Jalopnik: soccer

Two UK Soccer Stars Join Chrome Mercedes SLR McLaren Craze

Wes Siler — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:30:00 EDT

Arsenal Defender William Gallas paid $535,000 for this chrome Mercedes SLR McLaren. He's not the only English footballer. Blackburn Rovers Striker Ello Hadji Diouf paid $642,000 for his. Dear god, make it stop.

The two were clearly looking for some way to separate themselves from all their plain SLR-owning colleagues. Thierry Henry also drives the top-of-the-range Mercedes, as do Claude Makelele and Wayne Rooney, who paid for his with royalties from Shrek the Third. [via The Daily Mail]

Soccer Player Milan Baros Gets Tagged With Highest Speeding Ticket Ever...For Lyon, France

Ray Wert — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:15:00 EST

According to the AFP, Czech international striker Milan Baros was clocked by local police doing 271 kilometres an hour (168 mph) in his Ferrari on a motorway east of here on Thursday. Baros, who currently plays for French soccer champions Lyon, had the Ferrari confiscated and his driving license suspended. He will appear before a magistrate to answer the charges and faces a three-year ban for his alleged speed violation. "The policeman involved had to have a second look at the radar control because he could hardly believe how fast the car was going...it was a record speed violation for this county," claimed Lyon police officer Claude Loron. No word on which Ferrari he was driving. [Photo credit and story via AFP]

No Rondo For You! Kia Axes Sponsorship After Remarks

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:30:00 EDT

Kia Motors, sensitive to its world presence, has cut their sponsorship deal with soccer team FC Brussels after the team's president told a Congolese player he should think of something other than "trees and bananas" while playing. In addition to concerns about their image, the communications manager for Kia Motors Belgium pointed out that 10% of their employees were of non-European origin. The sponsorship deal included 20 vehicles and 160,000 euros, which we think is something like $18 million dollars given the current exchange rate. Boy, are they going to feel foolish when they could have had a Kia Soul, or maybe even a Mesa. [Reuters via Guardian]

Yaris-Yaris-Yaris! Toyota's Gone World Cup Crazy In England

Ray Wert — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 09:31:09 EDT

We remember when the World Cup came to the motor city back in 1994 — we saw the first-ever indoor World Cup game at the soon-to-be demolished Pontiac Silverdome. It was an epic struggle between two powerhouses — the US and Switzerland — and by powerhouses we mean both teams bumbled to a tie. The best part was how excitedly drunk the fans from other countries looked — they made college kids look like the amateurs they are. So although we'll never understand why yard drivers at the Burnaston factory in Derbyshire would think moving 400 Toyota Yaris cars into a giant 80 meter by 40 meter St. George's Cross would be a fun way to spend a few lunch breaks — we're pretty sure we won't be seeing the red, white and blue made out of Chevy Aveo's anytime soon. More pics and info after the jump.

The flag, which can be seen from 1000ft in the air and from miles around and bosses at the plant were 100% behind the idea, not only juggling teams and shifts to make sure the flag was ready but also so that their workers can watch the big game. Well that's good — cause it must have been a tough job getting 400 cars parked in straight lines next to each other — unless of course, you're a yard driver and it's your job!

Toyota factory workers in England made giant flag from cars [AutoMotoPortal]

16 World Cup Players Stop Playing With Their Balls For A Moment; Show Off Their Cars

Ray Wert — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:05:51 EDT

It seems soccer players are like most guys, they're either playing with balls or they're off playing with their cars. Sometimes they do both at once. Here's a little photo montage of 16 World Cup soccer (futbol) players and the cars they love to drive. We figure if you're watching soccer, you might as well have something more useful to do — like look at cars! [Hat tip to pas montreal]

World Cup in pictures [globeandmail]

Related:
Blag It Like Beckham [internal]

Blag It Like Beckham

maustin — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:30:00 EDT

It's British slang day! Blag means steal. Beckham means a slightly overrated, highly-paid English ~~footballer~~ soccer player with the fashion sense of K-Fed. And he's married to Posh Spice. And his X5 got jacked by a gang of professional car theives in Spain.

Apparantly said X5 costs about $125,000, which includes armor plating and high-tech security features. Looks like that did a lot of good. In case you didn't know, Beckham was accused of having an affair with his personal assistant. He also brought his hairdresser with him to the 2002 World Cup. So forgive us if we don't feel too sorry for the man that brought the faux-hawk hairstyle to prominence and inflicted it on the world.

Hi-tech car theives steal Beckham's 70,000 BMW [Scotsman.com]

Related:
Jalopnik: BMW [internal]

Go, Go, Go! Ale, Ale, Ale! La Copa De La Vida!

Ray Wert — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:25:57 EST

It's been eight years since Ricky Martin forever destroyed World Cup Soccer for us, to this day we still cannot hear the words "Copa," "World Cup" or "Soccer" without cringing. What hurts even more is that its totally killed our normal level of excitement over a special edition of the Volkswagen Gol hatchback.

This special edition, timed to coincide with World Cup Soccer, has the option of either a 1.0 or 1.6 litre flexfuel engine and more standard equipment than you can shake a shin guard at.

This is the fourth time Volkswagen has launched the "Copa" (Cup in Spanish and Portuguese) edition of the top-selling Brazilian Gol...

It also means that it's the fourth time we'll be forced to spend an entire day trying to get that damn song out of our heads.

Volkswagen isn't the only automaker out with a homage to World Cup Soccer, or looking to score a goal with a sweet advertising tie-in. Citroen is launching a special edition of the five-seat Xsara Picasso minivan, and they, Ford and General Motors all plan on dropping millions of dollars on advertising throughout the games.

BRAZIL: Automakers cater to World Cup fever [just-auto.com]

Related:
Jalopnik - soccer moms [internal]

Jalopnik - Brazil [internal]