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A Preview of the 2010 World Cup

By Paddydog | Posted Under Miscellaneous | Comments (71)

500px-2010_FIFA_World_Cup_logo_svg.png

Tomorrow the world’s greatest television viewing event begins and for four glorious weeks, no one can really say “there’s nothing on tonight.” Even if you hate footie (I’ve heard such people exist), there’s the spectacle: the drama, the hair, the idiotic commentary from ESPN, and the WAGS. If you’re my age or thereabouts you can probably remember the days when the idea of holding the single most-watched event in the world in South Africa was beyond unthinkable. So while we can’t deny the RSA has its problems, it is a real milestone for South Africa to be hosting the World Cup.

Over the next four weeks, there will be lots to argue about and discuss; I’m hoping Pajibans won’t let me down. Will Figgy cheer for Honduras or USA? Will Carrie/Teabelly abandon us when the USA kicks England’s butt on Saturday? Will Angela Merkel make the Greek players take the field wearing sack cloth? How the hell did New Zealand even qualify? And what are the odds we all die if South Korea meets North Korea in the later stages and Kim Jong Il doesn’t like the results?

It’s all speculation for now. If you’re an avid fan, check out the free ESPN app that provides real-time bracket updates (a far cry from my first World Cup living in the US when the only way to get news was to eat every meal at the local Mexican restaurant and ask the bartender to translate for us). Tomorrow hosts South Africa get things going with opening Group A game against Mexico (8 a.m. ET), and then I expect all hands on deck (12:30 p.m ET) cheering as loudly as possible for Uruguay who take on the vile cheating French team (notably, “Thievery” Henry has been removed from the captaincy and will sit on the bench for the first match in a vain attempt to regain some honor for the team). I fart in their general direction.









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Comments

I'm guessing Paddydog is Irish? lol. France didn't really deserve to be in this tournament though. It's a shame.

Posted by: Angela at June 10, 2010 4:26 PM

I enjoy playing soccer. Watching it? Depends on my mood. It's a whole lot of back and forth that can be tedious, like hockey or a Twyla Tharp musical. Then again, I enjoy televised bowling and golf, so my tastes in sporting events are suspect.

However, were the following to occur:

Will Angela Merkel make the Greek players take the field wearing sack cloth?

I would watch every minute of the match. I'd even place an order for an official Greek jersey and exploit the situation with a line of satirical t-shirts and bumper stickers.

Posted by: Robert at June 10, 2010 4:27 PM

I wish I enjoyed soccer. The World Cup seems like a whole lot of fun to get into. Maybe I'll give it a shot...with some beer.

Posted by: Julie at June 10, 2010 4:33 PM

I canny even come here to avoid this shite? Fucks sake.

Posted by: TSF at June 10, 2010 4:34 PM

NO ONE should cheer for the French. They will always be vile.

How did North Korea qualify? I'm still fuzzy on how the hell that happened.

Posted by: Melody at June 10, 2010 4:35 PM

If the US beats England, and makes it look easy, I think we might actually have a chance.

And the colonies will have buttfucked the monarchy at something they used to lord over us, again.

Posted by: Roaddog at June 10, 2010 4:35 PM

If the US beats England, and makes it look easy
Posted by: Roaddog

See, your first mistake was thinking that the US team is any good, with good players that play good. You'll beat Algeria (wow) and maybe Slovenia, but a Round of 16 elimination beckons. Just be thankful you're in a weak group.

And I'm not even English.

Posted by: Brenton at June 10, 2010 4:41 PM

HONDURAS OF COURSE.

Most AMERICANS don't cheer for the US. Sillies.

And please don't forget what will be the most epic, contested match in Pajiba history: Sofia vs Figgy. June 16th. Be there.

(and if you cheer for Chile you're DEAD TO ME)

Posted by: figgy at June 10, 2010 4:44 PM

Fucking whiny Irish... blah blah, we're always oppressed, blah blah. You'll always be champions at Gaelic football...

