To tell you the truth moif, i saw the game a bit differently. I may not be big on football but I saw a game where the US was the superior team. They created more opportunities and were more aggressive when it came to their midfield game. If a few passes were made a little better in the first half, it could have been a lot different. I thought the US was dominating even when Italy scored that goal approximately 20 mins in and that those red cards (which were highyl questionable imo) hurt the game plan. But still the US showed a lot of heart with 9 men on the field and still had their chances at scoring.

Overall? A very physical and close match in which both teams gave their all. The US commentators thought (and i am inclined to agree) that the referees made some very bad calls that hurt the game. Hopefully the US can pull out a win against Ghana on thursday with Italy handing the Czech Republic its second loss. I am starting to believe anything is possble now.

Any team that goes a man down and holds its own deserves a praise. United States did very well tonight (especially defense and Kasey Keller). I'd like to see Americans score, though... They even were able to pull a couple of counter attacks by themselves, being down a man - amazing! All three red cards (particularly the one on Mastroeni) were extremely questionable. Italy didn't look like they belong in the elite tonight - very disappointing. Czech team (with the exception of their goalkeeper and Pavel Nedved) didn't fare much better either.

The Danish commentators thought two of the red cards were spot on and only one was slightly questionable. I have to say that Pope's card and the Italian 'elbow dude', both got what they deserved. The rules are clear enough when it comes to elbows and tackling. The other one I'm not so sure about.

The Americans were the more aggressive team that I will grant you, but aggression doesn't always win, especially against a three times world champion nation like Italy (even when they were having a bad day). Football is about putting the ball in the net, and the only way to 'dominate' the game is to do that. America didn't score a single goal...

I'll tell you what though. A decade ago people used to talk about the USA as if it would never have a chance, but I think we're seeing the birth of a new football super nation. I wouldn't be surprised (or unhappy) if the USA goes through. Two years ago, Denmark and the USA were both ranked, joint 11th place in the FIFA rankings... not any more... andits going to be really hard for us to ever get above the USA again I fear. I think we're also going to see a lot of the smaller European nations like Denmark, Sweden and Holland gradually lose their edge over nations with larger populations as well. I just don't see how we can maintain any advantage as other countries develop their own styles and pick up the training and culture we've had for so long here. European football is already full of Africans, Americans and even Asians now. Even a team like Ghana has a player from FC København! We're stupid. We're training other people and neglecting our own home grown talent.

I saw something else odd today as well. According to the BBC several hundred Dutch fans were forced to watch their last game in their underwear because their official orange trousers had a beer company logo on them that didn't belong to the official World Cup sponsor Budweiser. Is it just me, or isn't it a bit over the top to extend the authority of official sponsorship to determing what trousers the general public is wearing?

And why is an American beer company sponsoring a German hosted World Cup anyway? Its not like Germany has a shortage of beer companies! Seems like the Germans were asleep on the job there!

I was extremely proud of the US today. The Ref was horrible. There were twice as many fouls called against the US as were called on Italy. Considering we played down a man most of the game I felt we were the better of the two sides. Even when Italy scored the first goal it was against the run of play. Had we had an even team I feel we would have got another goal in the 2nd half. I'm still surprised we didn't use all our subs.

If we beat Ghana on Thursday I'll be happy. We're in the true Group of Death, but I feel like a soccer power was born today. More people are watching this World Cup in the US this time than ever before. I have been educating people on the game all week and I keep hearing "this isn't boring."

I won't comment on today's game except to say that it looks like a US win over Ghana and an Italian win over the Czech Republic, well, either that or the US imitates Argentina, wins, and scores 6 in doing so, and then who cares about the other game. My predicted winner, or layup: Argentina, and not because they scored six. My mid-range jumper: Ecuador. My three-pointer: Korea [especially if the weather stays hot, recalling again the '94 Cup when Germany went up two-zero only to wilt in the Texas heat while the Koreans scurried all over the pitch like bees guarding the hive].

