decapitated Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44385018? Quote A Bangladeshi farmer has shown his support for Germany's World Cup hopes in an unusual way - with a home-made flag 5.5km (3.4 miles) long. Amjad Hossain, 69, says his love for the country began after he used German homeopathic medicine for a gallstone. He started working on the flag two years later when Germany hosted the 2006 World Cup, and has continued to add to it in subsequent tournaments. He has even sold land to buy enough black, red and gold fabric. The flag was unveiled at a school in Mr Hossain's hometown of Magura, around 60 miles (100 km) to the west of the capital Dhaka, on Tuesday. According to AFP, he plans to display the flag at his local stadium if Germany gets through to the second round of the World Cup and said of his favourite team: "I love German football. They play beautiful football." This is not the first time Mr Hossain has made headlines with his flag. During the last World Cup in 2014 - when the flag was a mere 3.5 km long - the German embassy in Bangladesh awarded him a life-time membership of the German national team's official fan club, a football, a team jersey and a certificate of appreciation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMLF Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 It's pretty embarrassing how people from those small footballing countries support foreign national teams like Germany, Brazil and Argentina so enthusiastically, an enthusiasm not even Germans, Brazilians and Argentinians have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordan Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 6 minutes ago, PMLF said: It's pretty embarrassing how people from those small footballing countries support foreign national teams like Germany, Brazil and Argentina so enthusiastically, an enthusiasm not even Germans, Brazilians and Argentinians have. Gallstones man, they can mess with a man's mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordan Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 German fan drives to Russia in tractor. Brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1981 Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Quote A BIT STICKY: England’s World Cup sticker mugshots show our bid for glory is doomed already Analysis by Colombian researchers found the meanest defences have the angriest sticker book mugshots - and England's back line is just too happy. ENGLAND’S World Cup bid is doomed — if the Panini sticker book photos are anything to go by. Analysis from the past 12 tournaments reveals squads with the angriest faces have the meanest defences. And those with the happiest mugshots go on to score the most goals. Sadly for loyal fans of the Three Lions, Gareth Southgate’s team do poorly on both counts. Colombian researcher Dr César Mantilla warned: “Tunisia and Panama look more expressive than England and Belgium in Group G.” The scientists, whose work is published in the journal Economic Psychology, used facial recognition software to analyse the expressions of players in sticker books for every World Cup since 1970. They examined 4,318 pictures from 304 teams. The software looks at 500 points on faces to assess players’ emotional state. Those with the angriest and happiest looking teams had a better goal difference after the group stages. Researcher Dr Astrid Hopfensitz said: “Both anger and happiness are emotions associated to dominance. “Many things intervene in the selection of the photos, such as how the player is posing, which photo is selected by team officials.” Portugal were the happiest side, followed by Germany. Argentina were the angriest along with Tunisia. Uruguay and Switzerland had the best of both — meaning they should have a good defence and attack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
decapitated Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-44480646 Quote A self-professed "mad football fan" has draped a huge flag across the front of his house to cheer on England in the World Cup. John Jupp, from Blyton, Lincolnshire, said the flag measures 1,250 sq ft (116 sq m) in size and completely covers the front of his house. England fans in cars have been showing their support by honking their horns, he said. Mr Jupp backed England to progress to the quarter finals of the tournament. "It turns heads and people are always beeping as they go past," he said. Mr Jupp has to use a rear entrance to get into his home as the flag covers the entirety of the front. He has also had to design a makeshift sign asking for all deliveries to go around the back. Mr Jupp, who describes himself as "a mad football fan who loves international football", bought the flag from China in 2010 for £380. It is the fourth outing for the gargantuan St George's Cross. Mr Jupp said this summer's World Cup could be its last outing as it was now "a bit shabby". However, he has not ruled out buying a replacement, if he can convince his wife it is a good idea. It caused a "bit of trouble" for him during the European Championships in 2016 when his wife said "no more". "But I've got her round again and she is fine," Mr Jupp said. On England's chances, Mr Jupp said he was confident Gareth Southgate's team would make it through the group stages, but thinks they could lose to Germany, on penalties, in the quarter finals. "We have a fantastic squad this time round," he added. England's first game is against Tunisia on Monday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 No story necessary Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Cartman Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Guess this can go here KdB on Januzaj Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
