World Cup 2006, the biggest sporting event on Earth, kicked off in Germany on 9 June and continues until the final on 9 July. Football may be one of the most simple sports, but this year's tournament features new technology on the pitch and incredible new opportunities for fans to follow the action.
Each match will be played with a new Adidas 'Teamgeist' ball with a 14-panel configuration that forms an almost perfectly smooth exterior. The new ball construction promises to give players increased accuracy and control, and has already been the subject of criticism after two spectacular goals in the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica.
Credit: Adidas
For the players, Adidas has developed the +F50 Tunite football boot. The boots come with three interchangable components so that each player can easily customise their own footwear. For example, players can adapt these cleats according to weather and pitch conditions.
Adidas has personalised boots for each team they supply -- this is the US boot.
Credit: Adidas
All World Cup tickets contain an RFID chip to hinder counterfeiting and scalping. The chip is embedded in the symbol on the left. Although there are many late ticket returns, World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer, president of host nation Germany's organising committee, says he expects all 3 million-plus tickets will be sold, according to Reuters.
Credit: Flickr user Nathan Gibbs
Philips has installed new lighting in eight of the World Cup stadiums which will make high definition broadcasts of the matches possible -- not to mention a better atmosphere for fans attending.
Credit: Royal Philips
The Web has become a spiritual centre where footie fanatics can share their feelings of joy or despair and organise action on message boards, chat rooms, IMs or emails.
Take the case of England superstar Wayne Rooney. The 20-year-old striker injured his foot in late April and appeared unlikely to appear in the World Cup, severely dimming England's chances. Special healing sites (left) immediately popped up on the Web, including one to massage his foot with the click of a mouse, prayer blogs and numerous postings giving support and advice. Rooney has been given medical clearance and may play in England's second match against Trinidad and Tobago.
The Church of England even dedicated a special prayer for the team.
Credit: Flickr user dswinburne, Healrooney.com
Mobile TV will make its presence felt for the first time at the World Cup. T-Mobile in Germany will broadcast 20 games live, and live matches will be available in Italy. Many in the rest of the world will be able to view goals soon after they are scored and see four minutes of highlights immediately after each match on their mobile devices. Expect every match to be available live on mobile TV for the next World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Credit: Samsung
An increase in sales of two items are a guarantee during the World Cup: beer and flat-screen TVs. For the first time, many fans will enjoy every game on high-definition TV. In the UK, the BBC is broadcasting its games in hi-def.
On the left, a 100-inch diagonal LCD TV from LG.Philips. Right is a 102-inch model from Samsung.
Credit: Michael Kanellos
Eight years ago, the more sophisticated World Cup coverage featured an email every time a goal was scored. Now sites give almost live play-by-play and analysis. Some of the more involved include broadcasters ITV Sport and BBC Sport, which provides live TV coverage in the UK only, the irreverent Football365, German coverage from DW-world.de and the official FIFA site. Plus there are many, many more.
Here's a screen shot of the BBC's live coverage of the first match. The Yahoo/FIFA live Match Data site was experiencing technical difficulties for the first match.
Credit: BBC.co.uk
World Cup games are not only available for games consoles, but there are many for PCs, mobile phones, and more. They range from detailed, realistic console games to trivia and beer games. If you're a gambler, you're in luck -- there are many options available.
For the World Cup of Beer, it's Japan (Kirin) versus Holland (Heineken) in a first-round match.
Credit: Skysports.com
Innserve will use new technology to ensure that the beer keeps flowing on about 750,000 beer lines during the World Cup matches. Mobile technicians will use PDAs to monitor the flow of beer at more than 100,000 S&N and Newcastle pubs and clubs in the UK.
Credit: Newcastlebrown.com
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