Posted by: Brenton at June 10, 2010 4:44 PM

I have the utmost respect for the athletes, but - I'm sorry - soccer bores the hell out of me. I've tried watching it. I really have. I'll give it another shot this time, I guess.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at June 10, 2010 4:44 PM

Though I have a fondness in my heart for the US team because...well, without them we wouldn't have qualified. We're such pussies when under pressure that it took the Merkians to save us.

But fuck Mexico. Fuck Mexico right in the ear. And Spain.

Posted by: figgy at June 10, 2010 4:46 PM

Posted by: Brenton at June 10, 2010 4:47 PM

I'm totally indifferent to football. I only watch it during the World Cups because it involves alcohol and skipping work. Also...hot guys...sweating...and grabbing each others' asses. Wait...

Posted by: joker at June 10, 2010 5:08 PM

What channel will this all be on? I currently get NBC, ABC, CW and telemundo.

Posted by: The_wakeful at June 10, 2010 5:10 PM

C-H-U-P-E-T-E! JAJAJAJA!
Team Chile.

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at June 10, 2010 5:12 PM

Tomorrow the world’s greatest television viewing event begins and for four glorious weeks, no one can really say “there’s nothing on tonight.”

Considering that the games start, on average, at 7:30 am EST, 10:00 am EST, and 2:30 pm EST, I do believe that I can really say that "there's nothing on tonight."

I enjoy soccer well enough. I went to the European Championships in Portugal in 2004 and it was a blast and went to a Man Utd/Arsenal game at Old Trafford which was an experience.

Given the times of the games, I will catch a bit of the early ones before work and those on the weekends. Since I don't live on the West Coast, I enjoy the novelty of early morning sports.

As for Saturday's match. Let's go, USA! Remember the Alamo!

Posted by: Forbiddendonut at June 10, 2010 5:17 PM

I am from the states but living in London and absolutely GIDDY to get to watch the World Cup in a country full of people who love the sport. I am a heavy supporter of the Blues (Birmingham, not Chelsea) in the Premiere league here, and sick that one of the Aston Villains is a US keeper, but I'll survive.

And yes, the US is lucky to be in an easy group. But I believe the US diplomats put it best (courtesy of BBC):

"We will understand if you decline, given the outcome of the last such encounter," a US aide wrote, referring to the US defeat of England in 1950. "It is true that our soccer (a fine English word we have kindly preserved for you) history is not as long and illustrious as yours. However, as your generals noted during World War II, we have a unique capability for quickly identifying and advancing talent."

Heh.

Posted by: Lollygagger at June 10, 2010 5:20 PM

Who is interested in getting Dustin to set us up for some live-blogging of Saturday's game?
And yes, before anyone reminds me, I do recall that the 2006 live blog of the final somehow degenerated into all the ways we could get sexy with Zinedane, but I'm willing to take my chances.

Posted by: PaddyDog at June 10, 2010 5:27 PM

ZZZzzZZzzzzZzzz .... huh? what? wipes drool from chin.

Posted by: EricD at June 10, 2010 5:29 PM

@the wakeful

You should be covered. FIFA ensures that national broadcasters get the coverage so everyone can watch the games.

ESPN Classic, ESPN 3D USA (HD, 3D), ESPN 2 (HD), ESPN (HD), Galavision, Telefutura, Futbol de Primera Radio, Univision Futbol (HD), Univision (HD), ABC, ESPN Deportes (HD), Fox Soccer Plus, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN3.com USA, ESPN Radio

Though, looking at ABC's schedule you're only going to get the England-US, Germany-Aussies, Cameroon-Denmark and Brazil-Cote d'Ivoire in the group stages, then some of the knock-out rounds.

Posted by: Brenton at June 10, 2010 5:32 PM

http://dday02.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/one-game-a-day/

I mean really, it's not like any of us here actually spend time writing about this little soccer tournament, right?

