June 26, 2006

• Should I be glad that my eight-year old desktop at my parents’ house is still working or should I grumble about how slow applications are running and the 31200 bps at which I am currently connected to the internet? 31200 bps makes 50000+ bps feel like cable. In addition, Microsoft Word just fatally erred when I was in the midst of churning out this entry and I have no choice but to do it all over again. Whatever, I just want to ramble about the World Cup.

  This World Cup has been more entertaining than previous editions and it would have been better for me had I been able to watch the matches with a certain someone. Anyway, the goals seem to have dried up after sacks of goals were scored in the group stages. Not surprising, considering most European teams have a cautious approach and that one mistake could lead to elimination since it is the knockout stages.

  Serbia and the Czech Repubic were disappointing, especially Serbia, who were spanked 6-0 by Argentina and threw away a two goal lead against the Ivory Coast. The Asian teams were hopeless, Asia certainly does not deserve an automatic fifth slot in the World Cup. I would have preferred to watch Denmark or Turkey in action instead of Saudi Arabia or Iran.

  Germany maintained their impressive form by wrapping up the match with two goals in the first twelve minutes. My friends and I were like “GG, time to play cards”. The Swedes’ wretched day was summed up by Larsson’s skied penalty. There were two early goals again in the second match which got the crowd worked up. However, there was to be no further goals in ninety minutes and most of the crowd streamed out of the Macdonalds. I personally was hoping for penalties but I had to settle for what will most likely be the goal of the tournament, a perfectly executed volley by Maxi Rodriguez. It was a bad day for those who punted on Over for Goal Line as they must have thought that the cash was in the bag after two early goals.

  England was mediocre but they were fortunate that Ecuador was abysmal, as they did not seem to want to win the match, even after they were down by a goal. The match would have been different had Tenario’s shot not come off the bar and Beckham’s free kick not crept in off the post. I have never been impressed by England and do not consider them one of the favourites to lift the trophy. England are overhyped due to the massive amount of exposure they receive. My friend found Portugal VS Holland entertaining due to all the various incidents. I was impressed by Scolari’s continuation of his streak of wins at the World Cup. I hope Tiago, Petit and Simao will prove adequate replacements for the suspended Deco, Costinha and injured Ronaldo and send England packing.

  I caught only half of the Italy VS Australia match and Australia have only themselves to blame for crashing out. It can be argued that Grosso dived but in the first place, he should not have been allowed to advance into the penalty area, the Australians probably slacked off in anticipation of extra time and now they will be booking their flights home. As the cafe decided to close early, I did not intend to catch Ukraine’s battle against the Swiss but somehow I woke up at five am and proceeded to the nearest coffeeshop after learning that it was scoreless after ninety minutes. I got my wish as penalties were required to seperate the teams after it remained scoreless after extra time. Ukraine prevailed after the Swiss bungled all their kicks. Pity, as I cheered for the Swiss. Speaking of penalties, I do not understand why some players choose a straight run-up to the ball instead of a diagonal one (All the players that had a straight run-up failed to score). That seems to leave them with only two options, the middle and the right (for left-leggers) or the middle and the left (for right-leggers). I suppose the outstep of the foot could be employed for the third direction, but I have yet to witness such a penalty.

  I guess that will be all for now, time to sleep.

  • 7:27 pm
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