Sorry, I lied. One comment: at about the 75-minute mark, I would have put in Eddie Johnson, well, if I were coach and had trained the team as I saw fit, then I would have put in Eddie and simply took a lesson from Holland and put the ball long and over the top and left him run under and/or to it. One need only ask the Argentinians just how effective that can be...

And, lastly, I get the gold star this week, since the first game of the day has come on at 3:00 a.m., Hawaii Standard Time, and I haven't missed one [with the exception of Italy in '90, I've taped the WC since 1982 (though '82 and '86 are in Spanish, since the only option for those of us living in L.A. was KMEX)]. And maybe it's because I was younger, who knows, but seems to me that the 80s were better than now, I mean, what happened to the Hand Of God? And what happened to France going up by two in OT only to have [West] Germany come back, with that last goal resulting from that bicycle kick by Klaus Fisher. Though maybe I ought carefully consider just what I wish for, lest Paulo Rossi be reborn and score three against us. And, hey, whatever happened to the best name ever for a Spanish language broadcast, I mean, whatever happened to Jorge Burruchaga? Oh, and Moif, the US might one day be great, but we've got some other sports that attract the cream of the crop. Maybe that might be different if ESPN Classic would ban the slow, clumsy, fighters and that poker from the channel and replay, continuously, the '82 semifinal between France and West Germany [and now let me correct my poor form and include that which I left out, to wit, that "confrontation" between Patrick Battiston and Schumacher]. Ahhh, the memories...oh, and that reminds me, Schumacher didn't even get a card, and so I won't comment further....

I must admit that the U.S.A. played a very good game, although they had the help of an Italian defender who shot the ball in his own goal in a truly bizarre way. As a matter of fact I cheered for the U.S. team and I really wished that they had won the game. They worked harder and had a strong will to win.
But to be honest I do not think they will come far, they work hard but they lack technique and experience compared to other teams (Brazil, Argentina, Holland )



I have noticed some of you really "believe" you are in the "group of death", but in all honesty there is one group of death and that's group C!! It is without a doubt the strongest group with four very good teams.



http://allafrica.com/stories/200605311328.html

Obviously your entitled to your opinion. Holland didn't even qualify for the last World Cup, Argentina didn't make it out of the first round, and I have a difficult time believing that was the group of death when one team wins by six goals. I think yesterday proved that Group E is most difficult group. I won't bring up the rankings because I think they're crap, but the US, Italy, and Czech Republic are all top 20 teams in the World. The US and Italy barely missed out on getting a #1 seeds.

Michael Davies has a great blog on ESPN. He was great in the last World Cup when the US advanced to the quarterfinals.

I do not understand what you are trying to say here. You can claim that it is my opinion (which is true of course), but this opinion, group C is the true group of death, is backed up by most people in the world.


http://hrmpf.com/wordpress/30/world-cup-group-of-death

So the majority of the soccer / football fans in the ENTIRE world thought group C was the group of death. I guess my opinion is not that far off. The fact that Argentina defeated Serbia Montenegro with 6 - 0 only shows that they rightfully are seen as one of the favourites. (a lot of teams wouldn't stand a chance against this great team)

Don't get me wrong, I think group E is a very interesting group, with a lot of unexpected results (and as I said before I cheered for the U.S. team). I was amazed that Italy couldn't defeat a weakened U.S. team, and pleasantly suprised Ghana defeated the Czech Republic. But in all honesty it is a disgrace for Czech and Italy that they couldn't qualify easily. The U.S. team has a great winning mentality, but techniqually and tactically they are weaker than the two above mentioned European teams. Ghana suprised friend and foe with their victory over the Czech Republic (something like the Dutch basketball team defeating the U.S. dream team ).

Unexpected results make the World Cup such a nice tournament to watch.



Huh, what is this? This is so subjective, so "everybody hates us" I do not even want to react to it.

Just wanted to add my two pennies worth here. I thoroughly enjoyed th USA Italy game.
And I thought before the rash of sendings off the USA were running Italy ragged. It wasn't so much that they were more aggressive, the USA were outplaying them. The Italians can count themselves lucky!

