Balla - On The Ball

Football mania

I've had to watch and learn and sometimes even enjoy  football (soccer) during this World Cup.  It's join em or suffer.

I even know what a penalty is, still not sure about off-side although it has been explained to me a few times.  How the players don't end up in hospital after some of the somersaults they do on the field I can only attribute to male stoicism.  I know a lot of it is staged but some of those tumbles look painful.  As for the head shots  ... their brains must be rattling round in their skulls.  The foul play reminds me of Australian rules rugby.  The excitement of the match is in the tackling.    How Neymar manages to do any foot work or shoot a goal is a miracle.  If he hasn't got someones arm around his neck, there's a player tugging at his shirt, stamping his foot or just shoving him as hard as they can without the ref blowing his whistle.  So what's a yellow card anyway.  

Rugby tackle

Last night we walked down to the harbour to see Croatia play Russia on the big screen at our favourite cafeteria

The cafe owner is a good friend so he saved us a ringside table and provided a plate of fatty pork to go with the beer, and my coke light

The only player whose name I recognised was Luka Modric, captain of the Croatian team.  He plays for Real Madrid and I've seen him play against greek teams and he stood out in every game.  Some names just pop-out as you listen to the commentary, especially when it is in a foreign language.  Mesi's name was noticeably absent from most of his matches.  He seemed to be a sideliner.  

Luka Modric

Croatian Captain

Anyway, I was hoping for a Croatian win, not that it mattered at all. Everytime the Russians scored a goal there were cheers all along the waterfront.  We noticed a lot of Russian flags being waved as we walked downtown so the Russians must have been in town in full force.

Big disappointment for the Russians, playing on home turf.  It reminded me of 2004 when Greece won the European cup.  They played the final in Portugal against the Portuguese national team.  It was a surprise win for Greece and one of the Portuguese players lay down on the turf and cried when the final whistle blew.

Now I'm looking forward to the semi-finals and we've already booked our seat for the final. 

We're also looking forward to a change in weather.  There is a noticeable difference in the air.  Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  The air is cooler, there are clouds in the sky so we may just get a cooling shower.  The last few days have been incredibly muggy.

An unusual June and July , as it has been in a lot of places in the world.  We've had rain, hail, heatwaves.  Zeus has hurled a few thunderbolts.  We've had everything but snow.