Mike Boom wrote:And the bloody Italians diving, going off on stretchers and then running back on the field ten seconds later - its bollocks!
Well they are famed for that stuff, it's all part of the melodrama of the Italian psyche, which combines the sublime and the ridiculous in equal measure. True that inconsistent refereeing is utterly tedious, and you will see it in most games, sometimes to an extreme degree.
Wouldn't call Brazil winning their first two in a lowe gear a 'shower of shit', but you know as well as I do that they're capable of far more and I'm sure we'll see it. It was semi-acceptable having Ronaldo on, after all the '98-reminiscent crap about him been under the weather, or at least it was when he assisted, but he still looks woefully match-unfit, as he has done all season. Why keep him for his bigger than deserved name? Fred is a player I'd never seen before but whose reputation is growing and a guy I know from Rio insisted he should be a first-team choice. Not hard to see why given his goal tally per minutes played thus far, and Robinho too, assuming his little legs can last a whole game. Ronaldinho has done very little so far, but it was nice to see Adriano, my other Brazilian, hit the net. Aussies did very well, could easily have scored and are a credit to their nation (and to'Boo!).
Of course 'total football' is a Dutch concept, and Cruyff and the '74 team are one of the best ones to have not won the World Cup they deserved, and it applied in the Van Basten days, and of course it applies to Arsenal a lot on a good day. It's the antithesis of a dull team that is there to grind out the 3 points in a monotonous fashion, normally with a late one to clinch it at 1-0. It's a situation where there will be fluidity throughout the whole field, players able to move positions with an understanding of the different permutations of the formation. Brazil play it in a different way, taking the fluidity and the inspired moment to an extreme, and football is a symbol of their entire existence, a glue that binds the nation together. I love their history in the World Cup and hope they double that maginificent tally of 5 in my lifetime. I also love Argentina and their Friday result was the perfect expression of what makes them great. And I love the term 'total football' itself. It's the essence of why football is my favourite sport, and it's all about the combination of effort and passion, as well as style, tenacity and grace.
I'm very pleased to have got the last two games bang on in my predictions league. This is arguably more fun than FF cos everyone has a stake in every result. I'm only playing against 6 others, easier to make it a small group. I won it last time aginst only 3 others, but didn't in the Euro as Greek Maria backed Greece throughout and strolled the predictions not to mention the FF, where she was something like 36 out of 200,000+. Amazing that the Koreans came back, but that's France for you, and that's a class Man U player for you! It's looking sad that it will never happen for the mighty Thierry in the French shirt. I think Domenech is an utter twat. Apart from the aformentioned mind-boggling exclusion of Giuly, he also leaves Trezuguet on the bench, preferring to stick with has-been genius Zizou. It's just bonkers. Shame Wenger can't also manage France. He probably will post-Arse, and he'll probably get them back to the semis or beyond.
Can hardly wait for the next few nights. It's gonna be a roller-coaster.
Btw, Brian McBride apparently has double the norm of blood vessels in his head. And also, btw OTIS, not all of us Americans are "yanks," k?
that's fab, sam! Talking Mr. Swung into going to a Crew game didn't take a whole lot of convincing because 1) they sell beer and 2) there are cheerleaders (I am told).
