Who Ate All The Bratwurst

The World Cup stars who never made it on to stickers

With a little help from the Panini sticker designer we told you about the other day, Bratwurst gives the unsung heroes of Germany 2006 a chance to get where they belong: in your Panini album!

The World Cup stars who never made it on to stickers continued

Goleo

This loveable exhibitionist had a very lively build-up to the tournament, went quiet in the early stages, but turned it on when it really mattered. Who will ever forget his heroics in the penalty shootout against Argentina? He will be able to dine out on that for a while, which is just as well because he is skint!

Terry Butcher

Butcher seemed to give more interviews than Sven during the tournament. If England did something, Terry could pick fault with it. "England have had their cereal this morning with skimmed milk. I would have gone for semi-skimmed, but that's the problem you face when you have a foreign manager," he might have said.

Franz Beckenbauer

The Kaiser put in the hard yards (although they were made much easier by his helicoptor) to ensure that the host director could fill any lull in the game with a picture of a proud looking Beckenbauer watching on over his tournament. Also found time to star in the Adidas +10 adverts with a little more hair than he currently has.

Graham Poll

The old saying is that the mark of a good referee is that nobody notices him. Well, everybody in the world knows Graham Poll. Draw your own conclusions from that. Mr Poll is appearing in this Panini collection in the colours of his adopted nation of Australia rather than his native England.

England WAGs

England WAGs: collect the whole set. Some would say that the now infamous group of shopaholics made a bigger impression on the World Cup than their husbands and boyfriends (HABs?). Zidane got a three-match ban for his headbutt, but this lot were so naughty they are banned from the next World Cup completely.

Rob Parker

Design your own Panini stickers!

If the thought of missing out on Sven Goran Eriksson's squad is still cutting you up inside, then salvation is here in the shape of Panini stickers. You can add any image to your own customised Panini stickers and pretend you went to the World Cup. The service costs €6.90 for 10 copies of your sticker, but it is only available until the end of July. Click here to have a go at designing your sticker.

Rob Parker

Panini Monday

I'm giving up part of my Bank Holiday to write about World Cup stickers. I'm 32 years old. Is that sad? Hell no! Away we go…

PACK 1
Carlos Edwards T&T defender, plays for glamourous Luton Town
Zeljko Kalac Massive Aussie reserve keeper - got him already though, so another for the swap pile
Simone Perrotta English-born Italian midfielder. Another damn swap!
Walter Centino Costa Rican midfielder. Appears to be wearing an alice band – so 1998
Jean-Jacques Tizie Ivory Coast keeper. Appears to have several teeth missing

Panini Monday cont…

PACK 2
Niko Kovac Croatian hardman, plays for Hertha Berlin
Miroslaw Szymkowiak Commentator's nightmare. Polish, looks a bit like an ugly Harry Kewell
Arthur Boka Ivory Coast defender with British pensioner's first name
Savo Milosevic Serbian frontman, once plied his miss-a-barn-door trade at Aston Villa
Togo team photo Yay, a team sticker!

PACK 3
Australia silver badge You little beauty, throw another shrimp on the barbie etc etc.
Shaun Wright-Phillips The curse of Panini strikes again. Poor little SWP – well at least we won't have to put up with Ian Wright's half-time analysis consisting of a wink, a nudge and the words: 'Sven should put my boy on in the second half…'
Henrik Larsson Looks so much better without the Predator dreads
Angola silver badge Two silver badges in one pack - I must be dreaming
Justo Villar Paraguay's No.1 keeper. Much shorter than Peter Crouch. Hmm…

PACK 4
Angola team photo Splendid
Jan Kromkamp Dud Liverpool defender. Girly eyes
Eddie Johnson Mos' definitely not white
Gianluigi Buffon Or should that be Buffoon?
Serhiy Fedorov Ukraine defender. Yawn

PACK 5
Christophe Spycher Swiss defender. Yawn
Takashi Fukunishi Japanese midfielder. Like many Asian footballers, appears to have dyed his hair slightly red
Shaka Hislop Shaka!
Eddie Pope USA defender, plays for the excellently named Real Salt Lake City
Adel Chadli Tunisian midfielder. Very stubbly, like a Faith-era Georgios Michael

