The Nike Commercial Curse

Below is Nike's 2010 World Cup commercial. By now you have either seen it or at least seen some variation of it. It is spectacular. We blogged about it not too long ago when it first came out. The theme of the commercial is to write the future. Basically saying that you can become a hero or a goat in the World Cup. The potential is endless since there is no bigger stage in all of sports. However, apparently the potential is endless for everyone not featured in the commercial as everyone in commercial seems to be cursed.

Here is the commercial:



Let's run through the players:

Didier Drogba: The commercial starts with Ivory Coast's striker Didier Drogba. One of the best strikers in the world and arguably one of the best in the Premier League. Love him or hate him, he's really good. He was on the Chelsea team that won the Premier League this year. Two weeks after the Premier League ends and right before the World Cup, he breaks his arm in one of Ivory Coast's warm up matches. Granted, he still manages to play in Ivory Coast's three games, but he never had quite the impact people anticipated. On top of that Ivory Coast was just eliminated today. Drogba is done.

Fabio Cannavaro: In the commercial, Drogba's shot is stopped by a sweet bicycle from Cannavaro. It leads to Cannavaro being hailed as a celebrity and some pretty catchy tunes being made about him. Not to mention some pretty flexible ladies paying their respect as well. As mentioned on this blog and as everyone knows, Italy bowed out in the first round. Pretty embarrassing for the returning champs. Not only did they bow out, but their defense was rather suspect throughout the entire tournament. Cannavaro is not only the foundation of that defense, but the captain of the team. You can't blame him for everything, but he's the leader of that team, and that team, especially the defense, never showed up.

Franck Ribery: The commercial then jumps to Wayne Rooney making a pass which Ribery intercepts. Ribery was of course part of the French team that was a complete and total embarrassment during the World Cup. No need to repeat everything. Not that Ribery was the one causing all the headlines, but still part of the cursed team.


Wayne Rooney: Quite a bit of the commercial is centered around Rooney. Probably because he had an amazing year in the Premier League where he carried his team to a strong finish barely behind Chelsea. I'm pretty sure Nike, and the whole world for that matter, anticipated he would do the same with England. But he's been a complete non-factor thus far. There was so much hype and promise for England coming into the World Cup and it was supposed to be Rooney at the helm of the ship and leading the team to glory. Instead the England ship looks more like it's slowly leaking and heading towards it inevitable sinking. Maybe things will change. England has advanced, so he still could write a different history. Thus far though, he looks more like the player in the trailer park than the one being knighted by the queen.

Spain: There is a brief moment in the commercial where three players from Spain throw down a newspaper. The players aren't really highlighted in the commercial so you can't really say they are completely cursed. Yet even their small contribution to the commercial has clearly affected their play as they lost their first game. Good thing they were smart and barely participated.

Landon Donovan: Speaking of small participation, there is a brief clip of Donovan throwing down a newspaper as well. He's been anything but cursed this World Cup. But he's American and Nike is an American company. Thus any Nike curses don't impact him or other American players. It makes sense just like this whole curse makes sense.

Ronaldinho: After Rooney, there is some action by some Brazil players before the ball goes to Ronaldinho. He didn't even make the final Brazil squad. He was cursed before the Cup even got started. Should have been a warning sign to all of the other players. Instead, they were too busy cashing their endorsement check to even notice. Cha-ching! Right Cannavaro?

Cristiano Ronaldo: I'm pretty sure the best part of the commercial is Homer Simpson saying, "Ronal...doh!" Pretty good. Not sure who gets credit for that, but its clever. Anyways, Ronaldo is really the only one where things are up in the air. He hasn't played bad, hasn't played great. Portugal pulled off a tie against Ivory Coast and Brazil and pummeled North Korea. It's still uncertain if Portugal is any good. Regardless, Ronaldo hasn't been much of a factor at all. The commercial has somehow inflated his already enormous ego. Every free-kick Portugal receives, no matter how far away it is from goal, Ronaldo lines up just like he does in the commercial and he always takes a shot. He's clearly trying to "write his future" just like Nike wrote the commercial. Unfortunately, he has yet to put his free-kicks on target, let alone score.

So Drogba, Ribery, Cannavaro and Ronaldinho are all out of the World Cup. Their history is written, and it wasn't a pretty one. Rooney and Spain have a chance to salvage their history even though the start was pretty bad; horrible for Rooney. Ronaldo is the only one that has been decent. But maybe that will change too. Everything changes in the knockout rounds.

Regardless of the finish, of the six players highlighted, four are already finished. Maybe one of the two will write a glorious future. But if the curse is real and they follow suit with the other players, doomsday is right around the corner.

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The Ronaldinho Snub - Brazil Leaves Ronaldinho off World Cup Roster

I realize I'm a little late on responding to this, but it still is worth a post. Brazil, like most World Cup teams, announced their final roster the other week. Not included in the final roster was once greatest player in the world, Ronaldinho. Brazil's head coach, Dunga (no last name of course), basically said that he selected his squad based upon their past performances together and believed that this squad had the best chance to win. Makes sense.

