World Cup of Carlin: the education continues

Among my social circles we've been spending alot of time watching a few footie matches in the Deutschland. My willingness to watch the World Cup has been returned with a willingness on my friends's part to educate me on this thing called Football. Having said that:


Is it a holiday for the Dutch and the Portugeuse? Because they got a lot of cards...

What the hell was going on in the Netherlands/Portugal match on Sunday? Holy crap that was the game to watch this weekend. Drop kicks, headbutts, an inconsistent and ineffectual referee, cheating, fake injuries, ... I had to double check I hadn't accidentally turned on a World Wrestling Entertainment show. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov lost control once that first yellow card was raised, with both sides on the losing end of inconsistent calls, although I think Netherlands got the worst of it. I dread the poor teams that may find him officating their next match in this tournament (yes, as of this posting Ivanov is still reffing in this tournament). With a World Cup finals record for red cards in one match, you can be sure England was watching the match and gleefully awaiting the next round no matter which team staggered out of that match, they would be depleted of their key players.

It was a fascinating and exciting match with some terrific actual play too, but it will be remembered for the flurry of cards, the ugly and unsportsmanlike conduct of the participants, and the official. The winner of the World Cup this year was not going to come out of that Netherlands/Portugal match. Portugal, minus Deco (red card), Costinha (red card) and possibly Ronaldo (injured), meet England on July 1st at 11 AM. You know where to find me and the big-screen TV.

The other match I caught in its entirity was the Germany v. Sweden match on Saturday. The Swedes lost that match in the first 15 minutes. It's a shame too: after a red card left Germany shorthanded, the Swedes managed to prevent the Germans from scoring any more points. If they had only managed to play like that in the first half...

Schedule:

June 26
Australia vs. Italy Kaiserslautern, Germany 11:00 AM ET
Ukraine vs. Switzerland Cologne, Germany 3:00 PM ET

June 27
Ghana vs. Brazil Dortmund, Germany 11:00 AM ET
France vs. Spain Hanover, Germany 3:00 PM ET

June 30
Argentina vs. Germany Berlin, Germany 11:00 AM ET
TBA vs. TBA Hamburg, Germany 3:00 PM ET

July 01
Portugal vs. England Gelsenkirchen, Germany 11:00 AM ET

Be sure to check out the comprehensive World Cup Football 2006 Blog - great coverage. They also have a great photo collection of the fans and show why it's a knockout in more ways than one for both for the men and for the women.