Nederlands - World Cup 2006 Dreams End
The Netherlands (no, I didn't spell the name in the title wrong; that's how they actually spell it...) lost to Portugal today by a score of 1-0 in the World Cup soccer tournament. Celebrating my Dutch heritage, I was cheering them on and hoping for the best (I at least wanted them to make it to the quarterfinals). However, Portugal has squashed my hopes for this year, and having the US and Holland out of the Cup finals, I have no teams left to cheer for but Italy (the country surrounding our beloved Vatican City) and Brazil (the country with the world's largest Catholic population). My prediction for the 2006 champions: Brazil.
Today's game was hard-fought, and it was amazing how sweaty everyone was (including the ref!). It was a humid 88°F, and I think that may have had something to do with the flaring tempers and the four 'almost-fights' in the second half (two men from each side received red cards throughout the game). The Netherlands seemed to dominate most of the game (they had the ball over 60% of the game, and had numerous scoring opportunities), but Portugal capitalized on one great chance, and played an aggressive defensive game during the second half (they had one less player most of the half).
Hopefully the Dutch (and the US, for that matter!) fare better next time. Until then, The KGB Lions soccer team will be working on making it to the CYC men's league finals!
