Skip to main content

Reflections

By
So another World Cup is coming to a close, and while recriminations, inquests and debriefs will continue - the distraction will stop and life goes on. Sometimes, almost guaranteed, that means dealing with heartbreak along the way. I for one hope Mr and Mrs Birchy have had their share and, the future has in store many more good times to balance out the tough. Wishing you both strength at this tough time.

There's no great segue to get us back to the footie, but I talked about distraction and here is my distracting run down on all things Brazil, team by team, with omissions of those that didn't leave an impression : 

Africa: Algeria weren't bad at all. Great game v Sth Korea and gave the Germans a run for their money. The rest made the squabbles for win bonuses the height of irony...

Asia: Sth  Korea: pelted with toffees upon arrival home. Need I say more. I've forgotten what Japan did

United States of Australia: plucky effort team, sum of parts blah blah..., could run all day but ultimately lacking skill. Scored cracking goal.

European new boys: Lots of Bosnians to appear in the premier league, Croatia and Belgium showed promise but lacked tournament nous

The old guard: Spain, Italy, England, Portugal: overrated bollocks of a performance. 

The winners: Germany look great but don't seem to know how to celebrate a goal. Which is strange, they get lots of practice. Columbia: they know how to do it. Smiled their way through and guaranteed lots of people will be called Jam-ez for the rest of the summer; Argentina: Messi magic, Mascherano taking care of the messy stuff; 

The losers: Brazil - unfortunate to host at a time when their team is shit. Players named Hulk and Fred should have been enough warning for us. Holland - never really took to them, but enjoyed their first game. Spoiled by Robben theatrics; The aforementioned old guard, lacked bite; Uruguay - too much bite.

Sure I forgot some, like the rampaging Costa Ricans, but all in all, a great World Cup. 

Final prediction: (well, I already collected on that as I had money on this final from the start) hoping for Messi to leave his mark. Tight 1-0 win for the Argies

Come on Lionel....over to you






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Arriving late at the far post...........

By
Well, out from behind a rock I come. Like Batman responding to the spotlight over Gotham, the sight of Alexi Lalas relaxing on ESPN's swanky new World Cup set spouting 'knowledge' of the beautiful game immediately triggered me into action. A personal excitement for me is the returning punditry on this side of the pond of one Roberto Martinez. 4 years ago, I listened to this polite young man with light enthusiasm....now I find myself hanging onto every word from Bobby Brown Shoes. A supremely classy guy, just hoping for the "and Neymar is close to signing, which is phenonemal (Bobby's most used word - quite impressive for a Spanish native) " Sooo, what have I missed so far (Brazil own goal aside).... - Roy Hodgson in old man sunglasses - An amazing lack of planning from team England organizing a friendly in Florida at 5pm in June and being surprised as a thunderstorm - Scapegoating of a key England player (Rooney) before a ball is kicked in anger - Overplay...
2 comments
Read more

Stunning games and goals

By
Last night's games really lived up to their billing. Brazil and Chile was a great game - both teams going at it, the threat of goals ever-present and the threat of red cards also seemingly high. Chile looked the better team on balance, but the home advantage seemed to lift Brazil and they always carried a threat. The theme of course; one which is endemic across the tournament, is that neither defence looked very strong. In the end, the width of the post denied Chile in the shoot-out, as had the crossbar in the final minute of extra time. A really crappy way to go out of the tournament, but they can be proud of their efforts. Few will be disappointed to see Brazil still in the tournament, as things always go a bit flat once the hosts bow out. I'll also enjoy those anthems carrying on. If anything sums up England's utter failure in big competitions of late, it is the passionless mumblings we do in the anthems, which sets the tone for the game afterwards. The second game o...
Post a Comment
Read more