When it does, you put the ball in the net fifteen times.

The FIFA World Player Gala was held this week, a bit later than their usual mid-December scheduling if I remember correctly. Cristiano Ronaldo was officially announced as the World Footballer of the Year for 2008, beating out a healthy crowd of players headed largely by Lionel Messi.

To commemorate the occasion Nike has released a new TV ad. I always like when companies do things like this to support people who use their brand, and it can’t really hurt to remind everyone that the best in the world, is the best wearing their shoe. I think this really does do a good job of capturing how people feel about Ronaldo. If you watch closely you may even seen how he feels about himself.

FIFA yesterday officially announced that the right to host the 2014 world cup has been awarded to Brazil. It will be the first time South America has hosted the tournament since Argentina 1978 and the tournament returns to Brazil for the first time since 1950. I’m already dreaming up travel plans and the like for my trip. I fully plan on attending every World Cup from now until the day I die. It may not work out, but I can dream. I wonder what the cost of lifetime tickets to the World Cup would be?

Anyways here are some pictures of a legendary Brazilian stadium, the Maracana. This stadium was built for the 1950 world cup, and hosted possibly the greatest upset of all time, when Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1. Then attendance at the stadium for that match is estimated to be around 210,000. Today with the capacity is significantly less due to safety restrictions, despite that, I hope they can refurbish this stadium in time for it to be one of the premier stadiums for the tournament

here is a delightfully overexposed panorama

and a bit better shot of the full interior of the stadium