It’s still too early to tell who’s going to walk away with the Golden Boot at this year’s World Cup, but the star of last week’s Google searches was undoubtedly Mexico’s goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. After making four magnificent saves and holding Brazil to a 0-0 draw, searches for Ochoa shot up by over 1000% globally, with every single country in Asia searching for him. You know the man’s become social media legend when the top related searches for the so-called “Great Wall of Mexico” are “Ochoa memes” and “Ochoa 6 fingers,” in relation to a rumor that he was additionally, and perhaps unfairly, endowed.
The first ten days of the World Cup have delivered plenty of thrills and spills, with the buzz about the tournament playing out on Google in surprising ways. One of the biggest stunners so far has been reigning champion Spain’s spectacular fall from grace, as [Spain v Chile] became the top trending football-related search query in Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The other big upset was England’s defeat at the hands of Uruguay, thanks to star striker Luis Suarez’s two goals. Searches for him increased by more than 800% worldwide. Top trending phrases in Singapore were “England out of the World Cup” and “Spain out of the World Cup” — you can practically hear the sighs of disbelief.
Thailand’s favorite and most searched for football star remains Argentine Lionel Messi while Germany’s Thomas Mueller takes the prize in Taiwan. However, it’s not only footballers that are the subject of World Cup searches. People in Taiwan are also searching for “hedgehog” — in reference to a Thai hedgehog that a Chiang Mai zoo says will predict this year’s World Cup winners. Could this prickly critter be the new Paul the Octopus? Stay tuned as we bring you more World Cup search trends from Asia next week.
Posted by Joyce Hau, Communications Senior Associate, Google Asia Pacific
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| Is there a finger missing here? |
Thailand’s favorite and most searched for football star remains Argentine Lionel Messi while Germany’s Thomas Mueller takes the prize in Taiwan. However, it’s not only footballers that are the subject of World Cup searches. People in Taiwan are also searching for “hedgehog” — in reference to a Thai hedgehog that a Chiang Mai zoo says will predict this year’s World Cup winners. Could this prickly critter be the new Paul the Octopus? Stay tuned as we bring you more World Cup search trends from Asia next week.
Posted by Joyce Hau, Communications Senior Associate, Google Asia Pacific
Interesting post - all the countries you listed have a rich history as soccer (yes, I said soccer. I'm from the US) as a spectator sport, rather than having a developed culture of actually playing the sport. I'm curious to know how these countries "choose" to root on a team. Obvious that the top searches for Asia is not Japan or Korea, the two teams that made it to the WC, according to your post. I feel that the WC is a definite source of pride for countries that make it to the big dance, but for countries that don't make it, or just can't make it because it's almost impossible to field a team that can compete at that level, it seems that underdogs aren't even on the radar as teams to root for, especially in Asia. Perhaps they want to cheer on winners only - giving them a reason to watch this beautiful spectacle as long as they can, since it only happens once every four years...
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