No matter where one lives, or how people call it, either soccer or football, everybody knows what the FIFA World Cup is all about. This famous competition went on last time in Germany, having Italy as the World Champion, and news coverage abounded about the players, the coaches, famous plays and daily match results. Coverage of the 2006 World Cup could be found in newspapers all over the world!
The history of World Cup Soccer can be traced back to 1904 in Paris, where on May 21, FIFA, also known as the Federation Internationale de Football Association, was founded.
Representatives from seven different countries became members of the federation at this time, and those countries included France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. As years passed, more and more countries joined, and the United States became a member in 1913.
The very first World Cup Soccer Event
was held in 1930 in Uruguay. Other host countries for this famous sporting event have included France, Italy, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, England, Chile, Sweden, Brazil and Switzerland.
For the year 2006, the destination for World Cup Soccer was Germany. Cities in Germany which hosted events include Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen Hanover, Cologne, Munich, Leipzig, Kaiserslautern, Nuremburg and Stuttgart. Stadiums located in these host cities where tournament games were played include the Berlin Olympic
Stadium and the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, among others. Many of these stadiums are so large that they can accommodate crowds of up to 600,000 spectators!
Although the majority of the fans who love World Cup Soccer do not reside within the United States, many Americans enjoy the coverage of this world-wide known event that the nightly news and morning newspapers afford them. This event is so very popular that it has its own website, its own magazine, and commands massive media coverage, both on television and in print.
The 2006 World Cup had 32 different teams competing, with teams representing six different continents. The teams are referred to as "squads", and each one of them consists of 23 players. That makes the total number of individual players who competed a whopping 736!
People from all over the world travelled to Germany to witness this awesome sporting spectacle. Tickets were sold out in record time, and commanded astronomical prices. Depending upon the host city, as well as what type of seating is desired, ticket prices ranged from 1,000 to 150,000 euros. Some tickets were also available online.
Estimative shows that the 2006 World Cup was attended by approximately 8 million fans, and host cities planned "Fan Fests" to make sure that all visitors stayed entertained in between matches. Some of the different featured events for Fan Fest included live concerts, spa getaways, street parties, beach club extravaganzas, cookouts, fan game days, and much, much more.
Germany is a great country steeped in history, art, and beautiful natural wonders. Those who went to the World Cup in 2006 surely had the time of their lives, and for those who weren't able to be part of it, you can start saving your money for the next World Cup, in 2010! No matter who wins, it will always be an unbelievable experience.
Joe Goertz
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