There you go, not a bad lot, only a couple of swaps. See you next Monday Paniniers…

Panini Monday

Not many Mondays to go now… may even have to consider introducing a Panini Friday too, otherwise the album will be full of gaps…

PACK 1
Robin van Persie Dutch brat
Marcin Baszczynski Impossible-to-spell surname
France badge Silvery, glittery joy!
Ebrahim Mirzapour Iranian goalkeeper
Mamam Cherif-Toure Togo midfielder, no relation to Kolo

Panini Monday cont…

PACK 2
Lee Young-Pyo Tottenham's speedy Korean wing-back
Mantorras/Maurito Angolan M&Ms.
Dider Drogba Popular Ivory Coast/Chelsea striker
Alvaro Saborio Talented Costa Rican striker
Talai Al Meshai/Yasser Al Qahtani Saudi pair – the last sticker in the album, no. 596

PACK 3
Hidetoshi Nakata Bolton's Japanese playmaker
Robert Huth Got! Forst swap of the day
Steven Bryce Costa Rica's least-glamourously named player
Sol Campbell The big man's back – hooray!
Joao Ricardo/Jacinto Angolan double

PACK 4
Carlos Tenorio Ecuador striker. Another damn swap
Robert Huth You gotta be kidding me! Two Huths in one day. Shocker
Haykel Guemamdia Tunisian striker, one of their best players
Oleksiy Byelik Oleksiy, you swine. Yes, another swap. Three in one pack!
Rafael Marquez Barcelona's ponytailed central defender

A disastrous pack!

PACK 5
Alessandro Santos Japanese defender, originally from Brazil
Rio Ferdinand 'His name is Rio and he dances for West Ham…' Well, he used to
Carlos Marchena Spain/Valenica defender
Dejan Stankovic Serbia's star player
Ricardo Portuguese keeper - broke English hearts in Euro 2004

Too many swaps for my liking.

Random child completes Panini sticker album in one go

A competition winner on BBC's Football Focus has just received an empty Panini album and all the stickers he needs to fill it. Where is the fun in that?! The poor lad had travelled down on the train with his dad, and his prize was the Panini album and (wait for it) a World Cup magazine from Motty. I bet the train fare cost more than his prize. At least he only got one Ruben Baraja.

Rob Parker

Ollie's Baraja misery compounded as Spain announce World Cup squad

Panini Monday fans will be aware that Bratwurst editor Ollie Irish's valiant attempts to complete his sticker album are being tested to the limits by Spain's Ruben Baraja (pictured). Ollie has so far clocked up around five Baraja swaps.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Baraja isn't even going to the World Cup. Spain coach Luis Aragones has announced his squad, and the Valencia midfielder isn't in it. Liverpool's Fernando Morientes has also missed out as Aragones has chosen to go with just three out-and-out strikers. Click here to see the full squad.

Rob Parker

Panini Monday

Not that many Mondays to go until the World Cup, so this morning I've torn into five packs of stickers - some say I'm crazy to attempt such a feat, but then I'm a maverick who doesn't know the meaning of the words 'Aaah, not another Ruben Baraja double!' The gloves are off…

Panini Monday cont…

PACK 1
Ecuador team photo Good start, feeling positive today
Michael Ballack Ah! Had him last Monday. Balls
Ferydoon Zandi Mystically named Iranian midfielder. Sporting a hairband in his picture, which won't go down well with his nation's authorities
Nikola Zigic Massive Serb striker, and yet another swap to add to the growing pile
Abdel Coubjada Togo midfielder

Two swaps in first pack. Doh.

