Sunday, June 11, 2006

World Cup Thoughts

Well, Blogger was being a bit bitchy Thursday and Friday, hence the lack of new material. Since it seems to have worked out its issues, here are a few thoughts on the first few days of the World Cup:

  • There's good news and bad news for the US from the virtual World Cup that transpired on my Xbox. The good news - we beat the Czech Republic (2-0), Italy (2-0), and Ghana (4-0) to win the group. The bad news - we got knocked out in the round of 16 by . . . Australia! A late Harry Kewell header was the difference - we couldn't find the back of the net with a map. To be fair, the Aussies did end up second to Italy overall. This was all done on EA Sport's 2006 FIFA World Cup, which, to be polite, absolutely sucks ass compared to Winning Eleven.
  • Although my fellow autocrosser Davis wouldn't agree, the 0-0 draw between Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago was a great game. The underdog Soca Warriors, playing a man down and with the backup goalkeeper, consistently fought off the more talented Swedes. This was proof that a scoreless draw can be exciting!
  • England looked awful. I know that an ugly win is better than a pretty loss or draw, but it was not a convincing performance from a team that is supposedly one of the favorites. One thing is for sure - if they persist on grabbing one goal and sitting on that for the rest of the game it will bite them on the ass.
  • Oh, why did Dave O'Brien have to go on and on about Iranian politics during their match with Iran? For all his blather he missed the great irony of the match: we had Iran, whose president could potentially be prosecuted in Germany for Holocaust denial, playing Mexico, whose team is rife with dissention because two of its players aren't "pure" Mexicans (their Argentinian natives), playing in Nuremburg, cite of so many Nazi rallies/prosecutions.
  • Thank you, Tommy Smyth! Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks that Cristiano Ronaldo's fancy footwork frequently doesn't yield any tangible results.
And, as always - go USA! :)

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