I’m not going to comment on the ridiculous idea of allowing an Argentinian referee to take charge of a game involving England.
Or say anything about the fact that once again a Manchester United player was sent off during a crucial international match.
Or discuss the foolishness of playing one striker in a team that usually has two.
But, I will say this. If, on the day the FA sacked Sven Goran Eriksson, they had given him a large pay off and told him to go away, and then hired Martin O’Neil, I am certain England fans would be celebrating tonight.
Technorati Tags: England v Portugal, England, world cup, Sven Goran Eriksson, Martin O’Neil, Manchester United, football
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Kate
Mum, blogger and editor based in the north of England; interests include fog knitting, cat herding and jelly juggling. If you want to get in touch for any reason you can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn or drop me a line via the contact page on my portfolio. Alternatively, you can follow this blog via it's Facebook page, or subscribe to the feed.
Jack Yan
that ref was something else….the portugese got away with so much. Furthermore, although Rooney was a prat, i still haven’t heard exactly what what he got sent off for. It was all meant to be so different. Instead it was just the same. Injury to a key player, some pratt* gets sent off, backs to the wall heroics, other team cheating, cristiano ronaldo cheating ( and I’m a MANU fan), cristiano ronaldo existing, penalties and heartbreak. I’m still in too much shock and upset to do a post. Atleast Brazil are out. Am going for Germany now ( I used to live there and bear no ill will to them except when we play them, and then they are the romance team of the tournament in my view). Will do proper post tommorrow but If you feel like venting you know where to go. Pippa
It was not unlike having a Spaniard referee a French game, although on balance things went far better in France v. Brazil. Still yet to watch the England v. Portugal game properly as it was way too early for me (3 a.m. here).
De ja vous. Do you think that perhaps someone is paying for this as ‘entertainment’, in an underhand, slimy sort of way? Or perhaps it’s just groundhog day ;0(
Now that I have seen it, the refereeing was appalling. Rooney’s send-off, the hand-ball in Portugal’s penalty area, and at least one other yellow-card-worthy incident in the penalty area—all ignored by the ref. Based on previous matches, had this one been fair, I would say that it should have been England 1–0 without extra time. However, I am no fan of Germany, though the gf thinks they will win. I am inclined to agree, but we are both Francophiles, so I will sing ‘La Marseillaise’.
Pippa – the ref was shocking. Even worse than Dracula in the first game. Did you notice at one point Peter Crouch was reprimanded for a tackle in which the other plyer seemed to have hurt his hair. Seriously, he was stroking his hair as though it hurt LOL Then, he must have realised how stupid that looked, and started rubbing his ears. Oddly Crouch didn’t touch his head, he made contact with his shin.
Hi Jack
I agree, if all things had really been equal England would have won. My main gripe is with keeping Sven as the manager though, it would have made more sense if the FA had sent him on his way before the tournament.
I’m going to support France too, they are always my emergency back up team. I wouldn’t mind the Germans winning though, they play well, and have done a good job hosting the whole thing.
St. Jude – It was 1998 all over again, you could see what was going to happen from the moment Rooney went off.
Do you know, I do sometimes wonder if money changes hands. We seem to have so much bad luck, it doesn’t seem possible for it all to be coincidence.
I haven’t followed the ups and downs of Sven-Goran much, but I did notice he was complimentary toward the Swedes after England’s match with them—for obvious reasons. I guess the FA had a choice of whether to retain him or to risk a bit of a shake-up before the tournament, and erred on the side of caution—with hindsight it may have erred, period.
The Germans are marvellous hosts in anything, I have noticed: even when I stay with German friends, all I get is warmth. It’s part of the culture, though I have to say some of the tackles I have seen them do in this World Cup leaves something to be desired. I hope any misconduct is nipped in the bud early, but oftentimes it has not been with the Germans.
England had played well and it would have been nice to see an England v. Germany match. The Germans may well win, due largely to their stamina. They have such an amazing pace it is hard to see any of the semi-final nations’ players keeping up.
Italy for me now. Wife’s Italian. Not talking about England any more. Yes, they deserved to win. But they need to learn how to take penalties. And don’t get me started on Sven. It’s all there on my blog if you want to know.
Jack – Yes, the Germans are marvellous hosts. I had a great holiday there, years ago now, but I remember how nice the people were. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome, and had far more knowledge of English and England than we did of German and Germany.
*Asterisk – Grr Sven! He’s not popular in our house either. I’ll pop by and see what you have said about him – I’m miles behind with reading blogs at moment, slowly trying to catch up.
I slept on the couch in a German flat after meeting a German on a plane and she offered me a place to stay, to return a favour (I let her stay in my hotel room—and there were two beds, I must note) when in Singapore. Great people. Can’t get over their hospitality.
Jack – You’d never get that kind of trust from people in most parts of the world. Although, I have heard Americans can be like that too.
Not here though, I think most people would suggest a nice b&b.
I do know a few Americans who have let me stay with them, and here in New Zealand you would find that, too. When in the UK, I often stay with old college friends. There is even a site called Couchsurfing, I believe, where you can find people’s couches to crash on as you travel.
Jack – Couchsurfing, what a great idea. Not that we could ever take part, the poor visitor would wake up with the dogs sitting on them which could be a little offputting lol
You could put a warning on there: ‘May wake up with dog sitting on you’. But you are right; and you mightn’t get many takers.
LOL @ You could put a warning on there: ‘May wake up with dog sitting on you’
No, I don’t think we would get many takers for that, and the ones who did apply probably wouldn’t be the sort you would want to stay in your house.
We have only ever had two people sleep on our couch, my Mother and a friend of ours, both got the dog treatment at about 6am. Not the way you want to wake up, even if you happen to like dogs.
Familiar story about England. But, for more on the former England manager visit my blog.