I was a very unpopular individual on Saturday. In the Argentina vs Germany match I was enthusiastically for the Fatherland. In the England vs Portugal match I was solidly on Portugal’s side while some other people were rooting for England. In the France vs Brazil match I was all for France, unlike some people.
And I somehow found myself not only a minority, but a minority deeply embedded in hostile terrain. Which stopped my exuberant cheering not a whit.
Italy vs Ukraine was no surprise to anyone so it doesn’t count.
As for Argentina vs Germany — Lehman delivered the goods. And removing Riquelme is something the Argentine coach will rue for the remainder of his days.
I’ll not be surprised if Germany takes that cup. I think they have the most solid team in the tournament. Goalie, defence, midfield and attack.
For a change, the underdog came out on top.
England – Portugal
I have never been a fan of England. England’s team reminds me powerfully of Beyonce Knowles. She looks good on paper (especially gloss paper) but when it comes to actual talent … does not deliver. That they failed to capitalize on a Portugal sans Deco merely belies this.
Having said that, I can at least sympathize with the English. Wayne Rooney is a young man desperately in need of a smack to his fat head. The moment he stomped down on Carvalho’s cojones every last male in the establishment we were watching the game in involuntarily winced and bent forwards. Carvalho now can probably become the fourth Destiny’s Child because he must be having an excellent soprano.
Taking Kirk Franklin a bit too literally
Frank Lampard I fell sure hold some sort of record along the lines of “most unconverted shots”. The man’s soccer boots must be worn thin from all the balls he’s kicked this tournament. Footballs that is. Whoever decided that he should take a penalty really needs to have a short time out.
Lampard rues his 900th attempt to score
Jose will certainly find it that much less difficult in deciding who to field between Ballack and Lampard.
As for Gerard failing to convert that penalty … sometimes its just not your day.
Gerrard tries to drill the ball into the net
As for that poor youngster Walcott … the young man was so far down the pecking order on strikers that it is entirely possible he never even changed into substitute gear and spent his time in jeans eating popcorn at the sidelines. As Shakespeare aptly put it, Much Ado About Nothing. I mean, the poor guy’s stats can be written entirely in binary!
One of the shorter lived stars
At least on the bright side we will be spared the crass nonsense of shots of Beckham, Mrs and her over-sized sunglasses every time Beckham, Mr, does anything, including scratching himself, about how she is “watching her husband with pride/concern/joy”. We don’t give a flying rat’s ass. Really.
Why do we waste camera film and press space on this woman? Enough already!
At least some gems came to light — and top of the list is Aaron Lennon. That young man needs a regular starting position.
This man has a bright future
And can everyone stop b**ching and whining about that supposed penalty? It was no such thing! Get over it!
Hats off to Ricardo. The man stopped 3 penalty shots. That is, if I’m not wrong, a word cup record.
Can probably catch a greased pig
And Luis Figo — he was written off as a has been Galacticos but the man clearly can still deliver. Portugal did not seem to miss Deco all that much.
Old may just turn out to be gold!
Christiano Ronaldo clearly is going to have a very bright future, and when the premiership opens very interesting relationships indeed will be observed between Ronaldo, Rooney and Neville. Though I’m officially taking bets to see who the English fans will boo loudest — Ronaldo or Rooney.
This guy may just captain Portugal in 2010
Brazil – France
This was a great game. Brazil was beaten fair and square. No amount of griping will get over this. After 90 minutes Brazil had ONE SHOT ON GOAL ONE. BRAZIL! Testament to a solid performance of the French midfield and defence. Barthez had a largely idle game and may even have taken a nap. That he used some of this idle time to do some knitting has been proven as a vile and unfounded rumour.
It is extremely rare to see a plainly desperate Brazil fighting hard to put one past Barthez. All the guns were flung at the attack. Personally if I were a defender the last thing I would want to see running towards me are Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka, Cafu, and Roberto Carlos who have proven time and time again they can pretty much score from anywhere, including behind the net.
Defender’s nightmare
Although I’m not entirely sure Ronaldo should have gotten that yellow card. I mean, there is quite a bit of him so he’s hard to miss. Allowances ought to be given.
Still, I wonder what would have been the outcome of Brazil had fielded the young team that trounced Ghana.
And in that game some new talent continued to shine. Frank Quasimodo (© KP) Ribery and Malouda in particular. Those lads ought to get starting positions henceforth. Trezeguet and his lot really ought to look into farming or some other worthy pursuit. They had an excellent game and I wonder as to the wisdom on substituting them!
