Nike is pushing "football" - not just to sell the website internationally but see what they can do to push the world's name for soccer into the USA. we'll see how well that works.

Wow! Great ad (even though Adidas is the official sponsor for the WC). Also, didn't Ronaldinho not make the cut for the Brazil roster?

Sports: they're so very important.

wow. I think I just sneezed in my pants a little

+1 for Hocus Pocus by Focus.

Also, there wasn't even a three point line on the court where Kobe beat the fake Blazers. I guess the soccer division doesn't really talk to the basketball division over at Nike.

Curse you Ezra! I was going to post about this today! ;-) Uh, Uh, BREAKING NEWS: TRAILBLAZERS MOVING TO FAIRBANKS, AK! Yeah, that's it. Scoop!

As for the vid, it's vintage W+K quality though both they and Nike have got to be a bit embarrassed/disappointed that though they feature Ronaldinho's samba moves, he was hardly considered at all to make Brazil's 2010 World Cup squad. He may make it as an injury replacement but popular sentiment is that that is an extreme longshot.

Four years ago, he was king of the soccer world and now he'll be home watching the Cup on television--much like Rooney's alternate history nightmare is presented in the video.

All that made me want to do was turn off the video. MEH, I say.

Soccer doesn't sell well in the US because there are not enough goals. Ask an American football fan what their least favorite score is. 3-0. If you really want it to take off here, make it easier to score.

W+K makes God want to hurt kittens.

Ribery's inclusion is a little odd considering his deteriorating play, injuries, boot from the Champ. League final and the fact he's generally now a more goofy looking guy than he is a great player.

Oh, and that he "finished in the box" with an underage prostitute (Timbers, take a lesson!).

SPK - you really think they should change the rules that have made it the most successful sport in the world by a huge margin, just to make it more palatable to the attention spans of one single country with less than 5% of the world's population?

And you wonder why the rest of the world thinks Americans are arrogant...

This is a fantastic ad, but "history is less kind to those who fail in soccer's biggest event"? Tell that to Zinedine Zidane. Everyone remembers that guy.