World Cup Fever
Yes, today I found a 24-hour mamak near Ridzuan equipped with big screen and astro to watch World Cup!
So just now I watched the Germany vs. Ecuador match and England vs. Sweden match over there. The Germans were impressive, squashing their opponent 3-0. First 2 goals by Klose and last by Podolski. The Germans were extremely efficient, pressing on Ecuador throughout the game. Their defense looked pretty solid too. Ecuador, on the other hand, were in distraught, presenting a game full of miscues, giving up possession easily (and accidentally). Germany, exploiting those chances, blasted the Ecuadors. I'm getting increasingly impressed by Klinsmann coaching ability.
The England vs. Sweden match ended in a 2-2 draw. Pretty disappointing and shocking. Nearly fell down in the mamak shop after the match finished - don't know if it's caused by exhaustion or the blow caused by Larsson's equalizer at nearly 90-minute, a few minutes after Gerard's excellent header into Swede's goal. The Englishmen played well in the first half, pummelling Swedish defense with powerful out-of-penalty-box shots. The first goal by Joe Cole was perhaps the most beautiful goal in all the matches I watched. It's a pity that Owen injured himself (sort of twisted/broken his leg) after 1 minute or 2 after the opening. The Swedish retaliated in the 2nd half. Serious comeback. Although they couldn't bring the ball to the penalty box, their corner kicks seriously threatened the English defense. Weird...England seemed so defenseless against those. Besides Allback's first equalizer, there were other good attempts, I think 2 hit the bar.
I finally remembered why I distanced myself from football matches. It's not mainly the time consumption factor, but it's the emotional attachment to a team. When you watch a lot of matches, you sort of become a fan of a certain team - when it goals you roar with excitement, when it concedes goals/loses/doesn't perform you get heartbroken. That's what I felt when both of England's goals were equalized by the Swedes.
I think England failed to win because they missed too many valuable chances on the first half, and they displayed a lacklustre performance in the 2nd half. Plus the vulnerability of the goal to free kicks and especially corner kicks were disturbing. Overall their performance was better than that in their previous two matches, but the warming up is just not fast enough. Hopefully they can reach optimum state when they face Germany (Germany = deadly) later. It's going be tough going from now. God save the Queen!!
So just now I watched the Germany vs. Ecuador match and England vs. Sweden match over there. The Germans were impressive, squashing their opponent 3-0. First 2 goals by Klose and last by Podolski. The Germans were extremely efficient, pressing on Ecuador throughout the game. Their defense looked pretty solid too. Ecuador, on the other hand, were in distraught, presenting a game full of miscues, giving up possession easily (and accidentally). Germany, exploiting those chances, blasted the Ecuadors. I'm getting increasingly impressed by Klinsmann coaching ability.
The England vs. Sweden match ended in a 2-2 draw. Pretty disappointing and shocking. Nearly fell down in the mamak shop after the match finished - don't know if it's caused by exhaustion or the blow caused by Larsson's equalizer at nearly 90-minute, a few minutes after Gerard's excellent header into Swede's goal. The Englishmen played well in the first half, pummelling Swedish defense with powerful out-of-penalty-box shots. The first goal by Joe Cole was perhaps the most beautiful goal in all the matches I watched. It's a pity that Owen injured himself (sort of twisted/broken his leg) after 1 minute or 2 after the opening. The Swedish retaliated in the 2nd half. Serious comeback. Although they couldn't bring the ball to the penalty box, their corner kicks seriously threatened the English defense. Weird...England seemed so defenseless against those. Besides Allback's first equalizer, there were other good attempts, I think 2 hit the bar.
I finally remembered why I distanced myself from football matches. It's not mainly the time consumption factor, but it's the emotional attachment to a team. When you watch a lot of matches, you sort of become a fan of a certain team - when it goals you roar with excitement, when it concedes goals/loses/doesn't perform you get heartbroken. That's what I felt when both of England's goals were equalized by the Swedes.
I think England failed to win because they missed too many valuable chances on the first half, and they displayed a lacklustre performance in the 2nd half. Plus the vulnerability of the goal to free kicks and especially corner kicks were disturbing. Overall their performance was better than that in their previous two matches, but the warming up is just not fast enough. Hopefully they can reach optimum state when they face Germany (Germany = deadly) later. It's going be tough going from now. God save the Queen!!