This is the last time I'll write about the World Cup, I promise. It ended today with Spain beating The Netherlands 1-0, just like that funny octopus predicted. It was a pretty dull match with each side getting only a few quality chances, and most of those were near the end. There were some moments that weren't dull during this Cup however, and that's what I'm making a list of. Here goes:
10. The goals Japan scored vs. Denmark-This group match saw several nice goals. Keisuke Honda (pictured there on the right) scored a gorgeous goal off of a free kick and set up another at the end of the game with some fancy moves. Yasuhito Endo added another with an even nicer free kick, and Japan won 3-1. It was nice to see an underdog Asian side take out a pretty good Danish team.
09. Italy's loss to Slovakia-It's always nice to see a former champion go down in flames the next time out, and that's exactly what happened to the Italians. After lackluster performances against Paraguay and New Zealand, they still had a chance to advance if they beat the Slovaks and Robert Vittek, who's in that pic. That didn't happen, courtesy of a late goal from Slovaksupersub Kamil Kopunek. The Italians almost tied it at the end, but EHHHHHHH 3-2 loss. Watch them win it in 2014 though.
08. Tshabalala's goal vs. Mexico-What a strike this was for the home team! A perfect shot at the perfect time. Too bad S.A. got bombed by Uruguay in their next match.
07. North Korea getting a goal against Brazil-This was mad inspiring. These fellas played their hearts out and lost 2-1 to Brazil, the pre-tournament fav. I don't think they had anything left after this, considering the fact that they lost their other two matches by a combined score of 10-0.
06. The blocked penalties in the Paraguay-Spain match-This Round of 16 match saw heavily favored Spain taking on the tough dudes from Paraguay. It was 0-0 until about the 60th minute or so when Paraguay's Oscar Cardozo got pulled down and was awarded a penalty. As you can see above, Spanish keeper Iker Casillas didn't let it get by him. About a minute later, Spain got a penalty shot and Xabi Alonso put it away. But wait, a Spanish player ran into the area early. Redo. Oh crap, the keeper stopped it! That sucks!
Didn't suck too bad for Spain in the end though, David Villa bailed them out and they won 1-0.
05. Robert Green-"C'mmere ball, c'mmere. Wait, where ya goin'?"
04. Ghezzal's Red Card vs. Slovenia-Abdelkader Ghezzal had his 15 minutes of fame, literally. Dude came in as a sub in the 58th minute of Algeria's first match. He picked up a yellow card for a tough challenge a minute later, and in the 73rd got tossed for a handball. This handball was hilarious, as Ghezzal reached out and touched the ball like a wide receiver attempting to haul in a long pass with one hand. What was he thinking? Maybe that pajamaed Americans like me (The game started at 7:30 a.m.) were laughing at him.
03. Anytime Diego Forlan Touched The Ball-Uruguay's Diego Forlan got the got the Golden Ball for a reason. He scored five goals, and all of them were artistic achievements. This one pictured above is from the 3rd Place Match. A bouncing ball came his way and he blasted it by the German keeper. Even more than the nice goals though, he did something positive with the ball nearly every time he touched it. Players like him are why soccer's known as "The Beautiful Game."
02. The End of the Uruguay-Ghana Match-It seems like fifteen crazy things happened at the end of this match. Let me count:
1. Luis Suarez bats the ball out of his net like he's playing volleyball. Too bad he's not a goalie.
2. Asamoah Gyan puts the penalty off the crossbar just as extra time expired, forcing the game to be decided by a penalty shootout.
3. John Mensah takes the worst penalty of all time. M'man looked like Shaq at the foul line.
4. Maxi Pereira takes the second worst penalty of all time, sending the ball into the Indian Ocean.
5. Sebastian Abreu takes the greatest penalty of all time, winning it for Uruguay in style.
OK, it seemed like fifteen at the time.
01. DONOVAN
Anyone wanna go to Brazil in 2014? I'm down.
10. The goals Japan scored vs. Denmark-This group match saw several nice goals. Keisuke Honda (pictured there on the right) scored a gorgeous goal off of a free kick and set up another at the end of the game with some fancy moves. Yasuhito Endo added another with an even nicer free kick, and Japan won 3-1. It was nice to see an underdog Asian side take out a pretty good Danish team.
09. Italy's loss to Slovakia-It's always nice to see a former champion go down in flames the next time out, and that's exactly what happened to the Italians. After lackluster performances against Paraguay and New Zealand, they still had a chance to advance if they beat the Slovaks and Robert Vittek, who's in that pic. That didn't happen, courtesy of a late goal from Slovaksupersub Kamil Kopunek. The Italians almost tied it at the end, but EHHHHHHH 3-2 loss. Watch them win it in 2014 though.
08. Tshabalala's goal vs. Mexico-What a strike this was for the home team! A perfect shot at the perfect time. Too bad S.A. got bombed by Uruguay in their next match.
07. North Korea getting a goal against Brazil-This was mad inspiring. These fellas played their hearts out and lost 2-1 to Brazil, the pre-tournament fav. I don't think they had anything left after this, considering the fact that they lost their other two matches by a combined score of 10-0.
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06. The blocked penalties in the Paraguay-Spain match-This Round of 16 match saw heavily favored Spain taking on the tough dudes from Paraguay. It was 0-0 until about the 60th minute or so when Paraguay's Oscar Cardozo got pulled down and was awarded a penalty. As you can see above, Spanish keeper Iker Casillas didn't let it get by him. About a minute later, Spain got a penalty shot and Xabi Alonso put it away. But wait, a Spanish player ran into the area early. Redo. Oh crap, the keeper stopped it! That sucks!
Didn't suck too bad for Spain in the end though, David Villa bailed them out and they won 1-0.
05. Robert Green-"C'mmere ball, c'mmere. Wait, where ya goin'?"
04. Ghezzal's Red Card vs. Slovenia-Abdelkader Ghezzal had his 15 minutes of fame, literally. Dude came in as a sub in the 58th minute of Algeria's first match. He picked up a yellow card for a tough challenge a minute later, and in the 73rd got tossed for a handball. This handball was hilarious, as Ghezzal reached out and touched the ball like a wide receiver attempting to haul in a long pass with one hand. What was he thinking? Maybe that pajamaed Americans like me (The game started at 7:30 a.m.) were laughing at him.
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03. Anytime Diego Forlan Touched The Ball-Uruguay's Diego Forlan got the got the Golden Ball for a reason. He scored five goals, and all of them were artistic achievements. This one pictured above is from the 3rd Place Match. A bouncing ball came his way and he blasted it by the German keeper. Even more than the nice goals though, he did something positive with the ball nearly every time he touched it. Players like him are why soccer's known as "The Beautiful Game."
 |
02. The End of the Uruguay-Ghana Match-It seems like fifteen crazy things happened at the end of this match. Let me count:
1. Luis Suarez bats the ball out of his net like he's playing volleyball. Too bad he's not a goalie.
2. Asamoah Gyan puts the penalty off the crossbar just as extra time expired, forcing the game to be decided by a penalty shootout.
3. John Mensah takes the worst penalty of all time. M'man looked like Shaq at the foul line.
4. Maxi Pereira takes the second worst penalty of all time, sending the ball into the Indian Ocean.
5. Sebastian Abreu takes the greatest penalty of all time, winning it for Uruguay in style.
OK, it seemed like fifteen at the time.
01. DONOVAN
Anyone wanna go to Brazil in 2014? I'm down.
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