Some great WC action over the weekend, with England going out on penalties to Portugal (despite playing their best game of the tournament) and France beating the Brazillians again, 1-0. My feelings, briefly:
-while it seems fashionable to jump on the anti-Sven (England manager) bandwagon, I continue to be mystified about how he has "managed" to get himself to the elevated position within the world game that he has. While his tactical ignorance and the incredibly deferential treatment afforded to the "stars" of the team would be bad enough, his puzzling team selection raises more questions than it answers. Furthermore, some of the problems he manages to get himself into - a striker shortage, for instance - are entirely of his own making. That Michael Owen went down with a torn ACL (my beloved Newcastle's chances going down with him) was bad luck, but hardly unprecedented or unlikely. To have only 3 other strikers on the team is criminal - one of whom is 17 years old, another that was an irregular starter at his club as of 18 months ago and now more a specialized role player than anything else, and the last (an admittedly great player) just coming off a broken foot suffered 3 months ago.
-Brazil never showed up for this World Cup, and it seems the rumors heard before the Cup about members of the team staying out all night partying seem to have some credibility. In addition to seeing a final without Brazil for the first time since 1990, this team's performance has actually turned me against Brazil. Their arrogance do not deserve my support, and they certainly haven't earned it. And what to say about their (alleged, supposed) defending against France, in particular on Henry's goal? Comical.
-Portugal is a fairly ordinary side. If the Zidane/Viera axis that the French team revolves around is firing, they will win. I only hope it doesnt' turn into an ankle bashing kickfest like the Netherlands match did.
-Sepp Blatter, who runs FIFA, is a complete and utter tosser, though not for the usual "money is corrupting the game" reasons most often cited (yes, it is, but it's inevitable - and does yield some benefits, like that I could watch English Premier League matches on Saturday mornings from the comfort of my flat in Washington). He complains about the quality of refereeing - rather obvious, that one, when this World Cup sets a record for cards issued with 8 games left to play - when it's his own actions, namely a stubborn insistence on "democratizing" the referee corps by having (unqualified, inexperienced) refs from small nations take important games with big teams as well as preaching about the need to "crack down" on cynical fouling (read: give out lots of fouls and cards, destroying the flow of play at least as much as the fouling itself), that are responsible for the present situation. Ugh.
I'm off to compete in ultimate frisbee at the Southern University Games in wonderful Ballarat, Victoria (tomorrow's low temp: -1C) starting tomorrow. I'll be there until Thursday, and hopefully when I come back I'll have a winner's medal in my possession. (They like to give out medals here for sporting competitions, I've found.) I'll post results and a few thoughts about the semifinal matches once I return.
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