It's Only a Game

Taken from the ESPN Soccernet website:

Italian pair killed over finals argument
July 7, 2010

A German man accused of killing two Italian supporters after an argument about World Cup triumphs got out of hand has been captured on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Italians Franco Siccu, 47, and Giuseppe Longhitano, 49, were at a bar in Hannover, Germany, when they entered into a heated debate with a 42-year-old man known only as 'Holger B'.
The pair claimed that their nation had won more World Cups than Germany (they were right as the tally is four to three in favour of the Azzurri), but the German man disagreed.

'Holger B' left the bar to apparently get some money but returned with a 9mm pistol, which he allegedly used to shoot Siccu and Longhitano dead. Siccu died instantly, Longhitano a day later in hospital from his wounds.

"Witnesses said the row was over who had won the World Cup most," a police spokesman said. "Tragically, it escalated out of hand." The incident sparked a manhunt in Germany, as police searched for the killer of the pair, who were living and working in Germany as chefs.

Having fled to Spain, the suspect surrendered to authorities on Tuesday, giving himself up to a court in Palma, where he has now been remanded in custody by a magistrate. "We had early indications that the suspect had fled to Majorca," a police spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for Hannover's state prosecutor explained the suspect is likely to be extradited to Germany in the near future.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/806792/ce/uk/?cc=5739&ver=global

USA Out of the Running...

The US team is out of the World Cup, too... Gloom and despair has descended upon my household like the sound of 10,000 vuvuzelas petering out in a sad and lonely whimper.

Now who are we supposed to root for?

I'm leaning toward either Mexico or Japan, because I have lived and worked in both of those nations, so there are emotional and historical links. Danny is undecided, but leaning toward Japan. More on the logic of "support the underdog" than anything else.

In the meantime, what's a boy to do but go to the beach, contemplate the horizon and the big questions in life (Justice! Injustice!) and lean on his old man for a little support...

Italy Out of the Running

Personally (shh, don't tell anyone okay?), but personally...I could care less about the World Cup.

That's a dangerous sentiment at my house, best expressed far from the hearing range of my older son. For him, the World Cup means "all soccer, all day" for the entire period of the event. He watches every game televised on Italian TV, whether he cares about the teams playing or not. Is it possible that he really cares about ALL of the teams?

Every day after Italy has played he buys the Gazetta dello Sport, the Italian sports daily, and pours over all of the analyses and statistics.

He has eaten every evening since the beginning of the Cup in front of the TV, with his dinner balanced on a tray on his knees so he can follow the game.

Let's just say we are living, breathing, talking, everything soccer all day every day and I see no end to this lifestyle in the foreseeable future. No wait, it has to end. The World Cup can't last forever...can it? No, no, July 11...the final game will be held that day. There's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Check out his enthusiasm before a recent Italy game:


Oh, the weird blond in the background dancing and making immature gestures to Italy's national anthem? That would be me, of course. My husband and son were scandalised by my irreverent behaviour. I just call it the "anthem shimmy." Forgive me if I don't share in the gravitas of the whole thing!

Anyway, it's old news by now that Italy lost to Slovakia yesterday. And that WE WERE ROBBED by those LOUSY refs! etcetera...

Luckily, we are a dual citizenship household. Now that Italy has been sidelined, our loyalties have immediately shifted to the US team. Keep your fingers crossed for the game against Ghana tomorrow. Go USA!

Do you think I can teach Danny the American national anthem by tomorrow evening? How does it go? "Oh, say can you see"...and then? Why don't I know it by heart the way Italians know theirs? Admittedly, theirs is catchier, with more rhyming lines and a lot of yelling DEATH, DEATH at the end. Such drama...

Are you watching the World Cup? Willingly? Or, like me, to keep a loved one happy?