2 Questions

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:05 pm

How much would you have won if you had bet £10 on England to beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 WC Final?

How many countries have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:10 pm

Matthew Green wrote:How much would you have won if you had bet £10 on England to beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 WC Final

Awesome question. Assuming there's no trickery about betting practices and it's a pure "guess the odds", I'm going to say £410.

Matthew Green wrote:How many countries have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

This is one of the few quiz questions I do know the precise answer to, so to unspoil the fun, I'll do it small: 204 out of 208 valid FIFA teams.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:21 pm

How do I read small writing? Pretty sure you're wrong on both counts though.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:24 pm

Matthew Green wrote:How do I read small writing?

Either hit quote and read it in the reply box, or highlight it and copy/paste it somewhere (I usually use the address bar).

Marc Meakin · Post by **Marc Meakin** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:24 pm

Matthew Green wrote:How do I read small writing? Pretty sure you're wrong on both counts though.

you have to hit the quote button

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:35 pm

Matt, wrong answer. Re-read the question...

Marc Meakin · Post by **Marc Meakin** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:41 pm

Question 1 probably is a trick question because you couldn't bet on football matches then.
Question 2 should be 32 but if you include the officials then there is at least 10 more.

Eoin Monaghan · Post by **Eoin Monaghan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:42 pm

If you are double bluffing then the answer is 32.

If you're talking 'took part' in football terms, then we can discard Italy, France, and England because they were poor, in which case it is 29. But that's not really a puzzle then, and more a matter of opinion. So it's wrong.

But with Matthew Green, you never know what he could mean.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:49 pm

Is it possible that some of the national football teams aren't representative of "countries" per se. Is England a country, is Great Britain a country, is the United Kingdom a country? I have no idea.

Also, if you bet on 4-2, you'd most likely have lost because aren't football bets usually on the score after 90 minutes (which was 2-2).

See how I answer your questions in the wrong order. And don't really answer them anyway.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:50 pm

Jon, you are spot on with Q1. The game finished 2-2 so you would have won fuck all with that bet.

As for Q2:
The officials don't count, but nice try. I'm talking teams on the pitch.

Eoin Monaghan · Post by **Eoin Monaghan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:58 pm

Is it anything to do with red cards and going down to ten men?

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:19 pm

I clearly didn't read either question.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:48 pm

Ok, to get rid of the issue of whether England is a country or not, let me re-phrase the question:

How many teams have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

I'll be very impressed if anyone gets it and can explain why.

Kirk Bevins · Post by **Kirk Bevins** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:23 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Ok, to get rid of the issue of whether England is a country or not, let me re-phrase the question:

How many teams have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

I'll be very impressed if anyone gets it and can explain why.

Is it 0 and a trick question?

Matthew Tassier · Post by **Matthew Tassier** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:27 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Ok, to get rid of the issue of whether England is a country or not, let me re-phrase the question:

How many teams have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

I'll be very impressed if anyone gets it and can explain why.

37 as far as I know.

Why?? I think they were all trying to win the World Cup.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:28 pm

Matthew Tassier wrote:
Matthew Green wrote:Ok, to get rid of the issue of whether England is a country or not, let me re-phrase the question:

How many teams have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

I'll be very impressed if anyone gets it and can explain why.
37 as far as I know.

Why?? I think they were all trying to win the World Cup.

Explain !

Eoin Monaghan · Post by **Eoin Monaghan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:28 pm

Matthew Green wrote: How many countries have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

The way it is worded suggests that '2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa' is key, but it's probably just me.

Marc Meakin · Post by **Marc Meakin** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:32 pm

Were any qualifying games played in South Africa?

Liam Tiernan · Post by **Liam Tiernan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:34 pm

The answer is 43 . 32 teams plus officials from their countries and 11 non-finalist countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_ ... p#Referees

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:37 pm

Liam Tiernan wrote:The answer is 43 . 32 teams plus officials from their countries and 11 non- participating countries.

He reworded it from "countries" to "teams" to avoid confusion about "what is a country?" a few posts up though.

Marc Meakin · Post by **Marc Meakin** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:37 pm

Liam Tiernan wrote:The answer is 43 . 32 teams plus officials from their countries and 11 non- participating countries.

