Tuesday 6 July 2010

Suffering from the World Cup Fever

With the Football World Cup going on, there is hardly any chatter about anything else in the sporting world. Wimbledon, one of the most important tennis tournaments in the year, went by with hardly a murmur. And did anyone even know that there was a French Open over the weekend? Probably not. Roger Federer losing in the quarterfinal? Bleh, BRAZIL LOST TO THE NETHERLANDS.  Lee Westwood got injured and is ruled out of next week’s Open?  Cheh, Thomas Müller picked up a yellow card and is ruled out of the semis against Spain! 

The World Cup Fever is still going strong.  Here in Malaysia, the majority of footie fans (and there are plenty) will wake up at 2.30am to watch the first of the semi finals, Netherlands vs. Uruguay. And those that don’t are just getting their eight hours before they have to be up tomorrow night for the much awaited Germany-Spain encounter. 

The major upset? Brazil. Without a doubt. Especially when they were the first to score, most believed it would be an effortless win. Not to take anything away from La Oranje, but who on Earth expected that they would knock out the best football team in the world with an amazing come-from-behind victory?  

Would Argentina’s loss in the same round be called an upset? Well yes, on paper. But they were clearly second-best out there. In fact, Germany made them look like amateurs. Not to brag or anything, but I’d predicted a considerable thrashing by Germany, and took great pleasure in everyone else’s shock over their win :)

But there’s still a lot of football to be played. The semis in the next two days and the finals over the weekend. Any bets, any ventures? Here are mine:

Semifinals:
Netherlands def Uruguay 2-0
Germany def Spain 3-1

Third place:
Spain def Uruguay 2-1

Finals:
Germany def Netherlands 4-3

BRING IT ON!

9 comments:

  1. It is very much true that with the football world cup going on everyone has been shadowing other things, whether its another sporting event or something personal, people glue themselves to their tv screens when they see CR7 or Lionel Messi dance on the ball. No doubt it is one of the most awaited sporting events and the fans - the 12 man, surely make it even special.

    I recently read online that after Brazil bowed out of the world cup, Argentinian fans took out a massive rally and celebrated the defeat of their arch rivals on the street. Little did they know that they would get a bigger thrashing by the Germans the very next day, which in fact was then celebrated by the Brazilian fans the very same way!

    Is that crazy or what?! :)

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  2. It is true that with the football world cup going everyone has been ignoring other things, whether its another sporting event or something personal. When people glue themselves to the tv screen when they see CR7 or Lionel Messi dancing on the ball. It truly is mesmerizing when those two take on the entire defence with their quick feet. World cup is one of the most awaited sporting event and the fans - also caled the 12th man surely make it even special.

    I read recently, that after Brazil bowed out of the world cup after losing to La Oranje, Argentinian fans took out a massive rally and celebrated the defeat of their arch rivals on the street. Little did they know that the Germans would thrash Argentina the very next day, a thrashing which was much celebrated in the same fashion by the Brazilian fans as the Argentinians did!! :D

    Talk about having a world cup fever!

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  5. It is true that with the football world cup going everyone has been ignoring other things, whether its another sporting event or something personal. When people glue themselves to the tv screen when they see CR7 or Lionel Messi dancing on the ball. It truly is mesmerizing when those two take on the entire defence with their quick feet. World cup is one of the most awaited sporting event and the fans - also caled the 12th man surely make it even special.

    I read recently, that after Brazil bowed out of the world cup after losing to La Oranje, Argentinian fans took out a massive rally and celebrated the defeat of their arch rivals on the street. Little did they know that the Germans would thrash Argentina the very next day, a thrashing which was much celebrated in the same fashion by the Brazilian fans as the Argentinians did!! :D

    Talk about having a world cup fever!

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  6. Holland ftw!

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  7. Ali, spamming much?! :O :O
    And I think you mean 11 men :D
    But yea that's true. Though I don't see why Brazilian fans celebrated when Argentina lost; they were out of the competition too! And in a much worse fashion.
    Any bets? :)

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  8. sorry about the spamming, something was wrong at that time with this page.

    And no, fans are called the 12th man for a team, because u know their support plays a major role for a football team (that already has 11 men ;) )

    My bets are on Spain, although i see Germany lifting the Gold prize.

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  9. No problemo :)

    Oh right, that's what you meant! Makes sense too, when the crowd is cheering for you, chanting your name, you wanna give them something to scream about. And if they're not, it sorta let's you down somehow.

    My heart says Spain too :(

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