World Cup Catch Up

So much has happened in the last week, so let's get a rundown.

In the World Cup, we have moved on to the knockout round of 16, with many of these games already complete. Team USA has gone down in history as the most hyped World Cup team in the USA, but we will not see any more of the new countrywide heroes. Landon Donovan's heart-stopping (as well as game-stopping) goal in additional time will go down in everyone's personal history book as a "where was I when that happened?" moment. As for me, I was in a golf clubhouse. Of course, by now I am hooked on World Cup, and so I cancelled everything to watch the next match versus Ghana. The result: the USA lost, and I was sheathed in sweat and on my knees on the floor. However, they sure impressed me, and in 2014 I will be nowhere else when the USA plays but glued to the screen. Meanwhile, Germany squished the pompous English team, not to my surprise. The English think they are much better than they really are, and my hat is off to Germany for showing the world. Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay are on to the quarterfinals in a South American dominated field. The Netherlands have impressed me the most, and they are my dark horse to win, and coincidentally who I am cheering for to win.

Unfortunately for the world, England has something to blame their loss on to cover up their embarrassment. A goal was not seen by referees who were out of position, which would have tied the game 2-2. Instead, the English ended up getting slaughtered 4-1. A missed offsides call by the referees in the Argentina-Mexico game that would have disallowed the first Argentinean goal resulted in a confrontation between sides in the next match. This got everyone into a "we need replay" frenzy, which I was a part of. So, FIFA responded by saying that they just won't show controversial calls on stadium jumbotrons. What a bunch of idiots. They are too lazy to really do anything, and they'll just cover it up instead of making it right. Sounds like the police in a mafia movie to me. Install goal-line replay and get with the millennium. By the way, an interesting point: no hoop-la was made to install replay into soccer when the USA was cheated out of TWO goals in TWO games. And then, suddenly, when the English were on the short end of the stick, the news has been all over it like Tiger Woods on his women.

Do all the international countries hate us that much?