2010 FIFA World Cup - Why Italy's Group F Was the Real Group of Death

In every World Cup, analysts identify a Group of Death. This is supposed to be a tough group with at least three top teams. The design of such a group is such that a top team is guaranteed to go home. In the 2006 World Cup, the Group of Death consisted of Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, and Serbia and Montenegro. Three of those sides have a rich World Cup history, while the Ivory Coast had several top European-based players in their side. The 2010 edition saw Group G designated as the Group of Death, with Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Before the second round of group matches, Group G seemed to be the Group of Death, particularly after North Korea's gutsy performance. However, it is easy for a team to be "gutsy" without posing a threat to a team's defence - as Trinidad and Tobago demonstrated at the 2006 World Cup. North Korea turned out to be a weak pretender, while the Ivory Coast flattered to deceive, In the end, the real Group of Death was one that many wrote off as the easiest group.

Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand comprised the toughest group, not based on empty pre-tournament expectations, but on actual performance. One team went unbeaten in this group and failed to qualify, while a top team failed to qualify. Italy crashed out in their last match against Slovakia, while New Zealand collected three points from three games without defeat. Paraguay topped the group with only five points.

What made this group so tough was that everyone expected Italy to pound Slovakia after being forced into a corner. Unlike England, who had an easy game against a mediocre Slovenian side in Group C, the Slovakians came to play. There are a few reasons why Group F is my choice as the Group of Death.

1. Giant-killing

A top team should fail to qualify from a tough group. Italy, as defending champions, are far bigger fish than Ivory Coast, who were appearing in their second World Cup and did not get past the group stage before.

2. Exciting final round

In the final round of matches, all four teams in Group F had the chance to qualify or go out. Everyone had something for which to play. What made this more interesting was that cellar-placed Slovakia had an excellent chance to qualify if they beat Italy. That is exactly what happened. Paraguay, at the top of the group going into the final group game, knew that they needed to get at least one point to qualify.

3. Close finish

The final point analysis in Group F was as follows:

1. Paraguay - 5 points

2. Slovakia - 4 points

3. New Zealand - 3 points

4. Italy - 2 points

Few would have expected Italy to finish bottom of the group or New Zealand to play unbeaten throughout the group stage. That group F had two major surprises converted it from the weakest team into a group of death, where one slip-up could see you home - as the Italians discovered.

FIFA World Cup Soccer Awards

Of course the biggest prize at any FIFA World Cup competition is to get the honor of holding the golden champions' trophy aloft. There are however individual awards for notable players at each tournament, and these do not always go to members of the team who are eventually triumphant.

The Golden Ball Award

The Golden Ball award, or the Adidas Golden Ball award as it is now officially known, has been awarded at each of the FIFA World Cup competitions since 1982. The award goes to the player deemed the best in the entire tournament as chosen by a committee of FIFA officials and members of the media.

The Golden Shoe Award

The Golden Shoe has been awarded to at least one player in each of the Cup competitions ever played going back to the first tournament in 1930. The first winner was Argentina's Guilermo Stabile at the 1930 Cup, despite the fact that the eventual winners of the tournament were host country Uruguay. The Golden Shoe award is also now sponsored by Adidas. The winner is usually the man who scores the most goals during the course of the tournament.

The Yashin Award

Named after legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin, this award goes to the man considered the best goalkeeper of the entire competition. It was first awarded at the 1994 Cup held in the United States

FIFA Fair Play Trophy

The FIFA Fair play trophy was first awarded in 1970 and usually goes to the team with the fewest yellow or red cards during their time in the competition. Only teams who make it to the second round and beyond are considered.

Most Entertaining Team

A fairly new award, it goes to the team voted by the judging committee to have provided the best all around entertainment value during the competition.

Gillette Young Player Award

A brand new award first introduced at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. So far the sole recipient was then 21-year-old German Lukas Poldoski.

Ronaldinho - Everything You Need To Know

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira also known as Ronaldinho is a Brazilian footballer, a free-kick specialist. He plays for the Brazilian National team and the Italian Series A Club A.C. Milan.

