World Cup History...and Nike attempts to beat Adidas via a commercial

And I'm back as your guest blogger for World Cup 2010! This time I'm going to give a brief history of past winners and some surprising facts. But first some tantalizing media to get your hearts pumping and minds racing. Nike has released a new, epic 3 minute commercial in which they use current soccer stars such as Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, and Ronaldinho with guest appearances by Patrice Evra, Frank Ribery, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Cesc Fabregas, and even Kobe Bryant. Now with the controversy of Ronaldinho NOT included in the 30 man roster for Brazil, Drogba's questionable fame after his repeated outbursts during his seasons at Chelsea and no clear mention of the World Cup in the commercial Nike could be biting off more than they can chew. Also the lack of legends Lionel Messi and Kaka could take away from Nike's attempt to compete with Adidas (the official World Cup sponsor). You be the judge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE&feature=player_embedded

And now on to a brief history of the 70 years of World Cup. Play began in 1930 as Uruguay hosted and subsequently won the very first world cup. Things only got better from there.

1934 host Italy, winner Italy (US placed 3rd out of 13 teams--our best finish ever)

1938 host France, winner Italy

1950 host Brazil, winner Uruguay (US beat England in an epic, history-making game. Rematch Saturday, June 12, 2010)

1954 host Switzerland, winner West Germany

1958 host Sweden, winner Brazil

1962 host Chile, winner Brazil

1966 host England, winner England

1970 host Mexico, winner Brazil

1974 host West Germany, winner West Germany

1978 host Argentina, winner Argentina

1982 host Spain, winner Italy

1986 host Mexico, winner Argentina

1990 host Italy, winner West Germany (the Berlin Wall had fallen exactly a month earlier when the pools were chosen for the 1990 world cup, so its implications had not taken effect yet)

1994 host United States, winner Brazil

1998 host France, winner France

2002 host Korea Republic/Japan, winner Brazil (the only time a joint host was allowed)

2006 host Germany, winner Italy

*France and England are the only teams to have one World Cup title. Every other winner has won at least twice.

*Brazil leads with 5 wins

*Mexico and Italy are the only countries to host a World Cup more than once.

*The 1970 and 1990 World Cups are the only times where the final four were all previous World Cup champions.

*The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. An estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match in 2006. (Fifa.com October 11, 2009)

Next time: 2010 groups and World Cup mascots