Posted by: D-Day at June 10, 2010 5:32 PM

the_wakeful:

You can catch most games on Telemundo and all weekend games for the firdt legs on ABC. In the later stages ABC will carry week games also. ESPN has full coverage. Unfortunately BBC blocks its Internet access coverage outside of Britain because of financing agreements with FIFA.

Posted by: PaddyDog at June 10, 2010 5:33 PM

Best time of the year. The hubs and I will be hosting World Cup parties. Among us it'll most likely come to blows. We have Spain, USA, Sweden and England represented.

Posted by: Kiddo at June 10, 2010 5:45 PM

d-day, i applaud your use of "soccriligous."

i've been trying to care about soccer since 1998. i'm only now at the point where i can muster up enough "i give a fuck" for the world cup and the women's world cup.

with that said, can someone explain what the hell france did? besides existing?

Posted by: stopthemadness at June 10, 2010 5:52 PM

i could google it, but why deprive someone of the chance to rant?

Posted by: stopthemadness at June 10, 2010 5:52 PM

In the crucial qualifying match against the gallant Irish team, Thierry Henry blatantly hand-balled resulting in a goal. Everyone saw it. The ref saw it. It put France through to the tournament. There were calls all over the world for FIFA to allow a re-match, but the most evil man on the planet, Sepp Blatter, refused any opportunity to make things fair (because Blatter's only interest is money and FIFA makes more money from France qualifying than from Ireland qualifying). Those are the Cliff notes. I could go on and on.
And let me just add that not only was it a travesty from a sports point of view, it also deprived the ladies (and some men) of the beautiful sight of Shay Givens on your screens for the next four weeks.

Posted by: PaddyDog at June 10, 2010 6:02 PM

Monsieur Henry handled the ball in the Paddies box directly leading to the goal that is keeping the Irish at home. The cheating was blown all out of proportion when it was in fact the refs fault for not catching it. By the way, both teams are woeful.

Posted by: Porkchop Express at June 10, 2010 6:03 PM

Paddy, while I am not one to judge the beauty of men, I love watching the first time someone sees Ribery and wonders aloud "What the fuck happened to him?"

Posted by: Porkchop Express at June 10, 2010 6:11 PM

Sepp Blatter makes Bud Selig look smart.

Don't blame Henry though, he admitted to both the hand ball, and that a re-match would be fair.

Let's also not forget that certain members of the French National Team have definitely slept with an under-age prostitute. http://tinyurl.com/257p22l

Ah, the French.

Posted by: D-Day at June 10, 2010 6:11 PM

The only thing that would make the World Cup interesting is if the Taliban came out on the field and executed each member of the losing team after each match.

Posted by: Pookie at June 10, 2010 6:14 PM

@porkchop: I KNOW! Dude is scary! I would laugh if it wasnt a terrible story

Posted by: Angela at June 10, 2010 6:16 PM

And, despite all the whining from the Irish, who believe (incorrectly) that their athletes would never, ever, ever cheat ever, they never bothered to check the rules of the game, which don't allow for FIFA to do anything about such missed calls. So while he is an evil, evil man, Sepp Blatter and FIFA could do nothing about the missed call (and it was missed, not ignored).

And, to top it all off, it wasn't as if the Irish would have won anyway. They were playing to a draw at the time, and should have put the game away in the first leg or earlier in the game but couldn't put the ball in the net, because they aren't that good of a team.

Posted by: Brenton at June 10, 2010 6:22 PM

Mexico Mexico Ra ra ra!

Posted by: Draya at June 10, 2010 6:33 PM

I'll be at the USA v England game.

Posted by: peanut at June 10, 2010 6:33 PM

True dat, Brenton.

If they allow even a single team to appeal a game for a bad call, then every team will start this shit. If I recall correctly even the Irish got a little help from the refs to get to the playoff.

Posted by: Porkchop Express at June 10, 2010 6:41 PM

I forgot to add. I am not a soccer nut, I have no full understanding of the rules etc. But you say the French cheated to get here (that would be a first) and half the team got caught sleeping with under age hookers!
That is exactly what a sport needs. Hell Saturday could even be fun!