Now if England could just learn to pass the ball properly again I might be able to actually enjoy watching them too!

Not only was it encouraging to see our short sided performance in the Italy match, it’s great to see the tv ratings have more than doubled since the 2002 World Cup. It will be the economic engine that drives football to the next level in the states and this is a great indicator. The MLS and networks affiliates just need to seize the momentum from the World Cup.

Went to a charity event Saturday night and ran in to a friend that’s a typical U.S. sports nut. He never cared about soccer up until the Italy match, he came up to me and started griping about the ref, etc.. and how exciting the game was when you actually sit and watch a full 90 minutes. I believe this is another key, get the mainstream sports fan into the game. The predications regarding our national interest are starting to come true, just a little later than most thought.

And I stand by my comment that Bruce Arena needs to go. Our finishing tactics are non-existent, we’re just too flat in the finishing area of the pitch, our set pieces are crap and too many crosses went to no one. As mentioned, he should have brought on Johnson with 20-25 minutes in the game, fresh legs could have made the difference. McBride was just exhausted and cost us the goal that Beasly scored.

Go Italia!
Go Yanks!

If I had to pick a team to win based on the first round I'd go with Argentina. They look terrific (from what I've seen in the highlights, I didn't get to see the games unfortunentaly). But even if I call Argentina, I still gotta go for my Yanks!

Go Team America!

Woot

Davies is English BTW I just thought you should know that since dismissed it so casually. It's not surprising that the world does not respect the US team and that's why they would miss the true group of death. Hopefully people keep overlooking the US team and dismiss us as "techniqually and tactically weaker." How techniqually weak was Holland in 2002 when they didn't qualify and a much weaker US team than today made it to the final 8 and outplayed the Germans in a loss?

As for Basketball, if the US played the best basketball players available there would be no upsets. haha

Fife and Drum, I agree about Arena. He's done a great job but it's obvious a change is needed. I still do not understand how you leave a sub on the bench when down to 9 men. Our finishing is the last piece that's keeping us from being a top 5 team. We also have games where we come out flat (Poland in 02, Czechs). He basically panicked against the Czechs and changed our tactics. Instead of fighting for a goal and 2-1 loss we were reckless and the goal differential may come back to haunt us.

Well well well, Argentiana - Holland was a boring game. Not worth watching, both team played with their hand brake on. I hope the Oranjes knew what they were doing by picking Portugal in the next round.

To comment the US game: I have heard from most commentaries that the ref was fairly good, almost all of his decisions were ok. And lets remember, the first red card was for Italy, so the US played with one man more for some time, too.
Still am eager to see the first US goal though. ) They need to get their act together, or bye bye. But Ghana is not undefeatable. The US still has a chance.

Germany was dominating Ecuador after the first goal. But all teams in our group were somewhat "easy". Next is Sweden and then we can see how good the Germans really are. Quarterfinal Germany vs. Argentinia would be a blast. They look like the most promising teams.

Cole's goal vs Sweden was the best thing i have seen in this WorldCup so far. Such a beauty. If you haven't seen that, look :here:.

In my opinion Germany didn't face the real ecuadorian team, the one that played the first two games. Even though no commentator that I listened to mentioned it, Ecuador's trainer decided to let 5 of his most important players rest for the next phase (defense and attackers) and decided to put in the field 5 from the bank. I think the quality of their game suffered therefore greatly, during the whole 90 minutes they didn't know what to do and Germany deserved to win the game. But the conclusion is hardly that Germany is the best team of group A (It would be great if Germany wins the world cup - the party would be big- but in my opinion Ecuador was the best of group A).

I hope Ecuador's trainer strategy functions and England gets defeated.

I was especially gratified to see Cole's goal since not five minutes previously I'd told my girl friend that Cole was probably the most dangerous player England had. (Rooney is a hot headed novice and Beckham a paper tiger in my opinion)

I can't make up my mind about Crouch.

