So, the US went out in the first round and all in all had a pretty horrendous World Cup experience, much like France in '98, though the opponents this time around were a lot tougher than in France. The Italy match was a hard-fought match, but Italy had a couple of big calls go their way, two red cards that were utter shite if you ask me. I'm of course biased though. However, watching the Italy v Australia match tonight and seeing that bullshit penalty kick call they got in the 94th MINUTE!!! to win the game, I'm starting to wonder if all the dirty deeds behind the scenes in Italian club football may have carried over to the World Cup. Not really, but everyone, and especially a scorned football fan, loves a conspiracy theory to justify why their team lost. Alas, even with that match going our way, we would have lost because we got outplayed by Ghana in the final group match. We were better than we were against the Czechs, but not a lot better. I have to question the formations and the player selection of Bruce Arena. I thought Eddie Johnson was our lone bright spot against the Czechs and yet, he doesn't get the nod for the next two matches. ??
The managing by England's manager, Sven Goran Ericksson, has been even worse. Wow, does this guy have an ego AND does he ever get lucky, with Rooney getting healthy saving him from having only brought 4 strikers, and 2 of the 4 being Peter Crouch and a 17 year old who hasn't played a single minute, despite the injury to Owen, Rooney not being 100% match fit, and Peter Crouch being Peter Crouch. I won't go into it further, but anyone who's been following England knows what I mean. And now they get to play a depleted Portugal side to get to the semis, and they'll probably win somehow in a really ugly fashion, though they shouldn't. England's performance thus far would fall in the latter two thirds of the teams in the World Cup I would say. Somewhere a little bit better than Switzerland and Ukraine (jesus, that match that just ended was ffing miserable) but certainly nowhere near Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, etc. I would say Holland, Ivory Coast, Australia, and a couple of other teams that have gone home have played better football overall than England. Of course, you need some luck and the stars to align to win a World Cup, and it's certainly shaping up to be that way so far. I hope they do it too, despite their manager and their less-than-inspired play, just because the fans are so inspiring. England's fans are amazing... best in football if you ask me, but again, I'm biased.
Overall I'm still sticking with my original pick of Spain, but man Germany looks like a well-oiled machine at this point, especially on the attack. The back looks a little suspect and I don't think they'll win the whole thing, but they're going to give Argentina a run for it in the next game. What a match that will be... I can't wait. Football can be so incredibly exciting, and then it can also be such a circus of flops and bad officiating and poor play, and you can see how some non-football fans can watch a match and say, what's all the fuss? But Germany v Argentina, that one should be special I think. Spain v France also has the makings of a proper match.
A couple of photos for those who don't give a rat's ass about 22 guys chasing around a ball for 90 minutes. Of course most of the photos have to do with the World Cup. What can I say, I'm a man obsessed.
Fan Fest, Kaiserslautern.
Frat brother Brian Sandler draped in Old Glory.
Post-match band, Bongiovio, with probably the best performance of the evening, with the exception of Ryan Buchanan and his never to be repeated or emulated dance moves.
And of course, one of my girl, Sonia, who just turned one last Saturday.
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