See? This is how soccer riots get started!

Anyway, on to today’s games. Please note that this is likely not the last you’ve heard of my ranting about Mr. Coulibaly. In fact, I’m going to add the spelling of his name to my spell checker’s dictionary because I think I shall be using it often. Most likely as a curse. That fucker.

Right, right, the games. So here’s my fake liveblogging notes on today’s games. I’m still working on getting StatusNet up and running for my real liveblogging updates. That should be done in a day or so. Anyway, enjoy!

Germany vs Serbia:
• We’re only a few minutes in and its already a pretty lively game. Germany has had a couple of good looks at goal. If they keep this kind of pressure up, they’ll do to Serbia the same thing they did to Australia.
• A yellow card for each side already and we’re like 18 minutes in. And as I type this Serbia just got yet another yellow. None of these cards seem deserved. This is some poor officiating and is really going to damage the quality of the game. OMG yellow card #4, this time on Germany, but this one actually looks to be the first legit yellow issued.
• Holy fucking shit. The card happy official hasn’t stopped his yellow card assault on either team and he just gave Klose his 2nd undeserved yellow, putting Germany a man down the rest of the game. Serbia’s response? Scoring a goal literally seconds later. Worst officiated game of the tournament to date.
• An exciting play at the Serbian goal by the Germans lead to two almost goals, but the crossbar foiled the best of the two shots. The second was intercepted by the Serbian defense.
  I wonder how many players will end up being ejected. The yellow cards are being given out like candy on Halloween.
• Germany isn’t playing like they’re down a man their assault on the Serbian goal continues unabated.
• Germany earns a penalty kick on a foolish Serbian handball, but isn’t able to capitalize on the kick or the rebound.
• The crossbar is a hell of a goalkeeper as it just stopped another shot on goal, this time a header from Serbia.
• This ref is hobbling both teams for not only this game, but the next as well, since getting a yellow in 2 consecutive games leads to a 1 game suspension. Both teams are going to be overly cautious in their third group game, I think.
• Did FIFA get bought out or receive heavy sponsorship funding from the Pope or something? Almost every player coming on as a substitution in this tournament has crossed themselves as they come on. I don’t remember that from the last World Cup.
• Germany unable to produce a goal, but not for lack of trying. A surprising result of a 1-0 Serbian win.

USA vs Slovenia:
• A quick injury in the opening seconds with an accidental collision between opposing players. The Slovenian player got the worst of it and there was some question of a yellow on the play, but the referee let it go. Intense opening moments!
• OK seriously? 14 minutes in and the US already gives up a goal? Its the second game in a row they’re done that and its highly disappointing. The commentators mentioned that the US is 0-15-3 when they give up the first goal.
• Three very close almost goals for the US, but no joy yet. We’re showing some life, but as I was typing this, we gave up another goal. There was some talk of a possible offsides, but the replay showed it was good. To add insult to injury, we got a yellow card that was totally unjustified on the second of our three quick attempts. Going into the half, we look like we’re done. :(
• OMG AWESOME! Landon Donovan makes an amazing goal to bring the US back into this game! What a wicked goal! It was streaking in so hard that even the goalkeeper backed away from it. We almost got a second goal off of a free kick, but it went just a touch wide. If we can keep the pressure on, we can pull a draw, or dare I say even win this.
• Its about damn time a call goes our way. Can we make the free kick…? It was close, but no.
• OMG WHAT AN AMAZING GOAL! Damn, that was just what we needed! So awesome, just so damn awesome.
• Holy shit, we just had our game winner taken from us by a bad offside call on us while one of our players is literally being bear hugged by the opposition and another is damn near in a headlock! There have been some really bad calls this game.
• WTF players from both sides go down and don’t get up and the ref says play on?! This guy needs to be choked with his own whistle.
• The game ends in a draw after a bit of highway robbery by the ref. What a game and what an asshole of a ref.

