Where Can I Buy a FIFA Trophy Replica?

We've all seen the famous image of that golden muscular looking FIFA World Cup Soccer trophy in every sports magazine, on TV, movie ads, in video games and music videos. It has become a real pop up icon in the last month or so as South Africa counts down to the opening ceremonies of the World Cup Football Event in June 2010. At first, people did not een know what the little golden phallus shape was about when it popped up at the bottom of our TV screens while watching TLN. It certainly catches your eye and pretty soon we ALL know what it is and where it is and that we want to have one.

Some very clever entrepreneurs have taken this ball and run with it. Everyone can now have a FIFA trophy of their very own. Replicas of the World Cup are now available at very affordable prices; they are not made of solid 18 K gold like original soccer trophy, these fake FIFA trophies are made of a rather unusual substance called colophony. Colophony, is a resinous substance derived from the oleoresinous sap of pine and other coniferous trees. It's place of origin is said to be Colophon an ancient ionic city in present day Turkey and it has many other uses besides trophy making, including violin string resin, varnishes, adhesives, cosmetics, cleaning solvents, sports grips, fireworks, chewing gum and paper products.

The replica World Cup 2010 trophy is not made in turkey however; like many sports souvenirs, such as the Canada Olympic Red Mittens were made in China, the replica trophy is also manufactured there too. It's getting hard to find a product that is NOT made in China these days, so, though many naysayers will speak out about how the FIFA trophy replicas & souvenirs, could have been made in Africa, it is a fact of 21st century life that all this kind of stuff gets made in China.

The Chinese have been making resin statues and other products for thousands of years and they do a great job of it and the fake soccer trophies are no exception. They are shiny, golden, perfectly formed and even have the same heft in the hand as the real deal. The replicas are the exact same size and weight as the original trophy and they also come in smaller sizes; scale 1:2 and scale 1:16 as well as the miniature key chain FIFA trophy, pendant or "minicord" size.

So, if these replica trophies are not in stores, then where can you buy them? They are available to everyone in the world right now from online African Football Shops, classified ad sites, like Craigslist, and at public auctions everywhere. You will want to get one soon as there were a limited number manufactured and no word of any more coming. As they say in all the TV ads "Don't Delay!"

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The World Cup's African 'Big Five'

With the World Cup South Africa 2010 final approaching, the excitement is building and supporters of both teams, Holland and Spain are relishing the prospect of being crowned football world champions. But what happened to all of the African teams in this year's World Cup? All eyes were on the host nation already, so I think South Africa need no part in this article, so here is a run-down on the other 'big five'.

Ivory Coast

Upon qualifying, Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba commented "I am very happy indeed because Ivory Coast is going to the World Cup for the second time." Ivory Coast finished 3rd in their group, unluckily being placed with two competition favourites, Brazil and Portugal.

Cameroon

Cameroon qualified for an record sixth time for the World Cup this year after a last day qualification against Morocco. Cameroon finished bottom of their group with no points, a disappointing and huge let down for all of their fans.

Nigeria

Nigeria's qualifying match was against fellow African team Kenya, they went from 1-0 down, to 2-1 up in the second half. Nigeria also finished bottom of their group with a mere one point to their name.

Algeria

Algeria got through to the World Cup by the skin of their teeth, their coach Rabah Saadane had this to say about it "They played with heart - they had so much heart and I think that's what made the difference. I think we will have time to prepare ourselves for the Cup in Africa now." Algeria disappointed in a group that was won by United States and England, by finishing last with a single point.

Ghana

Ghana were the first team through to the group stages after a 2-0 win over Sudan. Chelsea midfielder and Ghana International Michael Essien commented "The people of Ghana wanted us to win and we did not let them down. What a fantastic feeling to be the first African country to qualify for the first World Cup to be staged in Africa." Ghana were the only team to make it through the first round of the World Cup, they were brave throughout the competition and sadly knocked out in the quarter finals on penalties by Uruguay.

So now you know of the 'big five' of African football teams featured in this year's World Cup, time to learn about the wildlife 'big five' of Africa. This consists of lion, leopard, cape buffalo, rhino and elephant, which can be spotted in many Kenyan National Parks such as Amboseli and the world famous Masai Mara.

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2010 FIFA World Cup - South Africa, to Be Or Not to Be?

I love football. Football is life. Football is the beautiful game. I am getting rushes of adrenalin to the head already just thinking about the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In 2010 the entire pumped-up and emotive football world will descend in a riotous show of bliss upon majestic South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Will South Africa be ready for them?

In 2006 FIFA chief Sepp Blatter made it very clear that there was to be no doubt about the 2010 FIFA World Cup being held in South Africa: "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa". The only contingency plan that would see South Africa not host the cup would be due to a natural catastrophe. In the same year, on behalf of Blatter in an address to the South African Parliment FIFA communications director Markus Seigler reinforced the notion that South Africa is doing just fine: "You are absolutely on schedule, you're absolutely on track. You're even more advanced than the Germans were four years ago...Any doubts are completely unfair. This country - and I know this country - is absolutely capable." Seigler capped it off with acknowledging that the previous host, Germany, had also faced adversity and added: "At least South Africa's economy is growing - Germany's is not."

