30 Days to a more accessible weblog.
Nice site, with loads of good tips. Noted for future reference.
Found on Sore Eyes.
The latest 200 Words has been pubilshed here on The Copydesk, this time with Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so blatantly fake in all my life as the so-called Palestinian baby suicide bomber photograph.
Next thing you know, they’ll be telling us man landed on the moon in 1969.
About two weeks before the World Cup started, I sent out the following stats to some of my workmates.
It seems odd now, but remarkable how much they’ve come true.
I researched them myself, by the way……
- There have been 16 World Cup Finals – seven in the American continent, nine in the European continent.
- The current World Cup in Japan and South Korea is the first to be held out with Europe or the Americas.
- The host nation has only won the trophy six times out of 16 tournaments.
- Brazil have featured in six of the final matches and have won the trophy four times.
- Brazil are the only country to have won the trophy outwith their own continent.
- Brazil are the only team to have featured in every single World Cup Finals.
- Brazil have featured in the last two World Cup Final matches (and now, a record-breaking three-in-a-row)
- Only seven nations have ever won the trophy – four from Europe, and three from the Americas.
- Just five nations account for 14 of the 16 trophies.
- seven nations account for all 16 trophies.
- England and France have only won the trophy once each.
- Only 10 nations have ever reached the final match of the tournament.
- Only four nations have reached the final match without ever winning the trophy.
- Holland and Hungary have reached the final match twice each, but have never won the trophy.
- Of the 10 nations who have reached the final match, Brazil have reached it six times out of the 16 finals, whilst Italy and Germany have reached it five times each.
- The last three ‘final’ matches have been the only ones in the history of the competition to feature the losing side not scoring in open play.
- The highest total number of goals scored in a final match is seven.
- The highest number of goals scored by a winning side in the final match is five when Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 in 1958.
- The highest number of goals scored by a losing side in the final match is two.
- No country has ever won the final match by more than three goals.
- Only one final match has ended with a single goal – Germany 1-0 Argentina in 1990.
- Brazil drew against Italy in the USA in 1994, and the tournament was decided on penalties for the first time ever
- Given the statistics, the final match is likely to include two of the following teams:
Argentina
Italy
Brazil
Uruguay
Germany
England
France
- Given the statistics, it is more likely that a European side (that has already won the trophy) will win the tournament in Japan and South Korea, by a margin of no more than three goals,
Therefore, one of the following teams are likely to be the winner:
Italy
or
Germany
In the final on Sunday, Germany face Brazil for the first time ever in the history of the tournament, and I can’t wait to see who wins, partly because the English media wrote off both sides as non-events before a ball was kicked, and both are now in the final.
Soccer peace summit ends in punch-up.
The Macedonian government held a conference to try and tackle football violence and hooliganism, but the meeting ended in a punch-up.
“A few gunshots were heard during the fighting at the end of the meeting in Ohrid but no one was seriously hurt”.
A ruling is expected soon on BT’s claim to the ownership of hyperlinks.
You may remember The Copydesk commenting on this some months back.
The latest 200 Words has been published, featuring a crafty response from comic-book artist Brian Bolland.
Scientists claim to have sent a laser-based message using the same principles as the fictional Star Trek teleporter.
