Pop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 6 – Cameroon 3 New Zealand 1

This is the sixth of the eight matches in the Round of Sixteen – already! Neither Weston Debevec’s Cameroon nor Steve M’s New Zealand would necessarily be high on most lists of favourites for the tournament, but it’s not hard to find those who’ll rep for either nation as really major pop players. A fascinating game in prospect.

This match closes at midnight on Monday 10th May

CAMEROON: Bébé Manga – “Amie O” The Manager Says: “In March, I listened to Erik Satie’s ‘Vexations’ for eighteen hours and forty minutes. I sat entirely still, in the darkness, for the duration (I had put the Reinbert de Leeuw version on a loop). I saw nothing meditative or transcendent about the experience. In fact, the experience brings into serious question the very notion of a meditative state. Throughout, I struggled, as any of my true brothers and sisters would, in fighting off a kind of trance state that emerges when the boredom of passivity and repetition gives way to acceptance and indifference. The mistake that Satie made, a mistake then repeated by the 60s dilettantes, who took the idea to its logical endpoint, was to assume that the transcendence of boredom is a positive thing. I am edified by my boredom. I want to destroy the circumstances that lead to my boredom. Satie wants to revel in tedium, to erase through sheer force the desire to change the state of the world. Anyone who sits down to meditate is gifting time to those in power, time that could be spent fighting against them. Retreat into boredom is the death of the revolutionary spirit, it is a genuflection to power.”

NEW ZEALAND: P-Money (ft. David Dallas & Aaradhna) – “Say Yeah” The Manager Says: “Moonshine-based headaches following the group win are one thing but team selection for this match was a much more painful process. ‘Say Yeah’ is one of the most recent things you’re likely to hear in the PWC with P-Money’s album released on the day of this press conference. Essentially we’ve combined the winning tactics from our first two games with a rap/rnb duo with a housey sweeper system and I’m hoping Aaradhna’s catchy chorus will find fan favour. The sound of NZ is the sound of the world and imitation remains our finest flattery. Excited to hear what Cameroon have got in store (both on the pitch and in the press room) and I’ve been playing ‘Soul Makossa’ to the lads over and over again in admittedly nervous anticipation. ”

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Commentary Box Analysis Cameroon hit a groove, they hit it hard, and they stick with it. It’s an enjoyable seven minutes and it might be powerful enough to carry them through. Equally, it may be that NZ, playing in Steve M’s trademark style, have enough pep and zip to take apart Cameroon’s by-the-book play, and to get around the back of the Cameroon defence. What we know is that we don’t know. But we’re looking forward to finding out.

Result! Round of Sixteen Match 2: South Africa 1 – Korea Republic 3It was an amazing game, played with pace and grace, but the precision and shine of the Korean team was ultimately too much for the power of the South Africans. “Korea start brightly but lack invention in front of the net. SA have pace and a rhythmic flow to their movement on the ball.” “I liked the SA number, but it stayed a bit medium-paced for me, whereas the Korean track is a total delight, and that just edges it for me.” “Korea, just. Like a hi-energy Lazytown tune you make up in a dream. DJ Cleo does a nice job channeling Kraftwerk though.” “…as it is, Korea is just too amazing, disco to the Jackson ’80s to a hook that sounds simple as breathing but is unstoppable, a score with every chorus. Crackerjack battle of the Souths, but this one is Korea’s.”

Coming up Honduras! Portugal! You know that this match, probably the less-discussed of our transatlantic tussles, will throw up some strong play, and it may turn out to be a classic. Stick with us, we’re close to finding our quarter finalists.