soccer fever

so the soccer fever has caught up, even to me... the soccer world cup 2006 starts on Friday 9 June, and is held in Germany... and now I have a reason to keep an eye on the German world cup... our office held a world cup draw, and I got Ecuador! Go Ecuador!

So if you know nothing about Ecuador, here's some info gleaned from wikipedia:

República del Ecuador
Republic of Ecuador

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Spanish: "Dios, patria y libertad" (English: "God, homeland and liberty")
Anthem: Salve, Oh Patria
Capital	Quito 00°9′S 78°21′W
Largest city	Guayaquil
Official language(s)	Spanish1
Government President Vice-President	Republic Alfredo Palacio Alejandro Serrano
Independence From Spain	24 May 1822
Area - Total - Water (%)	199,235 km² (71st) 76,905 sq mi 8.8
Population - July 2005 est. - Density	13,363,593 (62nd) 47/km² (124th) 122/sq mi
GDP (PPP) - Total - Per capita	2005 estimate $67 billion (73rd) $4,083 (114th)
HDI (2003)	0.759 (82nd) – medium
Currency	U.S. dollar2 (USD)
Time zone - Summer (DST)	(UTC-5; UTC -6 (Galápagos Islands)
Internet TLD	.ec
Calling code	+593
1 Quichua and other Amerindian languages spoken by indigenous communities. 2 Sucre until 2000.