Germany 1, Argentina 1 (after extra time, Germany, 4-2 on penalties)
(there’s no better way to celebrate than by donning yellow vests that make you look like you’re picking up trash on the New Jersey Turnpike)
Surveying the post-match scuffle, Marcelo Balboa (fast becoming the Rick Sutcliffe of international soccer) mused “It’s been a great match….we don’t need this sort of thing, players trying to get in each other’s mouths.”
Hey, he’s the expert.
Back in Bristol, a near breathless Reese Davis declared, “there’s nothing more exciting than a match decided on penalty kicks.” Perhaps there’s a commentator somewhere on earth who thinks the most exciting thing about the Super Bowl is the coin flip. But I hope not.
Prior to the kick-off of this afternoon’s other quarterfinal, Italy v. Ukraine, the latter’s manager, Oleg Blohkin is profiled by the New York Times’ Nathaniel Vinton.
He is respected at home, despite his racist comments about African players competing in Europe. Earlier this year, talking about the development of Ukrainian players, Blokhin told reporters: “The more Ukrainians that play in the national league the more examples for the young generation. Let them learn from Shevchenko or Blokhin and not from some Zumba-Bumba whom they took off a tree, gave him two bananas and now he plays in the Ukrainian league.”
Replies Sam Frank,
I do like the word Zumba-Bumba, though. Couldn’t Ozzie Guillen and Jacques Le Pen be as creative?
I was hoping that all 22 players would get sent off and that a semi-final place would nave been awarded to Ghana as pluckiest loser. Foiled by Blatter once again, curses. At least we might get footage of Maradona crying inconsolably again: my vhs copy of his last sobbing fit is almost worn out.