I hate to say it, I’m kind of glad the USA got knocked out today in the World Cup. We weren’t ready for this, and we didn’t deserve it after we let our egos get out of control. We were defeated 2 -1 by Ghana, and let’s hear it for Ghana! First African country to make it to the second round!

I think we needed this though. We went in with an incredible ego that “Hey, we’re the USA and we made it to the second round last time, we’ll win it this year!” We aren’t Brazil. We aren’t Germany. We aren’t Italy. We are not ready for the true world stage of football. This is a true world sport and we are woefully behind.

Not the best record int he world.

I would have never believed it, but that I saw it with my own eyes. It seems NBC has contacted Beijing about their scheduling of certain events at the 2008 Summer games they are hosting. It seems Beijing is 12 hours ahead of the East Coast of America, so to make sure the had some good live stuff to show, they are asking Beijing to move some of the big events ot the morning do that NBC can show the events live.

So here’s my problems. Firstly, where does NBC get off thinking that their schedule is more important than all of Europe and Asia’s? I have no clue, but according to this article , broadcasters in other countries aren’t happy either. Can’t say as I blame them.

Secondly, another chance for thieves to get a hold of your personal data. Kike we don’t heve enough of those already.

And people wonder why America is hated around the world, could it have anything to do with our giant egos?

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to congratulate the ABC Network family of channels for presenting every World Cup game in its entirety. Considering the popularity of soccer in this country, I am sure that this was rather risky in the ratings department and you are to be applauded for showing them.

That being said, I have to express my dismay at the coverage of the June 17, 2006 Czech Republic Vs Ghana game. The commentators, J.P. Dellacamera & John Harkes, seemed to view this match as merely a way to kill time until the USA Vs. Italy game later in the day. Their running commentary was more about what Ghana’s win would mean to the United States than what it would to Ghana itself, the first African country to secure a victory in a World Cup match.

By far, the worst example of this came at the 90:00 minute mark, just as stoppage time began. Yes, the score was 2 – 0, but the commentators favored discussing the fresh copy of the USA’s starting lineup for the game and stopped all commentary on the game currently in progress in order to debate the changes in the USA’s chart. They did not resume commentary again until 91:46 and then it was just for one sentence so that they could elaborate on how this win for Ghana affected the USA’s standings.

I understand that I am in the USA, I understand the interest in our own team, but I found this highly disrespectful to the athletes on the field. They deserved the undivided attention of the commentators as this was their time in the limelight, not the USA’s. You have your half time show, and between-games times to do your speculating and while there are two other teams on the field, the focus should be on them and no one else.

It would benefit everyone if you remembered that this is the “World Cup”, an international tournament in which the USA is merely one participant out of 32. Perhaps you confused it with the “World Series”, which, despite it’s name, is all about the USA.

Thank you for your attention,

Portugal defeated Iran 2 – 0, eliminating any hopes Iran had of moving forward to the second round. They have one more game to play, but no hope of moving on.

In an amazing upset, Ghana defeated the Czech Republic 2 – 0. This is the first ever World Cup match victory for an African country. You wouldn’t know it from the commentators on ABC here in the United States, they only seemed to care how it affected the USA’s chances of moving forward to the second round. (See my seperate blog for more on this)

Then came the USA Vs. Italy game. Can we just go ahead and say it was the worst officiated game ever? Fouls that barely warrented a yellow card earned red cards. By the end of the game the USA had lost two players to red cards and Italy had lost one, so instead of 11-on-11 players, it ended up being 10-on-9. Other fouls that needed only a verbal warning got yellow carded. It was a total disaster. The final score was 1 – 1, and the USA goal was scored off an Italian player. It was a very, very odd game. USA stays in for now though.

There’s been some great games and not-so great games over the past few days. England defeated Trinidad & Tobago 2 – 0, but they didn’t score until the 80th minute. England just seems to be lacking any sense of passion for this, they have no fire, and it’s showing in their haphazard playing. They’re through to the second round though.

Argentina destroyed Serbia in a crushing 6 – 0 defeat. It was almost painful to watch it was so lopsided. Course, Spain defeated Ukraine 4 – 0 a couple days ago, so the Serbia defeat wasn’t the only huge loss.

