Who are we rooting for? Switzerland, of course. Yes, I am talking about the World Cup! Yes, Switzerland is still in the game. Hurray!
It seems, Switzerland is the most multicultural of all the 32 teams taking part in the 2014 football World Cup in Brazil. 15 out of 23 players in the Swiss squad are of foreign origin. At this point, I not sure if we should we be proud or concerned?
A new infographic of World Cup players and their nationalities and family connections currently doing the rounds on the internet and social media shows that the Swiss team is the most cosmopolitan at the tournament. The graphic created by Australian designer James Offer shows that 15 Swiss players have 21 different family connections to other countries, ahead of Australia (18), Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and France (each with 16 connections).
Many of the Swiss squad are second-generation immigrants, who have at least one foreign parent. It’s not unusual for Swiss players to hold more than one passport such as Philippe Senderos who has Spanish and Serbian parents.
Click on the graphic below for a full interactive version:
Should you have a football crazed son like I do, you'll know more about football than you care to admit. With the World Cup 2014 kicking off tomorrow, I thought I'd share a fun video (no, I am not a fan of McDonald!) to get you into the spirit. Viva Brazil, let the games begin and may the best team win.
A few weeks ago, I came across a blog called Parisfamily. And guess what, they're from Ticino!
They design, create and decorate. Their blog brings together all the little and big things that make life beautiful. You'll find inspiration for chores, recipes and many ideas to do yourself. The photos are delicate and imaginative.
Their latest posts will provide you with b&w printed flags of all the teams participating in the upcoming Football World Cup in Brazil for your children to colour. Collect the nations flags each week until you have all the groups. Colour all the flags and create a garland to decorate your room. Your kids are gonna love it!
Now that I have recuperated from my very late Sunday night - yes, I did stay up half the night to watch the Super Bowl - I thought I'd share my two favourite ads with you.
In case anyone doubted the popularity of the Super Bowl, let this Twitter stat stand out to you: during the game, 26,131,270 million tweets were sent out about it. More women were tweeting about the game than men. 51.54% of the tweets came from women during the game. People liked to tweet about the ads. 16% of the total tweets about the Super Bowl – that’s over 4 million tweets – were about the ads.
At an average cost of $3.8 million per 30-second spot, I don't know which companies scored season-winning touchdowns but these two really made me smile.
As I am writing this post I am watching the Pre-Show of the Super Bowl 2012 waiting for the clock to strike twelve which is when the game starts. I most probably won't make it to halftime, eventhough the thought of watching Madonna's show dedicated to her Dad does keep me hanging.
In the meantime I thought I'd preview the most anticipated commercials with my readers. With more than 111 million fans expected to watch this year's Big Game, the Super Bowl is an advertiser's biggest stage. And they're willing to pay $3.5 million for a 30-second spot.
They're willing to pay because last year a record 111 million Americans tuned in to see the game, making it the most-watched single program of any kind in U.S. television history.
Many of this year's commercials are already online. About 20 of about 36 Super Bowl advertisers put their TV commercials on the Internet prior to today's game. That's a big difference from previous years when only a handful of companies leaked their TV ads.
Let's take a look at some of the TV ads people might be talking about tomorrow:
Kia Optima "A Dream Car. For Real Life"
Motley Crue, a man riding a rhino, former UFC champ Chuck Liddell and SI swimsuit model Adriana Lima: This one takes you on a wild ride. It's not over-the-top hilarious, but you have to love the subtle message.
The Bark Side: 2012 Volkswagen Commercial
In this extended version of our 2012 Game Day commercial, the sporty, all-new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle inspires Bolt the dog to get in shape, and an intergalactic superstar makes a surprise appearance.
Ferris Bueller-Honda CR-V
The official 2012 Honda CR-V "Matthew's Day Off" is a fun homage to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" with actor Matthew Broderick. We've all seen it, but it will likely be one of this year's best.
Sketchers-Dog Racing
By now you've heard of the controversy: Dog-racing to promote a new shoe from Sketchers? Some greyhound dog advocacy groups are not happy. We've only seen a teaser so far, so obviously we want to see the entire commercial.
Priceline-The Negotiator
William Shatner dies in a firey bush crash, doing what he does best: Give us great deals on Priceline.com. But will Priceline name a new spokesperson now that Captain Kirk is dead?
"Italians can't win the game against you, but you can lose the game against the Italians."
Johan Cryuff, Dutch soccer player.
Support the Swiss NationalUnder-20football teamagainst Italyin thepenultimateround of the "FourNations" Tournamentwhichalso involvesGermanyandPoland. Martin Tümpler, the technicalcoach,has lined uptwo Ticiniese players: the attackerDraganMihajlovic(Bellinzona)andgoalkeeperMiodragMitrovic(Locarno).
TheItalian Nationalteam coached byFrancescoRocca, does not includeprominent names,but there are manyinteresting elementsofdifferentItalian teamsinSerieA,such asChievoSampdoriaJuventus,Fiorentina,NapoliandCagliari. Thematch will be refereed be Mr.ArninkArne(Germany).
So, off you go and root for the Swiss boys this afternoon. My son might actually cheer on the Italians but it should be fun either way.
Where: Stadio di Cornaredo, Via Trevano 100, 6904 Lugano
When: Friday, March 25th, 2011
Time: 18.00
Price:CHF.10.- for adults .Free admission forchildren under16 years.
Should you want to know more about European football (soccer) have peak at Expat boy's blog:
