world cup 2006,,

my thoughts so far...

Insta-pundits: I cannot stand how people who never watch football, come in during the world cup and voice their opinion on the beautiful game… I’ve been hearing so much flak about the Italian national team constantly diving and making a meal out of every foul.. Diving in Italy is snidely accepted in the Serie A, but lets face it, everyone does it these days, you can’t just say that the Italians are the worst divers. If a player thinks he can get away with it, then he will try. Plus you don’t know what’s going on with the team when they’re a man down and are trying to win the game, you’ll resort to anything, even playing the foul to your advantage. The Australia Italy game was fodder for the amateur spectators to come in with their once every 4 years analysis to talk their shit.. you don’t understand the game, or watch the game regularly enough to know what the hell is happening with the history, the grudges, the rule changes, the officiating.. but because you’ve been watching the world cup these past couple of weeks you’re instantly transformed into pundit?

Gloating: to all you fans that said brazil or argentina were gonna win the world cup : muahahahaaaa.. I told you all that a South American team will not win the world cup in 2006.. I showed you the trends of the world cup winners bouncing between Europe and south america, I explained the two anomalies that occurred for italy and brazil winning it twice in a row.. but none of you listened.. I explained it all to you, but no one listened.. you were all wowed by the starting lineups, throwing names of champions.. It’s an all European semifinal fiasco and that can only mean one thing…

too bad for the English yesterday… I was cheering them on, & honestly believed they had a fantastic chance to win the world cup. They scraped through every single game, and when they needed to explode and step into proper form to lead them to the finals, they couldn’t do it. There are a couple of things that I would like to point out.. One of the senior players should’ve spoken to wayne rooney before the match and warned him of retaliating against carvalho. His reputation precedes him, you can’t pull that kind of shit in the world cup quarterfinals (three feet from the ref nonetheless) – everyone needed to keep their cool & the ref was looking for something. Owen Hargreaves’ performance should cement his position as the holding midfielder for England. Frank Lampard, a midfielder, can lead the scoring charts all year long for Chelsea, the team that pays him a seriously ridiculous amount of money per week - but he can’t do it for his own country? Steven Gerrard, who countless times has stepped up for big games and come out a champion, fizzles when they need him the most? Peter Crouch, for all his lanky x-factor sucked in front of the goal.. Sven, why did you bring Walcott to Germany if you had no intention of playing him? Why not take Defoe? I wouldn’t have taken Crouch in the first place… Substituting Aaron Lennon?? Subbing the substitute for penalties? Did you even make them practice penalties? I just think Sven tactically crumbled yesterday, and I personally don’t think Steve McLaren is the man for the job (although he is a good coach) – Right now, the English need Gus Hiddink.. too bad for the fans, the atmosphere they created during the game was incredible.. you can’t beat the English fans at spirit..

Politics of another country: During the Ghana game against the Czech Republic, John Pantsil, a Ghanian Player pulled out the Israeli Flag hidden in his sock and and waved it around when both goals were scored. The Ghanaian Football Association, apologized stating that they have nothing to do with politics they’re just here to play football and that the player was just naive. He was claiming that since he plays in the Israeli league he was supporting the fans that traveled from Israel to support him. Revealing a message under your jersey when you score has been banned and can be considered inciting the crowd.. so how come pulling out a flag and waving it above your head not be seen as inciting the crowds? Are you here to play football or make a statement?? And During the middle of the game?? He didn’t even score the goals.. look, if he wanted to show support to the fans that traveled to see him after the final whistle was blown, pull out the flag and wave it all around, that’s fine.. but during the middle of the game? Again, this isn’t a political comment I’m making.. I’m just saying, I don’t think that celebrating your country’s goals during the world cup is the more appropriate time to wave the flag of another country, because you’re showing support to your fans..

Conspiracies Galore: After the scandal that’s being unearthed in Italy right now, it’s difficult to watch the world cup and feel nothing’s been staged.. Moggi and Co. controlled the outcomes of a lot of games for so many years – everyone talked about something fishy going on, but for it to go on for that many years? they cheated, who’s to say that when you see something during the world cup right now, it’s not already been decided..


So now you’ve lost Brazil and I’ve lost England.. You’ve still got Germany and I’ve still got Italy..

FORZA AZZURRI