day 4

day 4 here in korea dawned bright, mostly clear, and warm--the first decent day of weather in days. day 3 of the world cup was mostly disappointing, as teams i was cheering for only won one of the three matches. unfortunately, day 4 was not much better on this front...

perhaps i need to find a new bar in which to watch matches and stop drinking beer, but instead stick to that time-honoured traditional footie-watching drink of soju...

match 9: australia v. japan

WA bar was the scene for this match. one wasn't sure what to expect from oz in this one. they are coached by a fine one in guus hiddink, they have a lot of talent--as evidenced by most their players' playing top-flight footie in europe--and will be backed as far as they go in this tournament by a travelling band of green and gold fanatics. however, oz has always treated footie the same way americans have: either with contempt, disdain, or condescencion. hell, aussies even call it "soccer," like the yanks do.

it's hard to take a team seriously, however, when they're called the "socceroos", though they do get high marks for having an emu and a kangaroo (which, according to bonzo ben, are both delicious and the only two animals in the world that are incapable of walking backwards) on the patch of their strip. perhaps only an australian side would have edible and non-backpedaling animals on its national team patch.

anyway, this was always going to be a contrast in styles: steady, uncreative japan v. brawny, tough australia. it was always going to a colourful match, as well, what, with oz's yellow and green kit, japan's blue and white kit, and all the usual fucked-up japanese players' hairstyles and hair-dyes. if only japan committed as much time and effort to playing exciting football--or whale conservation or getting along peacefully with its asian neighbours--as it does to sporting the worst haircuts this side of a flock of seagulls/warrant concert from the 80s...

be that as it may, japan took the lead in the first half, despite their best efforts at playing piss-quality football, and, despite innumerable aussie challenges, looked set ten minutes from time to run out winners and make the socceroos' stay in germany a rather short one.

a funny thing about that--let's call it the "hairstyle karma effect"--as the the boys from down under decided, in the 84th minute, that it was time to quit pussy-footing around and get down to business. eight euphoric minutes later, the 'roos had scored thrice, and ran out deserved winners. while the scoreline might have seemed harsh from japan's perspective, it was the price one pays for terrible quality wing play (especially on the right side) and for sporting such crap hairstyles.

i don't think it's hit japan yet that we left the 80s a decade and a half ago, which is why they'll be on a plane back to tokyo next week to watch the world cup from the same vantage point i'll be watching it: in a pub with mates or at home on the sofa...

well done, oz...

match 10: usa v. czech republic

...which is more than i can say for this rubbish of a match.

it was back to the usual place, kim's, for the yanks' opener against the czechs. might as well have watched it from inside a full garbage bin. one of the few times in your lifetime that you will see yours truly openly and blatantly cheering for the scars and blights--i even sported my u.s. strip all day for this match--and this is my reward: an epic thrashing at the hands of the czechs.

it's so disappointing that it's fucking all i can do not to make every other goddamned word on this shit page a fucksticking epithet.

i should have known what would happen when the home of the original and very tasty "budweiser" went up against the home of the makers of such a shit imitation of "budweiser" that you would welcome a pint of emu piss instead...

match 11: italy v. ghana

if it's a late game, it means i was watching at home--at least, so far--and this one was no different. sufficiently angered by the yanks' pathetic display, i was not the least bit fatigued when i stomped home with my wife. in fact, i was thinking of putting a different twist on that famed european pastime of hooliginating (yes, i just made "hooligan" into a verb) by throwing small and poorly-built korean cars through restaurant windows. and, no, i've not all of a sudden become ahh-nold governator, it's just that korean cars often are less fulsome than your average mug of german bier or the average cup size of your local buxom german barmaid.

this was an entertaining match and the africans showed nearly every bit of class that everyone expected of italy and the czech republic. suddenly, based on the initial games played in this group, it looks like the yanks are the rubbish of the group, not ghana, as so many experts had figured. the ghanaians played with flash, tempo, strength, guile, and creativity. the only thing that was perhaps lacking--which the italians didn't lack and for which they made the africans pay--was clinical finishing after creating opportunities. time and again, fair chances in front of the italy goal were wasted by sloppy finishing (though, admittedly, this was the case for most of oz's v. japan, which made me, on several occasions in the 2nd half, think that ghana could pull one out of the hat, as well.

alas, it was not meant to be, as it was italy that clinched a flattering 2-0 scoreline with a late goal. the italians, in the end, were the better team, but the gulf is not as wide as those cynics who criticise african football would like to suggest.

so, after four days of all-night footie, this is what i have: my favourites and the team i'm pulling most for to win, england, have given a terrible performance; the african teams i've been pimping so much have yet to win a match; the americans look capable of pulling another '98 in france: a three and meekly, weakly out; and no real shockers, aside from trinibago's draw with sweden and perhaps ecuador's handling of poland.

day 5 will see this: perhaps my getting lynched or set on fire because of wearing a togo shirt in public for their clash with korea; a boring match between france and switzerland; a contrast in style (if not a strain on the eyes) when brasil's yellow and blue kits clash with croatia's red & white checkerboard kits.

what i hope to see: togo punish korea's arrogance; an african team finally win (if not tonight, then i'll have to hang my hat on tunisia tomorrow against saudi arabia); the hope of being able to continue patronising local bars after tonight; less disappointing results; an upset or two; continued good football; another sunrise...