Slovenia - USA 2:2, World Cup

This wasn't a match, it was a battle!

Handanović defending the Slovenian goal [Photo by David Gray, REUTERS][Source]

Anyone watched the game between Slovenia and USA at the World Cup today? Oh boy, that was not a game, that was a battle. Our Slovenian commentator has jokingly said: "Americans are wrestling on the pitch." Oh man, they really did. One thing is for sure, USA have a great team, a team that never gives up. Hats down to that, USA. But sometimes your wish to beat us overwhelmed you and you played a bit unfair by pushing and punching some of our players and made the game a bit too rough. Our boys had to push back. That was a bit disappointing to me.

But all in all, it was a great game. It was like a movie: There was suspense, action and drama... It was like a thriller for me. Slovenia was leading 2:0 and our commentator was to quick to talk about a victory, when USA came back, tied at 2:2 and even scored a 3:2, which was nullified by the referee from Mali, Mr. Koman Coulibaly, who btw did a terrible job. US team should've gotten much more yellow cards, on the other hand, he did nullify that possible winning goal for them... Well, it truly was a crazy game. An amazing game! Especially, if you put the things into perspective: Small Slovenia with its 2 million people played 2:2 against the superpower USA with its 310 million people. That's what we now hear in Slovenia from our commentators. I'm just a tiny bit disappointed, that we didn't win at the end, but we've really come far. We're first in our group, a group with USA and England! Isn't that incredible? Compare that to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal... This year anything is possible for any of the teams.

My girlfriend painted her nails with the Slovenian team's colors.

Ain't she cute? Yes, she is. Keep in mind, she's Taiwanese, not Slovenian. I think she did a great job and may she bring good luck to the Slovenian team :-)

It was funny to read reactions on Twitter. Americans are going crazy, I guess the finally got some passion for soccer. Slovenia is a popular trending topic now. Let me show you some funny tweets I found today:

@BluesChronicle People all over #USA are now looking up #Svn in their atlases, trying to work out whether it is a country worth invading.

@klemenj and you play like ones. #svn #usa RT @brittglynn Slovenia celebrates like girls...

@andrewgooding In a historic first, FIFA referee Koman Coulibaly accepted today's Man of the Match award for his defensive efforts for the Slovenia squad.

@SokhonSen RT @MaksimC: WOW!!! The WORST officiating at USA/Slovenia game!!! Don't know about you all, but I say USA won 3-2!!! #badcall

@robmitchum The only bright side of today is that the #usa is finally a mature enough soccer nation to be fucked by a ref in the #worldcup.

@JKxZ I think Koman Coulibaly should be punished by sitting in room and Team #USA gets to blow Vuvuzela's right in his face until he goes deaf.

@boland they only reason they took that goal away from team #USA is cause they hate us for our freedoms. #ripoff #worldcup

@billybragg USA continue their winning streak with a brilliant 2-2 victory over Slovenia.

Some tweets are quite funny, hehe. Americans are so angry at the referee, that they even modified his Wikipedia page, even wrote that he hates America. Lol. The page has been changed meanwhile. And that's what you could see on the Huffington Post's homepage after the game:

[click photo to enlarge]

I can understand your anger, Americans. It wasn't clear to me, why he blew the whistle there, but he did so... And you have to admit, you played rough and pushed a lot. It's time to get over it. Do you know how many times Slovenia got screwed by referees in the past? Too many times. I guess you finally embraced soccer as one of your national sports. Guess what? Bad referees are part of it. I think 2:2 was fair at the end. Great game. One of the best so far at this World Cup.

What do you think?

[A Slovenian netizen made that Statue of Liberty pic. I think it's cool. No offence.]

Pan Shuang Shuang: Chinese soccer girl

Because it's the World Cup and hot girls are part of it

The World Cup is a bad period of time for those girlfriends, who aren't as passionate about soccer as their boyfriends. First they need to accept, that their men try to watch as many games as possible, drink a lot of beer and debate every bad decision of the referees with their friends. And when men behave like they're coaches, that's not always pleasant thing. And on top of that, girlfriends need to allow their men occasionally drooling over sexy female supporters or over so called soccer girls, online models, who dress up in uniforms of the participating teams. Yes, the World Cup is a challenging time for relationships and I try my best not to overstrain my girl's patience. I guess I'm a lucky guy, because I have such a great girlfriend, who never complained about me watching so many games and having less time to communicate with her. I promise I will make it up to you, dear. Give me some two more weeks ;-) How is it in your relationship?