I'm still cheering on the Germans though. I felt nothing but wicked glee at Sweden and England's draw

Ugh. Italy is beating the Czechs for us and we just gave up a goal to Ghana. Please a couple of goals guys!

That USA game was a tough one to watch. The US had so many many missed opportunities. Wish they had played that well tho from the start of the game not waiting so late. I blame the US coach, I didn't like the guy from the get go when he was publicly talking trash about his team.

I didn't mind much losing to Ghana tho, the World Cup is a major event for them back home and it means far much more to their countrymen than it ever would to Americans. I also like the whole underdog, underestimated theme.

Come on, the U.S. team compared to the Dutch team IS both tactically AND technically inferior on every level. Holland is maybe a small country, but on the pitch we do belong with the best in the world. The fact that we didn't qualify in 2002 was a big, and I repeat a BIG disgrace here in Holland. But now we are back and we are determined to show the world we should not be underestimated. We beat the supossedly strong Czech Republic in the prelimenaries twice and have only lost one game in two years time (a friendly match against Italy: 1-0). One thing is certain, it is extremely hard to beat our squad and we can defeat every team out there. I find it strange nobody is focussing on our team, but that will change when we will reach the finals .



You are right it wasn't the best game ever, but don't forget that both Holland and Argentina already qualified and didn't send their best players on the field. (yellow cards etc..) Portugal, up to now, did not really impress me (Figo is an old crybaby, and not the player he used to be). I think Holland will have the biggest chance of winning this match.

Most who watched the US v Italy game didn’t really complain about any one-sided officiating. It was the fact the referee did a horrible job with his consistency in handing out yellows and reds. I’ve watched several other games where the refs didn’t even make a call on similar plays where the US v Italy ref was handing out yellows.

Players in any sport always try to get a feel for how the refs are calling a game, much less from game to game. I felt sorry for both sides at his apparent indiscriminant handling of yellows and reds. He never gave a warning prior to a card which should be done in most cases. Beckenbauer has been equally critical how the games are being called. Today’s game was much better (with the exception of pimpong taking a dive in the penalty area and getting Ghana the winning goal on a penalty).

And the US didn’t have a one man advantage for more than 7-8 minutes before the tosser threw out the first Yank and evened it up.

Wow, Australia goes the second round .... unbelievable. Guus Hindink and the Aussie team did it. What a surprise!

.... and what a bad referee. Unbelievable ... he gave a Croatian player two yellow cards, but didn't send him of the pitch. After the game he gave him a third yellow, and then a red card.... I hope this will be his last game he will lead in this tournament.

Well, the US is out. Bad luck and all. Today's game was so weird. I felt the US was the better side in 2 of the 3 games but our finishing is horrible and the breaks went against us. That foul in the box was terrible. I did feel the ref did a good job today it's just that one call that really broke our backs. I feel if we finish with 1-1 score at half we'd get the 2nd goal. Oh well. We would have had to play Brazil.

So I’m pulling for Holland for the rest of the way. They are the reason I am a fan, Bergkamp more specifically. Van Persie is awesome and yes I'm an Arsenal fan. I don't really care for Ruud Van Divesalot, but I love the orange and their style of play.

The US needs one major playmaker, I think that will put us over the top.

Sorry, friends, Romans, countrymen, but as bad as the call in the box was, the US side only has itself to blame. First, why on earth was the ball even played back into the box? And the player in question says "maybe I should have played it out." Uhhh, Carlos, it was injury time. Play the ball out, preferably up into the 57th row, and the team then gets back on D, stops them one time, starts the counter, the whistle then blows, and the half ends 1-1. And what Reyna was thinking when he decided to have fun with the ball in front of his own goal simply defies description.

The only consolation is that Clint and his mom have a goal to be proud of. And I'm sure that as mom said, sister is looking down, smiling.

Oh, and Moif, there's hope for small countries. Witness Ghana.

Small teams often make it into the final rounds though. Denmark did in '98. We beat Brazil in the initial stages, then eventually lost to them in the semi finals.

