World Cup 30/06/06

I thought the Germany vs Argentina match might be a bit of a hit and miss. The match started out with high energy, then stalled after the first 15 minutes. The second half started slowly, but as soon as Argentina scored the goal the match came alive again. The one thing I really dislike about the Argentinians is how adept they are at drawing fouls, especially Riquelme. I hate that kind of play. Things heated up again at 70 minutes when the Argentinian keeper Abbondanzieri collided with Klose and had to be replaced. Then there was more drama when Klose’s header tied the game up. As the last minutes of the second over-time period ticked down, it looked like this match was going to penalty kicks to decide who went through to the semi-finals, and I knew the Germans were likely to go through. They stepped up to take the pks with much more confidence, and won 4-2 on penalities. Well done to Lehmann for stopping those 2 balls. It was unfortunate that there was a little melee on the field at the end of the match though.

When Italy met the Ukraine for a friendly match before the World Cup began, the game ended in a draw, so I didn’t know what to expect. The early goal by Italy buoyed their team, and they were able to get two more goals quite easily. Italy always seems to be able to hold onto a lead, and their solid defence was able to keep the Ukrainians off the score board.