Brazilian Team's Profile

Our Version:

It almost goes without saying that five-time world champions Brazil enter every FIFA World Cup™ heavily favoured to add yet another star to the legendary Amarelinha shirt. Having played for A Seleção at three editions of the global showpiece, coach Dunga is fully aware that any outcome other than a sixth world crown will likely be considered a failure.
The Road to South Africa
Supporters’ vitriolic reaction to Brazil's results and performances, particularly early in the qualifying phase, illustrates just how demanding the fans can be. Despite ending the preliminary event on top of the standings, recording nine wins, seven draws and two defeats, and clinching a South Africa 2010 berth with three matchdays to spare, the Auriverde camp was subjected to a torrent of abuse after successive goalless home draws against Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia. In April 2009, Dunga's charges really hit their stride, racking up five consecutive wins, including two landmark away results: a 4-0 humbling of Uruguay in Montevideo and a 3-1 defeat of arch-rivals Argentina in Rosario. It was the latter which confirmed their passage to South Africa.

The Star Slayers
Picking just a few names from a squad and country of such prolific footballing talent seems almost futile, though 2009 did underline the importance of certain key players. Starting between the sticks, we have keeper Julio Cesar, whose safe hands are a vital feature of A Seleção's miserly defence. The triumphant FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 campaign cemented the enigmatically mono-sobriqueted Kaka's place as the man Brazil looks to for inspiration, a fact reflected by his taking of the Adidas Golden Ball. Meanwhile up front, Luis Fabiano proved himself a truly world-class finisher, notching five goals, including a priceless brace in the 3-2 final win over the USA.

The Coach
Upon taking the job in August 2006, Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, better known as Dunga (another in the tradition of mysteriously one-named Brazilians), had already experienced the full gambit of emotions that come with playing for Brazil. Having been among the scapegoats targeted for the disappointment at Italy 1990, the powerful midfielder skippered Brazil to victory four years later in the USA. A rookie to the coaching game upon accepting the post, Dunga answered doubts to his credentials by guiding A Canarinha to triumph in the 2007 Copa America & the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, and qualifying the team for South Africa 2010 with room to spare.

Records
Brazil is preparing to contest its 19th consecutive FIFA World Cup finals. Brazil is the only country to have taken part in every edition of the global showpiece. A Seleção is also the only squad to have won the title five times, amassing a total of 64 victories, 14 draws and 14 defeats in 92 games played. Between 15 June 2008 and 11 October 2009, Brazil went unbeaten for 19 consecutive games.
According to A Seleção
"We have to learn to live with the favourites' tag. We mustn't let it turn into something negative, as it has done in previous years." – Kaka, following the win over Argentina which clinched qualification.


FIFA's Version:

It almost goes without saying that Brazil, the five-times world champions, go into every FIFA World Cup™ heavily favoured to add yet another star to the legendary Amarelinha shirt. Having played for A Seleção at three editions of the global showpiece, coach Dunga will be fully aware that any outcome other than a sixth world crown will likely be considered a failure.

The road to South Africa
The fans' at times vitriolic reaction to Brazil's results and performances particularly early on in the qualifying phase illustrates just how demanding they can be. Despite ending the preliminary event on top of the standings, after recording nine wins, seven draws and two defeats, and having clinched a South Africa 2010 berth with three matchdays to spare, the Auriverde camp had been subjected to a torrent of abuse after successive goalless home draws against Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia. Dunga's charges really hit their stride from April 2009, however, racking up five wins in a row including two landmark away results: a 4-0 humbling of Uruguay in Montevideo and a 3-1 defeat of arch-rivals Argentina in Rosario. It was the latter which confirmed their passage to South Africa.

The star players
Picking just a few names from a country so prolific at producing footballing talent is no easy task, though 2009 did underline the importance of certain key players. Starting between the sticks and we have keeper Julio Cesar, whose safe hands are a vital feature of A Seleção's miserly defence. The triumphant FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 campaign cemented Kaka's place as the man Brazil look to for inspiration, a fact reflected in him taking the adidas Golden ball. Meanwhile up front, Luis Fabiano proved himself a truly world-class finisher with five goals including a priceless brace in the 3-2 final win over the USA.

The coach
Upon taking the job in August 2006, Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, better known as Dunga, had already experienced the full gambit of emotions that come with playing for Brazil. Indeed, having been among the scapegoats targeted after the disappointment at Italy 1990, the powerful midfielder skippered Brazil to victory four years later in the USA. Despite the Brazilian national team position being his first coaching role, Dunga answered those who doubted his credentials by guiding A Canarinha to triumph in the 2007 Copa America, the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 and qualifying the team for South Africa 2010 with room to spare.