He was born on 21st March 1980, Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, state of Brazil. His talent in the game was discovered when he was very young. He was often the most youngest and the smallest player in youth club matches and thus stuck the nickname Ronaldinho. His father was also a footballer at the local club but died of heart attack when Ronaldinho was eight years old. His brother also was into the game but succumbed to injury later.

Ronaldinho was first noticed at the age of 13, when he scored all the goals against a local team defeating them 23-0. In 1997 he was recognized as a rising star in the U-17 World Championship in Egypt. In 2001 he signed a five-year contract with the Paris Saint-Germain for 5.1 million euros.

With Paris Saint-Germain he had many victories but the club failed to reach top positions despite awesome performance by Ronaldinho. He was instrumental in bringing his club to important matches but still they could finish only in the 11th position. He left the club after they failed to make it to any of the European competition.

He won his first league title in 2004-05 after he joined Futbol Club Barcelona. He was named FIFA World Player of the year in 2004. He was successful in maintaining the title the following year as well. But Barcelona was eliminated from the UEFA Champions League after they were defeated by Chelsea in the first knock-out round by 4-2. Ronaldinhohad scored both the goals for his team. He refused an extension with the team until 2014 but signed a two-year extension contract with the condition that he would be allowed to leave should another club offer Barcelona of at least 85 million pounds for him.

The season of 2004-05 brought him a host of personal awards like the FIFPro World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, FIFPro World XI. He received a standing ovation from the crowd of Madrid after he sealed the match against them with a brilliant win of 3-0 in the first leg of El Clásico.

He moved on from Barcelona in 2008, and joined the Italian Serie A Milan with a three-year contract turning down an offer of £25.5 million from Manchester City. He earned 10 goals from 32 appearances in his first season with them. He scored his first hat-trick for Milan in January 2010. He is the assist leader of Serie A with a total of 13 assists.

Ambush Marketing and the FIFA World Cup

At the FIFA World Cup 2010, "Ambush Marketing" was again in the headlines.

"Ambush Marketing" stands for a special kind of marketing campaign where companies cleverly connect their goods or brands with a popular, often athletic, event, such as the World Cup. Ambushers often try to catch a free ride by paying no sponsorship fees but making consumers believe they are official sponsors of the event. From a legal point of view, Ambush Marketing ranges from creative strategies that do not break any law to clearly illegal uses of logos, phrases, slogans and the like.

Sports as a prime target

McDonald's was the official sponsor of the Beijing Olympics. But in the lead-up to the games, KFC used the marketing slogan "I love Beijing", while Pepsi replaced its usual blue cans with red ones "to show their respect for the year of China".

During the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, referring to their new mobile phone, Telecom New Zealand Ltd was successful with an ambush advertisement containing the word "ring" (for the sound of a ringing phone) arranged five times like the Olympic rings and in the Olympic colours.

McDonald's was also at work during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Its Austrian advertising campaign showed the Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schssel holding up a red-white-red scarf (the colours of the Austrian flag) saying "AUSTRIA IS WORLD CHAMPION".

The 2010 FIFA World Cup

For the 2010 World Cup, FIFA had its hands full trying to ensure that only official sponsors advertised their brands in connection with the event.

The Dutchy girls

They were all over the media - the 36 women who attended the Netherlands - Denmark match in South Africa wearing matching orange dresses emblazoned with the "Dutchy" beer logo. Bavaria brewery supplied the dresses for promotional purposes during the FIFA World Cup. The trouble is, Bavaria was not an official World Cup 2010 sponsor; Budweiser, a competitor, was. The stunt was a fine example of unlawful Ambush Marketing. The women were escorted out of the stadium but the goal (and then some) had been accomplished: increased exposure of Bavaria's trademark without having to pay official sponsorship fees.

