Fever Pitch: World Cup Smart Answers on Ask.com sites

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” Every sensible soccer aficionado will tell you that the words of historic British manager Bill Shankly are an exaggeration, that soccer is just a sport and there are more important things in life. We all know that. Except when there is a World Cup.

Ask.com has decided to celebrate the World Cup with a far less dramatic statement: comprehensive Smart Answers have been released across all of our sites Ask.com (US), Ask.com UK, Ask.com España, Ask.com Deutschland^BETA, Ask.com France^BETA, Ask.com Nederland^BETA, Ask.com Italia^BETA, as well as more robust coverage via our US & UK sites in order to provide our users with all the information they need to follow the event. Whether you take soccer as seriously as the late Mr. Shankly did or your interest is of the sane kind, we invite you all to check it out.

Midfield wizard Zinédine Zidane will be playing the last games of his career with France in Germany 2006. Together with star striker Thierry Henry, he’s one of the best reasons not to miss the French team. Germany is the host this year and that always gives any team an edge in the World Cup: watch out for the very talented Michael Ballack and Lukas Podolski, one of the best young players in the Bundesliga. The Dutch team is also strong this year; historically a good performer in the World Cup, it features a terrific attacking duo with Ruud van Nistelrooij and Robin van Persie. Spain could try to shake off the quarter-finals curse that has been reducing fans to tears every four years for the last four decades; midfield star Cesc Fábregas and Spanish league’s top scorer David Villa will try to make things different this time around. Nothing has changed in the Italian team: it is still one of the most competitive in Europe and this could be their fourth Coppa del Mondo. Keep an eye on Roma’s star Francesco Totti and goalkeeper extraordinaire Gianluigi Buffon. Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley will be the players to watch for on the US team, and will no doubt cause defensive headaches for their opponents. UK fans will miss Wayne Rooney’s creativity and goal scoring prowess through the first round, but Michael Owen will hopefully help lead the English team through at least the first round.

Good luck to all!

The Ask.com Product Management Team