FIFA's  World Cup 2006 starts today. One month of soccer for us soccer starved in the United States. So just a quick few facts (in case you didn't know) - Soccer IS the most popular sport in the world and World Cup viewership is much larger than the Olympics. Supposed "peoples" games like American Football, Basketball and Baseball don't even come close.

Matches seem to be around 10am and Noon US Eastern time so I will be missing most of them. However there are a number of live blogs around, the New York Times' being highly recommended. I find the commentary good and also a little humourous. As always the favorites seem to be Brazil (the current title holders) France and Germany with England and Italy as serious contenders. The fact that out of 32 teams, over half are from Europe is not lost on me. So we shall see. In the meantime do check out a few wonderful articles on soccer including - National Geographics Why Soccer Rules The World, a great article on the Brazilian style of attacking play, a great intro to Pele (the god of soccer) by Henry Kissenger who was instramental in bringing the World Cup to the US in 1994 and the now infamous Most Bonito article which originally appeared in the New York Times talking about soccer culture and the sheer pleasure of watching the canary shirts play. So a little read - then settle back and watch the games.

I will also be covering the World Cup and mobile technolgy to check out the news section for related articles. It is rumored to be the most mobile friendly sporting event ever.

I'm looking for a Germany/Brazil rematch in the finals!

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