the teams

[mccutcheon]

[marky]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

[Sloth]

Wow I'm shocked. France and Portugal through? Unbelievable. I would have predicted the exact opposite.

Great games though. Shame about Rooney. England might have won without him trying to show off stamping on people. I had weird feelings about him in previous matches and now he really seems a bit mental to me. They could have used Becks in the shootout as well. Being sick is not allowed when your country is fighting for its life and you can score penalties at will.

Well this shakes up everything. Germany now has a good enough chance as anyone to win this thing. And as long as Italy does not win I wil be happy.

[marky]

FOOKIN' 'ELL LADS FOOKIN 'ELL!

[Alta Vista [Bot]]

Alright, alright...I will stick with France to win,....BUT..if you pick the winning team (good luck), I will mail you $10 dollars if it isn't France. I think they have if again this year. Of course, it's just another biased opinion, but....the deal is on the table.

SJ

P.S- If you pick the wrong team, you lose nothing....AND THEN, "IF" you pick the team that gets to the finals and they play France and lose....well then...you owe $35. Not a bad deal considering how much I can lose. But my $10 dollar bets end after five entries. I may be drunk and like to gamble, but I am not made of money. Deals on the table...place your bets...place your bets..

[martino]

i pick germany to win, saint jude, and i agree to pay you 35 bucks in case france wins against germany in the finals.

this i say though i believe it close to probable that italy will kick germany tomorrow. especially after frings has been blocked out.

such are gamblers.

[marky]

I always knew Germany would do well in this thing, from a long time, that was my first intuitive impression. But I haven't seen them play. I'd had that feeling before Sloth mentioned the Germany Brazil pair up. But Germany and France is even more insane, so hey, let's go!

[martino]

i predict 1:0 for italy today.

maybe it's because i would be happy to see germany live on saturday.

maybe because i am usually wrong, so making such a prediction could be a non-self-fulfilling prophesy.

[mccutcheon]

Zac my bro thinks Germany 1 - Italy 0 in 90 minutes.

[Sloth]

Nice one Martino. You jinxed yourself.

[martino]

what a game! everybody i know liked the pulsating, hard-hitting yet not violent style of the match (even though a goal somewhat earlier would have increased the suspense).

during extra time the folks at the open-air venue i was at

were saying "OK, there we go into penalties, that's pretty good for us". but in the 118th minute, as the italians were preparing for that corner shot, i groaned "i don't like this", and then it happened. honestly, that's how it was. the germans looked a bit unconcentrated and may have underestimated how determined the italians were to get a goal in before penalties.

the better team won -- that is the consensus here. it is also the consensus that our team both punched above their weight, and played some fine, honorable soccer.

[Sloth]

I am off to Italy next week and I don't want to see any Panzers invading, okay?

[martino]

will y'all be back by the time we visit sweden around july 25?

[Alta Vista [Bot]]

Exciting stuff coming up. France and Italy. Zidane (1) on PK, for the 1-0 win. Good game, but it could have been better. I think...maybe (3-1) France in the finals. We'll see. Any other PA ideas on this WCup final?

SJ

[Sloth]

Martino,

We will be back in Stockholm I think on the 28th. We should seriously hang out on the Beck's boat for some cold ones. Happy hour from 6-8 and then dinner somewhere afterwards.