WotD #27 - verdensmesterskabet

This is sometimes just abbreviated as VM. It's The World Cup, the Olympics of soccer.



Breaking it down further, verdens = world, mesters = champion, and skabet = community. Rougly. Mester sounds at little bit like meister. I would definitely enjoy calling the Spurs this year's NBA-meisters. It's much more fun.

Denmark did not qualify for the Cup this year. They lost in spectacular fashion to Armenia during qualifying but closed out reasonably strong. I think that they were the last - or possibly second to last - team left out when all was said and done.

As such, there isn't so much World Cup fever happening with the Danes in the office. That's not to say that there's not World Cup fever in the office. Start your vuvuzelas!

Yes, that is my German colleague Stefan on Monday morning all sorts of ready to cheer on Die Mannschaft. He is generally a mild-mannered scientist, but around Cup time? It's a different world. I've never seen him as happy as he was on Tuesday morning. I think I'm pulling for Germany this year just so I can see Stefan after they win.

As an aside here, is there a better nickname than Die Mannschaft? After a quick something search, I've found that there are all sorts of awesome nicknames out there! Just a few favorites...

Colombia

Los Cafeteros

The Coffee Growers

Guadeloupe

Les Gars de Guadeloupe[59]

Guys of Guadeloupe

Greece

Το Πειρατικό (To Piratiko)

The Pirate Ship

Belgium

Les Diables Rouges, Rode Duivels

The Red Devils (French and Dutch)

Thailand

ช้างศึก (Changsuk)[42]

War Elephants

Benin

Les Écureuils[5]

The Squirrels

"The Squirrels" is fairly intimidating.

The women's squads in Asia are particularly awesome...

Vietnam (Women's)

Những cô gái vàng

The Golden Girls

Philippines (Women's)

Malditas.[40]

Feisty Ladies.[40]

Japan (Women's)

ナデシコ (Nadeshiko)

Large Pink[37]

China PR (women's)

铿锵玫瑰

The Steel Roses

Stefan is particularly pumped about the cup this year. The Germans are amongst the favorites. He's already penciling them in for the semi-finals. So far so good for the US. Thanks to Germany's shellacking of Portugal on Monday, a draw against the Portuguese would all but assure the US a trip to the knock-out round. Fingers. Crossed. We could still probably use this guy...