Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Day 6 Random Thoughts / Open Thread

I'm Candlebox. Didn't get anything accomplished last night, other than having a few mojitos with a beautiful woman. Hoping to play some catch up today. I survived voir dire and am sitting on the jury, but we're not meeting today, so a day at work with some downtime should be just what I need. Enjoy.

Group H preview
Group A preview
Day 1 thoughts

Spain-Ukraine

Los Campeones del Kanu kick things off in the match of the group . I like their talent all over the park to make a statement here and beat 10 good players + 1 complete badass, Sheva, 3-1.

You know Spy vs. Spy and Kramer vs. Kramer. What you might not know is this match is racist vs. racist, or at least racially insensitive guy vs racially insensitive guy. To wit:

"Although many of the stars of almost every domestic league from Russia westward are from the African Diaspora (which includes Brazil), an astonishing level of racism persists among fans and even coaches at the highest levels of the game. Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin, for example, bemoaned the globalization of his domestic league thus: "The more Ukrainians there are playing in the national league, the more examples there are for the young generation. Let them learn from [our players] and not some zumba-bumba whom they took off a tree, gave two bananas and now he plays in the Ukrainian league.''

Then there was the Spanish team's coach, Luis Aragones, caught on TV telling striker Jose Antonio Reyes that he was better than his French Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry. Except Aragones didn't say Henry's name, he said, "that black shit." A few days later, he insisted that there was nothing racist about the remark: "Reyes is ethnically a gypsy," said Aragones. "I have got a lot of gypsy and black friends. All I did was to motivate the gypsy by telling him he was better than the black."


I imagine Ukraine's coach, not Sheva, to be the Ukranian guy on the subway in that Seinfeld Episode.

6.04 a.m - disappointed that neither Reyes not Fabregas are starting, but they are both very young (22, 18) so I understand. Hoping Reyes comes on as a sub and does well with his pace on the wing. At least Slash, the 1st name on the teamsheet, is doing his thing.


I wish I was still in Barcelona today.
Oh how I wish...


6.10 - At first that goal looked soft, but was actually a very crafty header by Xavi Alonso. Liverpool 1-0 Ukraine

6.20 - Liverpool + Valencia 2-0 Ukraine. David Villa: que golaso!

7.04 - Red mist descends on Leipzig. Ukraine dude sent off straight red. Oh, and the 1st penalty of the Cup

7.05 - 3-0 Spain, and a man up. "Game, Set, and Match, Espana."

7.06 - TERRIBLE CALL! Defender grabbed attacker's shorts for like literally 1 second, and didn't impede the attacker's progress. Way worse than that happens on every corner kick & free kick in every game. If Ukraine already weren't already getting their ass kicked this would be a massive talking point. As is, it will be a footnote on a 5-0 assbeating, and for just "One Shining Moment" Kanu will look like a genius for picking Spain to lift the Cup.


The reign from Spain falls mainly on Ukraine.

7.38 - 4-0. The best goal of the tournament so far because of the team play involved in the buildup, especially by Slash, who did a spin-o-rama, gave it up, got it back, headed it down onto the run of Torres, who blasted it into the corner without breaking stride on a full run. BELLISSIMO!


Thanks to Slash and the boys, this match was
competitive for the length of the "November Rain"
video, give or take a few minutes

Spain 4-0 Ukraine.
Wow. I always like when "my" team is just under the radar and not having to deal with media attention and the pressure of expectation that the massive favorites get, and I always want that team to remain under the radar as long as possible through any tournament (like the NCAA basketball one for instance). This performance will squash all of that and vault Spain to the top of the collective hype heap. But if they keep playing like that, it won't matter.

Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas became the youngest Spanish player to ever play in a World Cup match today at the tender age of 19 years and 41 days. Not a bad achievement to go along with 2 years of first team football as a big club as well as an appearance in the Champions League Final. Oh, and how do I feel about his jersey, that simply says "CESC 18" on the back? To quote one of Uncle Rico's prospective customers: "I want that."

