cryptique

The U.S. got totally jobbed on that penalty kick. That was total bullshit. Yes, I'm a U.S. supporter, so I'm biased ... but oh my GOD that was a bad call. There have been dozens of muggings in the penalty area throughout this tournament that weren't called, and then two guys go for the ball and bump into each other and bang, it's a PK. Fuck me. That said, Bocanegra(?) made a terrible mistake kicking that ball back toward the center of the field. Never should have happened ... but that's exactly the kind of bonehead error I've come to expect from this team.

Did any of us Sox fans say it was OK with us?

His bullshit explanation is more ridiculous than the fact that he hurled the epithet. Ozzie should definitely know better. Once caught in something like this, he should just own up to it, apologize, and move on. The "in my country" thing rings false. I haven't had any problems with his other controversial comments recently (or at least the ones I've heard), but this was not a smart thing to say. That said, Mariotti is definitely a whiny little bitch.

I know, I wish I could watch two games at once. However, they do it that way so teams can't decide how to play based on the result of another match. For example, if the games were at different times and if the U.S. played first on Thursday and won, Italy and the Czech Republic could just agree to dog it and play to a scoreless tie, which would result in both those teams advancing (assuming the U.S. didn't win by five goals or more).

Apparently Tunisia's goal just made Spain angry.

He hasn't said anything lately that I would consider out of line. He's fiery, yes. But he's also very smart and he knows what he's doing.

Funny how that works.

It was very cool, indeed. Ghana's second goal was offside, but oh well. Turns out they didn't really need it. How about those two saves by Kingston in the final minute? As for the U.S.A.-Italy match (it's now halftime), what the fuck is up with the red card to Mastroeni? It was just another late tackle, no worse than many we've seen throughout the tournament which did not even result in yellow. Straight to red for that shit? Whatever. The U.S. look like the better side so far, but it's still early and this is Italy. I'd feel much better with a two-goal lead than a tie on an own goal.

That's one of the reasons they're most hated. Only one of them, though.

I didn't see the play (stuck at work ) but that sounds like a standard offside trap. It's a nearly constant strategy by nearly every defensive line in the game. The risk, of course, is that you're leaving a lot in the hands of the assistant referee on the sideline. The defense will often step up to put an opposing striker offside, and that's probably what happened there -- but again, I didn't see it.

Sounds like Crouch finally did something useful. I wish I'd been able to watch. I may need to eat my words on Beckham too, whom I also generally regard to be useless. Am I to understand that he's largely responsible for all three of the goals England have scored so far? Hey, maybe this will work for me elsewhere: McBride, Donovan, Beasley -- you guys are USELESS.

Crouch was useless against Paraguay. Is this guy really a star in the Premier League? What's the use of all that height if he can't get his feet off the ground?

Think of it as a conference or division. The U.S. belongs to CONCACAF, and plays the other teams in that group to try to qualify for the World Cup finals (which is technically what the "World Cup" is -- the finals of a tournament that started well over two years ago). There are several of these groups around the world, for the nations of Europe, South America, Africa, etc. Each group has a certain number of guaranteed spots in the World Cup finals (the allocation of those spots is determined by FIFA, the world governing body of football/soccer), and in some cases there are playoffs for a spo

Huh. So far, the strongest showings from CONCACAF nations have been from Mexico (not unexpected) and Trinidad & Tobago (WTF?!?). Costa Rica now has a 2:7 goals ratio in two bad losses. The U.S. better do something against Italy or it's lights out.

Not at all. Both sides get the same amount of extra time. It's not as if one side gets more than the other. Plus, everyone on the pitch knows about and understands stoppage time. It's no secret. That's the way things are, and a goal scored in stoppage time is no "cheaper" than a goal scored at any other time.

The thing is, for all intents and purposes, the clock does stop. The only official clock during a soccer match is on the referee's wrist. That clock they show on TV is just an unofficial reference. Whether the ref actually stops his watch or merely notes how long the stoppage lasts doesn't really matter -- the result is the same, because some time will be added on at the end regardless. Furthermore, soccer isn't the kind of sport where you can hold the ball for the last shot, like in basketball. Knowing exactly when the clock runs out is of little or no benefit to the players. They know wh

The clock stops for halftime. Good enough for you? I love the fact that the clock doesn't stop. It lets the game proceed uninterrupted, and that's part of why soccer is so beloved. The start-stop endlessness of other sports drives me batshit insane. Injury time (a.k.a. stoppage time) is a perfectly sensible way to make up time lost to injuries and other occasional stoppages, and I like not knowing exactly when the final whistle will blow. Other benefits: serious reduction in the number of commercials we have to endure, and except for elimination matches (which in the World Cup require extr

A win is a win. And winning that way is better than, say, a bogus penalty kick that the ref completely blew the call on.

Injury time goal by Germany!

Did I read that right? Two crossbars in the 90th minute by Germany and still they can't score?

You're catching on very quickly. Welcome to World Cup Addiction!

The Africans have been fun to watch over the past few Cups. Cameroon had a great side a few years back that was a joy to watch and quite infectious in their exuberance.

Holy shit! I guess I better check in on that match.

I said that too, to my friend and some guy at the bar.

That was hideous. Almost makes me wish I hadn't left work to watch it. The Americans looked like the inferior team from the opening minute. They never really put a sustained threat together, instead settling for a couple of good (but failed) chances on random individual efforts. They never got comfortable possessing the ball, never built up a lasting attack, and looked flat-footed for much of the match, standing around and not making runs, not winning 50/50 balls, etc. Honestly, it seemed as if they were in awe of the Czechs after the first goal. They seriously have to get their shit toge