Dutch goal against Brazil
I am a convert to this game, futbol, soccer, whatever. The last 4 games have been spectacular! Even though I intended to get up and watch the morning games, I admit to only seeing the last few minutes and the highlights of those.
BTW, those of you who think it odd that I consider these games early. Heh! Did you not believe me when I have said I am not a morning person? I don’t do single digit mornings, that’s my standard line. Don’t call, come by or expect to see me until after 10 am. Actually, I usually sleep for 7 or 8 hours from whenever I go to sleep so there are times that I’m in a habit of going to bed early and I’ll get up early – early for me is 8am. Generally though, I stay up late and that means I get up late. In the last week or so I’ve been staying up until after 2am and that means I’m not up until at least 10am. Everyone always told me that when I got older I would start getting up earlier. That hasn’t happened to me. I feel lucky that I can sleep however long I want and that the time I get up isn’t set but just the number of hours I like to sleep. I can still sleep for 12 hours if I want to, usually if it is gray and raining or if I am not looking forward to the day. Most of the time though, I wake up after 7 or 8 hours. I think I developed this skill because I worked different shifts during my career and I had to learn to sleep whenever. Anyway, I slept through most of the early games.
The ones I saw though were fantastic. I’m hooked now, I didn’t even watch Wimbledon although I checked in to see that Serena won. There was action, drama, great defense, good offense and more action and less acting. The headlines here said “Alemania humilla a Argentina: 4-0″ and I don’t think there were any tears shed for Argentina. The line for Brazil’s loss to Holland was “Ni samba ni magia”. So, now there are 3 European teams and little Uruguay left in the final 4. I will be rooting for Uruguay but I think the Germans look unstoppable. I like the Dutch team too, it’s too bad that the semi-finals don’t pit different teams. I’d like to see Holland and Uruguay in the finals but they play each other on Tuesday and only one will go on to meet either Germany or Spain on Wednesday. I’ll be watching these last games even if I have to set the alarm.
El uruguayo Luis Suárez (derecha) disputa el balón con el ghanés John Pantsil
Go Dutch! That’s what happen’s when you’re married to a dutchman.
All done with round balls too………….hooray Jonna. Cricket next !!
Hi Jonna!
I am writing to congratulate you on your recent conversion to the passion of World Cup soccer. Too bad it didn’t extend this year to the Brazilians who were IMO rather blase about the whole thing. Better Half says its because they have million dollar contracts with pro teams and so don’t really care about the world cup. The most dramatic, heart wrenching game I saw was the Ghana team get whacked in penalties by Uruguay. They played so well, regular time, then extra time and were all over the Uruguayans then to finally lose it in penalties was horrible.
I also want to apologize for not coming to your social event – the date came and went and I was in Alzheimer land and only realized it several days later… SORRY!
Anyway, hopefully you are not bitter as my addled brain is no reflection on my sentiments.
I am pleased to see that the excitement of the games is contagious and that you caught the bug. I was impressed by Uruguay’s defense tactics. It was so interesting to see what different kinds of tactics each team uses. Brazil seems to eek out rest time by arguing all the time. And they are pros at the fake injury thing. Mexico was exceptional at footwork and controlling the ball throughout most of their games. They just couldn’t find that net….it seems wide enough but it could be a little taller! I felt Argentina played a clean game, whereas France seemed to utilize attempts at injuring the other players as their best offense. The teams that remain are super pros and the games are all exciting to watch. You will be happy to know this week’s semi-finals don’t start until 1:30pm.
Now you never admitted in your first blog that you watch TENNIS ON TV. Holy smokes! How could someone who watches tennis on tv find fútbol boring. I’d rather watch bowling than tennis, but only to hear all the great Polish names that bring back memories of little Poland, Toledo, Ohio. I can’t really watch bowling! No more than I can watch poker! I was just kidding.
Regarding your early mornings: it’s no wonder you didn’t retire in Florida. I think it a state law that all retirees must be up at the crack of dawn, and BE SEEN by their neighbors…going out for the newspaper, a morning walk, whatever….The good news is HERE you can sleep all frikkin day if you want and stay up all night…what’s more it’s not a bad idea in summer because you can get more done when it is not 150° outside…and inside.
So when this Mundial ends there is only one month remaining until pre-season FOOTBALL!!! In Hawaii we saw the games live and the first one came on at 7am. I imagine you wouldn’t have caught many of those games either….tho we did get a lot of 49er coverage since we received west coast feeds. I have been blogging about the soccer games too, if you get a chance, check them out.
Leslie, the Dutch looked good and they were really scrappy – I like that fervor.
Stephen, Cricket eh? I actually still would like to get an idea of how it works, the rules are not obvious to an outsider.
Vil? what? another name? We missed you and your lovely better half at the party but there will be others. I’m never bitter, I just plan another party
Yes, Ghana looked good and they were devastated at the end. I would not like to be that player that missed the penalty shots.
Lin, Florida has never been on my radar. I find it odd that for many old f*rts there seem to be points awarded for how early you get up. They brag about it as if it were something to be proud of, not in my book. There are plenty of worms for the late bird and definitely the late mouse gets all the cheese. It’s true that one of the things I love about Merida is that dinner starts at 10pm and lunch is from 2 – 4pm and includes a nap. I keep meaning to write you that I can’t get your blog to register in my RSS reader, thus I miss a lot of your posts. Look for RSS feeds and see if you can turn it on, OK?
You are so lucky that you can sleep late. Even when I got to bed late (for me ‘late’ is before midnight), I am still ready to get up before 7. When I was younger I was not a morning person, don’t know what happened. I say you have it right – sleep when you want and when you need, that’s what retirement is all about. Isn’t it great!?
First of all, I am so jealous! I wish I could stay in bed until 10am. Especially after staying up until 4am reading a juicy romance novel!
Now on to one of my favorite subjects: Futbol! My Mexican hubby got me hooked watching France 1998! And I have been a big fan ever since. I think the Germans are going to take the title this year. But we are rooting for Uruguay because that is the team Hubby got in a local pool.
I’m a fellow Mexpat and I love your blog!
OK I had to laugh here because a while back I was defending futbol to you and your (English I think?) friends. Now you are hooked – well jolly good I say!
Did you catch the Germany / Paraguay third place game? Quite a good one I thought. Hopefully the final tomorrow will also be a good one. Have you picked a team to favor in the Mexican leagues? I am a Cruz Azul fan.
Glad to have you on our side of this issue amiga!
I agree Sue, sleeping until you want to get up is one of the great joys of retirement. I feel lucky that I can sleep whenever. It took some doing to get used to working midnights and sleeping in shifts but I had good advice and I learned. Now, I think I’m reaping the rewards.
Leslie, I love your blog and your recipes always make me hungry. I have to update my blog roll and get you on there. I thought Germany would win it too but I guess that octopus is better at picking than we are.
I know John, I know. I was resistant but I’ve come around. I haven’t decided on a MX team yet, I think there is one in Cancun that I should look at. I always favored Chivas but that was when I spent more time in Jalisco. Where is Cruz Azul based? It would be fun to go to a game. I missed the game today, the Brit (Stephen) said it was a good game. I’m there tomorrow but I am not sure who I will be rooting for. I like the Dutch because they are aggressive and go for it but then, Spain has a pull too. I like being on the same side as Shakira – whatever will we do when the Waka Waka is not being played non stop all day?