Records
- Brazil are preparing to contest their 19th consecutive FIFA World Cup finals. They are the only country to have taken part in every edition of the global showpiece.
- They are also the only country to have won the title five times: amassing a total of 64 victories, 14 draws and 14 defeats in 92 games played.
- Between 15 June 2008 and 11 October 2009, A Seleção went 19 games unbeaten.

What they said
"We have to learn to live with the favourites' tag. We mustn't let it turn into something negative, as it has done in previous years." Kaka, following the win over Argentina which clinched qualification.

Our, check out the original here.

Brazil's profile highlights two of FIFA's biggest problems: (1) Singular/plural errors. We can't tell you how many times a team or country has been referred to as a plurality, rather than a single entity.
(2) Inconsistency. If you recall, the England profile (check it out to refresh) noted "Records" in a paragraph. Here, and on other profiles, the "Records" section is a bulleted list.

2010 World Cup Group Draw Article

Our Version:

Draw Ignites FIFA World Cup Fever
(FIFA.com) Friday 4 December 2009

The 32 teams participating at next year's FIFA World Cup™ finals discovered their fate this evening, when the Final Draw for South Africa 2010 took place in Cape Town.

While South Africans learned that the host nation's Opening Match on 11 June would be played against Mexico at Soccer City, it was the Group D line-up that caused arguably the biggest stir: Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana will battle it out for two qualifying places for the Round of 16. Two nations with passionate support will depart the tournament early. The possibility of a high-profile casualty from Group G is up, too, as Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal were drawn together.

An estimated global television audience of 200 million joined the 2,000 invited guests in the Drawing Hall. Together, they enjoyed the colourful, entertaining ceremony. No doubt it was designed to be an exhilarating an evening, with such African sporting luminaries as long-distance runner Haile Gebreselassie, rugby star John Smit, cricketer Makhaya Ntini, and footballers Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu assisting with the draw, along with help from English superstar footballer David Beckham. But the revealing of the eight groups was the night’s undisputed centrepiece.

The eye-catching encounter between England and USA, scheduled for 12 June, was an early highlight of the draw, evoking the Americans' famous 1-0 win over their transatlantic cousins at Brazil 1950. Elsewhere, Argentina, Nigeria and Greece will get the chance to revive their group rivalry from 1994, while the heavyweight collision between Portugal and Brazil on 25 June has the feel of a derby.

The groups for the FIFA 2010 World Cup are:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

A Night to Remember
The attendance of aforementioned stars ensured a dazzling event from start to finish. A welcome sequence from Lions Head, Cape Town’s dramatic-backdrop of a mountain, segued into award-winning musician Johnny Clegg performed 'Scatterlings of Africa', a song made famous by the Academy Award-winning film “Rain Main”.

Fittingly, the first speech of the night came from the man without whom a FIFA World Cup in South Africa would never have been possible: former president Nelson Mandela. The 91-year-old, addressing attendees via special video message, urged his nation to make the most of their opportunity as tournament hosts. "We must strive for excellence in our hosting of the World Cup, while at the same time ensuring the event leaves a lasting benefit to all our people," he said.

Two special presidents followed Mr. Mandela’s address: FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma showed their excitement for both the Final Draw and the 2010 FIFA World Cup itself in an entertaining dialogue lasting several minutes. Giancarlo Abete, President of the Italian Football Federation, then handed over the holders' FIFA World Cup Trophy to Mr Blatter, confirmation that sport's Holy Grail is in South Africa and ready to be contested in 2010’s global showpiece.

Legendary Portugal striker Eusebio, born in neighbouring Mozambique, was introduced to the crowd before examples of the 'Win in Africa, With Africa' campaign were showcased for an expectant audience. Beninese singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo duly took to the stage to perform her Grammy-nominated song 'Agolo'.

The first duty of the show's guest presenter, Academy Award-winning actress, Hollywood producer and proud South African Charlize Theron, was to show off the official 2010 Match Ball, adidas's Jabulani, it’s name meaning 'to celebrate' in Zulu. Soweto’s Gospel Choir continued the theme of happiness with a lively rendition of Pata Pata before the arrival of Draw Master and FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, signalled the moment of truth.

Some of the assembled coaches will have headed away feeling confident, others concerned; regardless, at least all now know what lies in store as they begin their planning and preparation for next year's showpiece.

FIFA's Original

Draw ignites FIFA World Cup fever

(FIFA.com) Friday 4 December 2009

The 32 teams participating at next year's FIFA World Cup™ finals discovered their fate this evening when the Final Draw for South Africa 2010 took place in Cape Town.

While South Africans learned that the host nation's Opening Match on 11 June would be played against Mexico at Soccer City, it was the Group D line-up which caused arguably the biggest stir. Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana will battle it out for two qualifying places for the Round of 16, meaning two nations with passionate support will depart the tournament early. There could be a high-profile casualty from Group G too, after Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal were drawn together.

