2006 FIFA World Cup Soccer News and Blog

German brothel made to remove S.Arabia, Iran flags
Guardian Unlimited, UK - Apr 24, 2006BERLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - A brothel in Cologne was forced to black out the flags of Saudi Arabia and Iran from a huge World Cup soccer-themed advertising …

World Cup Soccer Meets Swiss Cow-Milking Beefcake
About - News & Issues, NY - Apr 10, 2006Planning a trip to Germany between June 9th and July 9th? Well, reserve everything early, because one of the world’s biggest sporting …

World Cup Soccer and World Class Travel — Virgin Vacations Brings the Two Together (PR Web via Yahoo! News)
Norwalk, CT (PRWEB) April 26, 2006 — World Cup soccer is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the world.

World Cup spurs bond sale (The Arizona Republic)
The World Cup is six weeks away, and corporate bond investors are preparing for a stampede of new sales before tuning out the bond market and turning to the soccer championship.

Dempsey Hopes for World Cup Spot (ABC News)
Soccer Star Who Chipped Teammate’s Tooth, Clint Dempsey, Hopes for World Cup Spot

Xavi returns to Barca squad after injury
Spain midfielder Xavi returned to the Barcelona squad on Friday, five months after suffering a serious knee injury…

World Cup global tour ends in Saudi shopping mall (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
The World Cup trophy ended its first global tour on Saturday with a public display in a Saudi Arabian shopping mall ahead of this year’s finals in Germany.

Koller could be healthy for World Cup; Totti makes return to Roma (USA Today)
Jan Koller, sidelined since September with a knee injury, could be ready to play in the Czech Republic’s World Cup opener against the United States on June 12. Also, Italian playmaker Francesco Totti returned to competitive soccer in an exhibition game with AS Roma’s junior team Thursday, two months after breaking his left leg.

World Cup Soccer and World Class Travel — Virgin Vacations Brings the Two Together (PR Web via Yahoo! News)
Norwalk, CT (PRWEB) April 26, 2006 — World Cup soccer is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the world.

Crazy Frog to Return to Plug World Cup (About.com)
Decked out in soccer kit, Crazy Frog is gearing up for a grand return as part of the festivities surrounding the World Cup Germany 2006. He will release his…

Totti targets Cup final return
Roma and Italy striker Francesco Totti plans to make his long-awaited return from an ankle injury in Wednesday’s Italian Cup final first leg against Inter Milan…

Oldest soccer ball to visit World Cup (UPI)
STIRLING, Scotland, April 26 (UPI) — The oldest known soccer ball in the world will leave its museum home in Scotland to be part of a display on the game’s history at the World Cup in Germany.

European Economies: Optimism Rises to 5-Year High (Update2) 
April 28 (Bloomberg) — Confidence among European executives and consumers increased to a five-year high in April and inflation accelerated more than expected, giving the European Central Bank more scope to raise interest rates.

Morgan Stanley Lowers Fraport Price Target 
0858 GMT [Dow Jones] Morgan Stanley reduces Fraport (FRA.XE) target price to EUR63.50 from EUR66, but lifts ‘06 EPS estimate to EUR2 from EUR1.76, ‘07 EPS to EUR1.97 from EUR1.76. Says recent share price weakness presents an interesting chance for those who initially missed the rally and like the long-term story to buy into the shares.

WPP’s First-Quarter Revenue Rises on New Billings (Update4) 
April 21 (Bloomberg) — WPP Group Plc, the world’s second- biggest advertising company, said first-quarter revenue rose almost 5 percent, excluding acquisitions and currency swings, as it won record net new billings from clients including Nokia Oyj.

Not your average Korean chanteuse 
No, it’s probably not the kind of lyric you’d expect from the lips of a softly spoken South Korean jazz singer. But Youn Sun Nah is not your average chanteuse.

Mexico`s World Cup soccer team worth 76 mln US dlrs 
MEXICO CITY, 04/21 - The Mexico team for the 2006 Germany World Cup is worth 76 million US dollars, 2.6 times the value of the team in the last Cup in 2002, Mexican sporting daily La Aficion said on Thursday.

Wal-Mart changes are real, CEO says 
ROGERS, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is making genuine changes aimed at increasing customers and keeping them happy, Chief Executive Lee Scott said Wednesday, rejecting charges from union-backed critics that the world’s largest retailer was just pulling a publicity stunt.