Cesc Fabregas rocked a mullet when he first started for Arsenal; he since has caved to social pressures and "normalized". A bit. Fernando Torres, no so much. Dude is still rocking a similar version of the mullet he has had since bursting onto the scene six years ago.


El mulleto del "El Nino",
circa Euro2004
.

I'm sorry that Sheva never really got a chance to do his thing.

Tunisia-Saudi Arabia
I fully expect Africa to get their first win here; if they don't I'll be kind of shocked. Saudi Arabia probably isn't as horrible as I think they are in my mind, but if, like me, you saw them lose 0-8 to Germany at the 2002 World Cup then it is hard to imagine them not losing every match. Probably a bit of an unfair perception, but it is what it is. Allez Tunisie!


Lucas: how can you film Star Wars in Tunisia
and not use these two in place of r2D2 and C3PO?
Did you go to Georgia Tech or something?

Tunisia 1-0 Saudi Arabia. HT. I am at work for the 1st time this week so I am just following on-line. Not much to add, except I hope that they hold on and get the result.

Tunisia 2-2 Saudi Arabia.
Didn't see it, only know what happened from that link, and I am eagerly awaiting the 3 minute highlight video that they will post there within the hour. Sounds like yet another exciting finish, with a late goal and then an equalizer "at the death" as they say. Very disappointed that Africa couldn't get a win here against this joke of a team (although maybe they played great - I don't know). Did Tunisia look as impressive as the other African teams, or did they falter and let an inferior opponent back into the match? With all of their billions of dollars, have SA finally been able to get their keeper a proper uniform, or is he still rocking the sweatpants from the K-Mart clearance rack that they had in 2002? The mind wonders...

"There goes Round 1... Ding! There goes Round 2, now tell me what the f**k are you supposed to do?"
-Phife, A Tribe Called Quest, "The Infamous Date Rape"

So that's it for the first round of matches. All the teams are given three minutes four days to sit on the stool, get their cuts attended to, have water squirted in their mouths, rest a bit, get motivated by their handlers, and come out swinging in round two either looking to keep it going or reverse whatever mojo went down in Round 1.

Something new to look for as we start round two that will become critical as the tournament progresses: suspensions due to card accumulation. Here's how it works: during the group phase, if over the course of all three group matches any player receives a yellow card and then a 2nd yellow card, then they will be suspended for the next match after the one where they receive that 2nd yellow. Example: Ronaldinho gets a yellow against Croatia. No big deal. Then he gets a yellow in their 2nd match: he is not sent off in that match, because he only has 1 yellow card within the current match, so gets to finish the match. However, becasue he has earned a 2nd yellow card during the group phase, he would be suspended for Brasil's next match (their 3rd group stage match).

If a player receives a straight red, then they are suspended for the next match, and obviously the remainder of the current match as well. So the three players that have been red-carded thusfar (T&T dude, Togo dude, Ukraine dude) all miss their team's next match, and all of the players who have received a yellow card ("on a yellow" in soccer parlance) must be very, very careful not to pick up a 2nd yellow and miss the next match.

Here's the last relevant bit: At the conclusion of the group stage, the slate is wiped clean with regard to cards. However, the same rule starts all over again in the knockout stage, which can sometimes be critical. For example: in 2002, Germany's best player by far, Michael Ballack, picked up an innocuous yellow card in either the round of 16 or the quarterfinal. Then in their semifinal against South Korea, he picked up another yellow card, this one not so innocuous: he was suspended for the final, which Germany lost 0-2. Sorry to spend so much time on this but it is a really really big issue. Look for players who are "on a yellow" and notice how they react in certain situations, like perhaps pulling up out of a tackle because it is in the back of their head and not worth the risk, etc, etc. A really big deal in matches that is sometimes overlooked by US commentators clowns.

