Onge!

We left the celebratory Spaniards, and had a 24-hour layover in Amsterdam before flying home. The second place World Cup finish did not deter them from showing up for a welcome home parade for the team.

We were at the airport, watching the festivities on tv while we waited to go through security. The king and queen escorted the team out of the palace to greet throngs of proud fans.

Amsterdam turns out to be the perfect place to buy a souvenir
for someone who wears onge every day! Nice onge hat buddy!

rapture

one more day

In 24 hours it will be halftime of the final. I'll be standing somewhere along Ave. Cristina watching the match on giant screens surrounding the fountain, surrounded by Spaniards.
The next day, we pack up and head for a final night in Amsterdam.
Back to the third place match.

to the finals

and then the street outside our hotel room erupted in cheers and singing and obnoxious horns.

The best way to watch the cup

A cup, for so long banal has turned brilliant in these last four matches. The Ghana-Uruguay match is the stuff of legend, debate, memory and agony, all that which makes sport great. The others were perhaps not as compelling, certainly not as epic, but nonetheless great spectacles, high drama and good entertainment.
But while live human beings playing the matches on vast expanses of grass offer one form of entertainment, to relive and remember, there is no better form than lego football:

knockout

The knockout round began 45 minutes ago. The US have one of the easiest paths forward, but not England. By finishing second the English face Germany in the first round and likely Argentina in the second. To reach the final, they'd need to beat Spain, who have a fairly simple path to the semi-finals if they can beat Portugal tomorrow night. The winner of that match should get past the winner of Paraguay-Japan for a spot in the semi-finals.

The US side is much easier. The Americans begin tonight against Ghana, and would face the winner of Uruguay - South Korea. For me, Uruguay comes of of this side to the semi-final.

The other half of the bracket suggests a Brazil-Netherlands matchup likely in the quarterfinals, with the winner to face Uruguay. Brazil-Uruguay probably means Brazil into the finals, though Uruguay have impressed thus far.

Sure to be disproven quickly, your semi-finals prediction:

Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, Brazil.

Slovakia!

Shot immediately following the second Slovakia goal, in the Piazza Duomo.

Eliminé!

I can't decide if France's utter failure at the World Cup, earning just one point, should anger of please the Irish. On the one hand, it's nice to see the French fail so miserably after Henry's handball-goal earned them entrance into the competition in the first place. On the other, they wasted the opportunity, surely the Irish believe they would have better used the place in the finals than the French.

Thoughts on the cup

Thus far, a droll World Cup. It is showing signs of life, with Cameroon and Denmark entertaining, and then the US and Slovakia also providing good value. But otherwise, it's been very physical, and only flashes, moments of brilliance rather than a sustained drama. That said, not every team has played two matches, and the final round of group stage games is full of intrigue.

Scoping out Munich

Our first night in Munich I left Simon to watch his soccer game and went off to scope out central Munich.

It was raining but I took the underground train a few stops to Marienplatz and bustled along with many other people through the streets. I visited two cathedrals and the Nationaltheater (where they stage operas). Mass had just started at Frauenkirche, and the echo of the voices was a pleasure to experience.

I decided to swing by Hofbrauhaus for the end of the USA Slovenia game and came upon a 50/50 mix of Americans and Slovenians crammed into a room, screaming like mad. The Slovenians sang their country song whenever it was their turn to make noise, but the American frat boys merely chanted USA! USA! I walked out of there with ringing in my ears - I'm sure Simon was better off in our comfortable hotel room.

As I was leaving after the game a little band of men starting playing German polka on clarinets and brass instruments - after drinking some beer. The food smelled wonderful but I held out and had a pretzel sandwich and raspberry chocolate cake from a popular cafe overlooking Marienplatz.

The Nationaltheatre (I cheated for this photo because of the rain, but Simon takes most of the other beautiful pictures).

Onge!

My nephew's love of orange is infectious! Amsterdam's soccer color is orange, and the city and its fans were decked out.

Nathan's mom's favorite candy was in special edition onge packaging -
she would have to share with him if it came in an onge bag!