After that they were themselves beaten in the finals by France.

Anyways, we have now reached the quarter finals at last and here are my daring predictions:

Game 49, 24 June. Germany will defeat Sweden.
Game 50, 24 June. Argentina will annhilate Mexico.
Game 51, 25 June. Italy will defeat Australia.
Game 52, 25 June. Switzerland will defaet Ukraine.
Game 53, 26 June. England will defeat Ecuador
Game 54, 26 June. Holland will defeat Portugal.
Game 55, 27 June. Brazil will defeat Ghana.
Game 56, 27 June. Spain will defeat France.

Mine are:

Game 49, 24 June. Germany - Sweden --> Germany wins.
Game 50, 24 June. Argentina - Mexico --> Argentina should win (but you never know with Mexico).
Game 51, 25 June. Italy - Australia --> Italy wins.
Game 52, 25 June. Switzerland - Ukraine - Switzerland wins.
Game 53, 26 June. England - Ecuador --> Ecuador wins.
Game 54, 26 June. Holland - Portugal --> Portugal wins.
Game 55, 27 June. Brazil - Ghana --> Brazil wins (I would like Ghana to win).
Game 56, 27 June. Spain - France --> Bye Bye France.

I will second that Moif, although I am not sure if Switserland will defeat the Ukraine. Andriy Shevchenko is one of the best strikers in the world ... give him half a chance and he will finish it.

Quarter-Finals:
Germany - Argentinia
Australia - Swizerland
England - Portugal
Brasil - France.

Ooh, I can't wait ... this evening is the match between Portugal and Holland. I hope it is going to be a easy walk in the park for the Dutch, but probably it will turn out to be a heart-attack-game. I sure hope it won't turn out to be a penalty shoot-out .... I hardly dare to look when that happens. Anyways I have to prepare myself ... orange hair-spray, my lucky orange shirt and rehearsing my favourite songs Lalala ... lalalalala ... lalalala: hup Holland hup, laat de leeuw niet in zijn hempie staan!!!
.... tomorrow I will probably have a hang-over

With luck it will be a happy hang over though

I was surprised at Argentina's difficulties with Mexico. I hadn't thought the Mexican's were all that hot in the lead up games and now I am not so certain that Argentina can beat Germany (who are looking better and better).

Today's games will both prove to be interesting I think. Both will be close fought games I suspect with all four teams having a chance to go forwards. I think Holland has an edge over Portugal, but its a slight edge at best. Figo is Portugal's weak point in my opinion. He is (like Zidane) old and tired. Ronaldinho is the ace in the Portugeuse troop though and if he plays as before then he makes up for Figo's shuffling gait.

Holland is harder to analyse. I am not impressed by van Nistelrooj (or how ever it is spelt) whom I see as a boorish player, much given to dirty tricks and 'goal hanging', but on the whole I find the Dutch have a greater level of cooperation and team work and I think this is the essence of a winning team.

Well, so far, I'm ok on my picks. I guess everyone wasn't fooled this time by Iran.

I missed the friggin England/Ecuador game this morning! I knew England wouldwin though!

I though Argentina would handily beat Mexico as well, and I was suprised to see how well of a game was played.

I'm anxious to see the rematch of the 1990 World Cup Final (which we have on tape somewhere here at home cause my Uncle Erich and Aunt Sylvia from Germany watched it here while they were visiting). It'll be a great match.

And Moif, van Nielstelrooy (A Man United striker, himself) has been sat down by the Dutch coach. Apparently, they don't believe his style of play will get them the much need win over Portugal.


My picks for the rest of the tournament:

Match 52 - Holland over Portugal
Match 53 - Italy over Austrailia
Match 54 - Ukraine over Switzerland
Match 55 - Ghana over Brazil (My upset pick)
Match 56 - Spain over France
Match 57 - Germany over Argentina
Match 58 - Ukraine over Italy
Match 59 - England over Holland
Match 60 - Spain over Ghana
Match 61 - Germany over Ukraine
Match 62 - England over Spain
Match 63 - Spain over Ukraine
Match 64 - ?????

