MMXII: UNSERER ZEIT (REBOOT)

The MMXII project, by New York based artist Daniel Nyari, features the Germany team that will attempt to dethrone Spain at this summer’s European Championships. 

You know this already because we told you about it in February.  What you don't know is that Daniel has went all perfectionist (you know what these artists are like) and given the project a subtle makeover.

Kroos, Neuer, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and all of the usual suspects are here and Daniel doesn’t put a foot wrong in capturing Die Nationalmannschaft perfectly, in his own unique style. 

Whilst Espana retain the status of clear favourites to lift their third successive trophy, history is against them; no European side has ever won three successive international honours.  Holland and a few other sides may also have something to say about a potential German triumph at Poland/Ukraine, but it’s difficult not to admire the quality of the team Joachim Löw has nurtured.

Roll on next week, but in the meantime check out the excellent artwork on display in the MMXII gallery by Daniel Nyari, and be sure to visit his website, and Bundesliga Fanatic, for more goodies.

ENGLAND'S MOUNT RUSHMORE

With the opening match just days away now, UK based lottery provider Lotto has unveiled a footballing homage to celebrate the start of England’s campaign in Europe.

A bespoke sculpture, which features four of England’s most talented and iconic players from the last 25 years as voted for by 2000 British adults, was overseen by artist Aden Hynes and took a team of four six weeks to make.

The sculpture was specially commissioned as part of Lotto’s ‘What Would You Do?’ campaign which found that 84% of the nation would indulge their hobbies if they won the lottery, with sport (32%) and gardening (24%) topping the list of passions we would like to indulge in . Lotto asked 2,000 sports fans to nominate the English players who had contributed most to the national team over the last 25 years. The results informed the faces featured on the unique artwork!

Built from Fibreglass and concrete in the style of the world famous Mount Rushmore, the work (dubbed ‘Mount Rush-Score’) weighs in at 60kg and is 1.5m wide and 1m high. It features David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne (with specially built tear-duct water feature) and the talismanic Stuart Pearce.

The scary thing is that some people will actually want one of these....

MOMENTS WITH (CHELSEA BOUND?) HULK

In demand, as always, but with Chelsea now set to complete the signing of Eden Hazard, and with Didier Drogba moving on, expect the name Hulk to feature heavily in any Blues related paper talk over the coming weeks.  In fact, if some reports are to be believed it's a matter of when not if as far as the robust Brazilian and Stamford Bridge is concerned.

Anyway, the man himself has just released a series of videos in association with that most cosmopolitan of boot manufacturers Mizuno today, giving his thoughts on a few topics....

Hulk on his most memorable goal...

...his early life...

...his most memorable moment...

...choice of footwear...

...and advice for the next generation...

THE $20,000 PENALTY

Spain’s Alfonso Ramos is the new FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) champion after triumphing over Bruce Grannec to win the final in Dubai.

Ramos has now netted himself a cool $20,000 grand prize, a ticket to the Ballon d’Or Gala and the prestigious accolade of being crowned the 2012 FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion.

With six online seasons, eleven live qualification events held worldwide, a record-breaking 1,300,000 participants and a breath-taking Grand Final staged by FIFA and Presenting Partners EA SPORTS and Sony PlayStation in the exclusive Jumeirah Resort in Dubai, the FIWC continues to set a formidable standard in the world of gaming.

After a tense 90 minutes the match ended with a stalemate as both Grannec and Ramos both struggled to break down their opponent’s rear-guard.  After an equally tight extra-time period the match went to a decisive penalty shootout with plenty of opportunities for both players to win. However, Ramos stayed cool under pressure and struck the 20,000USD winning penalty.

Streamed live for the very first time to an online audience, the popularity of the tournament continues to soar as fans all over the world were able to join in and witness the tension and excitement first hand Ramos’s success in the 2012 FIWC Grand Final.  Well done lad…

FACES OF ENGLAND: PAUL GASCOIGNE

Paul Gascoigne, one of the finest footballing talents England has ever produced, is lending his support to the team’s tournament hopes at Euro 2012.

