War in Lebanon

Breaking news:  Israel is planning an invasion of southern Lebanon.  You might think that this is the 80s and 90s all over again, but it’s not.

Basically what happened is Israel is getting fed up.  Hezbollah kidnapped one of their officers and launched some missiles, not just into Israel but into Haifa, which is a major town.  Here’s an explanation of Israeli nerves right now.

Israel apparently has dropped thousands of leaflets around Lebanon saying that anyone not affiliated with Hezbollah better get under cover, because they’re coming in.  Lebanon is freaked out, but not at Israel.  They are pissed at Hezbollah for causing Israel to do this, which is the correct attitude I think.  Lebanon hasn’t cleaned up the Hezbollah areas and demanded that they give up all their weapons because they are afraid of them.  The Hezbollah army is actually more dangerous than the Lebanese army.

Israel insists that they aren’t going to stop until Hezbollah is neutralized and they get their man back.  I don't think that the rest of the Lebanese are going to try and stop them either.

Of all the news medias out there, I would keep my eye on this one.  Pajamas media is on top of it, pulling together news reports and blogger reactions to events.  Most notably they are looking for Lebanese and Israeli blog reactions.

To get caught up read these three posts.

The United Nations Security Council is going to hold an immediate session to discuss the crisis.  However, I doubt that anything meaningful is going to happen considering the resolution that was vetoed by the US earlier this week.

Final World Cup post

All right, I mean it.  This will be the last official World Cup posting.  At least for a while.
I just wanted to sum up a few things that I was reading on the USA national team and what this country is going to have to do to compete on the international stage.  If nothing else, we’re going to have to get more serious about paying attention to what’s going on, because one thing you need that the rest of the world has that we definitely don’t have is absolute passion.  I’m not saying our boys didn’t try hard, but the kind of importance that other countries place on this tournament and this sport drives the players to higher levels of performance.  You don’t think so?  Ask yourself why the same countries win time and time again, despite how much exposure the sport has in the rest of the world.  America is a land of many choices when it comes to our pastimes, and winning the cup just isn’t that important yet.

Oh, yeah, and American fans aren’t going to give it that kind of importance until they learn the game, and they aren’t going to learn it until they get more exposure, and they aren’t going to get that exposure until ESPN, ABC and everyone else shows something more than the World Cup every 4 years.  Hear that TV People?

There are a lot of other reasons.  This Boston guy who worked in soccer for years says that the game is still too difficult for American athletes.

Though hitting a baseball may be the single most difficult feat in sports, soccer is hands down the most demanding team sport to master. Soccer players must contemplate a seemingly endless number of possibilities regarding what to do when the ball comes. In motion on a field that is up to 120 yards long and 75 yards wide, with 9 other field teammates to consider, the possibilities are many, and relatively complex. It is like a chess game, but the board is gigantic, and the pieces are moving quickly. From an intelligence perspective, the only other somewhat analogous sports are basketball and hockey, which also demand quick thinking within a free-flowing game. Yet, given that players in those sports must consider merely 4 other teammates over a smaller field (i.e., court, rink), mastering the intelligence of soccer is a far more intricate and demanding feat.

Jamie Trecker asks 5 questions that American Soccer needs to answer before it can progress:
-If Claudio Reyna is the best American player, why did he play in only ONE World Cup win in this three Cup appearances?
-Did Landon Donovan fail in 2006 because he isn’t good enough to get the ball, or because it was not given to him?
-Was the USA team over trained?
-Do we need better coaching or what can a coach to with the players he has?
- What can be done to attract superior athletes?

$300 for vasectomy

Paying drug addicts to become sterile.

Barbara Harris drove her RV gingerly through Old Town and staked her territory beneath the Burnside Bridge, one of the first stops on her cross-country mission as head of Project Prevention, a foundation that offers $300 to drug users willing to be sterilized or use long-term birth control.

Harris founded her program in 1998. Originally called C.R.A.C.K. -- Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity -- it immediately attracted attention and criticism. Supporters call Harris a hero. Detractors label her tactics as modern-day eugenics.

Like the “K” on community?  Don’t people who care about kids teach them to spell correctly?
Sorry.  Mean jab.  Anyway, I think that people who complain about “modern-day eugenics” have a flimsy logical argument.  I can see what they are getting at, however most historical eugenic-type attempts at controlling breeding had to do with actual genetics.  I.E. you wanted to control some genetic feature of the human genome so that people in the future would be genetically free from some sort of deficiency (or perceived deficiency) or genetically steer some race toward more whiteness or whatever. 

For instance there was a problem some years ago with states mandating that certain mental health patients become sterile.  But I think in this case, since the program is completely voluntary and the target group is not any particular genetic group but a group with a social/chemical problem, the opponents have little argument on this point.

While I applaud the reasons for the foundation, that it would reduce the number of unexpected children born into a life of drugs, crime and poverty, I think that I have a problem with the permanency of it all.  For $300 (and I’m assuming the operation is covered as well) you give up your ability to reproduce for life.  What if you clean up and want to change your life and start a family somewhere down the road.  Can an addicted person on drugs make that kind of decision for themselves?

ID for Vote

Georgia’s law that only registered voters with State ID can participate in the vote is getting some significant roadblocks this week.

The state's top elections official testified Wednesday that about 675,000 registered voters have neither a Georgia driver license nor state identification, as a federal court considers a request to block a Georgia law that requires voters to show photo ID.

U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy was hearing the civil rights groups' motion less than a week before the new law would apply for the first time at the polls.

Earlier a County Superior Court judge issued a restraining order on the law until the issue is resolved.  Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, a little time for citizens of the state to pick up a state ID of some sort before the law fully goes into effect would be a good thing.

Apparently there is a case now before the state Supreme Court and this one before a Federal judge on the same bill.  Quite a barrage of lawsuits against this attempt to curtail voter fraud.

You can probably guess many of the organizations pushing these cases; ACLU, NAACP and Hispanic groups.  They would like you to think that this law is going to disenfranchise some group of people or another, but this is another case of phantom victimhood.  Basically you are a victim if you don’t get a readily available ID card that proves you are a citizen.  I realize this is harder for some people than others, but how hard is that really?  I would rather leave a small few voters who don’t want to bother with the small amount of time they would have to spend to acquire proof that they can indeed vote out in the cold than deal with the potential voter fraud.  Call it my “Sacrificing the incompetent for the sake of preventing access to the malicious” attitude.

By the way, don’t most states require you to carry some sort of ID on your person at all times?  In an age of heightened security and danger from terrorism, why aren’t we required to have that ID anyway?

Cooperation and Credit Cards

Let it not be said that bi-partisan bills that engender massive support from both parties never happen.  In fact they happen more frequently than you would think.  Take this bill designed to ban the use of credit cards in online gambling.

The U.S. Congress has voted 317-93 in favor of a bill that will place a ban on many forms of Internet gambling because credit cards, banks and other online credit companies will no longer be allowed to make payments to Internet gambling web sites.  It would be the job of the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to try and make sure that companies are not allowing the payments to online gambling sites that are traditionally overseas.  Law enforcement and Internet service providers will work together to block user access to gambling web sites.

The effects of this are really unknown.  How do you police it, and what about off shore gambling?  There are still many critics, but despite that, the heavy majority that voted for it is enough to illustrate that it’s definitely the will of the people talking and not some partisan thing.

I wonder how the credit card companies feel about this.  I would imagine that they are ambivalent toward it.  Both nervous that congress just exercised the power to limit the use of credit, and relieved as gambling with credit is a fast ticket to bankruptcy and a rise in that sort of thing can’t be good for the industry’s bottom line.

