World Cup

Well, it hasn't been the best world cup for Australia (though it's up there in the top three...).

I went with some other Australian MIT students to Landsdowne Pub in Boston to watch the first game. The place was full of Australians, although we were next to a small group of Germans. There were plenty of cheers for the Socceroos, and some groans at anything people thought unfair. The main objection seemed to be to the referee missing an apparent German handball in their penalty area. While I don't think Australia ever looked like troubling Germany for the game, I felt that that call and the sending off of Cahill that followed soon after formed the tipping point between a respectable defeat and the annihilation that followed. The thing is, the mark of a team is how they take advantage of the ups and overcome the downs that soccer naturally throws in their path. For example, the US rode its luck to draw with England, but then believed in itself to score in injury time against Algeria and go through.

I tried to watch the second game in the lounge here at Sidney Pacific, but apparently we are in the middle of changing pay TV providers, so I was stuck with watching it online (I could have returned to the pub, but I'm not really a 10am pubgoer). I have to say Harry Kewell was not at all harshly dealt with being sent off: I think I would give a player a red card in that situation even if it was back at Cowra under 12's or something. In such a situation, either its a deliberate handball and he's denied a goal, so the law is clear, or it hit his arm accidentally and there is no offence. At this level, I'm inclined to believe that almost any advantageous handball is deliberate: players know where they should put their arms if they want the ball to hit or not hit them. I am surprised that he was the one on the goal line: unless there is someone particularly skilled at what is a rather awkward job, I think teams could do worse than putting their "most sendoffable" players there because, as a proportion of times the ball comes anywhere near them (which is seldom), hitting an arm would be rather common.

Today I took an early mark from my research to come home and watch the two games side by side. I never held out a great deal of hope, and thought the win over Serbia was something worth being proud of. It was enough to keep me watching instead of going for free ice cream from the Physics Graduate Student Council: I'll have to make sure I find Ognjen at some later time to revel in the Australian victory.

I've watched the last five minutes of many of the games, but I noticed last world cup that I lost interest once Australia was eliminated, even though I hadn't been watching them exclusively. Perhaps I've just had my fill of soccer for the moment. Although, it's not too late to jump on the All White bandwagon...