Here's the World Cup fun you missed on Wednesday, June 11:
HATERS GONNA HATE: People in eight countries are rooting hard against the USA in this upcoming World Cup. But here's the weird thing: Apparently people in the USA are rooting hard against their own team! Seriously, TheNew York Times says so.
ANIMAL PLANET: We're 24 hours out from the first game and we have animals in every corner of the globe picking matches. Remember the celebrity that Paul the Octopus turned into in 2010? Well, now we have a psychic turtle named Big Head who went out on a limb that Brazil will beat Croatia in Thursday's opener (4 pm ET, ESPN and Univision). And Dougie the Dog is hoping to make a name for himself in England.
SHOW ME THE MONEY:We have the official list of best/worst paid World Cup coaches ... from the Daily Mail. Turns out US boss Jurgen Klinsmann is in the Top 10. Who's in last? Mexico coach Miguel "El Piojo" Herrera.
FLAG QUIZ: So you think you're ready for the World Cup? Prove it here by showing you know every flag of every country in this World Cup.
WORLD CUPS THE USA CAN WIN: There's the Population World Cup, the Starbucks World Cup, the Sugar World Cup and the CO2 Emissions World Cup. But the US couldn't even get out of the group in the Biggest Drinkers World Cup. Catch the full list courtesy of TheWall Street Journal here.
CONRADINHO IN THE LAND OF ROBINHO: Now the World Cup can officially begin. KICKTV's Jimmy Conrad has arrived in Brazil and he's so excited he loses several articles of clothing:
INJURY NEWS: Apparently England's Danny Welbeck didn't train on Wednesday and Italy's Marco Verratti participated in his team's session. Chilean fans have renewed hopes about their chances after Arturo Vidal trained on Wednesday and ran intensely.
WORLD CUP TRAGEDY: The nephew of Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was killed in an auto accident on Tuesday, just two days before the World Cup opener. Get all the details about what happened here.
GERMAN BIG SHOTS: It's not enough that they usually outplay the competition at the World Cup, now they have to go and out-dress them, too.
WHY DON'T AFRICAN TEAMS GO DEEP IN WORLD CUPS?: That's the question that The Guardian posed and the answers go much deeper than just performance on the field.
THE WORLD PUP: The Super Bowl has the Puppy Bowl and the World Cup has, well, the World Pup. England vs. Italy is enthralling:
