My apologies.

_{They are both long simple pipes that, when played, produce loud awful noises.}

Yeah, Grim. You Aussies did okay, don't feel bad. I mean the Jerries have a pretty high-rated roadshow in the footy scene... okay, maybe not THE WORLD CHAMPIONS it took the Kiwis to sort... but not a bad sort of a team.

New Zealand took Italy to a 1-1 tie.  The Italian club down the street from here are in mourning.

VIVA Italia!  That's the cheer in our house, where husband was born in northern Italy!

The great thing about living in the Toronto area - it's SO multicultural - there's a party going on somewhere in the city no matter who wins!  Just get to the right neighbourhood and you're golden! 

(As an aside ... at one of the UCC Second Cup conference workshops today, the speaker mentioned humanity's natural search for a common narrative - and how coming together over something like the World Cup satisfies that ... but only for a while ... making the point that one thing religion provides to us is an enduring common narrative.)

You have to love all those flags being flown as well. Our own car sports both the maple leaf and, more importantly for the World Cup, the taegukgi.

Oh, soccer/footie: so much fun for everyone. Not a lot of complex rules, not a lot of wasting time with reruns (ok, that has to change now that reruns are available in real-time...that Kaka 2nd Yellow IS A TRAVESTY...) or time outs.

And yes, the traditional Euro teams are not impressive (my MIL claims "they've just gotten fat on 'those huge footballer salaries'") and the traditional underdogs are giving them a real run. Good! I say.  And all the better for the sport to have the All Whites (YAY: watched THAT game 3 times) kick the Azzuri back to the starting line :D

Until Canada gets into the tournament, it's a free for all, as far as I'm concerned: great to see these players working so hard.  And even in the rain: no wussie 'rain delays' for these guys.

As the Group Stage winds down and we get ready for the Round of 16, it's getting interesting. France and Italy are gone, England only made it in by winning their final game. Only Argentina and the Dutch managed to sweep their first round games. Brazil might, but they do have to play Portugal tomorrow so it's far from a sure thing. One African team, Ghana, has made it through at the expense of Serbia. Two Asian teams have made it (Korean Republic and Japan). I'm going to keep cheering for the Dutch for now, but suspect that when things come to a climax in a couple weeks, it'll probably Argentina vs. Brazil or something like that.

Mendalla

South Korea is out.

 With NZ and Italy gone, I thought I'd support Uruguay (where I have some good friends)...

Yes; the keeper is required to keep his feet on the line until the ball is in play.  Generally he decides which way to dive and hopes for the best!

Go Germany!!!! 

Ouch. I knew Germany was probably the favorite in this morning's Round of 16 match (but was cheering for England), but I thought it might be closer. Even if the missed goal had been called, the Germans would have won by 2 goals. As it is, they won by 3. I'm hoping for an Argentina win this afternoon, since that set up for a Germany-Argentina match in the quarter final, which could be a good one.

Mendalla

So, the quarter finals are now set. Here's my picks and preferences:

Germany - Argentina: both are good, Germany probably has a slight edge, but I'm cheering for Maradona and his boys

Netherlands - Brazil: another close call between two top-ranked teams, I'm not sure who to pick as a winner, but I'm cheering for the Netherlands. Could come down to OT or a shoot-out.

Uruguay - Ghana: not exactly tier-1 teams and probably pretty evenly matched. I'll say Uruguay is the likely winner, but would love for Ghana to be the first African team to reach the semis on African soil. I smell a possible shoot-out here.

Spain - Paraguay - Probably Spain will take this one, but it'll be close. I'm cheering for the Spanish (my wife has a Spanish research partner and I enjoyed a week in his country last December)

Mendalla

Our home is in deep mourning today as Ghana made their exit from the cup.  My husband lived in Ghana as a child so we are Black Star fans all the way (flag flying, jersey and cap wearing!).

I still cannot believe Gyan missed the penalty shot that would HAVE PUT THEM THROUGH TO THE SEMIS.

Soccer Mom must be celebrating. Brazil 0 Germany 4.

Crunch time! The octopus has picked Spain to win the Cup but why would I trust an animal that I normally have for dinner to pick a winner in a  football tournament?

My picks:

Third place game (Saturday): Germany by 1 point

Championship game (Sunday): Netherlands by 1 point, overtime or a shootout a distinct possiblity though

Mendalla

Paul the octopus has picked Spain; Mani the parakeet has picked Netherlands. 

Looks like it's going to be an even match. Shoot out at the end is a distinct possibility.

what a year this is!!  Underdogs all the way!  Germany is out, I bet they are still hanging their heads after such mediochre effort.    But the Dutch part of the household is amazed and daring to hope just a little bit, no matter what the octopus says. 

(And what is up with this Octopus anyway??!! Absolutely bizarre and amusing!)

Well, that was not the most beautiful game of the beautiful game that I've ever seen. The third place game yesterday was a much better match to watch. While I was cheering for the Dutch, the possibility that Spain would win was there from the get go. I'd have been happier with that result if the game had been more exciting. Anyhow, 4 years to go until Brazil.

Mendalla

Ok.  WTH was that?  Spain & Netherlands should have just packed it in and gone home, because that was crappy football, and a waste of 2 hours. 

boring, clumsy, bizarre, tedious, mediocre.  We should have just taken the octopus' word (?) for it and done something else today.

another offside game-winning goal for spain?  shocking.

I did celebrate all their victories and even enjoyed the game against Spain that they lost.  They didn't play very well but they were my team!

I'm looking forward to Brazil in 2014!!!