Jay Lucky

I was so unbelievably happy about todays outcome I almost peed myself watching the last 10 minutes of the game.  Nail bitingly brilliant!!

They absolutely deserved this win today… especially Torres.  Holy fuck that guy pulled off one of the best goals I’ve ever seen.  I’ve been rooting for Spain this entire tournament, so I’m quite pleased with myself for picking the winner.  They only sad part now, is that I have to wait until September to watch the Champions League, and then until 2010 for the next World Cup.

Oh well, maybe I’ll be in South Africa for it =)

So, with pretty much all of Turkeys roster injured, it might seem pretty hopeless for them to beat Germany… but after the last 2 games I’ve seen them play, I just can’t rule them out.  I honestly won’t be surprised if they advance to the final.  Somehow, they’ve been able to pull some off the most amazing goals out of their ass at the exact time they’ve needed to.  I’m a bit disappointed Nihat won’t be playing, but an injury is an injury.

As for the other bracket (which I neglected to look at when wishing for a Spain/Netherlands final), Spain might have a tough time besting Russia after their unbelivable win over the Dutch.  I was pretty speachless that they lost, especially after that brilliant header by Nistelrooy to tie it up.  They just couldn’t put anything together to stop the relentless attacks of the Russians.  Spain definately has their work cut out for them, but I’m still hoping for them to end up in the final.  Right now, they have to be my favorite team so far in this tournament… with Turkey a close second.

Damnit.  I cannot believe that Ribery was injured 10 minutes into the game - that guy is one of my favorites on the French team and I was really looking forward to a rematch of the 2006 World Cup game where he really came out and shined.

Irregardless of Italy scoring in the first half, it was a great game.  I was still pulling for France up until about the 75 minute, but it just seemed like they were beaten in the last 15.  Almost like they had given up, or had been just been pounded so hard by Italy that they didn’t have it left in them.  Somewhat dissapointing.

I must admit, I’m not pleased that Italy made it through.  I was really hoping they’d get pushed out by France, but again, my dreams dissapeared for Les Bleus.  Hopefully they wont make it past the Quarter Finals.

On the other hand, Netherlands defeated Romania 1-nil… which was great to hear.  They didn’t need the win, but as a confidence builder, I’m excited for them.  Hopefully they continue on.  Netherlands/Spain final still looking good!

Wow.  What a fucking brilliant game that was today… I simply cannot believe that last half.  Nihat’s goals in the last 5 minutes were just amazing!

Definitely some of the better football occuring in this tournament…

I’m looking forward to seeing France and Italy play against each other in a World Cup rematch this Tuesday.  Shouldn’t dissapoint.  Netherlands and Spain are still looking great, so I’m still hoping to see them in the final, however after today, I have to say Turkey is looking quite good for the final as well.

So, I’ve been watching the UEFA cup the last few days, and I have to say - I’m dissapointed in France.  They had a tremendously poor showing against Romania… I expected more, particularly after World Cup.  Now, Spain and Netherlands, they gave a downright brilliant showing of how to play football.  I was particularly happy that the Dutch absolutely trounced Italy!

It was also nice to see David Villa get a hat trick yesterday for Spain…

So far, the groups are shaping up nicely, and I’d love to see Spain and the Netherlands get to the final, as they are my current favs.  We shall see!

Ok, so I’m a little tardy here with the end of the World Cup, but I’ve been pretty busy the last week and a half. Anyway… what the fuck? The final was going so well up until Zidane turned around and head butted Materrazi for apparently insulting his mother and sister, however it was also said that he called Zidane a “dirty terrorist”, which Materazzi denied... I’m not sure what to believe, but it must have been pretty fucking brutal for a man of ZiZou’s character to turn around and take Materazzi out. I’d rather believe the “dirty terrorist” insult than anything else.