Italy def. France

What happened?  This game is going to be seared in the memories of many people world wide.  But perhaps that’s going to be for the wrong reasons.  The best soccer team in the world has been crowned and Italy sits alone on the throne.

If you were watching and you care, you have many reasons to dislike the result.  One is that it was low scoring and went to penalty kicks.  I hate penalty kick situations, but only because it rewards teams who bottle up games and don’t have the flair to score.  It often can punish the team who played better in the match.  It’s even worse in a final game, because even though someone has to win, it won’t necessarily reward the better team.

For instance, in 1994, Italy was rewarded with a heartbreaking loss after the greatest player in the world at the time, Roberto Baggio, missed his penalty at the end of the game, handing a horribly lackluster Brazilian side their 4^th World Cup trophy.

So call it poetic justice, or call it what you will.  Italy played fate and earned their 4^th Cup trophy in the same manner.  I think they played better throughout the cup than Brazil did in 1994, had to face and overcome some tough opposition (Czechs, Germans) and definitely had the best defense in the tournament and the world.  However, the French outplayed them for much of the game and definitely had more creative flair.  Their downfall might have resulted from the other bad taste in my mouth from this game.

That would be Zidane head-butting Marco Materazzi late in overtime.  In one of those unexplained freak moments in sports, one of the greatest players to ever walk out on the pitch, the hero of the 1998 World Cup and France’s captain, sent Materazzi to the ground by thrusting his head into the Italian defender’s chest.  That kind of thing, if the ref sees it, will get you thrown out of the game and probably the next game after that.  But for Zidane there will be no more games.  He was planning on retiring after the Cup, so add that to the list of reasons why Zidane should have held back and ignored the verbal abuse.  Here’s a non-exhaustive list:

1.You are the team captain, lead by example.
2.This is the last game of your storied career.  Don’t go out on a bad note.
3.You’ve been one of the best players in the tournament.  Your team needs you in the most important game in the last 8 years for your country.

4.You are the best penalty taker on the pitch and it looks like it might go that far.
I could go on.  Reports are coming in now that right before the incident, Materazzi held Zidane’s shirt, tweaked his nipple and said a couple of things.  Zidane responded in a haughty kind of way, and then Materazzi said something that apparently made Zidane lose it completely.  Players accept a certain amount of mouthing off on the field, but there is considerable argument right now that the statement was racial, and FIFA might come back and penalize Materazzi over the incident.  Zidane is known for seeing red and over-reacting, but so is Materazzi, so it wouldn’t be unheard of.

Despite that, Zidane won the Golden Ball award, declaring him the best player of the tournament.  Which, before that ugly moment in the final, I think he deserved.

But that’s beside the point.  Italy have the Cup. 
I’ll tell you a funny (funny=tragic) story.  There are, in fact, a few things more important to me than soccer.  The main one here is God, and on Sunday morning, while the game was airing live here on the west coast of North America, I was attending church.  I had a friend TVO the game, but even if I couldn’t I wouldn’t have skipped church.

However, I got the DVD from them, and planned to watch the game later that night after having dinner with my parents.  My parents brought a friend over, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, so it was great to chat with her over the meal.  At some point in the meal we got to talking about this Italian friend of hers, and she dropped the bomb.  Boy, he’s sure got to be happy right now that they’ve won the World Cup, or something like that.

My humble response was something like this:  “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!”
So I go into this game knowing the eventual victor, I was determined to enjoy the play anyway.  Which I did.  The Italians played their game and did it brilliantly in the first half.  They marked the Frenchmen close and didn’t give them room to move.  Their attacks were quick and responsive off of their defensive takeaways.  The goal off the corner kick was brilliant and well deserved.

The French turned it around and played their game to the hilt in the second half and it was beautiful.  Zidane directed many dangerous attacks on the Italian goal and Patrick Viera, Makalele and Thuram were impenetrable.  The fact that neither team could get a goal in the run of play wasn’t really a detractor.

For those of you who thought that Malouda dove in the box to get that penalty kick that resulted in the Zidane goal for France: yes, it’s arguable that France didn’t deserve that kick.  However, they did deserve one about 20 minutes later when Malouda was obviously taken down inside the area.  Big no-call by the ref, but perhaps he was making up for the first one.

All this to say, bit congratulations to the Italians.  They get bragging rights for the next 4 years, and the pressure is off them for a while.  Say what you want about Italian football (physical, conservative, defensive, scandalous), they own it right now.

So a trend continues and one ends.  The trend of European teams winning in Europe and losing elsewhere stomps on.  It’s only been broken once, and that was when Brazil won the Cup in Sweden.  Next cup is set to be played in South Africa (or somewhere in Africa), so Argentina or Brazil anyone?

The other trend that was broken was that either Brazil or Germany has been present in the final game in all but one of the World Cups since 1950 (in 1950 there was no final, instead there was a final “group” that Uruguay came out on top of.  Brazil, however, was in the group).  The one cup final was 1978, when Argentina won their first title by defeating Holland.

Brazil has 5 titles, and Italy now has 4.  Germany has 3 and Argentina and Uruguay have 2 each.  England and France have one.  On to 2010!

World Cup 2006, finit.

My overall comments on the World Cup this year.  I had probably the best time watching soccer than I ever have.  I think that partly stems from the fact that I got to watch far more games than I ever have.  I also got to share a bit of it in my writings here, as well as see some exciting action. 

Sure the USA didn’t get as far this year, but replace that excitement with all the controversy regarding refereeing, diving and possible violence.  OK, maybe not, but unlike 2002, there was some really good soccer played this time around.  There were only a few teams in 2002 that I thought were playing really well, Brazil among them.  Turkey was another.  This year I found I was enjoying some actually creative midfield play and true attacking soccer from a number of teams, including Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, and (finally, when they got around to it) France.

I hope that the trend continues.  Many people are getting soured by the increase in “professional fouling” and diving to get advantage.  I certainly agree that this takes away from the game, and if nothing else I hope that the refereeing trend in the last few games, where they let the game progress instead of let fouls control the pace of play, continues.  I also hope that countries get shamed at some point into trying harder to play well instead of develop those “professional” skills mentioned above.  I know I speak for Billions when I say that good soccer is a joy to watch, in those uncommon moments when it happens.

And one more comment on the refs.  Sure there were some bad refs and some bad calls that changed games, but just because there was a record number of yellow and red cards in 2006 doesn’t mean that many of them weren’t fully deserved.  The game has gotten quite physical.

Some other interesting articles as a result of the passing Cup.
Jamie Trecker looks at ideas to reform the Cup so the process won’t be so grueling for the players, and games during the qualifying and final will have more importance.  Although I think the wisest thing in the comments section of his post pointed out that the larger club leagues forcing more club games and more regional tournaments is what is causing players to wear out, not all the national team games.

Another thought on why American soccer players are not ready to compete for the ultimate prize.

Here’s an opinion about what’s going on in the Italian league.  It’s not just a game or two fixed by officials from one team or another.  It’s the officials from several teams fixing matches by manipulating referees over a period of years.  What happens when the perennial top 4 or 5 teams with billions in TV, marketing and ticketing revenues suddenly gets thrown down into the Italian minor leagues?

Here’s the Guardian’s best and worst of the Cup.
ESPNs All star team of the tournament is here.

My impressions of the final game later.

