-the-octopus-stay-in-his-tank/#item3527 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10-things-weve-learned-about-the-world-cup/ 1. The World Cup is cool: Soccer’s problem is overkill. It’s hard enough following our own A-League, let alone the European leagues and their endless cups within leagues and leagues for cup winners. Yawn. Tune out. But when the World Cup is on, you shiver in the darkness watching Paraguay vs Japan. It’s like the Olympics where obscure pursuits like pole vault and equestrian actually matter. Problem is, we’re all now waking automatically at 4.30. What brand were those Ben Cousins sleeping pills again? 2. Psychic cephalopods are even cooler: All World Cups have a standout team, but only occasionally does an individual stamp himself as clearly superior to the rest, a la Maradona at the 1986 Cup. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will forever belong to Paul the Octopus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Octopus), who is head, shoulders and tentacles above any single player or pundit.. Story of the year, hands down. All eight of them. 3. A World Cup here would be even cooler still: Did you hear those vuvuzelas? Did you see those crowds? A World Cup here would be like the Sydney Olympics writ large across six or eight cities. And hey, how great would it be if we all blew didgeridoos instead of vuvuzelas? It’d be as Australian as the buzz of blowflies. Yes, we should worry about the capital cost and future viability of new stadiums. No, that should not stop us hoping we trump Qatar’s excellent bid in December. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10-things-weve-learned-about-the-world-cup/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10-things-weve-learned-about-the-world-cup/#item3519 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/domestic-violence-and-the-world-cup/ Sleepless nights, heartbreak and endless analysis and yelling at the screen have been an intimate part of many of our lives during the World Cup. With all the commentary, the goals, and the bad sporting puns ad nauseam there’s one thing that no one has really talked about during this world cup - violence against women. It’s a horrible thought, that an event we love could have such a dark underside. Sadly it’s something we do need to talk about. During the 2006 Fifa World Cup the home office of the UK found a 30% jump in domestic violence incidents on nights that England were playing. The interesting thing is it didn’t seem to matter if England won or lost as the 30% increase remained relatively steady during England’s win over Paraguay and its loss to Portugal. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/domestic-violence-and-the-world-cup/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/domestic-violence-and-the-world-cup/#item3492 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-cup-of-picking-your-nose/ Kevin Rudd’s earwax-eating heroics are nothing against Germany coach Joachim Loew who has been captured picking his nose and eating the bounty on camera - and it’s not the first time it has happened. In the clip above Loew, who is not only the most devastatingly effective coach in the tournament but also the prettiest, makes a deft little move to grab the, er, ball before dummying once, twice, then finally sliding it home. Into his mouth. This was during the game in which Germany knocked out England in the World Cup. But Loew has form on this. See the next video for some armpit sniffing and more digging for victory… penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article, Lightweight http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-cup-of-picking-your-nose/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-cup-of-picking-your-nose/#item3487 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-a-league-shows-how-far-australian-soccer-has-come/ It was such a thrill to be at Sydney Airport early on Saturday morning and be amongst the crowd waiting for friends, families and others to arrive.  In the type of environment I live in, you tend to forget what the atmosphere is like just doing something simple like this – full of anticipation and excitement. For me, it was no different. I was there, of course, waiting for my team mates and manager from Everton to help give them an Aussie welcome after their 24 hour journey.  It was great to be joined by some loyal (and hardy, considering the cold Sydney weather at the moment) ‘Evertonians’ who were dressed up in all their gear to cheer the lads and me also. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-a-league-shows-how-far-australian-soccer-has-come/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-a-league-shows-how-far-australian-soccer-has-come/#item3471 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 There are consolation prizes and there are Asian Cup bids. I’m not sure which is worse, given the news Australia was the only nation willing to host the 2015 Asian Cup - and given the shock horror announcement this morning we’d actually won the thing. How does one ‘win’ a competition where there’s only one entry?