Germany-Poland
I've been excited to watch this match for a long long time, not just for the footy but for everything else surrounding it. Like hundreds of years of hatred history. Like Germany invading Poland in 1939 and occupying it during WWII. Like the fact that most members of the Poland team probably have grandparents that were affected in some way or another by the Nazis (ranging from being hassled to being put to death). This match would be damn intense if it were staged in the US, Asia, South America, or Africa. But the fact that it is being held in Germany (Poland symbolically "invading" Germany and looking for some form of symbolic retribution) just brings the intensity up a notch. I am looking for this to be the most intense match of he group stage, and also expect the singing to be insanely loud. Should be really really interesting and exciting. Oh, there's a soccer match as well. I'm off to the pub across the street to watch both the match and the spectacle.

Holy shit! The Germans are on board with the concept of The Golden Mullet - they were everywhere in the stands today.


Hair Herr Mullet


Frau mullet


"Mullet love! It's drivin' me mad,
it's making me craaaaazzaaay..."

Germany 1-0 Poland.
Wow. If you are Poland, this match was like the movie Layer Cake, and they were the main character, XXXX. Fight the good fight, battle adversity (having a dude harshly sent off with 15 minutes remaining), battle more adversity (survive several attacks, culminating with TWO German shots off the crossbar in the 90th minute as well as a German goal that is taken off the board for offsides), become the win tie against all odds hero, and just as you are walking out of the social club and off into the sunset with the beautiful woman on your arm, and the entire audience thinks that the credits are going to roll and thay are about to walk out of the theater feeling all shiny and happy that the protaganist conquered all, he randomly gets his chest filled with bullets Sonny Corleone style, and your warm fuzzies turn into numb shock, total despair, and heartbreaking elimination from the tournament (if my math is correct, they cannot possibly advance out of the group based on the tiebreak system being used).


Someone please photoshop this
with the appropriate jerseys...

Oh, then there's the fact that the biggest nut-kick in your team's history came at the expense of the big bad bully neighborhood kid whom you have NEVER beat (now 0-11-4; thanks ESPN, we got it the 4th time you went out of your way to mention it) and oh by the way, invaded, occupied, and persecuted your collective ass back in nineteen and thirty nine.

For all these bad guy = Germany analogies, full credit to them. They created the vast majority of chances, played offensive, attacking football, came close several times, and would have been unfortuante if the match ended 0-0. Putting aside the Job-like experience of the Poles, Ze Germans deserved to win and (as has been discussed in the threads) should also be praised for playing free flowing, offensive football during the tournament. Is this a product of the fact that the Bundisliga has produced lots of Joga Bonito in the last few years, or is it down to the fact that their coach is a Californian?

I really like coach Klinsmann, even if he is a former Tottenham star. Dude lives in California and refused to move back to Germany when he was appointed the national coach, which caused a massive uproar of disgust in Deutschland, where thay said that there is no way he can be a proper national coach if he doesn't move back. He said no, that his American wife and his children were more important to him than anything, that he loved California and didn't want to disrupt their lives, that he could easily watch all of the matches on cable & satellite and then travel back to Germany when needed. So I not only admire his family values, but he is a California dude - all those haters are just jealous of the beautiful weather, warm sun, and tasty waves, and I love it that they are 2-0 with 6 points and in a way he is stuffing all of his naysayers. You know he walked in the locker room after the match, twisted his hand in the shape of a W, and screamed "West-side!"


LA residents: dude, his commute is way longer than yours.

Scrappy sub Oliver Neuville scored the winner, 4 years after scoring many critical goals on Germany's trip to the final (while getting overlooked by the play of Ballack and the goals of then young sensation Miroslav Klose)

Damn that referee was card happy: it seems like 1/2 of the German team is now "on a yellow", although after the next match they get wiped out so it shouldn't affect them too badly.

Mats had a clean sheet! Sweet, although it was more down to the defense playing solid than him making 20 miracle saves, like he did on this fine day.