Relating to the above, while browsing Chinese websites between the games, I came across Pan Shuang Shuang [潘霜霜], a Chinese model from Beijing, who recently came to fame by doing a photo shoot as a soccer girl for the online betting website bwin.com, who named her a "Shark girl" (no idea why). The photos are circling all over the Chinese web, because she's obviously looking good with that ball and the skirt and the appealing posing. She's now 23 years old (born 1987), 168cm tall and currently weighs 49kg. See some of her photos to get a better idea of her:

This photo doesn't need any comments.

Any comments here would do injustice.

Any comments here would do injustice.I put these three together, because it's more convenient.

This is another set of her photos: Shuang Shuang in soccer uniform.

Another set called "Nirvana".

Is this Shuang Shuang experiencing nir...? Let's not go there.

She is also a popular MOKO girl, here with less make up. How do you like her?

This photo is basically the answer, why she's so popular>>

[Pan Shuang Shuag's photo sets on MOKO]

She's not that popular in China, but in a country with 1.3 billion people, if you're popular among a small fraction of all these people, that already means a lot. So, yeah, I think she has a great future ahead of her, because she's quite photogenic and she has "assets", that are necessary for a modeling career in China or East Asia. You know what I mean.

How do you like Shuang Shuang?

How does the World Cup affect your relationship?

Photo sources:

Shuang Shuang - Shark girl - Football story>>

Shuang Shuang - Shark girl - The butterfly effect>>

Shuang Shuang - Shark girl - Nirvana >>

Pan Shuang Shuang bedroom photos scandal, 2011

UPDATE, March 21, 2011: Pan Shuang Shuang (also known as Mavis) was recently involved in a scandal (Chinese source). Bedroom photos of her involved with Hong Kong actor Raymond Lam were leaked, but at the same time it also came out that she was married to an older Caucasian (read white) man since 2009 (see a photo of them) and even has a son with him. Who would have thought that she was married to a foreigner and had a child already? She kept her secrets very well, I must say that. It was probably good for her career, because appearing as single is much better than being a mom and married to a Westerner (which can be a bit controversial in China). I hope that the controversy won't affect her marriage and her son (isn't it interesting, how people are always afraid of "cheating Westerners"), it would be a very traumatic experience for the young boy. Let's hope everything turns out well for all involved.

On my blog: [Chinese girls play soccer in the mud][My WOMEN page]

Related: [Shark girl - big photos][Her personal info][Women]

Recommended: [Shuang climbing in bikini][Smoking]

Korean soccer girls are the cutest!

Brazilian girls may be the hottest, but Korean girls are definitely the cutest

Go Korea! More Korean female football fans in pictures here>>

If you're a man like me, you're definitely watching every soccer game you can these days and I'm sure you've noticed all those beautiful female soccer fans at the World Cup, who are sometimes much more interesting than the game below on the field. Have you seen the Dutch girls? Aren't they amazing in those orange mini skirts? How about the Brazilian hotties? Some of them are only wrapped in a thin veil that is the Brazilian national flag. And talking about cleavages, it seems that women from almost every nation compete who will make more men lose their minds while watching the games. You don't believe me? Check this fan, who put her cellphone in her cleavage>> O.o If that ain't hot, tell me what's not?

Alright, since my blog is a lot about (East) Asian themes, I decided to share some photos and links of the South Korean female football fans. While their team is not the one among the top contenders this year and they will also have to struggle real hard to move on to the round of 16, their female supporters seem to be hopeful and ecstatic like never before. While the Korean soccer girls are not showing off too much, they're definitely very cute and beautiful and support their team with the same passion like any other nation's girls. Enjoy some photos of these cuties and click on the links for more...

Debating the game? More girls from the set here>>

Happy that South Korea won the first game.

Go Red Devils! More photos from the set here>>

Ecstatically cheering for Korea!

Praying for the national team, but did it help?

Maybe the Red Devils nearly missed a goal... More from the set here>>

Dazzling Korean beauty supporting her Red Devils.

Looks a bit like Lee Hyori, the queen of K-pop. More from the set here>>

South Koreans are a proud nation and they love their national football team to bits. This year they may not become champions of the world, but their female supporters are my personal champions when it comes to supporting a team. Good luck to the Red Devils and hope they at least move on to the Round of 16. It would be a pity not to see these lovely Korean supporters anymore.

