#WorldCup2018: From Earthquakes To Elephants, It’s All In The Game

Mexican Celebrations Trigger Quake

It was really earth shattering news for Mexicans celebrating their World Cup 2018 victory against Germany, according to a report.

Mexicans jumping in jubilation shook the ground hard enough to set off earthquake detectors and throngs danced in the streets after their team scored the surprise victory over World Cup defending champion Germany, says a Reuters report.

Elated fans waved Mexican flags and donned traditional “sombrero” hats at the iconic Angel of Independence monument in downtown Mexico.

In the city’s massive main square, families in Mexican football jerseys had watched on a giant screen in front of a towering cathedral as Mexico beat Germany 1-0 in Moscow.

The Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Investigations said highly sensitive earthquake sensors registered tremors at two sites in the capital seven seconds after the game’s 35th minute. It called them an “artificial” quake.

No Sex Please, We Are Russians

A Russian politician faced the flak for urging women not to have sex with foreigners during the World Cup 2018, according to a report.

Tamara Pletnyova said that Russian women should abstain from sex with foreigners visiting the country for the tournament, citing concerns about a possible rise in single-parent families, says Reuters.

The Family, Women and Children Affairs Committee chairwoman warned that “nothing good will come out of … the inappropriate behaviour of Russian women”.

The politician was responding to a question about the “Children of the Olympics,” a term used in Russia to describe mixed-race children conceived after the 1980 Moscow Summer Games.

“There will be girls who meet men, and then they will give birth. Maybe they will get married, maybe they won’t. These children will later suffer and have suffered in the Soviet era,” Ms Pletnyova said.

Ms Pletnyova’s concerns come one month after the Argentine Football Association was slammed for distributing a booklet to World Cup reporters which included a chapter entitled “How to stand a chance with a Russian girl.”

Calculative Way To Pick The Winner

American firm Goldman Sachs has forecast the winner of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in a different way to betting sites like sboth, says a report.

Goldman Sachs arrived at the answer by firing up machine learning to run 2,00,000 models, mining team data and individual player attributes that enabled them to project specific match scores, says a CBS News report.

Following that, they simulated 1 million variations of the tournament and calculated the probability of win for each team.

Goldman predicts that the quarter-final matches would be played between France and Spain, Brazil and Belgium, Portugal and Argentina, and Germany and England. From thereon, winners of the matches – France and Brazil, and Portugal and Germany – would face off in the semi-finals.

The final, Goldman Sachs predicts – and would be a highly charged game, if true – would be played between former winner, Germany and Brazil. Brazil is expected to win the match to lift their sixth World Cup.

The authors also added this disclaimer at the end: “But the forecasts remain highly uncertain, even with the fanciest statistical techniques, simply because football is quite an unpredictable game. This is, of course, precisely why the World Cup will be so exciting to watch.”

Football Popular In Outer Space Too

It seems that football is also popular in space if the giant UFO spotted over a Russian World Cup venue is to be believed, says a report.

Numerous witnesses shared photos and videos of the light show to social media. The images show a bright rocket trail bursting into the shape of a stingray right over the Nizhny Novgorod stadium where England will play rocket trail on Saturday, according to Newshub.

Some users replied that the display was proof aliens were watching over the football.

However, the incredible show was soon explained by Russian space authorities.

It was in fact a Soyuz-2.1.B rocket being launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region.

The rocket was fired in order to deliver one of Russia’s satellites into orbit.

Elephants Are Game For A Cause

Elephants kicked off World Cup fever in Thailand’s ancient capital of Ayutthaya, playing a soccer match to raise awareness against illegal gambling, according to a report. And no, it wasn’t about the kind of thing you’d see if you visit link online, bingo is fine. It’s the more dodhy sites that is the concern.

Nine elephants, painted with the flags of countries competing in 2018 World Cup in Russia, passed the ball to each other and swerved around the field in a 15-minute match against students from a local school, says a report in the Asharq Al-Awsat.

Organisers said they wanted to show students the World Cup was more about enjoying the sport than betting on teams. Although, you can always get your choice of betting sites not on gamstop if you would like to enjoy the sport and make a little money too.

Betting or promoting gambling on football is a criminal offence in Thailand, but those who get caught often face only a small fine of 1,000 baht ($31.09)).

If children are involved, their parents can face a 10,000 baht fine or three months in jail. Football gambling is big business in Thailand and casinos are not hard to find as authorities are said to turn a blind eye when these casinos profits from tourists. Still, it is perhaps better to go abroad to casinos like those in the US (which can be found here) for one’s gambling needs. It’s legal and more importantly, there is less risk of fines or jail time.