A Break In The Action!

Okay, fine readers, I'm finally NOT blogging about the World Cup.  It's not by choice....but because there are no games until Friday.  So until then, I will blog about my own little family!  Here's what we've been doing for the last couple weeks (BESIDES watching soccer)!!!   Well, I should say besides watching professional soccer.  Because as you can see, we've still been involved in A LOT of footie! :)

*Blake had his last rec soccer game.  His team came in 2nd in the tournament.  He will be moving on to travel soccer next year, as it is the next step in becoming a pro (and supporting his dear ol' mama)!  :)

*Lola kept herself entertained in her "club house."  Her "club house" is really just a chair turned upside down.  She likes it.  A lot.  She is also anxiously waiting for U of L football and basketball to start (as you can see by her outfit). 

*Blake went to kickball camp.  Yeah, that's right....kickball camp.  He LOVED it!  I don't have any photos to prove it so you'll just have to take my word on it! ;)
*Blake played in his first 3v3 soccer tournament of this year.  I also have no photos to prove that but it was hot and it lasted all day....and I was busy taking care of Lola while Billy coached the team!
*Blake went to British soccer camp.  He loved it last year (he even went to two last summer) so we decided to do it again!

So as you can see, we have been very busy!  I think I've also become British.  I've been listening to all the announcers during the World Cup.  I listened to Coach Chris at Blake's British soccer camp.  AND our GPS lady (who I have named Elizabeth) has an English accent.  So if I talk funny....it's not my fault.  I'm turning into Madonna and adopting a fake English accent!  Lovely.

Ole!

Today was fun!  Why?  Let me tell you (because you know I will anyway)!

1.  The Paraguay/Japan game went into extra time and then into a penalty shoot-out.  I've been waiting for that and finally got it!  Paraguay won!

2.  Billy wasn't angry watching the two games today.

3.  I got to see the SWEET socks Paraguay was wearing.  And because they won, I get to see them again!  WOO HOO!

4.  Spain won (even though I had Portugal in my bracket)!

5.  The goal keepers (two of them) were nice to look at!  See what I mean?

Iker Casillas of Spain

Justo Villar of Paraguay

6.  David Villa scoring again!  The Spain game was fast-paced, full of hot-tempered players, and fun!  So here is another look at Villa!

7.  The only thing I don't like about today is the fact that there will be NO MORE GAMES until Friday!  BOOOOOOO!!!!!

Enjoy your time without my World Cup blogs until then! ;)

Bonkers Over Brazil?!?

And when I say bonkers, I don't mean it in a good way.  Billy has gone mad!  He is so upset about England losing that he's decided the World Cup isn't all that important anymore.  Yeah.  It's frustrating.  So today, he fast forwarded through the first game (The Netherlands won 2-1).  Then he complained, complained, complained about Brazil.  It was driving me CRAZY!!!!!!

After Brazil went up 2-0, Billy fast forwarded the rest of that game.  That's good because I got tired of him yelling at the TV.  I tried to tell him the players can't hear him.  But he just kept on yelling.....trying to motivate the Chilean team.  Yeah......didn't work.  And to the Brazilian "divers,"  Billy is very mad at you!  Get up off the ground, silly floppers!

Anyway, my World Cup watching today was less than pleasant because of my bad-attitude Billy.  I guess in four years, maybe England will produce a team worthy of pleasing my honey!  Until then, I will start watching the games alone.  I might even deck myself out in German gear.  Yeah, Billy might be done with it.  But I'm just gettin' started!!!

Today's photos:

Dutch boy, Arjen Robben (I always think the announcers are saying, "Iron Robben").

A fond farewell to Chilean striker, Sanchez

And goodbye to Vittek (the penalty kick he took for Slovakia didn't save them).

And just because Billy loves them so much......sorry, hon, had to do it! :)

P.S. Billy just read this and then called me a jerk.  I guess my team photo of Brazil was NOT what he wanted to see! ;)

Bad Calls/England Falls

Sarah=happy.  Billy=sad, angry, depressed, and all things bad.  I have to say I LOVED the games today.  But I couldn't really celebrate.  While I was excited when Germany scored (and kept scoring), I couldn't really whoop it up.  Each time Germany scored, Billy was yelling, throwing pillows, and complaining about what the England team should have done better.  Yeah,  it was like that.  So I had to celebrate on the inside.

