Irene's Weblog

So, I started my day early by watching the F1 European Grand Prix. This race was held in Valencia. It was an exciting race, including watching Mark Webber run up the backside of Heikki Kovalainen, destroying both cars. It was sad too because Webber drivers for Red Bull and I like both the team and their drivers. Speaking of which, Sebastian Vettel is my favorite driver and he drives for Red Bull. He won the race and is now in third place. Kobayashi also drove a fantastic race and made a nice passing move on Alonso. I hate Alonso and wish he would drive into Schumacher every single race so I don’t ever have to see either of them drive.

The first World Cup game today was Germany v. England. Miroslav Klose scored early and put Germany up 1-0 in the 20th minute. Germany scored again in the 32nd minute with a nice shot by Lukas Podolski. England came back in the 37th minute and scored a goal by Upson, followed by another goal in the 38th minute by Frank Lampard, that the ref said didn’t go in, but clearly did. At the half, Germany led 2-1.

In the second half, Germany scored again with Thomas Müller knocking the ball into the net in the 67th and 70th minutes, making it 4-1. Wayne Rooney was absolutely pathetic in this World Cup. He’s did nothing and there’s no good reason for him to be out there playing. He should have been benched for this game. England continued their terrible defense and Germany scored again, making it 4-1.

Although many think the final score should have been 4-2, it was 4-1. Either way. England didn’t do much and Germany won the day. It is the worst lost ever for England in a World Cup.

Unfortunately, the Brits will place the blame at the linesman and FIFA, even though England’s lack of basic defensive skills is what caused the loss. Rooney was terrible. Heskey was non-existant. There was no defense and just all around shitty play for England. Getting screwed out of a goal is one thing. Not playing to your potential is another. And that is why England are going home.

In the second game, Argentina soundly trounced Mexico 3-1, though there was one controversial goal for Argentina. The Argentinians were clearly offside, but the goal was allowed to stand. I fell asleep in the second half so I missed most of it.

Here are some amusing pictures of the goal that was not to be for England.  Click the photos to see them full size.

The first game today was Uruguay v. South Korea. Luis Suarez scored early in the 8th minute to put Uruguay up 1-0. South Korea had a very good second half, winning most of the duels for the ball. Uruguay knew they couldn’t let up and get lazy. Lee Chung-Yong headed the ball in for the equalizer in the 68th minute, but Uruguay hit back in the 80th minute with another goal from Luis Suarez. Final score, 2-1 to Uruguay, who reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1970.

The final match of the day was Ghana v. USA. Ghana is the more talented team and beat the USA four years ago. The USA found themselves down early, again, as Ghana struck first, scoring in the 6th minute. The USA played abysmally in the first half and went into half time down 1-0.

The USA looked much better in the second half. Landon Donovan scored a lucky penalty kick after his shot hit the goal post and went in. After 90 minutes, it was tied 1-1. That meant extra time. It’s new territory for the USA as they’ve never had to go to extra time in a World Cup before; probably because they’ve always sucked in the past. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the commentators on ABC are extremely biased, especially John Harkes. Also, Altidore is completely worthless. He shouldn’t even be on the team.

At the start of extra time, Gomez was subbed for Altidore. ‘Bout damned time.  Three minutes into stoppage time and Gyan scored, putting Ghana up 2-1. A beautiful goal, but there’s still plenty of penalty time to go. Note to the USA: this is not a new game. Stop giving up goals in the first ten minutes.  The USA just couldn’t pull it out and Ghana wins 2-1.  The USA are going home.  Ghana is going to the quarter-finals.  This was truly an exciting game.

We scared the cats today with shouts of “goal” and “score” and other silly football screams.  We really wanted Slovakia to win today.

Today’s early matches were Italy v. Slovakia and Paraguay v. New Zealand. I chose to watch the Italy v. Slovakia game and was treated to a great football match. I wanted Slovakia to win and I was not disappointed. Robert Vittek scored twice for Slovakia, once in the 25th minute and again in the 73rd minute. I was sure Slovakia would win it, but the Italians came back in the 81st minute.

Not panicking too much, I told myself that Slovakia was still up 2-1 and surely they would win. Italy made my heart skip a beat when they appeared to have scored in the 86th minute. Luckily, they were offside and the goal was disallowed. Kamil Kopunik scored for Slovakia in the 89th minute and I knew the Italians couldn’t win. They were down 3-1, but the Italians made me even more nervous when they scored in stoppage time, making it 3-2.

There was a short kerfuffle in the back of the net between goalkeeper Mucha and Italy’s Fabio Quagliarella. Both received yellow cards for their infractions. I sweated out the last couple of minutes of stoppage time until the final whistle blew. I could breathe easier, knowing that Slovakia had now officially made it through to the next round. A great game all around.

Although New Zealand drew 0-0 with Paraguay and are going home, they had a good World Cup. They were in a tough group and held their own.

The two afternoon matches were Denmark v. Japan and The Netherlands v. Cameroon. I watched the Denmark v. Japan game. This was an important match for both teams as the winner was all but assured that they would move on. I honestly felt that Denmark would be the winners. It was not to be as Japan won the game 3-1.

In the other game, The Netherlands beat Cameroon 2-1. Rigobert Song became the first African to have a World Cup career that spans 16 years. The only others on that list are Antonio Carabajal (Mexico), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), and Hugo Sanchez (Mexico). The Netherlands moves on to the next round while Cameroon goes home.

I admit, I was hoping that Slovenia would pull out a tie or a win and advance, but it was not to be. The England v. Slovenia game wasn’t really exciting. Just a normal game of football, although Milner had some very nice crosses for England. The USA had many chances to score today, but they just couldn’t put any through. Finally, in stoppage time, Landon Donovan scores and the USA advances. The USA also tops their group for the first time since 1930.

The nice thing about the games was that my brother-in-law called from England right after the two games finished.

The second sets of matches were Germany v. Ghana and Australia v. Serbia. Germany managed to edge Ghana 1-0, but, both teams move on to the next round. Australia beat Serbia 2-1, but it wasn’t enough to get past Ghana, so the Aussies will be watching the World Cup from home from now on.