As amazing as it sounds (since I never watch sports), I’ve been totally getting into the World Cup and have watched not all, but many of the matches. No, No, not to the point of going to Germany, painting my face and wearing a styrofoam cheese or something equally unsubtle on my head. AND definitely nothing close to bringing a live chicken into the stadium, which is what a fanatically insane Frenchman (Clément d’Antibes) did by stuffing a live chicken named Balthazar down his pants to hide it from the stadium officials. If you watched the France vs. Korea match last night, you might’ve seen him in the crowd shots. He was the guy….with a live chicken.

Actually, it’s not true that I never watch sports. I went to the L.A. and Atlanta Olympics and I’ve been to baseball and American football games and when growing up, I used to go to all of the hockey games in town (and I played all of the sports in Little League but playing is much more fun than watching). I rarely actually watched the sports (it was more of a social thing) when going to live events except for hockey. Hockey is different; it’s kind of cool and you have to watch it.

With football (soccer to all y’all in the U.S.) I’ve found that it is really fun to watch, not like kill-me-now-with-boredom baseball. (sorry baseball fans) I keep wondering why it is so ignored in the U.S. (in Canada too? I’m not sure.) whilst the rest of the WORLD is so much into it. Propaganda years back probably by the American Football Federation or whatever it’s called. To me, football is sort of like a combination of American football, hockey, some…wrestling (wrasslin’ to wrasslin folks) all mixed with drama class (the soap opera variety: lying, cheating, crying, whining, faking and lots of gasping and touching). I only add the wrestling part because there is so much tripping, pulling, falling, diving, contorted faces, injuries and…drama class.

And all that cheating and lying and histrionics aren’t reserved for only the players; the refs do the same and I swear some games are “planned” in advance. You know what I’m talking about. Didn’t you watch the Holland versus Cote d’Ivoire? That game was weird and tricked, but very fun to watch! I imagined that some players are tipped off with the “plan” along with the coach, but not all players are in on it. Call me crazy, but just watch closely, ok? If not for that, watch the guys; a lot of them are really cute.

Will there be more American viewers watching the World Cup now that the U.S. didn’t embarrass us during their last game with Italy? I hope so. Everyone expected the Yanks to get creamed by the Italians like when they played against the Czech Republic but no! Forget that they played with an inferiority complex and that the only U.S. point was the result of an accident, grâce à our man, Italian hero of the day, Zaccardo. Yay him! It was a good draw game; did you see the evil Italian De Rossi elbow McBride???! Blood gushing and everything! And De Rossi’s little smirk as he was given the red card. Priceless entertainment. Anyway, we’ll see. The U.S. plays against Ghana on the 22nd. Stay tuned.

Last night’s draw game with France versus Korea was surprising. Everyone said that France was the favorite by far but never underestimate the power of the underdog. The French team didn’t look like a lean, mean football machine as was anticipated, but rather, like a bunch of bumbling entertainers; just slap on some bright, frilly clown outfits and that would’ve been perfect. Sorry about that to the people rooting for les bleus (even though the team wore WHITE), I couldn’t help it. Mea culpa. So. France will now have to play against Togo this friday AND must win by 2 points to qualify.

Lastly, I cannot finish this post without recommending another football related computer game. This one’s a goodie called, The Goalkeeper, made by our Italian buds Winterwolves based just outside the famous Cinque Terre terraced hills.

Here, you create your own goalkeeper and make sure he has a winning career. You can choose from 6 leagues, select his base skills, personality traits and skills set then train him to increase his abilities. All the changing stats are easily available to you and each match shows stats for each player from both teams, i.e., injuries, substitutions, goals, etc. You have a Training Screen to be able to better your skills for the next match. The Contract/Coach Talk Screen reveals the attitude of the goalkeeper toward the team. There you can also talk to the coach to stay with the team or move, or you can try to get him to let you play the next match if he planned otherwise. The commentary describes what’s going on: when the opponent striker tries to score, you have 3 options: Arcade Save in which you must intercept the ball using the mouse, Strategy Save in which you choose between three options, and Instant Save that, as the name suggests, is calculated instantly.

A slight aside: The American goalkeeper Kasey Keller looks like he’s straight from the game, The Goalkeeper. Look!

Try The Goalkeeper demo at Winterwolves by clicking on one of the links below to download the:

PC (Windows) Demo

Mac Demo

If you want to play a football game that is less cerebral and a lot of fun, try Kickin’ Soccer.