World Cup of Hand Soccer 2010 - Final, Extra Time

Extra time of the FIFA World Cup of Hand Soccer 2010. In my family it is a tradition dating to France '98 to recreate the real World Cup with a soccer game played while kneeling, with hands but no feet. Rules: Only the keeper can grab / catch the ball. No kicking.

Mexico and Denmark reached the final and drew after 90 minutes. There's also a golden goal period, since extra time could not decide a winner; in a world where I am FIFA President, there are no lottery penalty kicks to decide the World Cup champion.

Laptops are digital scoreboards. Crowd noise is pumped in a la Lucas Oil Stadium, and created by the stuffed animals filling the tiers. It is the only sporting event worldwide sponsored by both Nike and Adidas; they routinely give up exclusivity clauses just to get their names on it. Other sponsorship provided by PCS (Pierangeli Consulting Services), a well-known West Grove-based SAP support company.

I play keeper and do the awful impersonation of Ian Darke. My brother Philip, 11, plays all-time defense. My brother Brian and friend Josh play offense, switching teams when the ball crosses the "half-way line". We play the whole tournament, group stages and knock-out, as neutral players, switching teams for each possession, though the United States has had suspicious success (third place in 1998 and 2006).

Previous Winners:
France 1998: England beats Ireland 2-1 after shootout. U.S. wins third.
Korea / Japan 2002: England wins again, 3-1 over Italy. Canada wins third.
Germany 2006: Germany wins 3-2 at home, defeating Ecuador. U.S. beats Brazil for third.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• world cup
• hand
• soccer
• fifa
• 2010
• denmark
• mexico
• final
• west grove