Jose, Can You See?

I watched the Germany-Argentina game with a friend from Berlin; at some point in the match, she leaned over and said, "It will be shameful if the Germans lose."  After the match, pundits called the Argentine's loss (in penalty kicks) "shameful."  Huh?  How could a loss in this match be shameful on either side?  It was, basically, what everyone imagined it would be -- very close, tightly fought, with a slight  edge to the Germans because of the home field.   And then the dreaded PKs, and the Argentines ended with a whimper.  And Argentina manager Jose Pekerman is (rightly) lambasted for not getting Messi in there.  But just as ridiculous as that decision is FIFA's refusal to allow another substitution in extra-time.  Messi should have been in there in regular time, and he should have been in there in overtime.  The whole substitution thing is absurd.  Imagine, for a moment, soccer with open substitution.  And the downside is?

Speaking of wacky ideas that will never go beyond annoying a lot of people, the Guardian's Paul Doyle is calling for cutting the number of teams in the World Cup back to 16.  In the process, he insults just about everyone outside of Europe, and even them, calling for just four guaranteed teams from the Americas and the  disbandment of CONCACAF.    Ha ha,  British sense of humor.   Read it here: 
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/worldcup06/2006/06/29/fewer_is_more.html

German word play: Lahm, as in the incredibly speedy Philip Lahm, means slow.  So says my Berlin friend, at least.  And Schweinsteiger?  One who climbs, or mounts, swine.  In other words, ...  And a lot of fans would suggest that this is what each member of the German team is.  But give them credit -- that was a beautiful goal they scored today.  Or, if not exactly beautiful, efficient and powerful.  Kind of like their four penalty kicks.

-- TC

Comments

[Flensburger]

Come on: if you want to see Schweinsteiger's heritage, just type "Schweinsteig" into maps.google.com . Three hits. Small ways through the bavarian alps. And that is what "steig" means: a small path you can climb uphill.