USA vs Belgium As It Happened

Pre-game: I have decided I want Belgium to win.  It's an absolute disgrace that Trump got involved to get that US player's red card rescinded.  Stinks of corruption at the highest level.  I don't care whether he deserved the red card or not in the first place, that's not the point.  This is yet another example of one of my biggest fears about this World Cup - that politics will get involved.  Just like the Somalian referee getting denied entry into the US.  This is about the integrity of the game.  In much the same way that there should be a third political party in the US but there never will be, there should be a legitimate challenger to FIFA in hosting the World Cup.

Quarter-time: Damn hydration breaks (though, in fairness, they have probably helped England).  Some random thoughts.  Lumen Field (Seattle Stadium) normally has artificial turf, and the grass on this pitch looks artificial.  But I haven't read about any player complaints about the surface, so I assume it is OK.  Belgium deserving the lead - they have looked the better team.  The US have looked nervous.  And I don't think they are anywhere near as good as all the US pundits and coverage would suggest.  It comes across as arrogance, and Belgium had already been overlooked before the game started - even though I think this game is a toss-up.  

Half-time: apparently the US are the only team I've seen at the World Cup that are actually a free-kick threat.  But didn't take long for Belgium to respond.  The US defense looks very shaky.  The presence of Chris Richards reminds me that there are so many Crystal Palace players, both former and present, at this World Cup,  This fact has even come up in US commentary at times.  Nice.  It seems like a weird atmosphere in the crowd.  Almost a disbelief that they're losing.  It's where having a passionate, knowledgeable and natural fan base is lacking.  These are mostly fair weather fans, especially knowing how much many of these people paid for their tickets.  Ludicrously expensive.  Fox persists in using Alexi Lalas in their studio analysis of the game at half-time - even though everyone hates him.  But then what do you expect from Fox who are also trying to shove James Cordon's post-show down our throats, even though everyone hates him as well.    

Three-quarter time: soft, soft goal to concede.  Don't see the US coming back now.  To be honest, grown a little bored of the game, and got distracted by my iPhone.  My friend was downtown today, and said that the bars were the most crowded he has ever seen.  And he has lived in Seattle all his life.  I think I'm at an age where uncomfortably watching a game in a packed pub doesn't appeal to me in the same way it used to.  I'd much rather watch the game in front of the telly with a small group of friends.  I think what this game needs is a bit more edge.  The problem is that neither of these teams excel at the dark arts.  As much as I hate them, they are part of the game - and a big part of why Argentina are so good.  It also made the France-Paraguay game a lot more interesting than it should have been!

Full-time.  Wa-wa!  Goodbye USA.  You were not good today.  Be interesting to see the reaction.  Someone will take the blame - probably the manager.  And I'm also curious what happens after all the US hype has evaporated.  This could be a big blow to "soccer"'s popularity in the US - the US people don't like losing.  Even though they had absolutely no realistic chance of winning the World Cup.  Seattle will now be known as the location of one of the biggest failures in US soccer history.  I say Trump and FIFA should be blamed.  After all, they gave Belgium more motivation than a team talk could ever do.    

England 3-2 Mexico

My god, England don't make it easy do they.  Can't we just have a nice comfortable win.  This game was so full of incidents and momentum shifts and was so torturous to watch.  Especially that last 20 minute rearguard action.  Did you stay up to watch the game?  I doubt it, especially after the start was delayed for an hour.  But it is worth watching the replay, especially knowing that we hung on.  And I managed to teach one of my American friends who I was texting with during the game a new word - sh*thousery.  I need a lie down now.       

Happy Birthday America

A happy 250th anniversary to America today.  A celebration that I feel should be bigger than it is.  But unfortunately Trump has made the celebration more about him than about the country, and ruined it (at least on a national level) for everyone.  Nonetheless, there have been a lot of local events today and I'm expecting even more fireworks than normal to go off tonight - even though it is still illegal in my neighborhood.  I've been hearing a lot of explosions throughout the day - it seems nonsensical to me to set them off during daylight, but whatever.  All I know is that I hate what all the noise does to the wildlife - in between the explosions, I hardly hear any bird song like I would normally.  It's always a bit weird how I feel about Independence Day.  I don't really celebrate it, and it only seems to emphasize how non-American I feel.  I've been asking myself whether the US feels like home to me.  I'm not sure it does - sure it's my residence, but I think the UK will always be my home.  That's probably not a good thing to say when I'm considering American citizenship one day.       

Confused

For most of today, I was convinced it was Saturday.  Maybe it's because this was at the end of a week without working.  Maybe it's because it was at the end of a week when I watched far too much football.  Maybe because it's the 4th of July holiday.  And a special 250 year anniversary at that (though Trump has kind of ruined this).  Whatever the reason, it's left me somewhat discombobulated.  And all too aware that my week off has passed way too quickly and that I probably haven't made the most of it.

Boring

No world cup post today.  Just composed a post about a customer service interaction I had this week, but it was incredibly boring so I deleted it.  Let's just say that trying to update the phone number associated with your supermarket club card so that you can access your online account is not as easy as it should be.  Exciting stuff right.  

USA 2-0 Bosnia

I don't have any comments on the England game, after another extremely underwhelming performance against an inferior opposition that they somehow managed to scrape a win from.  I'm actually looking forward to their next game playing at altitude against Mexico in front of 90,000 Mexican fans at the Azteca.  That should be a great spectacle, and a great atmosphere.  Instead, a few comments during the US game:

- Hilarious that they continue to play a sped up version of the Star Spangled Banner as the national anthems

- It's not just extra commercial breaks, but I noticed during the US game that they had a sideline reporter.  This is very common in US sports, but weird during "soccer" games and an example of the further attempted Americanization of our game

- I notice that when Alexi Lalas is not in the studio, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovich are SO much more relaxed and happier.  I thought it might just be an act for publicity, but no I think they genuinely don't like him (which I can thoroughly appreciate - I have to mute the telly or change channels whenever he is on)

- It seems like David Beckham appears in every other advertisement during the World Cup (especially during the hydration breaks) - advertising everything from Home Depot to Bank of America.  It's bewildering since he has so little personality.

- I still don't like the expanded format of this World Cup.  But I fear it is going to stick around, because it has made for some very tense and very enjoyable matches.  While some of the bigger teams like England and Brazil flatter to deceive, a number of the "smaller" countries have really shown up.  And the host countries have done surprisingly well to all still be alive.  But I'd be really surprised if it isn't another France-Argentina final.

- 3 knockout games in 1 day is way too much.  It should be 2 matches a day at most, featuring the games where the winners play each other in the next round.

- Seattle will now host its biggest ever sporting event, and the biggest "soccer" match in US soccer history, on Monday.  And another reason to enhance its reputation as the best World Cup atmosphere in the US.

Sleep

I really should get a new mattress.  But as a temporary (?) fix, I have got myself a mattress topper.  And not a cheap one - but that's OK, because I think I can claim it as a wellness expense at work.  And so far so good.  I haven't been waking up with back or shoulder pain, something I had been suffering from prior to having the topper.  The one drawback, the memory foam mattress topper I got must have a depth of about 3 inches.  So that on top of my mattress makes my bed look weirdly tall, and it also means that my fitted sheets don't really fit properly.  But that is a compromise I can live with if it means a better night's sleep.