Kulula Air

Kulula, a South African airline who was not an official sponsor, placed ads with the slogan: "UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL CARRIER OF THE 'YOU-KNOW-WHAT'". In the ad the national flag, footballs and a special kind of plastic horn used by South African fans at soccer matches (the so called "vuvuzela") were shown. Kulula is generally known in South Africa for its humorous advertising. According to various reports on the internet, FIFA warned Kulula that the combined use of these attributes created an unauthorised association with the event and was illegal.

Kulula reacted to the warning by placing new ads with the slogan "NOT NEXT YEAR, NOT LAST YEAR, BUT SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN". The new ad shows a bridge resembling the Cape Town World Cup stadium and golf tees looking like vuvuzela with the accompanying text "Definitely, definitely a golf tee", and other pictures with humorous remarks.

Although all such activities may be considered Ambush Marketing in the advertising sense, from a legal point of view we need to differentiate.

Direct v. indirect ambush marketing

Direct Ambush Marketing activities, such as the unauthorised, illegal use of a registered logo on merchandising goods, or a false or misleading claim to be an official sponsor of an event, clearly constitute infringements.

Indirect Ambush Marketing, on the other hand, is more subtle and falls within a legal grey area. Mercedes' indirect Ambush Marketing campaign at the New York City Marathon 1997 is famous. Although Toyota was the official automotive partner of the marathon, Mercedes had its name written in the sky above the event by aeroplanes.

Another example is Media Markt's "We will get the title" campaign at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, or the previously mentioned KFC slogan "I love Beijing".

Smart indirect ambushers link the sponsored activity to their brand without violating trademark or copyright rights. The question is whether the campaign leads to unlawful consumers associations or other infringements, such as unfair competition.

Trademark protection

Ambushing clearly breaches intellectual property laws when trademarks are used without a contractual right or licence and trademark rights are infringed. According to the Austrian Trademark Protection Act (Markenschutzgesetz; MSchG) not only the use of an identical sign but also the use of a similar sign with a likelihood of confusion may be illegal. The protection of trademarks with reputation is even stronger. The owner of a trademark with reputation may request third parties to refrain from using an identical or similar sign for goods or services which are not similar to those protected under the trademark.

Unfair competition

Complementary to trademark law, designated regulations of the Austrian Act against Unfair Competition (Gesetz gegen Unlauteren Wettbewerb; UWG) supplement intellectual property law. Unfair business activities include misleading business practices (Sec 2 UWG), imitation marketing of corporate brands (Sec 9 UWG) and other unfair business practices falling within the general clause of Sec 1 UWG. Furthermore, according to the Austrian Supreme Court, an unfair exploitation of the good reputation of an event or false allegations in advertisements misleading the public about the status of the ambusher as an official sponsor may be considered as unfair competition.

Copyrights and personal rights

Intellectual creations in the area of literature, photography, music and art enjoy (without registration) copyright protection under the Austrian Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz; UrhG). Personal rights such as the right to one's own image may also be violated by an advertising campaign (see the previous Chancellor Schssel example).

Remedies

To the holder of intellectual property rights, Austrian law provides for remedies such as an action for preliminary or permanent injunction, compensation, orders for disposal and destruction or publication of the judgement. The holder of rights may also initiate criminal proceedings against the infringer in various intentional cases.

However, Ambush Marketing campaigns are usually short-lived. Those associated with the 2010 World Cup will end in July when the event ends. That means that a court injunction would probably come too late. Even preliminary injunctions do not provide for much protection in the ambush competition. Ambush Marketing cases are therefore rarely actionable and the claimant will usually be referred to damages - but damages are hard to prove.

Schoenherr

Contacts

Ruth Brandsttter
T: +43 1 534 37 4079
E: r.brandstaetter@schoenherr.at

Margit Nemetz
+43 1 534 37 125
E: m.nemetz@schoenherr.at

FIFA World Cup 2010 - Team Profile Spain

Spain are favourites to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup, ahead of 5 times champions Brazil, and defending champions, Italy. They capped their Euro 2008 title with a clean sweep of the qualification matches, leading up to the World Cup.