I thought the question was, 'How many countries have PARTICIPATED in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?'

Matthew Tassier · Post by **Matthew Tassier** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:40 pm

Jon Corby wrote:
Matthew Tassier wrote:
Matthew Green wrote:Ok, to get rid of the issue of whether England is a country or not, let me re-phrase the question:

How many teams have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

I'll be very impressed if anyone gets it and can explain why.
37 as far as I know.

Why?? I think they were all trying to win the World Cup.
Explain !

Given that the answer to the first question is not 32, I think my explanation is in the spirit of the thread.

Liam Tiernan · Post by **Liam Tiernan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:47 pm

Jon Corby wrote:
Liam Tiernan wrote:The answer is 43 . 32 teams plus officials from their countries and 11 non- participating countries.
He reworded it from "countries" to "teams" to avoid confusion about "what is a country?" a few posts up though.

Yep, skipped through that part of the thread completely.

Liam Tiernan · Post by **Liam Tiernan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:49 pm

Marc Meakin wrote:
Liam Tiernan wrote:The answer is 43 . 32 teams plus officials from their countries and 11 non- participating countries.
I thought the question was, 'How many countries have PARTICIPATED in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?'

Edited accordingly. Semantics! Sheeeesh.

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 4:27 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Ok, to get rid of the issue of whether England is a country or not, let me re-phrase the question:

How many teams have participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa?

I'll be very impressed if anyone gets it and can explain why.

I'll have a go at the reasoning, cba at working out the actual answer- If a country fields 17 players over the course of the world cup, does that count as 1.5 teams therefore if every team fields 17 players we wind up at about the 50 mark?

Liam Tiernan · Post by **Liam Tiernan** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 4:51 pm

OK, I'll have another go at this: Matthew was right with 37. Both South Africa and Lesotho played their qualifying games in South Africa. The other teams in those groups who didn't progress to the finals were: Gabon & Libya (Lesotho) and Equatorial Guinea & Sierra Leone (S. Africa)

Kirk Bevins · Post by **Kirk Bevins** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 4:52 pm

Matthew Green wrote:How much would you have won if you had bet £10 on England to beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 WC Final?

Since decimalisation was in 1971 I guess £10 before then was worth much more? I don't really know too much [about old money].

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 4:58 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Jon, you are spot on with Q1. The game finished 2-2 so you would have won fuck all with that bet.

Cool question. As for the other question I have no idea. Maybe where footballers are actually born and not which country they play for? I dunno.

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:20 pm

Kirk Bevins wrote:
Matthew Green wrote:How much would you have won if you had bet £10 on England to beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 WC Final?
Since decimalisation was in 1971 I guess £10 before then was worth much more? I don't really know too much [about old money].

The pound didn't change value due to decimalisation, there was simply a rationalisation of the value of a penny from £1/240 to £1/100, along with removal from circulation of fractional penny values below the ha'penny.

Andy Wilson · Post by **Andy Wilson** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:36 pm

Is it 31, as Korea is one country divided into two states?

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:46 pm

Ian Volante wrote:
Kirk Bevins wrote:
Matthew Green wrote:How much would you have won if you had bet £10 on England to beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 WC Final?
Since decimalisation was in 1971 I guess £10 before then was worth much more? I don't really know too much [about old money].
The pound didn't change value due to decimalisation, there was simply a rationalisation of the value of a penny from £1/240 to £1/100, along with removal from circulation of fractional penny values below the ha'penny.

And in any case the payout would also have been in pre-decimalisation currency, so it makes no difference.

Andy Wilson wrote:Korea is one country divided into two states?

What makes you say that?

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:52 pm

Andy Wilson wrote:Is it 31, as Korea is one country divided into two states?

What's the difference between a country and a state?

Andy Wilson · Post by **Andy Wilson** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:59 pm

Not exactly sure what the difference is really, but it's a trick question right?

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 6:01 pm

Ian Volante wrote:
Andy Wilson wrote:Is it 31, as Korea is one country divided into two states?
What's the difference between a country and a state?

