Day 24 - Karma, bitches!

Watching Forlán's free kick clank off the crossbar was pretty good redemption for Ghana (although, I'm sure the Ghanaians would have preferred to have been in that game. Well done, Germany. Well done, Uruguay.

Time for the main event.

Day 20

You know I was all set to gloat about picking the Dutch, but then Uruguay/Ghana happened.

That was the cruelest ending to a game I've ever seen. Luis Suarez's desperate act paid off.

I think a Dutch/German final is on the way. The Dutch seem to do what they need to do to get it done.

Day 16 - The end for the US

South Korea gave it a go and pushed Uruguay, but in the end the Reds couldn't get it done.

Same with my beloved Yanks. They kept putting themselves behind the eight ball one too many times. I think this experience will make the 2014 team much, much stronger. We need some faster defenders, and an increase in overall team speed. Jozy, brother, work on your finishing.

Bob, take the hint. We played much more offensively in a 4-5-1.

Overall, I'm still proud of the guys.

Well done, Ghana.

Day 15 - Zzzzzz...

Now you know what happens when teams know the score. Brazil/Portugal? What a snoozer!
Spain/Chile? Boring!

At least Ivory Coast and North Korea went down fighting.

Day 13 - A Lucky Day

As my household watched the US/Algeria game, my partner started to believe the US was cursed.

For the first 90 minutes of that game, I couldn't say I blamed her.

Now the Yanks are through, and face Ghana (and all of Africa) next. I'm interested to see if the boys can get their focus, and beat this team.

Congrats to England and Germany (whew, we don't have to face them until the final), too.

I think the US has a chance to make it to the semis now. Uruguay is playing well and is the team to beat in our quarter of the bracket, and the US needs to finish better, but it's possible.

Day 12

Congrats to Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and South Korea for making it through. South Africa made Mexico sweat for a bit, but it was nowhere near the excitement of Nigeria/South Korea. Yakubu with the miss of the tournament. Even the penalty he scored moments later won't ever wash the taste of that miss out of his mouth.

As good as it looks for South America, is as bad as it looks for the African teams. I'm rather sad about that.

My focus now is trying to figure out the ways the U.S. can avoid Germany in the round of 16. :)

Day 11

Nothing to see here...move along.

Looks like scores stayed true to form.
Adios mi amigos de Honduras.
(hope I got that right) :)

Portugal...damn. Adios Ivory Coast.

Day 9 - Yup, Koo-Koo for Cocoa Puffs

Harry it was a handball and a red. Get over it. The rest of your boys still ground out the tie aganist Ghana.

Sorry to see Cameroon crash out like that, but damn, what a game with Denmark. It was like watching Pulp Fiction, or some blacksploitation kung-fu shit. It action just didn't motherfucking stop.

The Dutch still aren't looking like world beaters, but they got the job done. Frankly, that might be what it takes to claim this cup.

Day 7

Looking at how Group A and B are shaping up brought up an interesting point. Since Mexico and Uruguay are now tied with 4 points with France and South Africa only having 1 point, all Mexico and Uruguay need to do is tie their final group game and both are through.

However there is one reason for Mexico and Uruguay to be competitive...Argentina. Whoever finishes second in the group will most likely face Argentina in the Round of 16.

For a similar reason the U.S. needs to not just win their next two games, but score as much as possible to win Group C. If things fall into place, they'd avoid Germany, and have a reasonable chance to make it to the semis by avoiding the big dogs.

Day 6

Well done Swiss. It made me flash back to the Confederations' Cup and the upset by the US.

Pity poor South Africa. I personally think the guy dove to get the keeper tossed, but it's still a huge blow for their chances of getting out of the group. Then again France is imploding before our eyes. The France/Mexico match becomes much bigger in determining the outcome of this group.

Day (wait, did Germany just score again?) 3

Die Mannschaft whipped it out and smacked it across some Aussie faces today.

My man Dracula's a ref in the World Cup!

I was gonna talk about how good Ghana looked to...
(Germany scored again!)

The U.S. and England better go through after watching that hot mess of the other two teams in the group.

Day 1 thoughts

South Africa/Mexico was a joy to watch. I usually cheer for Mexico against other teams, but because of what South Africa's been through, my heart was going for them. Fun game to watch. Watching Archbishop Tutu dancing after the fabulous goal by Tshabalala was the embodiment of that joy.

I see what they mean about the ball. That thing's lively. Lots of players were skying free kicks and crosses.

Watching Lalas and Ruud together during the breaks of the Uruguay/France game was entertaining in its discomfort. I don't think Lalas looked at Ruud until the post game wrap up (I bet a director pointed it out to Alexi). Read The Beckham Experiment to find out why. :)

Martin Tyler, just call the game, please. The moment you start waxing poetic about stuff other than soccer, it's kind of embarrassing. Your broadcast partner today was just as bad. There was some "African rhythms" comment that was just cringe-worthy.

Uruguay/France was the kind of game that soccer haters point to. I can't blame them here. What a slog of a game.

Gosh, I wonder what's on tomorrow?

;)

Togo

The attack on the Togo team bus was an absolute tragedy. My thoughts go out to the dead and wounded in this incident. I understand both their desire to stay and play as well as their need to head home.
It also saddens me when I see people using this incident to make negative comments about the World Cup being in South Africa. It's just the same shit I touched on in my previous post.

Some Nigerian tried to set his explosive underpants on fire on a flight into Detroit.
WE SHOULD MOVE THE OLYMPICS!!!

That's how stupid you sound.

There's a what? Where? Who?

For my first post of the new year I'd like to discuss the African Cup of Nations tournament starting this Sunday.

What? You've never heard of the African Cup of Nations?
Hmm, why is that?
Could it be that folks think of Africa as that land with jungles, monkeys, elephants, natives, and AIDS?
Was that too harsh?

Okay.

Maybe it's because it never gets any airplay, any print, any love outside of Africa.

What? The AFC Asian Cup doesn't get any airplay either? Well, except for Football Asia on FSC (or is it Setanta, or is it Gol TV?). I lose track with all these soccer channels now.

Hmm, with all these channels now you'd think there'd be room to broadcast some of these games. I mean who wouldn't want to watch Michel Essien, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o, or the Touré brothers?

It's almost as if FIFA has something to hide by not showing off this tournament. The Europeans hate this tournament. It takes away star African players from their precious clubs during the month of January. "Play it in the summer!" they say! "Do it like us!" they exclaim. "We can't," they answer. Sepp and the boys don't listen.

It's a shame really. There's a lot of damn good soccer being played in the next month, and some damn good soccer players. I'll say this though. You can bet your ass that those same club teams that hate the African Cup of Nations are sending scouts so they can pluck the next Drogba out of that so-called jungle. Why would FIFA help build the African soccer infrastructure when it's much easier to give a player his big dream by leaving and going to the rich clubs in Europe? The last thing those European clubs want is that African pipeline to dry up. They've got a vested interest in making sure the player want to leave.

Yeah, it's a damn shame.
And before you answer...no the World Cup in South Africa doesn't make up for it.