A potential Germany v. England final is too sweet to even predict. Hopefully Rooney will see more time and Beckham will continue to up his game, as he's done in the Ecuador match.

First of all, I must apologise for the dates of my predictions. Although I copied and pasted them from the FIFA site, they appear to be in the wrong order.

The first four games then have been much as I expected, thoughHolland has been knocked out and Argentina did not demonstrate the over powering presence I had come to expect.

I've just finished watching the Holland Vs Portugal game and I have to say that it was the saddest spectacle of poor playing and shallow minded, purely vindictive violence, from both sides. Portugal played better, but their performance otherwise, was a farce.

The big winner of this debacle is going to be England, who will now face a hamstrung Portugese team making their path to the semi finals all that easier, and lets be honest, the English have had it easy in every game but against the Swedes thus far. Their presentation today was hardly an inspiration and I could not be moved by Beckhams goal either (his first national goal since March 2005) nor but help be annoyed by the constant images of Victoria Beckham when ever Beckham so much as approached the ball.

I'm now looking forward to England Vs Germany and I know who I shall be cheering on!

I thought Portugal played OK today - they held Holland scoreless being man down for most of the second half (and being without Ronaldo for most of the match). But generally speaking Portugal defied expectations in today's match (just like they did in UEFA 2004), and my prediction is that they will do it again against England! Absence of Decu will be missed, but England also will not have Michael Owen, so their chances are even. Portuguese have more sheer talent though, IMO - hopefully, Christiano Ronaldo will be up and running for next Satuday!

I had the feeling that Portugal would beat Holland; I think their game is creative and that functions very well in football --> see Brazil. It is also good for the sport --> it is fun to watch. It was bad to watch so much aggressiveness though.

I also think that football is not always fair. The best team doesn't always win. Ecuador (imo) played better than England. Is it me, or does England play boring?. Luck keep them going forward. I would like Portugal to win, but I'll wait to see what happens; as English Horn said Christian Ronaldo will play that game.

Like politics it’s funny how two people can witness the same event and come away with two different opinions. With the exception of Equador’s early threat that was nicely defended by a sliding deflection, I thought they played completely uninspired, as if they were happy to just make it to the knock out round. They appeared listless and bothered by the heat which I thought would have impacted the English squad more.

And Moif, I agree with your assessment of England, they’ve benefited from what appears to be a light schedule. The good news for them was the unknown fitness level of Rooney, he showed he’s ready for a full ninety minutes and appeared to get better as the match progressed. They’re still not playing solid possession ball like they did years ago and became an English trademark. Winning on set pieces is great, but you can't count on them to win it all.

Thought the winning goal in the Argentina game was the goal of the WC so far.

Germany appear to be improving every game and Klose is a threat anywhere on the pitch. His setting up Podolski for the second goal was just absolutely brilliant finishing. And it’s being rumored that Klinsman will become the head coach for the US team.

Das ist sehr gut!

..... man, I am still trying to comprehend what happened yesterday!! It was one of the most bizarre matches I have ever witnessed (except maybe for the 2000 semi-final between Italy and Holland). 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards (thanks ref !) .... I, I, I ... I don't know what happened here. It was a very hectic match ... and in the end Holland was defeated.

Oh, well in two years we will be back for the European Cup and in the mean time I can only hope Ajax will win the Champions League

I just saw the Swiss put on the worst penalty kick exhibition I have ever seen.

Two directly into the middle and one too hard off the crossbar. They didn't make one penalty kick before they were eliminated. Yuck.

Sorry, but so far the only really interesting match of the round before the quarter-finals was Germany vs Sweden. I am really not biased by my nationality in this respect, all other matches were very disappointing so far. Swiss vs Ukraine and Holland vs Portugal were extremely dissatisfying, however, the latter was not a football-match. The Referee may not have been good, but both teams are to blame for that brutality.
I usually am not for England [last time I cheered for England was 1990, and Germany won at that time ], but I hope the Portugese lose the quarter-final for such a brutal performance.

