Found this article at smh.com.au. Although I agree that the Socceroos would not have beaten Germany if they made the semi-finals, I will not give Italy any credit for progressing as far as they have. The style of football that they play is disgraceful…so much diving and theatrics - it would be great if they played soccer and left the drama and BS out of the game.

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Thankfully the team with the second best actors, Portugal, were beaten by France today 1-0. Cristiano Ronaldo will be right up there with Grosso from Italy as the two biggest villains in the whole tournament. Ronaldo dived theatrically numerous times against France, but thankfully the referee didn’t fall for any of it (on a side note, today’s officiating was the best of the tournament so far and hopefully the same referee will control the final). France were awarded a penalty after a clear foul on Henry in the box - to be fair Henry definitely sold it, but the referee made the correct call and Zidane made no mistake on the penalty kick.

Zidane connects on the penalty kick

France vs Italy in the final. France is a great story, looking to send the legendary Zidane out on a winning note. What a great end to a glorious career that would be - winning the World Cup final in your final match. Zidane is now the favourite to win the Golden Ball award; he has been an inspirational leader and has recaptured the form that made him the world’s best player in the late 90s and early 00s. The only way I see France losing this match is if Barthez makes a huge blunder in goals - his effort today in denying Ronaldo’s free kick would have had every French person’s heart in their mouth. Barthez can be brilliant, but he can also make stupid mistakes - let’s hope for France’s sake that he doesn’t attempt another volleyball save again.

I don’t want Italy to win, and I’ll be really disappointed if they do. A team that shouldn’t have made it past the round of 16 that goes on to win the whole tournament in the manner that they have played would make me sick.

France 2 vs Italy 0

Just about ready for the kickoff in Dortmund for the first of the semifinal matchups. The Anthems and nicety’s are over.

KICKOFF!

3rd minute - Podolski is fouled, Italian touched his shin and Podolski acts like he was shot.

4th minute - Totti’s free kick is saved by Jens Lehman, nice hard shot on target.

5th minute - Germany keeps playing the ball back to Lehman and Italy has a small chance to take advantage of a poor attempted clearance by Lehman

6th minute - Ballack is fouled, nothing eventuates from the resulting free kick.

7th minute - Another dive by Germany, this time from Klose.

8th minute - Ballack takes a shot that is nowhere near the goal.

10th minute - Nice ball through by the Italians, but it is too hard and Lehman grabs it.

11th minute - The filthy diving cheat, Grosso, nicely crosses a ball in to the German 20 yard box, but Germany defends it.

12th minute - Italians win a corner and it’s cleared by the Germans.

13th minute - Podolski has a nice chance, but it is blocked by the Italian defenders.

14th minute - Toni is caught in an offside position

16th minute - Nice passage of play from the Germans, but to no avail and the Italians almost capitalise on the counter-attack.

17th minute - Totti’s shot is blocked by the German defenders. The Germans work it down the field and earn a corner kick.

Both teams have looked good in their attacking sequences.

18th minute - Nice corner by the Germans, but once again nothing results from it.

21st minute - Nice delivery into Podolski who attempts a side volley, but can’t get over the ball and it goes flying over the goal.

22nd minute - Weak shot on goal by the Italians and it is easily saved by Lehman.

23rd minute - Another beautiful passage finds Kehl with an open shot, but he tries to chip it in to the box instead of taking the shot himself.

24th minute - Zambrotta is fouled and a nice freekick taken by Pirlo into the German box, but the headed shot is not on goal.

28th minute - More acting by the Italians, once he realises the challenge will not result in a Yellow Card, his ‘injury’ magically disappears.

29th minute - Lahm fouls Camoranesi - Pirlo plays the free kick towards the back of the 20 yard box for Totti who has a shot, but is blocked.

31st miute - Nice cross into Toni, but Metzelder defends and the Italians have another corner. Corner is defended by a header from the Germans

32nd minute - Camoranesi takes another corner, but Lehman defends easily.

33rd minute - Another Italian corner is placed right into Lehman’s hands.

The Italians need to make the most of these corner opportunities. They have continuously been shot right in to Lehman.

