World Cup blog: Withdrawal symptoms
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Only a few short weeks ago the idea of not having a football match to watch in the evening was fine. I would go out, maybe exercise, maybe meet some friends. But that was then. Things have changed. I need my footy fix. But tonight for the first time in weeks, I’ll have to do without.
That’s right, for the first time since South Africa and Mexico kicked off on 11 June, we’re without football for two days... Two whole days!
But not to fear football fans…the media will spend those two days analysing everything that has happened, could have happened and can still happen in this feast of football. And not to stray too far from the pack, here’s my contribution to our first World Cup football day with no actual football.
Let’s start with something familiar to us all shall we? Yes you guessed it… Fifa chief Sepp Blatter is back making headlines. Not happy with the fact that his failure to bring in goal line technology before the tournament tarnished two second round games, he has decided to step it up a notch by insulting whole continents.
Blatter told journalists that South Americans have a “higher national value” than the other World Cup nations and “play with more heart.” Probably not the brightest thing he’s ever said, lets hope it comes back to haunt him when he’s up for re-election.
Besides Blatter’s odd comments, something else has been perplexing me. Last night I watched Spain’s Fernando Torres stink the pitch up with his display and something dawned on me… none of the English Premiership’s superstars have shone at this year’s World Cup.
Perhaps with the exception of Argentina and Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, they’ve all been rubbish – Rooney, Torres, Drogba etc. Maybe it’s time for the Premiership to look into the possibility of playing fewer games.
So yesterday’s big winners were Paraguay and Spain. They join Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Ghana, Uruguay and the Netherlands in the final eight.
Eight teams left, eight matches left and then my friends we really are going cold turkey!
