World Cup 2018 Brazil Preview: The Redeem Team

Brazil is a scary, scary team. In the 2014 World Cup, Brazil was in an awkward transition stage where the lost/disgraceful generation of Brazilian players stepped down for the new era of players to take over. Most notably, despite being 22 years old, Brazil became Neymar’s team. This in itself

2018 World Cup Team Preview – Nigeria

A random phone rings in a famous building...   White House Operator: Uh, hello? Mysterious Sexy-Voiced Protagonist: Yes, hello...I'm calling from Door Flies Open and looking to get some information on a foreign country. With whom am I speaking? White House Operator: This is Ivanka. MSVP (who is now obviously DFO): Wow, didn't expect that. Why

World Cup 2018 Croatia Preview: It feels a little like ’98

It seems like yesterday when I was a kid watching Croatia make their World Cup debut in 1998. I remember thinking their checkered jerseys were cool. Combine those sweet uniforms with Davor Šuker's cheeky skills and I was rooting for Croatia during their magical 3rd place finish. I think there is a great

World Cup 2018 Team Preview – Denmark

As I'm typing this, a delicious slice of Danish kringle is settling in my stomach.  The Danish kringle is the State Dessert of Wisconsin, don'tchaknow? How is that possible?  Also, how is it that couples all across Los Angeles go to Solvang as their weekend-getaway/let's go bang for the weekend and see

2018 World Cup Team Preview – Australia

This week, Welcome to Balls of Steel's AFL Beat Australian World Cup Preview! I put Tim Cahill pics up because the story of successful Australian fútbol in the last few years is the story of one Timothy Filiga Cahill.  He is Australia's highest goal scorer of all time and has led the

World Cup 2018 Team Preview: Iran (So Far)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoS8DrrlnTQ Welcome to another DFO World Cup preview. Today we'll be looking at the Iranian team. They are known as "Team Melli," which means "The National Team." They've also been called the Persian Stars, Shiran e Iran (the Iranian Lions), the Cheetahs (due to conservation efforts), or the Princes of Persia. Would

Morocco. Hell of a country, not sure about their futbollers.

Morocco! Cover photo is of the night market in Marrakech. If you love food and experiences then definitely this should be on your travel bucket list. They Moroccans are in a group with Spain, Portugal and Iran. Even though they qualified through a very tough group in Africa I cannot name

World Cup 2018 Preview – The Kingdom at the Cup

Any discussion of Saudi Arabia, especially during the holy month of Ramadan (which started at sunset on May 14), must first begin with debate over the proper pronunciation of the country's name. https://youtu.be/2tbqV8AtI8I?t=1m2s The 2018 World Cup will mark Saudi Arabia's fifth time competing in this event. Their previous four appearances all