ich bin ein auslander

England proves the US are now a world class team by playing the same damn way the US does… getting ahead and choking! Oh well… my predications are coming true. Cheers to Mike, Lisa, Heather and Eliot (and Dave and Jason for long distance participation) for making it through the first game. Looks like it’s only me that will be hitting Wendy up for the blueberry pancakes during the US / germany match.

Oh, it’s all very exciting… got ESPN on, wearing my English training jersey on(Wendy’s in her Prague team jersey), pouring out my first pint of Boddington’s and keeping a close eye on the Cheez-Its…

It’s almost England v Brazil time, and I’ve got Jason the futbol virgin on IM for his first game, Dave’s blog open for the now traditional GOOOOL postings, and the more local hermits are starting to show up at the door… the phones are free for jubilant calls from Karl in London if Beckham bangs one in the net, tearful ones when Renaldo returns the favor…

Nice to have a few days off… get back into a regular sleeping pattern. Well, I’m rested and ready for tomorrow and the start of the Quarterfinals. Cheers to Korea for knocking off Italy, leaving only two of the traditional greats, Brazil and Germany. England fans are probably a bit pissed at me, but it’s been awhile since you guys have won, so shuddap and have another pint.

So, first up tomorrow we have Brazil v England. Brazil’s my pick to take the whole Cup, but they’re going to have a hell of a battle tomorrow. If England can hold Brazil’s offense they could just win… England’s front line should be able to pick through Brazil for a goal or two, it all depends on how many Brazil score.

Then, at a lovely 4am, we’ve got Germany v USA. Sorry, going to have to go with Germany on this one. The USA played an amazing game against Mexico, their game has reached a new level, but they still aren’t consistent. It’s going to be a few more Cups before we see the US in a final.

Friday evening will bring in the Senegal v Turkey game… my pick there is Senegal. They’re playing great and Turkey is just too damn boring to go any further. Sorry guys, spice up the game a bit. The final quarterfinal match is Korea v Spain… on paper, Spain should win this, but the Koreans have been relentless in wearing down other teams, and the 50,000 screaming Korean fans in the stadium will be a serious factor.

So I’m seeing Brazil v Senegal and Spain v Germany in the semis, but secretly hoping for England v Senegal and Korea v Germany… an England v Germany final would just rock my futbol world.

I had a mole removed from my arm when I was like 15, or whatever… and ever since then, I’ll have a mutant white hair that grows out of that exact spot completely randomly, like every 5 months or so. This never really bothered me but now I get freaked out when I see the white hair and feel really old.

I have no idea why I’m sharing this.