As busy-busy-busy as I’ve been lately with research and making a huge push to get everything done that I need to in advance of the GMU conference & my trip to NCAR in mid-July, and my trip to Australia in August, I have taken some time out of my schedule to watch some of the World Cup. For the USA’s games I’ve deliberately avoided doing work, but during most of the other games I’ve either also been working or doing other things while watching on the TV or having it on in the background at work on ESPN3.
For the USA-England game, I watched the game by myself at my apartment. I stuck around because I’d sent an email to the meteo grad social list inviting people over to watch it, only to find out that some other people had also planned (but not announced) World Cup parties. Anyway, I figured I should stick around in case anyone showed up. And then England scored that goal in the 5th minute, and I decided I didn’t want to miss any of the game by driving or walking somewhere else. When the English goalkeeper let Dempsey’s shot dribble in, I jumped up and screamed “YEAAAAAHHHH!!” even though I was alone in my apartment. 🙂
For the USA-Slovenia game a bunch of us meteo grads took the Friday morning off and watched the game at 797 Lounge (former Sports Cafe) on their outdoor patio, where they’d set up a couple nice big-screen HDTVs. We pretty much had the run of the place, but gradually a small crowd of passersby built up on the sidewalk watching too, as the USA dug themselves out from a 2-0 halftime deficit. It was pure elation from all of us when Michael Bradley scored the equalizer, and then pure irritation and bewilderment four minutes later when what should’ve been the winning goal by Michael Edu was disallowed on a phantom foul call by the referee from Mali.
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On Wednesday morning we went back to 797 to watch the heart-stopping USA-Algeria match. We were on the edge of our seats the whole time, and once again frustrated and irritated that another good USA goal was disallowed on a bad call by the referee. They were on the attack the whole game and getting so many great chances and near misses, it just felt like we’d score one. But then time was getting short, and we were all wondering if it’d be heartbreak city with a goalless draw and elimination from the tournament. Then came Landon Donovan’s rebound goal in the 91st minute! Elation and joy! Kinda like this:
Walking around downtown State College after the game was a blast. People were walking around in all sorts of red, white and blue garb, there were a couple people blaring on their vuvuzelas, cars were honking their horns in celebration, people were chanting “USA! USA!” and high-fiving each other. It was quite a fun scene! Hopefully that can be replicated on Saturday afternoon following our Round of 16 elimination match with Ghana!
But seriously, win or lose, can we please not have a referee make an atrocious call against us that takes away a goal? It sure seems like a trend, with it happening in two straight games. Is a fairly called game too much to ask for? The FIFA referees have overall been pretty bad this year, I think. Failing to notice an infraction is one thing (especially when there are only three officials on such a huge field with 22 players out there), but making the completely wrong call is another thing entirely. They’ve also been rewarding play-acting way too much, such as giving Brazil’s Kaka a red card after an Ivory Coast player walked into him and then disgracefully writhed on the ground for several minutes clutching his head in mock pain. Kaka maybe sort of stuck his elbow out behind him, and whatever contact there was was in the guy’s chest, not anywhere close to his head. Italy was also awarded a penalty kick against New Zealand by being overly dramatic. Soccer has a terribly engrained culture of complaining, and it really detracts from the game when players are pathetically writhing around on the ground in “pain” when they were barely touched or not touched at all, just to try to get a call in their favor from the referee. That’ll only stop when FIFA officials stop granting fouls and cards for plays they didn’t see.
Some thoughts on a few other teams:
France: Good riddance. What an on-field and off-field catastrophe. A bunch of complainers too, as they blamed their 0-0 draw vs Uruguay on the crowd and vuvuzelas. Umm, everyone else has to play with them too. Clearly France’s problem was more than just vuvuzelas.
Italy: Good riddance. I’m glad I don’t have to endure watching any more of the Azzurri. With their continued earned reputation for embarrassing and pathetic diving and acting, they’re an embarrassment to sport.
New Zealand: First-ever World Cup points, and undefeated in group play. Unfortunately they were also winless, but they can go home with their heads held high for achieving so much when the world thought they’d get trounced in every game. And they finished ahead of Italy in the group [snicker]. Following their thrilling game vs Italy, an ESPN announcer put it best when he said the headlines should read, “New Zealand defeats Italy 1-1!” Well done, All Whites!
Australia: A good side that was done in by two catastrophic red cards in the first two games. Tim Cahill’s red card vs Germany was extremely harsh from the referee (announcers thought it should’ve only been a yellow at most), and led to the Germans scoring another 2 goals. Then Harry Kewell’s red card vs Ghana was a bit harsh as well, I thought, since the handball was completely unintentional. A yellow card and a penalty kick, sure, but a red? A bit harsh. With the pressure they managed to apply with a man disadvantage, I have no doubt they would’ve beaten Ghana with a full 11 men. And then it would be USA-Australia on Saturday instead of USA-Ghana. Oh well.
Brazil: Wow. They look very good. The beautiful game indeed.
All other South American teams (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay): Also looking quite good. Impressive showings for our neighbors to the south, as none of them have lost a match yet!
North Korea: That 7-0 disaster vs Portugal was aired live in North Korea. Kim Jong Il must be kicking himself. Now maybe the North Korean people will know that, despite their dear leader’s best propaganda efforts, their nation is not invincible in everything it does. Maybe a soccer match can help tumble a cruel, insane dictator?
I’m really looking forward to Saturday afternoon, and hopefully additional games beyond that (vs winner of Uruguay-South Korea for a berth in the semifinals if we beat Ghana)! I’m definitely planning to watch it downtown somewhere again with a group of people. Let’s keep it going, USA! Just please don’t let in another early goal, mmkay?