Florent Malouda
Quasimodo Frank Ribery
And the old guard showed again why they trounced Brazil in 1998. Zidane in particular was brilliant, showing some flashes of footwork worthy of the Zidane of yore. That kanzu Ronaldo received in particular triggered wild applause, even grudgingly from Brazil fans. The pairing of Zidane and Vieira kept the Brazilians very busy.
Brilliant. Enough said
And Henry sneaking past the Brazilian defence to plant that ball at the top of Dida’s net — Priceless.
Finally beginning to get his International mojo
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Oh to be a commentator for a day!
“Oh, what a turn of events! Rooney sees red and then sees red!”
PIC OF THE DAY
Kahn & Lehmann (AP)
Snow – Informer
(Does a rare cockrel dance and flaps his wings) Nimewika mjini!! Finally made it to the top ten :)
@M-Agree.Saturday was a bad one for me too. I had a soft spot for Argentina. why the hell didnt the coach think of Messi in the substitutions?
As for England and Portugal,Brazil and France – they were the best events of the week.Suffice is to say i’ve been for the underdogs all through.
The goal by Henri was a classic and Zidane went on to show that he may be war-weary but is battle-hardened.
LOL. Predictions and loyalties are meant to be stated before the events not after. How can you be a soothsayer in reverse?
Of course now everyone can see the clear the logic of Germany, Italy, England and France. 4 weeks ago though things were different.
whoops maybe portugal instead of England ha!
Wow! Looks like we were reading from the same script regarding the winners in the opening stages of the world cup.I was also very unpopular but realistic in the predictions and have never supported England. I think they are too caught up in their own hype.
On top of that good old Arsenal has done has proud by feilding 15 players in this competition by virtue of their ‘cosmopolitan’ make up. Watch the hype they are pouring on the young lad at wimbeldon now.
I nearly got thrown out of a pub for cheering on France especially when zidane made those wonderul runs.
I got them predicted all right well before kickoff checkout http://kendirangu.blogspot.com/2006/06/world-cup-quarter-finals.html I can bet you Rooney will be forgiven, Becks and Ronaldo will be booed. Sven is lucky to have been fired before it all begun.
Duude the way zidane produced one of his trademark ‘roulette’ spin moves to leave poor Zé Roberto tackling thin air. He shifted the ball from right to left foot and flicked it down the line for Franck Ribéry, leaving Cafu dazed. im telling you we will surely miss one of soccer greatest. its sad to imagine a genius like that will not be playing soccer really sad.
viva le bleu.
The highlight was when rooney was shown red. the poor boy needs to go get some education. kudeal na watu wajasoma ni shida.
I think finals will be France & Germany.
Am still in tears…England has been kicked out.
But Brazil’s lose cheered us up kidogo. wacha I read, was justing marking my top ten place.
LOL ati you were highly unpopular. That’s why it pays to beba people like me. I was SO for Portugal. I told anyone within earshot that England were all packed.
Lakini enyewe, me I have a soft spot for Brasil. Altho after they toad my dear Ghana it was a sore spot. It was fabulous to see France finally get their form (and boy did they ever!!) but you know, Brasil are still my hombres!! Oh well, too bad. Lakini they have to go work on their attitude. They seem to think they have a divine right to win. Aiii vijana, fanyeni kazi!
Now, my only goal in the World Cup now is to cheer whatever team plays against Germany. That host team must win thingy doesn’t sit right with me.
Lakini I’m with my boys Portugal to beat France. Where do we watch that one?
Ebu put up more photos of Cristiano Ronaldo!!!!
Heh heh si we have a caption competition for that Kahn-Lehmann photo!!!!
If you didnt say you were feeling some kidogo sympathy for England then I would have …what? I dont know! At least I had company Guess and Chrenyan. Seems like alot of people dont like England alot. Oh well! I feel sorry for Walcot, the kid didnt kick a ball what with all the fuss there was about him.
Anyway kudos to France..Hope they win. Will try and keep my emotions out of it for now. Who said supporting a team isnt hard work?
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Cristiano might be headed to the Barnabeau next season. Probably that will save him from Rooney et al.
From the beginning, anyone except Brazil (share the cake) , Germany, or England was acceptable to win the whole thing was my plan B to Holland winning (Plan A). So in support of Ferrari F1, I hereby anoint Italy as my Plan (C).
And if you think KBC commentators are bad, try listening to Citizen Radio live coverage of the games – they have some insane Mswahili making who think’s he’s Chris Rock. Does any otehr FM station broadcast the matches?