Posted by: peanut at June 10, 2010 6:54 PM

Ill admit I am more excited for this than I have been in a long time. This is going to be better than christmas, I have a joke job, no life and all the time in the world to abuse Figgy concerning Honduras.

Either that or now lollygagger has revealed themselves as a Birmingham City fan (me to you're welcome at St Andrews anytime) and peanut is going to attend the USA v England game, I will stalk them for the next week or so.

Posted by: jimofthelowercase at June 10, 2010 6:56 PM

Figgy's Honduras has a tough road ahead with Spain sure to win the group and Sofi's Chile a big obstacle. They will be lucky to get out of the group.

As a Yank, I'm a bit tired of our fans optimism. I do think this is the best Merican team we've had but to say our team is better than England is plain crazytalk. Only Howard and possibly Donovan would make it into the English starting XI. At every other position they are clearly better. Having said that if they keep playing as badly as they have been and we somehow start playing defense again while maintaining the decent attack of recent games, it might happen.

Posted by: Porkchop Express at June 10, 2010 7:16 PM

Here's what I know:

In the end, bet on the Germans (efficient), Brazilians (talented) or Spaniards (talented). Avoid the Argentinians (led by a madman), the Italians (old enough to qualify for creepy Euro guy status), the Dutch (perennial COCKteases) and the English (their team is falling apart injured at the worst spots).

For the ladies: go ogle Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, Thierry Henry (since Sweden didn't make it, no Freddie Ljungberg. Google that pic!)

For the men: just start staring at the samba girls and pray to Godtopus all that drum rhythm shakes clothing loose.

And do yourself a favor and press the MUTE button before the vuvuzelas drive you crazy.

Posted by: Fredo at June 10, 2010 7:19 PM

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but my top three I don't want to win:

1) Italy

2) Brazil

3) Argentina

I'd be happy if The Netherlands or England took the prize, and ecstatic if any African team won, but it seems like Spain might be the team to beat.

Anyway, I expect to be watching a lot of TV over the next month.

Posted by: Groundloop at June 10, 2010 7:21 PM

the_wakeful, while there are already perfectly good answers to your query, my preferred channel is the local Irish bar (with horrible, horrible food – maybe that's way it's always full of Brits) that obligingly allows drinking at 10am during the World Cup.

Paddy, I am deliriously happy that you will be covering the World Cup. I love aggressive and/or drunk Irish people talking about soccer. I'll have a Guinness in your honor (in lieu of the grody food).

Oh, and GO USA!

Posted by: Hb at June 10, 2010 7:22 PM

Figgy... sorry but:

VAMOS LA ROJA!!!! Por La Razon o La Fuerza!

Sofi.. Viva Chile!

Spain is likely going to win the group, but Chile will hit the 2nd round and likely meet Brazil. BOO Brazil!

Posted by: Nico at June 10, 2010 8:27 PM

figgy, you've got a great team, with some depth in the middle (if they aren't too injured) and some goalscoring up front, so take heart, and don't let all the hokey horse-puckery above get to you.

Posted by: Brenton at June 10, 2010 9:39 PM

"In the end, bet on the Germans (efficient), Brazilians (talented) or Spaniards (talented). Avoid the Argentinians (led by a madman), the Italians (old enough to qualify for creepy Euro guy status), the Dutch (perennial COCKteases) and the English (their team is falling apart injured at the worst spots)."

As the (self-proclaimed) soccer nutcase (yes I blog about it) I'll make a quick follow up on Fredo. Certainly not to say he's wrong, just more info.

Germany--Really young. Toughest group. A few Turkish immigrants.
Brazil--NOT the crazy-tricky Brazil team you're used to.
Spain--Must-see, although they can be so good it's almost boring.
Italy--Avoid 'em. They're old and will play for low scoring games.
Dutch--Best chance to see high scoring games.
England--The injuries are overrated. Beckham did not matter that much if the other guys play to potential, and Ferdinand had a bad year. Ledley King (if he plays) had as good a season.

