} eng-t&t (warning: long rant about the match)

my house in indo is supposed to be internet-less, but somehow we managed to connect my dad's laptop to the phone line so now we are on dial-up. it's better than nothing.. hooray hooray. :D

i wanted to wait until i am in singapore before blogging but I CANT STAND IT ANYMORE IJUSTHAVETOBLOG ABOUT THE MATCH.

the match that im talking about is naturally the one between england and trinidad & tobago (i will be referring to them as t&t from now on..). YES BTW I GET TO WATCH ALL MATCHES HERE WITHOUT HAVING TO SUBSCRIBE TO SOME STUPID SOCCER CHANNELS JUST FOR THIS MONTH *GRUMBLEGRUMBLE* (for full rant on starhub's evil world-cup monopoly, pls click here) (jk, pls dont really click there, you might end up in some porn website).

the rest of my family only managed to sleep soundly when the match was over, which was at about 1am (sorry) but it was worth it! it was so exciting. well.. more frustrating actually. in the first half especially. cos t&t's defence just didnt allow any gap for england to score. :( (either that or some people like CROUCH messed up *grumble*). but at the end i felt really convinced that i was right to support england for this year's world cup! :D

like what suhui says, england boasts a lot of players from famous teams like arsenal, liverpool, man u, real, etcetc. and its true that they may be overrated, cos the fame might have gotten into their heads a little bit (for beckham, maybe a LOT, or too much). but some players really really impressed me during the match.

like JOHN TERRY. omgoodness. that goal he saved was really amazing. after he did that he really became my hero for the rest of the night (which, admittedly, wasnt very long, but still). i was very disappointed when beckham got the Man of the Match title instead of him. but ah well. maybe expert football critics didnt find his save as impressive as i did.

and peter crouch. truthfully, i have a somewhat love-hate thing for this player. on one hand, he missed quite a number of opportunities to score goals for england. it made me (and many eng fans in the stadium) want to scream 'STUPID CROUCH WHERE THE HELL IS ROONEY WHEN YOU NEED HIM'. uh. yeah. anyway. but on the other hand he DID score the first goal for eng. so i have to grudgingly admit that he is a rather good player.

wayne rooney. who, imo, saved the match. you could see that the entire team revved up their tempo when he joined in the match. it was amazing. it was as if the intense atmosphere was transferred through all the electromagnetic waves in the fibreglass wires and finally beyond the tv screen*. (*=failed attempt at drama.) he and lennon really brought the team's spirits up.

ashley cole i thought did pretty well too. i have to admit that i dont know much about football. but i think he really really put in a lot into this match. steven gerrard. great goal from him, which totally secured england's win. and... ok fine. beckham. i guess he was pretty good. he led the team well during the match, and i believe if he continues captaining this well or even better england may make it to the semifinals and (pray/hope/wish/etc) the finals as well. i also think he must have been under a lot of pressure, cos he took all the free kicks and (i think, cant remember?) corner kicks, but he handled them well.

overall i think the entire team put their hearts into the game. although they could have been more aggresive in their offense in the first half, their pace picked up in the second half (might have been cos of desperation, but oh well). t&t gave a strong challenge but eng lived up to their reputation as a strong team in a world tournament. it proved to me that they are not just a bunch of famous sissy overrated players. (ok, so no one knows if beckham ran straight into the washroom after the match to check on his hair, but i'd rather not be too cynical.)

but i dont think this entry alone will convince any reader that the england team has really put in the effort to live up to their name. you just had to watch the match, and see their reactions after their first goal. it wasnt the normal 'OMGWEGOTAGOALYESSSSSSS *RUSH OF ADRENALINE' kind of celebration, it was more of a relieved 'ok, we finally did it'. england didnt underestimate their opponent this time but instead gave their best. and im very proud of them. GO ENGLAND.

i really hope today's japan-croatia match will end off just as well. (for japan's side, that is.)

2006-06-18, 7:32 p.m..
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