What happened to my “All Stars”?

First of all, this is a critical view on Argentina’s soccer team. I am not complaining that Germany beat Argentina. I am only trying to answer the “how’s” and “why’s.” Argentina should have beat Germany, no doubt about it. In the first half, Argentina had the ball 67% of the time while the Germans were left with a meager 33%. These numbers alone should show that the Arians were taken by surprise by how aggressive Argentina was. In the first two minutes alone Germany had committed two fouls (one was awarded with a yellow card). Argentina did a good job at keepings the pace that it wanted, not letting the Germans rush them with anything. The second half though, was when the Argentines fell apart and the Germans picked up the slack. Still, in the 49^th minute Argentina scored, giving them-selves a false sense of security. Only fools would consider themselves saved by a single goal. Germany then continued to shoot at Abbondanzieri, who did a fine job at keeping the ball out of the box. Sadly, the Argentine goalie got hurt (it was an accidental collision, nothing done on purpose) and had to be replaced with an inexperienced (he had only played a few times for Argentina before the world cup) and cold (he had less than a minute to warm up) goalie. I must make a note that having to substitute a goalie is every coach’s worst nightmare due to the fact that you lose players who could be giving extra energy to the team (obviously, goalies don’t get worn down as much). Sadly, Juan Roman Riquelme’s stamina had been depleted and had to be taken out (this too was against Perkeman’s ideal game play) and replaced with Mascherano (in my opinion, Aimar should have gone in to continue creating goal opportunities). Soon after, Crespo was taken out (he ran a lot but hardly touched the ball) and was replaced with Julio Cruz (I have never seen him play but he is an able forward…yet…why wasn’t Messi put in?). After the Germans scored a beautifully played header, Argentina was weighed down with reality. Even though Argentina had several chances at making a goal, they went to the dreaded 30 minute over time. What followed were two exhausted teams who were not much of a danger to each other. Argentina clearly played better than Germany but could not make a goal. To my horror, the 30 minutes were up and the game was to be decided by penalties. Sadly, Argentina was outplayed by the penalties and lost (4-2). So...

Contributions to Argentina’s defeat:
1) Bad refereeing (sadly, Argentina had previous problems with Lubos Michel)
2) Forced substitutions (Abbondanzieri and Riquelme were not supposed to go out)
3) Fatigue (Argentina fell apart during the second half due to the lack of running)

I know I’m not supposed to complain but, how do penalties decide which team is better? The fact is that the goalie catches kicks, are for the most part, pure luck. *sigh* To top it all off, I lost a bet to a friend.

Dentists are scary

I got to spend two hours with my buddy the dentist this morning. What a day! I had the hardest time waking up today... It's been a while since I've had to wake wake up before 7 a.m. (the last time being when I woke up at 5:30 to help out with the senior breakfast) and I sure felt it. Anyways...I've had trouble with a certain tooth and am finally getting it capped. Yay! I can bite into apples again. What they did today was to grind down the existing tooth, stick in a titanium rod (about the thickness of a pencil lead) and capped it. On Thursday morning I have to go down to Grand Rapids (to a lab) and have them pick out a color which will match the rest of my teeth. In three weeks I get my permanent cap. Anyways...I think I really like the gas that they put on your face when they fool with your teeth. You feel a sensation of falling the whole time and come up with the wildest ideas. I think I just about figured my whole life in those two hours. Hopefully, I won't have to go back to the dentist because of my stupid tooth.

(Those aren't my teeth....honestly)

Mexico proved a lot...

Well, here I am writing about the Argentine team again. What happened? When up against the Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro, Argentina shone. When they tied with no goals against Holland, we knew that there was no need to win because they were going to be first in their group. Both teams played at about 60-70 percent of their total potential. When playing against Mexico, in the knock-out round (if you loose, you are out of the tournament), I expected Argentina to play at 100 percent and beat Mexico 3-1. My estimates aren’t usually too far off (I can usually tell who is going to win at least), but I started doubting my skills when Argentina and Mexico were neck to neck for most of the game. Even though Argentina played better, Mexico did make them pay dearly (more on this later). Everybody says, “Oh, the referee was against my team.” Maybe, but what about the fouls that were called for Mexico while the Argentine players were being kicked? What about on the 89^th minute when the linesman called a non-existent off sides on Carlitos Tevez (who by the way, in my opinion, could have made the goal)? *sigh* If only the refs were perfect. This Friday, when Argentina plays against local team Germany, they had better play like they did against Serbia and Montenegro…fast, short passes. I can’t stand watching teams kick it and “try” to have a player get it. I think that using the whole team makes for a good foundation, causing players to have to run less. Ah yes, about Argentina having to pay dearly for their game against Mexico… Because they were tied at the final 90 minutes, a 30 minute over time was needed to decide the victor (if at the end of the two 15 min. halves no team has scored, penalty kicks are executed). Soccer players are used to running 90 minutes (very few games are played where penalty kicks are needed), so when Argentina had to play 30 minutes more, it was grueling on their bodies. The Mexican players have the rest of the tournament to rest, but the Argentines have to be recuperated by Friday to face Germany, the host team. Thankfully, Pekerman (Argentines head coach) put in Tevez, Messi, and Aimar in to rest the starters. Let the best team win next Friday…and let the best team be Argentina!

I’ve been noticing something strange with my eyes lately; they make me look like a drugg Funny thing is, I have never consumed any sort of drug which would alter the appearance of my eyes (smoke does that…but no fires around here). What is it exactly that would make my eyes water so much? I think I figured it out…too much tv. I don’t spend my whole day watching movies (well…I used to but that was quite a few weeks ago). What has really gotten to me is this computer, and the world cup. Today we watched a total of two games, three hours worth. If we could have, we (my father and I) would have watched three, but they have started playing at the same times. I'm not sure how I will moderate my time, but I'm sure something will have to change.

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Teaching in Slovakia?!

I'm not really sure where God is leading me with this, or if it is even God. Sometimes you get an idea in your head and you can't decide whether it's actually God, or your own voice. I'm sure everybody has experienced this... Anyways, a few of the things which have been on my mind lately is if there really is a call to go teach in Slovakia. I need prayer to discern between my truths, and God's truths. I've been leaning towards being an mk teacher for the past two or three months, and going to Slovakia for the past two weeks (Melanie can correct me if I am wrong with this amount of time). I know that I have plenty of time until I actually have to decide what to do after I graduate (probably three and a half years from now) but what I do need to figure out now...are what classes to take. Am I going to stop double majoring in Spanish and History and change my focuses to some sort of secondary education (which take FOREVER to complete btw)? Well...if God really wants me to become an mk teacher overseas, I'm sure He will continue to open paths for me, and give me clear messages.