We’re a stage deep already, the Maracanã is a Mecca, Guillermo Ochoa is a national hero after one Gordon Banks-esque performance. The hosts are shaky and the Dutch are dominant. Talking of The Netherlands, the flying Dutchman and his teammates face The Socceroos this afternoon – did you know that the Aussies beat American Samoa 31-0 in 2001, the largest World Cup qualifying margin ever? (What are the odds on a reverse result today?) Also up today, the outgoing champs are pitted against the hipsters’ choice: Chile. Chilean coach Marcelo Bielsa, aka El Loco, apparently delivered a four-hour press conference once – famed for fanatical following of footballing videos, The Madman’s obsessiveness may pile more misery upon the beleaguered Spaniards.
Fountain of global football knowledge, or just whiled away half an hour on a cracking new website? Stats fans and likeminded obsessives will revel in this sublime project from Bristol design studio Fiasco Design. Compiling fabulously useless facts, all the latest and forthcoming results and ability to whack all said data into iCal (just in case you have a proper job and aren’t glued to your tellybox 24/7), It’s Kicking Off is a stellar design-led destination for cultural voyeurs of The Beautiful Game. “Being ardent football fans, we were frustrated by the lack of design-led sites that served up easily accessible match info and facts surrounding the World Cup” Fiasco co-founder Ben Steers tells us. If you want a job done properly…
