WC Review: Portugal, Switzerland and Spain

Hm. Portugal scored seven then. I'd hoped for, and bet on a draw. Makes me look kinda stupid then, eh? Oh well. Thought the North Koreans could be counted on for another massively organised performance, but que sera sera. Poor dudes. Gotta feel sorry for them. Basically folded after the second goal. But, but, but...even if they lost, even if they crumbled, they still put in a good, professional performance bereft of pathetic rolling around, theatrics, yelling, etc. For that, they've already got my vote as winners this World Cup.

As for Portugal, I still think they've peaked a tad too early. Well, at least that's my biased point of view. It'll be interesting to see what happens when they play Brazil, though things in Group G look rather academic in all seriousness.

The second game led me to think: there must be something about the nervous systems of professional footballers. Except for those coming from North Korea. And exacerbated by the thin South African air. Everything seems to be linked to facial nerves, you know. You touch a guy on his neck, he clutches his face. You touch a guy on his shoulder, he clutches his face. Squeeze a guy's bollocks and I half suspect he'd clutch his face. Every damn body part's linked to their face. What is up with these people, man?

You know who I blame? Besides silly adults behaving like children, that is. Crap referees. And there've been more than a couple this World Cup. In fact, there've been too many, and they've basically killed off several games with stupid decisions, and no decisions on other occasions.

The latest crap decision came of course in that Chile-Switzerland game. In my book, an unncessary sending off for Behrami, when a yellow might have been sufficient punishment for swinging arms that were as accidental as they were benign. But a straight red? Only killed off the game as an attacking option for the Swiss.

To top it all off, there's another silly swinging arm/Swiss face-clutching incident later in the second half, and what does Chile get? A yellow. Now what the hell is that? A red there might have been doubly stupid, but at least the ref could claim to be consistently stupid. To only give a yellow only showed that the first was a mistake.

I'm sorry, but apart from the US-Slovenia game, this had to be the worst refereeing I've seen so far.

As far as the game was concerned, well, Switzerland were Switzerland, and had to be doubly so after the sending off. Resolute defending can only get you so far, I suppose, and it was a matter of time (including the 90 against Spain) before they let in a goal. Gotta feel sorry for them, and they really should've equalised at the death through Derdiyok.

As much as the ref in the game sucked, I enjoyed our Japanese friend in the next game as much as I did when he saw to the France-Uruguay time. Good man.


Yuichi Nishimura. My bet for the final. Is it coincidence that he is probably only one of three professional referees? Anyway...


Spain 2-0 Honduras. A pretty weird score-line all in all, given Spain's dominance and Honduras' dismal display. The same Spanish afflictions of over-extravagance and wastefulness were on display, this time mitigated at least by two brilliant Villa goals. Leave it to Torres and Ramos, and Spain would probably have drawn 0-0.


Take it from an Arsenal observer. This tippy-tappy stuff is a joy to behold, but all it takes is a Germany to get one over you. A remotely top-level team (i.e. Switzerland) could just punish you. So, yes, a brilliant display from Spain, but the wastefulness has to be a worry. Missed penalty even. Sheesh.


Last games in the group will be interesting. Switzerland must be expected to beat Honduras on tonight's evidence, and Spain will have to work on their finishing against a more credible Chile. It should be fun.


Elsewhere, I was just looking through all the comments coming out of Arsenal after England's first draw against the US, and it's funny to see what Le Boss said:

"But I believe England will qualify easily. I can't imagine that they won't go through. In a World Cup, a draw in the first game is not a bad result."

He couldn't imagine it. Same as not being able to imagine a group of adults throwing a hissy fit and boycotting training? Just as we could not imagine John Terry (Mr ex-Captain, Mr I-Slept-With-My-Best Mate's-Girlfriend) trying the same trick at inciting revolution? The weird and wonderful eh?

I mean (and I hope this is the end of it), let's face it. It's okay to suck. It's okay to play badly. It's okay to choke under pressure. It's okay not to have talent. It's all okay. Footballers are human.

But footballers are also adults, and it's therefore NOT okay to throw hissy fits, not okay to get all worked up after two bad results, not okay to forget that unfortunately, you're supposed to be role models of sorts. God forbid the day my son has a footballer for a role model for anything other than footballing skills.

So I say to the French FA: recall the whole bunch of losers. They have no right to be on that pitch against the hosts. Seems I'm on the right page as the French Sports Minister. Words used: morale disaster; no longer heroes for our children; destroyed the dreams of our countrymen; tarnished the image of France.

Exactement, Madame le Ministre. But judging from the scale of the issues at hand, not sure where she's going to start, really.

To the English FA: keep a close eye on that, and reign in that twit of an ex-Captain.

Let me close with a quote:

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."

Or more accurately, the French and English training camps...