Add Italy to the list of uninspired overrated European teams in this World Cup. New Zealand probably even deserved a win today - I don't think a penalty should have been called against the Kiwis. De Rossi was not pulled down - he flopped on a weak shirt tug. The Italians are remarkably good at selling these dives.
South American teams are looking fantastic. They are 7-0-2, and I think Paraguay and Chile might be good enough to reach the quarterfinals. Fabiano's goals for Brazil were beautiful (minus the handball on the second one). Too bad it got ugly towards the end. After Kaka's first yellow, I thought Dunga should have immediately subbed him out - you could tell trouble was brewing and someone was going to get ejected. He probably deserved that second yellow for the elbow, but it was definitely embellished by the Ivory Coast player, which was a stupid thing to do since it wasted valuable time and only served to eliminate one of Brasil's best players for the game against Portugal!
Here's how we stand after 29 games:
John: 17
Corinne, Joseph, Giovanni: 15
Carla, Phil, David: 13
Kit, Hallie: 12
Jeremy, Tom: 11
Cara, Dean, Alex: 10
Chris, Ali, Taylor: 9
Paul: 8
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Continue to dive, and dive, and dive, lovely Italian players! No referee seems to be courageous enough to show you a yellow card for your dirty tricks. Two words for Italian football: Cheating and Deception.
ReplyDeleteI agree. If I were reffing, I would not have given them a penalty kick; they dive too easily. I have been pleased with the refs so far except for two: the USA game against Slovenia ref and the Italy vs. NZ ref. Those two need eye exams.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Kaka deserved a second yellow. I do think the Ivorian player deserved an Emmy for that show, though. Or a place on an Italian team?
ReplyDeleteIf I were as loving of a Brazil fan as you were Carla, I would no doubt also stick up for Kaka! I think he's a good guy, and his elbow to the chest was maybe not that hard. But it really looked intentional (especially given the what had just happened on the field). Any kind of poor sportsmanship like an intentional elbow should be treated with a card.
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