World Cup '06

Long delay, but work life must go on!
Enjoy the pics.

I have some un pleasant words to describe the performance of the US squad on monday. But i have to hold my thoughts about the flat, candy-ass, un-energetic, no-shows... because we just got tickets to game 42 against Ghana.

This means jerseys will be worn people!
Life is good:-)

CBC seems to have the best Live Tracker for th games.

The offical site's version is kinda crappy, like the rest of their site. The fact that Yahoo wilhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifl only show highlights chaps my ass quit a bit!

some options for watching the games at work. But non will help us in US:(

oh well! Some random videos to get us in the mood:)

google, youtube, they all have stuff to keep you away from actual work.

on a side, but related, our beer drinking numbers are down. we need to show some national pride here! who is with me?!

Group Phase:
Match # Date Kickoff Time (Eastern) Group Match English Spanish
1 Fr Jun 9 12noon A Germany vs Costa Rica ESPN2 Univision
2 Fr Jun 9 3pm A Poland vs Ecuador ESPN2 Univision
3 Sa Jun 10 9am B England vs Paraguay ABC Univision
4 Sa Jun 10 12noon B Trinidad vs Sweden ABC Univision
5 Sa Jun 10 3pm C Argentina vs Ivory Coast ESPN2 Univision
6 Su Jun 11 9am C Serbia vs Netherlands ESPN2 Univision
7 Su Jun 11 12noon D Mexico vs Iran ABC Univision
8 Su Jun 11 3pm D Angola vs Portugal ESPN2 Univision
9 Mo Jun 12 9am F Australia vs Japan ESPN2 Univision
10 Mo Jun 12 12noon E United States vs Czech Republic ESPN2 Univision
11 Mo Jun 12 3pm E Italy vs Ghana ESPN2 Univision
12 Tu Jun 13 9am G Republic of Korea vs Togo ESPN2 Univision
13 Tu Jun 13 12noon G France vs Switzerland ESPN2 Univision
14 Tu Jun 13 3pm F Brazil vs Croatia ESPN2 Univision
15 We Jun 14 9am H Spain vs Ukraine ESPN2 Univision
16 We Jun 14 12noon H Tunisia vs Saudi Arabia ESPN2 Univision
17 We Jun 14 3pm A Germany vs Poland ESPN2 Univision
18 Th Jun 15 9am A Ecuador vs Costa Rica ESPN2 Univision
19 Th Jun 15 12noon B England vs Trinidad ESPN2 Univision
20 Th Jun 15 3pm B Sweden vs Paraguay ESPN Univision
21 Fr Jun 16 9am C Argentina vs Serbia ESPN2 Univision
22 Fr Jun 16 12noon C Netherlands vs Ivory Coast ESPN2 Univision
23 Fr Jun 16 3pm D Mexico vs Angola ESPN Univision
24 Sa Jun 17 9am D Portugal vs Iran ESPN2 Univision
25 Sa Jun 17 12noon E Czech Republic vs Ghana ABC Univision
26 Sa Jun 17 3pm E Italy vs United States ABC Univision
27 Su Jun 18 9am F Japan vs Croatia ABC Univision
28 Su Jun 18 12noon F Brazil vs Australia ABC Univision
29 Su Jun 18 3pm G France vs Republic of Korea ABC Univision
30 Mo Jun 19 9am G Togo vs Switzerland ESPN2 Univision
31 Mo Jun 19 12noon H Saudi Arabia vs Ukraine ESPN2 Univision
32 Mo Jun 19 3pm H Spain vs Tunisia ESPN2 Univision
33 Tu Jun 20 10am A Ecuador vs Germany ESPN Univision
34 Tu Jun 20 10am A Costa Rica vs Poland ESPN2 TeleFutura
35 Tu Jun 20 3pm B Sweden vs England ESPN Univision
36 Tu Jun 20 3pm B Paraguay vs Trinidad ESPN2 TeleFutura
37 We Jun 21 10am D Portugal vs Mexico ESPN Univision
38 We Jun 21 10am D Iran vs Angola ESPN2 TeleFutura
39 We Jun 21 3pm C Netherlands vs Argentina ESPN Univision
40 We Jun 21 3pm C Ivory Coast vs Serbia ESPN2 TeleFutura
41 Th Jun 22 10am E Ghana vs United States ESPN Univision
42 Th Jun 22 10am E Czech Republic vs Italy ESPN2 TeleFutura
43 Th Jun 22 3pm F Japan vs Brazil ESPN Univision
44 Th Jun 22 3pm F Croatia vs Australia ESPN2 TeleFutura
45 Fr Jun 23 10am H Saudi Arabia vs Spain ESPN Univision
46 Fr Jun 23 10am H Ukraine vs Tunisia ESPN2 TeleFutura
47 Fr Jun 23 3pm G Togo vs France ESPN Univision
48 Fr Jun 23 3pm G Switzerland vs Republic of Korea ESPN2 TeleFutura

Round of 16:
Match # Date Kickoff Time (Eastern) Match English Spanish
49 Sa Jun 24 11am A1 vs B2 ABC Univision
50 Sa Jun 24 3pm C1 vs D2 ESPN Univision
51 Su Jun 25 11am B1 vs A2 ABC Univision
52 Su Jun 25 3pm D1 vs C2 ESPN Univision
53 Mo Jun 26 11am E1 vs F2 ESPN Univision
54 Mo Jun 26 3pm G1 vs H2 ESPN Univision
55 Tu Jun 27 11am F1 vs E2 ESPN Univision
56 Tu Jun 27 3pm H1 vs G2 ESPN Univision

Quarterfinals:
Match # Date Kickoff Time (Eastern) Match English Spanish
57 Fr Jun 30 11am 49 vs 50 ESPN Univision
58 Fr Jun 30 3pm 53 vs 54 ESPN2 Univision
59 Sa Jul 1 11am 51 vs 52 ABC Univision
60 Sa Jul 1 3pm 55 vs 56 ESPN Univision

Semifinals, 3rd Place, and Final:
Match # Date Kickoff Time (Eastern) Match English Spanish
61 Tu Jul 4 3pm Semifinal 1: 57 vs 58 ESPN Univision
62 We Jul 5 3pm Semifinal 2: 59 vs 60 ESPN Univision
63 Sa Jul 8 3pm 3rd Place ESPN Univision
64 Su Jul 9 2pm Final ABC Univision

The games are still sold out.
Some useful facts:

What are the advantages of the chip technology used at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (TM)?

