World Cup'06

Sure, it isn't as exciting as Italia 90, nor does it have the pinache of being so close to home as it was when the U.S. hosted it. Alas, it is here, and I am loving it.

I was sitting there watching the game with my daughter. Yes she is only 5 weeks old, but she already understands the nuances of the game. I was showing her how to take space when it is given, how to make diaganol runs, to know that ther eis going to always be "garbage" on every shot to the net or on every free kick. She gets it. I can tell. She is inherently a soccer player. She gets it from her dad. She was annoyed with Sweden when they weren't doing all the small things. She was excited to see Portugal make those nifty little passes. However she wasn't pleased with their finish. She was also taken aback by the lack of interest shown by the English.


Bless her soul. She gets it. She coos when she sees something she likes, and she likes the flashy brilliance of the Latin American teams, and she cries when she sees the lack lustre play of the Germans. It is great. She is going to learn from someone who knows there stuff, I am going to show her how to anticipate, how to see 5 passes ahead of the game. Soccer is like chess. There is a flow to the game that has a natural progression, and when you are in tune to it, you can anticipate it. Figo, Maradonna, Pele all had or have the intuition. Elayne will have the intuition.

Anyhow. I am going to make a bold statement. Mexico will shock the world and go a long ways. Australia could make the upset and go to the next round. England will stutter, the Germans will putter, and Portugal or the Czechs are going to win this thing. GO PORTUGAL!