Bonus: Check a video of Hyori kicking a football>>

• How do you like the South Korean female soccer fans?
• Which female soccer fans are the most appealing to you this year?

On my blog: Chinese girls play soccer in the mud (amazing photos)

[Lee Hyori][About Korean Women][Photos source: 163.com]

To our stupid Slovenian netizens

And I mean only to those, not to the rest of us, who are normal

I was Googling some more information about the upcoming game between Slovenia and USA and came across few websites and blogs. I was curious what American bloggers write about Slovenia, their nation's next competitor at the World Cup. I came across a random blog from Seattle and saw this:

So I thought: Ok, again someone mistook Slovenia for Slovakia. Is it a big deal? No. Not for me. I've written about it and hopefully those who don't know the difference will come to my blog and learn about it. Simple as that, right? Well, it should be, but I guess not for everyone. I scrolled down and saw this comment:

What the f...??? Obviously it was one of those stupid Slovenian netizens, who go around the web and comment on every post ever written about Slovenia and complain about it, if they find a mistake or attack the author for no apparent reason. How stupid is that?

Generally Slovenians don't hate Americans, bet there are people like this one, who are a disgrace for my home country Slovenia. In the blog above, the author did not intend to ridicule our country, it was probably just a typo. As I already said in my post on the issue, it's not easy to distinguish Slovenia and Slovakia, because we are historically and linguistically related. I wonder how many Slovenians distinguish Latvia and Litva or Paraguay and Uruguay? Or the Democratic Republic of Kongo and Republic of Kongo? Or Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan? I guess not too many... So what's the big deal?

I don't understand, why there's so much hate against USA among Slovenian netizens. Comments on news websites, blogs and forums and under you-tube videos are full of Slovenian morons who attack USA for no apparent reason.

Check Letterman's funny joke about Slovenia. This video is all over the Slovenian blogosphere. I first saw it on Had's blog. If you read the comments of Slovenian netizens recently, the joke makes total sense. Some of us Slovenians are EXACTLY like that. It's sad...

People, we're playing a friggin football game today, not starting a war or having a debate on imperialism, dammit! Football should unite people, not divide them!

Now, I must say, some American netizens don't behave any better, they provoke and verbally attack Slovenia and Slovenians, but it looks more like fun to them, because they see how seriously Slovenians react and get all riled up. Don't play into their game, it's pathetic. It's like: Where the f... is Slovenia argument vs. Stupid arrogant Americans argument. And in both cases, people who start with these provocations are not real football fans.

The real American football fan will find information about Slovenia online and find out where Slovenia is and respect our team, because they rightfully qualified for the World cup. The real Slovenian fan will respect the US soccer team and focus on the game and not on whatever USA might have done or is doing wrong in the world. Don't forget, it's a football game, not war!

Slovenians and Americans, stop attacking each other on the web, that's not the spirit of the World Cup. May the best one win and I hope it will be a great game to watch. I'm sure, if we play fair and well, many Americans will get to know our country and I hope that in exchange, more Slovenians will learn to respect the US soccer team. Thank god, these noisy morons on each side are in a minority. I hope the vuvuzelas will silence them today.

[Read my respectful comment on an American blog]

Slovenia is not Slovakia is not Slovenia!

Let me tell you about the differences between Slovenia and Slovakia

Not sure, if he really said that ;-)

I couldn't believe it, when I heard that during the World Cup in South Africa, the two glorious European nations of Slovenistan and Slovakistan were mixed up again! Oh yeah, I'm talking about Slovenia and Slovakia of course. It's just impossible for some people to understand that they are two separate and different European countries, even though they share some common historic roots, have a similar name, speak a similar language and have a similar flag. But it's not really that hard to distinguish them, if you just put a little effort and remember the differences. So for those, who still don't know that Slovenia and Slovakia are two different countries, let me share with you the most basic differences...

Slovenia always on the left, Slovakia always on the right

1 The flags: Forget the colors! White, blue, red... it's all the same. Just focus on the two coats of arms, because that's what makes us different. Our flags without them would look like the Russian flag anyway. Remember that Slovenia's coat of arms is "stars, Triglav mountain and sea", Slovakia's coat of arms is "double cross on a mountain". Triglav is Slovenia's highest mountain, 2864m tall and our national symbol. Triglav

(pronounced tree-glau)

means "Three headed" (see the shape).