I've got some World Cup primer stuff to start on the blog, but do feel free to drop any questions. I'll be spacing out during work tomorrow (if I go at all) and will gladly talk soccer with anyone interested :)

Posted by: D-Day at June 10, 2010 9:43 PM

Germany--Really young. Toughest group. A few Turkish immigrants.
Posted by: D-Day at June 10, 2010 9:43 PM

My teutonic buddy just saw this and WOW is he pissed. Fucking Hilarious!

Posted by: peanut at June 10, 2010 9:54 PM

I'm argentinian and EVEN I DON'T WANT our country to win so everybody can finally realize that Maradona played greatly in his time but then he messed up... BAD. He's a shame. Now it's the moment for him to fall into oblivion and all of us to get our shit together and fix our goddamned nation.

Just saying.

Posted by: Franamadeus at June 10, 2010 9:55 PM

Thierry Henry probably expected to get away with that hand-ball. After all, Maradona got away with it TWICE, the little punk.

Some ESPNer pundits were kvetching that the Azurri might be getting a bit long in the tooth. Good, I say - let those diving pussies wash out in the first round.

I'm sympathetic towards Germany, but I don't expect much due to their injuries. And North Korea - I knew they'd fuck up somehow, and wasn't disappointed. Did anyone hear that they accidentally put their best striker on the roster as a goalkeeper, and now aren't allowed to change? Good times.

Posted by: The Wanderer at June 10, 2010 10:03 PM

Late the the party as always. I will avoid throwing out an "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.." but it will be interesting where we (Australia) will end up this year. Let's just hope we don't get a repeat of 2006 and end up being kicked out by those cheatin' Italians *shakes fist*

Posted by: seraf at June 10, 2010 10:25 PM

Haha peanut, hilarious.

The "Not So German" team:

Tasci and Ozil-->Turkish descent (largest minority group in Germany I believe)
Marko Marin-->Born in Bosnia
Dennis Aogo-->Nigerian descent
Trochowski--Podolski--Klose-->Born in Poland
Cacau-->Brazilian
Gomez-->Father is Spanish, Mother German
Khedira-->Dad is Tunisian, Mom German

There's a lot of that going around, but I think the Germans are the most rampant out of all the European teams. Portugal has a lot of Brazilians, France has a bunch of African-born players, even the US has a lot of guys not exactly American.

Posted by: D-Day at June 10, 2010 10:30 PM

Is that really the German Team or the latest batch of recruits to the Foreign Legion?
This is great. He's going to have a fit. Soccers not so bad after all!

Posted by: peanut at June 10, 2010 10:47 PM

Before you get all hot-n-bothered with the World Cup on any level, consider this: some of the games may be rigged.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/399952-consider-yourself-warned-world-cup-soccer-matches-will-be-fixed

Posted by: B-Unit at June 10, 2010 10:58 PM

New Zealand's gonna sass all these fools.

Well, actually none of us particularly care. Many of us care about the World Cup, of course. But, none of us care that New Zealand is actually in it.. it's.. not worth it.

And really, we're all much more excited about the Rugby World Cup 2011. Because, like, we're hosting it and all.

Posted by: The Only New Zealander at June 11, 2010 12:07 AM

Also, "gonna" and "sass" are words accepted by your automatic spellchecker. "Zealand" Is not.

Fix pls.

Wait, "sass" might not be that colloquial.. Whatever. Equal rights!

Posted by: The Only New Zealander at June 11, 2010 12:10 AM

why so mean? I guess we deserved it. Even thought I should I won't be cheering for France this year (I'll be sympathetic towards Brazil and Spain). Not because of what Henry did with his hand or what Benzema and Govou and Ribery did with... but because the team is so bad I want to cry, they're going to fuck it up so quickly, they won't have time to unpack. oh and Fuck Domenec! This douche needs to go.

Posted by: rg at June 11, 2010 1:10 AM

Thanks for the explanation, y'all!

Death to France!

