World Cup One Twos

Shakira And Rooney

SUMMER CONCERT
World Cup fever gripped an open air concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra after Germany's 4-1 victory over England on Sunday. During the third encore the orchestra's brass section put their horns aside and played vuvuzelas painted in red, black and gold, the colours of the German flag. The orchestra's Romanian director Ion Marin congratulated Germany on their win at the beginning of the concert and said he hoped the audience would find the musical evening just as rewarding. They did.
PILLOW TALK
Japan defender Yuto Nagatomo has brought his favourite pillow with him to the World Cup. The player told the news agency Kyodo he hopes it will help him sleep better and gain enough stamina for the Round-of-16 match against Paraguay. "The team with the greatest staying power will win," he was quoted as saying. "We have a similar style to them (Paraguay) and if they are quicker then we won't win the game. They have two fast wingers and we need to stop them getting in their crosses, otherwise it'll be tough for us to win the game."
WAKA WAKA
Shakira's World Cup song Waka Waka is an old Cameroon military march that has been touched up with new lyrics and is now taking the charts by storm. The song, originally titled Zangaleva, was a hit with the Cameroon pop group Golden Sounds in 1986, South Africa's Sunday Times reported. The group said they were both surprised and pleased to hear the new version on the internet, saying it was an honour for Africa to have the song chosen for the World Cup. The song was inspired by a military march dedicated to soldiers who fought in the Second World War.
BUFFON MARADONA
Former star Italian defender Claudio Gentile has called Diego Maradona a buffoon after the Argentina coach referred to him as a killer.
"After what he said, I must agree with the opinion of Pele and Platini: Maradona is more a buffoon than a coach," Tuesday's edition of the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport quoted Gentile as saying.
Pele is a Brazilian ex-footballer widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. Michel Platini is a French ex-footballer who is currently the president of UEFA, the governing body of European football.
Maradona had recalled Gentile's hard style of play as he commented on a foul against Lionel Messi during Argentina's 3-1 World Cup win over Mexico on Sunday.
"We are not back in the days of killer defenders like Gentile," Maradona said.
Bad blood between the two dates to when the Argentine star played with Napoli in the 1980s, often vying with Gentile's Juventus for the Serie A title.
Gentile, who won the 1982 World Cup with the Azzurri, recalled that Maradona was sent off in the Spain-hosted tournament for kicking a Brazilian opponent.
"I was never dismissed for violent play," Gentile said. "I was red-carded for a handball in the Champions League, and that was it.
"He's a buffoon. That's his opinion, but I don't respect it and I don't agree."
HAIRY STORY
Some fans have put Wayne Rooney's below-par performances at the World Cup down to the fact that the England striker has waxed his chest. Rooney managed 34 goals for Manchester United last season but had removed all his chest hair by the time his side were trounced by Germany. Like the biblical Samson, it seems Rooney's footballing power waned once the player decided to cut his hair off.
STORM BUT NO UMBRELLAS
World Cup organizers warned of a possibly severe storm on Tuesday during the evening's Round of 16 clash in Cape Town between Spain and Portugal - and also reminded fans that umbrellas were banned from the stadium for security reasons.
Flags more than two metres long are also banned.
Hours before the match, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. in Green Point Stadium, organizers of the tournament in South Africa said that all but about 300 admission tickets had been sold.
The stadium has a capacity of 64,100.
The match is the first-ever World Cup encounter between neighbours Spain and Portugal. The 2008 European champions, Spain came into the World Cup as joint favourites with Brazil.