With the games now kicking off at a more reasonable hour of the day, I decided to watch this one in the pub, purely for the atmosphere you must understand, and it was one of my better decisions of late. Plenty of banter, a good looking woman or two and more than the occasional drop of the amber nectar. Oh aye, and before I forget, it wasn`t a bad game either...and the right team won!!!
Our pre-match debate was all about how we wanted the game to pan out and the general consensus of opinion was that an early Turkish goal would noise up the Brazilians and force them to produce all their party pieces. Of course, it didn`t work out that way but both sides produced some classy stuff and this was clearly the better of the two semi-finals and it was fitting that a touch of class from Ronaldo, my player of the tournament, won the match early in the second half.
I have to admit to having some sympathy for Turkish goalkeeper Rustu. He has been excellent throughout the competition and made several excellent saves in this game but Ronaldo caught him napping with a cute toe poke and he couldn`t get down to it. I just hope the more temperamental Turks don`t feel inclined to string him up from the nearest lamp-post. If it hadn`t been for him, they are unlikely to have got to the semis.
And I also felt it for Tugay. While I have been right behind Brazil from the start, I like to see the wee man doing well and I`m glad he had a good World Cup, as did Rino Gattuso and Claudio Reyna. Rino will be haunted by his extra-time miss against South Korea but he did enough for me to question the wisdom of his departure from The Brox and Claudio, while initially looking less than one hundred per cent fit, got better as the tournament wore on. Tugay, Reyna and Gattuso, not a bad midfield trio at all, and if you add Big Jorg and Van B to the list it makes you wonder if Tricky Dicky had something against midfield players. Maybe he felt Young Baz could do it all himself.
So despite all the shocks and much talk of football`s pecking order changing, it is two of the established powers who will contest Sunday`s final. I find it quite amazing that, given the domination Brazil and Germany have exerted over world football through the years, this will be their first ever World Cup meeting. With all the recent obsession with conspiracy theories, maybe this one needs looking into. Have there been a few round balls and square balls in the bag when World Cup draws have been made? I think we should be told!!!
Never mind, it promises to be a fascinating final and I just hope both sides go for it, producing a classic to bring the curtain down on a very good World Cup. The Germans will, of course, miss the suspended Ballack and, with Jeremies the likely replacement, they might be tempted to adopt an over-phzsical approach. But as they proved against England, Brazil can look after themselves so any attempt to mix it could backfire on Rudi Voller`s team. Their best hope is to play an attacking game and hope they catch Brazil on an off day. As I`ve said in previous diary entries, Brazil are not too strong defnsively and any side with the bottle to go at them might just get lucky.
But first things first, and I`ve got Saturday`s third-fourth place play-off to look forward to. These games often tend to be anti-climaxes, with both teams feeling down in the dumps for losing their semis, but South Korea and Turkey have enjoyed success beyond their wildest dreams and might just look to bow out with a bit of a bang. It would be great to see them continue with their fearless approaches to show that they intend to build on what they have achieved over the past month or so.
As wall to wall fitba draws to a close, I´ll miss all these shifts in front of the old PC. Or maybe I won´t. With the new season looming up on the horizon and the Teddy Bears back in training, the Grandmaster might want to keep me busy. Time for a commercial break...look out for Little Boy Blue`s New York Diary!!!
LITTLE BOY BLUE