Based on some cursory research, a state is a political entity which is not answerable to any higher power, whereas a country is a purely geographical entity. For example, I think the British Virgin Isles is a country, but not a state (we 0wnz dem). I'm not sure how entities like the EU sit with this (not that there are any other entities like the EU).

Anyway North Korea and South Korea are, despite the names (which are not their official names anyway), independent nation states.

I hope Matthew has something good up his sleeve after this protracted foreplay.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:09 pm

Marc Meakin wrote:Question 1 probably is a trick question because you couldn't bet on football matches then.

It wasn't a trick for that reason. Betting on football matches was certainly around in those days. I remember betting on Forest to beat Luton 2-1 in the FA Cup final, and that was long before 1966.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:26 pm

Actually Liam sort of got it and nobody seemed to notice.

The answer I was looking for was 35. '2010 Fifa World Cup' refers to any qualification games or finals games. Obviously all the finals games are being played in South Africa but the only qualification games played in South Africa were the Lesotho home ties against Ghana, Libya and gabon which took place in Bloemfontein. As for those South Africa games, they weren't World Cup qualification games, not that I'm aware of anyway.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:28 pm

Matthew Green wrote:As for those South Africa games, they weren't World Cup qualification games, not that I'm aware of anyway.

Aren't they world cup qualification games for the other teams? South Africa qualify automatically, obviously, but they were still the qualification games for ACON and the World Cup? I'll admit I haven't looked into it too thoroughly, mind.

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:36 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:
Matthew Green wrote:As for those South Africa games, they weren't World Cup qualification games, not that I'm aware of anyway.
Aren't they world cup qualification games for the other teams? South Africa qualify automatically, obviously, but they were still the qualification games for ACON and the World Cup? I'll admit I haven't looked into it too thoroughly, mind.

They were indeed, as well as being African Nations Cup qualifiers.

Edit: This would make more sense if I'd read properly what I was quoting.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:37 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:
Matthew Green wrote:As for those South Africa games, they weren't World Cup qualification games, not that I'm aware of anyway.
Aren't they world cup qualification games for the other teams? South Africa qualify automatically, obviously, but they were still the qualification games for ACON and the World Cup? I'll admit I haven't looked into it too thoroughly, mind.

I also haven't looked into it but my initial reaction is that I would be very surprised if they were proper qualification games - you can't make South Africa go through with qualification regardless as they'd be a team without their heart in it, without needing to win, and that totally fucks up the fairness thing.

EDIT for Ian's post: Then that's fucked up.

David O'Donnell · Post by **David O'Donnell** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:49 pm

[quote="Charlie Reams"]

I think the EU is regarded as a supranational political entity. There similar entities around the world.

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:28 pm

David O'Donnell wrote:
Charlie Reams wrote:
I think the EU is regarded as a supranational political entity. There similar entities around the world.

Not that similar, AFAIK. In terms of the number and degree of powers surrended to a higher power, I'm pretty sure the EU is unique.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:30 pm

Mmm, I could do with finding this out... sort of ruins the riddle when I don't know the fucking answer myself.

Only in Africa could a team that qualifies automatically play qualifiers.

Matthew Tassier · Post by **Matthew Tassier** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:37 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Mmm, I could do with finding this out... sort of ruins the riddle when I don't know the fucking answer myself.

Only in Africa could a team that qualifies automatically play qualifiers.

37.
They were all trying to win the world cup.
Additionally 8 of them were trying to win the African Cup of Nations.

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:54 pm

OOI, which FIFA-registered teams did not participate in qualifying?

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:58 pm

Charlie Reams wrote:OOI, which FIFA-registered teams did not participate in qualifying?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_ ... n#Entrants

Andy Wilson · Post by **Andy Wilson** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 2:07 am

Jon Corby wrote: He reworded it from "countries" to "teams" to avoid confusion about "what is a country?" a few posts up though.

I should read threads more carefully.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:23 am

Yep, looks like the answer was 37. I was quite proud of this one though and impressed with whoever thought to check where Lesotho played their quals.

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 3:09 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Yep, looks like the answer was 37. I was quite proud of this one though and impressed with whoever thought to check where Lesotho played their quals.

Must be cos if you play in Lesotho, the ball keeps rolling off the edge of the plateau.