World Cup weekend 1

Just a quick recap and impressions of the first weekend of play from Germany.

ABC has absolutely outdone themselves in their attempts to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Shouldn't the thinking be: "Ok, the world cup will probably be watched by people who know a little about soccer" rather than the apparent "Let's show NASCAR Joe in Little Rock just what a good time this is! And forget any analysis or fact-checking."
I kid you not: during the shitty England-Paraguay match, the announcer referred to, arguably the most famous soccer player in the world, David Beckham, as Michael Beckham and Beckett. Where in God's name do they get these people? Also, after the own goal by Paraguay, the ABC announcer quickly quips "stunning strike from David Beckham!" Are these guys even watching the same fucking game? They seem to lack any intuition for the sport. Thank God I also get Univision. To wit: after the Mexican win, they showed the Mexican team streaming tears, they had an Iranian fan and a Mexican fan exchange uniforms after the match outside, a Mariachi band played in the studio, and really really hot chicks flanked the locutors. Way way sweeter. Oh, and they called David Beckham "El Spice Boy!" The only consolation was that, at least yesterday, ESPN 2 had Adrian Healey and Tommy Smyth, who are much much better than those ABC fools.

Honestly, the ABC announcers area little insulting to the old intelligence.

OK now to the matches.
1. England v. Paraguay: If England continues this type of play, they are in deep trouble. They looked very flat, uncreative, and just plain winded for much of the match. The fact that the won on an own-goal says something to their play. I don't think Paraguay is that highly ranked either so... Also, I thought Crouch and Owen were just not impressive at all. I barely remember Owen getting any touches on the ball at all!

2. Trinidad & Tobago v. Sweden: This was quite a fun match to watch, especially considering the preceeding debacle. Both sides were constantly attacking, many chances were had, and Trinidad & Tobago certainly deserve a round of applause for their initial showing. Hats off. Sweden didn't really play bad, they just failed to convert a few chances.

3. Argentina v. Ivory Coast: Also a fun match to watch. I considered, from all I'd read, Argentina to be a sort of dark horse in the Cup this year. They certainly played well; while for the Elephants, Drogba was also steady pimpin' all match long. A good end to the Saturday hullabuloo.

4. Netherlands v. Serbia-Montenegro: All I can really say about this match is that Robben is a fucking stud. And, even if he's not the player he once was, where was Davids?

5. Mexico v. Iran: This was much closer than it seemed for most of the match. The mistake by first the Iranian goalkeeper, but then the absolutely heinous play by the central defender, opened the floodgates for Mexico. The third Mexican goal was pretty, looking like a prototypical score from Winning Eleven 7.

6. Portugal v. Angola: Portugal looked alright here, but I thought there were many chances for C. Ronaldo to score--instead he walked away incredulously. All things considered, a respectable showing for the Angolanos.

Oh and the French Open--very surprising showing from Federer. The number of unforced errors were totally uncharacteristic. The final set was a doozy though. And big-ups to the Dallas Mavericks, and the Heat? Damn. Y'all got to put some work in, ya heard?