Oregon November Ballot

Just got a notification from my state senator listing the ballot measure that he thinks we are going to see in November’s election this year.  Thusly:

-Parental notification on abortions
-Restrictions on government use of eminent domain
-limits on campaign contributions
-Ban on the use of credit scores in calculating insurance rates
-Stronger nursing requirements for nursing homes
-Term limits for legislators
-Colorado style spending limits
-Expanded personal tax deductions
-Expanded state prescription program
-Election of judges by district
-Open primaries

These are just the state measures.  I’m also expecting to see something about a county or regional tax to replace the Multnomah County tax we’ve been saddled with for the last 3 years.   Remember, that was a temporary tax.

I see some measures that I’m likely to support, some that I’m sure I won’t, and a few that I’ll definitely need more information on.  Let the mayhem begin!

Best game of the World Cup

OK, I saw the marquee matchup this morning in that Argentina/Germany game.  Wow, what a spectacle!  These teams were well matched, it seems, and both played their game for the most part.  Argentina controlled the ball and the midfield, and Germany created quick chances with pinpoint passes through the middle and lofted balls into their big strikers.  Both played great defense, and I just hated hearing Marcelo Balboa make comments to the effect that one team or the other weren't playing up to their usual standards.  There is such a thing as defense, you know.

Two things that could have ruined this game, but only slightly sullied it instead. 
1. The Diving.  Please, players, stop trying your hardest to get penalties called and try your hardest to get the ball in the back of the net.  To be fair, both teams were equally the villains here.  There were at least 4 blatant dives, 2 on each team (there were more on either team that could be argued were great pieces of acting), and one case in each direction of the ref buying it and issuing a yellow to the opposition for the phantom foul.  Only once was a player actually cautioned for diving.

2. Argentina's substitutions.  Heaven knows what Pekerman was doing there.  Perhaps it was a reaction to being up a goal and losing his starting goal keeper to injury, but pulling Requelme out?  And not replacing him with another play maker?  This was an Italy type of thing to do, put in defense specialists and try and bottle up the game and protect your 1-0 lead.  Guess what.  It didn't work.

What would have happened if he had put in Messi instead.  Or Aimar.

Round of Sixteen - Finit

I got to watch most of the round of 16 games this week, and this is my impressions coming from them.  The Quarterfinals are set, and here are the 8 teams.

Germany:  Look very strong.  All the negative press they got before the tournament was deserved, as they had played pretty bad coming into the Cup Finals, however it seems to have spurred them on to greater form.  Sometimes that’s the prideful response you get to negative press.  Klinsmann is helping too with his obviously strong leadership skills.

Argentina:  What was that?  It was a great game with Mexico showing up for the first time in recent memory.   They played great soccer, passing beautifully in the midfield and throwing the Argentines off their game.  Coach Volpe deserves lots of credit for this, but one wonders where all this skill and tactical brilliance was earlier in the tournament.

As for Argentina, they are still the biggest threat to Germany before the final, but will the team that smacked Serbia show up or the team that lost form when pressured by Mexico show?

England:  Still not playing great soccer, but defending well (the Sweden game was an aberration) and finding ways to get it done.  Contrary to many journalists I’ve read since then, I thought they looked better in this game than they did in the group games.  They have the potential to bring it all together against Portugal, who are missing their best player and playmaker Deco.  The 4-5-1 seemed to work for them once they got comfortable with it in the second half of the Ecuador game.  Will Sven stay with it?

Portugal:  In a game that will be talked about for years, most likely one of the most memorable of this cup, the Dutch for all their effort and nifty passing, could not score.  It’s a shame that it had to be tarnished by the officiating and that the next game will be tarnished by the loss of Deco due to that officiating. 

The game will also be debated for some time because of Van Basten’s decisions regarding who was brought (notable veterans were left at home) and who was played and substituted for this game. 

Portugal is playing well and has many great players who love to attack, and Figo is playing well, so I think they can still do damage.  If England doesn’t continue to improve their play, Portugal can win that battle.

Italy:  One of the games I didn’t see.  Word is that the Italians are playing well and were in control for most of the game over the Australians.  If that’s true why didn’t they score?  The Soceroos have played a massively good cup and deserve to fly home with their heads held high (no pun intended).  Italy’s lack of scoring prowess on the boys from down under is going to haunt them down the line in this tournament.  As for this game, I have one question:  Where was Harry Kewell?

Italy is in a lucky draw, though, and is playing strong enough to beat a still one dimensional Ukraine.

Ukraine:  I saw this game, and was mesmerized by the defensive battle that ensued.  Really, it was like watching a tennis match with the possession changing hands every few seconds.  Ukraine, Switzerland, Ukraine, Swiss, Ukraine, Swiss… ad nausium.  That it went to penalty kicks is no surprise.  That the Ukraine’s attack is still one dimensional is going to hurt them against Italy.  This is the last Cinderella team still alive, and it’s easy to see why people argue that international soccer will be in the hands of the traditional powers for a long time to come.  6 of the 8 teams left have won the World Cup in the previous 40 years (In fact they are the only ones who have won it in the last 40 years).

Brazil:  what can you say.  Even not playing at full form they were too much for Ghana.  The African teams at this cup were athletic and talented, but experience and passion mean something at this level, and it’s all about finishing power.  Ronaldo is back, and once everyone on this team starts clicking it’s going to be scary.  There’s no one in this side of the bracket who can touch them, so unless they have a really off day, they’re in the final.

France:  Viva la France!  Wow.  My vote for best game of the World Cup 2006 so far.  Scoring, great defense, low yellow card count, actual inventive play up front, great passing from the Spanish (and did I mention scoring?).  France finally decided to show up for this tournament by playing the game of their lives, capped off by a goal from the venerable Zidane.  Do they stand a chance against Brazil?  Heck no.  But who cares.  They just made up for the pathetic showing in Korea/Japan in 2002, and they are enjoying the role of underdog for a change.

Quarterfinal games on Friday and Saturday.  Two whole days with no games!  How will I survive until then?!?

You've been Red-Carded

If you’ve been watching the World Cup for the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably either noticed, or heard about, the more than usual occurrence of yellow and red cards.  For those of you not used to the game, yellow cards are the referee’s way of cautioning a player they think did something dangerous or otherwise unsportsmanlike during the run of play.  If you get two of them in a game the red card comes out.  The red card is immediate ejection from the game, and unlike most other team sports, the coach can’t replace the player and so they play with 10 men for the rest of the game.  Red cards can be shown by the ref for a very serious dangerous play before a first yellow card, but it’s up to the ref.

Anyway, we’ve seen some pretty silly excuses for bringing out the yellow this tournament, like dissent (players don’t like all the calls, it’s just a fact), wasting time, and even taking a penalty kick before the ref was set and ready to go. 

I’ll agree that these slight offenses need to be dealt with, but it’s the other rule of the Cup that if a player collects two yellows over a three game period he is suspended for the immediate next game.  When you get upwards of 6 to 10 yellow cards occurring in some games, as we have been getting, you can imagine that a lot of quality players end up suspended.

Mike Adamson, of the Guardian in England, speaks to this and offers an alternative for FIFA.  The real gem is in the countless comments following the post, where numerous fans of the game offer their ideas to solve this problem.

One more set of group games

Spain played a lackluster 2nd half, knowing they don't really need it, to beat the Saudis 1-0.  The Ukraine, only needing a tie, beat Tunisia 1-0 on a Shevchenko penalty kick.  They are in as well.

Now there's only two games left today to decide the final placements in the round of 16.  France needs a win and some help from the Switzerland-S.Korea game.  Pitiful that they put themselves in this position, but a win would make up for the dismal 2002 performance, if but just a little.