Gutsy gimmick is more than just a pint-sized plan 
Bladder up! Three middle-aged men wanting to sneak their beer into movies and baseball games have invented the “Beerbelly” a strap-on…

Telstra 
, a provider of digital audio and video publishing solutions, to deliver personalized digital video to subscribers of Telstra’s BigPond Internet media portal. BigPond subscribers will also use thePlatform’s MPS Download Media Manager to manage and play back content.

(PZ) Sports-Stuff to Distribute 2006 World Cup Soccer Mobile …
Houston Chronicle, United States - Apr 24, 2006VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 24, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) — Sports-Stuff.com Inc. (Pink Sheets:SSUF) (Frankfurt:S5F), a publisher …

Lower retail growth in year-to-year Q2 likely
IHT ThaiDay, Thailand - Apr 16, 2006… of last year, cashing in on three major events: the Songkran festival, traders marketing campaigns in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup soccer match in June …

Bayer, Puma, SGL Carbon, Volkswagen: German Equity Preview
Bloomberg - Apr 27, 2006… EM.TV AG (EV4 GY): The owner of the merchandising rights for the 2006 World Cup soccer games plans to sell as much as 87.8 million euros of bonds that can be …

Everypoint, Yahoo! to create Mobile MatchCast application
Telecom Paper (subscription), Netherlands - Apr 3, 2006in which the two firms will create Yahoo!’s Mobile MatchCast client application for the 2006 World Cup soccer tournament, beginning in June in Germany. …

Ghana: Black Stars Must Perform Well in Germany 2006 World Cup
AllAfrica.com, Washington - Apr 11, 2006… world cup began. Meanwhile, the Stars have won all their matches to book a place for the 2006 world cup soccer showpiece. The task …

World Cup Soccer and World Class Travel — Virgin Vacations Brings …
Emediawire (press release), WA - Apr 26, 2006… teams. Norwalk, CT (PRWEB) April 26, 2006 — World Cup soccer is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the world. With …

LG supplies DVB-H phone to Italian 3G provider
EETimes.com - Apr 28, 2006… H phone, the LG-U900 will be marketed from early May through Hutchison, which has exclusive DVB-H phone broadcasting rights for the 2006 World Cup soccer finals …

Ahead of Earnings
Wall Street Journal (subscription), NY - Apr 6, 2006… panel prices will fall at least 10% in the second quarter, and that is if demand for televisions related to the 2006 World Cup soccer tournament lives up to …

Red Devils ready for Germany
They brought noise, colour and a carnival atmosphere to the 2002 FIFA World Cup and now Korea Republic’s Red Devils supporters’ club are back and on the road to Germany…

Dempsey Hopes for World Cup Spot (ABC News)
Soccer Star Who Chipped Teammate’s Tooth, Clint Dempsey, Hopes for World Cup Spot

Briefing: Court deals FIFA a blow on World Cup ad rights (International Herald Tribune)
FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, suffered a serious setback on Thursday in its bid to protect World Cup sponsors when a German court said that the organization had no exclusive right to the name of the 2006 finals.

Koller could be healthy for World Cup; Totti makes return to Roma (USA Today)
Jan Koller, sidelined since September with a knee injury, could be ready to play in the Czech Republic’s World Cup opener against the United States on June 12. Also, Italian playmaker Francesco Totti returned to competitive soccer in an exhibition game with AS Roma’s junior team Thursday, two months after breaking his left leg.

Soccer Ruling Body FIFA Loses Copyright for World Cup Slogan (Bloomberg.com)
April 27 (Bloomberg) — FIFA, soccer’s ruling body, lost the copyright for its World Cup slogan “Fussball WM 2006,” while no judgment was passed on whether another mark has protection.

Valuev back in training! 
Seven-foot, 330-pound WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev, the largest heavyweight champion of all time, says he’s good to go after arthroscopic knee surgery in February. “I am 100% fit and I’m already one week into training,” says Valuev from his hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Who needs soccer when there’s Mr Switzerland? 
It may be the most highly anticipated sporting event this year, but many women who have no interest in the Soccer World Cup have been offered other distractions…

Commentary: NFL’s new rule roils local TV affiliates 
The NFL’s 32 owners have voted to boot local TV crews off the sidelines at games starting this fall, and stations are not happy about the way it was handled.

German Stocks Decline, Paced by Volkswagen, Daimler, Siemens 
April 28 (Bloomberg) — German stocks fell, led by Volkswagen AG. First-quarter profit of Europe’s largest carmaker missed analyst estimates. The benchmark DAX Index in Frankfurt fell 47.81, or 0.8 percent, to 6019.93 at 11:38 a.m., the lowest level in seven sessions.

