World Cup Fever!

[Mel]

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 4, Issue 2 (August 2010).

World Cup Fever!
By Brittany (.Brittany.)

The 19th FIFA World Cup took place from June 11th to July 11th. Even though it was hosted in South Africa, you probably heard many screaming fans cheering their teams on as well as the heart break and devastation when their favourite team lost. There were many heated moments, especially as the clock was running out of time, or when there was a penalty kick; whether or not they missed it is a totally different story.

Below, you will learn more about the top eight teams, that managed to reach the quarter finals. The teams that did not reach the quarter finals are: South Africa, France, Greece, Nigeria, Slovenia, Algeria, Australia, Serbia, Denmark, Cameroon, New Zealand, Italy, Cote d'Ivoire, Korea DPR, Switzerland, and Honduras.

The teams that didn't make it out of the round of sixteen, but did make it out of the group stages are: Korea, USA, Slovakia, Chile, Mexico, England, Japan, and Portugal.

Quarter Finals

Ghana is a country that is located in West Africa. They have a population of twenty three million. They did reasonably well within their group matches, winning one, losing one, and tied one. They faced Uruguay in the quarter finals, and lost in penalty kicks. They played five games, scoring five goals, and having four scored against them. Asamoah Gyan was their top scorer.

Argentina is a country located in South America. They have a population of forty million. They did really well in their group, winning all three games. Eventually, they had to face Germany, who knocked them out in the quarter finals. They played five games, scoring ten goals, and having six goals scored against them. Gonzalo Higuain is their top scorer.

With a population of one hundred and ninety two million people, Brazil is the largest country in South America. They did well in their group stages, by winning two games, and tied one. Netherlands knocked them out of the quarter finals. They played a total of five games, and scoring nine goals, but having four goals scored against them. Luis Fabiano was listed as their top goal scorer.

Paraguay is a tiny country in South America. They have a tiny population of only six million. Spain knocked them out in the quarter finals. However, they are small, but mighty, as they won one of their group matches, and tied the other two. They played a total of five games, scoring only three goals, and having two scored against them. Antolin Alcaraz, who also happens to be a defender, is their top scorer.

Semi Finals

Uruguay is a country located on the southeastern part of South America. This country has a population of just over three million, yet has an impressive amount of Olympic and continental titles. They did well in their group, winning two games, and one tied. They were knocked out of the semi-finals by the Netherlands. They played a total of six games, scoring nine goals, and having five scored on them. Overall, Diego Forlan was their top scorer.

Germany is a country located in Cental Europe. They have a population of eighty-one million. They also did well within their group stages, winning two, and losing one. They were knocked out of the semi finals by Spain, but in the game for third place, they beat Uruguay, which meant Germany claimed third place. They had played seven games, scoring sixteen goals, and having five scored against them. Their top scorer was Thomas Muller.

Finals

Netherlands, also known as Holland, is a country located in North-West Europe. They have a population of sixteen million people. They did very well in their group stage, winning all three of their games. They played seven games, scoring twelve goals, and having six scored against them. Wesley Sneijder was their top scorer.

Spain is a country located in Southwestern Europe. They have a population of forty-six million. They did well in their group stages, winning two games, and losing one. They also managed to win the world cup in a gruelling game against Netherlands. Saved breakaways, free kicks missed, yellow cards left right and centre what a game it was to watch! All in all, Spain played seven games, scoring eight goals, and having two scored on them. Their top scorer was David Villa.

Now that the World Cup is over, what's everyone going to do? They have to wait another four years for the next world cup: the next one will be in 2014, held in Brazil! It is also the 20th world cup!