Well it was quite the day. Germany and Ecuador won today in their respective World Cup matches, just as I was hoping. I will say that while Germany had problems in their backfield they played well. Costa Rica on the other hand did not deserve the 2 goals they had. Both times they were offsides. I don’t know how blind the referee was but how he missed both offsides was ridiculous. Suffice to say it annoyed the crap out of me.
It was a good game though as I mentioned. 4 goals for Germany and solid offense. If they don’t get some work on the backfield they will have some trouble down the line. Especially with Ecuador. The way Ecuador was playing they definitely look like a team going to the second round at least. Poland just never got a chance to take the momentum away. Solid defense and a bit of help from the goal posts 2x didn’t hurt either.
If this is the pace and style of the games to come this will be an exciting World Cup. The big thing I noticed, as I watched the games in a bar where no one had any clue of the games or their importance, was that the announcers for the Germany game on ESPN2 sucked. They were Americans and they droned on so much I almost wanted to turn the sound back off. I had it off for the first 20 minutes, thru all the goals, and it was only slightly less interesting than listening to the announcers. They were so bad as to be talking about the currency of Costa Rica (U.S. dollars) and the fact they are one of a few countries without a standing army. Like anyone watching the game cares. And I can imagine the lack of excitement on the goals. If you ever listen to a game on Univision, now there is announcers. They can scream Goal longer than the replay of the actual goal. I love that.
At least ESPN2 was smart enough to have other announcers for the additional game. In the Ecuador vs. Poland game there was an Irish and English announcer. They some life in there voices, and the commentary on the game was relevant. They seemed happy and into the game. Even when they plugged the England vs Paraguay game it was fun and light hearted. I can see that being part of the reason most Americans can’t appreciate the game. That and the lack of big scores, no timeouts or stop of action and the need to pay attention to the entire game. A shame but most Americans can’t wait for things to happen.
The best part was that I scared the crap out of a book club during the Germany game. Mr. Klose played a great game as did Mr. Lehman. In the second match the entire bar went quiet as I cheered the second goal by Ecuador. They though I was crazy. And I felt they were missing out. Suffice to say Binghamton is probably not the best place to watch the games. Or I need to find a better place. Let me know if there are any options out there.
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