…and, in a single day, two of the teams I was pulling for are out of the running.
European readers will have to understand — for the American fan, we’re just not used to being able to root for our own country in the World Cup, and so we usually fall back on supporting the nations of our ancestry. So for me, this year, I had hopes for not only the US, but the Czechs and the English as well.
After today’s matches though (Italy 2-0 over the Czech Republic and Ghana 2-1 over the US), the only team I have left is England.
Who play Ecuador next.
At least you are open minded enough to have choices and that only increases your odds. :)
I have been conditioned from an early age to only cheer for Italy.
~Marisa
To be fair, only one of your two teams could have made it today. Group E was a very exciting one with lots of room for change with the third game.
A couple of the Groups had basically “dead” matches for their third games, having already cinched their position in the next round or played themselves out of contention.
I thought the US/Italy match was good (although a little violent), but despite some serious possession of the ball speaking for the Americans it was a telling mark against the US that their only goal was scored by an Italian player.
I’ve still got my Germans. When I played in high school, we didn’t actually have a school team, so the closest thing to it was a squad sponsored by the school’s German Club.
I’ve also got the Italians, by marriage.
I was rooting for the Czech Republic this time round. I felt they had a very good team and it’s a shame to see them leave the competition in the opening phase.
The England – Ecuador match is going to be tough but I think (re: hope) that England will actually scrape by and get into the Quarter Finals.
Out of all the teams I’ve seen so far in the competition I think Argentina is the country best placed to win this year.
One of my best friends is there now, having submitted her name to the ticket lottery. I am sure the rundown will prove exciting. It was interesting being on line at the bank and seeing thatthey had World Cup coverage, En Espanol playing on the TV for the waiting patrons.
As with baseball and any other sport, i don’t root for a particular team as much as enjoy watching sports in general (though I have no time right now)
Anyway, i hope the results turn out as you hope them to. :)
We should beat Ecuador (I say should but supporting English football, actually English sport in general, consists of regularly watching in disbelief as our national teams win against teams they should lose to, and lose horribly to teams we should beat). After that i’ve got my doubts. Owen out etc. etc.