So the World Cup began yesterday. For the next couple weeks, there will be a game at 2pm, 5pm and 8pm every day. Some I am eagerly looking forward to watching, others not so much and only a very few not at all. I'll watch as many as I can though regardless. After all, this only happens every four years, so it is something to savour. Plus, pretty much all the conversation for the next month is going to revolve around this tournament, so I if I want to to be able to take part in conversations, I'd better study up.
As to the title of this piece, it is not referring to the first match yesterday where Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in a pretty entertaining match by all accounts (though I only got to see the first 25 mins of it). No, the title refers to England's first match at 2pm today, where they won 1-0 against Paraguay. I got to watch the whole first half in the canteen at work, thanks to the TV that the company have allowed us to put there for the duration of the tournament. The first half was... it was okay I guess. Beckham's free kick went in off the goalkeepers hand for an own goal and that was it for the scoring.
Everyone I've spoken too who watched the second half have been replete with comments to the tune of "Paraguay were all over us" etc. In short, England did their usual trick of defending on a 1 goal lead. This blindingly stupid tactic is what they tried doing against Brazil in the last World Cup and as a result were soundly beaten. You'd think they'd learn. The rest of the first half, I honestly thought they had. Sure they were still passing the ball backwards way too much (their goal is in the other direction guys, that's where you should be sending the ball), but they were doing plenty of attacking. For a team that is rated second favourites to win the World Cup, they looked distinctly average at best.
Which certainly cannot be said about either Argentina (boo hiss) or Ivory Coast, who Tony, Gareth and I have just watched playing each other. A 2-1 win to the Argies unfortunately, but a really good game, fast paced and furious. Both teams playing with the idea that the best defence is offense, which makes for blinding runs and very nifty midfield footwork. I have no work tomorrow so that'll be me, downstairs in our lounge, watching all 3 games. Monday I have a LOT of parcels from my recent wave of Ebay auctions to send out, but I'm sure if I get up early I can have that all done by midday and thus free my time for another trio of matches.
One thing is for sure, I'm going to be spending a lot less time sat at this computer for the next few weeks. Which is probably a good thing, unless you happen to be someone I chat with a lot on MSN or Yahoo. To those people I'll say only this: If you live in my town I have a 28" widescreen TV and plenty of chairs in the lounge. Just bring your own drinks and snacks. If you don't live in Taunton then sorry, but I don't watch much football, but I do watch the World Cup. I'm sure you'll all get along fine without me for a while.
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