I wanted to meet the coach of the Bulgaria team. He is a German and he was the captain of the West Germany team that won the World Cup in 1990 in Italia.

So before going to Sofia, I found out the hotel where the Bulgarian team was staying. Unfortunately, it was a resort a couple of hours outside the city.

I also found out the Swiss team was sleeping at the Sofia Hilton, only about a 10 minute walk from my hotel. So when I arrived in Sofia on Friday afternoon, I went there. When I got to the hotel, I put on the 'exclusive' Swiss training shirt (see last story) so I could get pass the security guards.

No problem. The first person I saw in the lobby was the Swiss Federation President. He was standing with a few other people and he gave me a funny look. I just smiled at him and then he smiled back. Then I saw all the players sitting around (they were waiting for the bus to take them to training).

When I saw the players, I understood immediately why the President was looking at me funnily. Many of the players were wearing the same shirt as I did.

I approached two players who play in Serie A and and asked them for a photo. Like the President, a few players were really startled to see me in the 'exclusive' training shirt. They must have thought to themselves 'who is this new player that Ottmar Hitzfeld called up and did not tell us about?'



When the bus arrived and the players left the hotel, I thought what if I got on that bus too?

The next day, I went to the stadium early hoping to meet the Bulgaria team and their coach. I had a seat in the main tribune and I could stand by the entrance to the locker rooms but there were policemen who did not let me get closer to the players or the coach. So this was the closest I got to the coach of Bulgaria



The game ended 0-0. Switzerland still has a mathematical chance to finish in the top 2 of their group but they must win all their 4 remaining games. And to win games, Switzerland has to score and that is something we are not doing very well at the moment.

The next day, I took bus 84 from the city center to the airport in Sofia. When we got near the airport, I saw the Bulgaria team bus passing by. It was empty except for the driver. My heart beat faster.

When I got to the airport, I saw a couple of Bulgarian players checking in. The Bulgaria team was flying to Cyprus to play a friendly game next week. I approached the players to ask for photos. One was a former Servette player, Martin Petrov.



It seemed that the rest of the team had already gone to the gate. And I did not see the coach of Bulgaria anywhere.

I went to check-in for my flight and suddenly I heard the noises of cameras clicking. I looked over to the counter where the Bulgarian players were checking in earlier and saw some photographers taking lots of photos of a tall beautiful woman.

I went over and took a photo of her and her companion.



then I asked a photogrpaher who these people were. She told me that was a friend (the woman) and the manager (the man) of the coach of Bulgaria.

I immediately followed them (like a good paparazzi) through security check point and passport control and to their gate. But like me, they did not know where the coach of Bulgaria was. But the team was there so I took another photo.



The whole time, I kept my eyes on the friend and the manager. Finally, the manager got a call and he told the friend that the coach was upstairs in the bar (the manager spoke in German).

So I followed them again and they went upstairs to a bar where the coach was waiting to buy drinks. I patiently waited for him to greet his manager and then his friend. They (the coach and the friend) were having an intimate conversation (I guessed it was intimate because she kept caressing his face).

Finally, when there was a break in the intimate scene, I approached Herr Mattheus and asked him for a photo. Here it is




The moral of the story: always follow a woman!

Just a city boy
Born and raised in south Detroit...
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues...

Recently, I rediscovered this song by the band Journey while watching the TV show GLEE.
This song really sums up how I feel about the Swiss National Football team right now.

Going into the game against Bulgaria on Saturday, both Suisse and the home team have only 3 points after 3 games in the qualification for EURO 2012. Montenegro leads the group with 10 points in 4 games and England has 7 points in 3 games. Wales is last with zero point.

With only the top 2 teams having a chance to go to the EURO 2012, a draw is not good enough for both Suisse and Bulgaria. 

This morning, I asked 11 football experts at my company to predict the score.
The results are (Bulgaria-Suisse): 3-0, 2-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-1, 0-2, 0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 2-0, and 1-0
The 3 experts who predicted a Swiss victory are an actuary from Romania, an actuary from northern Germany, and a risk manager from Aarau. No Swiss person believes in Suisse (*).

It is not hard to understand this pessimism (or realism if you listen to my friend Dominik).

Last month, Suisse (ranked 23rd in the world)  went to Malta for a friendly. This was the kind of match a big team would schedule to give confidence to your strikers. Malta is currently ranked 156th in the world, just below Fiji, New Caledonia, Cambodia, and Turkmenistan and just above Madagascar and Cayman Islands.

The game ended 0-0. Despite receiving two penalties, the Swiss could not score. And I was there. One of a few Swiss fans who travelled to Malta.





After I came back from Malta, I was so upset at the performance of the Swiss team that I decided to write a letter to the Swiss Football Federation (SFV). I addressed the letter to the President, the coach, and the team captain.

I told them who I am and how many times and the places I have followed the team. I told them how disappointed I was in Malta. I asked the team captain to reimburse the cost of my flights and my hotel in Malta. I gave him the number of my bank account at the post office.

I felt I had to write that letter. If nothing else, they needed to know the sacrifices the fans were making.

Nine days later, I received these.


