'Til Another Four Years

Ahhh, what a wonderful World Cup tournament it had been. One whole month of world-class football, 24/7... a big thank you to Astro for providing such lovely service for the tournament. It has ended for less than a day and already I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms. It cheered me up when I was having the working blues, and when I have already stopped working, it was something to look forward to. Now that it's over, I guess I just have to contend with watching repeat matches and slowly wean myself off football. And one match I kept watching again and again (and still not sick of it) was the 3rd place play-off, Germany vs Portugal...

And THAT, as far as I'm concerned, was my Finals. Fantastic, energetic play from both sides. Cristiano Ronaldo's theatrics was still loathsome to watch, but I suppose Portugal's own goal during the second half was karma for all the nonsense they've presented throughout the tournament... so everything kinda worked out fine! :D And the goals by Schweinsteiger were just beautiful. Germany opened the tournament with a brilliant goal by Lahm against Costa Rica, and they ended on a high note with Schweinsteiger's. A great ending by a great team. Such a fun team to watch. And the fact that the coach was damn fine is an added bonus. ;) I hope he stays on with the team... they've only just begun and only him can continue carrying the momentum to reach greater heights.

I really like the Klose-Podolski pairing, but my favourite player in the team would be Lahm. The shortest dude in the team, he is ever so consistent as a winger and is definitely a player the team could rely on. I would want to play like him. Yes, my footie days are not completely over yet. I intend to play footie still in the UK. ;)

The jubilation and celebration after their convincing 3-1 victory over Portugal was lovely. Oh how I wished I was in Stuttgart then to soak up the atmosphere and watch the fireworks display (and maybe bump into Michael Schumacher, hehe... or better still, Klinsmann! ;P) ...

As for the real Finals, it had more drama than goals. Despite each side having a goal each during the 1st half, somehow I thought it wasn't exciting enough for a Finals match. Plus, the prolonged injury time for those injured players were kinda disrupting the flow.

Things changed for the better during the second half. Both upped their pace and France was looking pretty strong. But still no goals... and it went on to extra time.

Obviously, Italy's Materazzi provoked Zidane into what will be known around the world as 'Zidane's Moment of Madness'... but it's still no excuse for his disgraceful behaviour. I thought Rooney's sent off was stupid enough, but this just takes the cake. That famous shaven head known for his headers decided to head another person instead of the ball. Stupid goat. Of all occasions, it was his farewell match, in the World Cup finals, that he chose to not control his temper. For a football genius, he's not very bright, is he? What a selfish, dumb prick. How could he leave 10 men on the pitch to fight for such a great cause? Captain, konon.

Penalty shootouts is not my favourite way to decide a winning team. But I'm glad Italy won anyway, 'cos it meant that Germany only lost to the eventual champions, which is not bad at all. ;)

And thus ended World Cup Germany 2006. Sigh. :)


Oh, Klinsmann, you set my heart aflutter... :P