Viva Italia!

Congratulations, Italy, for winning the World Cup this year! I was rather sad that France didn’t win, and that Thierry Henry had to leave the field hurt, but I was not sad to see Zidane leave as he did – that head butt was just SO uncalled for, and it is such a sucky way to end one’s career on the pitch. I felt so sad when I saw the French coach at the end, just standing on the sidelines, staring out in incomprehension at the team’s defeat. However, seeing the Italians win was wonderful, especially since this will be the last time that probably a lot of the Italians will be playing on the same team for a while – with the big Italian soccer scandal, the relegation of a lot of the Serie A teams to lower levels means that a lot of those players are going to be on the open market and will be scattered to the four winds . . .

I really enjoyed following all of the Cup games this month, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself now that it’s over. It was so much fun watching all of the matches and getting caught up in all of the country vs. country rivalries. Soccer is truly a worldwide game, and it is rare to get caught up in something that folks all around the world are following at the same time. More people around the world watch the World Cup than follow the Olympics. On to 2012 . . . in South Africa! Who knows, maybe I will have caught the traveling bug and might be able to see them in person . . . or, if the rumors prove true and the games end up in the States, I will totally be there . . .