Current World Cup games

Spain is playing Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine faces Tunisia.
Spain and Ukraine are in position to advance 1 and 2.  However, Tunisia has a point from an earlier tie with the Saudis, and can advance if they beat the Ukraine.  It's a good game so far from the reports.  Tunisia actually creating more shots and more ball control.

Spain is dominating the Saudis with what amounts to their second string.  It's already 1-0, Spain has possession 63% of the time and they have taken 11 shots to the Saudis 2.

The Ref

More trouble for Markus Merk, the referee for the USA v. Ghana game.  Not only are Americans complaining about that call that led to the penalty kick that won the game for Ghana, now Ghana complains about the booking to Michael Essien that forces him to miss the next match.

'The insistence on yellow cards is crazy,' Arena said. 'It is taking good players out of the tournament. The mandate to show yellow cards has gone overboard.'

And he added: 'Essien out of the next game is unfair. The tackle was actually good. I feel bad for Essien. He will miss the next match. He is a great player.'

Hmmm, the opposing coach, even after a bitter loss, complains about the call.  Indeed I thought there were a ton of bad calls on both sides, and I certainly hope we don’t see Merk again in the tournament.

Italian player suspended

Italy’s midfielder, Daniele De Rossi, just got a four game match suspension for his elbow into American Brian McBride’s face last Saturday.  So unless the Italians make the final, this guy’s not playing in any more Cup games.

The Italians are not contesting it.

USA out, Ghana in

Well that was a train wreck of a soccer game.  The USA falls flat on it’s face and misses an opportunity to slip into the second round this morning, losing 2-1, and Italy completed the Czech misery tour at the World Cup with a 2-0 victory.

Now let’s get one thing out of the way.  Yes the refereeing was horrible.  The German, Merk, is supposed to be one of the better refs in the world right now, but he threw a lot of bad calls in this game.  Something needs to be done about the calling this year, but I imagine it won’t happen until after the Cup is done.  To be honest, there were many bad calls going against either team.  No one was out to get the US here or anything.  However, only one of those whistles from Merk really mattered, and that was the horrible should-have-been-a-no-call flop in the box.  Please admit it: Pompong took a dive and got rewarded for it.  Even if their had been contact, it would have been pretty minor and not worth the extreme measure of a penalty kick. 

But getting beyond that, without the bad penalty kick call, the game would have still ended in a tie.  Which is not what the USA needed here.  In truth, all the other stuff is out the window and the only thing that matters is that the USA played pretty dreadful soccer for most of this game.  Actually: most of these games.

They are certainly the best team coming out of CONCACAF these days (you say Mexico’s in the second round?  Please, that was a wing and a prayer in a much softer group), however you can get away with that sling the ball up the field and out run and out muscle the opposing defense thing in North America.

Getting away with it on a World stage is not going to serve American soccer in the long run.

The only true moment of brilliance was Beasley’s perfect pass over to Dempsey for the goal.  But that wasn’t a play created by good ball movement from the midfield.  Beasley was in the right place at the right time to steal a errant pass.

The US has been described as a workman’s soccer team, and that’s only going to get you so far without a lot of luck.  We got lucky in 2002.  We didn’t this time.  If the USA wants to consistently make it out of the first round every four years, they are going to have to improve monumentally on a skill and tactical level.  Just watch the Argentina game vs. Serbia, and then watch this game the USA played against Ghana and you’ll see what I mean.  There’s ball control, and then there’s this game the USA insists on playing.

This is not to say that the USA isn’t good at all.  While they don’t deserve their no. 5 world ranking on the FIFA site, they are certainly talented enough to give any team trouble on any given day.  And you can’t get too wrapped up in their not getting out of Group E, which, I’m sorry bitter commenter from a couple of weeks ago, really turned out to be the group of death in this tournament.  The US kept it interesting, the Czechs, for all their talent, couldn’t overcome, and Ghana is the only African team to advance into the second round.

Wednesday at the Cup

Kind of a tepid day for the World Cup.  The only drama we had for a team that was not guaranteed a spot in round two was Mexico trying to get a last spot.   Angola had a mathematical chance to get in, but had to win to do it, and they didn’t.  They tied Iran 1-1, but they showed pretty well for a team that most pegged as the worst in the entire field.

Mexico proved how little of a roar they are going to make at this competition by losing the Portugal.  Next up: Argentina.  Yikes!

The next set of games formed an ironic pair.  I say ironic because the game that meant something, i.e. Argentina and Holland played for the chance to top the group and play Mexico instead of Portugal.  That game ended in a 0-0 tie, with some good run of play, but no brilliance in the box.  Not that surprising, considering all the players that both teams chose to rest.  The drive to not have to play Portugal apparently wasn’t all that important.  I guess if you can’t beat Portugal, you can just kiss any chance of beating actual contenders to the crown goodbye.

The other game between the Ivory Coast and Serbia was for nothing, as both teams had no points and crashed out of the cup after two games.  However, that game was a cracker (as the English keep saying), the Ivorians winning 3-2.  They didn’t get far, but the Ivory Coast certainly entertained.

England top Group B

There were 4 world cup games today, but I'm only going to talk about the England match, because that's the one I got to see. Germany looks strong going into the next round, stronger than I gave them credit for. But despite how awful they've looked in the last few years, they always seem to pick it up for the Cup.

Anyway, on to old mother England. All England needed to do was tie with Sweden and they would win the group. Sweden would have liked to win the game and top the group, but that was a significantly taller order, as their form has been way off so far.
The final score was 2-2, so the English get their not-so-daunting matchup with Ecuador on Sunday. And Trinidad lost, so Sweden would have made the second round whether they lost or not.
England finally played much better against a quality opponent. Perhaps what they needed was a challenge, as they just couldn't get their heads around efficient play or finishing in the box verses Paraguay or Trinidad and Tobago. Today they looked dangerous on all sides of the ball. The two goals that were scored by Joe Cole and Stephen Gerrard were just beautiful and well inside the flow of play.

Players can only watch as Joe Cole's
lofted shot gets tucked in the top corner

But unfortunately, there is a defensive problem that England needs to overcome if it wants to go any deeper than the quarter-finals. The two goals from Sweden came on set pieces and the defensive positions and reactions of the English players made them seem confused and disoriented when the ball finally arrived in the box. The corner kick that was headed in for Sweden's first goal was very well played, but Beckham was guarding the man who's head deflected the ball in the net, and he wasn't even near him when the ball made contact.
After Gerrard's goal, the game looked in the bag for the English. However, in the 90th minute, Sweden took a throw in, aimed right into the box, that despite the announcer's insistence that Henrik Larson got a foot on it, seemed to touch no human being, English or Swedish, before lazily bouncing by the far post, where Ashley Cole was supposed to be on set pieces, and into the net. There should be some shame spread around the squad for letting that one in.

I think that ESPN gave the man of the match to Stephen Gerrard, coming off the bench to score the second goal. Which was a great header into the corner pocket. However did you see who lofted that perfect chip shot onto his head? No, it wasn't Beckham, who was largely absent from the game today. It was Joe Cole. Besides the nifty and dangerous looking antics from Rooney up front, Joe Cole is the life and soul of this team right now. His energy coming up the left side created trouble for the Swedish defense all day.

Also of note, during the first few minutes of the game, Michael Owen went down with a knee injury and doesn't look like he's going to be back any time soon. While I'm sad for him and hope he heals quickly, I'm cynical about all the press that labels him stuff like their "most dangerous striker" and waxes woe on the English side for having lost him.
Have you seen any of the games they've played? Has having Owen in the game made the offense more or less effective do you think? I think not having him in there, and having the Crouch-Rooney front line with Cole and Gerrard in the midfield is what is producing magic for England right now, and I think that they will be better not having to rely on whether or not his scoring slump is going to be over before the end of this tournament.

