For The Cup

I haven't been commenting ion the World Cup soccer tournament on my blog this year, but that doesn't mean I haven't been watching it. (A lot of Americans haven't, because we're not in it, just as a lot of Americans don't bother worrying about climate change because we're not in the Paris Agreement; after all, that's a hoax, isn't it?) I've been keeping my comments on the World Cup to my Facebook page up to now.

But what a tournament! Defending champion Germany made a miraculous comeback in Group F play, only to flunk out of F against South Korea and fail to make the round of sixteen. Spain made it into the round of sixteen only to be upset by host country Russia (who in turn were eliminated by Croatia) and Brazil, the perennial World Cup favorite and the New York Yankees of international soccer, got knocked out of Cup contention by Belgium.  Belgium!

Croatia goes against England today in the match to determine who will face France, who eliminated Belgium, in the Cup final on Sunday, and though England looks like the favorite, another upset in this Cup tournament of upsets can't be ruled out. It's going to be an exciting semifinal and it's going to be an exciting final, whoever France faces.

As for American World Cup hopes in the future, at least future World Cup hopes that only involve soccer players with Y chromosomes . . . well, who's ready for football? I mean the NFL variety, of course, because American football - fútbol Americano - is the only sort of football Americans care about, even if no one else on the planet (except in Canada) does. And NFL football is a lot like our current environmental policy. It is stupid. It is, if I may say, crazy. And it doesn't make sense.

Cupdate

Clever, huh?

People are still talking about the upset win in World Cup soccer by Switzerland over Spain, heavily favored to make the finals id not win the Cup this year. This is roughly the equivalent of the New York Yankees losing to the Chicago Cubs in interleague play (because we know the Yankees would never meet the Cubs in the World Series). It's been said that it was embarrassing for the Spaniards to lose to a country famous for making chocolate and clocks, but it makes sense that the Swiss would deliver a sweet, precise victory.

Greece, meanwhile, won its first World Cup game over, defeating Nigeria two to one. Nigeria controlled the game in the first half until midfielder Sani Kaita was shown a straight red card for kicking Greek player Vassilis Torosidis, forcing the Nigerians to play the rest of the half and the game with one player fewer. Torosidis scored the deciding Greek goal in the seventy-first minute. Given Greece's recent troubles, the country - whose soccer team is not a Cup favorite - needed a psychological boost. The go against Argentina on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Mexico-France game reminded me of far less recent events. After a scoreless first half, Mexico scored two spectacular goals in the second half, shutting out the French. It if seemed to be like Cinco de Mayo in the stands, bear in mind that Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla in 1862, in which the Mexicans defeated an invading French army. The Mexicans seemed to enjoy the chance of taunting the French in this defeat, with cries of "Olé! Olé!"

Mexico needs to tie in their next game to advance. France, the 1998 Cup champion, just needs another win to save face. :-O

World Cup Update

The contest for the World Cup in South Africa won't shape up for awhile, as the national soccer teams vie for position to get out of their respective groups, but the big surprise was that England and the USA tied at one apiece. American goalkeeper Tim Howard let a ball get by him early in the first half, but English goalkeeper Robert Green made an even bigger blunder, letting the ball go right through his hands and roll softly across the line and into the net. Had Jozy Altidore, who had a blazing run with the ball across the field in the second half, managed to get it through Green's defense (and he came very close!), The United States would have won outright.

The United States can claim a morale victory for going against England, one of the mightiest soccer teams on the planet, and holding their own. The United States still has an outside chance at the cup at best, but England could be on its way to winning it for the first time since 1966.

Meanwhile, perennial Cup powerhouse Germany (three Cup championships) scored four to nothing in their match against Australia today. Geez, those Aussies are playing like Canadians! :-D

World Cup Kickoff

The 2010 World Cup tournament is underway, and the United States faces its first match - and will likely meet it - against England. (The United Kingdom doesn't send a single team to the Cup; the three nations that comprise the British state have separate teams.) I hope the the American team will go far, and hopefully reach the top eight, but that long-ago goal (no pun intended) to win the cup this year is pretty much a pipe dream. World Cup by 2010 - it can't be done!

The most amazing thing about the American team is that they're in South Africa for the tournament. This marks the sixth consecutive World Cup tournament that Team USA has participated in. A little over twenty years ago, the idea of any American team in the World Cup was crazy. Reasons that soccer hasn't taken off in the United States that it has in other countries include rules incompatible with American commercial television (hard to have a lot of commercials without timeouts) and scoring incompatible with bookmakers (not enough of a point spread on which to place bets). But Americans play soccer, some of them even like to watch it, and the fact that Team USA is a contender despite the shaky situation at home (Major League Soccer doesn't exactly enjoy a high profile) says something. We're a lot better off than Canada, which sent its team to the World Cup only once, in 1986.

That's astonishing!

Canada has a soccer team? :-D