A load of crap from an idle brain

The final was well worth staying awake upto 2:30 in the morning.  Not to mention the hilarious tweets.  What a time for Dhoni to play the innings of his lifetime.  The stabilising innings from Gambhir & Virat meant that India didn’t feel the repercussions of losing Tendulkar & Sehwag cheaply.

The only silverware missing from Sachin’s trophy cabinet has been won.  6 attempts and what a way to sign off with a victory.  An end to another magnificent career of Murali.  Too much was made of the controversy at the toss.  Our conspiracy theorist media lapped it up.

It would not have been a well deserved win if India had won the cup the easy way.  To beat Australia, Pakistan and finally Sri Lanka en route to win the cup is probably the best written script.

Also that should settle the claim around Dhoni that he is plain lucky.  Luck only takes you so far.  Like it or not, he is a masterclass captain.  A T20 world cup win and now the 50 over World Cup and not to mention the numerous series wins both at home and abroad, Dhoni has proved to be the best ever player to have captained India.

The biggest party in the world is happening out there.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  For the next 4 years, We Are The Champions.

Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo

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I hope i got the title correct.  Spain are the Champions.  Blame Google translator if its wrong

The once in 4 years extravaganza comes to an end and Spain get the bragging rights for the next 4 years.  The 2008 Euro Champions and now the World Champs, Spain deserve all the praise and respect.

Didnt bother to wake up at 2:30 in the morning to watch the match.  I do love the sport, but not as crazy to wake up at unearthly hours to watch the sport.  Though i had woken up at more or less the same timings last World cup to watch Italy – France battle it out.

In these times of Financial crisis (with Spain being one of the worst affected countries in Europe), this win will come as a soothing balm for the Spanish people.

Viva Espana.

PS: Thank God, this was not the IPL finals and thank God there was no Lalit Modi.  Imagine him droning on and on being the best thing since sliced bread and all the hard work he did to ensure the tournament’s success.  Class is surely not something to be associated with either Modi or IPL.

Above pictures courtesy: FIFA

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The South American giants, Argentina & Brazil have joined their counterparts from Europe (England, France, Italy) in being knocked out of the world cup.  The only surprise in the line up happens to be Uruguay.  The perennial underachievers, Spain and Netherlands are also into the semis.  The only consistent team to appear in the semis are the Germans.  But at the beginning of the tournament, they weren’t the favored team.   The young German team has belied all expectations by battering the favourites Argentina 4-0.

So, this is how the semi final line up stacks up.

Uruguay  vs  Netherlands on 6th July 2010

Germany  vs  Spain on 7th July 2010

My money is on a Germany-Uruguay final.  But then, have the Germans peaked a bit too early? Spain might be looking at making it a grand double after winning the Euro-2008.  The Dutch with all their egos and infighting are capable of making it to the final too.

Pictures courtesy: FIFA

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Seeing an inept, incompetent, overhyped England team being torn to shreds by a German war machine.  The English team didnt even deserve to enter the knock out stage of the competition.  With France & Italy too gone, the most prominent European teams have exited.

Germany 4-1 England

It would be sad to see Germany and Argentina meeting in the next round as only one can go through.  Sad, i love both the teams.

Above picture courtesy: FIFA

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The football world cup begins in South Africa tomorrow.  I havent subscribed to the sports channels and that would explain that iam not dying to watch the matches. But ya, will be following the sport on the net as much as possible.  Websites, blogs, twitter, videos….there is a lot to choose from.

As always, my favourites are anyone other than England and Brazil.  Why i dislike England is because they remind me of the Indian cricket team comprising the fab 5 of yesteryears.  Apart from their personal records, India hardly won anything when they played.  Similarly, i believe the English football team is also a team of superstars.

Brazil is an exception as it manages to win the cup inspite of having so many superstars in their team.  But then they have won the trophy so many times that iam bored of following them.

Argentina, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal…so many to choose.  Hope Italy doesnt suffer from the defending champions curse and crash out soon.

The matches are telecast late at night here and i dont think i have the patience or energy to stay up late at night to watch the matches.   But will try to catch any of the matches that falls over the weekends.  If i was back home in Hyderabad, i would have stayed up late and watched all the matches with my dad.

My prediction of the toppers per group

Group A – France, Mexico
Group B – Argentina, Korea
Group C – England, USA
Group D – Germany, Australia
Group E – Netherlands, Denmark
Group F – Italy, Slovakia (guess)
Group G – Brazil, Portugal
Group H – Spain, Switzerland

May the best team win

Above world cup groups image courtesy: Eldirectorioargentino

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