Oi Fuckers! Put yer shootin boots on!

I suppose it makes sense that the land of the cuckoo clock should have woken up the World Cup. Thank God, I was close to falling asleep during the first week and never waking up again. That said, the excitement may have gone up a notch or two, but I'm not sure that can be said about the quality. Germany sparkled in their first game, but the Aussies were woeful. The US/Slov game was good to watch, but, Bradley's goal withstanding, hardly blessed with great football. Last night's Dan/Cam match was full of entertainment, but much of it was the result of errors.

The only team so far to show any consistency has been Argentina. Of the world stars only really Messi has offered something. Kaka is still wearing his Real shirt and Torres started on the bench. Ronaldo pouted a lot, but produced little. Rooney turned red a lot, but looked like he'd never seen a football before.

It has to be said, many of the games have been dull, some painfully so. Too many of them have been influenced by José Mourihno. Again and again we've seen tactically astute teams, particularly in respects to a collective defence. Too many coaches have been studying this year's Inter Milan. Nowhere is this more obvious than in teams denying an opponent's full backs from getting forward. Maicon and Lahm may have done well, but when a team has set out to negate, they've copied Inter, and had success. England, Holland, France and others came with attacking fullbacks, but they've all been pinned back. And as a result, so has entertaining wing play.

But, as we saw last night, when teams have to win, tactics get thrown out of the window. Most of the groups are still open, so the last round, typically the best few days of any World Cup, should provide more goals and more entertainment. Time for Ronaldo, Kaka, et al, to put their bloody shooting boots on.

There has been one very disturbing sight at this World Cup. And I'm not talking about England or France, or Shuan Wright-Phillips thinking running at someone counts as dribbling, or the Spanish referee, or even the American lady with the 'WE ARE THE YANKS' flag. No I'm talking about Germany coach Joachim Löw and his assistant Hans-Dieter Flick.
Breaking the odd rule of fashion is hardly uncommon in the world of soccer, but these two have gone way too far. Wearing a sports jacket over a t-shirt is wrong. Leaving the house in partner look is very wrong. Doing both is just criminal. Sooney Crockett may have gotten away with the former during the 80s, but would he and Tubbs have stepped out of their Ferrari wearing the same outfit? I don't think so.