World Cup

One of the biggest sporting events is almost upon us. It is the month long celebration of the sport we love (or tolerate, at least) and I plan to miss very little of it. I apologize for doing another off-topic post but I promise to add some referee content to make it more kosher. It is just that it is one of those things that happens once in a blue moon and it is an event that the whole world hinges on every play, every goal and in the end, one of the big countries will come out the winners, but I hope against hope that someone unexpected will take the title (not your typical Brazil, Germany or Italy).

What are your expectations for this event? I know I will be looking at the refereeing teams early on to see if I can figure out who is doing a good job. 4 years ago, Horacio Elizondo of Argentina did the first and last matches of the World Cup. My guess is that we will see someone who has one of those impeccable runs just like the teams do and they will have a good final. For some reason I remember the names of two other refs of World Cup finals without having to look them up, Codesal from Mexico did the 1990 World Cup final, and Arphi Filo (sp?) did the 1986 final both featuring Argentina and Germany.

Not that I ever aspire to get to that level, but it is nice to see how the pros do it to then take those techniques and try to apply them (normally unsuccessfully) to the younger games. Let me know what you all see and hopefully we will be talking about a small country (in terms of soccer prowess) taking home the cup. I would love to the US go deep and countries like Uruguay, Paraguay, Ivory Coast or the Swiss make an impact and leave out one or more of the giants in the group phase.

Personally, I think Spain will win as they are just too good, but it is 90 minutes and you have to play great soccer in the knockout phase or you go home. Hope everyone enjoys it. I know I will.