Fever for football

An idea of some of the Dutch fans...



Having to miss some matches unfortunately- have to finish reading a thesis before we go on vacation next week (in Germany, but without tickets...) Did see France-Switzerland and most of Brazil-Croatia.
France was frustrating to watch only because they have so many great players and can be so brilliant at times but just weren't. Zidane is still amazing but is just no longer quick enough to pose the threat he once did; he and Thierry Henry would set up an incredibly manouvered chance to score and there was no one to finish the play. 0-0. My notes say Zidane+Henry+nobody=sad.
Oh, and a terrible ref- the Russian- there were a dozen yellow cards when there should have been maybe four.
I missed hearing the national anthems of Brazil-Croatia but my top three so far are easily the 'Star Spangled Banner', 'La Marseillaise', and 'God save the Queen' (because we sing our own words- ha.). Of course it's cultural and about familiarity but alot of countries have sort of boring classical peices- that's no ANTHEM! 'Grab your weapons citizens' there are 'bombs bursting in air'! Don't worry if you can't 'Frustrate their knavish tricks'!
Can you match the line with the country and anthem?
Anyway, Brazil-Croatia promised to be more exciting and was, for the 50 minutes I watched. The Brazilians get chances in the first 10 minutes that other teams work an hour for; after a repelled attack they look completely at ease- they know it is one of many-
Plus how cool are you if everyone has only one name? The poor Croatians don't even have any vowels in half their names...
-Roberto Carlos has 2 strikes early and Kaka finally makes what will be the game winner minutes before the half. Strong start for Brasilia.

My brother Bill's kids put their time in on the pitch- here is Cole Maier (he's the taller one...) celebrating a goal earlier in the year. His team clinched first place in their Flight 1 Youth Soccer league on Sunday with a 1-0 win over 2nd place Chatham. The team has record of 7 wins 2 ties and zero losses through the sping season. There are 48 teams in the U-11 age group in Northern NJ.