1. If I were Australian, I'd be embarrassed by my national team's showing today against Germany. The Socceroos spent a large part of the first half putting their hands in the air, and played the second half like they just didn't care. If you missed the match, it went mostly like this: Australia plays an offside trap, a German forward or midfielder continually beats the trap with a perfectly-timed run, the Aussies whine and scream in vain for an offside call, and the Germans take direct aim at the net.
Now look, I'm not saying that Australia ever had a chance in this game. Germany played as well as any team we've seen so far, and the Aussies looked slow and less skilled. Hats off to Germany for their pace and their intricate runs. For Australia, there's no shame in losing to a more talented team that's on its game, but the Socceroos went down without a fight (unless screaming at the linesman counts as a fight) and embarrassed its citizenry in the process.
2. Quick--name the first European nation to win a game in the 2010 World Cup. (Answer below.)
3. Adidas needs to fire its marketing department. How hard is it to sell soccer cleats? Hire six famous and skilled soccer players, give them an adidas ball to play with and adidas cleats to wear while playing, encourage them to play creatively, and film them for 5 hours. Nike runs laps around adidas and has been doing so for years. No excuses, adidas--you've been synonymous with soccer for decades. Fix your shit.
4. I've been impressed with the refereeing at this tournament. The linesmen have done a great job calling offsides, and the center refs have been keeping the players under control and playing within the rules of the game. My favorite calls so far were the two yellow cards given to the Germany side for simulation (a/k/a diving). I used to ref and I can tell you that this is one of the hardest calls to make. Even if you know that no foul occurred, it's much harder to be sure that the player fell on purpose in an attempt to draw a whistle. Players loose their footing for all sorts of reasons (losing their balance attempting to turn quickly, getting feet tangled up, etc)...it's very difficult to attribute the fall to a flop (it helped me when the player flailed his limbs as he was tumbling to the turf). Plus, the penalty for diving is fairly harsh, though deservedly so, so a ref really wants to be sure of the call before doling out a yellow card.
5. Answer to #2: Slovenia!
6. On an unrelated note, where in the hell is Slovenia?
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