Looking forward to seeing if Sweden can handle the dynamic striker tandem of Klose and Podolski on Saturday. My guess is that they won't be able to.

Update: Nick Webster rates the English players in Tuesday's game.

World Cup: 2nd week

Reactions from a long weekend of exciting soccer.
It is finally getting really exciting, as teams are making their push for the 2^nd round.  Winning the first game is important, as you don’t want to get into must-win situations too quickly.  However, teams usually get over their first game jitters and start playing ball like they mean it, and we’ve seem some interesting trends.

The Argentines are playing like they’re all channeling Maradona (who has been in the stands, by the way, as ESPN can’t stop panning over to see what he’s doing).  I haven’t seen better creativity or energy out of any team in the Cup so far.  After their thrashing of Serbia on Friday, they are in the 2^nd round.  So is Holland, after probably one of the best games at the cup so far.  The Ivory coast played well and looked dangerous the entire game, but were unlucky to win over an equally skilled and determined Dutch team.  So many balls went just wide or hit the bar in this game that I was in permanent Ooooh and Aaaah mode.

Wednesday’s Argentina v. Holland game should be the Must-See game of the entire group round (sorry, team USA, but if I had to pick…).  I think it would be a mistake for either of these teams to give up momentum just because they have a guaranteed spot in the 2^nd round.

Oh, by the way.  I had an interesting couple of comments about my group of death post last week.  Many people argued that Group C was the group of death this year and I got a pretty nasty comment when I declared that it was group E (foolish American).  Well, the two teams expected to come out of group C did, after two games.  Group E is still entirely up for grabs.  Any more arguments?

Portugal has finally shown some life with 6 points and a berth in round 2.  Mexico looks like a train wreck waiting to happen, and if Portugal takes this game seriously on Wednesday they could be looking at their first early exit from the World Cup in a long time.  It’s looking OK for them, but there’s a chance.

OK, I’m not going to comment on Saturday’s games too much, as in America here they’ve already been taken apart by everyone. 

The Czechs seem to have disappeared in game two, just in time for the Americans to wake up and take it to the Italians.  Yes, I’m surprised on both accounts.  I expected the Czechs to do better, and the Italians really should have taken the USA to the cleaners.  However, I’m wondering if after the first game both European teams relaxed a bit.

The Americans definitely played better in game two, and did very well to hold Italy to a draw.  But they have yet to score a goal in the tournament, and they need to solve that before playing a Ghana team who embarrassed a team that just finished thrashing the USA 5 days earlier.

Brazil.  What can you say.  They’re in round 2 and your not.  They haven’t looked like the magical samba band that they are known for, but they usually take a few games to really get going. 

Tough for the Australians, though.  They played a great game, and still have a great shot at getting into round 2.  I’m excited to see them there, as they look really good.  Harry Kewell is playing inspired ball right now.

France.  Ugh.  Check please, Monsieur.  At least they finally broke that 8 year scoring drought at a World Cup.  Friday is going to be a long day for the French.  Zidane got another yellow card and won’t be playing on Friday.  He’s looked pretty slow lately.  Will his absence be a bad thing?

Spain.  For a while in today’s game I thought that Tunisia had their number.  Spain tends to fall apart and choke at some point in every big tournament, despite their talent.  Would it be this early in the Cup? 

The answer was no.  They’re still able to create, and scored 3 quick goals toward the end of the game.  They still look really good, and controlled the ball well in the game, but we’re still holding our breath.

In the next round so far: Germany, Ecuador, England, Argentina, Holland, Portugal, Brazil, Spain.
Looks like a pretty familiar group.

Re-post

I had a post on Thursday bounce back at me.  So it should be right behind this one.  Catching up from being on the road and watching as much soccer as an American can.

World Cup: Some are moving on

The 2nd games of the group round have barely begun, and already we have some teams who have booked their slots in the 2nd round.  Yesterday Germany won their 2nd game, and guaranteed a spot, and today Ecuador and England won their 2nd games.  I thought Germany looked pretty sketchy in their match against Poland, but a win is a win.

Today Ecuador convincingly beat Costa Rica, controlling the ball all over the place and scoring 3 times.  If they tie Germany in the next match they could conceivably end up topping the group and playing the runner up from group B. 

England 2, Trinidad & Tobago 0
The score is misleading, as England didn't get their first goal until the 82nd minute.  Trinidad defended well and even got through the English defense a couple of times.  However, for 65 minutes of that game (as well as the first game) England played like smeg.  They couldn't find the penalty box of the opposition to save their tea.  It was close your eyes embarrassing. 

Sometime in the 65th minute, after some intelligent subs by Sven, the English woke up.  Finally: they were passing and keeping the ball.  Finally:  they seemed to find that inner passion they needed to win the game.  Finally:  they found a way to get the ball into the box and look threatening.

The reward came late with a perfect cross from Beckham to the tall and lanky Crouch (whose sole contribution up to that point was collecting penalties for climbing over defenders).  Gerrard's goal after that was beautiful, but academic in the 91st minute.

Sweden 1, Paraguay 0
Sweden has a chance to redeem themselves in the game vs. England next week.  They didn't look good in their first game, and from the reports they didn't sound very good in this game, but came away with the win anyway.  Paraguay is going home now.  They declared that they weren't afraid of England and Sweden before coming into this tournament, and perhaps they shouldn't have been.  But lack of fear doesn't help.  You also need to be able to score.

I'm on the road tomorrow.  Probably won't post again until Saturday.  Catch the action tomorrow, there should be some good games.  Up until this point, many of these teams have just been warming up.

End of week one

Continuing from yesterday, I stopped off at the Sunday games and Group D of World Cup action. 
Monday was the big day for the USA.  And they lit it off in spectacular style, showing just how you lose to European powerhouses.  You lose big.

To be fair, I’ve seen the US play tons better than they did.  And to be further fair, the Czechs played as good as I’ve seen anyone play in the tourney.  The passing was precise and the play was fanatic.  You can get reactions from anywhere and everywhere on this game, and I will probably agree with most of them, except the ones that insist that the US really is that bad.  There is a certain amount of bias against America on this point, however it must be said that the Americans looked unfocused and sloppy.  They acted like they didn’t want to be there at that moment, and they definitely are not ready to take on the mantle of World Cup champions any time soon.  It was obvious from the lack of passion and the ability to keep up the pace of the European players.

In case anyone is keeping score here, I have never claimed that the US was going to beat the Italians or Czechs out of this group.  It was unfortunate that they got put here, but since they are, while I think that they could surprise us and beat the Italians, I don’t think they will.  And, consequently, they won’t get to the next round.  I’m just hoping they play a bit better and leave Germany with something to be proud of.

Anyway, on to the other games.

Australia 3, Japan 1   
Oh, how I wish that I had caught this game.  The Aussies coming back from a 1-nil deficit to win 3-1?  How crazy was that?  They definitely made a statement, and it will be fun to see them play Brazil and the Croatians.  Can they get out of the group?  It depends on their game with Croatia.

Italy 2, Ghana 0
Who didn’t predict this?  Unfortunately, I was driving in no man’s land on the way to the northern California coast on business when this was going on, so I didn’t see the game and can’t comment on the play.  I’ll see them when they play America.

Brazil 1, Croatia 0
Really?  Just one goal?  Didn’t see this one either.  Can’t wait to see the Brazilians play.

