occasional posts by risa aratyr
Uruguay brought on the team they wish had been fit and card-cleared for their match against Holland. The return of Lugano and Suárez to the starting line-up was particularly pleasing to the fans. Germany’s starting 11 was an altered squad. A couple of mainstays were under the weather, Klose had a back problem, Butt was … Read more WC Fields [3rd place] — Uruguay v Germany
After some weirdness in the Group stage — a close shave victory over the Black Stars and a surprising defeat to Serbia — Germany returned to the form they’d displayed against Australia and proceeded to clobber England and clobber Argentina. They expected to clobber Spain. A few days ago I posed the question, “How the … Read more WC Fields [semi] — Germany v Spain
GERMANY v ARGENTINA On paper? A not-to-be-missed match, end-to-end, neck-and-neck. On the pitch… Argentina got creamed. Germany won by a resounding 4 – 0 margin. The one and only question I had at the end of the 90 minutes was, “How the hell is anybody going to beat these guys?” Argentina’s pride was crushed as … Read more WC Fields [1/4 finals] — Day #2
These matches will be remembered not for their smoldering rivalry (Germany/ England) or fiery action (Argentina/ Mexico) on the playing field, but for their incendiary effect on the already-hot video technology controversy raging off the pitch. Down a goal in the 39th minute, Frank Lampard’s blistering shot from just outside the 18-yard box came off … Read more WC Fields [k.o.(s)] — Germany v England / Argentina v Mexico
What a weird game. They tried to market it as “Brother against Brother,” because of the 1/2-sibling relationship between Kevin Prince (Ghana) and Jerome (Germany) Boateng. But that wasn’t it at all. It was more like Ghana against themselves. FIFA has instituted simultaneous starts to these last group matches, with the intention of preventing teams … Read more WC Fields — Ghana v Germany