Wayne Rooney has issued a statement claiming that his now-infamous crotch stomp was unintentional. I invite you to watch this and judge for yourself (the video clip contains some hilarious Chinese commentary, by the way.) Why not just repent already? The public will forgive Rooney his youthful indiscretions. Somebody’s giving the kid some very bad advice.
So I went to The Bull’s Head, a venerable Bangkok pub, to watch the England-Portugal match; the 150 or so English supporters in attendance were excited, hopeful, nervous, and then dejected, all in that order. Unbelievable game. Finished 0-0 after 120 minutes of regulation and extra time and then England absolutely imploded in the penalties, making just 1 of 4 attempts. The Portugese goalkeeper Ricardo single-handedly won the game for his side, saving Lampard and Gerrard and Carragher.
There were tears — Becks, a la Gazza in ’90, limped off injured and collapsed on the sideline, his finely-chiseled facial features contorted into a rictus of sadness as he downright blubbered and blubbered and blubbered. Holy crap. There was also rage, with Wayne Rooney stomping on an opponent’s crotch and the getting a red card. (Rooney proved that he has a long way to go to reach his full potential; he must harness his temper if he wants to improve as a player.)
On the subject of penalties: As a goalkeeper myself — and occasional penalty saver — I love the institution of penalty kicks, though the cliche is that they’re a terrible way to decide a game. I disagree. I think that for the penalty takers, the act demands skill and concentration and inner calm. Penalties are not simply a lottery; you have to have five good players who can step up and take them and take them well. And you need a goalkeeper with the ability to produce a fine save here and there.
In Saturday’s other match, France beat Brazil 1-0, which was perhaps the shock of the tournament so far, as everyone (including yours truly) thought the Brazilians would sleepwalk though to the final. Sadly, I didn’t see the match, since the police in Bangkok have been cracking down on bars staying open late past the official 1 a.m. curfew; I was, thus, stranded and had to follow the match online. Which was too bad.
Related: The game theory of penalty kicks.
Up next, the semis: Germany vs Italy tomorrow, followed by France-Portugal on Wednesday. This’ll be the first time since 1982 that all four semifinalists are European squads.