The middle of the line

Well, no, he doesn’t. He does kill off football dreams though:

An all-England Europa League final? Nope – Forlan scores twice against Liverpool to see Atletico Madrid to Hamburg.

Fulham lifting their first major trophy ever? Nope, Forlan scores twice, with the winner coming at the end of extra time in the Final.

South Africa overcoming the odds and getting into the knockout rounds of the World Cup? Nope, a long range poke and a penalty put the game beyond the hosts. Bafana Bafana would need to win against France with a fair number of goals and hope that other results go their way.

He’s just annoyingly good, that lad Forlan.

Dikgacoi managed to get booked again, so he will miss the next game. But I did learn how to pronounce his surname: “Di-Kashwe”.

Today was actually the day that the tournament came alive. With only a few teams scoring more than twice, and even Brazil managing to look pedestrian against North Korea things were looking bleak. But Chile actually played really well and were unfortunate to only beat Honduras 1-0. Then Switzerland caused the biggest upset so far when they nicked a goal against the wasteful Spanish favourites. As much as I hate to admit it, Uruguay looked in great form tonight, with less of that negative play that they are renowned for.