My World Cup prediction: It will be Argetina!

I took 5 min of my time to predict the winner of the FIFA World Cup 2010

The World Cup is exciting, isn't it? Maybe a tiny bit less exciting since my home country Slovenia didn't move on to the round of 16, nevertheless, there are some promising matches coming up already in the next few days: Germany - England, Spain - Portugal and Argentina - Mexico. These games will really be battles, you can be sure. I'm really looking forward to England and Germany and I'm rooting for England. I'd really like to see them come at least to the quarter finals. But then again, here's a table of the upcoming games. I wrote my predictions for the next games and for all the other possible games and I came to the conclusion, that the final game will be between the Netherlands and Argentina and the latter will become football champions of the world.

Some of the results surprised me, because I tried to base my decision on the teams' performances so far and who might be in better form or may have a bit more luck this time. I may be completely wrong or I may be right in some parts. We'll see :-)

Who do you think will become the winner of the World Cup 2010?

[Table source]

Congratulations to Slovenia, our heroes!

Our national football players are our heroes. Thank you, guys!

SO LONG, SLOVENIA!: The World Cup came to an end for Slovenia after the loss against England and after the American striker Donovan scored a last minute golden goal in the game USA vs. Algeria. The hearts of 2 million Slovenians were broken, while tens of millions of ecstatic Americans crashed Twitter and celebrated their lucky, but well deserved victory. That's football! Unpredictable until the very last moment. We thought we were through... but then... we weren't. I admit, I was very sad, however I'm not a sore loser. The game was fair and the better one won. Congrats!

Our heroes, the Slovenian national football team. This was the start-up against England, from left to right: 1 Samir Handanovič, 4 Marko Šuler, 11 Milivoje Novaković, 5 Boštjan Cesar, 9 Zlatan Ljubljankič, 10 Valter Birsa, 17 Andraž Kirm, 2 Mišo Brečko, 8 Robert Koren, 18 Aleksandar Radosavljević, 13 Bojan Jokić.

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU: It wasn't meant to be this time for Slovenia, but one thing is sure: Our team did not disappoint in a single game. I'm so proud of our players, they really gave viewers in Slovenia (and abroad) a lot of unforgettable moments. We have won, we have drawn, we have lost. But most of the time we played smart and attractive, we were fearless and fair. No red cards, no mean fouls, no shady tactics. We showed the world that a team from a small nation can play great football and can leave a great impression on the people around the world. Once again, congratulations to England and USA for moving on to the round of 16. Also hats down to Algeria, who also surprised everyone by being a very tough contender. There were no winners or losers in Group C. There were only lucky and less lucky teams.

ABOUT THE WINNERS: When it comes to those who moved on from Group C, I'm rooting for England. It seems they finally woke up. Rooney played amazingly well, so did others. Capello's man played tactically incredibly smart and totally disabled the Slovenian offense. Now they're playing the Germans in the round of 16 and wholeheartedly hope that they finally beat them at the World Cup. It's been like over 40 years since they did it the last time. I hope they break the curse and that game will be a delight to watch. When it comes to USA, I think they play rough and sometimes unfair, which was clear in the game against Slovenia. I hope Ghana can beat them and from how I saw them playing against Germany today, they have a great chance. They're definitely the best African team. Sorry USA, but I like teams who play attractive and technical football.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WORLD CUP SO FAR: I'm not really impressed with "big" teams such as Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy. Some of them disappointed completely, some of them picked themselves up, like England and Germany. France with their shameful performances, did not belong on the World Cup at all. Had it been Ireland, I'm sure we'd have a Slovenia like story, a small country with a big heart making it hard for the big teams. It's a pity. However, there are countries that were quite ok, like the Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil. But their form is a bit unstable. I'm not really convinced with the Portuguese and Dutch, but I see Brazil as one of the teams, that will make it up to the finals. And the other one for me are Argentina. I must say, I was always a fan of Brazil, since USA 1994. But this time, I'm supporting Argentina.