Tomorrow the USA is playing Italy. If we lose, we’re out. There are lots of people who say we have a shot, but I hate to tell everyone…there is NO hope of us winning this game. We lost 3 – 0 to the Czechs. Italy beat Ghana 2 – 0. I am really expecting the score to be around 3 – 0 with Italy taking it. If we make it past tomorrow I’ll be amazed. We just are not a soccer country, we might be someday, but not yet.

I know it sounds horrible not to be all gung-ho for my own country, but come on folks, let’s be realistic too, it’s not going to happen. If we by some miracle beat Italy tomorrow, we will quickly be eliminated in the next round, we just don’t have the talent or experience of these other teams.

Day 4 of the World Cup has come and gone, and basically it was the worst case scenario fot the USA. We played our first game against the Czech Republic, a game most thought we had a shot at winning, and instead we lost 3 – 0. Now, the way the World Cup scoring works is you earn 0 points for a loss, 1 point for a tie and 3 points for a win. In the first bracket you play for best 2 out of 3, so if other teams in the bracket score 3, you have problems.

So, in our bracket today, Czech Republic beat us 3 – 0 and Italy beat Ghana 2 – 0. That means we are 3 points behind one of the greatest countries ever in cup history, Italy. And gee, guess who we play next…that’s right, Italy. If we lose that game, that’s it, we’re as good as out. We will still have to play Ghana, but there will be no way for us to catch up.

Austrlia defeated Japan 3- 1, which was impressive because A)Had never scored a goal in World Cup histy and B)All three happened within 8 minutes. I would have hated ot of been in the Japanese locker room after that game!

For those of you not in to the tournament…too bad!

Yep, more World Cup. Game 5 was Sweden vs. Trinidad and Tobago, with Sweden expected to easily win the game against the smallest country to ever qualify for the cup. Well…it didn’t quite go that way. Sweden had far more attempts on goal in the first half, but T&T held them scoreless, based almost solely on the last-minute replacement goalie, Shaka Hislop.

As the second half begun, T&T lost a player to a second yellow card foul, meaning he had earned a red card and was sent off the field. For those unfamiliar with the rules of soccer, that player can not be replaced for the rest of the game meanng Sweden had 11 players to T&T’s 10. Thanks to Hilsop, T&T still held Sweden scoreless and almost scored a goal of their own.

This really was one of the most amazing games I have ever watched. Everything said Sweden would stomp all over T&T, and they held their own. You could Sweden was about to have their heads explode at this turn of events. T&T next plays England on Thursday, which sounds like should be a slaughter, but England didn’t perform anywhere near expectations against Paraguay, scoring only one goal.

I can NOT wait for Thursday! Go Trinidad & Tobago!

I wonder how many people reading this blog (those from the USA, my foreign readers can sit this one out…I know you all get it) know the biggest sporting event in the world is going on. To listen to the media, you would think that the World Cup is some event engaged in by primatives and we should all smile-and-nod at their quaint little ways. This tournament causes massive sick outs, wives become World Cup Widows and basically every country goes in to a frenzy…except the USA.

I will never understand why football (yes, I call it football…BECAUSE IT’S PLAYED WITH FEET!) hasn’t caught on here though. Personally, with the exception of basketball, and I know this might get me skinned by some people, traditional American sports bore me to tears. Take American football for instance, “Oh no! We’ve played for 10 seconds, someone stop the clock!” Baseball? Pounding nails in to my head is more enjoyable. Football is fast paced, non-stop and has a championship system that makes so much more sense where every goal counts to the final championship, none of this “Too bad you had a bad day, this is the only game that matters!”

So, with one day down, I hope maybe more people will give the cup more of a chance this year as the games are playing on ESPN and ABC. Take a look at the schedule on ESPN and find a game to give a try, doesn’t matter what country. See what the rest of the world loves that we can’t seem to understand.

May I just say Sir Alex Ferguson needs to get his head out of his behind and fix whatever it is that’s wrong with Manchester United this season! They lost 4-to-1 against Middlesbrough on Saturday. MIDDLESBROUGH!!! They are in eleventh, Man United was in second, but due to the loss they have now slipped to sixth. Meanwhile Chelsea is in first place with 31 points, a full 13 ahead of Man United.

I may have to go cry in a corner now.

(for those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, this is all about Premiere League soccer)