< I give up (cursing Italy) - not a promise though >

Germany v Italy
Half-time thoughts:
With the limited chances created at either end, it’s probably supposed to be more boring than anything. Yet… I actually find it a very intriguing encounter. It’s like watching all these tactical play come into action…

For some reason, I’ve always felt Italy has the most well-balanced team. Yeah, you know, teams with a solid defence (think Chelsea and Liverpool…) tend to do well… And in this case, Italy has that, but also boasts pretty good strikers. Only problem for them is, their strikers, though having good reputations, haven’t exactly scored much. Well, not like the German strikers anyway. Still, you can never rule out the Italians’ attack, especially since they can be pretty quick and precise on the counter.

The Germans have been doing pretty much okay themselves, but look seriously suffocated of space because the Italians are just converging on them in numbers. They have been doing okay considering the limited space they have… but it’s definitely harder to create the chances against the Italians. They probably created that one real golden chance, which Schneider blasted his shot over the bar from a few yards out but at an angle… Hope he doesn’t get to rue that golden opportunity, because it’s not easy to create that sort of chances against this side…

I do worry for Germany’s defence sometimes. They are coping with stopping the Italians on the break, but seem to be conceding too many freekicks and corners around the box.

Alright, although the ideal timing for Germany to score the winner would be in the last minute of injury time, I seriously won’t mind if they knock the Italians out earlier. Everytime I see that Grosso’s face, I feel an overwhelming urge to hurl something at the TV you know…

End of normal time:
I’m falling asleep…
No, it’s nothing to do with the match..
I’m just tired..

5.27am:
SHIT!
BLOODY HELL.
I WAS SLEEPING WHEN I HEARD THE COMMENTATOR SHOUT. AND OF ALL PEOPLE. .

CRY!!!!!!!
ITALY GO DIE!!!!!!!
Can’t believe they’re so lucky…
And that Grosso guy, why he so lucky???
Oh. Game over. Poor German fans. It’s ok…
Ouch man. I feel for the German fans. ARGHHHH!!! I know how it feels! Damn it!
Seeing that German girl cry reminded me of myself a few weeks ago...

Sigh.
Yes, I can’t believe it. I can’t, can’t believe it. I’m not so incredulous as to can’t believing that Italy can win. I just can’t believe lightning can strike twice, and this time, maybe more painfully because this time, it was much later… and I also can’t believe that THAT horrible twat, of all people, was the one who scored. I have been preaching about how eventually all these teams should get what they deserve, and I’m convinced like hell that Grosso should be getting retribution and not becoming some Italian hero. Yeah, I know I’m not God, but I just can’t help feeling sick whenever I see this Gross guy okay?

HELL.
I’m feeling a little violent.

ARGHHHH!!!!!! FORGET IT!!!! I GIVE UP!!!!!
ITALY YOU CAN GO WIN YOUR WORLD CUP NOW. I GIVE UP.
Really, they might as well have had their names carved on it now. When lightning struck once, I thought they’d get their retribution sooner or later. But when lightning stuck twice, and harder this time, I have nothing to say, except that I got it wrong.

Yeah, Italian fans can rub it in my face for all they like. I’m giving up. This World Cup is just so pointless now.

Sigh. Seeing the highlights now. Bloody hell, Germany could have had a penalty… ARGHHH, never mind, forget it. As I said, I’m just left feeling sick to the stomach, but what the heck can I do?

I’ll be cheering on France next. I’m going closer and closer to the brink with every step. I don’t even like France for goodness sake. ARGHHH. But what to do? Among all the semi-finalists, it was like Germany first, then France, then Italy, and lastly Portugal for me. And I was like, NO WAY MUST ITALY OR PORTUGAL WIN, because they’re the biggest cheaters and divers here. CRAP. DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN ITTTTT!!!!!!

I know I must sound like some crazy idiot, always saying Italy is actually a very good team, but I still hate to see them win. Eh, even though Chelsea is a good team, none of us like seeing them win either, right? Grrr. Only difference is I wouldn’t have hated Italy if they never brought it upon themselves. I like Cannavaro and Gilardino… (especially Cannavaro) and I still do… but I HATE DIVERS!!!!! Sigh.

Watching the interview with Klinsmann now. I think I like him… I wish I can be more like him actually. He was so calm and diplomatic about everything. (praised his team, but gave a “bigger compliment” to Italy… and even wished them luck) And he spoke much better English than the reporter too. Hahaha. I don’t know why the reporter’s English reminded me of some Singaporean who can’t speak properly… like my parents or something. Hahaha. Oops.

Sigh.. I do wish I’m not so bitter and unforgiving these days. It’s like, I’m bent on seeing them getting their retribution before I’m ready to forgive anyone you know? It’s hard to just forget about it, when the pain of seeing my Socceroos eliminated the way they were is still there like it just happened seconds ago.

Italy… you can see them in different light I suppose. As I said, I do think they have the most well-balanced team, and definitely would have deserved to go all the way… the thing is though, I can’t understand why they still feel the need to dive, to cheat in the process. They’re good, minus the playacting part, they’re still good, so why must they taint our beautiful sport? I can’t speak much for this game, since I was asleep for parts of it… but in the Australia game, could they not have won it if we had gotten to extra-time? Why did they want to do what they did in the 93rd minute? Even losing on penalties (not the controversial one) would have made me feel better than what I did.

Who knows really… I guess I may be wrong… If God feels they deserve this, maybe it was on account of other factors that’s not the cheating… We’ll just see what happens in the final. I’ve given up cursing them that much (curses may sometimes backfire…). Not wishing them good luck though, because they seem to have too much of that.

And yes, in case you haven’t guessed it, I’m fully awake now.

Note (5 hours later...):

I'm apologising for saying they're lucky earlier...

And for my dramatic reaction...

Now that I've calmed down and read through all the things people have said about the match (which I was sleeping through the later part)... it seems like Italy did deserve their win this time (*rolls eyes* Note that it's THIS TIME!). I know Germany had their own chances too, and I still stand by the fact that it could very well have gone into penalties and Germany could have won... and I still stand by my statement that I don't like that Grosso guy very much. No matter how great a goal he scored this time, I still don't like him. Same with Ballack though. I like the whole German team except for him. The thing is though, I would rather just pick Cannavaro and switch him with Ballack, and I'd then like Germany and dislike Italy without any qualms. So... at the end of the day, I think I just like Germany - Ballack + Cannavaro. Hahaha. Any arguments with that? :)

But as I said, if they win like this all the time, minus the cheating and diving, I wouldn't have disliked Italy in the first place... They do have the quality, and that's why it irks me when they resort to all those kind of antics. It's just like this whole Italian football match-fixing scandal thing which I don't understand. If the allegations are true that is. I can't understand why all these top clubs needed to do that, because a look at their squads would tell you they should win their matches fair and square, without any problem right?

Ok, I better shut up now, before some Italian fans show up.

Once again, sorry if I offended any Italian fans... I thought maybe I should delete the earlier outburst, but I think anyone would understand it was just an emotional reaction...