34th minute - Best opportunity of the match so far. Klose plays the ball out to Schneider on the wing who moves into the box, but Buffon gets the slightest of touches (which goes unnoticed) and the ball goes over the crossbar. Goalkick Italy. The crowd is alive now.

36th minute - Klose plays another ball into Schneider in the box, but couldn’t connect.

The Germans are looking dangerous now!

40th minute - Yellow Card to Borowski on a challenge from behind on Totti. Nice acting by the Italains yet again.

41st minute - Another weak call by the referee - calling a foul on Podolski. Resulting freekick is played into Camoranesi who head it over the crossbar.

The Italians have had the majority of possession, but the Germans have been the more impressive of the two teams.

44th minute - Perrotta mocks Ballack for taking a dive. Interesting to see an Italian player mock someone for diving considering the Italians do it every 5 minutes.

First half comes to an end. The Italians really play a disgusting brand of football. Germany has definitely looked the better team in the first 45 minutes and with a little more possession should have more chances on goal. It has been refreshing to see a referee not falling for the theatrics displayed by the Italian team.

SECOND HALF

46th minute - Germans start out attacking, but Kehl’s shot isn’t on goal.

48th minute - Zambrotta is caught offside

49th minute - Germans cross into the box, but there are no German players there to receive the ball.

50th minute - Kehl plays a great ball through to Klose who attacks the keeper, but is denied. Beautiful save by Buffon. The Italians quickly counter attack and work the ball through to the German box, but Grosso is offside. Surprised he didn’t dive once Lehman came out and defended the ball. Grosso is now down ‘injured’ - no tears from me about that.

53rd minute - Klose recieves the ball and plays it in to the Italian box - unfortunately he played it though too hard and was defended by the Italians.

54th minute - Another corner to the Italians, taken by Totti and once again straight to Lehman. Lahm attacks, but loses possession and then chases down Camoranesi and makes a beautiful tackle.

56th minute - Yellow Card to Metzelder - didn’t even touch Toni, but he goes down like he was kicked in the nuts. More disgusting displays by the Italians.

60th minute - Totti is ‘fouled’ when Kehl connects with a little fairytap.

61st minute - Totti is caught offisde. That’s the 8th offside for the Italians. Quick throw in taken by the Germans and played through to Ballack on the edge of the box, but it is defended by the Italians.

62nd minute - Another nice passage results in an excellent chance for Podolski, but he shoots straight at Buffon and the rebound is shot over the bar by Freidrich.

Great passage by the Germans, who are starting to look extremely dangerous every time they have the ball in the Italians half.

64th minute - Foul committed by Toni on Ballack. Toni acts like he has never done anything wrong in his life.

65th minute - Grosso takes an accidental knee to the head - acts like he has been possessed by the devil. Grosso should get a Hollywood agent once the tournament is over.

67th minute - Nice passage by the Italians eventuates to nothing and on the counter attack Ballack passes in to the Italian box, but probably should have taken a shot.

69th minute - Materazzi is bumped in the Italian box and goes down like a sack of crap. I don’t know how the Italians sleep at night. Disgraceful displays everytime someone brushes them - play soccer and cut the theatrics out.

70th minute - Italians play through again, but are again caught offside.

72nd minute - Germany make a substitution - Schweinsteiger comes in for Borowski.

74th minute - Italy makes a substitution - Gilardino comes in for Luca ‘I’ve never done anything wrong’ Toni.

Looks like this one may go to extra-time.

76th minute - Offside again by Italy. Kehl ends up clearing a nice cross in by the Italians resulting in a corner. Totti again plays it straight to Lehman.

78th minute - Camoranesi is fouled by Ballack. The Italians attack through to the German half and Pirlo takes a shot, but it is straight at Lehman.

79th minute - Camoranesi plays the ball through to a German defender and Kehl goes for a run.

80th minute - Podolski is ofuled in the box, but the ref says it was just outside the box. Should be a penalty kick, but it’s going to be taken right at the edge. Good opportunity for Germany here.

