Football Media

2010 saw a FIFA World Cup of firsts: the first on African soil, the first won by Spain and the first to be assessed second-by-second by the Castrol Index. Using advanced technology and objective analysis to evaluate every single player movement, the FIFA World Cup(TM) now has Sergio Ramos as its first Castrol Index winner.

1 SERGIO RAMOS DF SPAIN 9.79
2 JOAN CAPDEVILA DF SPAIN 9.74
3 CARLES PUYOL DF SPAIN 9.70
4 PHILIPP LAHM DF GERMANY 9.66
5 GERARD PIQUE DF SPAIN 9.63
6 DAVID VILLA FW SPAIN 9.59
7 WESLEY SNEIJDER MF NETHERLANDS 9.56
8 LUIS SUAREZ FW URUGUAY 9.53
9 THOMAS MUELLER MF GERMANY 9.51
10 MANUEL NEUER GK GERMANY 9.48
11 SERGIO BUSQUETS MF SPAIN 9.46
12 JOHN PANTSIL DF GHANA 9.43
13 MARK VAN BOMMEL MF NETHERLANDS 9.41
14 BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER MF GERMANY 9.39
15 PAULO DA SILVA DF PARAGUAY 9.36
16 XABI ALONSO MF SPAIN 9.34
17 ARNE FRIEDRICH DF GERMANY 9.32
18 GREGORY VAN DER WIEL DF NETHERLANDS 9.30
19 JORIS MATHIJSEN DF NETHERLANDS 9.28
20 MAXIMILIANO PEREIRA DF URUGUAY 9.26

Source: FIFA.com/castrolindex

Attensity Analysis of Social Media Indicates Holland Is Sentimental Favorite to Win

Attensity Group, the leader in Customer Experience Management software applications that generate value from unstructured text, has issued its analysis of the sentiment expressed in social media about the World Cup finalists.  This analysis, drawn from the full spectrum of social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, blogs, videos, online forums), has shown The Netherlands to be the sentimental favorite to win, despite having a smaller share of social media conversations than its competitor Spain.

Fifty-four percent of the total conversation about the World Cup is being directed toward Spain, yet, of that total amount, only 47 percent of the chatter has been positive in sentiment. While only garnering 46 percent of the total conversation, Holland, on the other hand, has seen greater positive sentiment (53 percent).

Attensity is not attempting to predict the World Cup winner, as the champion wins on skill and ability to play better than the competitor, not social media popularity or “voting.”

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010(TM) OFFICIAL SONG “WAKA WAKA (THIS TIME FOR AFRICA)” BY SHAKIRA FEATURING FRESHLYGROUND PASSES ONE MILLION SOLD MARK Single Proceeds Benefit 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) Campaign “20 Centers for 2010″

Shakira and special guest Freshlyground will be performing the #1 Hit “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)” during the closing ceremonies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The performance will take place on the field at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on July 11 at 6:42 local time to precede the final match of the cup and will be available to all FIFA network partners.

Sony Music announced today that Shakira featuring Freshlyground’s Waka Waka (This Time For Africa), the Official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, has reached one million singles sold since it became available May 11. In the history of the World Cup. “Waka Waka” is the fastest-selling single and the biggest-selling World Cup single of the digital age. All proceeds from the song will benefit FIFA’s Official Campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup”20 Centers for 2010.”

The song was written and co-produced by global superstar Shakira. The song is as international as the games themselves. It is inspired by an African marching chant, “Zangalewa” made popular by the Cameroonian group Golden Voices and combines Afro-Colombian instrumentation and rhythms with a rousing Soca beat and Southern African choir and guitar. It is also included on “Listen Up! The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album(TM)” released by Sony Music Entertainment.

“Bafana Bafana are out of the World Cup but they won the hearts and minds of all South Africans and the whole world tonight,” said 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC) CEO Danny Jordaan after South Africa’s final group stage match against France in Mangaung/Bloemfontein.

South Africa won the match but it was not enough for the host nation to progress past the group stage of the tournament.

“Yes they did not make it past the group stage but they did what the country asked of them – they played with pride, passion, skill and commitment, they gave their best. They did the national team jersey and every single South African proud and we want to thank them for what they’ve done for this country,” he added.

Jordaan also thanked South Africans for the tremendous support they have shown for the South African team.

“The passion and enthusiasm we have seen across the length and breadth of South Africa in recent weeks has made this tournament truly come alive for locals and visitors alike,” he said.

Jordaan does not believe that South Africa’s exit will affect the overall success of the tournament.

“It may be over for Bafana Bafana but it is not over for South Africa. This is still South Africa’s World Cup. We are not going home, the World Cup is happening in our home,” he said.

“South Africans have already proven their support for Team South Africa. Without millions of them we would not have delivered ten world-class stadiums, opened new airports, highways and train stations in record time or welcomed hundreds of thousands of new visitors to our country. We would not have already hosted more than half of the World Cup matches successfully,” he explained.

“I remain confident that South Africans will continue to be fantastic hosts for the next two and a half weeks and make the most of this incredible time in our country’s history, which has already seen us achieve so much,” said Jordaan.

Jordaan said that support for the tournament to date has met all expectations with a total of 1 570 447 people attending the first 32 matches (an average of 49,076). More than a million people have watched the matches at the ten FIFA Fan Fests in South Africa and hundreds of thousands more have watched the games in public viewing areas around the country, with World Cup matches also shattering television audience records in the country.

Durban has proved to be the most popular FIFA Fan Fest with 238,546 visitors from the start of the tournament until 20 June.