World Cup Nonsense

[Sweder]

My wife detected an oddly familiar chant coming from the Portugese fans tonight. We jotted it all down as best we could and ran the words through Babel Fish.

It came out Are You Watching Graham Poll?
Astonishing stuff.

In the middle of all the nonsense the Dutch side reneged on one of the unwritten laws of the game, retaining posession after a stop in play for an injury. There is some doubt as to what should have happened; Portugal were attacking just outside the box when the ref blew up for an injury at the other end. The referee added fuel to the flames by appearing to be entirely in the dark as to what should happen. The mood between the sides darkened as swiftly and surely as thunderheads gathering over a mid-west plain.

The result in my living room was the indifferent wife and the distracted daughter took up arms in the name of Portugal. I'm not sure why; they seemed to think the White shirts were nastier than the Red shirts.
Hell hath no fury and all that . . .

I confess to being wholly unsporting as the card carnage unfolded.
I shamelessly suggested the best outcome would be a last-minute equaliser, 30 minutes of extra time during which another player could be sent off on each side (preferably Robben and Maniche) and the match be settled by a prolonged penalty shoot-out.

I've no doubt that a Portugal missing Deco, Costinho and probably Christiano Ronaldo will still be more than a match for an England side suffering collective amnesia. There can be no other explanation for players who competed in and/ or won the Premiership, Champions League and the FA Cup playing like a herd of clump-footed donkeys. It's churlish to whine about a poor English performance I suppose - ask the Orange fans if they'd rather have seen flair or a win tonight.

And we get to see the match-up we all wanted; the manager we could have had against the one we're going to get. Or already have, perhaps. Fascinating to oberve the England bench as the subs - Peter Crouch and, er, Wayne Bridge - warmed up, McLaren sketching out the tactics and explaining them to the deeply furrowed brow of Mr Burns.

Mudança? Que mudança é aquela então?

Best of luck to the Sheileroos tomorrow.
That dream final is still on

Stop press:
England v Ecuador FIFA man of the match?
John Terry

Thank goodness Wimbledon starts tomorrow . . .