Posted by: stopthemadness at June 11, 2010 1:30 AM

I can't say I've watched more than 6 qualifier games. Probably 33 percent of those teams are currently working in granaries.

I will say that Mexico is hugely overrated (they wish they were a little bit taller, a little bit balla, wish they were Brazil), and that France, Spain and Italy all have the easiest group stages. Do ya two better, Italy and France have the easiest quarterfinal match-ups except for maybe Netherlands who get to play whatever surging team makes it out of Italy's group F.

My teams this tourney will be Portugal, Ivory Coast, and since I need to pick one outside of bande a morte, let's say England.

Germany and Brazil are just too good, but I think they will hurt from Ballack's absence and Dunga's pressure/fancy pants. Though it wasn't necessarily a bad idea to leave off Pato and Ronaldinho, I think that Brazil succumbs against old codgers like Italy because of internecine tactics cooked up to live up to Brazilian nationals' expectations. Germany's pitfall? Underestimating Serbia, then a US team that wins its group with 7 points+goal difference, actually to England's greater return. The Brits would rather get a semis facing Argentina than having to wade their way past Portugal to even see a chalk line to a finals. They've really got every advantage.

I guess I'll see how off I am by Monday. I think the left side of the bracket is much easier than the right side, that's waht you mean by USA's fortunate draw. But I tell you these all come from weighed percentages of league knowledge by teammates multiplied by tourney match-ups, whether the coach is past his sell by date, player performance based on UEFA licensed video game simulations, goalies, and racial prejudice. I mean, really, who here thinks South Korea is going down by Nigeria's boots? Me does.

Here's wishing luck to Cameroon, Serbia, US for at least a tie against England, Portugal for knocking Brazil into a Spanish quarterfinal thereby freeing up the tournament, Ivory Coast, England, and South Africa.

I hear the RSAs are, like, 5 billion dollars in debt from this thing. I hope they didn't give too much that to the Black Eyed Peas, !dang that was an awful performance. Amadou and Miriam were the last best thing I saw. They were great, actually.

And don't be pissed about teams not qualifying. Too late for that shit.

Posted by: Jackseppelin at June 11, 2010 1:51 AM

I work at Wits University (where South africa and the Netherlans team train) went to one training session to see what it's all about. Maybe some excitement would rub off, oh Hippie twag... a bunch of grown men chasing a ball, so I went back to the office to write reports.

Posted by: Avalanche at June 11, 2010 2:07 AM

*Netherlands*

Posted by: Avalanche at June 11, 2010 2:09 AM

The Brits would rather get a semis facing Argentina than having to wade their way past Portugal to even see a chalk line to a finals.
Jackseppelin

Jackseppelin, I'd like to see a re-enactment of the Falkland Islands War. That might be the shot in the arm English football needs.

Posted by: The Wanderer at June 11, 2010 3:19 AM

Will Carrie/Teabelly abandon us when the USA kicks England’s butt on Saturday?

I would say 'Oh excuse me while I die laughing' but I am actually a bit worried about this. What if the USA actually do kick our butts? My boyfriend is OBSESSED with football and we had better do well or...well, I don't know what will happen, but it will not be fun.

Posted by: Carrie at June 11, 2010 4:19 AM

I live in Scotland now, married to a Scot who despises football already, so my chances of getting into World Cup fever were low to begin with. However there has been an absolute deluge of "Support England" advertising going on and I can say truthfully that it is really starting to piss the Scots off (and probably the Welsh and Northern Irish too). All over the television-- people painted white with red crosses, the cross of Saint George is everywhere, the radio has Support England chants on it, billboards up and down streets-- THIS IS NOT ENGLAND. These are not English people. And there is not a single chance that if Wales got in to the World Cup they'd be waving the Red Dragon around in England, or if Scotland had managed it the English would be waving St. Andrews Cross, or the Lion Rampant. NO CHANCE. Therefore, whenever Mr. Muttley is away, I'm cheering as loudly as humanly possible for Algeria, Slovenia, and the USA. Really, anyone who could stop these people from wagging their flag in our faces.