Mats holding it down

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Something interesting to think about, thus far in the tournament:

The "negative/boring teams":
Germany: an exciting 4-2 match.
Italy: an all around attacking/up and down 2-0 win.
Argentina: a tense 2-1 win.

The "Joga Bonitos":
The Netherlands: 1-0 win, though it was pretty wide open, it was an one man show.
Portugal: a bore 1-0 win, especially in the horrid, horrid 2nd half.
France: a 0-0 bore of a draw (actually, they haven't scored a World Cup goal since Petit scored the 3rd goal in the 1998 Final!).
Brazil: a 1-0 win that was played so badly that it actually left the Croatian fans happier than before (though I'm not including Emerson here, whatever Joga Bonito is, he's not playing it).
(We can toss England here too, as they are responsible for the worst match of the tournament thus far.)

Now I ask you this, why is it that when the Joga Bonitos play a terribly boring match and scratch out a win? How, on this, did the 1st group EVER get tagged with the label of being boring?

How's that for narrative?

Anonymous said...

And oh yes, reading the online report for the Spanish match. It shocks me to discover that Iker Casillas is the captain and not Puyol. Iker is only 25! (Although he's another one of those RM players that seems to have been around forever because he was the keeper in a CL Final at 18!) One of the top 5 keepers in the world no doubt, but I'd thought for sure that the captaincy would go to Puyol.

Anyways, I don't rate Aragones much as a person or tactician. But in terms of craziness/ballsiness when it comes to benching players, he's right up there with Big Phil.

Anonymous said...

What a great game that was. Spain takes the style points for the best first game of the tournament.

I don't think Holland deserve condemnation, they played well and created a fair number of chances that they didn't finish. I thought their midfield play was strong and creative

Overall I'd rank the teams so far as 1) Spain 2) Germany 3) Holland 4) Brasil (who I'd still consider the favorite, but they didn't show much in that first game)

My big surprise of the first games was Australia. I thought they moved the ball around like Holland or Spain but were a bit lacking in technical skill. I don't think they could win, but they could be ready for a nice little run to the quarterfinals.

Anonymous said...

I agree, the Dutch didn't deserve condemnation of any kind. I was just noting that their performance wasn't measurably better or worse or different than what Italy or Argentina put up thus far, yet the likes of latter 2 squads can never get too far away from the accusations of playing negative football while the Dutch will get described as playing postive, flowing football without anybody so much as saying a peep in disagreement.

I wouldn't rank Germany that high actually, their defense was pretty wanting thus far, maybe they can turn it around later today. I'd rank, thus far: 1) Spain, 2) Argentina, 3) the Netherlands, 4) Italy, 5) Brazil, (and like you said, Brazil still the favorite).

Anonymous said...

Actually, now that I think about it, forget Italy, replace with Germany. Thanks. :)

Anonymous said...

Actually I didn't see Italy play, though I scanned through the highlights (I've had the week off work and with a TiVo I've been able to see most of the games so far). I should have mentioned the Czechs, since I still think the result of their game wasn't all a matter of the USA playing badly.

And two of my biases are that I always root against Italy (for their historical record of bad to watch football) and Argentina (I'll never forgive them for the "Hand of God").

I want one of the quality teams that has never won (Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Holland) or England to win, rather than one of the usuals (Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina).

Anonymous said...

Phil, you are right, completely forgot about the Czechs, insert them up there in front of Argentina and Brazil gets bumped off the top 5. :D

Hand of God was just before my time, so I can't say much about it. But personally, I'd always felt that their run in Italia90 was worse in terms of bad bad bad football. But in general, I remember them playing the best attacking football in 1994 until Maradona did his drug thing, in 1998 they played a very exciting set of games and lost to a deserving Dutch side, in 2002, well.. Group of Death and all. Anyways, point is, they haven't really been playing "bad" football since 1990. As for Italy, same more or less goes for them as well (1990 was a year for bad football).