PACK 2
Gary Neville England's Mr Consistent. Son of Neville Neville
Cyril Domoraud Ivory Coast defender. Already got him though!
Ze Roberto Cocky Brazilian
Dragoslav Jevric Serbian keeper, freakishly blue eyes
Ramon Morales Diddy Mexican midfielder

PACK 3
Silvio Spann Trinidadian midfielder. Good set of dreads on him
David Trezeguet Goatee-bearded Frenchman
Ruben 'bloody' Baraja You're having a laugh, Mr Panini - about the fifth time Ruben's square head has smiled back at me. Clearly the most common sticker in the album
Oguchi Onyewu American defender. Nigerian-sounding name, plays for Standard Liege in Belgium
Frankie Hedjuk Another USA defender, looks like a surfer. Injured and won't be going to Germany

Ruben Barja. Bah

PACK 4 (Into uncharted Panini territory here…)
Andre Macanga/Edson Pair of Angolan midfielders. Make a nice couple
Christian Lara Ecuadorian midfielder, no relation to Brian
Jose Antonio Reyes Arsenal's Spanish wingman. Cheesy grin
Khamis Al Dossari/Ibrahim Al Shahrani Saudi double act
Maciej Zurawski Celtic's Polish striker. Dodgy pudding-bowl haircut (have to say, based on Panini stickers, the Poles are without doubt the ugliest World Cup team)

PACK 5
Croatian team photo …Which is nice
Khalid Boulahrouz Dutch defender with un-Dutch name
Christian Wilhelmsson Swedish midfielder, very talented and very blonde
Mehdi Rahmati Iranian keeper. Another swap
Ukraine badge Struck silver at last! Good to finish on a high note

So there we are - my Panini album is a little bit fatter and I'm a little bit poorer. More next Monday…

Panini Monday

Better late than never (got waylaid by the England squad announcement), here's the latest instalment of Panini Monday…

PACK 1
Luis Garcia Silly-haired Spaniard
Ahmed Al Bahri/Hamad Al Montashari Saudi defenders. Ho hum
Juninho Pernambucano Brazilian free-kick expert
Claudio Reyna American all-star
Mehdi Rahmati Iranian reserve keeper

Panini Monday cont…

PACK 2
Ruud van Nistelrooy Out-of favour thoroughbred – why the long face etc.
Siaka Tiene Ivory Coast midfielder. Cool name
Tony Vidmar Veteran Aussie defender
Yuji Nakazawa Japanese defender. Silky hair
Korean badge Struck silver!

PACK 3
Oleksiy Byelik Ukraine striker, not as good as Shevchenko
Luis Perez Mexican midfielder
Mexico team Get in!
Andre Ooijer Dutch defender. Too many vowels in surname
Cyril Domoraud Ivory Coast defender. Looks mean

No swaps this week, has to be a good thing. Next week we'll up the Panini ante and get through five (count 'em!) packs. Stay tuned…

Panini Monday

It's a bank holiday but nothing stops Panini Monday, hell no…

PACK 1
Steve Cherundolo As if to compound the miserable weekend, first sticker out is a bloody swap! Got this American defender last week. Curses.
Naif Al Qadi/Saud Khariri Saudi Arabian defenders. About as exciting as this year's world snooker final.
Niko Kranjcar Croatian midfielder, hailed as next Zidane in his homeland. Looks about 12 years old (he's 21, in fact). Watch out for him in Germany.
Ronaldo Buck-toothed legend. Says it all.
Maniche Chelsea's Portuguese midfield star. Looks like Jim Carrey gone wrong.

What delights does PACK 2 hold in store? Keep reading…

Panini Monday cont…

PACK 2
Michael Ballack Germany's great World Cup hope. And Chelsea's from next season.
Imed Mhadhebi Tunisian striker, plays for Nantes in France.
Marek Heinz Czech striker, plays for Galatasaray. Lot of 'variety' to his forward play (boom boom).
Gio van Bronckhorst Dutch wing-back. Used to play for Arsenal, now plays for Barca. Should enjoy the Champions League final then.
Bonaventure Kalou One of the best-named players. Ivory Coast midfielder.

PACK 3
Jafet Soto Costa Rican midfielder. Looks incredibly hard.
Jervis Drummond Another Costa Rican. What sort of a name is Jervis anyway?
Ashley Cole One of England's metatarsal gang. 100 percent heterosexual.
Dennis Lawrence Trinidadian defender. Plays for glamourous Wrexham, I think. How come T&T get their own stickers, but Ghana has to share? Ghana are much higher in the world rankings. Madness.
Alexander Ostlund Swedish defender. Has a beard. But not blonde.