Gazza, who celebrates his 45th birthday this Sunday [27th May], unveiled a giant 13m x 10m image of himself which plays up to the famous ‘tongue out’ pose from his playing days.

The image of Gazza is the first in a series of ‘Faces of England’ from official England kit suppliers Umbro which celebrates icons of England. Over the coming months, other famous figures that represent English culture will appear on the billboard on Old Street, London.

Gazza said: “It brings a lump to my throat when I think about how proud I am to have played for my country. There’s nothing better than representing England - the buzz of the crowd and feeling the support of the whole country. Wearing the shirt again has brought back many happy memories and seeing myself on display in the capital, being celebrated as an icon of England is truly an honour.”

“I bumped into Colin Hendry recently and it [the game against Scotland] felt like only yesterday that I left him on the turf at Wembley. We delivered in style that day and I wish the current squad all the best this summer and hope they wear the shirt with pride.”

Images of Paul Gascoigne in the England home shirt will also appear on fly postering sites across England and you can hear more from him here.

THE LA MASIA SECRET TUNNEL

We’ve already highlighted the new Nike “My Time is Now” digital film, and you've probably seen it, but couldn’t quite get our head around what the 'tunnels' were that the video referred to.

As it turns out, the hidden tunnels off the main digital film lead viewers to content in a unique interactive way, so long as they have the hunger and desire to search for it. 

An interactive film sees Pep Guardiola leave his seat in the middle of a France vs. Holland match.  Fresh from taking notes about the game, Guardiola takes us through a humorous slide show of life at the FC Barcelona Academy. It seems too good to be true, complete with water slides and a life of fun leisure for the young players. Of course, as Pep reminds us, this isn’t how great players and teams are built. He quickly takes his audience back to the reality of the hunger and desire young players need to succeed as the presentation ends and Guardiola takes his seat again at the game.  

Pep's tunnel is around 00:26, click here to see if you can find that and the rest.

THE MANCHESTER CITY VICTORY PARADE

It was a major outpuring of emotion, of course it was, but considering some of the things Manchester City fans have had to deal with in the last forty odd years, few could begrudge them a day in the sun, money or not.

Manchester based photgrapher Kieran Lester headed into the centre of his home town to see the City victory parade and took some great shots which you can see in this gallery.

ITV'S ENGLAND EURO 2012 AD

Ah the English football media....

Masters of understatement, rarely likely to create hyperbole, always avoiding xenophobia, happy to respect the superior talent and skill of other nations.

Well that's complete bollocks isn't it?  That said we did enjoy English television channel ITV's latest promo ad for their Euro 2012 coverage.....

ARSENE WENGER AND FIFA 12

As we mentioned here recently, a survey carried out by FIFA stated that 58% of players believe that playing FIFA 12 can actually improve their performance in real life. If that’s the case then they’re going to need someone to help with that.  How about Arsene Wenger?

Wenger has been announced as the official coach for the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) 2012 and fans will be able to view the Arsenal manager’s comments in the FIWC weekly newsletter, on FIFA.com and via FIFA’s official Youtube channel.

Wenger commented after named FIWC coach saying, “It is an honour for me to be able to act as the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2012 coach. I know that especially young players enjoy virtual football and I see this development as very positive. The love of football is what brings professional players, trainers, amateurs and fans together. There are various ways in which to live out this passion and the FIWC is undoubtedly one of those.”

Wenger also spoke about the similarities between the FIWC and actual football as he said, “The players who play in the FIWC have to make quick decisions just as top class (football) players do. They have to quickly analyse the situations they face at a very quick pace and therefore the players who make the best decisions will win. That is what it is all about, it is analysing the game at a high speed and making the right decisions.”

The FIWC is the world’s largest online gaming tournament, organised by FIFA in association with EA SPORTS and PlayStation. The event gives football fans the chance to live out their passion for football by competing against each other at FIFA ’12 with chance of qualifying for the Grand Final in Dubai. Over 1,000,000 players around the world are registered making the FIWC a fiercely competitive tournament, offering the prize of $20,000 as well as an invitation to the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

NIKE'S BIG 2012 PROMO: MY TIME IS NOW

The Cage, The Airport, Write The Future, and for 2012......

