GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!

What a wonderful thing! You have no idea (or maybe you do) what it's like to be an American in Europe any time the subject of football or the World Cup comes up, there's always a section of the conversation about how much the U.S. sucks at soccer. That can be put somewhat to rest now, thank goodness. If we can beat Germany, it'll be awesome. I'd LOVE to get to the Semis before Spain (they play Korea or Italy on Saturday). And for Spain to play the U.S.?!? Heaven! It'd be a real life metaphor for the personal clashes I live everyday! I'd love to see them battle out on the field! Go USA!

At work today, it was great. My coworkers are following the games of course, but to have a real American there when the U.S. wins means that every person comes up to me today with congrats ("Thanks, thanks. I trained them well...) I've been a rabid U.S. supporter since the tourney began ("We're going to kick ass this year, you watch..."), so it's nice to see that I wasn't shooting my mouth off nothing.

OLEOLEOLEOLE!!

-Russ

Here's a good chart to follow the rest of the cup:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/en/t/s/g.html

I see Team Mexico walked off the field after the game, refusing the exchange of jerseys, which is customary. A real tribute to their being sportsmen. It shows how they really feel about Americans. For Gawd's sake, they used us as a punching bag for nearly fifty years on the soccer field, and when we finally have a run of 9 wins, 6 losses, and a few ties, they think all Americans are "peegs!" There were even comments about how the US beating Mexico was a "political message," as to how they are second class citizens in our eyes.

If the US should accidentally sneak past the Germans, will we be accused of "rubbing their noses" in the fact they lost WWII?

On the other hand, if both Spain and the US both advance, and meet on the field, I'm going to have to root for the US to kick their scrawny arses by scoring three or four quick goals to shut off that damned, "Ole... ole... ole..." which really bites! Americans can then start chanting, "Adios, amigos!", like they did to the Mexican team, when the game was in extra time, and there was little doubt who would win. :o

Wolf (Who's found he loves soccer, only while the US team is still in the hunt... after that... I'll watch re-runs of Magnum, P.I., or something... but I will watch Spain and root for them to go all the way, sans US. )

Well, isn't this getting interesting! I have just about recovered from the post-match festivities on Sunday night...didn't get home until 8am. I must say, the Irish are the most spirited and gracious non-winners (don't like to say losers) I have ever met in my entire life! After the match, we entered a bar filled with Irish (about 6 of us) and they did nothing but cheer us on and congratulate us. They even were buying us beer (now does that surprise anyone here???)! Be proud if you are Irish, you are good people.

Now, on to Korea's challenge this evening...let's hope Italy wins and we can get the entire Korean peninsula on our side!!!!

I'll be in full force on Saturday...if anyone sees some crazy lady arrested, it's me!!! I'm the one with the out of control Riojanos!!! Viva España!

No, it looks like the whole Korean peninsula will be against Spain (except for Nevado and Manolo with the drum). ( S Korea beats Italy 2-1 with a golden goal!!!!! ) I taped the second half of that game. I can't wait to see it when I get home from work.

Great job by Korea! The only team to get a point from Korea is . . . the US!!!!! Spain will have their hands full.

Let's hope for a US - Spain semifinal so LostinMadrid can see his life played out on the field. Actually that would probably mean that Spain wins

The US team is doing very well (just a big penalty the referee didn't want to see in the Mexico match). Now, you just have to learn to call it football instead of soccer.
I'll never understand why you call football a game you play with the hands instead of the foot and with a melon instead of a ball. :p
The match against Germany I think will be difficult. Also for Spain, as Corea plays in home and they're never tired, and Raul won't be at 100%. Fortunely, Manolo with the drum will be at 200%. If Spain arrives semifinals it'll be something historic, we did it just once in the fifties in Brasil.

Miguelito, you're right...our football involves almost no foot->ball contact!

I don't know where the word "soccer" comes from, either...does anyone else?

The word "soccer" has its origins in the UK. I think it has its roots as an abbreviation of "Association" - that is, it is football played according to the rules of the English FA (Football Association). It was thus known as Association Football, to distinguish it from say, Rugby Football (which is now just Rugby).

El Boqueron hit it right on the nose. That's where it came from.

As far as the term "football," it is a 15th century term. It refers to basically any game that includes kicking, using one's body, arms, hands, etc., or throwing of a ball, on a field of play which basically is rectangularly. I guess we could say that Atilla the Hun, who love playing a game similar to polo, where they used human heads, taken from their enemy, was an early "footballer," since they often played with clubs, on foot...

In the US, we've basically taken the word football and applied it to American football, and accepted the term soccer for what most people in the world refer to as football.

Kick it, punch it, throw it, make it into an odd shape, do anything you want with it, just don't use a head for a ball... it's okay with me... It's still football.

Wolf (Who's seen pictures of early American football footballs. They were nearly round, but modified to make it possible to hang onto them when somebody hit you while you were running with it. It got pointier, so it could be passed better, and actually kicked more accurately. )

The Koreans are a damn fine team, and their fans are like nothing I've ever seen before! Watch out, Spain! The Koreans are a physically superior side, and they play for the 90th minute, when the other side is dragging and they're still charging, backed by their incredible fans. That'll be an awesome match. 0130 saturday, I'll be up and watching!

The Koreans are fine fans until you sit next to a street full of them and watch as they cheer red cards, injuries, and nasty tactics. They have a lot to learn as far as football etiquette is concerned.