In my swaps pile, Steve Cherundolo gets added to Ruben Baraja. Anyone want to swap for either?

Panini Monday

Another Monday rolls around and so another three packs of Panini stickers are begging to be opened. Will there be any glorious silver foil beauties concealed within? Or will I get stuck with another Ruben Baraja? Drum roll please…

PACK 1
Robert Huth(Chelsea's massive German defender. Didn't he fight Rocky in Rocky IV?)
Mexico team (always good to get a team photo)
Carlos Salcido (mean-looking Mexican)
Zentralstadion, Leipzig (holds 44,199 according to the sticker)
Chaouki Ben Saada (Tunisian midefielder. Born in 1984 – Jesus, that makes me feel old)

Cosmopolitan pickings from Pack 1. Moving on…
 

PACK 2
Simone Perrottta (Italian midfielder - born in Ashton, England, according to the album! Can this be true?)
Vicente Rodriguez (Spanish midfielder. Fits in neatly between my Ruben Baraja and Xavi stickers in the album – my Spain section is coming on nicely)
Sylvain Wiltord (pacy French veteran, well-known to all Gooners)
Zeljko Kalac (reserve Aussie keeper. Bloody massive: 2.02m, which translates, I think, as 6ft8in!!!)
Sebastian Mila (Polish midfielder, looks a bit like Gollum. Sorry Sebastian)

Stunned to discover that one of the Italian squad was born in Ashton! Is Perrotta the holding midfielder we're missing?

PACK 3
Franklin Salas (Ecuadorian striker, dodgy hair)
Steve Cherundolo (USA defender, crazy surname)
Nikola Zigic (Serbian striker. Looks like Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett's uglier brother)
Archie Thompson (good Scottish name on this Kiwi-born Aussie midfielder)
Yaha Golmohammadi (Iranian defender, great name for a footballer)

No more swaps, which can only be a good thing. See you next Monday, Panini fans! If anyone wants to swap my Ruben Baraja, post a comment.

 

Panini Monday: A New Dawn

Having realised that I've been buying the rubbish Panini cards, rather than the stickers, it's time to wipe the slate clean and start again. I've bought my album (complete with six free stickers!) and three packs of stickers, at 35p each, so let's go…

PACK 1
Serhiy Fedorov (Ukraine defender, looks mournful in his photo)
Steven Appiah/Godwin Attram (two Ghanaians having to share one sticker. A disgrace!)
Ruben Baraja (Spanish midfielder, also free with the album I bought - my first swap!!!)
Lionel Andres Messi (Argentine wonderkid. Stuck him in a bit crooked though. Bah)
Carlos Tenorio (Ecuadorian forward. Looks surly)

Happy with Messi, despite a crooked stick-down. Baraja double. If you have a swap for Baraja, post a comment or get in touch

PACK 2
Silver Argentina flag (back of the net!)
Figo (as in Luis, although his card just says Figo. Born in 1972, so one of the few players older than me)
Xavi (Spain/Barcelona playmaker, looks a bit like Enrique Iglesias)
Jerzy Dudek (let's all do the Dudek etc etc)
Cicinho (always nice to get a Brazilian, so to speak)

Good pack, quality throughout

PACK 3
Diego Gavilan (Paraguayan midfielder, jug ears concealed by mullet)
Anders Svensson (Swedish midefielder. Blonde)
USA Team (5th-best team in the world, according to FIFA. Yeah, right)
Patrick Muller (Swiss defender. Boring - the sticker, not him)
Park Ji Sung (definitely not bought by Man Utd to sell shirts in the Far East, oh no)

Again, exciting stuff.

So, to conclude, we'll be doing this again next Monday. At the moment I have one swap, namely Ruben Baraja.

Panini Monday

For the past two Mondays, I've bought three packs of Panini World Cup cards and revealed the contents on this site. Well, everywhere in the world appears to have sold out of these cards, which makes posting on the subject kind of difficult. However, all is not lost, because very soon we'll all be able to buy the proper Panini World Cup album and stickers (including those coveted silver foil badges), rather than the cards, which are clearly imposters anyway. As soon as I can get my hands on the stickers, Panini Monday will be back in business and we can let the swaps commence!