Memorize:

✰ Slovenia's national symbol is a mountain named Triglav.

✰ Slovakia's national symbol is a double cross.

2 Location and size: Both countries are located in central Europe, Slovenia in the southern part, Slovakia in the eastern. Slovakia is more than two times bigger than Slovenia and has a more than two times bigger population than Slovenia (2 millions vs. 5.3 millions). Slovenia is located near the Adriatic sea and has a small coast, Slovakia is a landlocked country. In addition: The capital city of Slovenia is Ljubljana (pronounced Lyoob-lya-nah), the capital city of Slovakia is Bratislava (pronounced Brah-tee-slah-vah).

Memorize:

✰ Slovenia is smaller, less populated than Slovakia and has a small coast.

✰ Slovakia is bigger, more populated than Slovenia, but it doesn't have a coast.

3 At the World Cup: The Slovenian National Football team's main uniforms are green with the Triglav motif on the chest, which is found in our coat of arms. The Slovakian National Football team's main uniforms are blue with the coat of arms on the chest (which includes the double cross motif).

Memorize:

✰ Slovenia -> green -> Triglav
✰ Slovakia -> blue -> double cross

4 The football fans: Same as before, the Slovenian fan loves to wear green, paints small flags (or the coat of arms) on their body or just the Triglav motif. The Slovak fan loves to wear blue with red and white and usually draws the double cross motif on their body.

Memorize:

✰ Slovenian fans wear green, the Triglav motif is most common.
✰ Slovakian fans wear blue, the double cross motif is most common.

Read more about: Ljubljana, Slovenia and Bratislava, Slovakia

So is it really that hard to distinguish these two countries? One is big, one is small, one loves green, one loves blue. One worships a famous mountain, one worships the double cross. It's so simple, if you just spend 5 min to study the main differences. So are you now able to explain the main differences to someone who has no clue about Slovenia and Slovakia? If your answer is yes, then you passed my test and I congratulate you. If your answer is no, study more on the subject here and here.

Slovenia has a small, but beautiful Mediterranean coast. Slovakia is landlocked.

For those who have more than 5 min: Here are some more differences between Slovenia and Slovakia, but read only, if you have basic knowledge in linguistics and history:

5 The similar names: If you go back in history, some 2000 years ago in Europe, there was no Slovenians or Slovaks in the modern sense, but our common ancestors, the Slavs (in their language they called themselves Slověni) and only the later Slovenians and Slovaks kept in the same root "slov-" in their names. "Slov-" means "word" (Slověni were therefore the people who speak same words or language, source). Now, besides us Slovenians and the Slovaks, there are other Slavs or Slavic peoples these days like Russians, Poles, Czechs, Croats, Serbians and others... We share a common historic and linguistic origin. Our languages have many similarities, more than German and English for example. That's why it's no wonder, that the names of our countries (Slovenia and Slovakia) are mistaken a lot, since they sound alike and even share a common origin. But it gets crazier...

ENJOY SOME LANGUAGE CONFUSION! Let me see, if you can understand following:

In Slovenian language:

01 Slovenia in Slovenian: Slovenija (pronounced Slo-véh-nee-ya)

02 Slovakia in Slovenian: Slovaška (pronounced Slo-vásh-kah)

03 Slovenian woman in Slovenian: Slovenka (pronounced Slo-véhn-ka)

04 Slovenian man in Slovenian: Slovenec (pronounced Slo-véhn-ets)

05 Slovakian woman in Slovenian: Slovakinja (pronounced Slo-váh-kee-nya)

06 Slovakian man in Slovenian: Slovak (pronounced Slo-váh-k)

07 Slovenian language in Slovenian: Slovenščina (pronounced Slo-vénsh-chee-na)

08 Slovak language in Slovenian: Slovaščina (pronounced Slo-vásh-chee-na)

In Slovakian langauge:

