Wednesday, June 23, 2010

world cup update

My last post was quite pessimistic. The second game against Ghana (1-1) restored my flagging belief in the green and gold. Certainly the image of the team, which had taken a battering in the wake of the German defeat, received overdue manna from the brave and coherent effort against the Black Stars, achieved with only 10 men. Poor Harry was off midway through the first half with a hand-ball offence.

Tonight is Serbia, a strong team with a good record. We have to win by a decent margin and hope Germany batter Ghana by at least three goals to get through to the round of 16. Alternately, we have to win and hope Ghana beats Germany. What chance of that, you might ask.

It's been an odd tournament so far, with France being eliminated and other giants failing to fire. Everybody seems to hate the Jubulani ball and the standard of refereeing has been inconsistent, to put it politely. Let's not even talk about the vuvuzela, which drowns out everything in it's wake.

Strange things have happened in South Africa and stranger may yet occur. Fingers crossed!

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