The 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off tomorrow, and with 64 games to be played, there is simply no getting away from it. So with that in mind, here’s the beaut.ie guide to all things Brazilian (no, not that kind of Brazilian).
Tomorrow night sees the first game takes place between hosts Brazil and Croatia, and brace yourself, because there are weeks of ball-related enjoyment ahead - the final takes place on Sunday July 13th. Make sure to keep an eye out for the opening and closing ceremonies - expect lots of sexy and colourful latino dancing, razzmatazz and colour (kinda like an average night in Coppers really). And remember that this time there will be no vuvuzelas to wreck our heads.
Now, many beaut.ies are football fans and know ALL the deets, but for anyone who needs a quick crash course, behold our cheat sheet! There are 32 teams ready to battle it out for World Cup victory - Europe has 13 countries competing including current World Cup Holders Spain, Germany, England, France and Italy. And the US are in there, as are Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Iran and several African and Asian nations.
RTE has TV rights for all of the game and are showing them all (which is a lot of overtime for Eamon Dunphy). Brace yourselves for a lot of okey dokey.
But, I hear you ask, for those of us who don't love the beautiful game as much as others, will the games will clash with my TV shows? Well, probably, yeah. Brazil is about 4 hours behind us so the games will kick off between at 5, 8 and 11pm with one at 2am. Set those recording boxes in advance.
Sadly Ireland won't be togging out this year so put away the 'beaut.ie on tour' tricolour. But fellow IMF nations Greece and Portugal qualified (Angela Merkel probably thinks that they're at work too). And fellow qualifiers Nigeria and the Ivory Coast both wear green and the Ivory Coast's flag is like ours only upside down and back to front, so we might jump on board one of those bandwagons with our jerseys.
And we did give the world the best song ever (One Direction should be ashamed of themselves for trying to claim it) in the form of 'Put 'Em Under Pressure', so our work there is done. Fancy a blast for a bit of nostalgia? Course you do.
But back to the serious business of beauty, are there any cosmetic campaigns taking inspiration from the World Cup? Yep, OPI has a range of Brazilian inspired nail colours.
And budget brands Catrice and Essense have brought out products out as well. They've both gone for bright eyeshadows, nail and lip colours in Carnival colours.
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And even Clarins, a brand renowned for it’s conservative colour ranges, have ditched their iconic red compact for World Cup themed “Colours of Brazil” eye palette.
But Benefit (who else) have gone one better and are opening a pop up World Cup themed pop up pub in London’s Covent Garden. Alternatively, you can settle for their World Cup inspired mini packs, "Beauty Scored".
And if you'll allow us to have a dribble (geddit?) for a moment, there are some very handsome gentlemen that we should look out for (yes, I know, many of you will be watching for the ball skills alone but for those of us without an interest in football, well, here are some other, eh, ball skills to think about.)
Cristiano Ronaldo will have those temperatures soaring even higher (as will his girlfriend Irina Shayk), England are without Mr. Beckham since his retirement from international football in 2012 but their midfielder Adam Lallana will make up for it - he's a model for French Connection. Spain's Fernando Llorente has that boyish thing going on, while Italy’s Andrea Pirlo has the beard thing going on (of course, if you, ahem, score with a player, they might even have World Cup condoms to hand…..)
And the World Cup always has an aul song to two to act as the soundtrack to the main event. Pitbull (for the love of God, will someone PLEASE make him stop), J-Lo and Claudia Leitte have released the official World Cup song 'We Are One' (it's no 'Give it a Lash, Jack').
And getting back to business, who will win it? Hosts Brazil have a soft group and are short favourites to win. But defending champions Spain, along with free scoring Argentina and Germany, are also looking good for the semi finals.
Finally, let's clear up any confusion surrounding the offside law for once and for all, with the help of John Cleese:
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Happy watching!
Are you looking forward to kick off? What team will you be supporting? Or are you more interested in the seeing the ceremonies and shaking your Brazilian (tail)feathers while wearing the soccer-inspired cosmetic collections? To the comments!