But I agree with you about Spain and the Czech Republic. But as I can't stand Cristiano Ronaldo and my feelings for RVN is only slightly better, I can't stand having to acknowledge those guys as "World Cup Winners". Sorry Netherlands and Portugal, your fault for producing such annoying talents.

Anonymous said...

Breathtaking, crotch-kick of a match for Poland. Germany's aggressive as hell and smart, which is just awesome to watch.

Anonymous said...

yes, two exciting down to the wire finishes out of the three games. More proof that low scoring games can be just as exciting as those with plenty of goals.

I couldn't believe that play with Klose and Ballack both hitting the crossbar at the very end. With the amount of pressure Germany was putting on at the end of the game (and to some extent through the whole game) they certainly deserved to win.

I think the ESPN commenators were smoking crack. A couple of times during the broadcast they said that even if Germany wins they were not assured of going on to the second round and Poland would not be eliminated. There is one possible permutation of games that could see Germany with 9 points and all the others with 3 (Costa Rica defeats Ecuador, Poland defeats Costa Rica, and Germany defeats Ecuador) but I can't work out any scenario where 2 other teams can get to 6 points and bump Germany out of the second round.

moin- yeah, I'm a geezer but my distaste for Argentina isn't based on bad football as much as bitter history. Twice they've eliminated strong English teams in dubious games (86 with the "HOG" and 98 when Becks was red carded and they stalled for penalty kicks). And I'll grant you that Italy often does not look as bad as their reputation would suggest.

I don't mind CR and RVN, but then again I tend to like MU more than the Aresenal fans do. I mainly root for Liverpool to win and West Brom to avoid relegation (or this year to get back to the EPL).

Anonymous said...

What a match between Poland and Germany!!! Moin I agree that Brazil won really ugly and in fact I think Croatia played a much better game since they were seen as the underdogs. Germany has played two great games. Australia played a good game and I have to be happy for Cahill with two goals on his birthday. The match between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia had some good intensity in the last half (I was at work for the first half and will watch the repeats of that game along with the beatdown of Ukraine by Spain.) France is just playing ugly. They have no excuse considering the talent available and it is sad statistic that you bring up in them not scoring since 1998.

I remember "seeing" the "Hand of God" goal on the television and can say that time has not been kind to Maradona. I expected so much more from Argentina when I was watching them play in one of the Youth World Cups. That is where I first saw Saviola and was thinking their national team was going to be incredible in a few years and expected them to make a run for it during the last World Cup along with returning world champion France. Was I wrong.

Anonymous said...

Talent-wise (according to Championship/Football Manager), the 2002 Argentina squad was RIDICULOUS. Then they went all 2003 Auburn while playing the toughest group on us. Oh well.

ESPN announcers getting confused? Never happens.

Did anybody mention that both Podolski and Klose were born in Poland? I think it warrants mentioning. Neuville was born Swiss too.

Phil, how could you not hate Germany as well? Euro96? Italia90? I suppose 1966 helps ease those pains alot more on that account. So I'm sure 2002 was at least somewhat cathartic for you too.

And as a scouser of one kind of another, how can you actually not hate anything and everything MU?

Kanu said...

Phil - I am in complete agreement with you on who I want to win. Before the tourament I was really hoping that the winner would come from Spain, Portugal, Holland(despite my hatred of horseface), Cze, or even Sweden, and my absolute fantasy would be for an African team to win it, but that will have to wait until 2010 when I will probably choose an African team to at least make it to the final.

Oh, and if you support WBA, then hell to the yeah:

"He's big, he's black,
he's had a heart attack,
Ka-nu! Ka-nu!"


Swindle: "Germany's aggressive as hell": clever double entendre my friend; shows that your comedy is varied and can include subtle cleverness. As I said once before, you palette is varied, like a fine wine competition judge.

Moin - re: France's last goal. The cover of The Sun had a picture of Vieira & Petit hugging after that goal and the headline was "Arsenal Win The World Cup". I would pay for a picture of that...

