Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that in football (soccer) that there has been a FIFA/FC curse, just like the Madden NFL one such as Wayne Rooney who appeared in FIFA 06 alongside Ronaldinho with Rooney suffering recurring injuries & loss of form shortly after his cover appearances, famously injuring his metatarsal before the 2006 Football (Soccer) men's World Cup, then it was Theo Walcott who was left out of the English squad (FIFA 10), before Gonzalo Higuain missed crucial attempts in both the 2014 World Cup final & the Copa America final a year later back in 2015 (FIFA 15), meanwhile it was Marco Reus who dealt the damage when he suffered a severe ankle injury by missing Germany's Football (Soccer) men's World Cup win also back in 2014 (FIFA 17), & endured recurring injury issues following his cover debut, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Juventus from Real Madrid in a highly publicised & tumultuous but torrid transfer just months after his cover release (FIFA 19), & Kylian Mbappe who appeared 3 times in 21, 22 & the last one in 23 where though highly successful that his cover years coincided with unexpected Champions League collapses for Paris Saint Germain, & missed transfer switches to Real Madrid, while in recent years that the phenomenon has become an ongoing internet meme and talking point. In recent years, players like Erling Haaland (FC 24) and Jude Bellingham (FC 25 and 26) experienced highly publicized injury spells and underwhelming tournament performances during their respective cover years, but special/honourable mentions go to both Ronaldinho in FIFA 09 that he suffered injuries & a form slump, & Jack Wilshere in FIFA 12 that he missed the entire season with Arsenal, as a result of a serious injury.
And secondly that the 1989-94 era in Formula One was the greatest era of them all when they had 3.5 litre screaming V8's, V10's or V12's that thrived race fans including the drivers who dominated in that era such as the late Brazilian hero Ayrton Senna (Brazilian motor racing's equivalent of the late Pele who was once a famous football/soccer star) twice way back in 1990 & 1991 along with Frenchman Alain Prost (The Zinedine 'Zizou' Zidane (Football (soccer), Antoine Dupont (Rugby), & the late Puig Albert (League) of French motor racing) who did it twice in both also way back in 1989 & 1993, while both Briton Nigel Mansell & German Michael Schumacher (Who is German motor racing's equivalent of football/soccer's Thomas Mueller) who won the world championship once in 1992 & 1994 respectively according to the 2 fictional Formula One cars of both the F3500-A (Based off a combination of a Ferrari, McLaren & Williams cars) & the F3500-B (Which is inspired by the Benetton, Jordan & Tyrell F1 cars respectively) respectively on the Gran Turismo 7 game for that was then (And this is now where they have those Super Formula SF23 cars that they still have in that game via update along with the 2 fictional but fantasy Formula One cars with our own Kiwi of Liam Lawson who almost won the title (But he narrowly missed out on a chance instead for a golden opportunity of winning the championship) when it went to a disabled Japanese competitor who was the champion in 2023 that he can remember all the stuff that he's driven (The year that Lawson would end up making his F1 debut in the Netherlands for AlphaTauri (Now RB Racing Bulls) by subbing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo who was ruled out for 4 races, including Italy, Singapore, Japan, & Qatar before Ricciardo returned to action in the United States).
And thirdly that June 17th, 1994 in the United States remembered for 4 things, such as the great American golfer of the late Arnold Palmer plays his final ever round at the U.S. Golf Open, then the Football/Soccer men's World Cup gets underway at the old Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois where World Cup holders at the time of Germany began their title defence with a 1 goal to nil win over Bolivia, & Spain having a 2 - 2 draw over Korea Republic, then the New York Rangers led by Canadian Mark Messier celebrate on Broadway at a parade after their Stanley Cup win, & O.J. Simpson leading the US on a slow speed police pursuit chase in a white Ford Bronco that resulted in an arrest for charges relating of killing his ex-wife & her partner (And honourable mentions go to Ken Griffey Jr ties most home runs prior to June 30th, then game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals between the Rockets & the Knicks take place).
And finally in the rugby, here are the list of matches being played in round 12 of this year's Super Rugby Pacific competition:
Hurricanes Vs Crusaders (Their most recent meeting between the two was last year during Round 9 in which the Crusaders won by 7 points against the Canes at Sky Stadium (Now Hnry Stadium) in Wellington)
New South Wales Waratahs Vs Western Force (The last time both of these sides met was also last year in Round 15 where the Tahs had a 5 point victory over the Force at HBF Park in Perth)
Fijian Drua Vs Highlanders (Their last meeting between the 2 was in Round 9 last year where the Highlanders crushed the Fijian Drua into bits at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin)
Moana Pasifika Vs Blues (The last time they clashed in Super Rugby Pacific was Round 5 this year in which the Blues had an emphatic win over Moana who had a player being shown the send off offence after originally being given a sin bin & on report for a high contact by the referee & the TMO bunker as well on Blues halfback Sam Nock at Eden Park in Auckland during the penultimate meeting between the two during the battle of the 09)
& Queensland Reds Vs ACT Brumbies (And also their most recent meeting between the two was this year during Round 4 which was during Club Round where the Reds had to score the match winning try by Carter Gordon (Who is in his comeback season of rugby following a stint in league last year in that he played for the Gold Coast Titans competing in the NRL) at the buzzer to end the Brumbies chances of remaining unbeaten in the competition)
Bye: Chiefs
So that is my 713th blog of the year 2026 (MMXXVI) & my 65th of this year, viva Ukraine.
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