http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/ en Copyright 2007 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 14:20:43 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss OK, maybe that was an overly antagonistic headline. Sorry, Dan. Jon DeNunzio here, just creating a thread for those who want to comment on the Euro 2008 qualifiers today. Already a good day for England and Scotland, to name two. Bad day for the Ukraine. The match of the day, one would think, will be the Italy-France tilt at San Siro -- kickoff in less than an hour. I have no Gol TV access this afternoon, so I'll be relying on match tracker and any informed comments to follow that one. Click here for the silly Euro headline of the day. Reminds me of this song. Finally, anyone out there going to Euro 2008? Or have you bee nto a previous Euro tourney? I'd like to do that someday ... http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2007/09/not_watching_the_eagles.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2007/09/not_watching_the_eagles.html Sat, 08 Sep 2007 14:20:43 -0400 I got this email the other day. Man, this dude is easy to please. I think this guy had been busting my chops lately via email, then,. I go and drop a "penultimate" bomb in a Mark Brunell story the other day, and he's my biggest fan. If only I'd known sooner. Okay, so here's the email, verbatim: Mr. La Canfora, Perhaps about 2 weeks ago I wrote you about your mis-conjugation of the present perfect tense, thinking that maybe today's writers were more worried about the razzle dazzle storyline than the simplistic beauty of basic sentence structures. However, despite reading your work every day in the post, it was Sunday's "2 Minute Warning" article in which my opinion of you changed forever. In the 7th to last paragraph, when describing Mark Brunell's injury in the Giants game, you throw out what could be the greatest word of all http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/09/my_new_favorite_person.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/09/my_new_favorite_person.html Wed, 06 Sep 2006 16:00:00 -0400 My favorite quote of the season thus far came from rookie Rocky McIntosh Tuesday. He was asked that most innocuous of TV-ready questions, about his confidence level entering the season. He responded thusly, and with glee: "I'm way far from being a sissy." Okay, so it's something of a nonsequitor, and, trust me, no one was questioning the kid's manhood in any way. But that's football, eh? Got to love that response. That's a linebacker, boys and girls. Rocky has a good sense of humor and plays like a jackhammer. I'm still thinking we'll see him starting around Week 4. Mere hours later, Coach Gibbs regaled us with some chuckles about Fred Smoot's days here ("I love Smooter," he said at one point of the Vikings cornerback), then, while I asked him some questions about Buck Ortega (as per the inquiry by the loyal readers of this blog), he http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/09/quote_of_the_season_so_far.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/09/quote_of_the_season_so_far.html Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:16:00 -0400 Here's what Zizou said. Still no idea what Materazzi said. Also interesting: The France captain said he felt no regret for his act, "because that would mean (Materazzi) was right to say all that." http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/zidane_news_conference.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/zidane_news_conference.html France Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:56:10 -0400 Well, I can't let it drop just yet. Interesting news in the last 24 hours, and more to come shortly: - Klinsi steps down. Key graf: Klinsmann, whose contract expired on Sunday, has dismissed reports he received a lucrative offer to coach the United States and has said he has no interest in coaching another national team. - Lippi steps down. Key graf: He was recently linked with a move to Manchester United as a potential successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. But the Italian was quick to reject the speculation - citing his lack of English as his reason for not moving to the Premiership - and United also denied the rumours. - New FIFA rankings out (I know, I banned them from the blog. But they use a new formula now). What you need to know: 1. Brazil 2. Italy 3. Argentina 4. France .. 9. Germany .. 16. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/repercussions.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/repercussions.html FIFA Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:00:18 -0400 Ok, one more post. Enjoy this game. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/cant_resist.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/cant_resist.html France Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:12:37 -0400 ... it's all behind me. We started this blog on April 5, more than three months ago, and it'll be shutting down very soon. What else is there to say? Well, first, thank you. Thanks to: - The readers and the commenters. It was especially gratifying to see some people turn into regular commenters -- WOW, delantero, futebol fan, deanna come to mind, but I'm sure I'm forgetting others. Like K Moon -- what ever happened to him? http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/the_song_is_over.