the meaty end of the tournament has arrived. all the chess games the prodding and experimenting, the moaning and the outrageous decisions...the luck. the sublime,the great goals. credit to that new ball. all water under the bridge now.
2 days without football is a LONG time..let battle commence!
ive made a list of my top players in germany at the moment. ive picked 3 from each quarter finalist, with one of them being the star performer. not wholly representative, just my own humble favourites. and after, a brief look at the potential qualifiers... and the possibilities
argentina: RODRIGUEZ ** (riquelme/crespo)
brazil: KAKA **(ronaldo/lucio)
germany: KLOSE **(lahm/frings)
england: J. COLE **(gerrard/a.cole)
italy: CANNAVARO **(totti/buffon)
france: RIBERY **(zidane/abidal)
portugal: MANICHE **(figo/miguel)
ukraine: GUSEV **(voronin/tymoschuk)
the second round with perhaps the exception of argentina v mexico and maybe the portugal v holland game were dour tense, unentertaining affairs, with very little ground given. understandably. and of course the anxiety was enhanced by some poor refereeing.... i can hear many chants aimed in mr poll's direction next season. i feel a bit sorry for him, only a bit though. but i'll still 'av a chuckle when i hear the odd banter such as .." they call him treble yellow"...or, " look at the cards..look how they shine for you"....etc etc. sorry graham, its all good fun..for us!!
anyway. today, the world cup starts in earnest.
germany v argentina could easily grace a final. a shame its come early really. titanic teutonic triumph, midfield stalemate? or will the germans finally be tested and caught out..stage left, senor Messi... **ARG.
italy v ukraine not one to set your blood thumping, but the italians seem to have lady luck looking on. though you'd never guess.. **ITA.
england v portugal another media circus haunts what could be a classic match. sven the warrior! (ps.. at some stage use crouch sven). **ENG. (just...)
brazil v france like italy, france seem to be just scrawping through with plenty in reserve. however ronaldhinho is about to stand up and be counted. oh and did someone mention 'fat ron' ? **BRA.
there havnt really been many upsets so far and i dont see many from here on in. the form book is looking as though it is running as you'd expect. oh and forget the south americans in europe arguement. its long dead.
ARGENTINA (my pre-tournament bet) may seem a bit twitchy and possibly peaked sooner than necessary. however they have played some outstanding football overall. cambiasso or rodriguez for goal of the competition so far btw. and they have a subs bench most teams would have as a starting 11, if they are lucky.
BRAZIL hmm...ominously appear to have clicked into (nearly) top gear just at the right time. they should have to beat france (possibly england, then ?? argentina/germany or italy. sorry mr blokhin!) to win it. can makelele deal with ronaldinho AND kaka? ..i can hear odds being slashed to the rhythm of the samba as we speak...
GERMANY done exceptionally well so far....hang on, they've only really taken sweden out who have any sum of threat. but schweinsteiger,lahm, frings and klose make them entertaining. still, the 12th man and all that...dont bet against them pushing juan roman et al. all the way in berlin...but they wont have enough in the end.
ITALY best national anthem by a mile! i can only presume i'll get the chance to hear it at least once more..defensively even without nesta, the italians look pretty much like a brick wall. and its going to take more than a distant-dreamy pound-sign eyed shevchenko to demolish it. yet. btw sad news concerning perotta..
FRANCE a lot of shrugging and prayer gesturing, along with flapping of cheeks has gone on.. hold on a bit, ive done italy?
seriously, the french have discovered a bit of form at exactly the right time. i thought spain would take them apart..step up monsieur Ribery ( a kind of, GN lookalike that can play a bit) but like argentina, id reckon brazil to have the depth to succeed.
UKRAINE not impressed the other night. but im sure that had more to do with the impotent swiss team more than anything.
mind you, they were absolutely raped by spain. and i find it very difficult to see them past italy. surprised they done this well with only 3 or 4 decent players. now watch AS show me up!
PORTUGAL well, apart from having half a team either suspended, yellow carded, injured or just plain grumpy faced, but should have been out!.. they always seem to be in the final knockings when it comes to these compo's. the nearest you'd get to samba style outside south america's soil. and they look(ed) a good shout until poor ivanov did his best. big phil is the word..not this time jose. meet mr gerrard, again!
and that leaves...
ENGLAND re: france/italy and brazil. in other words, start slow, get through, go go GO! we hope!.. what can you say? its only to be hoped that england have been running on some kind of energy efficient fuel til now. and are ready to pump up the volume! hargreaves looks to be the best bet holding. but 'fwank' where are you?...still we can all dream....
what can be said is, the big players. the 5 star shoot-out card men, you know, the shiny ones...
havnt as yet featured.
all the 8 sides have one. and there is little point doing another list.. but perhaps with the exception of zidane and ronaldo. the other luminaries of the world cup are as yet, to unfold.
for the sake of what i consider to be a great world cup thus far, there must now be a time for the likes of... oh to hell with it,
henry,ballack,ronaldhino,figo,shevchenko,gerrard,riquelme and totti ALL to come to the fore.
lets hope so. for if the big guns start to fire, it could well end up becoming one of the best world cups ever!
(btw klose would be my pick for liverpool over kuyt, but hey)
he is a cracking centre forward.
argentina! 
