Greener on the other side

In India, football isn't overcooked. My colleagues at work are hardly aware of the going-ons. Few of my good friends and especially my brother are keen followers though. This is a particularly interesting stage in the World Cup and after a while, the somewhat sad feeling of it coming to an end will take over. But for now, there is a lot to look forward to. Commonplace as it may be, the game stirs up so much emotion and a kind of childish desire to support one team over another.

Though I had been making fun of the way England had begun the tournament, it was very sad to see them lose the way they did. Historically Germans, brilliant as they are have shown an apparent lack of emotion in their style. Not so much England though. I think Lampard's "missed" goal changed the tempo of the English side from which they failed to recover. Here's what Chris Jones has to say about it, and I quite agree.

"It will be there for Capello to use to try to save his job; his porous defense, especially a woeful John Terry and David James, will use it to distract from their poor performances; the English media will use it to escape their having to give Germany full credit for its domination.

That's why I'm looking to smash some glass tonight.

In a game with five goals, it will be the one that wasn't that will forever loom the largest. The right team won, but people will always believe it did for the wrong reasons. The stain from today will remain for days, for weeks, for 44 more years (refering to the 1966 4-2 win and the controversial goal that went in England's favour).

And a game that I wanted to remember forever I won't be able to forget."


Silly as it may sound, supporting someone and then seeing them lose can be very difficult. I felt similarly when the spirited American team lost, albeit against a good Ghanaian team. I can only imagine how it might feel if it's your own country. At the moment, I'm beginning to like Argentina despite their dependency on Messi. Hoping to see the good football continue.

I slept midway through the Brazil Vs Chile match last night and from what I hear, I missed some good football. But Spain Vs Portugal tonight should keep me awake.