Sean’s post with the pic of the Croatians in their pajamas triggered memories of the many spectacularly poor World Cup uniform choices the past 20+ years. Here are my (least) favorites.
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Live Blog
Cameroon v Holland Open Thread (+ Japan v Denmark lookins)
The Flying Dutchmen and the Indomitable Lions facing off right now! Open thread for comments, with Mr. Ganguli here in the second half to walk us through every pass.
[Update: Mr. Ganguli is here, but he most certainly will not be walking us through every pass. It’ll be more forest than trees..see below.
[2nd Update: Final scores:
Japan 3, Denmark 1
Netherlands 2, Cameroon 1
The Dutch finish 1st in the group & Japan advances in 2nd place, with the resulting Round of 16 matchups:
Netherlands v Slovakia (on 28-June)
Japan v Paraguay (on 29-June)
Group SummariesVideo
Group E Summary – Netherland/Denmark/Cameroon/Japan
Group E Fixtures, Results & Standings:
- Mon June 14 (Day 4): Netherlands 2, Denmark 0
- Mon June 14 (Day 4): Japan 1, Cameroon 0
- Sat June 19 (Day 9): Netherlands ?, Japan ?
- Sat June 19 (Day 9): Denmark ?, Cameroon ?
- Thurs June 24 (Day 14): Netherlands v Cameroon
- Thurs June 24 (Day 14): Japan v Denmark
Video highlights below.
Commentary
Digging Europe’s Dark Vision of Futbol: The Unsettling Language of UK Futbol Announcers
One of the best side benefits of World Cup soccer has been the chance to listen to non-American announcers cover the games. It’s not so much that the U.S. seems to have few legitimate broadcasters who can competently, unpretentiously offer their opinion, which is basically a true statement, no it’s more about the subtle nuances like terminology. Take the following examples:
1) “the smash and grab” – in the overwhelming cluster$#%k that was Switzerland’s goal against Spain the UK announcer repeatedly described it as a “smash and grab” goal. Likewise, Paraguay’s set play success against Italy received the same moniker. I swear no American announcer would ever imply both theft and violence in the purest of all things a world cup goal. No, our man would say the Swiss were “gritty”, “dogged” or “had a nose for the goal”. I’d say the “smash and grab” is all those things and more.