FIFA and the organising committee opted for chip-based tickets to improve customer service and to make security measures scaleable. Every ticket is unique. Lost tickets can therefore be blocked for stadium access. Chips allow precise allocation of tickets to shipments. Every customer is guaranteed their seat in the stadium as the tickets are forge proof.

What happens if I lose my ticket? What can the finder do with the chip? Can my ticket be misused?

No, never. Even if a finder would read out chip data they would be of no use. As no private data is stored, no access to the ticket database is possible.

How and when do I get the tickets?

The tickets will be posted six to eight weeks before the start of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (TM), to the address (applicant's) provided by you.
Therefore please ensure that the 2006 FIFA World Cup (TM) Ticketing Center is kept up to date with your current delivery address.

TST series for matches after the group stage will only be available at pick-up stations near the respective venues upon presentation of a certificate and proper identification. You will receive detailed information on this along with the delivery of your tickets for the group matches.

How are TST Series delivered?

The tickets for the preliminary matches will be posted six to eight weeks prior to the start of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (TM). Tickets will be posted to the address indicated by the applicant. Please ensure that the 2006 FIFA World Cup (TM) Ticketing Center is always informed of your up-to-date delivery address.

The tickets for the matches taking place after the round matches will be available, upon presentation of a certificate and an identity card or passport at Venue Ticketing Processing Centres (VTPCs) which are located close to each of the venues.

Further information on this will be sent to you together with your tickets for the preliminary matches.

here are the friendlies coming up:
22-Mar-06 GER:USA
11-Apr-06 USA:JAM
12-Apr-06 USA:JAM

Some highlights from the confirmation I got after entering the latest drawing for more tickets...

"The allocation of tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (TM) for the third sales phase will take place on the 31 of January 2006. As the number of tickets offered does not cover the amount of applications received, the allocation will be based on a draw. At the beginning of February we will confirm per e-mail if you have been allocated tickets."

The Customer Self Service area will be closed during the draw and the preparation period, as well as during the confirmation and payment period. Between the 22nd of January 2006 at 18:00 and the 13th of February 2006 at 9:00, you won’t be able to make any changes in your data."

Time will tell if this is a great tool or not. But it seems promising. At the very minimum, we can get some ideas from the other trips posted here. The number of world cup trips are actually more then I expected! And some folks have figured out exactly where they're going already.

Our game: Paraguay vs. Trinidad
This is the last game in the group. So either it will be really important, or just a walk in the park. How about that insightful commentary!!
At least we don't have to worry about who we support. I doubt either fans will want to kill us if we wore the other jersey.
I think group b, c and e will produce the closest games. So what other games do we want to try and get into?

Here it comes... the list of 32 teams will be announced this friday.
Can't wait:-)

In other news... more ticket sales. I say we try for more. Thoughts?

Thanks to Niki, I believe we have ourselves an Urban Assault Vehicle.

More options:
rv-camp
drm

Seriously, this will guarantee many, many, excellent stories:-)

Some nice games coming up.
Anyone wants to watch any of them?
Nov. 5th and 13th are the conference and league finals. If they end up sucking, there are other sports to watch both those days:-)

On a separate note, I found roadtrips off of the ads running here. Some of these packages are expensive! But maybe we can get some ideas from these folks.

Searching for events to get us more familiar with the culture...

I was looking around in flickr... I think the title says it all!

some ideas for the outreach program...

Copa Sudamericana:
September 13th @ 8:15 p.m. vs. Universidad Catolica

September 17th @ 7:30 p.m. vs. Colorado Rapids

October 8th @ 7:30 p.m. vs. MetroStars

October 15th @ 7:30 p.m. vs. Columbus Crew

lets hope if the opportunity presents itself, as it did the last game, I'll only bruise my toe and not my ego:-(
I still can't let go of that embarrassment!

Some teams have already been qualified. Check it out.

I just wanted to make sure I captured our homework assignments correctly from our first planning session. Feel free to correct me if I got something wrong.

Faz: Travel plans, Outreach to others going to WC06, Tour stops in Germany

Niki: Hats (funny or German), local and German calendar of events

Allen: Wide Open Spaces, Octoberfest in the DC area, education on the US team and other critical soccer details

Angela: events at the German Embassy and ...... (I must have missed something)

AR

Then this is my first german lesson to you guys:

Ein bier bitte
Vielen danke (thank you)
Schade Deutschland alles ist forbei (Too bad for you Germany, the game is over for you) This is actually a song that all european people sing to german, I'll teach you next time ;-)

Angela

from their description: Trippstadt is situated about 15 km south of Kaiserslautern in the Palatinate Forest biosphere reserve nature park. (http://www.pfaelzerwald-touristik.de/trippstadt/en/portrait/index.html)

this map of local villages, could be intersting to research: http://www.pfaelzerwald-touristik.de/trippstadt/en/tourism/anreise/anreise.html

AR

This is the site for the city hosting our WC game. It has a few good links, but we need someone to translate...