01 Slovakia in Slovakian: Slovensko (pronounced Sló-vehn-sko)

02 Slovenia in Slovakian: Slovinsko (pronounced Sló-veen-sko)

03 Slovakian woman in Slovakian: Slovenka (pronounced Sló-vehn-ka)

04 Slovakian man in Slovakian: Slovák (pronounced Sló-vah-k)

05 Slovenian woman in Slovakian: Slovinka (pronounced Sló-veen-ka)

06 Slovenian man in Slovakian: Slovinec (pronounced Sló-veen-ets)

07 Slovakian language in Slovakian: Slovenčina (pronounced Sló-vehn-chee-na)

08 Slovenian language in Slovakian: Slovinčina (pronounced Sló-veen-chee-na)

Do you have a headache already? Hehehe... well, I know it's complicated, because it sounds really similar, but we know what we're talking about and so do the Slovaks. But actually you don't need to know all that, screw Slovenka or Slovinka (I mean figuratively), just remember that SLOVENIA is the only country in the world, that has LOVE in its name ;-)

Anyhow, the only thing that matters these days is the World Cup! While Slovenia beat Algeria few days ago, Slovakia has only drawn with New Zealand today. Objectively speaking, we currently have a better football team than Slovakia. ;-) If anyone has arguments against mine, let the debate begin. Until then...

Slovenija gre naprej!*

Links and sources: [Slovenia.info][Slovensko.com][Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5][*Slovenia moves on]

On my blog before: Where is Slovenia? (A cute Slovenian girl explains it for you)

You can also join Facebook groups: I'm from Slovenia....bitch...NOT Slovakia

♥SLOVAKIA♥ IS NOT Slovenia!!!Learn the fucking difference!!!

World Cup predictions, vuvuzelas and funny Slovenia T-shirts

My musings about the crazy things surrounding the World Cup

Hello people! How's the World Cup going for you? So far so good, right? :-) Well, I'm really enjoying the games, especially because Slovenia won against Algeria 1:0! Yay! Feeling a bit patriotic, I must say, although I seldom do when it comes to my country. And I have to admit, the game was boring and unattractive, comparable to the one between France and Uruguay. Nevertheless, for such a small country like us, winning a game at the World Cup is an amazing thing. Heck, we even have the chance to qualify to the round of 16, if we beat USA this Friday. So please please please support Slovenia in the upcoming game. If we win, it will be a sensation. If we don't lose, it will be one, too. And then on June 23rd, we're playing against England, one of the top contenders. That will be a game I am really looking forward to, even though I'm a bit afraid, that England will beat us big time. But we'll see, anything's possible. We may be a small country, but we have a big heart and appreciate every moment in South Africa.

WORLD CUP PREDICTIONS: I don't think we will come very far. From what I saw, Germany is now for me the best team at the World Cup. They played amazingly well, scored 4 goals and made almost zero mistakes. It was a perfect game and if they keep this pace, they will be unbeatable. Of course, I must see Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Brazil playing their first game to really make a good prediction of the final winner. Argentina impressed me, too. But then again, I think there will be quite many surprises at this World Cup. Maybe a small team will beat a big one, come far, maybe even to the finals? Can that be Slovenia? I highly doubt so, although I would love to see that with all my heart. And I still wouldn't count out England and France, although they haven't played very impressive. I'd like to see England beat Germany in the quarter finals, preferably in a penalty shootout. Imagine Robert Green saving a penalty kick from Lukas Podolski and England wins the game? Whole England would go haywire, I guess :-P


VUVUZELAS: Are you annoyed by vuvuzelas? :-P It's funny, my previous blog post about this plastic trumpet has become hot on the Internets. Even the most popular Slovenian blogger Had has linked to my post and I'm finally getting some Slovenians here. Also over 100 people voted on whether the vuvuzela should be banned. If you haven't voted yet, do so here. People are still googling vuvuzela related stuff a lot (usually connected with shit and fuck, pardon my French). A lot of peeps are upset and that goes for folks all over the world, not just Europe. I guess the vuvuzela won't be banned by FIFA. It's sad, that extremists inserted themselves in the debate, on the one hand white racists abusing the issue to let out their hate towards Africans, on the other hand overly proud Africans, who inserted slavery into the debate. I think both are totally wrong and misleading. It's about a friggin trumpet and an annoying noise, that's driving the rest of the world crazy! Nothing else! The German national TV station ZDF filed an official protest note to FIFA, on the other hand the South African national team is encouraging their people to buy more vuvuzelas and make more noise. O.o Is that the African hospitality everyone's praising so much? I mean, can't there be a middle way like toning it down a little? Looks like the the extremes on both sides are becoming too loud recently, which is not good. I think most of people around the world would be happy, if the sound from the vuvuzelas would have some kind of melody other than the 90min long ear-wrenching beehive sound. It's definitely going kookies and sadly, those who view games from home, who are not in South Africa, will not enjoy the World Cup as much as those who went there and get drunk, party with the vuvuzela. It's a whole different thing and both have their right to enjoy the games. But please, find a middle way. Everyday outside South Africa the vuvuzela is the no 1 topic of discussion. I thought the games should be in the center of a World Cup, not a plastic trumpet.