decapitated Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-worldcup-nigeria-chickens/russia-cries-foul-over-nigerian-fans-world-cup-chicken-requests-idUKKBN1JB2BM Quote Nigerian fans cheering on their national team in Saturday’s World Cup match against Croatia will be missing an important item in their supporter’s toolkit: chickens. Live chickens are sometimes seen at soccer matches in Nigeria where fans paint them in the green and white colors of their national flag before holding them aloft and leading crowd chanting. But officials in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, where Nigeria will take on Croatia on Saturday in their first outing at the World Cup, have said animals will not be allowed in the stadium. Andrei Yermak, Kaliningrad’s minister for culture and tourism, said that whilst there had been no official requests to do so, some Nigerian fans had asked if it would be possible to bring chickens to the match. “It was explained to the fans that according to safety regulations, it is not permitted to enter the stadium with live animals,” he said in written comments to Reuters on Friday. Nigeria’s soccer federation and the Nigerian embassy in Moscow were not immediately available for comment. Russia’s Interfax news agency had earlier quoted Yermak as saying local authorities would still help Nigerian fans get the most out of the tournament. “We will of course advise them where to buy a chicken,” Interfax cited him as saying. “We are ready to meet the most eccentric requests.” Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1981 Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 this is sensational Quote How one fan gained a bunch of weight to see Peru play in the World Cup Some fans will go to any lengths to get a ticket for the World Cup, and one Peruvian has taking it to the extreme by gaining 25 kilograms in order to qualify for a special ‘obese seat.’ This is Peru’s first World Cup in 36 years, and according to FIFA statistics, Peruvians have acquired the eighth most tickets of any country in the world with 43,582 tickets bought. But, when there were no more tickets available there were still many people who missed out. A man who was identified as Miguel F, a 24-year-old from Lima, didn’t manage to get a ticket before they all sold out and decided to take drastic measures to get a seat in Russia. “The only tickets that were left on the FIFA website were tickets for disabled people,” Miguel told Clarin. “I looked at the requirements; be in a wheelchair, something specific for women and suffering from morbid obesity, over 35 BMI, body mass index. I was at 30, and I did the math. I needed to put on 25 kg.” He bought the ticket immediately and then set his sights on gaining the weight he needed in three months, which involved eating a lot of carbohydrates. Thankfully he managed to get a medical certificate proving his obesity and getting him into the match between Peru and Denmark on Saturday. Miguel told Argentina’s La Nacion that his mother was worried about him, but that he still swam two kilometres a day in order to avoid other negative health effects from the weight gain. Many may think this an extreme length to go to in order to see a football match, but he is not the only one. “I know people who sold their car,” Marco García, a businessman from Lima told La Nacion. “And one of my friends was thinking about breaking their leg, also to get a disabled ticket, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.” At the last World Cup in Brazil in 2014, El Comercio reported that people also took advantage of the disabled tickets to enter in wheelchairs. However, when pictures were released of these people standing up to applaud their teams, they sparked worldwide indignation. This year FIFA required medical certificates in order to qualify for a disabled seat, requiring people like Miguel to take rather a more drastic approach. Peru plays their first World Cup match this Saturday against Denmark at 11 a.m. local time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klimowicz Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 On 15/06/2018 at 12:56, Barry Cartman said: Guess this can go here KdB on Januzaj Came in here to post this too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1985 Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 On 09/06/2018 at 08:09, Nordan said: German fan drives to Russia in tractor. Brilliant. If only they’d thought of that in the 40s... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weezer Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Wasn't really sure where to put this but it's pretty cool and we don't have a general thread.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Cartman Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 https://streamable.com/bqnnw Brilliant (if he didn't then get brutally murdered) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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