Japan Lose to Bulgaria but their World Cup Slogan Rocks

May 9th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

Bulgaria defeated Japan 2-1 today in a game played in Osaka as part of the Kirin Cup. Hristo Yanev scored a late game winner to give the Lions the victory. A disappointing result for sure, but Japan fans can take solace in knowing that their team bus in Germany will have one of the better slogans painted on it. That’s right, FIFA has released the team bus slogans for all 32 teams and we can’t help but feel your excitement.

The good: Japan – “Light up your Samurai spirit!”
The sappy: Brazil – “Vehicle monitored by 180 million Brazilian hearts”
The ugly: Switzerland – “2006, it’s Swiss o’clock”

We couldn’t help but notice that the United States bus will have a slogan too. This should help out the nasty evildoers who now know that they should keep an eye out for a blue bus without an American flag that reads, “United we play, United we win.”

Here is your complete slogan list:

Angola – “Angola lead the way – our team is our people”
Argentina – “Get up, Argentina are on the move”
Australia – “Australia Socceroos – Bound for glory”
Brazil – “Vehicle monitored by 180 million Brazilian hearts”
Costa Rica- “Our army is the team, our weapon is the ball. Let’s go to Germany and give it our all”
Côte d’Ivoire – “Come on the Elephants! Win the cup in style”
Croatia – “To the finals with fire in our hearts”
Czech Republic – “Belief and a lion’s strength, for victory and our fans”
Ecuador – “Ecuador my life, football my passion, the cup my goal”
England – “One Nation, One Trophy, Eleven Lions”
France – “Liberté, egalité, Jules Rimet”
Germany – “We are football”
Iran – “Stars of Persia”
Italy – “Blue pride, Italy in our hearts”
Japan – “Light up your Samurai spirit!”
Korea Republic – “Never-ending legend, united Korea”
Ghana – “Go Black Stars, the stars of our world”
Mexico – “Aztec passion across the world”
Netherlands – “Oranje on the road to gold”
Paraguay – “From the heart of America… this is the Guarani spirit”
Poland – “White and red, dangerous and brave”
Portugal – “With a flag in the window and a nation on the pitch. Força Portugal”
Saudi Arabia – “The Green Hawks cannot be stopped”
Serbia and Montenegro – “For the love of the game”
Spain – “Spain. One country, one goal”
Switzerland – “2006, it’s Swiss o’clock”
Sweden – “Fight! Show spirit! Come on! You have the support of everyone”
Togo – “A passion to win and a thirst to succeed”
Trinidad and Tobago – “Here come the Soca Warriors – the fighting spirit of the Caribbean”
Tunisia – “The Carthage Eagles… higher and stronger than ever”
Ukraine – “With our support, Ukraine cannot fail to win!”
USA – “United we play, United we win”

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Futahaguro

Wow, those are terrible.

Korea Republic – “Never-ending legend, united Korea” — Last time I checked they had a North and a South.

USA – “United we play, United we win” —Blah. I am getting sick of this whole “united” theme. It is already in the name, why can’t we find something better.
http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org Mike

None of them are good. But some are just awful.
http://ecuador.worldcupblog.org/1/team-slogans-announced.html Team Slogans Announced – FIFA World Cup 2006 – Ecuador World Cup Team Blog

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PeterG

I hope some of these sound better in their native languages.
http://ecuador.worldcupblog.org/ Trent

Bob, we should have a contest to give the 32 teams the slogan they actually deserve.
Cajun Nick

It is true that some are laughable.

However, Spain’s sake, let’s hope their slogan isn’t an omen of things to come.
http://store.worldcupblog.org/kits/england/ wendall

Spain – “Spain. One country, one goal”
Is that how many they plan to score in Germany?

Costa Rica – “Our army is the team, our weapon is the ball. Let’s go to Germany and give it our all”
This sounds more like a military exercise.

Portugal – “With a flag in the window and a nation on the pitch. Força Portugal”
This just sounds silly. Flag in the window the best they could come up with?