The man in charge of media at the Federation wrote to me:
1) to thank me for writing the letter
2) to make up a bit for any inconvenience by giving me an exclusive Swiss training shirt and
3) to ask for my continued support

I WAS SPEECHLESS!!

Immediately, I demonstrated my belief by applying for the 'Follow The Team' ticket package on UEFA.com
The Team was Switzerland.

In Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday night, I will be in the stadium wearing this exclusive shirt.

and I will wear it too when Suisse goes to Wembley in June.

and if Suisse wins both games, may be the SFV will hire me as the official mascot.

HOPP SUISSE!!!

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people

(here is the song 'dont stop believin' performed by the cast of GLEE on X factor show)


(*) for many people living in Zurich, Aarau is a foreign country.

here are some random football thoughts after the first 16 games

1. North Korea is not playing too bad!

2. when England meets Algeria in Cape Town, it will be a battle of goalkeepers with slippery hands.

3. both finalists from 2006 WC Final came to Cape Town to play their first game and both came away very unconvincing

4. I vote for France vs Uruguay as the worst match so far.

5. did you see the way the Italian players (both on the field and on the bench) celebrated their goal? they are under a lot of pressure as the defending champions. still they celebrated like they were playing Paraguay in the Final

6. Brasil is a team of robots. Except for Robinho and Dani Alves who have some artistic skills, the rest are robots. big, strong, and fast. and Kaka, oh my oh my.

7. so far for African teams. 2 draws and 2 defeats and one win. The single victory by Ghana was achieved with a late penalty. Come on Africa, this is your World Cup.

8. Australian love sports. And they do not like LOSING. I ran into many Aussies here and they are licking their wounds after the German debacle. Watch out Ghana....

9. from Brasil to South Africa to Australia, all 3 southern hemisphere teams play in yellow and green. Everywhere I look, I see a yellow and green shirt...

10. one more comment on England. This is practically the same team from 4 years ago, minus Beck. I was not impressed with England 4 years ago. So why all the English fans think their teams will go far in this tournament?

11. there are no photos in this blog because I left my camera on the flight from Nelspruitt to Joburg this evening. Tomorrow morning, I have to contact South African Airways and I hope I can get my camera back. PLEASE KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOR ME.

Good morning from Zurich!

Later today, I will board a flight to Frankfurt where I will catch a Lufthansa flight to South Africa. This will be my 5th World Cup in person.

If FIFA is a public company, I would definitely recommend buying their shares. For 3 reasons.

first, they know how to make money. second, they are very kind. I learned from an inside source that FIFA will give away World Cup tickets to South African children. And last, I really admire their ability to give everyone a chance and to forgive and forget if these people make mistakes.

On that last point, the people I am talking about are referees. For this World Cup, my plan is to focus not on players or coaches but on referees.

Here are 10 or 11 things to look out for in the first week (and a few more investment tips)

1) Opening game South Africa vs Mexico: bet on South Africa to win. The referee is Mr. Urbatov from Uzbekistan. The last CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index) put this country near the bottom out of 200 countries. My inside source told me this referee is very good at following instructions.

2) My first game will be South Korea vs Greece in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. The referee is Mr. Hester from New Zealand. He has been a FIFA referee for 3 years! His first FIFA match was Fiji vs New Caledonia. In real life, he is naval officer.

3) Also on Saturday, the GAME. England vs USA. Bet on Wayne Rooney getting at least a yellow card. No, bet on Rooney getting a red card. If you go to Paddypower, you can also place a bet on David Beckham watching this game from Los Angeles (instead of being in the stadium). The odds are 3/1.

4) No matter what the result of England vs USA will be, NIKE will be a winner. Buy NIKE (NYSE: NKE about 70 USD). England wears Umbro (founded by the hUMphrey BROthers in Manchester) and a few years ago, Nike bought Umbro for about 600 mio USD. USA USA USA, USA x 600,000,000 times.

5) The referee for England vs USA will be Mr. Simon from Brasil. He is very famous there. His performance in the Brasilian Serie A last year led to his suspension for the last 6 weeks of the season? The 2 F's in FIFA can also be Forgive and Forget!

6) BRASIL - the founder of the Jogo Bonito, the Beautiful Game. But I look at their squad and where are the artists? Dunga has chosen mostly robots, big and strong and fast  but very few artists. Dani Alves is listed as a right back but he plays more like an attacking midfielder. I hope Dunga uses him.

7) These days, Spain is one team that plays Jogo Bonito. I really really really hope Spain will plays Brasil in the round of 16. If not, they can only meet in the Final and somehow I do not see this happen. Last year, it almost happened until the US spoiled the plan at the Confederations Cup.

8) The referee of Spain vs Suisse is Mr. Webb from England. he is not bad. But if he gets sick, the fourth referee will step in. That would be Mr. Hansson of Sweden, Thierry Henry's best friend.

9) Bet on France 'not' to win the World Cup. If they do, Berkshire Hathaway (I am a shareholder) will have to pay France a large sum of money. They sold France an insurance policy in case France wins the World Cup. Not every team buys this kind of policy. Only those who think they can win the World Cup. France is 'confident'!!!

