We have all got ‘World Cup Fever’ at our house! The FIFA World Cup, being hosted in South Africa, has got us all fascinated and enthralled. The matches, which, because of the time zone differences, are taking place in the middle of the night for us, mean that we are losing sleep. But all in a good cause!
The New Zealand team, the All Whites, have made us so proud! Ranked a lowly 78th in the world, they drew in their first match with Slovakia. And the draw gave them their first point, EVER, in a World Cup soccer tournament.
And not only that, they went on to hold the current world soccer champions, Italy, to a one-all draw! A second point!
And finally, the All Whites held Paraguay to a goaless draw. A third point!
New Zealand is now out of the competition, as we came third in our group and only the top two go through to the next round of quarter-finals. But we can say that we are unbeaten. <wink> and we can be proud of the All Whites. They are awesome!
So, where is Paraguay, Italy, Slovakia, New Zealand??? Where are all these South African venues with unpronounceable names? Get out your maps and your globes everyone…
Big international competitions like the World Cup are great opportunities to teach a bit of world geography, aren’t they?
Happy Geography Teaching!
Stephanie