Bummer bummer bummer bummer. My teams lost. I don't much care that Brazil lost. It wasn't about the score so much as Brazil not being the Brazil of old. They didn't play to their potential. I said earlier that if Brazil didn't pick up their game compared to the first round, they wouldn't get very far. Well, they didn't pick up their game, and they paid the price. It wasn't just Ronaldo, though his slowness and random falling over didn't help anything. The whole team was limp. They didn't win because they didn't deserve to.
That's not to say that France was unworthy. Far from it. They played an excellent game. I'd gotten sick of hearing the commentators praise Zinedine Zidane, endlessly lamenting his imminent retirement. After the Brazil game, though, I can understand. The man was brilliant. The game's only goal was credited to Thierry Henry, but it was Zizou who made it happen. He ran the game like a general, constantly aware of the whole field, dropping passes with pinpoint precision, and using his magnificent footwork to dance out of tricky situations. Ribery and Vieira both had strong presences as well, but this was Zidane's game.
Portugal v. England was pretty close, as I expected, but Figo et al. sent the English packing. They were missing a couple of key players with yellow cards, so I expect they'll provide better competition against France. That will be a close game; I expect it will hinge on how much the French expended themselves in defeating Brazil.
The result of Italy v. Ukraine was no surprise, but the game itself was surprisingly exciting. I kind of wish I watched the whole thing, but I had more important priorities.
Which brings us to Argentina. That game was a heart-breaker. I knew it was going to be a tough one from the beginning, but it was even more tense than I had imagined. That it finished with penalty kicks left a real sour taste. Brazil didn't deserve to win, but Argentina did. Whether they deserved to win more than Germany is up for debate, but I do know why Argentina lost. It came down to one mistake by the Argentine goalkeeper. No, he didn't let the ball go by. Instead, he went out into a cluster of players when he should have stayed behind, getting a knee in the chest for his efforts (neither foul nor intentional, unless it was really subtle). Apparently, that hurts. A few minutes later, he left the game to be replaced by Argentina's #2 keeper. Germany's equalizing goal happened after that, and it's likely the first goalkeeper would have missed it as well. However, the game ended on penalty kicks, and that's where a better goalkeeper would have made a diffeerence. Furthermore, after replacing the goalkeeper, Argentina only had two subs remaining. This was important enough in regular time, but even more so during the two overtimes and the penalty kicks. I am firmly convinced that the knee to the goalie's chest is what tipped the game to Germany.
The final four are far less interesting than in 2002. Three of the four have already won World Cups, and all four are European. Compare that to 2002, when only Germany and Brazil were previous winners, and only Germany was from Europe proper (the other two were South Korea and Turkey). My order of preference is a perfect inverse to what I expect will actually happen. I most want Portugal to win, as they've never won before. My next choice is France, as I've enjoyed watching them play. Italy would be my third preference, with Germany coming in last. At this point, it looks like Germany will triumph, however. If Italy defeats them in their semi-final today, then I think Italy will win overall. France I expect to squeak out over Italy and then lose in the final, with the same result for Portugal if they win.
Overall, I'm a little disappointed in this World Cup. The Argentine loss and the lackluster Brazilian play sealed it. I'm looking forward to South Africa 2010, but four years is a long time to wait. Both the aforementioned teams will be able to bring back key players, but not all of them, and some of them will be into their thirties by then. Zinedine Zidane is proof that you can still play world-class soccer at 34, but he is the exception. That might be of benefit to Brazil, but I worry that Argentina may have lost their best chance for a time. Still, one can hope.