Did You Miss Me?

A brief, idyllic hiatus bloomed in the middle of my World Cup viewing and blogging. Marina and I had our two year anniversary, and we rented a cottage in Santa Cruz, drove south to Monterey Bay, a slice of summer compared to San Francisco. We were literally around the corner from the ocean, a dead-end road leading to a promontory from which I saw five otters and a dolphin. That was only part of the magic of the weekend which will merit a blog of its own, but to make a long story short, I did not miss seeing the games. I've watched some of the recorded games since I've been back, and I've seen the clips of Sloveniagate--more on that in a bit. To catch up, I will do a quick summary of my thoughts on the action between Thursday and tonight.

THURSDAY, JUNE 17TH

FRANCE VERSUS MEXICO (Mexico 2-0)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: I was perfectly right, Mexico won by two goals, and better yet, one was scored by Javier Hernandez for my fantasy team. I'm hoping he starts tomorrow. He has earned it.

This loss has completely unraveled France. Nicolas Anelka has been sent home; the trainer and another bureaucrat have resigned. To their credit, though, the French represented their country perfectly--perhaps too perfectly--by going on strike from practice. I see no way through to the next round for France.

ARGENTINA VERSUS SOUTH KOREA (Argentina 4-1`)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION (ARGENTINA 3-0)

South Korea's industry, so effective against Greece, did not work against the Argentines. Alas, neither Carlos Tevez nor Park Ji-Sung scored for me.

GREECE VERSUS NIGERIA (GREECE 2-1)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: NIGERIA 1-0

Greece got their first ever win, and have a chance to go through. More importantly, Nigeria becomes one more African team that has failed to produce and succeed at the first World Cup on the continent. Some people say this is a disappointing thing, which is probably true, subjectively. Objectively, though, there is simply results, with nothing inherent to have indicated that Nigeria should have done better.

FRIDAY, JUNE 18TH

GERMANY VERSUS SERBIA (SERBIA 1-0)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: 2-2 DRAW

With Miroslav Klose drawing two yellow cards, and thus a red, Serbia managed a surprise 1-0 win. I have heard criticism of the referee in this game, as with many other games; but that is always the case, and generally it is sound and fury signifying an overreaction. The defeat for Germany changes the outlook of the group, for sure.

The question of the quality of the referees leads us to:

US VERSUS SLOVENIA (2-2 DRAW)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: US 2-1

The two stories of this game: the American's terrific rally to tie the game after a weak first half, and the winning goal that wasn't, a foul that has not been clearly identified that canceled Maurice Edu's goal in the 86th minute. I have not seen the full game yet. The clips I have seen have been inconclusive; I did not see a foul. It does look bad that there was no explanation. However, in the modern game, there is always tugging and grabbing and wrestling in the box on both sides, and as soon as the referee spots an infraction, the play is dead.

However, what matters, as Bob Bradley said, is that we are still alive. We rallied well, Landon Donovan scored a fantasy goal for me, and we can move on with a win over Algeria on Wednesday.

The reason why we control our own destiny is:

ENGLAND VERSUS ALGERIA (0-0 DRAW)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION (ENGLAND 3-1)

Nothing to say about this. At least, not for me. The English fans have plenty to say, I'm sure.

JUNE 19, 2010

GHANA VERSUS AUSTRALIA (1-1)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION (GHANA 1-0)

A bit of a letdown for Ghana, I have to say, especially with Australia reduced to ten men for the second game in a row.

HOLLAND VERSUS JAPAN (1-0)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION (HOLLAND 3-0)

Holland does just enough to secure their passage to the knockout stages. And more importantly, Wesley Sneijder scores for my fantasy team.

DENMARK VERSUS CAMEROON (2-1)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION (DENMARK 1-0)

Cameroon can't get vital points. Nothing else to say from an expected result.

JUNE 20, 2010

ITALY VERSUS NEW ZEALAND (1-1)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: Are you kidding? Italy 2-0.

Apparently, before the game, the Italian media was highly disdainful of the Kiwis, saying they had no technical ability at all. I would hate to think what that implies about the Italians, who have now earned two draws from their first two games, the same results as New Zealand has earned.

PARAGUAY VERSUS SLOVAKIA (2-0)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: I was right on, saying Paraguay would be confident after tying Italy, and I called a 2-1 win, so I guess I gave Slovakia just too much credit.

BRAZIL VERSUS IVORY COAST (3-1)

ORIGINAL PREDICTION: BRAZIL 3-2

Luis Fabiano scored two attractive goals, although he was guilty of a handball at least on the second one. The big story is Kaka getting dismissed for two yellow cards at the end of the match, the second one, unfortunately, tied to a shameful, shameless act by Keita of the Ivory Coast who reacted to an elbow to the chest by dropping to the ground and clutching his face. I really hope Keita is disciplined by FIFA. And now I am torn; I had wanted Ivory Coast to beat Portugal, but Keita's act makes him as despicable to me as Cristiano Ronaldo at his petulant, simulating worst.

I'm thinking that Ivory Coast doesn't have to worry about the next round, because Portugal just destroyed North Korea, 7-0. There is no mercy in Portuguese hearts.