Sunday, June 27, 2010

World Cup Live Blogging: Germany - England 2nd Half

OK, this is a great game with a new winner for Worst Call of the World Cup, so I'm going to blog the second half.

But first, I need to mock the halftime discussion.

Studio - I'm not sure who the gremlin in the studio is, but he needs to chill out. He went off on a rant with the usual crap about technology taking over the game, going so far as to say that there would be no joy, no life if we allowed tech to ruin the humanity of the sport. Because, apparently, tennis has no joy or humanity since they added the cyclops (not to mention instant replay). Dolt.

Outdoor viewing areas - With the BRUTAL mid-80s heat, some fans are getting heat stroke. Settle down, drink some water and sack up. Remember, it's only 85.

Müller update: He had a great pass to set up the 2nd goal, but England clearly scouted him via my blog, since they haven't bothered to cover him. Other than the one nice touch, he's done his part to not make them pay. I'm worried about his shoulder, though, since he spends most of the game holding his hand up making the "my bad" thumbs-up.

47:20 - WTF is up with the German coach and wearing the EXACT same outfit as his assistant? It's not like the USA coaches and track suits or the England coaches and the gray suit -- they keep changing outfits and matching. It's more than a little bizarre.

48:50 - Even with his bad positioning on the first Ghana goal, I still think both England and Germany would gladly swap their keepers for Tim Howard. They've both made a few decent saves, but they're spastically incompetent for large stretches. Neuer, in particular, looks like a Team America-style panic on most shots.

51:30 - Another England shot off the crossbar, but this one goes up. Neuer for some reason pulled back his hands -- he was about an inch from looking a complete fool there.

52:50 - The linesman looks more terrified than Donovan did before his PK. I'm not seeing vacations in England in his future.

54:00 - Terry gave away a ball at midfield that he was lucky didn't become a replay of the Ghana goal last night.

56:40 - England looks surprisingly nonchalant, given the score. Their defense looks like they just want to take a break.

59:00 - England has now started to actively move away from Müller when he's got the ball. It's gotta be insulting.

61:50 - I don't know if Löw told his defense, "Let's give them a bunch of opportunities right around the penalty box" or if they're just taking the initiative on their own.

65:00 - Apparently Joe Cole is a typical English soccer player. Thanks for the tip, announcer.

66:20 - Well, England's strategy of ignoring Müller finally failed. Of course, he wouldn't have had a chance if Lampard had played instead of whining after his crap free kick hit the wall.

69:30 - Müller should've made it 4-1, but whiffs his first chance. A minute later and England again sleeps on a counter to give Germany a 3v2 and Müller buries his shot in to the open net. Terry was apparently chatting up a teammate's girlfriend instead of, say, playing defense.

73:00 - I guess Capello forgot to talk about preventing counter attacks at halftime.

76:00 - England has shown that with its insanely slow central D, they are screwed if forced to push for a goal.

86:00 - Short break to chat with the OC, and we're back. I don't understand why Capello waited so long to take off a defender.

91:00 - Löw has, not surprisingly, put on a scarf. I wonder if that's the German equivalent of Red Auerbach's victory cigar?

So, England's out. I wonder if this is the end of the Lampard-Gerrard midfield? It should be, since it can be fairly called a disaster. The score is misleading, but this England team is hopeless playing from behind. Is Capello gone, or staying to try to redeem himself at the Euro in 2 years?

Now, Germany vs Argentina/Mexico. Germany looked good in the first half, but their D is shaky. I can't imagine Messi, Tevez, Vela or Dos Santos will be held to 1 goal*.

Last word -- German post game sucks. No highlights, just endless scenes of players hugging fans. I am curious if this is normal, or more than usual. It seems a bit much celebration for a round of 16 game.

* OK, I guess England wasn't, either.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

clearly you still haven't been long enough in Germany. They weren't hugging because they won any round of 16 game (BTW that's normal for Germany). Even on a group phase win over England (which might happen if England keeps sucking) they would hug. Winning over England is soooo much more important that winning a round of 16 game.
- the only happy one on Sunday evening