Final Tonight:

So Germany won a fairly dull and lackluster match last night 3:1. It was gratifying to see Portugal get trounced, but it was nice to see a few specific things in that game:

- Oliver Khan played extremely well, and I was rooting for him, so I guess my antipathy toward him has waned.

- Ricardo was awesome again. Don't let the three goals fool you: one was an own goal, and the other two were just marvelous shots that he had no chance with (though he got closer to stopping the first than he should have). Ricardo was, despite the players in front of him, one of my favorite goalies to watch in this tournament.

- Klinsmann and Scolari both made some effort to give their benchwarmers some good PT -- very nice to see.

- Schweinsteiger has a hell of a shot when he's on.

- Figo set up Portugal's goal, which was great to see. Probably his last WC game, and he went out coming off the bench to help a goal -- good on you, Figo.

- Cristiano Ronaldo looked like he was going to cry for most of the second half. Gorgeous!

Now tonight -- The Blues vs. The Blues.

Go Italy.

Podolski wins:

Lukas Podolski wins the Gilette Best Young Player Award at the World Cup.

Good for him -- he's had a brilliant tournament, and his only realistic competition was Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, who was (rightly) DQ'ed because of his lack of fair play (his blatant diving throughout the tournament) and his antics in the England game.

Good for Podolski. He deserved it -- clearly the best young player in the tournament.

A belated realization:

I had a pretty good "ha! Dumbass!" moment on Tuesday.

So before the Germany-Italy match, the German commentators were talking and one said that Germany will win 2:0, whereupon he was asked whether that would be in normal time or extra time. Normal time, of course, he said.

"HA! Like they're going to end at 90 0:0 and then someone will score twice in extra time! DUMBASS!"

...

Oops.

What an ending!

Italy nets two in the last three minutes of extra time to avoid PKs and advance to the championship match 2:0.

Un-friggin-believable.

The U.S. may yet get some pride out of this World Cup: one more Italy win, and the U.S. is their only opponent not to lose.

GO ITALY GO!

New IRON MAIDEN Album Cover:

World Cup Humor:

Looks like Rooney and Ronaldo have made up.



In other news: Germany-Italy, France-Portugal.

I can't believe England lost in '06 the exact same way they did in '98. Uncanny, particularly on a day when the second matchup was France-Brazil. Speaking of, since Brazil never, ever looked good, I think France has to be credited with one hell of a game. I was very impressed.

I'm still pro-Italy for my own very peculiar reason, but either of that pairing will be fine in the final analysis -- just as long as they play France and beat them. To hell with Portugal -- bunch of Schwalben.

On the other hand, if Portugal beats France and then gets absolutely thumped in the final match, that would be fun, too.

Grill season:

So, how do you cook your hot dogs?

What a strange day it will be:

I, an American living in Germany, find myself both pro-England and pro-France on the same day.

Talk about your conundrums!