Blow It Like Beckham

England fell in the World Cup round of sixteen early today, losing to Germany, which has made it to every World Cup quarterfinal beginning in 1954, which, as any who saw The Marriage of Maria Braun knows, was their first tournament victory.

As for England . . . hmmph. Being an English soccer fan is the equivalent of being a baseball fan who roots for the Mets. You always hope for your team to repeat a miracle victory that happened decades ago, but you know in your heart of hearts that it's not . . . gonna . . . happen. Actually, that's an unfair comparison. The Mets at least won the World Series twice.

England scored a goal in the game that replays showed was clearly over the goal line and would have tied the game at two apiece but the German goalkeeper grabbed it and threw it back, and the goal was never counted as a point. The English protested, but the result stood. It was an ironic reversal of a German score in the 1966 championship game that gave England the victory.

In other news, Argentina eliminated Mexico three to one. Not exactly the most elegant game. Gee whiz, the Mexican players were hurling themselves into their own net while unsuccessfully trying to stop the Argentines from doing the same with the ball.

Germany and Argentina now meet each other on Saturday.