Tor! Tor! Tor!

Germany 1-1 Argentina (4-2 on penalties)
Well, I’d be ripping up my betting slip right now, if I’d been stupid enough to bet on my own feelings before the tournament began. However, Argentina had struggled in three out of their four previous matches (regardless of the gushing that came from the commentary galleries of both the [...]

Prediction Time Revisited!

Well, we’re down to the last eight, so it’s prediction time. For those of you that care about such things, I’m posting this tonight because I have to go to my parents’ house tomorrow and try to fix their computer (again). My intention is to be back here in time for the Germany match, but [...]

Two Day Break

So, what did you lot get up to yesterday? What have you all got planned for today? After the sporting equivalent of mainlining heroin, I didn’t quite know what to do. I tried watching Wimbledon for an hour or so, but it didn’t really scratch the itch. I had a quick flick through the BBC’s [...]

England’s Dreaming?

That St George has fot a lot to answer for. As one or two of you may already be aware, I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to fight the corner for those amongst us that would like to win the World Cup, and won’t apologise to the rest of the world because we [...]

The Old Masters

France 3-1 Spain
You can’t keep a good team down. France have, finally arrived at this tournament and, curiously enough, in exorcising still more of their own demons, they also showed up the limitations of Spain which were overlooked in the hyperbole following their opening win against Ukraine. Last night, they called on all their reserves [...]

A Helping Hand?

Brazil 3-0 Ghana
So, you’re the coach of Ghana. Your team is great going forward, but possibly slightly vulnerable defensively. You’re playing Brazil. What would your team talk be? Would you say, “Right lads, we’ve heard all about these four fantastic players that they’ve got. What shall we do about it? Well, I’ve been thinking about [...]

Rampant Commercialism Isn’t A Completely New Invention

Okay. First of all, as promised, a quick word about last night. I’m delighted that Switzerland have been eliminated. As I’ve said on here a few times before, one of the great things about this World Cup has been that one of that the defensive teams have, in the end, been found out and eliminated [...]

Christ.

Switzerland 0-0 UkraineI’m really struggling to come up with the words to describe this shambles. I’ll try again in the morning.

The Late Late Show

Italy 1-0 Australia
Well, off they go then. Australia, whose appearance in the World Cup finals had brought about much press coverage as Brazil, Argentina or England, didn’t have enough in their engine to out-smart those foxy Italians. They had, to be honest, flattered to deceive in the first round. The hyperbole that surrounded their win [...]

Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight!

Portugal 1-0 Holland
Go on. Admit it. There’ll be plenty of talk over the next couple of days about the “disgrace” that this match has brought upon this World Cup, but… it was great, wasn’t it? There’s nothing quite like multiple red cards to get the heart racing, and tonight we saw four of them. Four! [...]