World Cup 2010

On Monday the 14^th, my brother and I had our second game at once again 8:30 local time.  The stadium and the field were once again up to standards, and there was more excitement in the atmosphere around this game.  The only down note was the weather in that the day and night were rainy. The sky cleared off for a couple hours, but once we started for the security check-in (went quicker this time) the rain began pretty heavily.  I bought a poncho before hand, so I was set to watch the game in the rain if need be, but the rain hardly fell during the game.  The play of this game was tremendously better than our first game.  Italy seemed to just want to attack, attack, and attack.  They always had at least three people pressuring, with multiple midfielders making runs.  They were trying to come with the big guns, and put this group away quickly.  However, Paraguay was content to hold back, and just absorb everything that Italy threw at them.  Their strategy was working when they took an early lead off a header by Alcaraz from a set piece or corner kick, when Buffon went out with an injury at half, and when their absorbing tactic was still working in the second half.   Of course, Italy found the equalizer off a corner that was tapped in after the keeper initially missed the ball by di Rossi.  That is how the game finished, a draw.  We had two games, both draws.  But this game was better, the teams decided to have an intelligent attack, leading to their goals. I got to see some GOOAAALS!!!  The game went well, there were goals, and I got to see some more world class players, such as the Italian defender Cannavaro who was really a good defender.  I would have liked to witness some more games, but I am happy I was able to see these games, and I am pretty exhausted from just seeing those two games.  We heard on the news that some guy was trying to break the record of attending 20 games in one World Cup.  There are 64 in total.  Man, six games like we wanted would be pushing it for me.  I enjoyed the games that we went to, and possibly I’ll try to catch a US qualifying game for the next World Cup.

On June 12^th (in case you missed the game), the United States of America fought the evil overlord England once again.   This was of course a soccer match and nothing more, but the thought of taking on England does have significance.  Once this game was scheduled, the US media immediately brought the 1-0 1950 USA win over England out of the closet, and the snowballing of importance that this game had for the United States continued until June 12^th.  If you probably asked an average person where soccer is taken seriously, I could only guess and say that they would say England, Spain, Brazil, possibly Germany, and possibly Italy.  I am pretty sure that is what ESPN did last summer, and they decided to show an EPL game a week, and some rare times La Liga games.  The showing of English games on US television (though most were shown at 7:30 in the morning), and the fact that about nine players play in England, this game truly was vital for US fans, and the chances of the US advancing past the group stage.  I only have my brother to attest to this, but I did call a draw.  That is exactly what happened.   As most know, the US gave an early lead by leaving a big gap in the middle of their defense.  Seriously, you could have placed a pinic table, grill, and then about 15 people could have had a cookout in the middle of their defense, but the US dug deep and came back with something pretty lucky.  Clint Dempsey turned Steven Gerrard around twice and just let the ball fly.  After he kicked the ball, one of the oddest displays of goalkeeping happened, and Robert Green misjudged the ball completely, bounced off his hands, and went right into the goal.  Hey, the US got a result, and that is all that matters.  In fact, I thought the US played really well, and if they didn’t have the defensive trouble in the first five minutes, then who knows what could have happened.  They kept the ball away from Rooney, when he did have the ball they made him shoot from outside the box, and dared other English players to step up and do something.  They only did in the first five minutes, and they went missing, couldn’t find someone else to get the ball to, or shot the ball right at Tim Howard. Good Job USA.  I read the paper the day after the game, and the paper gave high praise to Steve Cherundolo , which they couldn’t be more correct.  He was really impressive, and was a cornerstone at the right back spot, always getting the best of the attacker. He also did well at getting into the attack as well as holding possession.  Now, the USA has to win their last two games and they are out of the group stage.  Their next game is this Friday, June 18^th at ten local Indiana time.  Go USA!

When my brother and I heard that there was a rugby game featuring the Springbok (South Africa’s national team), we decided that the chance to attend would be really interesting, considering we don’t know much about rugby.  Before attending, I knew that scoring was a try (I didn’t know the point allocation) and that the games went 80 minutes.  After attending, I know a try is worth 5 points, conversions are worth 2 points, and there is something called Penalty which is worth 3 points.  Outside of that, I couldn’t tell you the point of a scrum, or some little minor aspects of the game.  Anyways, the game was wildly interesting, and I am glad that we went.  South Africa won 42 to 17 against France, and South Africa was dominating the entire game.  They had a really good player in number 14, Gio Aplon.  He had two tries, one that he basically ran the entire field.  Also, both teams had some big fellows that could really hit, and I really doubt that I could be a rugby player.  Overall, the experience was completely interesting, and I would probably go to another international rugby game in a heartbeat.