Sweden – “Fight! Show spirit! Come on! You have the support of everyone”
….except every other nation you play against.

Poland – “White and red, dangerous and brave”
Is this talking about the team or the hooligans?

But my favourite is:
Angola – “Angola lead the way – our team is our people”
I’ll support that all the way.
Chris

Shouldn’t England’s slogan be “England – One Nation, One Trophy, 10 Lions and One Cub”?
Razzle

Reminds me of the “Korea fighting!” chants in 2002 which just seems silly in English but had a completely different spirit and meaning for the Koreans. Im quite sure the slogans are literal translations from native languages to English and some of them dont carry well.
Razzle

Just checked the net and here they are … the *original* slogans:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/hfc/bt_ws.html
soze

Actually, the Croatian slogan is quite good. “Sa vatrom u srcu do finala.” It is a play on words in Croatian.’Vatreni’ is the team nickname and it sounds alot better in Croatian than the English translation. I think the Portuguese one is awful in English but sounds better in Portuguese.
Dido

The original slogans sound better. The Angolan and the Portuguese slogans are rubbish in English but cool in Portuguese.
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/big-question-which-current-coach-was-the-best-player.html#comments Pedro P

About the portuguese “line”, it must be said that it’s not to make it a catchy line. During EC04 EVERYBODY had a flag on the window or balcony- I mean there was almost NOT A SINGLE WINDOW without a flag on it, showing inconditional support from the people to their team.

It must also be said that it’s something also new to me, as this type of demonstration was unseen till then. Portuguese, although passionate, tend to be discrete. And I’m ready to state that it wasn’t just because it happened there. It was a huge movement sparked by Scolari that people just grab and, as they say, “so it was…”

So… There was a story behind it… ;-)
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/big-question-which-current-coach-was-the-best-player.html#comments Pedro P

Well, and how do you know…

Just checked the originals and I’d missed one word of what I thought the original would be(it’s not “one nation” but “an entire nation” – “entire” rimes with “flag” in portuguese). I must say in portuguese it sounds quite OK after all…
http://trinidadtobago.worldcupblog.org/1/the-fighting-spirit-of-the-caribbean.html The Fighting Spirit of the Caribbean – FIFA World Cup 2006 – Trinidad and Tobago World Cup Team Blog

[...] Our ever efficient Fearless Leader has posted the list of the 32 slogans that will adorn the team buses in Germany this summer. The Warriors’ bus will pay tribute to our “fighting spirit.” [...]
Massimo

seriously check the Saudi one.
“The Green Hawks cannot be stopped”
they forgot to add the last 3 words… Going Home Early.

And seriousy how cheesy is the Swiss one?
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/clichewatche284a2-dont-laugh-at-the-swiss.html Clichéwatch™: Don’t Laugh at the Swiss – FIFA World Cup 2006 – World Cup 2006 Blog

[...] We don’t know about you, but we have never laughed at Swiss football. We’re usually too busy laughing at their team World Cup bus slogan – “2006, it’s Swiss o’clock”. We’re also too busy laughing at the Swiss tourism board video that is designed to lure football widows to the country during the World Cup. [...]
Jaz Singh

Well, I love the French one. It’s creative, patriotic, historic and its MINE! Don’t forget Fifa/Hyundai chose the final 3 for the public vote in each country. I’m just glad to have won my section.
http://www.markinbeeld.nl/blog/?p=108 » “ORANJE OP WEG NAAR GOUD”

[...] Er kan echter, maar 1 echt winnaar zijn. Na al die leuzen eens te hebben door gelezen was het ‘n makkelijke keuze. De winnaar… Duitsland! Op hun bus prijkt de tekst: “We are football!“… Jongens, ik kom niet meer bij. [...]
nat

It’s a pity that the very essence of Argentina’s slogan has been lost through translation.
The orriginal “PONGASE DE PIE, ARGENTINA AVANZA” was translated as: “GET UP, ARGENTINA ARE ON THE MOVE” whereas the right translation would have been “STAND UP. ARGENTINA IS ON THE MOVE”