Where shall I start? Let’s try from the beginning then. South Korea fought valiantly to equalise but sat back after the goal and let Uruguay score their second to win. The Black Stars became the only surviving African outfit to progress to the quarter-finals after beating the USA 2-1 after toiling for two hours. Then in the much-awaited Germany-England match, England was mullered as the young Germans blitzkrieged a convincing 4-1 win. I watched F1 just before that and when Vettel crossed the line followed by Hamilton and Button, I did wonder if the Germans would also overcome the English in the footie match. Boy, was I right. Oh and Joachim Löew wore the same top as he did when the Germans play Socceroos. Maybe it was a good luck charm outfit.
Different match, same outfit. Job well done, regardlessThe second match of that day was not without controversy either as Tevez scored his and Argentina’s first goal from an offside position. Oranje didn’t put a very convincing display but still won over the Slovaks. Of course, no one expected Brazil to be out yet (though I wish they are) and they beat Chile 3-0. Paraguay and Japan played a scoreless match but the South American side kicked off the last Asian team on penalties. And in the Iberian derby, Spain beat Portugal by one goal. So in the quarter-finals, there are four South American teams, three European and one African.
Like I said before, this is the first World Cup where I don’t support England. There have been angry reactions to the exit and frankly I don’t blame these angry voices. But you can’t blame foreign players in the EPL for the dire performance of English players because without foreign players, the English players and indeed the League would be worse. Had it not been for Valencia, would Roo-Shrek be scoring for ManUre? And besides, there are enough Generation M players in the German side making it quite an ethnically diverse multi-culti team, ‘foreign’if you like.
Some of the media headlines; for more images go here (for interesting statistics, go here). The final word perhaps goes to Bild, a German tabloid: ‘Thank you, Football God. It was a goal, as clear as Wembley in 1966 was no goal. But this time England is crying.’
I’m sorry, England. And so was the German chancellor who told David Cameron she was sorry Lampard’s ‘goal’ did not stand. According to Owen Gibson, there are five reasons why England was embarrassed by Germany. Another simple truth is England was not prepared especially for counter-attack and they really should have contained Ozil as advised by David Pleat. The Germans may be young and unheard of – not as famous as the English players as Lahm put it, the Bundesliga may not be as popular as the EPL but the Germans sure were superb and played much better for their country than their English counterparts (the English team is less than the sum of its parts). You can play the blame game and regurgitate all the excuses there are but there’s no denying that a complete overhaul and radical rethink is required now and apparently there are ten ways to save the English football. Maybe all they need is a football brain. And why replace Defoe with Heskey? That was such a stupid decision by Capello – well, unless he wanted Shrek to play alongside Donkey. And perhaps he should have taken Walcott along to South Africa; after all, Arsenal were down by two goals at home against Barcelona, in came Walcott and his presence helped us score two goals to equalise.
The World Cup has ended for supposedly world-class players like Drogba (ended even before the round of 16), Roo-Shrek, Lampard, Stevie G, Terry-ble and Cristina. One question: is the Nike advert cursed then?
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I dreamt of the Portuguese skipper last night. Yes, that’s right, I dreamt of Cristina. I didn’t just dream of him but dreamt we were going out on a date. What the??? Wait, what made me think it was a dream? Nightmare, more like. Oh why don’t I dream instead of my funny and cute Cesc who only buys books in English and watches Desperate Housewives and 90210?
So dreamy... and would be even more so if not for the beard. Gillette, won’t you sponsor this matador please?Isetan Summer Bazaar kicks off this Friday and it’s as if they know my latest shopping inclination: there will be an accessories-and-watch clearance at the Gallery of the KLCC outlet. No question where I’m heading this Friday lunchtime.
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