Monday, July 10, 2006
Mama Mia! Italy are the champs!
So Italy are the champions of the world.Many people are saying the final wasn't a great advertisement for football but if the country that's shaped like a boot winning football's greatest tournament isn't a great advertisement for football, I don't know what is.
In all seriousness it wasn't the best of finals but contrary to what a lot of people have said, I think Italy are worthy winners. After all France shouldn't have got a penalty in the first half and Luca Toni's goal shouldn't have been ruled out. Oh yeah and Zidane acted the bollocks so it's a fair result. The Aussies must feel pissed off though.
Some things I've learned from the World Cup:
- Football remains unpredictable. Italy to beat France in the final? On a penalty shoot-out? With Zidane getting sent off? If someone had predicted that at the start of the tournament they would have been laughed at and hit over the head repeatedly.
- England are shite. Just accept it, guys. Seriously. It's nothing to do with dodgy referees, it's nothing to do with evil opposition players, it's nothing to do with the length of your football season. You're just shite. Really, really shite. OK? OK.
- RTE may be woeful in lots of ways but when it comes to football coverage, they are streets ahead of their British counterparts. Whose bright idea was it at the BBC to get Leonardo to be a pundit? And why is Ian Wright getting paid to spout the kind of bullshit that one hears down at a local pub? And as for Shearer...just why in general? RTE's coverage was excellent and I really enjoyed it. Also, getting Graeme Souness on board proved to be a very smart move.
- Even top players like Zinedine Zidane can lose the head. What was he thinking?
Zidane's lack of hair made the headbutt extra painful
That's about it I feel. It was a decent tournament but it's never really the same when your own team isn't there. Something all NI fans can attest to.
But now it's time for us Irish to laugh in the face of all logical probability and believe that we can indeed qualify for the European Championships in 2008.
Come on Ireland! It's gonna be our year and so forth...
# posted by United Irelander @ 12:40 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
