Sudsy Facts About the Women's World Cup 2011

Sunday begins the sixth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup with Germany playing first time hosts and pre-tournament favorites. The United States (two-time winners and current #1 in the FIFA rankings), Brazil, Norway (one-time winner), and China are all regular contenders for the world's best.

Tomorrow we'll bring you part one of an incredible journey through all the WWC's host cities and the German beers that deliciously flow through them. Even if you can't make it to Germany this summer it's a must read for fans of German beer and the the women's game.

This guest post was written by Jobst Elster who lived in Germany for over 20 years and attended the 2006 World Cup there as well. He's also the head writer at his new site, The Real Futbol. You can follow him on Twitter, too

·         USA’s Kristine Lilly is the only player to have competed in all five editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. If the nearly 40 year old (as of July) is the oldie but goldie of the tournament than her brewskie of choice has got to be Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, a classic German wheat beer from the world’s oldest brewery (getting drunk since 1040).

·         Germany’s National Women’s squad has re-defined ‘dream(y) team’ with 5 members of its U-20 lineup recently posing for the German edition of Playboy. While the Fraueleins’ spread has done just that- spread the word on the sexy-side of the WWC, we were sorely disappointed to discover Hugh Hefner’s quenches his full-frontal thirst with (drum roll) Bavaria Premium Pils, a Dutch import and Heineken Mini-Me.

·         Of of the teams participating in 2011 only two will be coached by foreigners, the U.S. by Pia Sundhage, a Swede, and Canada by Carolina Morace from Italy.  That brings the total of foreign coaches from all WWC competitions to only five. In contrast, four of the five African teams in last year’s MWC were managed by foreigners and the highest profile one is undoubtedly Fabio Capello who leads England. What’s the cerveza tie-in? The Women’s game and the apparent loyalty to the domestic national coach reminds of the traditional German beer brewers and their strict adherence to the Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law) of 1516 limiting the ingredients used in the brewing process. Although the law has since been repealed, there’s something to be said for tradition (and clever marketing).

·         The number of participants in FIFA Women’s World Cup™ qualifiers has almost tripled from 45 teams in 1991 to 122 in 2011. The number of qualification matches for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ has also risen considerably from 110 in 1991 to 355 in 2011. This translates to more beer being enjoyed by more men, women and children (no drinking age in many Asian and European countries) in more places.

·         While many experts are predicting the likes of Brazil, Germany, Sweden and the U.S. to run the table during the group stages and end up battling for the world cup trophy, the favorites based on  the all essential ‘per capita beer consumption’ measure stack up a little bit differently. According to a trusty Wikipedia entry, Germany is still king with 110 liters/per capita consumed, followed by Australia, England (well the UK) and the U.S. Beer enthusiasts should be thankful that neither the Czechs nor the Irish qualified for WWC because they rank one and two when it comes to global beer swilling.

Want more? Tomorrow we'll post part one of Tour de Bierland for the 2011 Women's World Cup.

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