82nd minute - Ballack takes the free kick and it goes over the bar. It was a weak call to begin with, but if you’re going to call a foul make sure you know where it takes place. Should have been a penalty kick.

83rd minute - Germany makes their second substitution - Odonkor comes on for Schneider

85th minute - Beautiful save from Lehman who charges the ball and punches the ball away. Lehman gets Perotta on the way down. Good no call by the referee there. Nice work by Lehman.

90th minute - Yellow Card to Camoranesi - who tackles Kehl from behind.

3 minutes of stoppage time.

90+1 minute - Germany takes a free kick in to the Italian box - flicked on by a German player, but no German is there to connect.

90+2 minute - Germans trying to end it before extra time, but can’t find any players in the box.

Game ends 0-0. Extra time here we come!

1st EXTRA TIME

91st minute - Brilliant individual effort by Gilardino and he almost squeezes one past Lehman who was leaning the wrong way, but the shot goes off the post. Best passage of play so far.

92nd minute - Zambrotta drills a shot for Italy, but it deflects off the crossbar. Two great shots by Italy in as many minutes. The Germans, who dominated for the first 90 minutes look shellshocked at the moment.

94th minute - Corner for the Italians taken by Pirlo. This time it doesn’t go straight to Lehman, but the Italian heads the ball out.

95th minute - Great effort by Lahm who is eventually pulled down by Zambrotta and commits the foul. The free kick is deflected out by the Italians and it’s a corner kick to the Germans.

96th minute - Materazzi gets drilled in the head by the ball and goes down. Good to see an Italian go down for a legitimate reason.

99th minute - Nice passage from the Germans and Podolski is brought down from a tug on the jersey by Italian captain Cannavaro. A good opportunity here for the Germans with a free kick right outiside the Italian’s box. Free kick headed away by the Italians.

102th minute - Pirlo blasts a shot over the crossbar. I think fatigue is starting to set in for both teams.

103th minute - Ballack and Iaquinta collide after Ballack goes for a header on the ball and Iaquinta tries to draw a foul. Another nice no-call by the referee, who has been able to see through the majority of Italian theatrics today.

105+1 - Totti appeals for a freekick, but was a clear dive. On the counter attack the Germans work the ball down the field and Odonkor crosses into Podolski who heads the ball wide of the post. Another great opportunity is not coverted by the Germans.

105+2 That’s the end of the first period of extra time.

2nd EXTRA TIME

107th minute - Germany earns a corner, but is defended by the Italians who counter attack and earn a corner.

108th minute - Another corner by the Italians straight to Lehman. Counter attack by the Germans this time and Lahm shoots wide of the goals.

111th minute - Germany makes their last substitution - Neuville in for Klose.

112th minute - Buffon makes another great save after Podolski has another shot on goal. Great display today by two of the best goalies in the world.

113th minute - Iaquinta crosses into the German box, but is cleared by Freidrich. Corner for the Italians. Cleared by Ballack.

114th minute - Nice opportunity for Del Piero, but the Italians shot is well wide of the goal.

116th minute - The play is going from one end to the other at the moment, with Odonkor having a shot that is wide of the target.

118th minute - Both teams seem as though they are playing for penalities at the moment. Only 2.5 minutes left in the final period of extra time. Now that I have said that, Pirlo takes a shot on goal and is deflected away by Lehman for an Italian corner.

119th minute - GOAL. The cheating diving Grosso has won another match for Italy. This time it isn’t through a dive, but through a nice left foot shot that curls into to the side of the net and beats the outstretched hand of Lehman.

120th minute - GOAL. Another goal to Italy on a counter attack. Del Piero takes an offload from Gilardino and buries it in the top corner of the net.

GAME OVER.

The day after England lost on penalties to Portugal, David Beckham stood down as the England captain. Beckham stated that he felt it was time for someone else to wear the (captain’s) armband. I believe that the criticism he has been receiving all tournament for his poor performance has to have played a part in his decision to step-down. Personally, I believe that without Beckham in the lineup, England would not have progressed as far as they did in the World Cup. In England’s opening game against Paraguay, Beckham’s free kick resulted in the game’s only goal. In the second game against Trinidad and Tobago, the game was still 0-0 in the 82nd minute - that was until Beckham crossed a ball perfectly to Peter Crouch who found the net. Finally, in England’s round of 16 game against Ecuador, Beckham scored via one of his trademark freekicks - bending the ball perfectly over the defensive wall and squeezing into the net, just beating the outstretched hands of Ecuador’s goalkeeper.