An estimated global television audience of 200 million joined the 2,000 invited guests in the Draw Hall in watching the colourful and entertaining ceremony unfold. With African sporting stars such as athlete Haile Gebreselassie, rugby player John Smit, cricketer Makhaya Ntini, and footballers Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu assisting with the draw, along with England's David Beckham, it was always going to be an exhilarating occasion, but the undoubted centrepiece came when the eight groups were revealed.

An early highlight of the draw was the eye-catching encounter between England and USA, scheduled for 12 June, which evokes the Americans' famous 1-0 win over their transatlantic cousins at Brazil 1950. Argentina, Nigeria and Greece will get the chance to revive their group rivalry from 1994, while the heavyweight collision between Portugal and Brazil on 25 June also has the feel of a derby.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

A night to remember
With such an array of stars, the event dazzled from start to finish. After a welcome sequence from Lions Head, the mountain that provides Cape Town with such a dramatic backdrop, award-winning musician Johnny Clegg performed 'Scatterlings of Africa', a song made famous by the Academy Award-winning film Rain Main.

Fittingly, the first speech of the night came from the man without whom a FIFA World Cup in South Africa would never have been possible: the country's former president Nelson Mandela. The 91-year-old, speaking in a special video message, urged his nation to make the most of their opportunity as tournament hosts. "We must strive for excellence in our hosting of the World Cup, while at the same time ensuring the event leaves a lasting benefit to all our people," he said.

Next it was time for two special presidents to take to the stage. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma showed their excitement at both the Final Draw and the 2010 FIFA World Cup itself in an entertaining dialogue lasting several minutes. Giancarlo Abete, President of the Italian Football Federation, then handed over the holders' FIFA World Cup Trophy to Mr Blatter, confirmation that sport's holy grail is in South Africa and ready to be contested next year.

Legendary Portugal striker Eusebio, born in neighbouring Mozambique, was introduced to the crowd before examples of the 'Win in Africa, With Africa' campaign were showcased before an expectant audience. Beninese singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo duly took to the stage to perform her Grammy-nominated song 'Agolo'.

The first duty of the show's guest presenter, Academy Award-winning actress, Hollywood producer and proud South African Charlize Theron, was to show off the official 2010 Match Ball, adidas's Jabulani, a name meaning 'to celebrate' in Zulu. Soweto’s Gospel Choir continued the theme of happiness with a lively rendition of Pata Pata before the arrival of Draw Master and FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, signalled the moment of truth.

Some of the assembled coaches will have headed away feeling confident, others concerned by the task presented here, yet at least all now know what lies in store as they begin their planning and preparation for next year's showpiece.

Or, check it out here.

Team England's Profile

Our Version:

England Profile:

Having fallen flat at UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, South Africa 2010 maybe be English football’s “Golden Generation’s” last chance for international silver.

The recent appointment of head coach Fabio Capello has brought fresh vigour to the Three Lions' squad, many of whom, among them some of football’s most recognizable faces, have a point to prove after lacklustre displays under both Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren. With World Cup 2010 scheduled to take place in the South African winter, conditions will be ideal for the English players and their style; excuses will be at a premium should David Beckham and Co fall short once more.

The Road to South Africa
Following the disappointment of failing to secure entrance to UEFA EURO 2008, England bounced back in emphatic fashion in qualifying for South Africa. The team stormed to no fewer than nine wins from ten Group 6 games, scoring a European Zone high of 34 goals in the process. Their only defeat came in Ukraine, with qualification already secure.

The Star Player
Leading the team in both goals and commitment is Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney, whose response to shouldering primary responsibility for England's attack was finding the net nine times in as many games. Midfield duo Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard also chipped in, notching a four and three goals respectively. Rangy front-man Peter Crouch certainly made the most of limited opportunities by grabbing four goals in as many appearances, while Tottenham team-mate Jermain Defoe underlined his finishing prowess with three strikes in just 135 minutes on the field.

The Coach
Winner of three Serie A (with AC Milan, AS Roma and Juventus), and two-time La Liga champion with Real Madrid, Italian disciplinarian Capello wasted little time in instilling a renewed work ethic and squad spirit in an England packed with big-name stars and equally large egos. Qualification for South Africa 2010 with two games to spare and a solitary competitive defeat speak volumes for Capello's impact in his relatively short time in charge.

Previous FIFA World Cups
England has appeared at the global showpiece a total of eleven times, including their debut at Brazil 1950. Victors on home soil in 1966, their best performance on foreign soil came under the late Sir Bobby Robson at Italy 1990, when a side featuring the likes of Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne and David Platt reached the last four only to lose out on penalties to eventual winner West Germany.

Records
The 1-0 loss in Ukraine on 10 October 2009 ended a run of ten consecutive victories in FIFA World Cup qualification, which began with a 1-0 win over Austria in Manchester on 8 October 2005.

