Group F preview
Group G preview
Huge day for the Arsenal World Cup Squad. Come on you Gunners!
South Korea-Togo
The first three African teams have all impressed even though they are 0-3 and have only scored 1 goal, which is ironic but true. Will South Korea need a phantom 12th man on the pitch like last time around?
Who is Kim Jong-Il rooting for? Is he the typical SEC fan, who roots hard for his hated rivals in their bowl games to re-enforce his feeling that his part of the world is the best? Or is he like me, the total opposite SEC fan, who because of his dislike for said rivals roots for this to happen to all of them because it will help his school in recruiting and over time allow his team to become more stronger vis a vis its
6.08 a.m. - I thought Brasil played at noon? Oh, nevermind. When you're on 2 hours sleep, these two sets of uniforms are all you can ask for.
6.54 - L'Afrique is straight representin'. That was a GOLASO; here's hoping they can keep it up and shock the 2002 semifinalists. Oh, and although not mullet related, #14 for SK is pretty epic - looks like an Ali G charachter or something. What is he rocking there? Cato Kaelin with a Kung Fu Theatre moustache?
7.12 - 2nd time the red mist has descended on Deutschland (this time it was clearly deserved). Still no penalties, which is suprising now that we are 11.5 matches in...
7.13 - 1-1. What a free kick by Kato. Is that a wig? And why is his midsection dark purple with a giant black V drawn on it in Sharpie? Is he a superhero? WTF? Can Togo pull a T&T and hang on for 36 minutes with 10 men?
7.31 - 2-1 SK. Another great goal, but damn it, is Africa going to go to 0-4 despite winning respect and admiration for their play and never say die attitude? Best start to a major tournament ever in terms of well taken goals and general lack of negative play? Umm, yes. Allez les maillots jaunes!
7.47 - Yet another contender for the best non-mullet crazy hair category emerges in Togo substitute #6. Is that headband a... tape-measure? That dude for Angola who rocks the 2002Ronaldo meets Frank Rikjard is starting to shift uncomfortably in his seat just a little bit.
South Korea 2-1 Togo.
Back to court for Jury Duty, The Odyssey: Day 2. Enjoy France-Switzerland; I'll be rocking the courtroom with my blue France kit, Euro 2000 version...
France-Switzerland
I am sure that Henry regularly abuses talented youngsters Phillipe Senderos & Johan Djourou in practice. Can he do it today?
Will Zizou pass him the ball, and will he score from that pass, allegedly for the first time ever?
Will Vieira be the "When I'm in the mood I'm the best defensive midfielder in the world, but don't really feel like trying 100% today" PV4 or the "When I'm in the mood I'm the best defensive midfielder in the world, and I am going to boss the shit out of this match and no one and nothing can stop my indomitable will" PV4? I think you know which one I'm rooting for (scroll all the way to the bottom, but stop to view that Henry wondergoal, unless of course your name is Moin).
Brasil-Croatia
If anyone in your office is Brasilian, do not expect to see them at work today.
Not sure if anyone has told you, but Brasil is pretty good.
Oh, and they play futbol the complete and total right way according to HP & CFR, and if you disagree with their notion of the right way then they will defend Joga Bonito to the fucking hilt while
14 comments:
Yes, nothing like waking up to watch the Henry goal at the Bernabeu. Fucking first English club to win at the Bernabeu. Fucking fuckers. Similiar to both of Ronaldinho's goals later in the year actually, another fucker.
There's always a chance that the "I'm so bored by you" Brazil shows up, which is always disappointing/hugely annoying. Though, somehow I doubt it. Good luck Croatia. (I'd imagine it'd be alot of fun to watch said match tripping, the checker board patter + the bright yellow dots on a green surface?)
Oh, put me in the latter type of fans. Good job by the Dawgs in knocking out the Cocks last night. That helped the cause. And go Togo!
Korea isn't a real semi-finalist in 2002, just like US wasn't "really" a quarter-finalist. And since this match isn't played on their soil, it seems like the ref has decided to be merely fairly imcompetent, rather than unfairly imcompetent in favor of Korea.