ABOUT ARGENTINA: Argentina played the best football so far and not only is that obvious in three clear victories, they played consistently well, didn't make many mistakes and scored a lot of goals. Of course some people may think playing well sometimes isn't enough, you need a bit of luck. But I think, they have such great team spirit and with Diego Armando Maradonna, such an amazing leading figure, that they should make it to the finals without any big problems. Of course they will face resistance, they will have tough games, possibly with Germany or England, but even their B-team plays better than some other teams at the World Cup. My heart beats for Argentina from now on. I always loved Maradonna, especially since I was a young boy in the 80s, he was a football God. For me personally, he will always remain the best player in the history of this game. Yes, Pelé was great, but Maradonna is pure passion and pure genius. I'd die to see him all in tears holding and kissing that World Cup trophy in Johannesburg on July 11, after Argentina beat Brazil 3:2 in the best game of the tournament. Can that happen? Yes, it can. Will it happen? Well, that's another story. Football is so unpredictable, anything can happen. All teams are great this time, there really will be no real losers (apart from France) this time, I think we can look forward to some amazing surprises. Only time will tell. Let's hope for great games and an amazing atmosphere. Heck, I don't even hear the noise of the vuvuzelas. I guess that's good, right? :-)

THANK YOU again, Slovenia! I'm really proud to be your countryman today. Football united us and I hope we stay as united as long as possible. And finally the world has gotten to know our little country a bit better. Now you know Slovenia: A small country with a big heart.

• How did you like Slovenia's performance at the World Cup?
• For which team are you rooting now, when Slovenia's out?

[Sources: Photo 1 by me, Photo 2 and 3 by Dylan Martinez, Photo 4 by Eddie Keogh]

We met on @Twitter exactly 1 year ago!

My girlfriend and I met on Twitter last June

The Kissing Rocks, Kenting, Taiwan, where we shared a special moment.

I think @she followed me on Twitter before I followed her. I wasn't as interested in her, because she tweeted a lot in traditional Chinese and even Japanese. But I allowed her following me... Her profile photo was a Japanese actress and her #Twitter bio said she was from Taiwan. So I was a bit confused, is she Chinese or Japanese? I had no idea, but I didn't do anything about it. And so she was following me... Until one day I tweeted following:

@ninnoart Today is raining all day. Guess what? It rained all day yesterday. And you won't be shocked when I say: It will rain tomorrow, too :-(((

This is the first tweet she decided to reply to. She said:

@ninnoart Is your place in raining season now? and another one @ninnoart We have rainy season in Apr., always called "Plum Rain" in meteorology. But this year it rains few n we may get water-lack crisis.

And then I replied and started to follow her back. She added me on Facebook and I saw how beautiful she really was. We tweeted regularly for months, but we were just being friends. Until we fell in love and I decided to go to Taiwan to be with her... and that story you already know well, hehe. So no need to repeat myself here. ;-)

Dear baby! Thank you for all the amazing and precious moments we have shared in the past year, be it as friends or as lovers. They are all stored in my heart and sealed forever. You are amazing and precious. Please never change. 我愛你, 寶貝! Happy twitterversary and happy tweeting. Let's make it another awesome year, shall we? :-)

Next year you'll get a cake like this! Deal? :-P

Congratulations to England and USA

Unfortunately the worst case scenario for Slovenia has happened.

I'm a bit sad, but I want to congratulate England for a good and fair game. The victory has been well deserved and all the best for the upcoming matches.

Also congratulations to USA, great fighting spirit and well deserved to move on to the round of 16. All the best for the upcoming matches.

Hats down to the Slovenian team as well. Thank you for all the amazing moments during this World Cup. You're still our heroes. I'm sure this team has a great future ahead of them.

Good luck to everyone.

No comments, thanks.

My Slovenia vs. England predictions, World Cup 2010

A view from Slovenia

If you've read FIFA's predictions for Group C before the World Cup, you would not believe, that in the last game between Slovenia and England, Slovenia would be considered the favorite as the leader of the group and the team, that has performed the best among all four in the first two games. But what happened this year at the World Cup to England is typical: Big teams disappointed, from France, Italy, Germany to Spain and Portugal, all these teams have struggled in their first games with supposedly small irrelevant teams. Some have even lost. So the chances for Slovenia, the football dwarf from middle Europe, stand good. But do they really?

Here is the table of Group C after two matches played. Slovenia first with a win and a draw, USA and England second and currently last is Algeria. The best chances to advance (when it comes to math), has Slovenia. This is what needs to happen, if my country Slovenia wants to advance to the Round of 16:

- We win over England, we move on and become no 1 in the group. England is out.

- We tie with England, we move on, Algeria is out, either USA or England move on.

- We lose against England, but USA and Algeria tie. England and Slovenia move on.

When it comes to England, they only have one option: They must win! They are already in the knock out phase. And that's what makes them dangerous.