Algeria vs England:
• 25 minutes in and its pretty dull so far. No terribly exciting plays for either side. There was almost a nice break as I was writing that, but it stopped almost as soon as it started. The outcome here is important given that we lost our win to the idiot referee in he US game, so a draw may not be he worst thing in the world.
• England just had a good shot on goal, but a nice save by the goalkeeper keeps it scoreless.
• A great play by England in the 32nd minute and another great save by Algeria. The game is picking up!
• No goals yet going into the half, but both teams are showing a lot more life than they did at the start. I think we’ll at least have a goal by England by the end of the game. The question is whether Algeria can fire back for the draw because I don’t think they can win.
• A lot more action from both sides, but England still has the upper hand in attempts on goal. No stupid calls by the ref, so that’s nice and refreshing.
• We’re in the closing minutes of the game and while it was a good back and forth, the commentators are fairly disappointed with England and I can’t say that I disagree. And as I type this, the game ends as a scoreless draw. It should be interesting going into the last game of the group. The US will need to win that game in order to advance. England has to be wondering why they’re not leading the group, and I’m pretty sure they’re not the only ones.

So there you have today’s games. OMG RAGEFACE! I’m so not done ranting, but it’s late and I need to get to bed. Don’t you worry (or do, as the case may be), I’m planning on expounding on the USA game this weekend. I BITE YOU THROUGH THE INTERNET IN ANGER, STUPID REFEREE!

HELL YES!

There. I knew if I left it to you jokers in the comments, I’d get nothing. MONSTERS!

Moving on… Kinect is a stupid name. Not as stupid as Wii, but damn near close. I think someone moderately drunk would have trouble deciding which name would be worse to bring home to have a drunken night of abandon with and then wake up the next morning, be startled, and feel shame and remorse. I sure hope it doesn’t become a dumping ground for ports of crappy Wii games that didn’t sell. Then again, if it does and they don’t sell here, maybe the crap-tastic developers behind them will get the hint that their games didn’t sell not because Nintendo players don’t buy games, but because Nintendo players don’t buy GAMES THAT SUCK YOUR WILL TO LIVE. Not that I’m bitter about constant streams of disinformation or anything.

The 3DS looks interesting, and 3D or not, I’m sure looking forward to the games they’ve announced for it like Mario Kart, PilotWings (HELL YES!), and Metal Gear (!). Definitely one to watch. Oh and Goldeneye Wii remake? Awesome. The only thing better would have been a Perfect Dark Wii remake, but at least I’ll be able to get Perfect Dark HD once I get the redesigned 360.

Sony doesn’t seem to have much good stuff for me this year. Playstation Move? Move where? So it’s Wii HD, basically. Wiiiiiii! And the garbage names continue! Oh and a paid PSN subscription? The hell with that. The thing that grabbed my eye was the new Twisted Metal game! That. Looks. Awesome. I don’t care if it does everything, I want it to do Twisted Metal, and then I will be happy.

On a completely different note, it occurs to me that this category system I have going on the site is in direct conflict with the tagging system I have. I almost feel like it should be one or the other. The tags are definitely more flexible, but I feel I could get some use out of the categories if I go back and redid them all. Of course, that means redoing the categories on all the posts I already have. Good thing I go for years without posting a thing! ;)

OK, enough nerding. Time for some World Cup! I took notes while I was watching, and I was going to pretty em up and make them into real sentences and everything, but I’m too goddamn tired. So here are my notes on each game, edited for readability, continuity, and such. It’s a different format than what I’ve been posting, but its been a busy day and reworking all this into real paragraphs and article structure would take longer than I’m willing to commit to it right now. Besides, I want to play more video games before I go to bed. Maybe some Super Mario Galaxy 2. [insert ridiculous Mario sound]

South Africa vs Uruguay:
• There was an exciting moment near the beginning when Forlan chips it in off of crossbar from long range. Gooooooooooaaaaaaalllllll!
• South Africa got pretty outplayed.
• You know you’re an accident when your parents name you Surprise Moriri. Yes, there really is a South African player named Surprise Moriri. Awesome.
• An unexpected red card for the South African goalkeeper Khune, who has done an excellent job thus far, leads to point scored on the penalty kick.
• South Africa came to life second half, but not enough to save them.
• Late 3rd pt for Uruguay to put the final nail in coffin.

