Taking the game to heart and more biting

CEBU, Philippines -  Brazilians really like their football that they take it heartily, literally.  During the Brazil-Chile match, at least 90 fans were treated for various medical conditions.  This included a 50-year-old woman with heart problems and a young man who broke his nose in a fight.

Perhaps the pressure was too much for him during the penalty shootout, a 69-year-old man complained of not feeling well and was brought to the hospital.  Sadly, he died a little after he was given emergency treatment.  Cause of death – heart attack.

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Five days before that infamous Luis Suarez teething, an English fan had his earlobe bitten off during a scuffle on the stands.  The incident happened following England’s defeat to Uruguay, ironically.  Suarez probably had heard of what happened that he decided to have a taste of Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder.

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Thirty-two national teams compete with each other at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil but the tournament has also become a battleground for companies manufacturing athletic equipments.

The big three dominate with Nike sponsoring ten teams (South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Croatia, England, USA, Netherlands, France, Greece and Portugal).  Adidas sponsors nine (Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia and Spain).  Puma has 8 teams (Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Italy, Ivory Coast, Switzerland and Uruguay).

The five remaining teams on the tournament was picked by upstart sponsors Lotto (Costa Rica), Uhlsport (Iran), Burrda (Belgium), Marathon (Ecuador) and Joma (Honduras).

Of  the 8 teams remaining in the semifinals, Nike (Brazil, France and Netherlands) and Adidas (Argentina, Colombia and Germany) have equal representations of three.  Puma was left out with Burrda (Belgium) and Lotto (Costa Rica) crashing the party.