Halftime Ramblings
It’s halftime during the Australia/Japan match in the World Cup. The first goal was rather questionable due to a clear foul against Australia’s keeper that led to the goal, but I must say as a neutral observer that Japan is playing some of the prettiest football of the tournament thus far. When they’re playing possession, they look like a free-flowing single-minded organism. The players are right where they should be. The ball is exactly where you’d want it to be. In comparison, Australia looks like a bunch of thugs.
Some other random World Cup thoughts:
- I’m sick of the press criticism of teams that won. Both England and Portugal won 1-0. Yes, they looked unimpressive as the match wore on, but if you intend to be a champion, you have to be able to defend that 1-0 lead for 75+ minutes. You don’t get any extra points for style, and you prime goal in the World Cup is to come away with a victory. Nothing—and I do mean nothing—else matters.
- I wish I had a “selective mute” button. I would love to have just the crowd noise without the American announcers. They routinely make stupid comments, and the overall impression, whether it’s fair or not, is that they have no idea how the game works. For the love of God, stop talking over the game and stop explaining the effing rules in the middle of the game. In fact, just talk about half as much as you’re currently doing, and I might like you better. The Portugal match had European announcers, and it felt so much smoother and less cluttered. The American announcers also can’t shut up about Peter Crouch’s height. Yes, I can see that Crouch is tall. All during the England/Paraguay match, they were either talking about Crouch or David Beckham. For ninety minutes.
- I wonder how much Disney/ABC/ESPN are paying U2. Every commercial has a recent U2 song playing.
- When I left off watching Mexico/Iran, it was 1-1 at halftime. I went out to dinner and had pseudo-Mexican food at Chipotle. I came back to a 3-1 Mexico win. Coincidence? Or something more?
- Yes, I know that England’s only goal against Paraguay was an own goal, but England deserved it. They were pushing hard and creating for the first twenty minutes or so of the game. Becks free kick was brilliant, and it was the spin from the ball that made it just glance off the defender. This wasn’t just a random error, folks. Please stop treating it as such.
- Michael Owen is match fit? I find myself wondering about that. He was invisible during the vast majority of the game and went off well short of ninety minutes.
Technorati Tags: Football, Soccer, England, USA, World Cup, Japan, Australia, Announcers