Anonymous said...

You mean this one?

http://static.flickr.com/26/46914328_60e966ef3e.jpg?v=1127776797

It was the Daily Mirror, not the Sun.

Also, it was 1939, not 1938.

Anonymous said...

Moin,

I do not remember, but either Podolski or Klose has a Polish mother and a German father and moved to Germany when they were eight years old. Sorry that I do not remember who it is though.

I feel sorry for the people that have to put up with the ESPN/ABC broadcasting. The few times that I have switched over just out of curiosity I cannot believe the pedantic job that is being done. Even when I listened to last years California at New Mexico State football game in Navajo it was still much better then what is being done by ABC/ESPN for the World Cup.

Kanu said...

Moin-

THAT'S IT! You have no fucking idea how much you just made my day. I know EXACTLY where that photo was taken: in a trophy room hallway inside Highbury that you see on the tour. The room is behind the directors box, and the framed photo is on the wall just next to the Chairman's private bathroom (which I used by the way, thnking the whole time about all of the Arsenal legends that had used the exact same pisser). I took the Highbury tour in March and am so fucking pissed that although I remembered to bring my camera with me, I discovered when I went to take a picture of the famous marble hall entrance at the beginning of the tour I realized that I had forgotten to take my camera battery off the recharger in the hotel room.

You have just gone from cool guy to fucking legend. Thanks. I assure you that Solon will get a huge fucking chubby about this as well, since we were so excited to see that very picture on the wall on the tour and were talking about what a tragedy it was that I couldn't take a picture of it because it was on a now defunct Arsenal site years back and neither he nor I ever took 20 seconds to download it onto our PC.

Legend, son, legend.

Lux Intellectus said...

I'd have to rate Spain as the best team in the first round so far -- it's not just their technique, but also their movement off the ball that impressed me so much today. I think they have just what is needed to beat those bunker defenses that we are seeing so much of. That is a dangerous, dangerous team.

Czech Republic ranks second -- I think we've forgotten that they were really the favorite to win Euro2004 and played some of the most stylish football of that tournament.

Then Argentina and Brazil. But there are still 2 games to go and some of these teams might have started slow. I think Brazil may take a couple of games to get going, but once they do, they'll be fine.

Fantastic end to the Germany game today, but they definitely deserved to win. Of course, so did Sweden against T & T, but we all loved that result. Klinnsman showed his class, as his two subs assisted and scored the goal. And they are very fun to watch. But the big news is that they kept a clean sheet.

Baconboy

Lux Intellectus said...

That picture is great...and I guess when you don't win many trophies that it is good to rely on other countries to win trophies for you... :)

On the other hand, when I took my tour of Old Trafford last summer, they didn't have a trophy room -- they had trophy rooms. And not a single picture of any surrogate trophies.

(I'm sure I've just lost all rights to post comments, but I just couldn't resist. Let the anti-ManU flames begin) :)

Baconboy

Kanu said...

BB-

Even though I am probably outnumbered, I am willing to battle valiantly like these African teams, or a kamikaze.

I'm game, let's dance (all on good fun).

I'll start off with this (you're welcome Moin, this is your payback for that TH14 Bernabeu goal yesterday):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t12Izh72uk&search=fa%20cup%202005

You may beat me in the end, but I am pretty confident that you will not be able to produce video of any Arsenal player, past or present, crying like a little bitch.

Kanu said...

My God, watching those ManUre players collecting their medals and then having to walk past that FA Cup that they completely dominated and deserved to win except for the fact that they forgot to put the ball in the net (I think the shots stat was like 22-1 in favor of ManU) was just wonderful. Even better then getting to watch Christine Ronaldo weeping like a wee lass. I never saw the crying the first time, I was busy standing in the middle of the Mad Dog In The Fog with my Vieira jersey off and raised above my head (not unlike that famous bombastic Cantona pose after that absurd chipped goal).

Your move, Guv'.

Anonymous said...