Nice breakdown I must say!I do feel you on England!Their team reminds me of those big mandazis we used to get at break time!They looked as large as ever but were only full of hot air!
Then Lampard……uiiii!!For all his long distance shooting, I think all he has to show is one dead bird! At least super Stevie had two goals! Other then good free kicks Becks was also a passenger!
I don’t know what ever possesed Sven to leave people like Dafoe behind and carry Wallcott.Nothing against the lad but there were problems in the last third of the field for England.As for Rooney what to say?The boy has the grace of a bull in a china shop!And the intellect to match!
Much as I do love Brazil, I think it’s time we had someone new in the finals.I also doubted the possibility of all those star names to play as one cohesive unit.That is why when the youngsters played is when Brazil looked so much stronger as less egos were involved!
IMHO I think the winner of Germany vs Italy will take the world cup!
ps:After the cat fights it’s good to see Jens and Oliver share a moment!
Damn! i am a fan of Brazilians y lie
My best line
“we are witnessing the demise of the world cup champions”
When Cafu left
“This might be the last time we are seeing Cafu”
Anywho it is interesting how the tables have turned. They need a youthful team (Brazil)
excellent games though i didnt get what the fracas after the penas in the argentina germany game was all about . England deserved to be kicked out .they should have never gotten out of the group stages it was a waste of space some other team should have been playing
I think I might have to stop reading this comments…ati my team is like a big ndao with air inside? woi fafa at least save those comments for after my heart stops aching. back to crying!
Brazil need not be allowed to win this world cup… Its time for a change..
You left out Jose Antonia Reyes.You see I am Arsenal Damu!!
LOL – great post!!
LOL@Ricardo can catch a greased pig.
you gotta love Ronaldo’s (Portugal’s Ronaldo, that is) cockiness sometimes … his penalty kick was an almost sure thing. it’d be nice for a change to see their names on that Cup.
We had started counting the black players in the French first 11, then realized it’d be a whole lot easier to count the white players … on one hand. So in a sense, Africa continues to be represented.
England are a pathetic bunch of losers – I actually had a moment of insanity when I left a comment on Mental saying for the first time in my entire life I might actually support that team – fortunately I came to my senses within 24 hours of making that comment.
Love the photo of Kahn and Lehmann. I love the way football brings out all this male bonding which includes lots of hugging, kissing, touching, rubbing, – interesting that in this context its all quite acceptable and very heterosexual and macho :)
Can I get a copyright on Quasimodo Ribery :-) I’m with you on Lennon.
@Farmgal – washana nao – ati our patriotism was misguided? Paaahh – I know what I know – but England for God’s sake, they are such babies – did you see Becks crying when he went off. Dude knew the end was nigh, and he couldn’t do jack about it. Poor sod. As for Shrek – hehehe – well, he should learn not to let rip in a china shop – you are likely to step on some shrapnel, mind!
@Chrenyan – hi – hope you aren’t sore…
@M – I am still deaf in one ear – did you have to shout so loud? OK we knew the English were rubbish, but did you have to rub that rubbish in as you did!
Now see what you have done! – got me out of hiatus just to complain =))
BTW I have it on good authority that you are for Germany to win – a bet for you my friend. Who last bought dinner?
France for world cup ‘06
I have a goat somewhere whose life depends on who wins/loses. Deal? ;)
Germany for the win… just you wait! They are methodical, have home advantage & great players.
I do see France as a threat coz they have been the underdog among the big boys! They barely made it out the group but have astounded the rest of the teams esp Brazil!
OOPS! Italy… 2 goals in the last 2 minutes…
The Azuris have proven that home ground advantage doesn’t always work for the hosts. The Germans didn’t even wait for the final whistle after the second goal, but then again it wouldnt have mattered. i had a feeling that may be Italy would have lost had they gone for penalty shootouts.well,lets wait for today’s match to see who meets Italy at the finals.
England got what was long overdue = getting booted out of the tournament.
Why? They would have definitely lost against Ghana, Ivory Coast, Croatia, probably Japan, and many other teams that were knocked-out by the toughies in the early stages. England just kept getting lucky, and it got to the point where we had started to stick out like a sore thumb as the only krap team in the midst of talent.
Rooney is a thug with some cash, Beckham can only bend the ball into a goal, and with the exception of A. Cole and Lennon, the rest of the players are seriously over-priced, compared to the Ronaldinios and Christianos.
This looks like a France Vs Italy final.
