I’m proud of fellow CONCACAF member Costa Rica. They took it to Uruguay. But I’m really fired up for this battle between England and Italy. Since my heritage is a mixture of English, Italian, and German, I’ve always rooted for those teams in the World Cup, along with the USA, of course. I wish England and Italy were not in the same group, but I can’t wait to see them play.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
20 Comments
Recent Posts
- Day 14: Louisiana Senator Approvingly Compares Trump to Stalin
- Day 13: Elon Musk Flexes His Muscles
- Day 12: While Elon Musk Takes Over, We Podcast With Driftglass and Blue Gal
- Day 11: Harm of Fascist Regime’s Foreign Aid Freeze Comes Into View
- Day 10: The Fascist Regime Blames a Plane Crash on Nonwhite People
I have a similar conflict with the Yanks and Black Stars.
PURA VIDA!
Loved that Los Ticos (after Australia the longest of long shots) beat Uruguay.
Hate to say it aloud, but CONCACAF is 2-0.
…even Costa Rica got 3 points!
Ah. I’ll keep an eye on referee Bjorn Kuipers of The Netherlands, considered one of Europe’s best.
For a good World Cup result, I hope your German lineage is sufficient as I consider the Mannschaft a contender for the finals.
I thought so until Reus got hurt. Funny game. Anyone see Netherlands-Spain coming?
I thought the game was a toss-up with a slight edge to the Netherlands on offensive firepower. I couldn’t imagine Spain giving up five goals in the whole tournament, let alone in one match.
By the end of the game, they were totally flumoxed and discombobulated. The goalie was making very odd decisions. The wonder goal by Robben at the ’83 was great individual skill, but the goalie allowed it by an incredibly dumb decision. I was simply stunned by the game.
I have a soft spot for England, but I love watching this exciting Italian team. Especially Balotelli – dangerous as hell, as this 2nd half is proving yet again.
This Italian team is not like Italy of the past. In fact, a lot of teams do not live up to national stereotypes. The Italian stereotype is score 1, go into a defensive crouch. Not that game.
Me too. Hated the Machiavellian furbi and their evil victory in 2006, and didn’t see any point to the Italians of 2010, but this team is lovely.
After about 75 minutes, England wilted. Until then, they were dangerous.
England acclimated to Amazon conditions during a training stage in Florida. Team Italy got in a few days earlier to acclimate in the Amazon. During the match in Manaus Stadium: temp 80 ºF and 84% RH. The team that got the edge in scoring during the match could sit back and defend. No nation is a master in defending a lead as the Italians are, remember where the cataneccio was invented (Helenio Herrera).
I was quite fortunate to learn the game of soccer in high school under tutorship of Harry Keough before he moved on to coach a superb St. Louis U. Billikens side to NCAA fame. Harry Keough always dressed in his 1950 training suit of that historic 1-0 defeat of England.
Did he wash it?
USA will emerge from the group of death.
Based on that extremely indepth and highly technical analysis, I have now bet $10,000 on …. Portugal. If we get out of our group, I will be amazed.
Oi..I think USA soccer team will surprise everyone.
Oh, we are much better than any team in the past that I remember. Klinsman is a good coach, maybe a great one. Beasley in the LF is a great choice. Bradley is coming alive in the middle. Wondolowski is going to surprise some team off the bench. Altidore scored 2 against Nigeria, one of which was great skill, the other simply good position knowledge. We must not give penalties away, such as happened in the last 2 games. We also owe Ghana a pasting. Mon would be a very good time to remind Ghana that we can remember 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0
Playing on the American continent sees many European teams make an early exit. Perhaps in the semi-finals 3 of the 4 places will be taken by national teams from the American continent. I estimate only Germany and perhaps Italy will get that far. Chili and Mexico played well and are great competitors. Australia made it tough for the Dutch because of their great fighting spirit.