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Brazil goes down and England goes stupid
July 01, 2006What an incredible game. That’s all I have to say.
And I called this upset — if you don’t believe me, look at yesterday’s blog.
I said Brazil would win, but since my track record has been about as deplorable as the officiating, I added that that meant France would come out ahead.
And they did, on Thierry Henry’s beautiful volley in the 57th minute off a masterful cross by Zinedine Zidane.
This guy is retiring? Why. It was possibly the best performance by one single played so far. He looked 10 years younger out there, dribbling circles around the Brazilians.
How tension-riddled was that last 15 minutes. I juts knew Brazil would tie it, but nope.
Want to know why Brazil lost, 1-0 (other than the fact they had ONE shot on goal in the whole 90 minutes)?
Ronaldinho was outplayed by the elder Zidane, and Henry was better than Ronaldo. End of discussion.
So know I’m predicting a Germany-Portugal World Cup final.
Which means expect an Italy-France finale.
England loses man, game to Portugal
Let’s put aside the fact that England crumbled quicker than the Berlin Wall once penalty kicks began against Portugal.
Let’s forget that England stumbled around like a drunken frat guy for much of this tournament.
Let’s forget that David Beckham was hurt, and England’s lack of forwards generated few scoring chances in the 0-0 match.
Wayne Rooney, what were you thinking?
Rooney was ejected early in the second half for — how do I put this nicely — stepping on Ricardo Carvalho’s family jewels in a rather vicious way.
Some may say it was an accident. But Rooney’s hotheadedness leaves me to believe otherwise.
That said, England actually played better soccer once a man down. Unfortunately, they missed three of four PKs.
Cry all you want Brits, but this England team wasn’t that good. Let’s recap this World Cup for you:
England 1, Paraguay 0 — Some poor Paraguayan sap heads the ball into his own goal.
England 2, Trinidad and Tobago 0 — Score two late goals (and made one lucky clear off the line), including Peter “I’m a huge tree” Crouch’s header in which he clearly pushed off.
England 2, Sweden 2 — First, you lose Michael Owen (who had scored as many goals as I had in this World Cup) to a knee injury four minutes in.
Then you can’t protect a lead in the last 10 minutes.
England 1, Ecuador 0 — Beat an inferior team with Beckham’s free kick. Nothing more, nothing less.
And now this — its third penalty kick loss in its last four World Cups.
It’ll be interesting to see how England treats Rooney after this. When Beckham earned a red against Argentina in 1998 (a game in which England lost in penalty kicks), he was deemed a pariah.
Rooney should earn the same tag for this boneheaded mistake.
And Cristian Ronaldo, the Portugal midfielder who converted the game-clinching PK, is an England favorite for Manchester United.
He may want to stay away for a little while.
Stat of the day: All four of this World Cup’s teams are from Europe, the first time that’s happened since 1982.
Next up: No games for two more days. With the Rangers sucking it up and most of the U.S. tennis players out of Wimbledon, I recommend getting off the couch and relaxing outdoors by the pool.
My quest: It’s hard to believe this World Cup is almost over. It seems like yesterday I was watching Germany blow by Costa Rica.
I guess time flies when you’re having fun.
Posted by Zach Duncan at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
