Tuesday 29 June 2010

Contains words about football, and another dream

This will be the one and only comment I make about England and the World Cup - specifically about the England-Germany game the other day.

A lot of people have said that we would have lost to Germany regardless of the fact that our second goal was disallowed, that we just weren't good enough. Up to now, I've agreed. In general, we most definitely weren't good enough, throughout the whole tournament. Pretty poor in fact.

So - we were losing by two goals to nil. Yes, our midfield and defence made very basic errors which allowed them through. But how many teams, in that position, make a good enough comeback to equalise within the first half against a team such as Germany, on a high-profile stage such as the World Cup finals? I'm finding myself starting to agree with those who suggest that if our second goal had been allowed - which it obviously ought to have been - that, at the very least, England were in with a chance to regain the initiative...we could well have been up against the prospect of an enthralling and more evenly-matched second half, possibly (just possibly, mind) with a different outcome.

Still, I did have the sense that if we'd won against Germany, we would only be prolonging the agony until the next game. Regardless of the what-ifs I've just posted, overall we were really walking a tightrope the rest of the time. We're out now, and I'm neither bitter nor am I exactly smarting about the outcome such that it was.

Right, that's that out of the way.

Last night I dreamt that I was in a shop and, as I walked along a particular part of it, everyone turned to me and told me I wasn't supposed to stand there. There was nothing to indicate that this was the case, it was just a normal part of the shop, with shelves displaying goods that were on sale - but everyone looked at me with sheer disapproval.

Meanwhile, in a different dream (or part of the same one, I'm not sure) I was sat with three security guards. One of them was actually a greyhound but also a dinosaur. He was a very decent sort of chap, all the same.

12 comments:

Zhoen said...

No, I don't mind when you don't reply to comments. As long as I'm not the only one who never gets a reply, and everyone else does.

At work, we have been watching a lot. But we tend to focus on whose ACL just got blown out, which is very wrong of us, but rather predictable.

No reason a greyhound dinosaur security guard wouldn't be a perfectly nice guy.

trousers said...

I just lose track occasionally (re comments), Zhoen.

You'll have to enlighten me on what ACL is an acronym for though, I may be in a post-cycling daze and not be able to think, or I may just not know.

As regards your last point - absolutely!

Carol said...

I don't know a lot about football but I did catch a wee bit of the England Germany game. From what I could see the team didn't look like much of a team (if you know what I mean). Still, the goal was definitely a goal and that was a really shoddy decision.

I love the fact that the security guard was both a greyhound and a dinosar..it conjures up a rather wonderful image!

C x

Queen Vixen said...

So feeling a little out of place ... and most definately disapproved of. You did get the security guards (blanket) involved but alas they were not what you were looking for.... ah, I need to get back into my Jung. Agree on the footie by the way ... thank goodness for cider, would have felt like the match was a total waste of time without it

trousers said...

No we weren't much of a team for the most part, Carol. We had a few minutes here and there of good play, but which was good enough to produce two goals.

I'm not going to extrapolate my "what ifs" any further than I have done though, since what's done is done and I'm ok with that. In fact I'm far more relaxed now England are out of the competition, it doesn't half play on the nerves.

Queen Vixen, good to see you back! Your analysis strikes the right chords but I think there are a couple of news articles I read yesterday (including this one in parrticular), which reinforced that sense of disapproval in the back of my mind.

Fire Byrd said...

Oh I love the last sentence to describe the greyhoud/dinosaur (sp)security guard. Sounds simply spliffing and a jolly good show old bean!
xx

trousers said...

FB, that's exactly the sense of how it was in the dream - the chap was a perfectly good sort! x

nmj said...

Trews, I think it would def have made a difference psychologically if England had got their goal, how could it not? It did feel pretty unfair but I still think Germany would have won, though I hope they get beaten by Argentina! The greyhound/dinosaur security guard is a gem.

trousers said...

I think it would have been a far better game all round, and would have been more like two teams playing against each other as opposed to one thrashing the other, nmj! Like I say, it makes the outcome less certain for me, I think we could have been in with a far better chance, but it all ends up being "what if" sort of stuff.

Football's really been off my radar since then - not because England are out, I've enjoyed following all the games - but because I've had a few other things I've had to focus on.

nmj said...

Ghana-Uruguay was supposed to be good, but I only saw the penalty highlights. Poor Ghana!

trousers said...

I missed that too, saw some of the highlights today. I watched Germany-Argentina, and Germany were a delight to watch. 4-0! At least we managed to score against them ;0)

Now for Spain-Paraguay..

nmj said...

I just saw a little of Spain-Par, the penalty Par didn't get, then the penalty Spain got a minute later but weren't allowed, then they missed when they re-took it, heartstopping stuff, but I felt so sorry for Par when they lost, in the end. I think Germany will win...at the moment they seem like the footballing equivalent of Nadal..