Sunday's dramatic World Cup final was decided by penalty kicks, but it was free clicks that helped OU's soccer fans follow all the action of the world's most popular sport.

The quadrennial World Cup creates a frenzy across most of the world, but the 2006 World Cup piqued little interest in the United States. The lukewarm interest of their neighbors didn't stop hard-core fans from joining the worldwide madness by using the Internet and other technology.

Nicholas Bartell, theater performance sophomore, said as soon as the month-long tournament began in Germany on June 9, he had his Internet browser homepage set to fifaworldcup.yahoo.com.

"It's the No. 1 Internet site I found for all up-to-the-minute information, including top scorers, number of goals total in the tournament, dates, rankings, and so on," said Bartell.

Bartell also took advantage of the site's MatchCast, which delivered live, expert commentary on the matches, as well as FanChat, which allowed anyone to chat with fans around the world.

Though every match was broadcast live in the United States on ABC and ESPN, the American commentary was roasted in Internet forums. One blog offered step-by-step instructions on gaining access to the BBC's live streaming video and radio shows, restricted to residents of the United Kingdom.

Geophysics sophomore Mansour Alyahyay said he was irritated by color commentator Dave O'Brien, who primarily covers baseball.

"He doesn't know anything about soccer," he said. "It's obvious."

Alyahyay, a native of Saudi Arabia, chose to watch the games on television while simultaneously using his iMac G4 laptop to follow the action on the Arabic site alarabiya.net.

"The site is updated every minute, and it has real discussion," Alyahyay said.

The fact that the U.S. team didn't advance past the first stage didn't help bring more interest, said Nicki Harlas, sociology and health education coaching sophomore.

"I'm a big U.S. fan and it has been a hard World Cup," Harlas said. "I've tried to stay away from what the newspapers have said."

Scott Moore, management information systems senior, said his friends sent him text messages on his phone if he was unable to watch a game, and that his girlfriend would Tivo matches that he could review later.

"It's nice to always have a way to stay in touch with the games, even if it's not possible to watch them live," Moore said.

Moore said he also got first-person reports by e-mail from his former roommate, currently studying abroad in Germany.

"He went to a game and said the atmosphere was unbelievable. I can't imagine what it would be like," he said.

Omar Goyzueta, mechanical engineering junior, is studying abroad this summer in Spain, where it is common to watch matches in bars or on large displays set up in public squares. Goyzueta said he is not yet fluent in Spanish, and jumped online to quickly access schedules and stats on English-language Web sites.

The enthusiasm of Shay Shakeel, economics and accounting junior, spilled over onto Facebook, where he created a group called "WORLD CUP GERMANY 2006 IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" to rally other rabid fans. He also sought consolation online when his favorite teams, Argentina and Brazil, were defeated in the quarterfinals.

"It was just heartbreaking," he said. "This probably seems really alien in America to love the game so much, but where I am from--and anywhere else in the world--this is exactly how it is. "It's the greatest game in the world, how could you not love it?"

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