What the Cup?

Another day of heartbreak as Ghana crash out of the cup. They didn't even have to lose. They had the game handed to them on a silver platter more than once and just couldn't do it. A penalty kick was rewarded off a red card at 120+4 minutes. That should have been the game 100 percent. I understand that it must have been the most tense minute in Ghana's sporting history, but that shot is so key that how can a player miss that? Let's not forget that the player taking the shot was Asamoah Gyan, the striker that crushed US dreams in the previous round. Certainly this should have gone in. The whole stadium was dancing and singing at the certain victory of Ghana after an amazingly well done match. The red carded player slumped off the field shielding his tears with his shirt. It was a certainty. Then Gyan hit the god damn bar and we went to penalty kicks.

It got very nerve racking here as I had already watched the Blue Samurai stumble on penalty kicks. You'll have to understand I was skeptical and worried at the huge underdog Ghana's chances against Uruguay. I watched as on the third kick, the same as the Japanese, Ghana had their shot blocked. My heart sank out of my body and I felt betrayed by this tournament. Absolutely betrayed, like my viewership of all 50 something games was for nothing. Uruguay missed their next kick and Ghana's hopes were again revived. Perhaps it was the incessant booing from the crowd at every Uruguayan player that made the guy miss. The next kick was crucial and Ghana's player stepped up, and missed. Heartbreak again. Uruguay made the next kick and moved through.

It killed my mood for the rest of the day.

Earlier Netherlands had beaten down a pathetic looking Brazil side that simply couldn't produce anything special. The Dutch continued their great form to come back from a 0-1 deficit to win the game in style at 2-1. Their fightback will be a story of the cup since they after coming back from the half the looked like an entirely different team. They were unstoppable going towards then Brazilian net and Julio Cesar was left defenseless as two balls (heh) made it past him into the net. Good luck to the Dutch as they face the lackluster Uruguay team in the semifinals.

It's looking like Netherlands have a great chance to get into the final. Uruguay looked pathetic against Ghana and were only able to win on penalties. They weren't very convincing against South Korea and the only other big team they've come up against, France, they ended up drawing. That wasn't even a good France squad. Netherlands will be heavily favored and will hopefully be able to end South American dreams and send Forlan and crew home in tears.

Tomorrow it's Germany vs Argentina and Spain vs Paraguay.