Germany: Mit Glanz und Glück

Thankfully it did not turn out to be a one goal game. Had the halftime score of Germany 2, England 1 stood throughout the second half, the validity of Germany's victory in the World Cup Round of 16 would have been forever questioned because of an awful non-call in the 38th minute when Frank Lampard's shot was ruled no goal.

But in the second half Germany came out strong and got two goals from Thomas Mueller to win going away.

"The disallowed goal in Bloemfontein should not disguise that Germany was superior on the field" wrote Rob Hughes in the New York Times.

Germany struck first when Miroslav Klose took a long punt from keeper Manuel Neuer up the middle and flicked the ball into the net with the outside of his right foot in the 20th minute. Lukas Podolski put Germany up, 2-0 12 minutes later and it looked as though the rout might be on.

But England drew within one in the 37th minute when Matt Upson headed in a cross from Steven Gerrard. Less than a minute later Lampard took a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced down more than a foot behind the goalline according to replays, with no goal called y the referee or his assistant.

The play is sure to renew calls for instant replay in soccer, especially at this level.

That's Why They Roll the Ball Out: Switzerland 1, Spain 0

When my daughter lived in Basel, Switzerland some 14 years ago she said the Swiss joked that Hitler never invaded their country because he didn't want to piss off their army.


The 2010 Swiss soccer team might be held in slightly more regard than the Army, but few expected it had any chance in today's first round match against defending European champion Spain, one of the consensus favorites to win it all. Yet despite being dominated statistically by Spain, Switzerland pulled off a 1-0 upset earlier today on a goal by Gelson Fernandes in the 52nd minute. And in the 75th minute they almost made it 2-0 when a shot went off the post.

Spain outshot Switzerland, 27-2, possessed the ball 88 percent of the game and dominated in corner kicks, 12-3. But it is the Swiss who sit atop Group H with three points after the first round.

World Cup 2010 Is Underway

After the first day of World Cup 2010 we've had two goals total, one red card but no winners.

Both games in Group A today ended in draws: 1-1 between host South Africa and Mexico, and 0-0 between France and Uruguay. In the latter match, Uruguay's Nicholas Lodeiro earned the distinction of the first player being sent off when he was given his second yellow card in the 85th minute - just 22 minutes after he entered the game.

Korea-Greece, Argentina-Nigeria and of course USA - England tomorrow.

Memories

As part of combining households since the wedding, we are cleaning out rooms, closets and drawers of my house. Just when I thought I had everything, I found some boxes behind a file cabinet in a closet in the den.

One box was full of trophies from random baseball and soccer teams on which my son, Scott, played when we lived in Medford. Most have been long forgotten by me, and probably by Scott. First place at U13 in the 1994 Hamilton Invitational. Second place in a 1995 Select Team Tournament. A championship indoors at Soccer International.

But another box caught my eye. In it were the jerseys Scott wore for the Medford Strikers, including the one in the photo above when they won the State Cup at U14 and played at regionals in Niagara Falls. New Jersey plays a single elimination cup and we won six games, including the final in OT, and had a win and two ties at regionals. Nine games without a loss - a nice run in anyone's book.