Thursday, June 24, 2004
Get Into It
Chris met me at Shakespeare's Pub to watch the first Euro 2004 quarterfinal. England vs. Portugal. Man, this match was some real drama. Had to get to the pub no later than an hour and a half prior to the first whistle in order to get a seat. Ordered some fish'n'chips and glued eyes to the big screen.
An early third minute goal for England blew the roof off Shakespeare's Pub. The packed house was electrified. Screaming, banging on tables, singing, jumping up and down - it truly felt like we were at a rock concert. No wonder - futbol is such a huge passion for the mostly British folk at the pub, as it is everywhere else in the universe, except for the USA.
I don't think Chris had ever watched a futbol game with a bunch of screaming fans. I loved it that he was getting into it. Little by little. And I knew he would - he is a sports fanatic at heart, so it was easy for him to appreciate a different sport and relate to the passion of the futbol fans.
The match was a rollercoaster ride. After the early goal, England adopted the wrong strategy of defending. There's so much truth to the term "offense is the best defense" and today we witnessed England's failure and paying the price for not subscribing to it. Injured Rooney contributed to the downfall of England, perhaps, but really, once Portugal scored, England's spirits were crushed. Portugal sustained a momentum on the offensive and eventually took the lead. England then realized they had nothing to lose and pushed back to score a goal tying the game at 2:2. Then there was the controversial goal that would've won the game for them, was it not for the referee deciding that there was some kind of a foul somewhere in the mess of action in front of the Portuguese goalie. Whatever. I am curious to see the postgame development in investigating his decision.
So "get into it!" was the phrase being yield out loud every 37 seconds by a passionate Brit standing somewhere in the crowd behind us. Freakin' loved that scream. During overtime, you could hear the geezer losing his voice, but sticking to his guns. "Get into it!" Classic.
Penalty kicks. The worst way to decide what team is better. It is long overdue for FIFA to change this rule and allow for the game to go on until sudden death, or even better, have a second match at a later date. England was to go first, and as soon as I saw Beckham approach the penalty kick dot, I had a bad feeling that he'll miss. He missed a penalty kick against France and was obviously under extreme pressure this time around. Yeah, the ground was soft and he slipped, but the ground was soft for everybody and he was the only one to slip. Plain simple, he was extremely nervous. Missed it. The two teams were then going back and forth for a while scoring on each other. Finally a Portuguese player missed, giving one last hope to England. But then a hero emerged from the Portuguese team. The goalie saved a shot and quickly ran over to the penalty kick dot to take the next one and put it in with confidence. A painful stab in England's heart. What a way to end it all. Drama.
Goodbye, England. Great efforts, unlucky here and there, but really, next time play offense. You're better at it.
Congrats, Portugal. Even though I wanted England to win it, I have to admit you were the better team. Playing your heart out. You were the ones to get into it and won it. I could see you winning the championship. Go Portugal!
Krassy Can Listen To It: "Firestarter" by The Prodigy
An early third minute goal for England blew the roof off Shakespeare's Pub. The packed house was electrified. Screaming, banging on tables, singing, jumping up and down - it truly felt like we were at a rock concert. No wonder - futbol is such a huge passion for the mostly British folk at the pub, as it is everywhere else in the universe, except for the USA.
I don't think Chris had ever watched a futbol game with a bunch of screaming fans. I loved it that he was getting into it. Little by little. And I knew he would - he is a sports fanatic at heart, so it was easy for him to appreciate a different sport and relate to the passion of the futbol fans.
The match was a rollercoaster ride. After the early goal, England adopted the wrong strategy of defending. There's so much truth to the term "offense is the best defense" and today we witnessed England's failure and paying the price for not subscribing to it. Injured Rooney contributed to the downfall of England, perhaps, but really, once Portugal scored, England's spirits were crushed. Portugal sustained a momentum on the offensive and eventually took the lead. England then realized they had nothing to lose and pushed back to score a goal tying the game at 2:2. Then there was the controversial goal that would've won the game for them, was it not for the referee deciding that there was some kind of a foul somewhere in the mess of action in front of the Portuguese goalie. Whatever. I am curious to see the postgame development in investigating his decision.
So "get into it!" was the phrase being yield out loud every 37 seconds by a passionate Brit standing somewhere in the crowd behind us. Freakin' loved that scream. During overtime, you could hear the geezer losing his voice, but sticking to his guns. "Get into it!" Classic.
Penalty kicks. The worst way to decide what team is better. It is long overdue for FIFA to change this rule and allow for the game to go on until sudden death, or even better, have a second match at a later date. England was to go first, and as soon as I saw Beckham approach the penalty kick dot, I had a bad feeling that he'll miss. He missed a penalty kick against France and was obviously under extreme pressure this time around. Yeah, the ground was soft and he slipped, but the ground was soft for everybody and he was the only one to slip. Plain simple, he was extremely nervous. Missed it. The two teams were then going back and forth for a while scoring on each other. Finally a Portuguese player missed, giving one last hope to England. But then a hero emerged from the Portuguese team. The goalie saved a shot and quickly ran over to the penalty kick dot to take the next one and put it in with confidence. A painful stab in England's heart. What a way to end it all. Drama.
Goodbye, England. Great efforts, unlucky here and there, but really, next time play offense. You're better at it.
Congrats, Portugal. Even though I wanted England to win it, I have to admit you were the better team. Playing your heart out. You were the ones to get into it and won it. I could see you winning the championship. Go Portugal!
Krassy Can Listen To It: "Firestarter" by The Prodigy
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