World Cup 01/07/06

I picked England to advance from this match up, and I knew this was going to be a physical game. I thought with a few key Portuguese players sitting out on suspension, they might have a better chance. They did capitalize on that advantage, but England had a few wasted opportunities as the players at the front seemed to battle with each other. Eriksson must have delivered “We band of brothers” speech at half-time, because England came out attacking full-force in the second half. It was very sad to see Beckham limp off the field, and see him on the bench in tears. It was also sad when Rooney was sent off with a red card for a push on Ronaldo after a foul on another player. The foul resulted in a misplaced boot, but there was pushing and shoving by the Portuguese on either side of Rooney too. Figo can head butt an opposing player and only receive a yellow card, but Rooney gets sent off. That just sucks. And the dramatics of the Portuguese rubs me the wrong way. Their play-acting is annoying as hell. Writhing in agony on the field one moment, and then up and running moments later. Carvalho and Ronaldo are particularly adept at this, which is a shame.

The idea of going to penalty kicks made me sick in the stomach, since England’s has lost on pks before. I could barely watch. I kept hoping Lampard would be able to score a goal in this World Cup. I felt so bad for him when Ricardo stopped his pk. But at least he wasn’t the only won who got a pk stopped. Hargreaves had a good game though, and I was glad he scored on his pk. It was touching to watch Beckham go around and comfort his comrades at the end of the match. This match was the first surprise of the day.


I fully expected France to be dominated by Brazil the entire match long. Again, I underestimated the French defence. And the French offense. The Brazilians are another team that is adept at securing free kicks due to supposed fouls. Like the second half dive by Ronaldo that resulted in Thuram getting a yellow card. Thuram didn’t touch him. Arrgh. I just hate that kind of play. And I hope FIFA reviews the videos and fines Ronaldo for that stunt. The last few minutes were exciting as both sides had some good chances, and France was the surprise winner to go through to the semi-finals.