10) Bet on Ivory Coast to do well. Why? I received this signal from the sky (the one up there, not SKY SPORTS). Last Sunday evening in the city of FIFA, an elephant walked out of the circus zoo and wandered through the shopping district. It happened during a thunderstorm so not many people were out. When I heard about this, I said to myself 'Ivory Coast'

11) My pick to win the World Cup. A team that could consider themselves playing at home. HOLLAND.

I will be back,

QV5

30 days to the start of World Cup 2010. Let's see how much you know about the history of the World Cup. 10 questions.

1)      Which of these statements is true about the 1930 World Cup?

a – it was the only World Cup without qualification

b – the Final used two different types of balls

c – the European teams travelled to South America by sea

d – all of the above

 

2)      Who travelled to Uruguay for the first World Cup on the SS Conte Verde?

a – the President of FIFA and the trophy

b – France, Belgium, and Romania

c – Brasil

d – all of the above

 

3)      The first hat trick in the World Cup was scored in 1930. The scorer was

a – Stabile of Argentina

b – Cea of Uruguay

c – Patenaude of USA

d – none of the above

 

4)      Which of the following statement is false about the 1934 World Cup qualification?

a – the host country Italia had to qualify

b – the deciding match in Group 11 between USA and Mexico was played in Roma, Italia

c – the defending champion Uruguay failed to qualify

d – Egypt qualified after beating Palestine

 

5)      Which of the following team qualified for the 1938 World Cup but did not participate?

a – Austria

b – Cuba

c – Dutch East Indies (known today as Indonesia)

d – Romania

 

6)      In the 1938 semi-final vs. Italia, the top scorer Leonidas did not play for Brasil because

a – he was suspended

b – he was injured

c – he was rested

d – he was not Brasilian, he was Greek

 

7)      For the 1950 World Cup in Brasil, India qualified but did not participate because

a – they could not play barefoot

b – they did not have enough money to travel

c – England did not allow them to participate

d – there was no vegetarian restaurant in Brasil

 

8)      What was unique about the West German team that won the 1954 World Cup?

a – all the players were former soldiers

b – all the players were amateurs

c – all the players were born in Germany

d – nothing was unique about them

 

9)      Which of these statements is true about the 1958 World Cup qualification?

a – Italia did not qualify for the only time in the World Cup history

b – it was the only time all 4 British teams qualified in the same World Cup

c – Israel won the Asia/Africa qualifying tournament without playing one game

d – all of the above

 

10)   In the 1962 World Cup, the host Chile was very superstitious. What did they do?

a – eating swiss cheese before playing Switzerland

b – eating spaghetti before playing Italia

c – drinking vodka before playing Russia

d – all of the above

 

ANSWERS

 

1.       D.  The first World cup was the only one by invitations. In the Final, there was disagreement over which ball to use. So in the first half, an argentine ball was used and Argentina won 2-1. Uruguay won 3-0 in the second half playing with their ball.

2.       D. The ship SS Conte Verde picked up the Romanian team in Genoa, France in Villefranche-sur-Mer, and Belgium in Barcelona. On the ship were the President of FIFA, Jules Rimet, the trophy, and the 3 European referees. Before arriving in Uruguay, the ship stopped in Rio de Janeiro to pick up the Brasilian team.

3.       C. Until 2006, Stabile of Argentina was credited to be the first player to score a hat trick in the World Cup, on July 19, 1930 vs.Mexico. In 2006, FIFA changed the scorer of the second goal in USA-Paraguay 3-0 from Tom Florie to Bert Patenaude. Bert also scored the other 2 goals so he became the first World Cup hat trick scorer as that match was palyed on July 17.

4.       C. It was the first and only time the host country had to qualify. Italia beat Greece 4-0 in Milano to qualify. Uruguay declined to participate in the qualification to protest against the refusal of several European teams to travel to Uruguay 4 years early. FIFA decided that the final and deciding match of qualifying group 11 between USA and Mexico should be played in Roma, 3 days before the start of the World Cup. USA won 4-2 with all the goals scored by Aldo Donelli, who was better known as an American football (not soccer, American football) player and coach.

5.       A. Austria was invaded by Germany so they withdrew from the tournament. For political reasons, some Austrian players were included in the German team. In Paris, Germany was eliminated in the first round by Switzerland.

6.       C. The coach wanted to rest their best scorer for the Final!

7.       A. FIFA would not let the Indian team played barefoot. What would Adidas be if FIFA allowed such violation?

8.       B. There was no professional league in West Germany at that time. It was the only time in the history of the World Cup that the winning team was made up of amateurs.

9.       D. Israel won their group without playing a single game because Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and Sudan withdrew for various reasons. But FIFA did not like that a team can qualify without playing one game (this has happened often in previous tournaments). So FIFA made Israel played against one of the second placed teams from Europe. A team was picked among the 9 European runners-up. It was Belgium and they refused to play Israel. Next was Wales and they beat Israel twice to qualify. It was the only World Cup that Wales qualified and it was the only World Cup all 4 British teams (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) qualified.

10.   D. They won all these matches but in the semi-final against Brasil, Chile lost even though they drank Brasilian coffee before the game.