Right now the Korean fans are discussing that the key thing that Korea needs to do better in the 2nd half is to "complete their passes", never a good sign if that has to be brought up. Also, apparently Togo is being more physical than the Koreans. I'm sure not knowing that the ref will give you every 50/50 call and some 10/90 calls has curtailed some of the physical/pressing nature of Korean football.
Oh, keep an eye out for some Korean honeys. There are some benefits for the eye and mind to having the highest plastic surgery per capita in the world.
Ahh, nothing like waking up to articulate Moin dropping mad F-bombs. I specifically warned you, but you couln't resist picking the scab, could you?
Agreed on Korea 02 - I mean shit they had 12 men AND very befeficial refereeing.
Dude, trust me. Living in SF, I keep my eye out for Korean honeys eer'day.
Adebayor so resembles Kanu in stature, bosy language, gait, and wacky ass goal celebrating that it is freaking uncanny.
As far as being physical, just look at #17 & #18 for Togo. 2 dudes that you don't want to mess with, or try to win a 50/50 ball from.
Oh, and pass the shrooms for Brasil-Croatia, dude. Puff, puff, pass.
Yet another reason to hate the Koreans, that bleached blonde + heavily tanned look. What the hell is that? Playing Dragon Ball Z dress-up? (Yes, I just dropped an anime reference, kill me.)
At least it wasn't an X-rated anime reference...
Damn it all to hell, the Swiss better not let me down against the Koreans come next match. I don't want to have to admit that Korea might be a semi-decent squad.
Hmm, it appears that Henry didn't help his own cause much there.
Henry was all right, I thought, he created a lot of chances albeit with no end product. Bottom line though is that if you want to be considered the best in the world you need to do the job when the world is watching, so he needs to step it up and produce.
I don't buy the contention that because Senderos sees him every day in training, it was easier for him to snuff Henry out. He's not some one-trick pony who never improvises.
But I do think the Swiss are actually halfway decent, though, and I've long thought they'd qualify along with the French. Truth be told, at this point I'd argue that they are probably the more likely side to do so if only one of them does.
Croatia jerseys: Pizza Hut tablecloth circa 1988, or Super Mario Brothers (original version)?
Lunch break's over; back to court...
Picnic table cloth my man, picnic table cloth.
http://www.dollclothesstore.com/products/accessories/ACCESSORIES_PICTURES/PICK-1.jpg
Ronaldinho didn't do much to make himself known either. (Or Ronaldo for that matter, look for Robinho to start next match.)
Kaka, on the other hand, looks to be worthy of that 70million pounds Real Madrid has been rumoured to have tabled for him. (Note to future RM boards: conduct elections BEFORE the major tournaments, buy players BEFORE the major tournaments, like Arsenal did. That way you don't get caught out buying medicore players that just had a good tournament, a la Liverpool and Diouf.)
After the build up to Brazil's first game I now feel I understand the feelings of all the college football fans who rooted for teams other than USC last year. Yeah they are a legitmate favorite to take the whole thing. That does not mean that every single thing they do is vastly better than everything anybody else can do. There are other legitimate contenders as well.
Moin- I specifically remember reading Wenger say the exact same thing that you did (in 1 of the 2 books I have read about him or 1 of 5 million wb articles), wheere he said that his philosophy is always to identify and buy talent before World Cups (and Euros too), and that it is foolish and extremely costly for clubs that immediately sign whomever starred at a major tournament, specifically because club football is signigficantly different than international football (Diouf, but even more so: France-killer Papa Baba Diop, who went from obscurity directly to Liverpool).
Phil- well said, I jotted a note about this today at lunch and will post my version of what you said later tonight.
Well, it's smart business. Not to bring too much sabermetrics into this, but the World Cup is, at most, 7 matches against teams of vastly different qualities and styles. It's a VERY small and unreliable sample size. Of course, it's THE sample size by which greatness is judged, so...
I specifically remember the last RM presidential election, right after Euro2002, when, like phil noted, the Czechs looked by far the best squad. The main challenger to Perez's re-election was the man he defeated to gain the seat: Sanz. Sanz, b/c of the great Czech performance, promised to bring Baros, Rosicky, and Nedved to Real Madrid along with Maniche (on the strength of that one goal he scored). It's silly to conduct business this way.
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