To make up for this huge disappointment here's a classic clip to brighten your Monday.

Panini Monday

Time for the second round of Panini. Last week we excitedly purchased our first three packs. Treats inside included Ashley Cole, Ronaldo and, alas, two Petr Cechs! What treasures lie in store this week? Click below to find out…

Okay, let's crack on…

PACK 1
Kaka ace Brazilian playmaker
John Terry English centre-back, estate-agentish hair
Zdenek Grygera got! Anouther damn double to add to my pile of Petr Cechs
Walter Samuel Argentine hardman defender. Glassy stare
Kolo Toure Ivory Coast/Arsenal centre-half. Class
Lukas Podolski German striker. Boo, hiss

Pretty good pickings, apart from the dreaded Grygera double. Bloody Czech full-backs.

PACK 2
Mladen Krstajic Serb & Montenegro captain. Obscure
Juan Riquelme Argentine playmaker
Arjen Robben aaaah! Another double. Got Robben already. Sort it out, Panini
Claude Makelele French enforcer. Gay name, Claude (don't tell him I said so)
Freddie Ljungberg another heterosexual Arsenal player
Ali Karimi Iranian playmaker

PACK 3
Dwight Yorke always smiling, even on his Panini card
Oliver Kahn German 'keeper. Nickname is the 'white gorilla'
Fabio Cannavaro Italy's star defender. Lovely hair. Bet he takes two bottle into the shower
Tim Cahill Oz midfielder. Cocky so-and-so
Fabrice Akwa Angolan striker. Had forgotten that Angola had even qualified. Well done Angola, give yourself a pat on the back
Carlos Paredes Paraguay's Roy Keane, apparently

So there we have it. A couple of pesky doubles but overall a good selection - it was a particular pleasure to see Dwight Yorke's pearly whites shining back at me at the top of Pack 3.

Panini Monday

A World Cup without Panini is like Glady Knight without the Pips, Albert Square without the Queen Vic, Duncan Ferguson without the red card, Hale without Pace, cheese without… (that's enough - Ed.). Oh, the beautiful nostalgia of an unopened packet of football stickers! Will you be rewarded with a precious silver-foil badge (almost as exciting, I'd imagine, as finding a Willy Wonka golden ticket), or yet another Jurgen Klinsmann to add to your swaps pile?

For the next few months, Waatb? will be buying three packs of Panini every Monday and revealing the contents. Simple as that. Join in – let's swap and fill that damn book if it kills us.

Here, for the first time, is a live blog of the inaugural opening of three virgin packets of Panini. For this World Cup, Panini have done cards, not stickers, which is a shame, but hey, things change. Okay, first Panini packet of 2006 and the honours go to…

PACK 1
Oswald Sanchez Mexico goalie. Hmm, not bad
Oleh Husyev Ukraine striker. Never heard of him
Zdnek Grygera Czech defender. Bad hair
Ronaldo the Brazilian, not the Portuguese. Get in! Always the fear that he could be common as muck. Or he could be rare
Carlos Bocanegra Fulham's American defender
Petr Cech Chelsea/Czech keeper. Sweet
A solid first packet, with nice variation

PACK 2
Jan Koller lanky Czech striker
Dida lanky Brazil keeper
Milan Baros Czech forward, gypsyish hair. (Lots of Czechs already)
Ashley Cole heterosexual left-back
Arjen Robben Dutch winger, falls over a lot
Petr Cech disaster strikes! The first double. Cech, you swine

PACK 3
Maceij Zurawski Polish forward. Good Scrabble score too
Hatem Trabelsi Tunisia's captain
Roque Santa Cruz Paraguay/Inter Milan striker
Pauleta Portuguese goal machine. Does he have a last name? Or is Pauleta his first name? Answers on a postcard please
Gianluca Zambrotta Bearded Italian wing-back
Edwin van der Sar Dutch keeper. Only footballer I know named Edwin

Phew, that was exciting. More next Monday, Panini fans.