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Quite a bit has happened since my last World Cup post...

Brazil is starting to look a little more like themselves. As soon as the pressure is turned up, they are always able to pull their game up a notch. Quite unfortunate for the competitors. Ronaldo now has the record for most world cup goals scored and he did quite nicely... there's nothing quite like setting a goalie on his rear before finishing. But Ghana did play well, and Brazil still has some big defensive problems to solve. With France picking up speed as well, their quarter-final match will be a great rematch of the 1998 finals.

Portugal 1 Holland 0. That was quite a game. Unfortunately for Holland, the only thing they had going for them were their cool flag-colored jerseys instead of their usual royal orange. I still don't think that the ref did as bad a job as everyone is saying he did. If the players break the rules, (intentional handballs, cheap shots, time wasting) he HAS to give them cards according to the RULES! Obviously there were some calls that he got wrong, but I could only tell after the replay.

Ukraine went nuts. I heard stories from what happened at 12:40 a.m. from the central square, outskirts of the city, villages, and from our own apartment when Rebrov scored the winning penalty. And how about two saves from the penalty spot for the keeper? Wow... Ukraine went nuts. Cars honking their horns everywhere, fireworks... in the village (where it is quieter than in the city) there was an audible general shout. We'll see how they do against Italy. Ukraine is in great company... Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Portugal, France, Brazil..... and Ukraine. Before this World Cup, Ukraine was never mentioned in the same sentence with those teams. World Cup #1 for Ukraine is already a success.