Watching Germany vs. Poland, Andy Gray summed up the first two days of action by saying that the tournament was “warming up nicely.” Couldn’t agree more.

Strange that in four games we have had the same two score lines of 1-0 and 2-0. Four shut outs is unusual. No draws in four games is unusual. There hasn’t been a single shock yet either, as the four favorites from these games have all won, though not all have done so convincingly.

Lady Luck obviously knows about pedigrees because the Swiss and the Austrians were pretty unlucky in their losses, but the old cliche’ that teams make their own luck also holds true. And if there was any question as to whether Tommy Smyth is an idiot (and there isn’t) it was settled today in the opening minutes of the Austria vs. Croatia game. A penalty in the opening five minutes is always a tough call and it wasn’t clear cut. Cue the replay where Smyth is saying, “That’s not a foul at all” as the running replay clearly shows Aufhauser clattering into Olic. Clearly, it wasn’t a dive. Clearly, the player makes heavy contact. Olic wasn’t bearing down on goal, but that doesn’t matter—fouls in the box, no matter if they’re clumsy or stupid or ill-timed, are penalties. With plenty of time to retract his statement after getting a better look, what does Smyth do? Of course, he restates that it wasn’t a foul. Which it was.

Back to warming up nicely. Portugal and Germany won fairly convincingly against second-tier competition, not needing to expend too much energy and looking utterly competent in the pressure situation. The Czechs and Croatia got vital wins which give them some breathing room and buys them time to improve. Rarely does the team that screams out of the blocks end up winning the trophy: in the cliche’ dictionary, look up “peaking too soon.” Germany is also a team known for gelling as tournaments progress and, despite some shaky keeping by Mad Jens in the early stages, they looked good.

And then there’s the small matter of France vs. Romania and the Netherlands vs. Italy tomorrow. Can’t. Watch. Enough. Soccer.

Or maybe I can. US vs. Argentina tonight and I hope to God we get a better outing. Remember when the US lost to Brazil 4-2 not so long ago? I would love to see a 4-2 loss to Argentina that suggested the team had some spark. Unfortunately, recent history suggests it’s going to be a 1-0 or 2-0 loss that shows that the US is incapable of playing dour soccer successfully. And if you’re listening Bob, please give Freddy Adu more than 45 minutes and partner him with another sparkplug, anyone but Eddie Johnson. Freddy was the only one with a creative bone in his body against Spain. Reward that, please.

Current Mood: Footie Mad |