The Fall of France

Ok, so I won't make any WWII jokes, because clearly the French loss yesterday marks the absolute collapse of French Football. Reading the reaction to the team's implosion through the French Press has been fascinating. On some levels, it's similar to what Canada went through when the men's hockey team underperformed at the 2006 Olympics - only ten times worse, since a) Canada at least won a match, b) no one got sent home, and c) the French have a peculiar love affair with drama. French media are already calling it "L'affaire Anelka", as if it were on par as the sordid Dreyfus Affair, but then again, this one has traitors too.

All the hoopla surrounding France did make me yearn for some kind of dramatic comeback wherein the team would find their missing esprit de corps in their must win final game of the round robin and then go on to reach the finals. Too bad, like the French, I'm a romantic at heart and love sporting events with good narrative arcs. I can always root for the English, I suppose.

For those of you keeping score at home, my predictions for the round are currently sitting at 50%. I predicted that France, Mexico, Argentina, and Nigeria would all advance. While the French were just miserable, Nigeria tried to make through by playing in what has arguably been one of the tournament's best games so far. Their match against South Korea found both teams needing to take something away; Nigeria needing a win, S. Korea needing at least a tie, and resulted in lots of end-to-end play, drama, penalty kicks, and near misses.

FIFA World Cup Turned Upside Down

The last 36 hours have seen an impressive array of upsets at the World Cup of Soccer in South Africa, in which three of soccer's biggest superpowers failed to take advantage of all their supposed skills and I've learned several important things about myself.

First, yesterday, France fell 2-0 to Mexico as the French forwards failed to muster any credible opportunities in front of the Mexican net. The French defense meanwhile got caught by a streaking Mexican attacker as they tried to play the offside trap, then gave up a penalty kick inside the forty yard box to give Mexico it's second goal. The Internet immediately erupted in howls of anguish at the prospect of France repeating their dismal performance at the 2002 World Cup where they failed to score even a single goal. Lesson: I apparently cared very much about France and I imagine that it would be nice to have a team to cheer for that isn't Italy, since I feel compelled to cheer on the azzurri, but am often aghast at their defensive strategies, but the next time I'm picking sentimental favourites, why can't I choose a winning team?

Things did not get any better this morning, as the Germans faced off against Serbia, in what arguably should have been a lot closer than the thumping Germany gave Australia, but perhaps the 4-0 victory made the Germans overconfident. Clearly though, the Spanish referee played his own role, earning the current tournament lead for most cards given out in a single match. After booking Miroslav Klose early for a questionable tackle, he gave Klose a second yellow for an obvious offense, earning the prolific goal-scorer a sending off. Serbia capitalized within a minute, and the Germans never really got organized after going down to ten men. Lesson: I hate watching bad officials ruin games, but I discovered that I actually love watching Germany lose. I guess it's all those 1982 World Cup reruns I grew up on...

The Americans perhaps fared the kindest, having eked out a lucky point against England, their luck appeared to have deserted them against Slovenia, going down early 2-0 but, led by Landon Donovan, battled back to tie the game and earn another point.

For England however, there is only despair. After literally letting their first game against the USA slip through their fingers and into a tie, spectators were treated to a bewildered England midfield failing to connect on any crosses. I don't know who was more surprised by the English performance, England coach Fabio Capello, or Algerian coach Rabah Saadane. This group, like Germany's, is going to be a real barnburner on the last day, as everything is now up for grabs. Lesson: If Italy turned in a performance like England, France, or Germany, I'd probably be tearing my hair out right now, but being defending champions has an oddly calming effect. It's unreasonable to expect Italy to repeat, so I feel no pressure. It's all kinda fun now.