It’s World Cup Thursday! And with Corey a bit overwhelmed at work and me taking sole charge of today’s #tbt post, you can bet your ass I’m going to revisit a soccer-related moment. But don’t worry, there’s music involved, too! My selection for the week is Nike’s full-length World Cup 2010 commercial, “Write the Future.” Check it out below:

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This ad, directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu (you’ll know him from movies like 21 Grams and Babel) hit TV airwaves back in spring 2010, during the lead up to that summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I hate to use a word like “infected” to describe something I love, but that’s almost the best way to put it with “Write the Future”; you couldn’t go a day without seeing it on TV, and that was AWESOME. For starters, it put some of the best footballers in the world front and center in our living rooms–and when soccer’s your favorite sport, as it is mine, that’s pretty damn cool to see on American TV.

But more importantly, “Write the Future” was my introduction to the Dutch progressive/hard rock band Focus, whose song “Hocus Pocus” features throughout the ad. It may not be strictly “metal” per se, but just TRY and tell me that guitar riff doesn’t kick an ass. Also, YouTube’s archived footage of Focus performing this song live is one of the funniest things you’ll watch all day:

The whole band looks like they’re on fast-forward here and it is AMAZING. Also, I WANT WHATEVER DRUGS THE YODELER’S ON, AND I WANT THEM NOW.

Either way, that will do it for this week’s #tbt. Make sure to send us yours in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter!

-Dan

Live. Love. Plow. Horns Up.