But Ronaldinho's absence from the final roster has caused quite the discussion and criticism. A lot of reporters and other analysts are criticizing the coach for omitting Ronaldinho. World Cup organizer Danny Jordaan criticized Dunga for the omission and said that "some coaches are "blinded" by a sense of power." And that "Ronaldinho is a "soccer genius" who had talents "enjoyed by few in the game, both past and present." He said that Dunga "should have selected the midfielder "as a matter of course."

Which brings up an interesting point. How much should a player be favored because of his name? And how much would it have really mattered to bring Ronaldinho? He's not going to be one of the starting 11. At best he would be a sub and maybe get in for a game or two. I find it hard to believe that he isn't as good as any other sub. Or that he isn't as good as the #23 person (the final spot) on Brazil's roster. So if he is likely as good as Brazil's worst player, why not bring him? Hasn't he earned it? Wouldn't his reputation and name alone be good for the game and for the cup?

But maybe that is the point Dunga is trying to make. He's not here to honor the past. He's here to win. No one made the team because they are dating the coach's daughter or some booster paid a lot of money to get them on the team. No one is on the team because of their name or their club team. They are on because he believes they are flat out the best 23 players Brazil has to offer. I think that message will be a bigger boost to the team than anything else he could have done. Knowing that their coach is so committed to winning that he is willing to do whatever is needed to win, even if it means leaving off the fabled Ronaldinho and taking criticism for it. It has to be inspiring to the players and let them know that Brazil is in it to win it and that anything less will be a disappointment.

I understand it, but I'm still bummed about it. Nike released their amazing World Cup ad this last week. Ronaldinho is of course featured in it. I say of course because Nike, like most of the world, probably thought Ronaldinho would make the Brazil squad. Nike probably also needed to get the most recognizable faces in soccer to sell to the world. Ronaldinho is one of those faces. He was the face of the game in the 2006 World Cup. He also left his cleats in Brazil and forgot how to play soccer for a month and went MIA. Still though, it's amazing that its only been four short years since he was king of the soccer world and he won't even be part of the team this year.

Frankly, I feel somewhat robbed of the Ronaldinho era. I feel like it should have lasted longer. Jordaan is right. Ronaldinho is a soccer genius. There was so much promise and so many good times. I'm sad it has come to an end. It could have been so much better and lasted so much longer.


Nike's ad:

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Ronaldinho - Ugliest Player of the Decade

World Soccer has named Ronaldinho the best soccer player of the decade. I'm not quite sure I agree with their selection. They just based it off the total points each player received each year throughout the decade. Although Ronaldinho was dominant and brilliant for the first half of the decade, he was completely useless and couldn't even make the starting 11 for the past couple of years. In another post, I'll provide my player of the decade. In the meantime, I think that World Soccer, myself and the entire world of soccer can agree on one thing: that Ronaldinho is the ugliest player of the decade. Here are the other finalists:

(Quick note: Frank Ribery was intentionally left off this list. Although he has teeth that would make any dentist and orthodontist pry their own eyes out, the scarring on his face is from a car accident when he was two. I'm already a bad dude for making this list, but hopefully leaving off Ribery will show some compassion on my part and not entirely punch my ticket to hell.)



Peter Crouch: Here is why you shouldn't feel bad for any of the people on this list: Peter Crouch is dating this woman. I'm not saying she's God's gift to men, but Crouch definitely isn't God's gift to women. The fact remains, that despite the fact that Crouch is like 6'10", weighs about 120 pounds and isn't that good looking, by the sheer fact that he is a professional soccer player in Europe, he can score models. So before you feel bad about any of these people, remember that their soccer skills allow them to score ladies way out of their league.



Didier Drogba: Sorry Drogba. Blowing us kisses won't get you off this list. Not with that hair. So nappy. Braid it or shave it. It's a steel wool mess.





Dirk Kuyt: I wish I could take credit for saying he looks like Sloth from the movie Goonies, but I read it somewhere else. Not that anyone reading this would have known I was stealing material from another site, but that's no reason to steal from someone else. Have to maintain some integrity, right? Right. Now, on with the ugly people list.



Ronaldo: Remember when Ronaldo was sporting this hair? Combine that with that amazing gap in his teeth and it will guarantee you a spot on this list.



Wayne Rooney: I like Rooney. He plays hard and you can tell he works his tail off. Plus, he's almost singlehandedly keeping Manchester United in the title race this year. Unfortunately, he also looks like a troll.



Carlos Tevez: Before moving to Manchester City last off-season, Tevez played at Manchester United along side Rooney. The two of them were unquestionably the least desirable forward combination in the history of the English Premier League.



Carlos Puyol: Again with the hair. I realize you are a professional soccer player and not a movie star or model, but your hair looks like a horse mane. For how much you are seen in public and treated like a celebrity in your home country, there is no excuse for hair like this.





And finally, Ronaldinho: In his prime he was one of the greatest soccer players ever. Best player of the decade? Potentially. Ugliest? Definitely.

Anyone I missed?

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