Argentina vs South Korea:
• South Korea ends up scoring an own goal off of an Argentinian corner kick. Hilarious! I probably shouldn’t love own goals so much, but I laugh every time.
• Higuain nicely heads in the second point for Argentina.
• Argentina is more offensive minded, but South Korea has been getting back into it after the own goal.
• Argentinian carelessness leads to a lone SK striker stealing the ball and a goal! The score now 2-1 in favor of Argentina.
• The pressure exerted by both teams has been high for much of the game and there have been several good shots on goal.
• Holy hell, Argentina launched a wicked assault! The first shot was saved, the second went off the post, and the third was gently tapped in past everyone! Beautiful play!
• Another fearsome Argentinian assault leads to another goal and now Higuain has a hattrick!
• Final Score is 4-1 Argentina.

Greece vs Nigeria:
• Nigeria scores on Greece about 15 minutes in on a free kick which was awarded for a yellow card offense that the Greeks should never have committed.
• Kaita earns a red card and gets ejected for freaking out on a Greek player after the ball was out of play. It was a silly foul and it puts the Nigerians down a man for the rest of the game. Good thing they already have a goal scored.
• Greece scores via a deflection off of a Nigerian player just before the half to tie it up. Things are a lot more tenuous for them now. Credit to Greece for seizing the opportunity.
• Nigeria blows a fast break. Caught out Greece, the first shot is blocked and the rebound should be easy goal but they don’t get a good foot on it and end up kicking it wide.
• After a series of fantastic saves, there was just one too many assaults for the Nigerian goalkeeper and he let a rebounded kick get by him. It was a valient effort, but I don’t think Nigeria will be able to pull off a draw. To make matters worse, several injuries are forcing them to use their subs and hurting nigerian play quality.
• Prediction correct, Nigeria loses 2-1. On the upside for Greece, they scored their first ever World Cup goal and got their first ever World Cup win.

France vs Mexico:
• A more physical game that we’ve seen thus far, France and Mexico seem to be pretty evenly matched. No major runs by either team yet and we’re going into second half scoreless. There was one almost goal by Mexico, otherwise good goalkeeping both sides. A game where the teams are really well matched can either be really exciting, or really not. Unfortunately, so far this one is the latter. While the skill on display is great, it’s not edge of your seat stuff.
• A fantastic but possibly controversial goal for Mexico give them the lead! There was some question as to whether Javier Hernandez was offsides, but it looked like he was right at the edge and the call could have gone either way. His grandfather scored against France years ago and now he gets to follow in those footsteps. Pretty amazing!
• A penalty kick gives Mexico another point. We have another first! The first Mexican player to score in three different world cups is Cuauhtemoc Blanco! (Try saying that three times fast!)
• There were lots of yellow cards handed out this game
• Mexico takes it! Pretty unexpected, given France’s last World Cup performance.

Do you know, I just had a thought. A somewhat startling occurrence, I know, but hear me out. I think I may do a liveblog kind of thing for future posts. That might work better because it captures my thoughts at the moment and I don’t have to worry about turning notes into fancy pants writing. I’ll probably forget less stuff to include too. Maybe some open source, embeddable twitter-like app. I very nearly think Dreamhost has something like that available. Hmmmm…

EDIT: I just realized that the timezone setting on my blog has been wrong for… quite some time, shall we say. It looks like it was calculating times in UTC or some stupid nonsense like that instead of my local time. Good job! Because that’s useful! It’s fixed now, but all my old posts have timestamps that appear to be off by about 7 hours or so. Can you feel that, WordPress designers? I’m flipping you the bird as hard as I can!

Today’s first game, New Zealand vs Slovakia had a totally epic finish. It was made all the more epic by the fact that New Zealand l, the team responsible for the epicness, was also responsible for a lot of the dullness in the game. Much like their neighbors Australia, they appeared pretty stiff and somewhat uncoordinated. To their credit, this game was the first time they didn’t allow a goal in the first half. They did give one up in the second half, and with their poor offense, it looked as if they were going to lose the match. Then came he epicness. In he last minute of stoppage time, minute 93, Winston Reid scored what I believe was his first World Cup goal to tie it up. I don’t think New Zealand was really expected to do well, but they surprised everyone with that in at the death goal.

