Sunday, July 02, 2006

Upsets, Upsets, Upsets

Wow a day of total upsets, who would of thought of it. And I am not just talking about the World Cup, but is anyone stateside watching the Tour de France.. just wondering.. I doubt it. Ok for real both Brazil and England are going home today and not many people would have thought of that. While i did feel England could lose and I even put a 3euro bet on Portugal, it was for them winning in the 90 minutes of regulation time and not on penalties. Watching the game I predicted that one of England penalty strikers Gerrard and Lampard would miss, little did I know that both would miss and without those 2, England was left to having scrubs like Haregraves and Carragher taking shots. I am trying to read now why Beckham was replaced in the 52nd minute, was he hurt, was he sick, cramped up, tired what was the reason, cause I feel that changed the whole flow of the game. All tournament long Becks has been great, his free and direct kicks have been spot on, and done a good job passing.. Rooney, well my thoughts on rooney have never been good, I thought he was a baby for throwing that tantrum against Sweden, and now for kicking his own Man U teammate in the balls he gets a red card. While a bit harsh, knowing his past its not totally unexpected.

Brazil, wow what can I say, i have loved Thierry Henry since I first saw him dash across the pitch years ago. He moves like it is without effort, makes the tough goals looks easy and the impossible goals look like pure skill. I was not totally suprised that France won, but I think the fans were. Naturally Brazil is the favorite of everyone, and as I said before If I was at home rooting, it would be all about Brazil, but over here I am a sucker for the underdogs. And underdog it was, France going from having to beat Togo to stay in the tournament to making it to the Semifinals its been a week for les bleus. It seems that simply France has brazil number, as the last time Brazil lost was in 98 finals to a different french team, but it was Zidane who did the damage then, and his free kick right to Henrys foot did the damage this time also.

The Tour de France, yes I am really watching at least yesterday sitting outside at a cafe drinking a 2euro becks gold. It was lovely in the sun actually watching bike racing. Anyway with the current doping scandel, whoever wins will have earned it, but it will almost be like an asterick in the books since Basso, Ullrich, Vinokourov and others are out. Look for another american to win, either Hincapie, or Zabriskie to possibly drink champagne on a bike in Paris 3 weeks from now.

Alright, off to Cologne germany later today, will see the big Dom cathedral and drink a Kolsch beer and since no football today, probably watch Le Tour. Monday I head to Krakow Poland, a city I hear great things about, lets hope the expectations are met.. Hope all are enjoying the weekend back home

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