The Big Blow

There is not enough wine in the world to make this day go away. First England gave in thanks to Rooney's stupid red card, Crouch's moronic play and Beckham's injury and then France-on-crack kicked the crap out of Brazil.

England played well and held their own through most of the game. They had a lot of opportunities to score but made it harder for themselves than needed by Rooney's red card. Portugal wasn't that great but eleven against ten takes its' toll during 120 minutes. A penalty shoot out is as random as a dice game. Portugal got lucky. I so wanted Eriksson to bring his team to the first semi-final since 1990 (it would have been the third after '66 and '90). He deserved it.

France played on par with Brazil through most of the first half but elevated their game to a class of their own during the second half of game. Zidane was brilliant and Henry's goal was superb. It was like a well temperatured aged wine from St. Julien. I take back everything I've ever said about Henry. What a goal. A classic.

Brazil played like a bunch of school girls compared to the team performance by France. That said, Brazil is a great winner and even better loser. I love the way that Roberto Carlos, Ronaldhino, Ronaldo, Kaka and team smiled all through the game, showing that it's just a game.

To be honest, I've been wrong all through this WC and only one of "my" teams went the whole mile: Italy. So here is the last bet: France will beat Germany in the final and Italy will beat Portugal for the bronze.

That said, this WC kicks butt. The games are awesome and Buenos Aires is a wonderful place to watch them from. Our local hangout - Bar 6 - is generous enough to give up their best chairs for us to watch football for 4-6 hrs per day. I'm trying to drink as much wine as I can to support their business as payback. Barefoot is best!