Another thing about the ESPN coverage that annoyed me was all the harping on Spain's bad luck having been turned by this win today. Getting out of the first round groups is no big deal for Spain, it's in the knockout rounds that the disappointments have come.

And they devoted so much camera time to the crown prince and princess that I expected her to put on a jersey that was half Spain, half Ukraine.

The Germany/Poland border shifted drastically with each war up through WWII, there are lots of ethnic Germans in Poland and ethnic Poles in Germany. That adds to the particular issues and passions with that game.

And the reason that I don't hate Germany is because I got the chance to go over there and play some football and had a great time over there. My fondness for West Brom is because they were the one EPL team (though it was 25 years ago before there was an EPL) that I ever got the chance to play against (and I learned just how fast and hard the game is played at that level). As far as the rest of the EPL I don't have super strong passions since for so long before there was an internet and satellite TV I was happy to see anybody play. I chose Liverpool as my team because back when I was in high school they were on top with Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish (and the Beatles didn't hurt). I like Man U because of Beckham and my sister gave me a jersy for Xmas one year so I figured I'd support them too. I like Arsenal because of a random choice when I was a kid and the book "Fever Pitch". The only one of the big teams that bugs me is Chelsea.

Kanu said...

Why's that Phil? Disappointed that they'll never win anything because they are too cheap to sign top quality players?

Very happy to have a real footballer in our midst to provide the unique insight an dperspective that none of us useless couch managers who hit the end of the line in high school or college posess.

Kanu said...

BTW - one of my favorite Arsenal chants to Chelsea is:

"You're just Tottenham with money!"

Anonymous said...

First things first--

"THERE'S ONLY ONE...M-O-I-N!"

Thanks for the picture, bud. That was my desktop at work a while back, but that was three or four jobs ago--it was a software company, that's how long ago it was.

As far as Man Utd and Arsenal, I think they are actually pretty close in terms of silverware--31 trophies for Manchester United, and 27 for Arsenal (not counting minor trophies such as the Community/Charity Shield). The biggest difference between the two clubs is that Arsenal are cool, whereas Man Utd are wankers.

It's funny--today's Spanish performance has me rethinking my prediction of an all-Iberian final (Spain over Portugal). For whatever reason, teams can never seem to keep it up for 7 games (with the exception of Brazil 2002)--so, oddly enough, I think Portugal is now probably more likely to get the job done than Spain.

And, while I'd love to for Cesc to have set some sort of record, I'm fairly certain that Pele himself kicked some ass at Sweden 1958 at the tender age of 17. I think he even scored in the final.

Am I the only one who wants Ronaldo benched so that he doesn't break Pele's record as Brasil's leading goalscorer in the World Cup?

Kanu said...

Je suis un dumbass, as I clearly covered the other day. Cesc = youngest player to ever appar in a WC match... for Spain.

Thanks Solon - good lookin' out.

It will be sad if Pele's record gets passed, although possessing that record will not change anyone's perspective as to their relative merits.

And although R9 had to deal with 2 bad knee injuries, he didn't have to deal with as much as this as P10:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LgYDPrF18Q&search=pele%201966

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, did someone say something about trophy displays?

I don't meant to brag but:

http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~dippind/bernabeu3.jpg
http://www.realmadrid.com/palmares/img_eng/foto3g.jpg
http://www.realmadrid.com/palmares/img_eng/foto4g.jpg
http://www.realmadrid.com/palmares/img_eng/foto7g.jpg
http://www.realmadrid.com/palmares/img_eng/foto8g.jpg
http://www.realmadrid.com/palmares/img_eng/foto12g.jpg

Now THAT is a trophy display (yes, those big eared ones are properties of RM, thank you, thank you).

Anonymous said...

Oh, regarding Podolski and Klose, they were born in Gliwice (Podolski) and Opole (Klose). Both cities are reasonably close to the Polish border, the Polish-Czech border. (Though, they were both part of the Kingdom of Prussia back in the day.)