In 2008 the rumour mill has not stopped churning out doubts about whether South Africa will host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Word on the street is that the 2010 World Cup preparations have been plagued by a host of problems that could compromise vital deadlines. Stadium construction delays, striking workers, security fears, transport problems and the possibility of power outages are running rampant.

Port Elizabeth stadium is one of the main venues in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and is yet to be completed. Next year's Confederations Cup, a precursor to the competition for the World Cup, was slated to take place in the stadium but has since been pulled out of the Cup.

In an interview in Die Welt newspaper published on Monday July 14th, 2008 Franz Beckenbauer confirmed the event would be held in South Africa: "We in the FIFA executive are doing everything to have the World Cup take place in South Africa, even if we have to shut an eye every now and then. But I am sure that the World Cup in South Africa will take place."

However, Beckenbauer was out of the loop when it came to any knowledge about FIFA chief Sepp Blatter's actively searching for countries that would be ale to host the championship in the case of a natural catastrophe. In an interview with Sky News Beckenbauer explained: "Honestly, it was a surprise for me. I myself sit in FIFA's executive and even I don't know who are Blatter's candidates."
Whether the public is getting a load of double-speak about the whole affair is debatable. But on the bright side, it has been announced that vuvuzelas will not be banned.

Vuvuzelas, sometimes referred to as 'lepatatas' are air horns approximately one metre in length made from plastic and commonly seen at football matches all over the world. The name is said to originate from the Zulu for "making noise" although this is hotly disputed. Others say the name originates from the fact it makes a "vuvu" sound when blown, or even comes from the township slang related to the word for "shower".

Kaizer Chiefs supporters' spokesperson Saddam Maake who is credited with popularising the instrument was overjoyed to hear that the vuvuzela ban had been lifted: "When we got the message that vuvuzelas were going to be banned, we were disappointed. We knew it had become part of our culture and offered free entertainment during matches. I felt over the moon when I heard about the lifting of the ban."

Critics of the instrument feel that the noise detracts from the game, but Maake explains that people need to be educated about how to use the vuvuzelas correctly: "They have to know that you cannot blow it during moments of silence and when they blow it during the game they should do it to make rhythmic music."

The first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 and has gained strength from year to year for every four years, halted only twice in1942 and 1946 by World War II.

In the eighteen FIFA tournaments that have been held seven nations have won the title. Brazil has the most World Cups team, having won the tournament five times. The current World Champions, Italy, follow with four titles, while Germany holds three. The other former champions are Uruguay (winners of the inaugural tournament) and Argentina with two titles each. England and France hold one title each.

The most recent World Cup Finals were held in Germany, where Italy was crowned the champion after beating France in the final.

We're already half way there. Those two long years are going to creep up on us and we will be looking for cheap ticket deals and packages to South Africa sooner than we think with our hearts pumping like they were shocked by 10,000 volts in anticipation of the spectacular event that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is going to be. Bring on the joy.

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Getting Rich is Not the Reality

When it was declared that South Africa will host the FIFA World Cup 2010, it was acclaimed as a way of uplifting African economy. According to the report of Alex Duval Smith, though this being the biggest event in this planet it can have a very little or negligible impact on the poor section of Africa. First to be written in the pages of history, when the game kicks off at Johannesburg, it looks a playground of the privileged. The game brings with it the world's most famous and rich players, but the chance to capitalize the situation and have a healthy economic prospect looks undermined.

The informal trader in Africa plays a big hand and is a vital factor of African economy. But unfortunately due to the insistence of FIFA, the African government has banned informal traders to run business from around the 10 stadiums where matches will be played. FIFA President, Sepp Blatter insisted that the objective of the whole program is to give Africa back for its contribution to world football through it's involvement in the game. He has spotted 20 centers at Africa to build it as the centre of academies. But radical columnist are here to make his statement wrong by saying that what Mr. Blatter is going to give Africa in the upcoming days is a month long euphoria but nothing more to change their economic realities.

If you are driven by the lines of the FIFA President then you are sure to be disappointed, because you are not going to see what he promises to make you see, says world's leading sports economists. The spending by visitors during the World Cup will be much less that what the government of South Africa will have to shell out to build world class infrastructure to host the event. Last time it was Germany, and obviously it was not at all a problem for a country like Germany to get prepared for the event. Germany already had good stadiums and if not also there would not have been a problem for them to build those. But such is not the case here. South Africa is sure to find it really difficult to do with such huge funds allocation in order to build the 10 stadiums it built. For instance is the world cup at 2002, where South Korea's K-league found it hard to fill the new stadiums which were built at a cost more than $2 billion.

Hosting a glamorous event like world cup can bring a electrifying moment with joy and happiness to stay for a while. But to people who lives at a meager $2 a day, world cup do not brings any change to their life whatsoever. The people who live at $2 a day find it hard to meet their very basic requirement of 2 meals a day can hardly imagine to get joy in watching game of football. Because when stomach bites you everything else flies away from your mind. So what the Africans are going to witness is all about joy and happiness but not much of the wealth they are given hope.

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