Word: englanders
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...host of others have the ability to cause upsets. There are no runaway favorites for the trophy, either. Few would pick the defending champion, Italy, to repeat next year, and neither Brazil nor Argentina are anywhere near their scintillating best. All of Europe's leading football nations - France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and defending European champion Spain - bear with them the weight of heightened national expectations. (Spain, Portugal and Holland have never won the tournament and England hasn't raised the trophy since 1966.) Less-heralded sides with a bit of luck may find themselves surging into the tournament...
...More intriguing is the presence of North Korea, a team that, despite the odiousness of the regime in Pyongyang, carries more than a little World Cup goodwill. The country's last appearance in the tournament was in 1966 in England where, as complete outsiders with 1000-1 odds to win the trophy, its team shocked the world by reaching the quarterfinals, beating Italy along the way and capturing the hearts of the English public. The current North Korean team lacks flair, but has shown a dogged resilience in qualification matches. A latter-stage match-up against South Korea, though unlikely...
...relief at making the finals was shot through with embarrassment and even shame. "The Hand of God" was the ironic headline in France's sports daily l'Equipe, a reference to the notorious hand punch Argentine striker Diego Maradona admitted he'd used to score the winning goal over England in a 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match. "Les Bleus: Hands Up," echoed Libération in its coverage of what it called France's "holdup" of the Irish team that had utterly dominated Wednesday's game prior to Henry's pawing of the ball...
...Medieval England wins the gross-out award for its invention of the castle garderobe - a protruding room with a tiny opening out of which royalty would do their business. The garderobe was usually suspended over a moat that collected all manner of human discards, making for a particularly uninviting hurdle for an invading army. Peasants and serfs relieved themselves in communal privies located at the end of their streets, or in the case of those living along the London Bridge, right into the River Thames...
Garderobes and public toilets were eventually replaced with something slightly more recognizable to the modern-day defecator: a box with a lid. France's Louis XI hid his toilet behind curtains and used herbs to keep his bathroom scented; England's Elizabeth I covered her commode in crimson velvet bound with lace...