No, I don't think those facts get the Polish population worked up at all.

Lux Intellectus said...

Kanu,

That's a pretty funny video of last year's FA Cup...full credit to the Arsenal fan who put that together.

And while I can't provide video evidence, here's proof that Ian Wright broke down and cried during a game:

http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=657

Actually, based on this article it appears that Ronaldo is in excellent company.

But in the spirit of your challenge, here is something else that no one has ever seen an Arsenal player do:

http://www.manutdzone.com/legends/EUROSMEC.JPG

And the video to go with it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojIgo-SraK0&search=champions%20league%20final%201999

Enjoy them both!

Baconboy

P.S. Given Urban Myer's breakdown after the LSU game last year, I guess I'll always be in a deficit in the crying argument. Though I guess I've never seen it as a big deal, since I just figure it means they actually care a lot.

Lux Intellectus said...

Moin, no one can argue with that! And, of course, Liverpool has absolute bragging rights in England. But that's the fun of it.

In looking at those Pele highlights I was struck by both the brutality and by how much slower the game was. I think we underestimate how much the speed of play and technique has increased over the last 20 years or so.

Anonymous said...

There is no doubt the game has sped up, to the point where the midfield playmaker like those of Valderamma has almost entirely disappeared (the really rare exceptions, like Riquelme, Zidane, Pirlo) only to be replaced by the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Pires, Scholes, Ballack etc. Mids that doesn't so much create as goes forward and score goals. That's the speed for ya.

Lux Intellectus said...

I saw Valderamma play in Tampa one time toward the end of his career. He basically sat in the center circle and directed traffic -- he almost never defended (so it was like playing a man down without the ball). But his passing was so sublime that no one cared. His speed was all in the head, since he knew where everyone was before they did.

I heard the then assistant coach of the Mutiny give a talk at a coaching clinic and he said that one of his pet peeves was players retreating backward (like after a keeper collects the ball) and turning their back to the play. Valderrama did this at practice and the coach confronted him about it, saying,"If you do that, you don't know where everyone is." Valderrama, without looking backward at all, said "So and so is over there, and so and so is over there," as he pointed over his shoulder right at where the players he supposedly couldn't see were located. The coach told the story with considerable humor, since he learned that some players are just different than others.

I always suspected that Carlos actually had an extra set of eyes hidden in that hair.

Kanu said...

David.


Well done, it was crushing to watch ManUtd complete the Treble, but looking back on it that CL was the least heartbreaking part. Losing that 99 FA Semi replay in the fashion that they did and getting pipped for the Prem by a single solitary point were much worse. I would imagine that ManU winning the CL is a much more painful memory for Bayern Munchen fans.

Talk about the game being slow, as well as my 2nd volley in this tete-a-tete, FSC replayed the 1979 FA Cup final a few weeks ago, which I had never seen. Talk about a toatlly different dame, it was an Arsenal-ManU FA Cup final and was almost... boring. I wish there was a vid of it, but you'll have to settle for this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/755000/images/_755086_sundeland1979.jpg

And that wasn't extra eyes in CV's hair, it was a little person personal assistant.

Anonymous said...

solon: I'd be even happier if Ronaldo stayed in and didn't score any more goals.

Kanu: You hit the nail on the head about the Russian skinflint bastard. Since Chelsea was a second division team when I started watching English games (back when KCET in LA would run one a week that was edited down to an hour) I still feel that's where they belong.

Thanks for the kind words. I actually never played a college match thanks to a broken leg and title iX (I switched to rugby). I did get experience as a college head coach along the way, so I should have some idea what I'm talking about. Though it is also very clear that I've not been following the clubs much and I know far far less than others here on many topics related to what's going on in the game today.

Kanu said...

No worries, Phil. I'm just happy to have a proper geezer on here, so keep it coming my man.

Anonymous said...

I've seen some great pictures of that Tunisian girl on BigSoccer.com.

good stuff.