I’m watching the Portugal vs Ivory Coast game now and so far its been OK. Neither team has made much progress yet, but he real story thus far has been Ronaldo. He had a blazing shot at goal that just barely missed and he also had some… colorful moments. He’s gone down a bunch, sometimes without even being hit! Granted, he is a target for obvious reasons but some of those falls were a bit mug. The confrontations hat they’ve produced win the other team has gotten him a yellow card along with yellow cards for two Ivory Coast players. Fun fact: it seems whenever they had a close up of any of the player’s faces, it seemed as if they were yelling “fuck off!” Its pretty hilarious. :D I fully expected Portugal to dominate this game, so I hope they can generate some real offense during the second half because aside from Ronaldo’s one shot on goal, hey really haven’t pressed the Ivory Coast much.

And now I sign off until tomorrow evening. I’m working till 8:30 tonight and then have to be back there at 5 AM tomorrow, so I wont get to catch up on the games until I get home around 2 PM. At least I have Thursday off. :\

Japan vs Cameroon! At first, I thought that Cameroon would be able to shut down Japan, but after the first few mins it was as if the life went out of them. They were stiff and listless and Japan made them pay. They scored a goal off of a nice breakaway and Cameroon never really recovered. They would send an occasional shot at the goal, but only one or two were scorchers. Cameroon didn’t seem to come back to life until the last ten minutes or so, but it was too little, too late.

I’m watching the Italy vs Paraguay game now, and its pretty good. Paraguay scored a surprising early goal that stunned both he crowd and Italy. Italy managed to recover quickly and picked up a nice goal of heir own. 78 mind in and the game is tense. Both teams are playing well and taking some nice shots on goal. I can’t wait to see how his game ends.

Not only because its exciting, but because I want to sleep!

The other note of interest is in the first game today, NED vs DEN. A hilarious own goal scored by Poulsen has put DEN up by a goal. The game isn’t over yet and both teams are gtting some good looks at goal, so its still anyone’s game, but I just had to note that own goal. I don’t care who you are, that’s some funny shit right there.

Well, I suppose if you’re the NED goalie, you’re probably not amused. He sure didn’t look all that amused when he was glaring at Poulsen. ;)

It just keeps getting better.

Today’s goals were probably the most exciting goals of the game. Algeria vs Slovenia was a tight game all the way through and remained scoreless until the 79th minute when Slovenia scored a huge goal to take the lead and make some history: it was their World Cup win. Both teams had some great shots at goal and kept the pressure up throughout the game, but it was all over after that. It’s an important win for Slovenia because it gives them three very important points in their group; a group they share with the US and England. Slovenia and Algeria are both not expected to make it out of their group, so this win really shakes things up for the group since it England and the US ended up in a draw. Of course, Slovenia could get beat by both of those teams when they play them, but at least they had this impressive first win.

The second game, Serbia vs Ghana was also pretty good. Both teams were doing pretty well: trading shots, maintaining a tight defense and the like, but Serbia gave up an epic penalty kick goal and that gives Ghana an important win and a leg up in the group. What a freaking goal it was! Idiot Serbian player Kuzmanovic had an unbelievably foolish and unnecessary handball IN THE PENALTY ZONE giving Ghana a free kick on goal. Gyan lined up for the shot, took a run at the ball, faked the goalie out and kicked the ball in one direction while the goalie dove in the other. Beautiful. I have to say, I really do feel bad for Kuzmanovic despite his foolishness. He looked like he was going to be sick to his stomach when he realized what he’d done and what it would cost his team. I don’t imagine it was a very pleasant post-game discussion in the locker room today.

Fun fact, both of the above games had a player from the loosing team get ejected for collecting two yellow cards and trading em in for a red card. Nice work, guys!

I’m now watching the Germany and Australia game and the hits just don’t stop coming! I’m a little ways into the second half and let me tell you, it’s like Germany picked up right where they left off in 2006. Granted, they were knocked out by France, but they played amazingly throughout that tournament and this game was no different. Klose has an awesome header 7 minutes in, followed by a later goal by another German player who’s name I forget. Australia is getting schooled. I know they have a young team, but I didn’t think they’d be giving up goals that quickly or often, especially when you consider that in the World Cup qualifiers, they didn’t give up more than a single goal in any game. Not sure how this one is going to end, but my guess is that if you’re Australia, its gonna end in tears. I doubt they can come back, but you never know. Off I go to watch the rest of the game!

PS: Fun Fact about Klose: 7 of his 11 World Cup goals have been headers. Ouch!