Day -711. WorldCup2018
After enjoying the Italy-Germany penalty shootout on the car radio
(radio commentary is exciting....we relied solely on the commentator's
reaction to know whether each player had scored) it was back home to
Toronto FC on TV. It was happening just down the road but the TV had to
do. Giovinco, Toronto's way-too-good-for-this-league star looked
permanently angry. It might have been because he felt that the referee
was determined to not ever judge that he had been fouled or that his
assistant didn't know the offside rule. Or it could be he still hasn't
got over not being picked to be part of the Italy squad for the Euros.
Or, maybe, his anger at being omitted was heightened when he saw that
clown Simone Zaza, who made the team, coming on in today's match in the
119th minute with the sole purpose of taking one of the penalties and
proceeding to act like an A1 idiot and screwing up his one job. It was
well described on the radio and I had to look for video evidence when I
got home. Giovinco would have got the job done.
But, as is normal
with me, that wasn't the story in my head. Toronto's opponents,
Seattle, brought on Nelson Valdez as a sub late in the second half.
Nelson Valdez. I remember that name. Paraguayan, said the commentator.
Oh yes. He was a centre forward who didn’t score many goals for a
Paraguayan team that was better at stopping the opposition from scoring
than actually scoring many themselves.
And it reminded me of the
Paraguay-Spain World Cup quarter final in 2010. It wasn't just the
incidents in the match that were memorable, but also how and where I was
watching it. I was having a husband kind of Saturday afternoon, looking
for a bar to be dropped off at while the rest of the family visited a
relative. At least I came for the drive, no? There weren't many people in
the bar and I assumed I was the only one watching what was a relatively
boring affair. But the sudden excitement in the second half drew
everybody together, if they weren't all watching already, in the shared
emotions of Spain's lucky win. At the end of the first half, Valdez
scored a goal but it was ruled out because his teammate was offside.
Controversial.
Midway through the second half Paraguay were awarded a
penalty. With there having been very few scoring chances the unspoken
thought in the bar was that this could be it for Spain. But the penalty
was saved and Spain counter attacked and won their own penalty. Xabi
Alonso scored but the referee (maybe in one of those I'll-even-it-out
moments after the disallowed goal) decided it had to be re-taken after
some Spanish players entered the penalty area before the kick was taken. The re-take? Saved. Justice? Maybe. By now everybody in that bar was
having conversations with whoever would listen, all caught up in the
wackiness of what was happening.
Extra time? Penalties? No. Towards the
end Pedro for Spain, smacked a shot against the post. The rebound came
to David Villa. His shot hit one post, rolled along the goal line, hit
the other post and went in. Cue cheers, shouts of disbelief and laughter
amongst my friends for 45 minutes. And that was it. Spain moved on and
the rest is history.
And I was picked up, excused from driving home due
to my beers that kept me company for 90 minutes and happy to know that,
with the wonderful time difference, the day was far from over and there
was still a late afternoon to enjoy.
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