Stephen Colbert had on his show a recurring guest, Germany’s Ambassador to the UN, who gave his thoughts on the World Cup tournament currently underway, spiced with his usual dour observations on the meaning of life. I really like this guy. (In reality he is an actor playing a part but the first time I saw him I was totally fooled.)
(This clip aired on June 12, 2014. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post. If the videos autoplay, please see here for a diagnosis and possible solutions.)
Actually the Group of Death was supposed to be Spain, Netherlands (the finalists of two years ago), Chili and Australia. But after the 5-1 the term might be less appropriate.
Anyhow, some interesting kinematics for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Rj58sqSfU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuS2hsZfqWI
The very non-German “nein” betrayed the ambassador. Moreover I doubt if he would have forgotten that his own country has won the cup three times (1954, 1974 and 1990).
… “stench of the grave”.
Love it.
From the end of WW2 the Dutch team has never lost the first match of a world cup it participated in (note the Dutch participated 7 times, the Spanish 12 times in the period 1945-now).
Even so that goal by van Persie was so special it appeared on the front page of the newspapers and you should have heard the city go nuts when he made that one.
Thanks. I was assuming he was an actor, but thought just maybe ..
Anyhow, he was beautiful. A great bit.
I wonder why FIFA bothers with Africa, Asia and North America. The World Cup winner has always come from Europe or South America, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon.
It ‘bothers’ with them because they are interested in participating, and this is a truly international competition. As opposed to, say, a competition called the ‘World Series’ in which only one nation participates.
@dukeofomnium,
It takes experience at the top levels to inspire and improve the game within nations. The African and Asian nations may not be serious threats to win the World Cup now but they can be a threat on a game-by-game basis and can pull off an upset on any given day. They are not patsies and they will get better. Slowly perhaps, but inevitably.
That was an awesome performance. It was like a walk-on by Schopenhauer.
@dukeofomnium,
In addition to the point Mano makes, it’s only a matter of time before an African team wins and I fully expect to see a USA victory in my life time (I’m 50). Interest in the game is growing exponentially in the US for a number of reasons. One is the influx of migrants from traditional soccer playing countries. Another is the declining interest in American Football at the due to safety concerns.
@Holms
One nation? Toronto hasn’t been annexed by the USA yet!
Yet.
I think that the Jays have one or two American players. I can’t think of their names off hand.