OFFSIDE - FOOTBALL IN EXILE BY DIRK-JAN VISSER

Photographer Dirk-Jan Visser reveals the human tragedy of a country torn apart by war from the perspective of two football teams.  Azeri FK Qarabag Agdam and Armenian FK Karabakh Stepanakert symbolize the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in the Caucasus.

In 1994, with the aid of Armenia, the region broke away from Azerbaijan, but to date is not recognized as an independent state by any country.

For three years, photographer Dirk followed the lives of players and coaches, fighters and refugees, wives and widows from the region, all of whom are central to an exhibition and accompanying photo book which begins soon.

Offside – Football in Exile by Dirk-Jan Visser is on display at the Noorderlicht Fotogalerie, Groningen, The Netherlands from 26 May - 8 July.

HERE COMES DRAXLER!

We like Schalke’s Julien Draxler, but then you know this already. 

Draxler, for the uninitiated, is one of the most exciting talent’s in Europe and right now and, at time of writing, may still make the cut for the German Euro 2012 squad.

The 18 year old winger is two footed, quick, strong and clearly destined for greatness, as we’ll highlight when we review The IBWM 100 later this year.

It’s not just us that rates him mind, German ‘beat combo’ TiL (ft Hula) have recorded this catchy ditty –

Here comes Draxler!

Who are Götze and Reus?

Here comes Draxler!

Yes he'll remain faithful to us

Here comes Draxler!

The kid with the horse lungs

Here comes Draxler!

90 minutes at full throttle and then going on a lap of honour

Horse lungs indeed. Thanks to Jens at Uber Football for the heads up.

#RONALDOLIVE

Last year Castrol Edge presented ‘Ronaldo Tested to the Limit’, an award-winning documentary that showed the Portugal and Real Madrid forward showcase his strengths in a series of challenges in the most scientific examination of a player ever undertaken.

Now, to celebrate the release of the documentary for free on iTunes, Castrol and Ronaldo are offering The Portugal star’s fans to test his skill live on Facebook.

You can take part in the challenge - #RonaldoLIVE - by signing up at facebook.com/castrolfootball to be in with a chance of going head to head with Ronaldo tomorrow, Thursday 17th May.

#RonaldoLIVE will be the world’s first interactive football challenge streamed live through Facebook from a state-of-the-art testing facility in Madrid. In the test, Ronaldo will face a barrage of footballs fired at him from chutes suspended above and he will have to receive, control and shoot each ball into one of four goals that surround him before the next ball is released.

From the first 100,000 that connect to the Facebook app to watch live, fans will be selected at random to take part in the action, by selecting Ronaldo’s target and choosing the goals that he must shoot into.

You can download the award-winning documentary Castrol EDGE Presents Ronaldo Tested to the Limit as a free podcast on iTunes now by visiting: http://bit.ly/testronaldo.

YOU ARE HERE BY LANCE WYMAN

Norwich University College of the Arts is hosting an exhibition of the work of US designer Lance Wyman. 

Who?  Read on…. 

In 1966, Wyman moved to Mexico City to work on the graphic design programme for the 1968 Olympics. Under the direction of head of the organising committee Pedro Ramírez Vásquez, Wyman developed the famous logotype for the games that has become one of the most revered Olympics logos ever produced.  It was replicated for the 1970 Mexico World Cup and has become the most recognisable of football related fonts.

The logotype has pride of place at You Are Here, a show of Wyman's work curated by Finola Gaynor at The Gallery at Norwich University College of the Arts.  Wyman developed the application of the 68 Games' graphic language into sports pictograms icons for cultural events and services, referencing pre-Hispanic design and Mexican folk art.

You Are Here is on until June 9. Admission is free. Details here.

LUIS FABIANO 300

Still just 31, former Seville and Porto striker Luis Fabiano notched his 300^th career goal this week.

After scoring for Sáo Paolo in their 3-1 Copa do Brasil match against Ponte Preta, Fabiano was presented with some commemorative boots by Nike to celebrate his outstanding achievement.

Here’s the most recent of those 300 goals…