Tuesday, July 20, 2010

End of World Cup Rollercoaster Frills

While I would have to back track my journal entries, there was much writing that I was unable to post for the last 3 weeks doue to lack of internet accessibility.

However I´ll fly through what were my immediate dissapointments & poor predictions at the quarterfinals stages. Basically, I was delighted with the final 8 teams, & w-Spain being my least favorate (also the least convincing team to have reached the final 8), all 4 teams I wanted to win, Ghana, Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay lost!

Where to begin, with Argentina, my San Palermo prediction fell way short as their was no defensive discipline, & a lack of ideas when getting to final 3rd of the box to finalize. It was almost embarassing for a growing Argentina to go out the way they did, I was watching in pain as the score had turned 3-0, 2 mins later the power went out at the bar in Maputo where we were watching the match. I still hoping for a miracle ran 2 blocks away to another & watching from outside couldn´t help but smile when the 4th was blasted in by Klose. Watching a replay of the last 20 mins 5 days later in my hotel lobby in Beira I´ll never forget the Portuguese commentator stating after Messi had one last shot on goal easily placed right to the goal keeper, "Agora, Messi vai pra casa sem marcar nehum gol, Argentina vai pra casa totalmente Humilhiado!" I recall so many Argentinians stating , "Oh yes Messi hasn't scored, but still I like &think that he played well." I personally never subscribed to that, the greats have to score, other wise it´s never the same. Messi playing out of position as a number 10 in the midfield was the ultimate reason for his failure as well. Me & Eric will forever be Villero supporters of the tenacious Tevez, who always left it all on the pitch!
The hardest game to swallow was the Ghana vs. Uruguay, hands down the most exciting match I´ve ever witnessed, yes it had a tragic ending, but for me stands as a historic game & easily surpassed the prior most exciting game I´d ever watched being Argentina vs. England 98´.
Naturally when Gyan missed the penalty that was supposed to have sealed the game in most dramatic fashion there was still some sort of blind fate I suppose.

For me without a doubt the height of the entire rollercoaster viewing experience was when Appiah slammed home the second penalty for Ghana, blasting into the upper corner & began pounding his chest roaring into the stands, I was whispering to Eric frantically, "They´re going to fucking do it man!" & the whole fate of Africa must have felt something similar. When Mensah stepped up for the 3rd I´ll never forget Eric tell me, "What´s he going to do, head it in?" & as a lame have step back & easy pass to the goalie, that was easily the lamest attempt I had witnessed under that sort of pressure.
While all of Africa had it´s fingers crossed for Kingson to make a stop on Uruguays last penalty take, I saw Loco Abreu´walking from Midfield & I subconsciously, removed from any sort of emotion realized & whsipered to Eric, "Fuck it´s over man, this guy doesn´t miss!". I had immediate flashbacks of Loco Abreu slamming in penalties for San Lorenzo in the Argentine league dating as far back from 98´as well as cool finishes for Botafogo only weeks before the cup. Ás he stepped up cool as ice, we watched in slow motion as he chipped the perfect penalty & subconsounciously pumped my fists not for the fact that Uruguay had won, but at how expertly he had taken the kick. It was the most silent moment maybe in the history of Africa, one could have heard a pin drop in the rakous restaurant. Africa was done, & many peoples spirits were devasted.
I realized a day later that Cardozo of Paraguay & Gyan of Ghana would have to attend the "Loco" Abreu school of penalty kicks under pressure, however on that stage, they will have to live with those misses for the rest of their lives. It´s a seperate experience to miss a a penalty at the end of a match in real time vs. a penalty kick shootout loss of concentration. Brutal is an understatement.
One of the only matches I missed, by axccident due to a 7 hour bus delay was the Spain vs. Germany match. Would Cacau & Mueller have made the difference if they weren´t suspended? I would say absolutely! For most all fans, I had taken my hat off to Germany & really wanted & expected them to slaughter all teams in their patch after 4-1, 4-0 demolishions of ARg & England. Still it was meant to be that I missede that match, I would have suffered too much.
Pulling into a rural bus stop 5 hours from Beira, I asked to young Boys,
"Que qanou o jogo?"
"Espana"
"Nao acreditou, como ficou? Quem fez o golo?
"Nao sei o nome acho que foi o numero 5."
"Puyols, aqulle cabellinho?"
"Sim foi ele!"

I had relegated myself at that point to rooting for Urugauy, & thought that although they were lucky to escape from Ghana victorious they played fabulously, & definitely gave Holland a run for their money. That Forlan goal to tie the match vs. Holland was something else!
As it turned that Spain was able to steal that final gol vs. Holland, whom I really prefered to take the cup, I think this cup is historic for the way it played out. A very mediocre team in Spain, loaded with talent & basically became a Barca 6 man starting lineúp after del Bosque figured out he needed to bench the pretty boy Torres for that nasty & aggressive Pedro in the final match. A team that should have been sent packing by Paraguay, (there was a first half gol, dissalowed, totally onsides, GO TO THE TAPE! The Cardozo miss.
The least convincing team to slide into the semifinals in the hsitory of the world cup, But then managing to play very tough in it´s final 2 matches to win the whole thing, still a hard pill to swallow! I would have liked any of the other 6 teams, Paraguay had no realistic Chance, but they still blew a schock victory OPPORTUNITY against the now World Champions. A Spanish friend e'mailed me to express his Shock & surprise of good fortune!

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