South Korea 2, Togo 1
You have to admit that the Togo players put up a heck of a fight and provided some entertainment along the way.  These matches between lower quality teams get under-billed.  I enjoyed the scrappiness of both teams, and neither one was beyond the other in skill.  Togo could have pulled this one out.  However, it was obvious that the Koreans had the edge in skill and inventiveness, and so I’m not surprised that they eventually pulled it out.  That’s it for the Koreans, though.  As bad as France and Switzerland played in their match, I think they both won’t have trouble with these two.

France 0, Swiss 0
Ugh.  I was looking forward to this one over the previous game, as I predicted this great battle between very evenly matched opponents.  France looking to get back finally at a Swiss team that held them to two ties in the qualifying rounds.  How utterly bored I was while actually watching this.  How disappointed I am at seeing a team with such immense talent as the French waste it as they did.  Henry seemed like he was on Valium.  Zidane is beginning to play like he’s at the end of his career.  And he is.  They are missing the presence of Sissi as much as England was missing Roony last week.  Problem is they won’t be getting Sissi back.

Spain 4, Ukraine 0
Another game I was looking forward to.  It was still fun to watch, but only because the Spanish look really good this year.  I wanted to see some of Shevchenko’s blistering runs to the goal, but had to settle for the wonderful ball control, passing and finishing of the Spanish.  They might even make a believer out of me. 

As for the Ukrainians, Jamie Trecker of Fox says it best.

Spain is firing on all cylinders for the first time in ages. And Ukraine, apparently, is unfamiliar with the alarm clock. (But no matter: All America today thanks them for taking over last place. Way to step up, Operation Freedom ally Ukraine!)

Tunisia 2, Saudi Arabia 2
Didn’t get to see this one.  Thought it wouldn’t be worth my time, but heard from people that it was quite the game.  Not great play, but definitely suspense and passion.  Tunisia is the only African team to not lose a game so far.  The 2^nd round should finally see some African team wins, but it’s not going to be Tunisia, as Spain looks unbeatable, and the Ukraine won’t be the pushover that Spain made them seem like.

Germany 1, Poland 0
This was and interesting game.  I sat with some buddies over lunch and tried to get into this game.  There was definitely lots of emotion and hard tackling, for these are storied foes on the pitch.  What helped was that Poland decided to bring their B game (instead of the D- game last week) and German didn’t look as focused or disciplined as when they carved up the Costa Rica defense.  This game was kind of scrappy itself.  I honestly thought that the Polish were going to pull out a draw and take away some sort of foolish pride before they got sent home.  Oliver Neuvell, a hero from the last Cup, came in late in the match and scored the winner in injury time, after the 90^th minute.  Oh, heartbreak!  I was surprised it didn’t happen sooner, as the Polish lost a man due to red card in the 75^th minute.  Germany tried and tried, but just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.  Credit the Polish defense, but I see lots of problems with the German side that need to be addressed before the next round, which they have now a guaranteed spot in.

Just so as you know, despite my American fanship, I’m enjoying this cup to the hilt.  Hope you all are to some extent too.

World Cup - Week One

Sorry I haven't been posting.  I've been out of town, and happen to still be out of town.  So the time and access to internet has been compromised.

Well, where to begin.  First I would like to address my post last week, that got some pretty good criticism, concerning so called "groups of death."  Seems that me and my critics might both be proven wrong.  He seemed to think that Group E, containing the lowly USA, couldn't possibly be a group of death, as the Czechs and Italians would handily beat the US and Ghana, whereas the Serbs and the Ivory Coast were more than a match for "just waiting to be upset" Argentina and Holland.  Ok, here's my prediction for the two groups.  I think that after this week the best that will be said for the two groups is that  neither was a "group of death."   The USA looked HORRIBLE in their game vs. the Czechs, and their opponents looked every bit of the 2nd in the world ranking they have.  Ghana too looked overwhelmed by an experienced and determined Italian squad.

However, I wasn't really impressed with the Ivory Coast.  I watched that game, and thought that the Argentinean team was playing very well, while their opponents had some very obvious flaws.

I think of all these teams you could say that they are dangerous.  The USA is still dangerous, and they have the talent to put it together.  But will they?

OK, down to business.
Saturday:  England 1 Paraguay 0
This was a cover-face-game for the English.  Yes, they won.  However they looked very unfocused and couldn't seem to get the ball under control in the box.  Getting it to the box wasn't all that hard, but they look like they are just waiting for Roony to come and bail them out.  Their one goal comes from a Beckham kick from a set piece.  You can't count on those in every game.  Paraguay was just along for the ride.  Sweden can definitely take them if they improve from their last game.  Which brings me to:

Sweden 0 Trinidad-&-Tobago 0
This was a fun game to watch, but not because the talented Swedes played a pleasing version of the beautiful game.  It was fun because supreme underdogs T&T overcame playing with 10 men for an entire half to hold the Swedes scoreless.  Kudos for them, but this has just as much to do with Sweden playing under their ability.  And they are in danger of not getting out of this group unless they do well in their next two matches.

Argentina 2 Ivory Coast 1
I've said a bit about this one above.  I think that Argentina looks about as good as anyone in this tournament.  They played a group of larger and faster opponents well, defended well, and were very creative and fun to watch when attacking.  If they continue like that this group will come easy for them.  Not at all like the last world cup (when they were in a true group of death).  The Ivory Coast is going to be a dangerous team, but only because they are fast and strong.  They looked lost when they had the ball, and their main play was to get the ball to their fast strikers, notably Drogba, and hope they could do something with it.  Every time they got the ball into the box, the man with the ball tried to dribble around, like he was trying to make his own shot.  Lots of people think they can go far in this tournament, but I think that their lack of imagination is going to catch up to them before the end of the group round.

Holland 1 Serbia 0
I didn't get to watch this game, but I'm not surprised at the result.  Serbia cruised through the qualifying, but they haven't had the experience on the main stage.  Sure they won their group, but they didn't beat Spain, and they had to beat teams like Bosnia, Belgium and San Marino.  Holland seems to have handled them without a problem, now on to the Ivory Coast, and we'll see what the African boys are really made of.

Mexico 3 Iran 1
Who didn't see this coming.  Thank goodness the Tricolores were up to this task, because nobody wanted to see the Iranian President trying to visit Germany to watch the games.

But it also goes once again to show that Mexico is getting a gift here that the USA should have been given.

Portugal 1 Angola 0
The constant underachievers slipped by probably the worst team at the tournament.  They aren't looking good trying to walk the path of redemption.  But they will escape this group, anyway.

World Cup, Day One action

Deutschland uber alles!  Wow, what a great way to start this years World Cup! 
We went over to Kells Irish pub at 9Am, the start of the Germany v. Costa Rica game and the first game of the tournament.  I liked watching it there.  It wasn’t really all that crowded (although all tables were taken), the service was good, and the mood was fan frenzy.  I had my wife and daughter with me, and I was pleased to note that Kells is smoke free (smoking room in the basement).  They kind of redeemed themselves from two years ago when they showed the Euro Cup, and charged $20 at the door.  This time it was free.

To their defense, the media company with the rights to Euro Cup charged thousands for the rights to show the game, and the World Cup is on ESPN for free.

The Germany game was very high scoring, as the Germans won 4-2.  Someone said that it was one of the highest opening game scores in World Cup history.  The game started out with Germany controlling the ball in the Costa Rica end of the field.  In fact, for most of the game they kept it there.  Germany plays a very aggressive and offensive style of ball.  They were constantly trying to quickly get the ball up field, to the sides and then boost it into the middle.  German team is known for their dead ball and heading ability, so I wasn’t surprised by this.

However, none of the goals came on dead ball situations.  There were also no goals scored by headers (although Klose’s 2^nd goal came as the result of a failed header). 