Posted by: muttley crew at June 11, 2010 7:02 AM

Really, anyone who could stop these people from wagging their flag in our faces.

I'd quite like them to stop waving them too. They are on every bloody advert at the moment. Your product nothing to do with the world cup in the slightest? Stick a flag on, have a promotion! Ugh. It's very difficult to pretend football isn't going on. I suppose I'll have to try and get into the spirit of things.

Posted by: Carrie at June 11, 2010 7:24 AM

I hadn't been reading Pajiba for most of the week since I'm using the little time I have for internet exclusively for World Cup, but then as I'm sitting here in front of the TV, trying to work while waiting for the kick-off, I decide to check out Pajiba and to my surprise there's not only a post about it but a bunch of comments, and a few of them are even from people who actually care about it! So I guess I'll have to add Pajiba to my limited internet use during the World Cup.

I don't have a lot of hope for Brazil this time. There are really bad players like Elano and Felipe Melo that really shouldn't be there, Kaká is broken and I wouldn't trust Robinho to be a decisive force. So this year I'll be much more interested in the other teams, but I don't really have any favorite yet.

Group A is really interesting because it's perfectly balanced, between the crappy France team, the good but untrustful Mexico, the surprisingly good Uruguay and the terrible but at-home South Africa, there's no one way of knowing what's gonna happen. I'm not sure if I want South Africa to do good anymore, since they fired the genious Joel Santana last year to get the lame and highly overrated Parreira back.

Posted by: zito at June 11, 2010 8:38 AM

Eh, I'm with TSF.
Except perhaps a bit less annoyed about Pajiba not being a retreat from World Cup fever, because I'm not here much lately anyway. I'm kind of distracted by the horrors of jobhunting and the attending depression.

So I'll just leave you all to it. Enjoy!

Posted by: Tarn at June 11, 2010 9:40 AM

Why do these teams need almost a week off between games? All that flopping and whining must be HARD.

Can't be because when I watch a game I see two or three people frantically pursuing the ball while 20 guys walk around.

Posted by: , at June 11, 2010 10:23 AM

Also, I couldn't possibly care less who wins, long as it's Argentina so Maradona has to follow through on his pledge to run nekkid through Buenos Aires. Not that I'd watch THAT either, but I'm thinking the Pajibettes might enjoy it.

Posted by: , at June 11, 2010 10:29 AM

"I'm thinking the Pajibettes might enjoy it."

So you're assuming the Pajibettes enjoy a hairy little coked-out nutcase with a God complex?

Perhaps I've going at it all wrong then...

Posted by: D-Day at June 11, 2010 11:17 AM

So you're assuming the Pajibettes enjoy a hairy little coked-out nutcase with a God complex?

Posted by: D-Day at June 11, 2010 11:17 AM
---
They seem to like Dustin just fine. What's that have to do with Maradona?

Posted by: , at June 11, 2010 2:07 PM

Hey, so what about the immigrants in the German team? We've been a country many nations would love to immigrate to, and the only area we've openly ackonwledged that and came to terms with it is football... sigh.

Think about it, Jerome Boateng is playing for Germany and his brother Kevin Prince Boateng for an African country (can't remember which now).
Yay for diversity!

Posted by: Gardenia at June 11, 2010 5:04 PM

it will be interesting where we (Australia) will end up this year.

Posted by: seraf

Um, interesting only if you think not making it out of the group stages is interesting. Which it isn't. Like the Americans, you get by on hard work, and that's boring. You're also in the toughest group (don't let anyone tell you Group G is the Group of Death. Group D is the real Group of Death.

DDay, I love the blog. Domenech is such a ninny it hurts to watch him coach.

Posted by: Brenton at June 11, 2010 6:48 PM

Wow, all these comments and no one discusses the giant cheating dbag that is Cristiano Ronaldo? I'm surprised! Well, I'm rooting for any team but Portugal so...go North Korea!

Posted by: bjlove at June 13, 2010 5:15 AM