Nelson Mandela celebrates South Africa’s winning bid to host in 2010

With only 230 days left until the World Cup finals begin in South Africa, the qualification round is coming to a close as the fate of Nations is being determined.

In order to win an invitation to compete in the finals tournament, countries are separated by geographic location to vie in round-robin format to attempt to gain the highest number of points within their set groups.

South Africa, which is the host country for the Cup games, wins an automatic bid.

“Babes of World Cup” Photo Galleries are always popular.

Other Qualifying groups are as follows:

Africa: 53 nations compete to submit 5 teams other than South Africa.
- Ivory Coast
- Ghana
-Qualifying matches still remain, but Cameroon, Tunisia, and Algeria are looking like winners.

Asia: 43 nations compete to submit up to 5 teams. 4 are guaranteed; 1 will face the Oceanic winner for the 5th possible spot
-Australia
-North Korea
-South Korea
-Japan
-Bahrain will face New Zealand for the fifth spot

Europe: 53 Nations compete to submit 13 teams
-Denmark
-Germany
-Netherlands
-Slovakia
-Switzerland
-England
-Spain
-Italy
-Serbia
-The last 4 spots will be determined by playoff matches Ireland V France, Portugal V Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece-Ukraine, Russia-Slovenia

North America, Central America, and the Caribbean: 35 nations compete to submit up to 4 teams. 3 are guaranteed; 1 will face the South American playoff winner for the 4th possible spot
-United States
-Mexico
-Honduras
-Costa Rica will face Uruguay for the fourth spot

Oceania: 10 nations compete to submit up to 1 team.
-New Zealand will face Bahrain for the spot

South America: 10 nations compete to submit up to 5 teams.  4 are guaranteed; 1 will face the CONCACAF playoffs winner for the 5th possible spot.
-Brazil
-Argentina
-Chile
-Paraguay
-Uruguay will face Costa Rica for the 5th spot.

Play begins June 11th with the Final being held July 11th in Johannesburg.

South Africa has been preparing their grounds for the influx of millions of football fanatics.

Head to FIFA for all the information you need to get hooked in.  All national shirts should go on sale around late April/early May for those who want to wear their support.

If Ireland qualify by defeating France, I’m going to have some decisions to make.  Ireland, England, and the USA…with England standing the best chance.

And to take home the Cup?  I think we’re in for some amazing football and serious competition but Spain are my prediction to steal the cup from defending champions Italy.

Hot slice of man Fabio Cannavaro lifts the cup for Italy in 2006

Who is excited?  Get in the mood by remembering some of these great goals from 2006 with a little help from the Arcade Fire:

In 1882, in a cricket match which would change history at the Oval, Australia beat England for the first time on English soil.

The Sporting Times newspaper wrote an obituary satirically stating “English Cricket has died.  The body will be cremated and the Ashes will be taken to Australia.”

England’s next tour to Australia in 1883 continued the joke, with Australian women presenting the English side with a small terracotta urn as England had successfully completed it’s “Quest to regain the Ashes.”

And so the tradition began.  At least every 2 years since 1882, England and Australia have met in a 5 series Test, 2 innings per match, alternating host country.  And every two years people in both England and Australia band and bond together to take in the event.

The tiny terracotta urn, holding the Ashes of English Cricket

I’m a little bit jealous. I’m jealous that one sporting event so ingrained in history and rivalry and National pride that can bring about so much fun for spectators simply doesn’t exist for Americans.

Sure we have wonderful rivalries like the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Cowboys and the Redskins, but on a National level, those events are divisive. The last time I recall what seemed to be all of America gathered around their televisions cheering for a countryman in a sporting tournament was Michael Phelps.  And we, as a nation, certainly had Phelps Phever, and it was fun while it lasted.

But we’ve got nothing dating back to the 19th century.  We’ve got the World Cup, the Olympics, Lance Armstrong crushing the Tour de France for years, but interest is among niche groups.

In the 2002 World Cup, extremely Catholic nations Spain and Ireland clashed on a Sunday.  I remember hearing reports that Archbishops had granted their diocese a little lenience in Sunday Mass obligations.  I thought this was brilliant.  Shops close down, pubs get licenses to stay open all night, even religious leaders let people off the hook all so as a nation, people can collectively show pride and support in ways we simply don’t experience in the US.

Even when the nation has been hypnotized by epic feats like the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey match between the US and Russia, or Phelps’ performance, or the US Women’s 1999 World Cup victory, the ties have been a one-off.  The victories have been sweet, they’ve even been historical, but they’re not part of an ongoing tradition that wins the interest of an entire nation.

Well, we can either challenge Canada to some sort of sporting tournament and start laying the foundation for our own form of the Ashes, or we can live vicariously through our friends across the pond and down under.

Canadian Beez team members and readers, the guantlet has been thrown.

English Victory in 2005 was reason for the entire country to celebrate

The event itself is magnificent, but imagine the victory party afterward.  America could use a little bit of that.  It seems the only time we come together is when crisis like September 11 hits. Sure, our last inauguration was great for many Americans, but to participate as a practicing Republican, one had to be a great losing sport, and simply celebrate Obama’s presidency as a tribute to a historical moment.  Imagine that feeling if shared by everyone, with all the same dramatic flair, recognized heroes, victories, losses, and camaraderie but without the stress and damage of war and politics.

The Ashes: An amazing tradition that would do any nation a world of good.

The third test in the five test series begins July 30 and with 1 draw, 1 England victory, and 3 tests remaining, the urn is still anyone’s.

Andrew Flintoff, Legend. He’s just announced his retirement from test cricket
but managed to take five wickets in the Ashes second test.

T.Magic, an artist hailing from London, England, formed his business mantra from an early age: Art is my Hustle. Seen above is just that, available in a set of 10 signed and numbered acrlyic on canvas these 4 x 4 inch joints are dope. Although the above image shows 9, the site says there are 10. You can also buy certain ones individually as well. The full set will run you £400.00, while the individual ones will cost £50.00. Visit www.artismyhustle.com for more info.

Gavin Watson’s photographs have been hailed by Terry Richardson and were the visual inspiration for last year’s This is England. His newest book, Skins & Punks comes out next month and it is beautiful. More than a document of youth culture in 1980s Britain, Skins & Punks is a document of exuberant youth.

Set against the gray tones of Thatcher-led England the working-class kids in these photos pop off of the page in a way that could only be captured by one of them. That one was young Gavin who at the age of 13 decided to buy a camera instead of the binoculars he had been coveting. Right around that time, Watson also started to get into Two-Tone and skinhead culture. This book digs into his archives and, with little in the way of text, tells the story of Gavin and his pals from 1978-85.

Working-class England always took special pride in its appearance and the skins in this book illustrate this perfectly. Classic brands like Doc Marten, Fred Perry, Levi Strauss, Ben Sherman, Crombie are all over this book making it worth checking out if only for the fashion.

See below for some pics…

Skins & Punks – Lost Archives 1978-1985 available for pre-order here.