Day: June 25, 2006

It was bound to happen. In a World Cup of quick yellow cards, and just some shaky officiating overall, a match was finally dominated by an abysmal performance by the man in the middle. the Russian referee completely lost control of this match, sending off two from each side and handing out the most yellows ever in a World Cup match. Oh, and by the way, Portugal beat Holland 1-0.

At least the outcome is as it should have been. Holland put on a shameful performance. As soon as it was clear the game had descended into anarchy, it was The Netherlands who were diving, instigating, and generally showing extremely poor sportsmanship. Refusing to return the ball to Portugal after an injury stoppage at one point. Silly little school yard stuff from a team that doesn’t believe it can win.

Portugal deserved the victory. I was glad to see them hold on.

Things continue to go exactly England’s way as Portugal will not have the services of Deco nor Costinha due to a referee that would make you long for even the likes of a Graham Poll, at his show-boating worst. Pretty boy, Christiano Ronaldo, also took a little bump on the thigh and could be out as well.

Holland seem to still be plagued by internal turmoil. I’m no great fan of Ruud Van Nistleroy, but it was shocking to see him continue to sit late in the match while the Dutch were up a man and down a goal. It was the exact kind of situation he excels in. If they really wanted to win, he had to be on the pitch. I guess coach Marco Van Basten’s proving his point, whatever it was, was more important than the win.

It is not working Sven. England has managed to get to the quarterfinals with a complete lack of any offensive spark whatsoever. They eked past the weakest team still in the tournamant with a Beckham trick shot. Beating Ecuador 1-0 off a set play is nothing to be proud of.

In fact, if Carlos Tenorio’s shot in the first half doesn’t barely graze off a desperately scrapping Ashley Cole thigh, the match is turned on its head and England probably wilt in the sun. Actually, they did wilt. They just happened to win anyway. It’s better to be lucky than good. The only problem with that is that luck eventually runs out.

England won’t get through another match with the pathetic offense they’ve been displaying. One up front isn’t getting the job done. I don’t care if it’s Rooney or Crouch. Lampard and Gerrard just aren’t getting involved enough for it to be effective at all. As usual. They never have in this system. It looks good in theory, but in practice it just hasn’t worked.

Yes, it was hot. I’m sure the English players are whinging to the press about that fact right now. That’s no excuse. It’s going to be warm. When you play a minnow, put three past them early and coast the rest of the game. Blatently wasting time, puking on the pitch, and generally looking cooked–England are very lucky Ecuador didn’t equalize late. There’s going to be a good team up next. One set piece won’t be enough.

Let’s give Lennon a decent go. He’s looked great in his limited playing time so far. Maybe that’s just down to the lethargy of the team surrounding him, though. Hard to tell. Joe Cole has been fine. The entire rest of the team has been a big nothing.

That’s alright lads. Just 90 more minutes and you lot can go sit on the beach in Mallorca with an umbrella drink. It’s too hard to win a World Cup when it’s so hot out anyway.