PS: Why is it that every time there is a world cup, the amount of racial intolerance increases, minorities get racially insulted (and probably assaulted), chavs parade around town causing unrest in the name of patriotism?
Flag waving nonsense !!!
Whereas France is the favourite to win in the Semis match, I would rather have Potugal win coz this is definitely the World Cup of surprises!
The “favoured” Germany lost to Italy! Brazil loat to France! England lost to Portugal!
BUT it is fun…
So go Portugal!
Well… my underdog lost… so back to France!
Italy vs France…. need to mull that over coz I didn’t expect either in the Finals!
This Saturday, Germany vs Portugal. Both teams deserve the 1st place though (and not France or Italy – Zidane & Co….how boring is that?).
All my teams were out long ago – I supported Holland, had soft spots for Spain and England. But I think Spain were the most surprising exit. They started strongly only to capitulate to France. England should have been out much earlier than when they did finally exit, but I like them anyway. As for Holland, disappointing.
I’d predicted an Italy-France final at semi stage – I think Italy will win it, coz their defence has conceded one measly goal the whole tournament – and an own goal at that! I can’t see France being able to get round them, though Germany showed that by spreading the ball wide you can stretch that seemingly impregnable back four. Italy to win it, all the best to France.
Germany-Portugal will be a good match as well, and I just can’t call it.
Finally, it seems there are some things even Scolari can’t do much about…
My world cup practically ended on Saturday… I have acquired a second wind of hope from the French simply due to an Arsenal-Henry connection.
Sunday it is basi!
Are you bringing a bodyguard to PizzaG this sato boss?
Les Bleus rule!!! Portugal got a smack in the posterior for failing to pay attention to their how-to-dive-in-the-penalty-area training videos.
So Sunday it is! France carry the day!
Great post… The Brazil vs France game was pretty good…
Boooo.. at the Italians snitching on Fringes should the Argentines have complained instead of you?
Can’t wait for the finals…should be awesome
France all the way!
Sacre Bleu… Les Bleus might actually win!
BTW, how is the colour each team wears determined esp now that BLUE is colour for both?
Hmmm…. I am going to go with Italy coz no goals conceded (except the silly own goal) PLUS they beat my fav Germany!
France have been scraping thru but no more of that!
ITALIA….
@Guess – By the way, why would I be sore, mon amis?
I say ITALY.
The last good thing to come out of France, in my opinion, must be French Fries. With the possible exception of the Rugby team.
Hey M. I see we are all on the same page. Now sit back and watch the Italians do their thing.
Nice weekend.
@sidaki – French Fries are not even French… It is one of those misnomers!
Sign outside a German gun shop circa World War 2:
French guns for sale; Never fired, dropped once.
@M … and to make it more exciting I am watching the game at Bar Italia in downtown San Diego LOL and rooting for France, let’s hope I make it out in one piece…. one victorious piece..
@VituVingiSana – “French guns for sale:Never fired,dropped once” LOL you have made my day
eeh Italy…
@VituVingiSana Perhaps Sidaki is trying to say that nothing good has come out of France…
Watching the game… Well, France lucked out with their penalty! F 1-0 I…
Italy in for 1 so 1-1….
Wow wot an obvious headbutt by Zizou… 10 guys for France but too late to make a difference! Wot was Z thinking with that headbutt?
Penalties it is…
Last kicks…. m so nervous that I am typing out comments while watching with one eye….
5 for Italy! Oh, yeah! Finally called it!
M… told ya!
Noooo, not a sore loser – feels like we’ve won anyways so hakuna shida from my side! :-) The German team arose from the ashes and my brother-in-names Jürgen Klinsmann really turned some (heavy) stones in order to revolutionise the German soccer – so most of Germany is just happy that they’ve come this far and brought in some new, much awaited spirit. And lots of much-needed patriotism.
Lakini as for Zidane: what was that tonight? Ati, has he been schooling with Kimenderos to misbehave and not even appear for ceremonies? tztz….
adding to the arsenal players: johan djourou, switzerland
(together with senderos a good defensive pairing for euro 2008 over here…)
I know where the arturs+kamau+michuki are! They are in Germany coz they must have coached Zizou to headbutt like that!
Seriously, didn’t he expect to be ejected? Last game & he couldn’t even be on the winner’s podium!
He deserved to be there but that headbutt was a crazy deal esp so late coz he was needed for penalties!
Anyway, Italia won so there!
@Chrenyan – yeah, I got Sidaki’s point. I was just giving him for fuel for the fire!
French wines – overratred…
French franc – Euroed
French kiss – Hmmm…. now that I like