Call it whatever you like — football, soccer, the game with the black and white checkered ball that you kick around the field. Pick a name and get ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Every four years soccer fans go wild and neighborhood bars are packed to the brim in broad daylight with devoted viewers.
While the BBC and ITV apps that promise to stream the games and video highlights have yet to be released, there are still some great, free iPhone apps to satisfy your World Cup appetite.
We know you’ve been counting the days until the non-stop soccer action. This app counts down the excitement by the days, minutes, hours and seconds until it all begins on June 11th. The app also has an interactive photo slideshow with a series of cool pictures of South Africa. You can click on the photos to learn more about each scene.
There are even interesting video and audio options, like a spectacular overview of the countryside and some local music and dance moves. It’s a great way to learn about the country hosting the games, especially if you are planning to attend in person.
This app has just about everything you need to prepare for the tournament. With a full schedule, you’ll never miss your team in action. The app allows you to select your favorite team or teams so you can easily keep track of all the news surrounding them. It also has full biographies and stats for each player for all 32 teams, so you’ll know exactly who is playing the game.
Super-fans will appreciate the app for its extensive history of the tournament, which dates back to 1930, and includes an overview, trivia and controversies for each year. Sign in with your myESPN account to post comments about your team or participate in the “Fantasy Bracket Predictor,” where you can attempt to forecast the outcome of each World Cup match.
This app gives you the latest news about all things football/soccer from BBC Sports, Yahoo! Euro Sports, and ESPN. News is updated in real-time and you can bookmark your favorite articles or e-mail them to your friends. The app also lets users browse offline. Once you’ve updated the latest news, you can read all the downloaded articles without a WiFi or 3G connection.
The Associated Press has been covering the games since the very beginning and is committed to giving fans full coverage. Once the games start, the app will provide up-to-the-minute news from more than 100 journalists in South Africa who will be covering the action. It has a multi-language platform and users can choose to get their soccer fix in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese.
With customizable skins for each team, you can show everyone (at least everyone you show your phone to anyway) who you are rooting for. There is an easy to follow schedule feature that shows which teams are playing and at what time. Also, a photo and video feature will be updated once the tournament starts. The app also has a “venue” feature and lists a bit of history and interesting facts about all 10 stadiums where the games will be played.
If you really want to know what you’re talking about when you say that Germany is going to kick some butt, this is the app for you. With lists of every winner, host nation, defending champion and number of appearances since 1930, you’ll be able to make some informed predictions as to who will take home this year’s big title.
History buffs will swoon for the detailed chronicles of pre-tournament dates, starting with the world’s first international soccer match between Scotland and England in 1872. The app also connects you to news from BBC, ESPN and the official FIFA site. You can help spread World Cup fever (not that it really needs the help) by pressing the button that lets you tweet about the application.
Once you’ve brushed up on your facts and history, you’ll be ready for this game. Set on a soccer field, the lite version of this app has 50 questions that will test your soccer hooligan mettle. It’s a fast-paced game. With 90 seconds on the timer, you must answer questions like “How many nations appeared for the first time in 2006?”
Once you get three questions right, you score a “goal.” For every question you get wrong, your opponent (who isn’t actually answering any questions) scores a point. There are three stages to work through and it includes a penalty shoot-out for a tie game. You can even listen to the sounds of whistles, cheers and music from a real life game, or choose to turn them off.
Once you’ve mastered all 50 questions, you can upgrade to the paid version for $1.99, where 600 more questions are ready to test your fandom.
For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
More iPhone resources from Mashable:
– Top 10 iPhone Apps for TV Fanatics
– 10 Great iPhone Apps for Growing a Garden
– 5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps
– 10 Essential Money-Saving iPhone Apps
– 10 Best iPhone Apps for Dog Lovers
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, zentilia
Reviews:
Facebook,
Twitter,
iPhone,
iStockphoto,
news
Tags: ESPN, fans, football, iphone, iphone application, iphone applications, iphone apps, Lists, Mobile 2.0, MyESPN, soccer, South Africa, sports, world cup, world cup 2010
The Xbox 360’s new motion gaming peripheral will be called “Microsoft Kinect,” replacing “Project Natal,” the old development name, USA Today reports. There are also some new details about the games that will be available for the device.
The day has finally come: 
After oil started spewing into the Gulf of Mexico following the 
