So much to watch, so little time! This is going to be a fantastic weekend of sport. In the World Cup, you have the third place match between Germany and Portugal, then there is the Final between France and Italy the following day. Germany should dispose of the Portuguese, and I believe that Oliver Kahn is going to have a great game in goals. I have previously spoken about the final, and I still believe that France is going to come away with the victory in what should be a great end to a fantastic World Cup. Look for Zidane to win the Golden Ball as the most outstanding player in the tournament.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, both men’s and women’s finals at Wimbledon will be played during World Cup action - it would be nice to have picture-in-picture, but I don’t - so it will be a tough choice between watching the third place match and the women’s final tomorrow between Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne. This is a replay of this year’s controversial Australian Open final, when Henin-Hardenne retired when she was down 6-1 2-0, complaining of stomach pains - or as I like to call them ’sore loser symptoms.’ I know that is a bit harsh, but you should (short of a major injury) NEVER retire in the final of a grand slam, especially when you are getting beaten the way she was. It leaves a bad taste in supporters’ mouths, and it certainly did that for me. I’ll be hoping Mauresmo can come through for her second grand slam title, but this time it would be nice for Henin-Hardenne to take her much deserved beating with a bit of grace and let Mauresmo enjoy her time in the spotlight.

It was Mauresmo consolling Henin-Hardenne, instead of enjoying her victory

In the men’s final, it’s a rematch of the French Open final - Federer vs Nadal, the two top ranked players in the world. I read a great article at si.com yesterday about their rivalry in which Federer states that he would love to play Nadal on grass. Federer went on to say that “I’ve lost so many times against him on his favorite surface; I’ve gotten so, so close. Obviously I’d like to play him here four or five times, but grass is such a short season. I’m lucky enough my strength is also on clay, on hard court, indoor: That’s what he’s still working on. That’s also why I’m by far the No. 1 player in the world.” Although what Federer says it true, he has to be worried about facing Nadal on grass. Federer has lost 6 times to Nadal in 7 matches, and in the one match he did win, he had to came back from down 2 sets and 4-1 in the third to win. Nadal was not expected to make it to the final at Wimbledon - although he is quite capable on hard courts and is the world’s premier clay courter, he has never proven anything on grass. It’s for this reason that Federer has to be concerned. Wimbledon is Federer’s baby, rarely has he been challenged on the grass courts in the past 3 years since he made his climb to the top of the sport. If he loses to Nadal in the final of his favourite tournament, I don’t know how he will recover. I think this has all the ingredients to be one of the classic Wimbledon finals. I think Nadal is going to really trouble Federer in the final, especially if the young Spaniard can win the first set. With this being said, I still expect Federer to win, but it won’t be a dominating victory.

Defeat is something Federer has not been used to in recent years

Back in Australia, the Bledisloe Cup gets underway this weekend. New Zealand currently hold the cup, but the Aussies will be looking to win it back after losing it to the Kiwis 3 years ago. The Wallabies have been in pretty good form, but the All Blacks have been playing just as well. It should be a great game, and as soon as I see it I’ll write an update on it!

The Bledisloe Cup

Great gesture by both Jens Lehman and the German coaching staff to put Oliver Kahn back in goals for the third place match against Portugal this weekend. Lehman and Kahn are two of the greatest keepers in the world and Kahn is the reigning Golden Ball winner as the most outstanding player in the previous World Cup. Lehman and Kahn had a very tight battle for the starting position on the team, but Lehman won that competition and Kahn was relegated to the bench.

Lehman came out and stated that he would be happy for Kahn to play in the third place game, and despite the German officials saying it wasn’t a ‘thank you’ type gesture to Kahn, it’s obvious that it is because if they made the final, Kahn wouldn’t be playing. It’s nice to see that despite the heated battle to win the top spot, the two still have enough respect for each other to make a gesture like this.

Lehman of Arsenal and Kahn of Bayern Munich shake hands

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 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

I correctly picked 5 winners to advance out of the 8 round of 16 matches, incorrectly choosing Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Australia (although they were robbed) to advance to the Quarter Finals. In this round there are 4 matches: Italy vs Ukraine, England vs Portugal, Brazil vs France, Germany vs Argentina. I believe there is only one clear favourite to advance into the Semi-Finals and that is Italy, who should dispose of Ukraine without much hassle. The remaining three matches could go either way and I had a tough time determining who I think will advance to the next round.

I have chosen England to defeat Portugal, based only on my belief before the tournament that England would win. England have not been impressive throughout the tournament, winning two close games through David Beckham free kicks. In spite of this, I believe that they will be too much for the Portugese, and realistically, they are due for a game where they play to the level that everyone was expecting them to play prior to the tournament starting. It’s a credit to them that they have played so poorly but have still made the final 8.

