tr-ASH-talk

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Spirit of Football

The worldcup is all warmed up, moving into the final four. Germany squares of with Italy tonite. But the purpose of this post is not to argue which team will win, or to discuss the winning strategies that teams will employ. Its rather about trying to find a co-relation or more like the lack of it between the quality of football and quantity of money.

Does the picture below make my point:



For the fact oriented, I have provided some GDP per capita (USD) numbers below that should drive my point:

1) Trinidad and Tobago: 9,500
2) Costa Rica: 8,500
3) Angola: 1,600
4) Togo: 1,500
5) Ghana: 2,100
6) Costa Rica: 1,500
7) Tunisia: 6,500
8) Iran: 7,000
9) Ecuador: 3,100
10) Brazil: 7,600
11) Paraguay: 4,200
12) Argentina: 10,200
13) Mexico: 9,000
14) Serbia and Montenegro: 2,370
15) Italy: 25,000
16) Spain: 20,700
17) Portugal: 18,000
18) France: 25,700
19) Switzerland: 31,700
20) England: 25,300
21) Czech Republic: 15,300
22) Ukraine: 4,500
23) Poland: 9,500
24) Netherlands: 26,900
25) Sweden: 25,400
26) Korea: 19,400
27) Japan: 28,000
29) Australia: 27,000
30) Saudi Arabia: 10,500
31) Germany: 26,600
32) USA: 37,600

Countries that are cribbing about the "lack of funds" to play on the big stage, take note. Maybe you have a better chance if you get on the field and kick that ball.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

All's well that ends with Portugal winning