Spain — 2010 World Cup champions

*Most photos from SI.com

The 2010 World Cup is long over.  It ended July 11.  I’m still going through World Cup withdrawal.  In case you don’t know, Spain was the winner.  Can you tell that everyone was happy? 

I miss the drama  and suspense of the largest sporting event in the world.  I miss watching all the different teams; I miss listening to the T.V. announcers discuss the beautiful game; I miss watching the footballers play with passion, struggling to make a goal for their team (and blocking other potential goals); I miss watching the goalies in action; I miss watching the players march into the stadium with the little kids; I miss watching each team sing their national anthem at the beginning of the game, looking a little nervous but ready to play; I miss watching the team coaches stand on the sidelines; I miss watching the dedicated fans; I miss the sounds of the vuvuzelas (plastic noisemakers that became controversial because of their sound); I miss everything about the World Cup.

I love that the World Cup was held in Africa for the first time in its history.  I love that the continent came into the spotlight in a positive way. 

I love that none of the games went as expected.  I suppose that’s the beauty and cruelty of soccer — That the most favored teams and divas of soccer like Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo Messi, Wayne Rooney, etc… went home empty-handed; I like that underdog teams moved up in rank; that other good soccer players received some glory.

The next World Cup will take place in 2014 in Brazil.  Brazil is supposed to be one of, if not the greatest soccer country.  Its team has won the World Cup several times (five times, I believe).  I’m sure it will be really fun to watch the games in Brazil.  

So now that the games are over, I will be returning to your regularly-scheduled program — erotic romance.   Stay tuned.  

Paz Edwards

Andres Iniesta holds up the World Cup trophy for Spain.

The day after the World Cup win, a parade was held for the soccer team in Madrid, Spain. (Photo image:  REUTERS/Sergio Perez)

Spain’s Carlos Puyol scoring a goal.  Wow! 

Referee Howard Webb 

Hand-painted plastic hardhats, featuring designs of the team that the fan supports.  They’re called makarapa. Above is a 
South African makarapa.

Makaraps designed for different teams –  Italy, Greece, USA, etc… 

Uruguay fan 

U.S.A fans

Switzerland fan

Algeria fan 

Brazil fans 

Fans playing the vuvuzela horn.

See you in Brazil 2014.
 

I recently posted photos of some of the 2010 World Cup soccer players who are considered hunks.   Well, you can imagine that many of them have partners.  What?  You didn’t expect the men to be without a better half for long, did you?   Beside every soccer stud is a soccer wife or girlfriend.  From what I’ve seen, most of the women seem to be models or actors.   I suppose these are the types of women that attract these footballers.  If there are any soccer hunks interested in a foxy author.  You can drop me a note here.

In the meantime, here are a few photos of some of the soccer wives and girlfriends.  These glamourous-looking women look like they should star in a T.V. show of their own, like the Housewives reality shows — a Soccer Wives reality show.  Yup, I can definitely see it.

Oh, the photos are from sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Paz Edwards

Natalie Suliman, girlfriend of Kieran Richardson (Sunderland)

Irina Shayk, girlfriend of Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Giorgia Palmas, girlfriend of Davide Bombardini (AlbinoLeffe)

 

Yesica Toscanini, girlfriend of Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca)

Actress Martina Colombari, wife of former AC Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta

Montana Manning, girlfriend to Aaron Lennon (Spurs)

Patricia Conde, girlfriend of Miguel Torres Gomez (Getafe)

 

 

Jessica Jordan, Miss Bolivia 2007 and girlfriend of Marcelo Moreno (Wigan)

Cristina De Pin, girlfriend of Ricardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

Tatiana Golovin, girlfriend of Samir Nasri (Arsenal)

 

Model Lorena Bernal, wife of Spanish player Mikel Arteta (Everton)

Amii Grove, girlfriend of Gabby Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)

 

Alessandro del Piero (Juventus) and his wife (then-girlfriend) Sonia Amoruso,

 

Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) and his girlfriend, sports journalist Sara Carbonero,

 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) and girlfriend, model Alena Seredova,

Cassie Sumner, girlfriend of Jose Fonte (Southampton)

 

 

South Africa team celebrating after making the first goal

of the first game of the 2010 World Cup.  (Getty Images)

It’s time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup again.  The biggest sports event in the world occurs every four years.  It started June 11 and will end July 11.   I’m one of the millions, worldwide, following the Beautiful Game.

Pelé, one of the best soccer players on the planet, coined soccer (more commonly known as football in other countries.) as ‘the beautiful game’.  I’m  not sure why, but I do see beauty in the game — from the athleticism of the players to the flow of the game.  It can be beautiful to watch as the eye follows the football move back and forth between the players and the two goals.

France v. Uruguay
Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

I enjoy watching the different teams and learning about some of the individual players — many of them have become heroes.  What interesting histories they have.

France forward Thierry Henry
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images  

 I enjoy watching the fans, too.   They’re so passionate.

Fans playing "vuvuzela" horns
Photo by Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

I like that soccer unites people from all types of backgrounds — cultural and religious.  The fans are young, old, rich, and poor.  They’re from different nationalilties and political persuasions.

So far, a few teams have surprised the viewers with their performance.  The most popular teams haven’t lived up to the high expectations given to them.   They’ve barely scored a goal, if any at all.  However, since the World Cup is a month long, there’s time to see what will happen, which team will surprise the viewers, which team will ultimately win the coveted World Cup.  I can’t wait to see.

In the meantime, I have one important question:  I’ve noticed that the players are now wearing longer shorts.  What ever happened to those cute short shorts they used to wear?  I’m just asking.  

Paz Edwards