FUNNY SLOVENIA T-SHIRTS: My girlfriend found these tees (see below and more photos here) on zazzle.com, a website where people can design their own. Actually, she was joking, that she'll buy the I Love My Slovenian Boyfriend tee and wear it, when she'll visit my home country Slovenia one day, haha. I think I would be a bit embarrassed with that, because as an interracial couple, we would already be very obvious, but a T-shirt like that would give us more attention, possibly some people taking photos and uploading on FB or blogs :-P What do you think about wearing such T-shirts? Since Slovenia has become more known due to the World Cup, I'm sure there's many of you out there who would like to show some love or affinity for my country. You can do that by getting a tee from the collection here. I'm not getting paid for promoting these T-shirts, I just think it's a great idea. Don't you think?

• What's your favorite T-shirt? Which one would you wear? See more pics here>>
  
• And what do you think about Slovenia's chances at the World Cup?
• Which team do you support? Do you watch the games?
  

Go Slovenia... Slovenija gre naprej... :-D

[Slovenia T-shirts source here][Chinese girl from a video, source here]

Is the vuvuzela annoying to you?

Will the noisy plastic trumpet overshadow the World cup?

INTRO: Those of you, who are watching the World Cup 2010 games in South Africa, have noticed a very loud never ending never changing noise at every game. Some have described it as buzzing hornets or a beehive, but I see it more like a Formula 1 race with 1000 cars. It's a sound made on a plastic trumpet called vuvuzela, which is a very popular instrument of the South African football fans (see photo above).

COMPLAINTS: I must say when I watched the first few games, the volume on my TV was not turned up a lot and the sound of the buzzing vuvuzelas was not so strong, I haven't even thought about this instrument. But then I watched a game on German TV and another on a Croatian TV channel and the commentators bluntly stated, that they're annoyed by the never ending sound of vuvuzelas. That affected me and I started to get annoyed by the sound, too. Now I'm someone who's easily annoyed by noise. In Taiwan hawkers sometimes use megaphones that constantly advertise their tea or stinky tofu or there are motorcades of scooters on Taiwan's roads. And let's not forget the garbage trucks with their loud "Per Elise". That frankly does annoy me sometimes.

CULTURE: So, be it South Africa or Taiwan, certain ways of making noise are a cultural particularity. I'm from a small country with lot of nature, traffic jams are very scarce. Most of the time, it's peaceful here, so I guess it's not surprising, that vuvuzela noises would annoy me. On the other hand, I wonder, why the German and Croatian commentators complain, since the football fans from their countries are famous for being one of the noisiest. Then again, they're probably there in the stadium, in their booths, trying to do their jobs, but can hardly hear their own voice, because the vuvuzelas keep horning like crazy around their ears.

PRO vs. CONTRA VUVUZELA: Here are some of the arguments I have heard and read in the past 3 days regarding vuvuzela. I will list the ones of vuvuzela supporters and vuvuzela haters. It's up to you to make up your mind.

Arguments against vuvuzela:

• Vuvuzela sound is a very loud and annoying ear-wrenching noise.
• Vuvuzela makes it hard for the players to concentrate and communicate.
• Viewers at home can't hear the commentary.
• Viewers and spectators are unable to follow chants and crowd's reactions.
• Sensitive people need to either turn off the volume of the TV or not watch.
• It's very un-African to irritate your guest.

Arguments for vuvuzela:

• Westerners are trying to impose their standards by banning vuvuzela.
• Vuvuzela is part of African culture, we should be tolerant to that.
• Africans are also not complaining, when European fans sing anthems or whistle.
• Vuvuzela makes the games more exciting, gives it an African atmosphere.
• Vuvuzela is a (South) African pride.
• Vuvuzela is an important (South) African cultural heritage.