I agree England got ROBBED of the Lampard goal.  Of course it was hard for me to cheer totally against England.  I love most of the fellas on the team.  I just love the German team a wee bit more.  So at least I can agree (with the rest of the world) that England had a terribly unlucky call.  It could have changed the momentum of the game.  Alas, I think in the end, the result would have been the same.  The Germans were and are amazing!  But here is a photo of the TERRIBLE missed call:

Argentina was also impressive.  And they also had a controversial offside goal.  Even I (who still has trouble with the call) could see Tevez was offside.  Anyway, I don't think that would have made much of a difference either.  Argentina would still beat Mexico.  I think.

Soooooo......now Argentina must play Germany.  And I will be a nervous wreck.  Messi?  Tevez?  Those guys are super talented.  I can only hope Germany can outplay them!

On a side note, here is one of my favorite all-star German soccer players (from days of yore), Jurgen Klinsmann.  I think he looks just like Billy.  I've said this for many, many years.  I've had other people tell me that throughout the World Cup (when they see him announcing).  What do you guys think?

You see the resemblance, right?!?!?!  Just disregard Blake in the photo! ;)

One more look at Jurgen!

Germany's super star, Lukas Podolski (I had to throw in one picture of a good lookin' guy)!  That sounded bad.  I didn't mean Billy isn't good lookin'.  I was talking about how I post photos of soccer stars in every blog.  I promise!  Don't judge me!

Sad Day For Team USA!

Uruguay and Ghana moved on.  USA and South Korea did not.  Most of you know my World Cup teams of choice are England and Germany.  They play each other tomorrow.  SHOOT!  I will be sad when another team of mine loses.  I guess this one is inevitable.

The Uruguay game was quite exciting, I must say.  Of course I loved the anthem (still).  And I'm quite familiar with it now, as I've heard it four times!  I didn't think South Korea stood much of a chance.  Guess what?  I was right (of course).  HA!  But seriously.

USA.  Where to begin?  For those TRUE fans of this team, you have to be utterly disappointed.  How many  times can they concede a goal early and come back to win?  It had to get very frustrating.  As the announcers said at the beginning of the game, "They're playing like they're still sitting on the team bus."  Sadly, it was an accurate way to describe the situation.  Ghana showed up to play (at the beginning).  The United States players looked a little lackadaisical.

Ghana didn't impress me much in the second half (until they scored again and put the game away).  In fact, the vuvuzelas kinda lulled me to sleep.  I'm glad the games were entertaining today.  I can't wait for the matches tomorrow.  Until then I'll leave you with some more photos (you're welcome)!

Uruguay cutie, Diego Forlan

I know people may still be bitter but I love the uniform team Ghana wore today.  Show it (them) some love!

More Disappointment For Me!

First my Italians go out yesterday.  Then the Ivory Coast gets knocked out today.  Yeah, they won the game and scored 3 goals.  But it wasn't enough.  You see, because of that super exciting Portugal/N.Korea game, Ivory Coast would have needed to score NINE goals to advance.  I thought it was cool when Portugal scored 7 goals against N. Korea.  Now I don't love it so much.  Oh, and Portugal would have had to lose against Brazil, too.  But NINE goals?  That would have been amazing.  It didn't happen.  And Portugal didn't lose anyway.  I won't even talk about that game.  A 0-0 draw isn't worth my time! ;)

So farewell to my beloved striker, Didier Drogba.  The World Cup will not be as exciting for me now.  :(  Ya know, Blake is cheering for Spain and has been before this all began.  Maybe I'll jump on that bandwagon!  Spain looked okay to me today!  Check out this amazing goal by David Villa!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMr1gr9z9S8

Looking ahead:  USA plays tomorrow.  England plays Sunday.  If anyone reveals scores to me before I have watched them on the DVR, I will be very upset!  ;)  Just kidding.  But seriously......don't do it!

For now, goodbye to Didier.  Goodbye to the Toure brothers.  Goodbye to North Korea.  Goodbye Honduras.

P.S.  I also didn't talk about the Switzerland/Honduras game.  Why?  It was also a 0-0 draw.

Ivory Coast brothers, Kolo and Yaya Toure

Ciao Italia!

