In a lackluster contest, Mexico eventually found the answers and beat Iran 3-1.

I remain unconvinced. The entire match seemed pretty even between two below average squads until Mexico broke the 1-1 tie late and took the air out of Iran.

For obvious reasons, it’s practically impossible to root for Iran in any sort of arena, but Mexico is my team that I love to hate. They make it easy to do. I wouldn’t have been happy no matter what the result was in this match.

On a completely unrelated issue, since my mind had occasion to wander fairly often during this match, I was glad to hear the German authorities were at least thinking about the shadow problems. I thought it was just me. In seemingly every stadium so far, the shadows cast by various inanities hanging over or around the venues makes it seem like we’re watching the match through a sheet with some holes in it. I don’t know what effect it’s having on the players, little, I suspect, but it’s annoying the hell out of me.