German Stocks Decline, Paced by Volkswagen, Daimler, Siemens 
April 28 (Bloomberg) — German stocks fell, led by Volkswagen AG. First-quarter profit of Europe’s largest carmaker missed analyst estimates. The benchmark DAX Index in Frankfurt fell 46.26, or 0.8 percent, to 6021.48, the lowest level in seven sessions. Twenty- eight of the 30 stocks fell.

Bayer, Puma, SGL Carbon, Volkswagen: German Equity Preview 
April 28 (Bloomberg) — The following stocks may rise or fall in German markets today. Futures that track Germany’s benchmark DAX Index lost 0.7 percent to 6089 as of 10 p.m. close Frankfurt time on Eurex AG, the world’s biggest futures market.

Sports-Stuff to Distribute 2006 World Cup Soccer Mobile Service in Europe, Asia and Australia 
Sports-Stuff.com Inc. , a publisher and distributor of SMS alerts, mobile web sites, ringtones and mobile video games for the sports and entertainment industry, announced today that a multi-country distribution deal has been finalized with ACME Mobile Pte Ltd. , for its “World Cup Soccer Challenge” mobile predictive contest and real-time alerts.

Microsoft to Increase Xbox Software Lineup in Japan 
Tokyo, April 6 (Jiji Press)–Japanese users of Microsoft Corp.’s new game console, Xbox 360, will have 40 games to choose from by the summer and 80 by the end of this year, up from 25 now, officials of the U.S. software giant’s Japanese unit said Thursday.

LG supplies DVB-H phone to Italian 3G provider 
SEOUL, South Korea South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics Co. Ltd. said Friday (April 28) it will supply UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phones, trademarked LG-U900, to Hutchison Italia, the largest 3G telecommunications service carrier in Italy.

World Cup Soccer and World Class Travel — Virgin Vacations Brings the Two Together (PR Web)
World Cup soccer in Germany will bolster tourism in Berlin and Munich as fans from around the world support their local teams. (PRWEB Apr 26, 2006) Trackback URI: http://www.prweb.com/zingpr.php/VGhpci1Ib3JyLUVtcHQtU3VtbS1IYWxmLVplcm8=

Koller could be healthy for World Cup; Totti makes return to Roma (USA Today)
Jan Koller, sidelined since September with a knee injury, could be ready to play in the Czech Republic’s World Cup opener against the United States on June 12. Also, Italian playmaker Francesco Totti returned to competitive soccer in an exhibition game with AS Roma’s junior team Thursday, two months after breaking his left leg.

Sega & Adidas Team Up For World Cup Lovin’ (Kotaku)
Adidas Japan has partnered with Sega for special UFO catchers that will be rolled out this Sunday. These claw vending machines will offer World Cup fans the chance to win little soccer balls and…

Japan will pay for slightest mistake, warns Zico
Japan coach Zico warned on Thursday that the smallest of mistakes could end their dreams of reaching the FIFA World Cup semi-finals from a tough group led by five-time champions Brazil…

World Cup May Cause Company Bond Stampede Before June (Update1) (Bloomberg.com)
April 27 (Bloomberg) — The World Cup is six weeks away and corporate bond investors are preparing for a stampede of new sales before tuning out the bond market and turning to the soccer championship.

Oldest soccer ball to visit World Cup (UPI)
STIRLING, Scotland, April 26 (UPI) — The oldest known soccer ball in the world will leave its museum home in Scotland to be part of a display on the game’s history at the World Cup in Germany.

Dempsey Hopes for World Cup Spot (ABC News)
Soccer Star Who Chipped Teammate’s Tooth, Clint Dempsey, Hopes for World Cup Spot

Briefing: Court deals FIFA a blow on World Cup ad rights (International Herald Tribune)
FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, suffered a serious setback on Thursday in its bid to protect World Cup sponsors when a German court said that the organization had no exclusive right to the name of the 2006 finals.

Soccer Ruling Body FIFA Loses Copyright for World Cup Slogan (Bloomberg.com)
April 27 (Bloomberg) — FIFA, soccer’s ruling body, lost the copyright for its World Cup slogan “Fussball WM 2006,” while no judgment was passed on whether another mark has protection.

FA chief returns to London after Scolari talks
FA chief executive Brian Barwick returned from Lisbon on Thursday, saying he had been interviewing Portugal’s Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari about the job of next England manager…