Before the World Cup, England was considered as one of the favorites, not only to be first in Group C, but to go all the way up and become champions of the world. Two disappointing matches later and they're fighting to survive. But isn't a lion the most dangerous when he's down? I think, that it will be extremely hard for Slovenia not to lose against England. I have no idea, what kind of tactics will our coach Kek use against the English team, but whatever he'll do, it will be extremely hard to defend the wounded and highly motivated English players. I think just defending over 90min is not a good idea. Slovenia need to play, they need to attack, because that's the best defense. They need need to shoot from afar, because the English keeper is always a weak point. But they also need to play smart, like they did against USA in the first half. I'm sure English are stronger, more physical. Who knows what Rooney will do, if he's mad. I think it may become a bigger battle than Slovenia vs. USA. Can our boys be strong enough to fight the English over 90min? I have my doubts, especially for the 2nd half. However, I am hopeful. The pressure on the Slovenian team is by far not as big as on the English, we have no issues within the team, there are no rifts, everyone supports each other and the whole country stands behind them. When it comes to England, that's a different story. English may be motivated, but they may want too much and try to hard to win without thinking straight.

So here's my prediction: Slovenia vs. England: 1-1

I think Slovenia may score the first goal in the first half and England will eventually tie in the second half. Then there will be chances on both sides, but our keeper Handanović will have a great day and save a lot of great shots.

When it comes to Algeria vs. USA, I think it will be 0-0, because USA only play well for one half and Algeria has a very strong defense and they're hard to play. It will be a tough game as well.

Of course I'd love to see Slovenia win, even if it's 1-0. It would be a historic win and an amazing achievement. Even if they only tie with England, it would be equally great, because we move on to the round of 16 as well. But there's a possibility, that a worst case scenario happens and both England and USA win and the chances for that are not that bad. It's something I really dread and strongly hope that it won't happen. Algeria, we need your help in this. I really hope you play well and at least tie with USA. I know you can do it.

We'll see what happens on Wednesday. Anything can happen basically and I would not dare to say which team will definitely advance to the round of 16. Any of the team has a real chance, if only they play well and give us a great match, everyone will respect the outcome, whatever it may be.

May the best teams win! Good luck to Slovenia.

Laughing at: The Daily Mail using Slovakian flag instead of Slovenian

[Sources: Left photo, right photo (my friend Lai San), Group C, ref]

Analyzing your votes

And musing about the World Cup

A while ago, I asked you, my readers, to delurk and tell me why you started to follow my blog. I must say the results of the polls were quite amusing to read. I won't go into every detail, let me just sum up everything in few short notes:

- Most of us found each other through blogging and commenting

- Many people like everything I write. Topic wise fun stuff, travel and women are popular

- Most people have fond feelings towards me, only few were bored, one hated me, lol

- Two people love me! I know one of them, but who is the other one? Ooh, spooky, hehe.

Thank you all, who voted on my poll and left such sweet comments. I'm really happy that I've met so many awesome, funny and interesting people through blogging. That's what drives me to continue. Really thanks, everybody.

I'm currently totally immersed in the World Cup. I'm watching it since Italy 1990, it's my favorite sport event. But this year is very special to me, because our Slovenian team doesn't only take part, the guys play really well. So for another two weeks, my blog will mostly be about football and all the things that surround it.

What are you doing during the World Cup?

Now Americans know where Slovenia is

"Slovenia map" and "Where is Slovenia" topped Google search after yesterday's game

If you watched yesterday's soccer game between Slovenia and USA, you probably watched one of the best games of the tournament so far. Slovenia tied with USA 2:2 and played better than the American team throughout most parts of the game and probably surprising a lot of American viewers, who watched the game at home and didn't even know, where Slovenia is. Right after the game, "slovenia map" was one of the most searched phrases on Google USA, along with "where is Slovenia" and "location Slovenia". I remember that before the match, some American netizens teased us with Where is Slovenia, but after the game, the joke became a serious matter. One thing is for sure: Much more Americans now know where Slovenia is and I hope they will remember it well. This World Cup is really the best promotion we ever had for our small country. Hats down to our guys.

More on the subject from US websites:

Huffington Post: 'Slovenia Map' tops Google with confused searches for 'Where Is Slovenia?'
DAILYNEWS365: USA-Slovenia 2-2 World Cup draw tops Slovenia Map on Google search

Update: Apparently some English need more lessons. Check this: Slovakian flag on Dailymail

[Photo from HuffPost]