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/the_song_is_over.html Coverage in The Post Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:25:18 -0400 Well, we have a dramatic -- if not completely satisfying -- end to an entertaining 32 days of soccer. In extra time, France continued to play a better brand of football than Italy ... but then Zidane went out on that red card (holy cow). You have to think that, plus Henry getting subbed off, gave Italy a little better chance in PKs. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/championship_final_italy_1_fra.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/championship_final_italy_1_fra.html Game updates Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:49:13 -0400 Still 1-1. But France has definitely played better over large portions of the second half. Seems likely the winning goal will come from France's left side, which seems to get a guy free on attack after attack ... Italy, unless something changes, will have to hope for a counter-attack opportunity. How hurt is Zidane? They had a shot of him grimacing ... impressive that he's still out there. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/extra_time.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/extra_time.html Game updates Sun, 09 Jul 2006 15:53:02 -0400 It's halftime, and France and Italy are tied at 1. First goal came quickly (8th minute?) on a Zidane PK. Materazzi was called for fouling Malouda, and the call looks bad on replay. But in this observer's opinion, in real time, it was not a surprising call. Ref was behind the play and to the players' right (where he should be), and from that angle I think it probably looked worse than it did from various replay angles. Italy equalized about 10 minutes later on a Materazzi header off a corner. Italy had two more good headers off corners -- France has to work that out. Advantage in the play so far? Probably Italy, but just by a little. France has looked dangerous at times, esp. when they get the ball to Henry in the box. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/halftime_at_the_final.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/halftime_at_the_final.html Game updates Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:52:37 -0400 From: Jason I've tried to savor the final days of the World Cup with my friends in Berlin, all the while incredibly eager to return to my family back home. I knew Sunday would be a long, long day at the stadium here, so we saved our last all-nighter for Friday, making our way from West Berlin to Mitte and then on deeper to the East. Mortiz and his friend, Elisa, showed my buddy Don and I a great time, bouncing from café's to bars to finally a few early-to-mid morning drinks back at a friend's house. By the end of the night we felt like locals. We hit a spot in Mitte that featured German rock and dance tracks. It was in an old building and was so crammed with people and humidity that our glasses instantly fogged up upon arrival (no A/C). But it was great. It was http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/last_goodbye_from_berlin.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/last_goodbye_from_berlin.html Sun, 09 Jul 2006 10:00:53 -0400 The anthems we'll hear at about 2 pm ET Sunday: France Italy http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/to_get_your_blood_pumping.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/to_get_your_blood_pumping.html France Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:43:45 -0400 Ok, folks, last prediction of the blog ... who will win the final, and what will the final score be? (If you want to predict the third-place game, too, feel free. Did you see that our old friend MSOK is starting for Germany?) Another question -- if I do live updates during the final, will you all be there to read 'em? I seek guidance here. My prediction: Italy wins, 1-0. Luca Toni scores, and Buffon keeps making great saves. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/italyfrance_who_ya_got.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/italyfrance_who_ya_got.html Italy Fri, 07 Jul 2006 13:16:41 -0400 From: Jason I actually failed to represent the USA well on the nightlife circuit Thursday, and crashed pretty early. I think the night trains caught up to me, and it was too hot to take a nap Thursday afternoon - air conditioning is a rare pleasure around here - so by 10 pm I was fried. Didn't even see my boy Moritz across the street for a pop or two. Guess this really is starting to wind down, so I figured it might be a good time to rewind and recall the memorable and not so memorable from five weeks in Germany. Best Fans: Germans, and not just because they've given me the most free beer. Positive, energetic and focused, without being intimidating. Worst Fans: The unruly mobs of English idiots ruin it for everyone else and give their country a bad name. Best Stadium: I have to give it http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/best_and_worst_time_to_put_the.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/best_and_worst_time_to_put_the.html Fri, 07 Jul 2006 11:21:30 -0400 We're working on an all-World Cup team for publication over the weekend. Here are some nominees by position. Who would you pick as your best XI? GK: Buffon, Lehmann D: Cannavaro, Grosso, Lahm, Marquez, Thuram, Zambrotta MF: Ballack, Essien, Frings, Pirlo, Ribery, Maniche, Maxi Rodriguez, Riquelme, Cristiano Ronaldo, Vieira, Zidane F: Henry, Klose, Robben, Ronaldo http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/alltournament_team.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldcup/2006/07/alltournament_team.html Coverage in The Post Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:34:40 -0400