Monday, July 5, 2010
With apologies to Orange fanatics and my dear friends the Lessas in Uruguay, but the Spain-Germany semi IS the final. It's galling to realize that the Uru side beat a game Ghana team on an intentional hand block on goal, denying an African team historic entry into a World Cup semi. As for the stolid, solid Dutch, well... they're about as exciting to watch as paint drying. That semi will be one big meh. As for the other semi, that's where aficionados of the game will surely find flair, gusto, eclat and cojones. And nein... these are not the nicknames of the respective teams' midfielders ::chuckle:: though they could well be. It should be an exciting reprise of Euro Cup 2008, which the Spaniards won 1-nil. The youthful German side is showing dominating, sustained brilliance. And it still feels pretty amazing to me to see that team not largely comprised of blond Teutonic giants but instead an intriguing patchwork of ethnics—Khedira (Tunisian), Aogo (Nigerian), Ozil (Turkish), Podolski (Polish), Gomez (Spanish), Boateng (Ghanaian), Klose (Polish), Cacau (Brazilian). And those are just the ones with obvious non-Germanic names. But Spain. Ah, the affinity! The closeness I feel to physical specimens who are... well, not to put too fine a point on it: short. ;p The midfielders Xavi and Iniesta—wizards, kinetic artists who paint entire narratives onto the 90-minute canvas of a game. So it will be a tough call for me, root-wise. I love the quality and composition of both teams, whose results thus far speak for themselves (though the Germans' wins have been more dominating). Regardless, it will be a joy to watch this penultimate scrum. The subsequent final will be the dictionary definition of anticlimactic.