Brazil vs France has the potential to be a very exciting game. France were unlucky to have not scored more points in their group, and today they handily defeated a Spanish team that had not lost in their previous 25 matches. The French could surprise Brazil, who may underestimate the French. I have only chosen Brazil to make it through because they’re Brazil, but I wouldn’t be surprised if France pulled off the upset though.

That leaves Germany vs Argentina, which could prove to be the match of the tournament. Probably the two form teams of the competition, unfortunately they meet in the Quarter Finals in a game that could easily be mistaken for the Final. Up until their Round of 16 match against Mexico, I thought Argentina was the best team in the competition. The Mexicans really troubled an Argentina side that have the most impressive player in the tournament so far - Riquelme. In contrast, Germany dominated early against Sweden, scoring two goals in the first 12 minutes and then cruising through the rest of the match. Based on form alone, Germany should dispose of Argentina, but this game really is too close to call and I believe that the crowd support should see Germany through to the Semi-Finals.

One last thing, just in case you haven’t seen enough of the backlash from the Italian cheater…

You don’t even need the Oscar to know he was acting - look at the cheesy smile!

Obviously this has been photoshopped, but I got a good laugh out of it in any case.

One day after ‘the dive’ and it’s still a bitter pill to swallow. Doesn’t make it any easier reading this article from smh.com.au this morning. Does anyone really expect the cheat to come out and admit that he dove? Anyone who has seen the replay can see that he instigated the contact with Lucas Neill. To have Grosso come out and say “I tried to avoid contact, I got past one defender but then my leg got stuck in between the other defender’s legs and I had no option but to go down” when he obviously didn’t, just infuriates me even more.

I don’t see him stuck between any defenders’ legs

“I’m such a happy little Italian, I can’t believe the ref fell for my dive!”

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I especially love the rear view of the ‘contact’

I don’t know how to describe what happened to Australia this morning any better than that because the Socceroos were robbed. I thought waiting six hours before composing this entry would make it easier, but it’s actually harder to explain how I’m feeling now than it was directly after the match. 10 seconds before the end of injury time and the game, referee Luis Medina Cantalejo, called a penalty after Italian player Fabio Grosso dove after he ran into Lucas Neill. Neill did not initiate any contact with Grosso, and the Italian certainly acted his way to a penalty that cost Australia a chance to make it through to the Quarter Finals. Readers of si.com also believe that this was a bad call to award the penalty.

Schwarzer unsuccessfully dives to stop Totti’s free kick

Mark Schwarzer was brilliant throughout the match, making some beautiful saves and making Guus Hiddink look foolish for dropping him in their previous match against Croatia. After Italy was reduced to 10 men early in the second half, Australia dominated the run of play, but they can only be left to wonder ‘what if?’ after failing to convert their man advantage into goals. The Aussies definitely played in a conservative manner and really didn’t try to push the tempo, even in the late stages when Italy were clearly sufferring from fatigue. If the match had have gone to extra time, I don’t believe the Italians would have been able to withstand the Australian attack. Unfortunately, due to another awful refereeing decision, Australia will never know just how far they could have gone in the tournament. Their next match would have been against Ukraine, and I don’t think anyone can say that they would have troubled the Aussies, especially considering they outplayed both Brazil and Italy, two of the soccer powerhouses, in their respective matches.

One thing is for sure though - Australian soccer has definitely arrived on the world scene. This performance in the World Cup is only going to do wonderful things for the game back home, and many a young child will have drawn inspiration from the performance. The Aussies have proven that they deserved to be in the World Cup, and despite the comment that comments US coach, Bruce Arena, made before the start of the tournament, Australia will never be considered an easy game again.

Although the events that transpired earlier were heartbreaking for all Australian soccer supporters, the Socceroos can hold their heads up high and know that they have impressed the global soccer community with their play over the past two weeks. I know they’ll be in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, and hopefully now that Australia is part of the Asian Confederation, they will have more frequent meaningful games and their support base will only grow larger. I know this much - they didn’t embarass themselves and I’m even prouder to be an Australian.

Looks like Australian coach, Guus Hiddink has admitted his mistake of placing Zeljko Kalac in goals instead of Mark Schwarzer in the Aussies previous match against Croatia. Although Hiddink didn’t say that he was putting Schwarzer back in goals for the next match against Italy, it was pretty much implied. I think the Australian population would be a lot more confident of an Australian victory knowing that Schwarzer was protecting our goal.

Currently in to the 77th minute of the Germany vs Sweden match and, barring a minor miracle, Germany will be advancing to the Quarter Final. They were up 2-0 after 12 minutes, thanks to two goals from Lukas Podolski - the second goal was beautiful. Germany looks exceptionally good at the moment; it’s a shame that they will potentially meet Argentina (if they win against Mexico) in the next round, but that’s the way the draw fell for them. Either one of these teams could win the entire tournament the way they are playing, and some would argue that, on form, they are currently the best two teams in the World Cup.