The Three Lions' leading scorer in qualifying, Wayne Rooney, was at his most dangerous between the 72nd and 76th minutes of play, during which period he scored no fewer than four times.


From the Lions’ Mouth:
"I think we've put the record straight, to some extent. Since the manager arrived, there has been nothing but hard work, our confidence has come on a million miles in the way the team is playing. Today typified everything about us in this campaign. It is the first step and we've qualified now but there's still a long way to go." – England midfielder Frank Lampard, following the 5-1 home win over Croatia which sealed qualification for South Africa 2010.

FIFA's Version:

Dubbed English football's ‘golden generation', only to fall flat at UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, South Africa 2010 may well be the last chance of international silverware for some of the most well-known faces in the world game.

However, he appointment of Fabio Capello appears to have brought fresh vigour to the Three Lions' squad, many of whom have a point to prove after lacklustre displays when it mattered most under Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren. With the tournament due to take place in the South African winter, conditions which should suit the English players and style, so excuses will be at a premium should David Beckham and Co fall short once more.

The road to South Africa
Following the disappointment of missing out on a place at the UEFA EURO 2008, England bounced back in emphatic fashion in qualifying for South Africa. Indeed, they stormed to no fewer than nine wins from ten Group 6 games, scoring a European Zone high of 34 goals in the process, with their only defeat coming in Ukraine with qualification already secured.

The star players
Leading from the front in terms of both goals and commitment was Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney, who responded to shouldering the main responsibility for England's attacking threat by finding the net nine times in as many games. Also chipping in were midfield duo Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, who hit four and three goals respectively. Rangy front-man Peter Crouch certainly made the most of limited opportunities by grabbing four goals in as many appearances, while Tottenham team-mate Jermain Defoe underlined his finishing prowess with three strikes in just 135 minutes on the field.

The coach
Winner of Serie A with AC Milan, AS Roma and Juventus, as well as a two-time La Liga champion at Real Madrid, Italian disciplinarian Capello wasted little time in instilling a renewed work ethic and squad spirit in an England squad packed with big-name stars and equally large egos. Qualification for South Africa 2010 with two games to spare and a solitary competitive defeat speak volumes for Capello's impact in his relatively short time in charge.

Previous FIFA World Cups
England have appeared at 11 previous editions of the global showpiece, including their debut at Brazil 1950. Victors on home soil in 1966, their best performance outside their own shores came under the late Sir Bobby Robson at Italy 1990, when a side featuring the likes of Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne and David Platt reached the last four only to lose out on penalties to eventual winners West Germany.

Records
The 1-0 loss in Ukraine on 10 October 2009 ended a run of ten consecutive victories in FIFA World Cup qualification, which England had begun with a 1-0 win over Austria in Manchester on 8 October 2005.

The Three Lions' leading scorer in qualifying, Wayne Rooney, was at his most dangerous between the 72nd and 76th minutes of play, during which period he scored no fewer than four times.

What they said
"I think we've put the record straight, to some extent. Since the manager arrived, there has been nothing but hard work, our confidence has come on a million miles in the way the team is playing. Today typified everything about us in this campaign. It is the first step and we've qualified now but there's still a long way to go." England midfielder Frank Lampard, following the 5-1 home win over Croatia which sealed qualification for South Africa 2010.

Or, check it out here

Inaugural Address

Dear Reader,

The purpose of this blog is simple: to draw attention to FIFA’s alarming grammatical woes. One of the largest sports organizations on the planet, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the football (soccer for you Americans) world’s governing body. It seems, however, that this reputable sports behemoth is suffering from a case of the English-language grammatical blues; the content posted on their website (again, in English – they offer the site in six languages, the other five of which we hope fare better syntactically than their English counterpart) is embarrassingly ill-grammatical, especially for such a prominent association, especially in such a banner year for said association (by which we of course refer to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, set to take place in South Africa). What we hope to do, via “FIFA’s Grammatical Woes”, is draw attention to this sad editorial deficit. As avid football fans (collectively we have agreed upon London’s West Ham United and Mexico City’s Club America as our top clubs), avaricious readers, and ardent grammar fascists, it sows our souls with great melancholy to bear witness to FIFA’s blatant reinforcement of the age-old stereotype that those who sport cannot spell. Please, join our Facebook group (FIFA’s Grammatical Woes), frequent our blog (which will be updated five days a week, all posts being edited articles/profiles/written pieces from FIFA’s site), and sign our petition to fix what we hope is only a temporal editorial folly.

The format of the blog will be as follows: First, our edited/tweeked/spruced/altered version of the article of the day will appear, with changes emboldened. Second, the original FIFA.com article will appear, for you reading and/or comparing pleasure. And that’s the gist. So, we’re off to the races!

Most Sincerely,

the F.G.W. Team