EXTERNAL LINKS: Just few minutes of googling and I came across these websites:

• Banthevuvuzela.blogspot.com (posts from 2009)
• Banvuvuzela.com (many ads and a big opinion poll)
• The vuvuzela is setting the tone for a very annoying World Cup
• The vuvuzela may be uniquely African, but many find its drone annoying
• Ban the vuvuzela! - A vuvuzela-free World Cup 2010 (video)
• Scheiß Vuvuzela, Scheiß Vuvuzela Ergänzung (German blog)
• In defence of the vuvuzela (from 2009 Confed cup)
• In defence of the vuvuzela (BBC article, new)
• South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban (BBC Sport article)
• Vuvuzela, immer das Selbe (a joke in German)
• Zuschauerwut über Vuvuzelas (German article)
• Please South Afrika, make the vuvuzelas stop!
• Christiano Ronaldo complains about vuvuzelas
• Ban the annoying vuvuzela Facebook group
• Vuvuzela ban is possible, says Jordaan
• Vuvuzela - lepatata mi gre pošteno na živce (Slovenian blog)

REACTIONS: There are some extreme reactions from the mentioned You-Tube video:

"It's just waiting till the first 1 gets mad enough to go on a killingspree because he couldnt take it anymore..." (by SuperBuzzFuzz)

"Damn vuvuzelas.. nothing cultural on that plastic-made shit -.-, it's unhealthy for your ears and for the WC atmosphere. I hate them!!" (by OnRage666)

"I fucking hate vuvuzelas, the most retarded sound and my head is aching from it. I can't enjoy this fucking WC, I hope next WC will be much better. Just awful..." (by MoFroBo)

"oh fuck - I'm just watching ENG - USA ... and again.. VUVUZELA SHIT !!! culture my ass !! If that is your culture, you deserve to be erased - black or white! Hell, I'm pretty sure I will punch the next guy I see with a FUCKING VUVUZELA !" (by DreamOfDacialization)

Another set of pro-vuvuzela reactions from comments on BBC's article:

"The vuvuzela is far less annoying than listening to fans in England chanting abuse at the fans of their opponents for the duration of a match!" (Adrian Scarlett, Liverpool, UK)

"...The Vuvuzela is a matter of pride (and religion) for some of us on the African continent and we will not allow our enjoyment of a once-in-lifetime event be overshadowed by someone watching the games from their living room in Europe. You just have to come and join us next year and I assure you 100% that 100% of all foreign fans (including those from Europe) will go back with a Vuvuzela in their bag because they will have been electrified by this little plastic trumpet!" (Isaac Kagula, Zambia)

I never liked the concept of the vuvuzela, but after reading all these stiff upper lip arrogant comments i am arming my entire family with one! Learn to enjoy self - let your hair down - i dare you! (Bruce, Cape Town, South Africa)

MY OPINION: I must say I do not share such strong dislike for the vuvuzela. I'd like them to restrict the number, but not ban them fully. I can understand that some people are annoyed or angry, but I think since that's how South African fans enjoy their games, they should be allowed to continue so. Then again, I'm just watching TV and I can tune down the volume, but the people who bought tickets, can't. The only pity is, that you can't hear the crowd's reaction to goals or near misses or hear fans sing football anthems, all you hear is a very noisy and never changing beehive trumpet sound.

IN CONCLUSION: Looks like my post about vuvuzela's has become very popular, as of this moment over 50 people voted and 80% of them are annoyed by this plastic trumpet. What's more interesting is how much traffic I get from Google, because people (most come from Germany) frequently search for opinion on vuvuzela with phrases like "fuck/fucking vuvuzela", "shit vuvuzela", "vuvuzela annoying", "vuvuzela irritating" and "hate vuvuzela". That just shows that a lot of people are annoyed with the vuvuzela-sound and openly express their anger, be it in the poll below or the comments. That says a lot. Hope FIFA will listen.

VUVU-STOP: Did you know that someone is selling earplugs named Vuvu-stop (see photo on the right) and they're now selling better than the vuvuzelas themselves. Gosh, some people are really good businessmen, ah? :-)

What's your opinion on vuvuzelas? Is it a cultural thing and we should accept it or should the World Cup hosts respect the foreign viewers and ban the vuvuzelas at the games?

Please vote on the poll below, but only if you have watched a game or two. Thanks.

If you can't vote above, please vote here>>

Funny vuvuzela pics: [Blatter][Kanye][New TV][Diversity][New evidence][He likes it]

Sources: [Photo 1: Source, Photo 2: Source]