Who Won the World Cup of Arm-Folding?
Dan Kois and Andrew Bouvé at Slate take a deep dive analysis of the crucial arm-folding technique performed by World Cup players during ESPN’s crafty (and ugly) lineup presentations:
This year’s World Cup has featured some of the planet’s greatest athletes performing seemingly impossible physical tasks. Bicycle kicks. Spectacular goals. Mind-bending saves. Displays of endurance, determination, and balletic grace. And, of course, turning to the left and folding your arms.
It turns out that’s surprisingly hard to ace on your first (and, presumably, only) try. Hundreds upon hundreds of millions of television viewers have watched players from all 32 teams botch this seemingly simple technique in the lineup presentations before each World Cup match. Nailing that turn and arm-fold is crucial, though: It’s the difference between looking like an ordinary, nice dude (like Japan’s Atsuto Uchida) and an unlucky guy caught posing for his mug shot (like the United States’ Kyle Beckerman).
Click on through to see the best and worst arm-folding the world has to offer.