World Cup Thoughts

This has been a great World Cup so far, some close matches that went down to the wire, beautiful goals, and of course, controversy. The referess have been quick on the yellow cards, as Franz Beckenbauer was quick to point out, and in some cases, they have taken the game out of the player's hands [feet]. This was most obvious in the huge match between the USA and Italy, which was an intense, aggressive match until the referee gave a deserved red card to Daniele DeRossi for elbowing Brian McBride, and then got card happy by dishing out two yellow cards to Eddie Pope and a red to Pablo Mastroeni. Zinedine Zidane, one of the best players ever and playing in his last World Cup, was given the hook by the referee in the match against South Korea on calls that did not warrant a yellow. So not only will France be missing a key player in a "live or die" match, but the we may also have seen the last match in Zidane's brilliant international career. On a stage as grand as the World Cup the referees should warn the players on boderline card penalties (unless it is clearly obvious, like in DeRossi's case) and not take the game away from the players, and most of all, the fans. FIFA does not agree with Beckenbauer and most of the world, and I can't quite understand their support.

There haven't been any standout players yet like we had in 2002 with Ronaldo and 1998 with Zidane. We've seen beautiful team play and amazing goals, but one player has yet to step up and purely dominate; however, I'm sure we'll see that when we reach the Elimination Round.

And was there anyone more fired up than Giorgio Chinaglia about the US' impossible chances against Italy? That's what makes this tournament so great, national pride and love of the game that is unmatched in any other sport.

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