Final 16 trivia and a bit more

CEBU, Philippines -  Only 16 teams participated in the FIFA World Cup from 1934 to 1978.  The round of 16 was introduced during the 1986 WC.  The present 32-team tournament format began in 1998.

Greece, for the first time in their country’s football history, got past the group stage and advanced to the round of 16, where they were promptly eliminated by Costa Rica.  The South American team on the other hand, moved up to the quarterfinals for the first time in Costa Rican football history.  They face the Netherlands on midnight of July 7, with the winner advancing to the semis.

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Football, even in places you don’t expect, always have bettors.  In last week’s Germany-US match, German astronaut Alexander Gerst made a bet with American astronauts Reid Wiseman and Steve Swanson while they’re in space.

The terms were simple.  Since Gerst was bald, his head will be painted with the American flag if the US won.  If the Germans win, Swanson and Wiseman will have their heads shaved.  The results were known, so as far as we knew, there are now three bald heads floating in space.

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Prior to the US-Belgium match, US coach Jurgen Klinsmann made a fuss on the Algerian official assigned as referee.  He reasoned that the official could be favoring the Belgians as the US eliminated the Algerian team during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Djamel Haimoudi, the referee in question, speaks French and as per Klinsmann, can exclusively communicate with the Belgians, who also speak French.  Ah, the conspiracy theory continues for the Americans.

Related to the US-BEL match, an American waffle chain has urged customers not to eat Belgian waffles in support of the US footballers.  According to Mr. Google, this kind of waffle don’t exist in Belgium, it only drew influence from the country, so therefore, this breakfast staple is technically and exclusively a North American creation.

On the other hand, the French and the Belgians are in conflict as to who was the first to invent the deep-fried potatoes.  So if Americans really want to show their true colors thru culinary choices, they better drop the French fries (or maybe Belgian fries) or risk being labeled as unpatriotic.  And yes, they may eat Belgian waffles. (FREEMAN)