So here we are, then

[frangipani]

#WorldCup referees assert: Hand of God belongs only to God.
-- FromaLeftWing, during Serbia v Ghana

I was going to post this after the last of tonight's matches but I have to be up and about early in the morning, so: How's the World Cup treating you (and your team) so far? What say you about the refereeing? Any surprises? Have you got your eye on a particular player?

And on that note, I updated the welcome post to spell out football's spoiler policies. Apologies, I should have done this earlier.

If you follow football writing, have there been pieces worth reading? I don't know about you, but it's been absolutely fascinating following (English-language) media and blogosphere narratives on the World Cup so far: the hand-wringing over the initial rash of draws, the moaning over the "dullness" of group stages matches with the exception of Germany v Australia (clearly they were not watching Korea Republic v Greece), etc etc. I've also been following news of the workers' protest, though updates have slowed down.

Three illuminating and interesting pieces recently read:

World Cup 2010: Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and South Africa - my boys

From Johannesburg, lesbian footballers chosen to play, choosing to live

What if the women's NTs played in place of the men?

Comments

[ellia]

the moaning over the "dullness" of group stages matches

I did this a little in my posts, and i suppose it was a bit unfair. It's not that all the matches have been boring, but more that some of the teams haven't lived up to their expectations. There was so much buzz before the tournament about how good the players are, and how beautiful and creative the football was going to be, and they haven't all lived up to the hype.

As much as it pains me to say it, Germany really are the only team who looked truly spectacular so far, though Italy were pretty good tonight despite the appalling conditions.

As for my team, well England didn't exactly get the start they were hoping for, and it was a bit of a blow to get confirmation that Ledley King's going to be out for three weeks.

I love that article you linked about the Chosen Few team, it's a wonderful and fascinating piece of writing.

[shiny_crystal]

Hmm, I admit I haven't been thrilled about most of the games so far. I hold initial excitement and a getting-used-to-conditions period responsible.

Germany were spectacular (ok, people might think I say this only because I'm German, but Germans tend to be very pessimistic about our team's performance even if they win). I liked Korea Republic as well, actually! Italy, hm, now there's a 4-year-old old grudge kicking in and they had bad conditions, so I'm reserving judgement on them. Looking forward to Spain (and Portugal and Brazil and ...)

[feuervogel]

I need a new icon for 2010; where'd you get yours?

[shiny_crystal]

That is actually my old icon *coughs* It's by heavyheaded, at any rate :)

[feuervogel]

Heh. My icon doesn't feature anyone currently on the team, though ^^;

I suppose I could do like last time and pick a game photo & crop it...