Hopefully the media will cease with their unfair criticism of Beckham now that he no longer has the added attention of being the team’s captain. He was easily one of England’s top players throughout the tournament, and the harsh comments that the US media have been spouting out all tournament were not only unfair, but it just goes to show that they really don’t have an understanding of the World’s game.

I know I have yet to write anything about Baseball, and that has a lot to do with the fact that nothing has really caught my eyes so far in the season. With all the controversy surrounding performance enhancing drugs within the league, I have been reluctant to really pour any energy into writing about Baseball when there are so many other events going on in the sporting world. That was until I saw highlights of yesterday’s match between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, and in particular this catch by Gary Matthews Jr - easily one of the best catches I have ever seen.

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Apart from the way he twists and turns his body when he is taking the catch, the fact that this catch prevents a 3-run homerun makes it that much better.

I only picked 2 out of 4 correctly from the Quarter Final stage, and I should have followed my heart in the Brazil vs France match. I just had a feeling they were going to pull off the upset and they did. Brazil did not look impressive all tournament and were lucky to come away with victories against Australia and Ghana. Their luck ran out today against a French team that all of a sudden looks very impressive, but as I previously pointed out, they were unlucky to have not come out of the Group stage with more points. Zinedine Zidane has hit a purple patch, similar to the one he was in during the 1998 World Cup which France won, and it was his free kick that led to Thierry Henry’s goal. Although it didn’t look like Brazil was any real threat to equalise, Brazil was awarded a free kick late in the game after the referee fell for Ronaldo’s dive. No prizes for guessing who the referee who fell for the dive was. Two free kicks in two games awarded by Luis Medina Cantalejo, one which cost a deserving team from advancing. Fortunately for the French, they didn’t suffer the same fate as the unfortunate Australians. I hope Fifa has learnt their lesson and will not allow this referee to control a match again this tournament.

Oh. What a goal, Thierry Henry!

England’s dream of a second World Cup triumph ended through penalty kicks yet again. They have yet to win a game in the World Cup through penalty kicks, and after battling for 120 minutes in today’s game against Portugal, England put on a less than memorable display in the penalty kicks. Two of England’s biggest stars, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, took disgraceful penalty kicks that were easily saved by Portugal’s goalkeeper. What this match will be remembered for is Wayne Rooney’s sending off in the 62nd minute. It still hasn’t been revealed if he was sent off for stepping on an opposing player’s crotch or for pushing Manchester United teammate Christiano Ronaldo after the foul was called. Either way, a red card was not warranted, and this was another example of poor officiating in a World Cup that will be remembered for poor officiating. England will have to wait another 4 years for World Cup glory, and they will have to do it without their current captain, David Beckham, who has almost certainly played his last game for England at a World Cup tournament.

Germany made it past Argentina via penalties too, but the display of the Argentine team after the completion of the match was something the global soccer community would associate with English hooligan fans, not actual players. I haven’t heard if any action has been taken, but their actions were less than sporting or graceful for that matter.

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A little post-game scuffle

Italy 3 - Ukraine 0. I don’t particularly want to talk about this match. Imagine what could have been for the more deserving Australian team who would now be in the Semi Finals if it weren’t for that awful call.

Now for some predictions…

France has all the momentum going in to this match, and Zinedine Zidane is in vintage form. He plans to retire once the World Cup is over, and now that France has a head of steam built up, they will want to make it all the way through to the Final so Zidane doesn’t retire with a loss, but with his second World Cup trophy. For this to happen they will have to beat Germany, who should dispose of the Italians fairly convincingly. Personally, I’m hoping to see some Italian tears at the conclusion of that match.

France 2 - Portugal 1
Germany 2 - Italy 0