My World Cup coverage is on the wane and tomorrow will probably dry up completely as all my time will be spent either watching soccer or at work. No time for noodling online. Well, maybe I can come up with a soccer haiku each evening.
Lots of great looking teams today from a wide variety of countries. Way to go guys.
Netherlands v. Serbia-Montenegro played first at the fun hour of 6am (local). I dozed lightly from my perch on the couch. Netherlands is another one of my favorite teams so I had to wake up quick. It didn't take long. Minute 18 the Orange Crush scored and eventually got the win. Extra points for having the cutest coach.
I meant to mention this Friday but the Polish coach looks pretty tight in his upper body. I have an easy exercise he could do to get those shoulders opened up.
Take a belt or strap and hold it in each hand, above your head, wider than shoulder width.
Start with your left hand and very gently pull to the side and slightly back while your right arm raises straight up. Take your time, work with your breath and try to get some movement in your shoulder blades.
Slowly go back to the starting position and repeat to the other side. The strap should stay taut through the exercise.
Someone has some photos of other good shoulder openers to try.
I don't know if I've seen Serbia-M play before but I felt bad for the unfortunately named Dejan Stankovic.
The next game was Mexico v. Iran. Mexico is one of my favorite teams, except when they play the US, and one of the great things about them is in addition to playing exciting football, they have fantastic hair. Remember Luis Hernandez? (Sorry this doesn't actually link to a picture. Lame. It took too long to find one.) Look at these guys. I think this is the first team I've seen that didn't have bald guys. Bald is in this tournament. And I'm not complaining, I like bald, too.
My favorite hair on this Mexico team: Torrado (midfield). Is he related to that girl from Dazed and Confused?
I don't think I've ever seen Iran play. I missed their win against the US in 98 and I know nothing about the team and I was surprised what a fun game it turned out to be. And I think Omar Bravo (Forward, Mexico) should change his name to O Bravo like it says on his shirt for all the time. What a great name. Instead of saying "Hey Omar" his friends would say "Hey O Bravo." It sounds so much better.
Finally we have the Portugal v. Angola game. Portugal is another one of my favorite teams and Angola is another team that I know nothing about. Portugal got the win but they weren't as exciting as I would have liked. I think Christiano Ronaldo needs to wipe that pout off his face. He looked like a spoiled child. I enjoyed watching Angola. I can't believe how fast some of these guys are.
Watching the games you see all these guys hit the ground after jumping, after colliding with other players, after taking a long run. When was the last time you fell down? Can you imagine doing it for 90 minutes?
The best player name of the day is Jamba (Defender, Angola).
And the most bizarre hair award goes to Loco (Defender, Angola). It was like an extreme bastardization of a reverse mullet (short in back, long in front). Like a bangs reverse mullet. Or maybe an extreme Corddry.
That's it for today's coverage. Enjoy the upcoming games.