What can I say?  I can say that I kinda knew Italy wouldn't get very far.  I'm sad, though, because I was sure hoping they would pull it off.  So Italy is gone.  Coach Lippi should probably start looking for new work.  I find it odd that the 2006 finalists (France and Italy) are both out.  Early. 

Other teams moving on:  The Netherlands (hooray), Japan, and Paraguay.

The four teams not moving on:  Italy (tears), Cameroon (farewell awesome uniforms), New Zealand (bye bye Kiwis), and Denmark (Danes are OUT).

I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be the last time I get to see the Ivory Coast in the World Cup.  SAD!  For now, here are two players who were amazing today!

Fabio Quagliarella stepped it up for Italy, when the rest of the team didn't.

Robin Van Persie, of The Netherlands, scored today!

More Did Score!

USA...in the round of 16 by the skin of their teeth.  There's nothing like waiting until stoppage time to score the goal you need.  England will also advance!  I'm very excited!  The only bad thing?  England must now play Germany (who, obviously, also advanced).  I guess I will have to cheer for Germany while Billy roots for England.  :(

Other interesting facts about today's matches:

1.  Boateng vs. Boateng in the Germany/Ghana game;  half brothers who had to play each other.  It added a little spice.  I prefer brother Boateng who represented Germany.  I still have issues with Ghana's, Kevin Prince Boateng.  He just "happened" to injure Germany's mid fielder, Ballack, before the World Cup began.  Things that make you go hmmmmm........

2.  England switched things up a bit.  They wore red.  They played Defoe.  They won.

3.  Australia finally stepped it up.  They scored two goals.  Too (two) little, too late.

I'm loving this World Cup and can't wait for tomorrow!  The weekend will be even better!  On Saturday and Sunday we will get to see these guys!

Ghana's (punk), Boateng

England cutie, Frankie L (Frank Lampard)

USA's, Hercules Gomez (but he won't be with this random kid)

Germany's, Bastian Schweinsteiger (one of my all-time fav players)

Farewell To Four!

I'm tired.  You're tired.  We're probably all tired.  I watched all the games today.  I wasn't that impressed.  The French have been having some serious issues and weren't able to move on.  We bid you adieu.  South Africa, beloved host of this sensational World Cup, you will be missed, too.  They also didn't have enough to move on to the round of 16.  Now I will have to say Tshabalala for no reason! ;)  Love that guy (and his name)!

Who else will say goodbye?  Nigeria.  You could have made it (possibly).  Yakubu....you MISSED that goal?!?!  You can see it here:  http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Yakubu-automatically-wins-worst-miss-of-the-Worl?urn=sow,250521

We will also miss Greece.  Oh today is sad.  I have to watch the rest of the world cup without Tshabalala AND Sokratis Papastathopoulos.  What, oh WHAT, will I do?!?

This will be a short post because, as I said, I'm tired!  And you're probably bored!  Here is the French cutie who was red carded for throwing a high elbow in the game today:  Yoann Gourcuff, we will miss you!  Good luck with all the drama when team France returns home! ;)

The four teams to actually move on today:  Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and South Korea!  Congrats, fellas.  May the best team keep winning! :)

Raining Goals!

WOW!  How about that Portugal game, folks?  It was raining.  It was pouring.  And the floodgates were OPEN!  Portugal scored SEVEN goals against North Korea.  I felt pretty bad for their keeper.  But it was still super exciting to watch.  Finally, a team came to play.  And score.  A lot.  Even Ronaldo finally scored in international play.  I think he was getting frustrated until his turn finally came.  You can watch it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czrBijbjKUU.  Or you can just look at him!

Anyway, I think in that one game, just that one time, Portugal's keeper could have been thinking about love.  He could have been out on a date, for that matter.  His goal may have seen a few strikes but nothing he couldn't handle.  For the most part, I think he just stood around.  Daydreaming.  About love.

The second game was full of drama (but not as many goals).  Switzerland had a man sent off in the 30th minute.  It was the result of a straight red card which I'm not sure he deserved.  Surprise.  A bad call in the World Cup?  Anyway, tempers were hot and there were a lot of yellow cards.  A lot of little squabbles.  And a lot of people rolling around on the ground for WAY too long (babies).

