World Cup Nonsense

[Sweder]

What?! Chinks in the armour??!! I hope for England's sake your football team doesn't have a similar lack of stamina

[Bigoted World Cup fanatic rant]Sorry, does anyone know this person?
My Mum told me not to talk to strangers . . .[/Bigoted World Cup fanatic rant]

Huzzah! This great tournament is off and running.
Looking forward to the Aussie/ Japan match this lunchtime (well, OK, it's at 2pm, but for the next week or so I'm on flexitime ). Tempting though it may be following our oval ball humiliation Down Under to support our Japanese friends I'll be cheering on the Green and Gold. Like Andy I struggle to use their self-styled nickname; it somehow drags this international spectacle down to the level of some contrived parochial event (like the Baseball World Series). Still, I wish them well. At least they’ll be less inclined to blame the heat for any poor performances. After all, they have the ultimate scapegoat in Harry Kewell

I thought the Dutch (hopefully this is an acceptable term for those who prefer wooden shoes and wear orange a lot) coped with the soaring temperatures rather better than ‘our’ boys, but then that’s probably just good old English pessimism tainting my normally rose-coloured spectacles. It’s not often Sir Alex Ferguson gets a show of public support from a player on his shit list, yet Ruud Van Nistelrooy did a pretty good job of showing the world why he’s been gathering Old Trafford bench splinters since the turn of the year – he almost made Michael Own look sharp (I said almost).

My ‘outsider’ tip for the tournament, Portugal, played with great industry and invention last night yet like their European neighbours failed to build on a great start.

Ronaldo was unlucky not to score. I’ll wager he has a better World Cup than his more experienced name-sake – rumours abound that the buck-toothed Brazilian Galactico has attained Seafront Plodder proportions – that is if he manages to remain a first team pick. ‘Big Phil’ Scolari will not have enjoyed his public petulance on leaving the pitch nor his tantrum that raged long after he donned his hi-vis safety vest. Methinks Christiano may need a sheepish and apologetic word with his manager this morning.