Maybe the French and Espangnols make a decent game with lots of goals !!! And I will cheer for Ghana, of course.
I could blame the weather for the rather dull games, it is somewhat hot outside, but even teams that are used to such conditions don't make a good impression. What is appearent is that the big favorites are winning, but usually more with luck than by technique (Italy, England, Argentinia).

I am eager to see the quarter-finals. They look much more promising for interesting matches.

I thought Ukraine-Swiss game was great! Yes, there were no goals, but this game is not about goals, it's about creating opportunities for them. There have been many opportunities on both sides, but defenses have been excellent. Also, only one yellow card was shown during an entire match, which was refreshing.... Penalty kicks? Not the best way to decide the winner, but exciting nonetheless.

I have to say that I am some what put out by all the critique of the referee in the Portugal Vs Holland match. Especially that which has come from FIFA. I watched the whole game and I agreed with the Danish commentators that the ref was impartial and and he only responded to the game in the very manner which FIFA has decreed. In other words, he is being made a scape goat for the appalling conduct of the players of whom I have seen very little said.

Its no good Sepp Blatter whining about the amount of cards being given out, when all those cards were given out for offences which FIFA itself (in its infinate wisdom) has decided must be yellow card offences!

I second that. What was he supposed to do? If offences are being commited, he has to call them. If 16 bookable offenses happen during the game, then we'll have 16 yellow cards. I personally don't think that referee was that bad.
I wonder what Pierluigi Collina (the best referee ever!) would do....

TRAGIC NEWS! After today, the World Cup of 2006 is no more! *long pause to grab a tissue*

Though the games were not a goal festival, the atmosphere sure was. It is incomprehensible what the last month has done to the mentality of Germans, and how they look upon themselves. There is a new sense of patriotism, a very sympathetic one, which allows the Germans to express a feeling of being proud to be a part of the nation. Some would say, the shizophrenic relationship between Germans and their Nation has finally been broken (to some extend). Maybe some have seen the "little" finale, Germany won against Portugal, and the celebration afterwards. I was driving home later that night and everywhere in the streets were honk-parades, flags waving, people cheering, from the looks of it one could say were celebrated like the champions. Very moving nonetheless.

I hope you (who were watching) liked the World Cup. At least it showed that we can be good hosts and that we do know other things than working and being timely.

My bet for today:

Italy - France
1 - 2 after extension. Vive la France et allez les bleues!

20 minutes till game time....


ITALIA! Forza Azzuri!

On the whole I felt it was a good world cup (well done Germany) ...and I was well happy to see Italia take the cup. I was not happy with the French side and felt they were given way to many advantages in free kicks and penalties.

Zidane's red card was fully warranted and I felt that in the light of his actions, he ought to have been spoken to by a policeman. Physically assaulting people is illegal after all.

A good friend and coworker is from Stuggart. We (looks both ways) slipped away from work and watched all the German matches and he was telling me about the renewed sense of German pride, the flag waving, black/red/yellow garb, the flags you put in your car windows. I thought it was odd until he mentioned that since WWII it was like a social taboo to demonstrate any national pride.

How wonderful that a simple (and beautiful) game can restore that national pride. Good for you and your home land Sevac.

I thought the French outplayed the Italians in the final game yesterday. A pity regarding Zidane. After he missed the one header that Buffon made an excellent save, I remember thinking he must have a head of concrete to put that much velocity on the ball. I'm sure Matterazi can testify to the thickness (as well as the French supporters). Not the most memorable way to end an incredible career.

Thought Cannavaro should have won the Golden Boot award. If I’m not mistaken, Italy didn’t give up a single goal other than an own goal and PK’s. Considering who they played against that’s an incredible feat and he was the heart and soul of the Italian defense.

And the good news, the U.S. is being considered for World Cup 2014!!! (ok, third alternative at the moment but there's a chance!).

Also, am I the only one who thought the Adidas "Jose +10" commercials were excellent?