The third game was a must-win for both teams.  Welp, I guess we know what that means:  one team isn't going to be very happy.  Spain scored early.  I have been waiting for David Villa to do something spectacular so I could include him in my photo blog.  At long last; today he scored....twice!  They were beauties.  Just like him! ;)  Then he missed his penalty kick and didn't get the hat trick.  Oops.  But he's still a cutie!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Viva Italia????????

What a day!  First, Paraguay won.  WOO HOO!  I predicted the 2-0 victory so that made me happy.  Then Italy drew against New Zealand.   That made me sad.  And apparently the whole world is shocked that the draw even happened.  I was upset, disappointed even.  But I wasn't as mad as if they had lost the game.  That would have been worse, right?  So I think the announcers need to RELAX a bit.  Sheesh.

Then, my beloved Ivory Coast (with soccer star, Didier Drogba) fell to the Brazilians.  I expected they would lose.  I'm sad to admit I didn't have enough faith for them to pull the upset.  But I was glad Didier scored a header.  I was mad when Brazil's, Fabiano, scored the second goal.  Why?  Because it was a blatant hand ball (TWICE) that wasn't called.  Would the Ivory Coast have won had they made the call?  Probably not.  But it's the principle of the matter.  The principle, people!  Brazil will move on to the round of 16 but will play their next game without Kaka (who was red carded near the end of the game)!

Hopefully my teams will do better tomorrow!  In the mean time, here are a few photos of the red carded star, Kaka!

Kaka....off the field!

Kaka on the field!

Media Mayhem!

Since most of the games today were boring, I wanted to focus on the scrutiny in the media!  All anyone (and by "anyone,"  I mean one particular writer on Yahoo) is talking about is how the ref cost the USA a World Cup victory.  A victory?  How could anyone know they would have won the whole thing?  That is the most preposterous presumption I have ever heard!  I agree that it was a bad call. I know that.  But how about the Clint Dempsey elbow thrown in the first ten seconds of the game?  That should have at least been a yellow card.

Anyway, there is more to the World Cup than arguing.  Or is there?  I'd like to argue that the USA debacle has trumped the Germany game's issues.  The USA did have a ton of bad calls but Germany got HOSED with all the yellow cards (and red card).  So yeah, media, why aren't you talkin' 'bout that?  Oh, because I don't live in Germany?  My German readers (Emily), please tell me the media over there is reporting about the TERRIBLE ref in the game yesterday!?!

And then I'd like to comment about the frustrations of other teams....like the French.  They are obviously distraught over their poor performances.  In fact, one player from the team (I actually do like), Nicolas Anelka, was sent home.  HOME.  Apparently he had a few negative things to say about his coach and he was sent packing.  Drama, drama, drama!

England is playing as poorly as I've ever seen.  I'm sure the media on the other side of the pond is criticizing their performances.  I am in shock that they might not advance out of this round.  Of all the World Cups.....

Oh well.  Today was a day that actually helped my bracket!  The Netherlands won (WOO HOO) 1-0.  I predicted the 1-1 draw (score and everything) between Australia and Ghana.  I loved the uniforms of team Cameroon.  Though they couldn't pull out the win (and are now eliminated), they sure looked stylish!

So You Had A Bad Day!

This was the WORST possible World Cup day!  First of all, Alberto Undiano (aka the worst referee on earth), handed out about 50 cards.  Is he sponsored by Hallmark?  I mean, seriously.  This guy is crazy.  He gave Klose two yellows (resulting in a red) for NO good reason.  Fouls?  Yes.  Yellow cards?  No.  So here's to you, crazy referee man.  You made Germany lose 1-0.  I'm so angry!!!!

Oh but you probably don't recognize him without these:

Then there was the second game.  The referee was equally as bad.  Granted, nobody got sent off because of excessive yellow cards.  But boy were there calls missed, bad calls made, and goals that should have counted.  Seriously.  It was a frustrating game.  And I'm not a huge fan of either teams.  But team USA sure got robbed.  Although they did well coming back to finish with a 2-2 draw.

And game 3?  The referee was okay.  But England needs to STEP UP!!!!  They can't get very far playing this way.  A 0-0 draw was not what I wanted or expected.  One good thing about the game?  Getting to see David Beckham on the sideline.  And for those of you who missed him, here he is again!