Last night, the opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, signaled the start of the 20th Commonwealth Games – and while it was a celebration at its core, recent tragedies also cast somewhat of a cloud over the proceedings.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games got of to great start with an exciting and emotional opening ceremony. The ceremony was held at Celtic Park in Glasgow with thousands of fans cheering on roughly 6500 athletes from 71 contingents.

Her majesty, Queen Elizabeth II also attended the ceremony (as is tradition) and delivered a speech – officially opening the games.

The athletes and audience were entertained by the likes of Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle, both delivering beautiful and exciting performances.

Another exciting part of the evening was the arrival of the Queen’s Baton. The Queen’s Baton Relay is 190 000km journey around the commonwealth that ends at the place of the opening ceremony. However, this year’s baton handing ceremony caused a bit of a laugh as Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia who is the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, struggled to open the baton.

He had to open the baton because, awkwardly, it contained the Queen’s speech. So there he was, struggling and laughing, with the Queen giving him some serious side-eye. Awkward indeed.  (more…)

Who can ever forget the name James Rodriguez? Especially after the amazing performance this young Colombian had at the World Cup!

And now, the spotlight will be thrust even further on young James after he signed with one of the world’s best and most famous football clubs, Real Madrid.

Rodriguez has signed a six season contract with the Spanish club and, if some reports are to be believed, his signing cost the club a whole lot of money. SOme Spanish sources are claiming that Real Madrid signed the 23-year old for a whopping 80 million Euros. If this is true, he will join the ranks of some of the world’s most expensive transfers, some of which include the likes of Gareth Bale and new team mate, Cristiano Ronaldo.

And just as the Spanish do, the unveiled (or rather introduced) James Rodriquez to the fans at an event yesterday. Rodriguez greeted the crowd of nearly 40 000 as he cemented his new number 10 position at Real Madrid.  (more…)

Germany are still relishing in their impressive World Cup victory and the country is so pleased and impressed with the national squad’s coach, that they have decided to make him an honourary citizen.

Joachim Loew – a name that has been on everybody’s lips as of late – will be made an honourary citizen in his hometown of Schoenau im Schwarzwald in south west Germany.

The town’s mayor made the announcement today after a city council meeting unanimously determined that the manager of the World Cup champions will be made a special honourary citizen. However, that’s not the only honour that will be bestowed on the famed manager. (more…)

The British Open has a new champion and besides taking the title on Sunday, Rory McIlroy has also secured himself a better position in the World Golfing ranks.

McIlroy, who has quickly become one of the world’s most prolific golfers, won the prestigious British Open at the Royal Liverpool club on Sunday. And while we are pretty sure he is ecstatic about claiming the title (and that very shiny trophy), he might be even more pleased with his world ranking number.

Since winning the British Open, McIlroy has moved up to second position on the world rankings.

Before his wonderful win in England, he was sitting at number 8 – so moving up 6 places is quite a feat, and one that McIlroy will be very proud of indeed.  (more…)

With the World Cup done and dusted, it’s always interesting to reflect on some of the most important moments, check out some stats and just reminisce in general.

The folks over at Smart Infographic put together this super interesting and insightful inforgraphic about this year’s FIFA World Cup. And while it mostly centers around this year’s tournament, it also shows us some interesting stats and facts about previous World Cup tournaments and old heroes.

Check it out below:

Source: 2oceansvibe

The World Cup is officially over and the teams have returned home to their respective countries And although we’re sad that it’s all over, we’re super happy that we got to experience Brazil 2014.

Now that’s everything’s over, naturally all the world’s media are on the final champions of the tournament, Germany.

The Germans touched down back home home on Berlin this morning, and besides all eyes being on the heroic players, something way more shiny and exciting caught the eye of thousands of German fans and media.

The German team arrived at Tegel Airport in BErlin with the FIFA World Cup trophy in tow. Captain Philipp Lahm walked off the plane with trophy held high for everyone to see. Thousands of fans were cheering and singing as the team made their way from the airplane to a ‘victory bus’.

Going from the airport, the victory bus – adorned with congratulatory messages and the years Germany has won the World Cup (which, by the way now stands at 4: 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014) – went along the ‘Fan mile’ to downtown Berlin.  (more…)

Gut gemacht, Deutschland!

It has all come to an end, the wonderful, exciting and beautiful 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the Germans are the new champions of the football world.

Yesterday’s final against Argentina was, as many would describe, a perfect final. Just as the German’s style of play – clinical and precise – the final was tough, dramatic and precise. And while the Germans did deserve their win, Argentina played their hearts out.

The first half of this epic final was hard. Both sides were playing exceptionally well and giving each other a hard time to score. The Germans looked to have a little more possession in the first half, but the Argentinian defense denied them again and again when it came to putting the ball in the net.

It was really a 50 / 50 kind of match – there was no way, judging by the way the first half was going, to say which team would be the one’s to score first. \

Things did get a little more exciting when Gonzalo Higuain of Argentina ‘scored’ a goal just before the end of the first half. Unfortunately for the Argentinians, he was offside and no goal was awarded. A close call for the South Americans and a bit of a wake-up call for the Germans.

As the two finalists returned to the world stage after half time, you could see that the determination on both sides had definitely been kicked up a notch. The play was also way more physical, with the need to win becoming ever more intense.

There were many close calls for both the Germans and the Argentinians, but, when the clock hit the 90 minute mark, neither had scored a goal yet, leaving the final score at 0 – 0.  (more…)