GOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!

So the quarter finals of the world cup are complete, setting up the semis. My thoughts....

- Though expected, it was a bit of a shame England went out to Portugal on penalties. I found myself cheering for them today not only because of my ongoing bets, but there's just something magnetic about their team. It's very reminiscent of Leafs nation, I imagine like an old flame you go back to time and time again - you're bound to be burned but there's something that brings you back! I was very close to going into shouts of "Eng-LUND!" during the match/work!

- THEY SHOCKED THE WORLD! The French did it again. Not a soul believed me when I said they could knock out the Samba boys of Brazil but they pulled it off in grand style. There was just something lacking with this Brazil team. Perhaps a case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. With all the talent in the world, it seemed they just didn't have the gelling that champion teams do. Don't get me wrong, they still are arguably the most talented team on the planet, they just seemed frustrated when unable to penetrate the remarkable French defense. I was always under the impression that the French WEREN'T frigid :P

- Zizou is back. Y'all must of forgot France '98 when Zinedine Zidane carried the French side in winning the Jules Rimmet trophy. While he's past his prime, he's like the Gretzky of football - when he needs to turn his game on he's there. Today being case in point!

- I was 2 for 4 in my picks for the quarters. To be fair to me though, both of my misses came out of matches that went to PENALTIES, where everything is a crapshoot!

- Why do teams send out defenders to take penalty kicks? Their job is to BLOCK the shots, not take them! Each and every one that's tried this world cup has missed miserably. From the ones I've seen (Ayala, Carragher, Simao), it's crystal clear at least to me that they are not comfortable in taking the kick. I think I had a 75% success rate at saying if the kick would go in or not and that's not because I have any ESP powers whatsoever, it's just simple body language!

It's times like this I wish Pakistan would be decent enough at football to make the world cup. Then people would actually listen when I spoke of their greatness at sport. (Their series against England starts with the first Test on the 13th FYI). Let's hope Zesh Rehman helps the PFF at least come close to making the 2010 tournament!!!!

Aii I'm half dead right now! After only 4 hours sleep I had to unexpectedly take the subway to work, which was on holiday timings. Then I ended up having to work near 11 hours (instead of the scheduled 8) as there was nobody scheduled to work till end of the game. Let's just say that Red Bull, Advil, and Caffeine kept me alive today! Talk to everyone later!