World Cup comes to Manchester

England v USA - sound familiar?

It’s the World Cup but it’s not football.

The focus of world sport may well move from South Africa to South Manchester for the 2010 FIL World Lacrosse Championships late in July.

The Championship which takes place between the 15 July and 24 July will be one of the biggest international sporting events in Manchester since the Commonwealth Games, with a record thirty nations expected to compete.

Forget Wayne Rooney, Landon Donovan, Cristiano Ronaldo or Fernando Torres though:: when it comes to hot shots they don’t come any hotter than Paul Rabil.

Rocket man Rabil holds the record for the fastest shot which clocks in at a staggering 111mph putting his football counterparts to shame.

Rabil and the rest of the USA all Stars play England on the 19 July. The stats don’t look good for England as the USA have won eight of the ten World Championships. Looked at another way England finished fifth in 2006 and the USA were runners up but maybe home advantage can be a telling factor?

Putting partisan feelings to one side the event stats are pretty impressive. The Championship which takes place between the 15 July and 24 July will be one of the biggest international sporting events in Manchester since the Commonwealth Games, with a record thirty nations expected to compete.

These include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bermuda, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Iroquois, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and Wales. The Iroquois team may be the only tribal nation taking part in any type of World Cup – this reflects the origin of the sport which is Native American.

It should prove a fascinating occasion all round.

Lacrosse is no stranger to the North West of England as Manchester hosted the World Championships in 1994 and Stockport hosted them in 1978. The South Manchester area has been the home of British Lacrosse since a tour of UK by a Canadian team in the late nineteenth century. Manchester was the most enthusiastic recipient of the team and developed a league of its own.

If you want to sample the delights tickets are available through the official website of the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships, at www.2010worldlacrosse.com