Busy Day of Friendlies

Today I spent a less-than active day parked in front of my television set watching internationals. Always hyped to the hilt, internationals can be a mixed bag: they can bring out the passion and excitement, but some matches (especially friendlies) tend to be bores. Here’s what transpired:

1:00pm: I started the day with the second half of the Portugal-Armenia game on Sentanta. The game was 1-1 in the first half and that’s how it finished. Not that I knew that while I was watching it: they never showed the game clock or the score during the second half, so I had only a vague idea the teams were tied. On top of that, because the game was played in Armenia, the footage was all grainy, like the Zapruder film. I kept waiting for the motorcade with JFK to go by. Perhaps Christiano Ronaldo was the second gunman?

2:00pm: After Portugal I switch over to watch the end of the Brazil-Algeria game. Saw Ronaldinho score. Spent most of the game fantasizing about the upcoming Brazil-USA friendly which will be played in Foxboro Stadium, my home soccer stadium. Will Kaka and the other big names come to Massachusetts? Ah, the drama.

2:30pm: Live on Fox Soccer Channel, its USA v. Sweden! My Dad, who watches part of the match with me, is positively startled by the size of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s nose. The game finishes 1-0 Sweden, but the US really doesn’t play all that badly. As with everyone else, they need to finish their chances. Benny Feilhaber continues to impress me.

5:00pm: The main event, England v. Germany. Kind of like World War Two, except without the bombings and the genocide and the whatnot. Germany wins 2-1, but England actually plays pretty well. Beckham, Micah Richards and fat Frank Lampard all look good for the Three Lions. Paul Robinson, er, does not. By the time the game has ended English columnists are already filing stories killing mildly-retarded England skipper Steve McClaren for flying Beckham 8,000 miles to play a full 90 minutes on a bum ankle for a friendly. If he then loses Beckham for the next three months (and thus blows his shot at qualifying for Europe) he really only has himself to blame.

Regardless, a rare fun of day of international friendlies. But back to business this weekend!