Now that the possibility of England winning the World Cup has gone away, the tournament is there to be enjoyed in all its glory. Both of today's quarter-finals promise much, with the passion of the South Koreans, the class of the Spaniards and the Turks and the magical unknown quantity of Senegal. Time to crack open a bottle of Bud and enjoy the action.
A few days ago I referred to Iker Casillas as the luckiest goalkeeper in the world. SOUTH KOREA have to be the luckiest team in the world. SPAIN totally outclassed them in the first half but, hindered by a flag happy linesman, they could not convert their superiority into goals. A Morientes header brought a brilliant save out of Lee Woon Jae but, with several iffy offside decisions halting the Spaniards in their tracks, I began to contemplate a conspiracy theory or two. And before you ask, NO! I'm not a closet Charlie Sim.
The disallowing of a Spanish goal in the second half certainly did nothing to ease my suspicions and, as Korea came more into the game, I just knew they would win it, no matter what Spain did. In fairness to the Koreans, they did create a few good chances and Casillas did particularly well to block a shot from Park Ji Sung and to smother a last minute effort from Lee Chun Soo. But as the game moved into extra-time and the possibility of a golden goal, there was no way the hosts were going to go out.
Any doubts I had about the outcome evaporated when a Morientes header was disallowed early in extra-time. The linesman ruled that the ball had gone out before Joachim cut it back but the action replay showed it was clearly in and, when a Morientes shot hit the post a few moments later, I had a more than sneaking notion that it would not be Spain's day. Throughout the group stages and against Italy in the second round, Korea enjoyed a better than average rub of the green and it continued today.
Penalty kick shoot-outs are all about nerve and, with the crowd baying for Spanish blood, the Spaniards were always likely to crack first. In the end it was Joachin who missed, although I have to say if the keeper had been any closer to him he could have taken the ball off his toe. A retake? Don't be silly! Then up stepped skipper Hong Yung Bo to do the business and Korea can now look forward to facing Germany on Tuesday. Carrying so much luck, it is hard to bet against the Koreans but, if they get past the Germans, they might just have a wee problem. The Final is in Japan!!!
I sympathised with the Spanish players who seemed to want to put some pressure on the linesman's windpipe. They were robbed! For years Spain have let thermselves down on the big stage but this team looked capable of going all the way so it must have been especially hard to take. A Spain v Brazil final would have been a real treat and the Spaniards looked like the one team who might make life difficult for those boys from Brazil. But it is not to be and, yet again, the Spanish are left to ponder over what might have been.
Meanwhile, back in TVland their has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over England's 'gallant' exit and, checking out the FF Messageboard, I note that some Bears do not share my enthusiasm for the departure of Sven and his not so merry men. Let me explain myself here. I am not anti-English and have no barmy Tartan Army axe to grind. If this had been the England team of Woods, Stevens, Butcher etc. I would have been right behind them, noising up my Shettleston Harrier neighbours with a tune or two. But this is a look-at-us-we-are-so-superior England team and the bragging of their media men just makes me cringe. Taking Eire out of the equation, I now look upon England as the Sellick of international football and, having had 1966 rammed down my throat for yonks, I simply couldn't stomach an updated version of their crawing. England winning the World Cup again would be similar to the Manky Mob winning the European Cup again. I rest my case.
I really fancied the TURKEY V SENEGAL game and would have bet my last shekel on it being a goalfest. Oops! I blame the Turks, especially Hakan Sukur. An early goal would have opened up the game and he certainly had more than his fair share of chances. At times his first touch reminded me of a certain Norwegian gentleman who plies his trade at Ibrox. Go on Tore, prove me wrong!!! Turkey certainly looked by far the better side but, the longer the game went on, the more and more it had a 0-0 draw written all over it.
Senegal, having been like a breath of fresh air, suddenly seemed to realise how close they were to the big party and showed a cautious side which had been pleasingly absent from their earlier performances. I reckon their sights were set on holding out for penalties, then hoping they'd get lucky. Thankfully, it didn't come to that. Three minutes into extra-time, Davala knocked the ball into the middle and substitute Ilhan Mansiz finshed it off so now we have a Brazil v Turkey rematch on Wednesday. And having been a wee bit unlucky to lose to the Brazilians in their opening game, the Turks might just fancy their chances.
With no games on Sunday and Monday, I'm going to be suffering withdrawal symptoms. I've grown quite used to early morning fitba. But don't tell anyone I said so...or the Sky boys might just have us heading for places like Pittodrie in the middle of the night.
LITTLE BOY BLUE