Their formidable forward line is led by David Villa, who top scored in the European Championship, and Fernando Torres, the popular star of Liverpool. Their mid-field has Xavi and Andres Iniesta, both Barcelona players, with a strong defence comprising Sergio Ramos and Carlos Puyol, alongside goalie, Iker Casillas.

Vicente Del Bosque who took over as coach from Luis Aragones hopes to build on his predecessor's Euro 2008 success.

In Torres, Spain boast one of the world's most prolific goal scorers; this will be Torres' second World Cup. Torres credits his goal scoring skills to his early experience with Atletico Madrid.

Given the talent of this Spanish team, they need to guard against over-confidence, and look beyond their past when they have tended to perform below potential.

A player to watch is the 21 year old right back, Juan Manuel Mata, whose stint with Valencia has seen him mature into a formidable player. Apart from assisting the forwards, Mata has a happy propensity for scoring goals.

Spain, who are in group H, along with Chile, Honduras and Switzerland are expected to head their group, and are likely to play Portugal in the pre-quarter-final round. They are likely to face defending champions, Italy, in the quarter finals, the first real challenge they are likely to face.

FIFA 11 Or PES 2011?

For years (since the mid 90's) Konami and EA have battled it out on the football gaming front. Konami with PES (or Pro Evolution Soccer) and EA with FIFA. It has always been said that FIFA was the casual gamer's game whereas PES is renowned for being the hardcore football fan's game and for having immense depth. The problem is that in recent years (mainly since 2007) the game has lacked this depth; or more accurately the game play has been sub-par. At this same time, EA really stepped up their game and improved FIFA exponentially. These things combined have made for a very close fight in recent years, and with both new games set for release in early October, who will be the winner this year?

Although FIFA 11 has brought many rave reviews from the likes of IGN.com (and other highly respected websites), one has to wonder if any of these people that reviewed the game really know football like people do in Europe (since most of these websites are based in the USA). One UK reviewer described the game as being like "A beautiful woman with no personality. For half an hour it's great, but as you start to look deeper you see there's little there". Clearly the game is not perfect either.

This year, Seabass (head developer of PES 2011) released a full demo early for all Playstation 3 users to download. It's clear that he and his team are confident that they've created something special and brought the game up to the next level.

Who will win the battle? Only time will tell, but early indications show that PES may once again regain the crown this year.

The FIFA World Cup 2010 Schedule After the Second Round

On Monday 21st June 2010 all teams have played 2 games and the FIFA World Cup 2010 Schedule starts to be more defined. Teams such as Argentina, The Netherlands, Brazil and Chile won both games. The European Teams, such as France, Germany and Spain, considered among the strongest at  International level , have already lost one.  Italy and England are in an in between situation and Portugal made a come back with its 7-0 victory against North Korea.

The teams with two victories are sure to make it to the second part of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Schedule, but it is still not clear who is placing first and who is facing second in their groups.

It is known, that The Netherlands will play on 28th June 2010 in Durban against whoever places second in group F, ie. Paraguay, Italy, New Zealand or Slovakia. At this point nobody can predict what is going to happen.

There have been many surprises in the first part of the preliminaries in South Africa: France loosing against Mexico, Germany loosing against Serbia, Spain loosing against Switzerland. Ghana being first at the time being in group D.

Cameroon is already out of the game: they did not make it to the second part of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Schedule as they lost their first match to Japan and the second to Denmark. Besides Ghana, all the other African nations are still hanging in there, but with few chances to go on. South Africa, Nigeria and Algeria are all last in their respective groups, while Ivory Coast is second last.

On Monday 21st June the verdict for North Korea is final: out, no chance to continue the soccer adventure in the African Continent, while the other two Asian teams, South Korea and Japan have good opportunities to go on.

There are some hot matches to come in the next days,  as everything is still quite open and only a few verdicts have fallen until now. All the coming games will define who will be going home and who will access to the second part of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Schedule. Lets wait and see.