The first goal by Philipp Lahm was a thing of beauty.  I don’t think he could have hit that ball any better, as he was running across the box from the left side.  The ball hit the upper far post to elude the keeper.  Nice.

The second goal of the game (and later the fifth goal as well) was scored by Wachope of Costa Rica.  Both his goals were very similar, and it seems that it’s the only play the Ticos (as they’re called) know how to run.  Kick the ball over the defense and hope that Wachope can work some magic.  Well, thanks to a totally porous German defense, he did work some magic.  Twice.

However, Wachope is getting past his prime, and I shudder to think of what a truly world class offense is going to do to this German defense if they don’t figure out how to stop those streaking strikers.

Klose’s two goals were both mayhem in front of the goal events.  Both included fine footwork on the part of midfielders to thread the ball into Klose through traffic.  Klose is probably the best finisher they have.

The last goal, scored by Torsten Frings, was a rocket of a volley from 30 meters out.  That ball had a sonar wake behind it, and there was nothing the goalie could do. 

I think that the Germans are going to have to keep scoring or solve that defense issue if they want to progress far.  But due to the report of the other game between Poland and Ecuador, which Ecuador won 2-0, I don’t think Germany is going to have any trouble emerging from Group A.

And they enter the starting gate...

Well, I’ve taken a small break to take more effort at work and at home in preparation for watching the World Cup this month.  So I’ll still be arguing, at least in my head, whether or not my commenter from a couple of posts ago is right in saying that it’s Group C that’s the group of death, and not group E.  Whatever, in either case I don’t know if there is really a true group of death this year.  Not like in 2002.

Anyway, I don’t get cable or satellite TV at my house, which under normal circumstances is preferred with me and my wife.  However, many of the games are on ESPN and ESPN2, and so I’m on the lookout for places to watch.  Downtown here I usually watch games over at Champions Pub in the Marriott.  European evening games play at 11:30AM here on the West Coast, which is about lunch time for me.  However, upon calling them, I found that they are not going to open before their regular opening time of 11:00. 

Kells is probably the ideal place.  What better venue than an Irish pub.  They are opening early, and allow youngsters, so my wife can join me even when she can’t get a sitter.

The Cheerful Tortoise is a college pub and eatery by the university, which is pretty close to where I work.  They also plan to open early for the 6AM games.  Haven’t really hung out there, though, so I don’t know what the atmosphere is like.

The Horse Brass pub is, shockingly, not going to show all the games, and they only plan on opening early on some days.  They have grown a reputation for showing Premier league games, so this move is disappointing, to say the least.

The A&L tavern is probably the other place I’ll consider going to.  I’ve watched soccer there before, and it’s a great place to go.  It’s been pretty smoky in the past, so I’ll end up there if I’ve got nothing else.

The games start tomorrow, so expect to hear from me, commenting on what I see.  I’m no expert on soccer, but I’ll call it like I see it anyway. 

I’m the kind of guy who likes to analyze games before hand, but I might not want to take all that time this year.  You might hear from me who I’m going to be cheering for, though.  If anyone.

Tomorrow’s game, Germany v. Costa Rica, I don’t really have a favorite there.  However, I tend to have that analytical personality that causes me to want the team who’s supposed to win on paper to do well.  So I’ll probably be pleased if Germany does well.

I’ll be routing for Poland in that group, though, considering my minor Polish lineage.

Soccer is one of those things in life that brings otherwise disparate peoples together in brotherhood.  Nowhere is this more unexpected than in the conflicted regions of the middle east. 

Check out this article in the BBC about Israel and Palestine.

It is about the only issue Israelis and Palestinians can agree upon. The TV subscription rates to watch the football World Cup are too high.

Furious Israeli football fans are staging a consumer rebellion that has prompted a parliamentary probe and already led to a reduction in prices.

Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are fervently trying to circumvent charges of up to $600 (£325) and watch matches on pirate TV channels which are pledging to broadcast the games free of charge.

…
Making light of the sporting unity, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz published a cartoon showing Israelis clambering over the West Bank security barrier to join Palestinian farmers to watch the tournament for free.

I’m wondering what effect this will have on tension in other parts of the world.  In Europe things basically shut down for the month.  Will the world be at relative peace while the Cup is being played?  Will Iran, who are participating, stay quite for a month?  Or will they use the distraction to make some bold move?  Will the disinterested Americans irritate the Iranians by continuing to press the issues, while all the Iranians want to do is watch Iran v. Portugal?

Somalia Taliban

Just in case no one was looking… You know this soccer business.
You all probably remember the country of Somalia.  Warlords.  American intervention.  Disaster, embarrassment. Black Hawk Down.  Stuff like that.  Well, someone seems to have cleaned up that situation.  Only…

Islamists committed to implementing shari'a law in Somalia claim to have defeated warlords in Mogadishu after months of fighting in a country wracked by anarchy since 1991.

Oops.  Might have been better if, in full Bush style, we had not chickened out and left so quickly.  Or maybe it wouldn’t have.  Hard to say with warlords.  Funny thing was that they finally found common cause and banded together, but only because the Islamists were getting as powerful as they were.

Too late, though.

World Cup press story

Anyone wondering how much mania there is in the rest of the world there is for the game of Futball, check this out.

This morning, eagle-eyed readers of the British papers saw the "shot all England had been waiting for," according to one tab: Wayne Rooney doing a bicycle kick. What you didn't see was the same picture in every paper, and therein lies a story.
Behind the scenes papers bidded on the shot, which was captured by a freelancer and immediately put up for auction. The Daily Telegraph paid some £10,000 for it according to a high-placed source; the Sun got secondary rights for £5,000. The Guardian, which did not have it, balked at paying for a news photo, though the practice is common in the U.K. with celebrity snaps.
The goods were also handled in a quite high-tech way: The freelancer reportedly made copies onto USB mass storage devices — those "penclips" that are becoming ubiquitous — and handed them over in exchange for hard, cold cash. I am told, quite relaibly, that one of the devices would not be relinquished until the purchasing editor went out and physically drained his bank account — apparently, a check was not good enough.

Photographers can get thousands for one snapshot.

I might even route for them

But not if they're playing the USA.
Ever since 1994, when the World Cup was played in America, I have had it in for Brazil.  It’s not like they aren’t a great team, or contain some really great players, I’ve just always thought they have held a sporting rabbit’s foot when it came to the big tournament.

They haven’t really performed well on other stages, like their own regional tournament, and have been getting beaten by Argentina on a regular basis.

Back in 1994, they tripped and crawled into the final, winning most of their games by 1-0, and two on penalty kicks.  During the final, they were totally outplayed by a fantastic Italian lineup, including the world’s best player Roberto Baggio, but the swarthy Europeans just couldn’t get the ball into the net.  But Brazil couldn’t either and it remains the only cup final to be decided on penalties.  Brazil won because, of all people, Baggio missed his kick.

In 1998, they made it again to the final, only to get embarrassed by the French, who made them look like they didn’t deserve to be there.

In 2002, once again they played to the last game (and I suppose I should give them something for being able to make it to these final games one way or another), but their opponent was a lackluster German side, who didn’t have to beat world class opponents to get there.  In their defense, the Brazilians did have to beat some serious teams like Turkey and England, and beat the Germans convincingly.

But during that tournament we found that Brazilian players can be just as dirty and deceptive during play as anyone else (we won’t name names), and I secretly wished (well, not so secretly) that they would meet their end before the final.  Alas it wasn’t so.

