ESPN's 2010 FIFA World Cup Murals

ESPN have recently released their brilliant advertising campaign for this summer’s World Cup in the form of creatively designed artistic murals. 33 in total, all 32 nations are represented with the above placed South Africa World Cup mural to highlight what’s to come. Continuing reading after the break to view each nation’s unique and colorful mural. Visit the official Facebook site to download each one of the murals as you anxiously await June, 11th.

• Wolves howl in a South African dusk as the Algerian team celebrates a potential group stage victory over England or the US as a rabid nation looks on excitedly.

• The MESSIah like Lionel Messi steams toward goal as a proud nation remembers earlier victories claiming the world title in ’78 and ’86. Can a once proud son lead La Albiceleste and the current best footballer on the planet to another title on 2010?

• The Aussies made a good show of themselves in 2006 and will look to build upon that respectable performance when Tim Cahill and Co battle what looks to be one of the groups of death featuring Germany, Serbia and Ghana.

• The once star of the national team looks to carry the weight of enormous expectations of Brazil and may even be celebrating a bit early. Hey, there’s even a bikini in the audience.

• Samuel Eto’o and the rest of the lion-esque Cameroon squad will look to thrive on the fact they’ll be on their home continent come this June. The goal-scoring Eto’o has just come fresh of a treble winning domestic season with Inter Milan and will look to keep his good form with his country.

• The Chileans are quick and will most likely play 3 at the back. They’ll be exciting to watch when they commit that many players forward. Their group stage clash with Spain is sure to delight.

• Olsen’s Eleven, very clever take on the heist film. Martin Olsen and Denmark are a European side not to be underestimated. They finished first in their group ahead of Portugal, Sweden and Hungary. A group stage match up with fellow European representatives the Netherlands looks set to be a good one.

• Rooney, Gerrard and the rest of the England players look to finally impress on the world stage and add another W next to the year 1966. 2010 may just be England’s best chance to “bring football home” with the brilliant Fabio Capello at the helm.

• Will Les Bleus over-achieve like they did in 2006 or under-achieve like they did in 2002? Is Raymond Domenech really the right man to mold all that incredible French talent? We’ll soon find out.

• What a photo. They’re now without their Captain and leader Michael Ballack, but one should never underestimate the mighty Germans. Calling on greats from Germany’s past, Ballack will hopefully pass on his leadership role to another as Germany looks for glory in South Africa.

• Another vitally important player that will miss out because of injury, Michael Essien carries not only the flag, he carried Ghana’s best chance of making an important run in South Africa. Ghana will look to avenge their loss in the final of the 2010 African Cup of Nations to Egypt as they play their second major tournament on the continent this year.

• Onward the Greeks! They figured out modern civilization and a way to win Euro 2004, can they figure out how to get out of their group this summer?

• They may have erected a statue of American defender Jonathan Bornstein in Tegucigalpa, but the Hondurans didn’t get to South Africa by the head of Bornstein. Honduras have a difficult group stage run having to face Spain, Chile and Switzerland. They’ll want to represent their nation and CONCACAF well, but will need to be at their best.

• Defending Champions are never easy to eliminate – just ask Inter Milan about Barcelona. The Italians aren’t being picked by many to repeat which could ultimately benefit the notoriously slow starting Europeans. They’d love nothing more than to fly under the radar to the quarter and semi finals only to shut down the opposition en route to another final.

• Cote d’ Ivoire led by the brilliant Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and the brothers Toure are another African nation that will look to impress with former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson at the helm. They’ll attack with purpose and defend bravely. Surely a dark horse for many making predictions.

• One of my favorite murals from the lot of them, this brilliant depiction of a classic Japanese striker-samurai shredding and slicing through rival nations while continuing to hold up the ball is a treat.

• El Tri will look to build upon the turn around of sorts they enjoyed when current boss Javier Aguirre took over from the lackluster Swed Sven-Goran Ekirsson. They also came out on the short end of a meeting with England but impressed with their speed and passing abilities.

• The flying Dutchmen anyone? Many a football fans second favorite team, the Dutch always play their positive brand of attacking football and could be a favorite to win the title if they can avoid a classic meltdown in later stages.

• The lone qualifier from Oceania, New Zealand will face three difficult group stage matches and will be facing a miracle if they advance. Great photo though.

• The fantastic Super Eagles will look to soar high above their opponents led by Obafemi Martins, the experienced Kanu, and Mikel John Obi. Like the other African nations competing, Nigeria have the advantage of playing together as a team in the 2010 African Cup of Nations earlier this year where they made the semi final.

• If Cape Verde can hold fellow group G participants Portugal to a 0-0 draw, you better believe the organized and defensively minded North Koreans can do the same. On paper, they should exit the group stages with 0 points, but don’t underestimate North Korea being difficult to break down.

• They finished ahead of Argentina in the difficult CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying group which proves Paraguay possess some quality. Led by Nelson Valdez, Paraguay will be a strong South American team that should progress out of group F with Italy.

• There seems to be some questions surrounding this Portugal team as they enter into June. One doesn’t get a sense of confidence when watching them especially after leaving qualifying late. Still though, with players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, Portugal can’t be over-looked and are always dangerous.

• Serbia posses a strong starting eleven featuring the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Neven Subotic and Dejan Stankovic. They’re big, strong and will look to avenge their first round exit from 2006.

• Having qualified for their first finals, Slovakia will face Italy and Paraguay in the group stages. Their best chance for a meaningful result will be when they clash against New Zealand. Looks cold.

• Could that bear be the England National team? I’m not so sure, but the Eastern Europeans will look to slay the USA and Algeria in hopes they can make it out of the group for a potential round of 16 match up v Germany.

• This proud African nation gets the distinct pleasure of hosting the first World Cup on African soil, but will South Africa get the not so distinct pleasure of being the first host nation to not advance from the group stages?

• South Korea seem to always make a good show of themselves in the World Cup. 2002 and that incredible run to the semi finals wasn’t so long ago. With another quick attacking squad, South Korea would love nothing more than to repeat their results in 2002.

• Fernando Torres slaying Brazil, Germany and Italy for their first World Cup title? Not so sure, but Spain seem to be odds on favorite to do just that. There may not be a better passing team out of the 32 and a potential final v Brazil could be one of the best ever.

• If I’m not mistaken, Switzerland didn’t concede a single goal last time out, yet they failed to progress out of the group stages. Can the Swiss bolster their defensive squad with a little flair and some goals in 2010?

• Uruguay are one of only seven nations to actually win the Cup when they did it first time out in 1930 and proved it was no fluke by accomplishing it again in 1950. Having fallen a long way since those glory days, Uruguay haven’t progressed to the round of 16 since 1990 and failed to even qualify in 2006.

Depicting a dramatic scene from the Revolutionary War when the USA defeated the British, the Yanks will hope to defeat them, well at least the English, when they face England in one of the most important opening group stage matches the USA has ever played. Many will be watching.

Feel free to leave any comments about the incredible murals in the comments section below.