Football Champions

So France lost 1-0 to China today. Which sounds bad. And is bad. But take a look at the goal from Deng Zhuoxiang that won it:

Either Deng is better than Pirlo/Juninho/Beckham combined, or every bad thing we’ve heard about the adidas Jabulani World Cup ball is true.

• Three words you don’t often see together: Penguin soccer fail (Dirty Tackle)
• North Korea’s $4m jersey deal with Legea (Bloomberg Business Week)
• Is Pirlo’s injury bad enough to keep him out of the tournament? (Italy World Cup Blog)
• José Francisco Torres, pondered beautifully (Run of Play)
• A more cosmopolitan Mannschaft (Germany World Cup Blog)
• Star Wars, Snoop Dogg, World Cup, Goldenballs, adidas, Oasis (Sinnacle)
• “We were promised the stadium would change our lives, but it never happened.” (The Guardian)