This year I’ve been watching some of the players, and have to admit, as does this article, that the world’s favorite team looks really good.  They are playing well, and Ronaldino is really everything they say he is.  I can’t help but like this team and won’t be a bit disappointed if they win the whole thing.

Although for a change of pace it would be nice to see two different teams in the final.  England would be nice.  Or the Czechs.  Even Argentina if they make it out of round 1.  Spain anyone?

World Cup Group of Death talk

So I’ve been reading a bit about the teams and groups involved in this years World Cup, and it’s been interesting reading how they got there and what the various pundits think about who is going to do well and who isn’t.

But there’s only one thing rankling my so far in all the articles I’ve read.  In a couple of particular cases, writers have declared that poor Argentina has been thrust in yet another “Group of Death” from which they are going to have to fight their way out of.

So I’m thinking to myself, this really doesn’t sound right.  Argentina is paired with the Dutch, that’s for sure.  However the other countries are Serbia and the Ivory Coast.  Not exactly regular contenders.

I can’t find the sad sap ESPN article at the moment, but here’s a blurb from Fox Sports regarding the Ivory Coast’s chances: “That said, this is the "group of death," and any of these teams is capable of making it through to the second round. If one were to bet, I'd be tempted to pick CIV over Holland and Serbia/Montenegro.”

Seriously?  You’d pick the Ivory coast over the 3^rd ranked team in the world?  What are you smoking?  Are you a sucker for the underdog normally?

Last time around Argentina was grouped with England, Sweden and Nigeria.  Now THAT’S a group of Death, with a capital D.  Argentina was picked to win the tournament in 2002, and England and Sweden made it out.  Nigeria’s no slouch, and it’s a terrible disappointment that they didn’t qualify this year.

I’ve been saying all along that the U.S. got caught in the group of death this year.  But just to show that my bias for my own country doesn’t have everything to do with that, check out the FIFA world rankings of all national teams.

Here are the groups this year.
Here are the rankings of all the teams as taken from FIFA website:

Group           Rankings        Average StDev
A               19,26,29,39     28.25           7.2
B               10,16,33,47     26.5            14.53
C               3,9,32,44       22              16.7
D               4,7,23,57       22.75           21
E               2,5,13,48       17              18.34
F               1,18,23,42      21              14.6
G               8,29,35,61      33.25           18.9
H               5,21,34,45      26.25           14.9

Note first of all that the USA’s group has the lowest average, indicating the most concentrated high ranked teams.  The standard deviation isn’t saying much, except that Germany’s group A is pretty close ranking-wise.  That’s an aberration because they have been performing poorly lately and are ranked lower than I have ever seen them at 19.  It’s also skewing group E, the USA’s group, because there is one team there, Ghana, with a terrible ranking. 

Note the other aspect of this list.  The top two teams come out of each group, so if we look at things as they are on paper, how close are the top two ranked teams vs. the bottom two teams in each group?

Group A is going to be exciting, but only because after Germany walks away with the top spot the other three are going to be fighting for the other spot in the round of 16.

Group B has a pretty significant gap, with England and Sweden taking it away on paper.
Group D is a little tighter.  However, the third ranked team there is Iran, who has only won a single game in the few times they have appeared in this tournament.  It was the USA in 1998.  I don’t think Mexico and Portugal are going to let this group get away from them.

Group F is like group A.  There is a significant gap in talent between Brazil and the other teams, but the battle for 2^nd place is going to be lots of fun.  This is kind of a mini group of death, in that after Brazil, any one of those teams could make it.

Group G was some sort of heavenly gift to France.  Like groups A and F, they have a chance to really outclass their opposition.  However, in 2002 they got a similar pushover group and blew it big time, so this could be tighter than it looks on paper.  Switzerland is playing well above their ranking right now, so the two Euro teams should walk away with this group.

Group H is an anomaly.  The Ukraine is ranked below Tunisia at the FIFA site, but I can’t see them falling to the Saudis or Tunisia. 

Group C, if you’ll notice, looks a lot like groups B and D on paper.  Basically, instead of saying that anyone could come out of this group, which is basically true of any grouping, why don’t you say that, based on expectations, if Argentina and the Dutch don’t come out of this group there are going to be some very angry fans back home.  Argentina failing to come out of a group like this, after the last World Cup, will register a new record on the scale of shame in sporting history.  Calling this a group of death is a tool to give the White and Sky Blue an excuse to fail.  How pathetic.

The real group of death is a group that has more than 2 power teams in it.  This year that’s Group E  Up until the last 4 years, the United States has not been considered a power team, which is probably why they are where they are.  However they are one of the better teams in the world right now, and have the ability to play with just about anyone.  That Mexico, who they beat soundly in the qualifiers and finished ahead of, got to have a seeding and ended up in a group they should have no trouble getting out of is proof that there will probably always be a bit of bias in favor of tradition, history and culture over actual performance.

The USA has to deal with the Czechs, ranked 2^nd, and the Italians, currently ranked 13^th, but Italy has the players and will pick it up for the tournament.  Ghana is this years Nigeria. 

Meet the new Peruvian President

Same as the old one. Or rather one that they had about 15 years ago. Alan Garcia, former President of the country in a time that saw the country collapse economically, is leading his runoff opponent Ollanta Humala by a significant margin.
This is a good thing. Humala is a Chavista follower, and would complete a trifecta with Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia. Chavez has been meddling in Peru politics as of late. He would knock the foundations of Peruvian economy right out from under it with a massive Socialist/Communist overhaul. Luckily it looks like the Peruvian people are seeing through this.

Bush reverses decision

Albeit on the Federal Marriage Amendment. (Hat tip Instapundit)
After all the fuss a couple of years ago on this issue, and lots of water under the bridge, Bush is now saying that he withdraws his support for the Amendment and that he had overreacted to situations on the ground, as well as some poor decisions by the courts and local officials. He now says that he should have trusted the people in those localities to bring their officials into line.
As against gay marriage as I have been, I respect the President on this. I think that his reasons for doing so are genuine and I have to admit that I was just as doom-sayer about the whole issue myself, torn as to whether I really wanted an Amendment to the constitution.
But the history of the Amendment, and Bush's actions during its lifetime suggest that he never really wanted it in the first place and was only over reacting. He doesn't like that gay marriage is popping up in some places, but recognizes that it's the people making it happen, not the judicial system. Not activists trying to work the system despite the people.
Here is part of his statement:

Two years ago, in this place, I announced my support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. I strongly believe that'’s what marriage is and should be. If I were a state legislator or a governor, I'd oppose defining marriage in any other way. I supported the amendment because, at the time, I feared that uncontrollable judges and local officials were recklessly and lawlessly playing with the foundation of the American family. But I was wrong. Like others, I overreacted to what seemed like an emergency. I did not have sufficient faith in the historic processes of American government. The local officials who were defying state law in 2004 have been brought into line. DOMA is still good law. The states have begun amending their own constitutions to define marriage. I have appointed many federal judges in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas, including two to the Supreme Court, who will not tamper with marriage. And while I still fear that some state courts will attempt to redefine marriage in years to come, I am confident that the people in those states can deal with their own courts if that is what they choose to do. After all, that is what we have always trusted them to do.

Follow the link for more of the statement. This is a great piece of work. The retraction of support for the Amendment should score some points with libertarians (the left will hate him anyway) and his strong statement of faith in the American political system and Federalism/State's rights should comfort conservatives somewhat.
And this is a different side of Bush, the side that admits mistakes, that is going to get some real press. The left is fond of criticizing him for not admitting anything, but I think this will go a long way to silencing those critiques, even though there are many other examples of Bush admitting mistakes that get suppressed by the media.