Either way, what the fuck was Zidane thinking with this manoeuver? There wasn’t much time left in the final overtime, he couldn’t suck it up and deal with it? Shame shame.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Zidane, he played like a superstar the entire Cup, yet he will forever be known for this, which sucks. I think he should have kept the golden ball, but FIFA is in the rights for stripping him of it. Still, what a way to end your career… le sigh. I guess FIFA decided to fine and ban both Zidane and Materazzi, which I think is fair, but still… it never should have happened. Irregardless, the game itself was great to watch, although dissapointing for me since I wanted France to win it. I can’t believe it came down to PK’s… I really thought there would be another goal, maybe even 2 before the end. Oh well, congratulations to Italy for a well won World Cup. Even if most of your clubs are involved in match fixing scandals…

The World Cup final is tomorrow, in a little less than 10 hours. I can’t wait! Zidane continues to be on fire, as is Rivery… my pick for the winner is definately going to be France. I hope it’s a great game, either way, but I just think that France has been building up to this. Besides, what a fantastic way for Zidane to leave the game…

Wow. Just wow. France beat Brazil in the quarterfinals. How the fuck did they do that? Oh yeah… they’ve got Zidane, Henry, and my new favorite, Rivery. Holy shit is Rivery good with the ball. That guy is seriously amazing to watch, hell, they all are. Zidane pulls a little spin move in midfield like it was nothing. He’s not doing to bad for being 34. What a great game to watch… France deserved that win.

It can’t be easy being Wayne Rooney, especially after he got red carded for stomping on Carvalho’s nutts. He probably feels like shit for getting ejected, but to his credit, the fight for the ball went on much longer than it should have. Still, it’s gotta hurt that in all respects, that probably cost England the game and their chance at the final. I think he’s a brilliant player, but he’s just got to reel in his aggression a bit. It’s bad enough that FIFA is demanding an explanation for his actions, which could lead to legal problems for him. More shit like this and he’s not going to have much more of a career. I still can’t believe that England lost to Portugal in penalty kicks. If Beckham and Rooney had stayed in, I think it would have ended differently. Apparently Beckham feels like shit too because he’s no longer Englands captain. Oh well… they’re out, and now my favorite to win is France.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game with Germany vs. Italy. I think it’s going to be a spectacular game, but ultimately, I see Italy winning. We shall see.

Ok, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with some of these officials? 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards in the Portugal vs. Netherlands game. Come the fuck on… this completely destroyed the game. Valentin Ivanov had no clue what the fuck he was doing, let alone what was going on in the game. I seriously hope he never works again, stupid fuck. Now Portugal is down 2 men for the England game, which, for me is great since I want them to win, but I’d rather have a good game with good teams.

Defnately one of the best games I’ve seen in awhile was the France vs. Spain game that closed out the round of 16. Holy crap what a good game that was, and what a well deserved win for France. I think the Brazil vs. France game will be interesting, and I hope that France can put up a good fight against the powerhouse that Brazil is… they’ve won enough times, it’s time for them to get knocked out.

Round of 8 starts Friday, can’t wait! Let’s hope England can get to the semis!

Okay, first off… the USA team may have had a shitty call made on them when a PK was handed over to Pimpong because Onyewu was supposedly pushing him down. This I will agree with whole heartedly and Bruce Arena wasn’t to kind about it either.. BUT! And this is a big but… USA played like shit. They deserved to lose, I think. Yeah sure, I live here in the good ol’ US of A, but fuck… I don’t care. You play like shit, you deserve to get booted out of the tournament. Where the fuck was Donovan? Where was Beasley? Eddie Johnson tried to work for the ball in the last 20 minutes of the game, but come on, it was a poor showing by the USA. Reyna pretty much gave up that first half goal to Draman in the 22nd minute, good thing he’s retiring. The only saving grace was Dempsey’s bullet of a goal in the 43rd. It could have been won… but players failing to step up, even after the shitty call, ultimately led to them being eliminated. A poor poor showing by the USA. Ghana wins it, 2 - 1. Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere else…

If you want to see how to really play football, look no further than Sweden (at least for today). Senderos nails a header off a set piece and follows through into the face of Jin-Chul. Now that’s how you play for a goal. It was an absolute stunner of a header… one of the better ones I’ve seen so far. Sweden went on to win 2 - nil, scoring another goal after the referee continued play eventhough the line judge called the ball offsides. I watched this play over and over in slow motion on my DVR… this was an absolutely wonderful call by the referee. The line judge called it wrong and the ref overruled it, allowing for Frei to play on and score. Quite a bit of controversy over this goal today, but if you really look at it, Frei was onsides when Margairaz played it. It was deflected forward to Frei by a Korean defender, which is what the line judge mistook for a pass. Brilliant call.

Round of 16 starts tomorrow with Germany vs. Ecuador and Argentina vs. Mexico. I’d love to see an upset here with Ecuador defeating Germany, but I really doubt that will happen. I think Argentina is going to crush Mexico… but we’ll see!