by PAM
The morning after....
Now, it feels like I floated blindly through one of the most "anomalous" days of tennis and football yesterday! Now, watching BBC's Sport Today in bed, I still ask myself... what the heck happened??? ;) Uhm, ahem... sorry, please excuse my language. It's just that it really feels strange how these catastrophes came like an unexpected avalanche. :/
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Wait, weren't they supposed to "fire at will"?
First, Mario Balotelli took Italy to the Euro 2012 final with a brace of goals in a "whoa-whaaat" semi-final match with Germany in Warsaw, Poland! Yes, yes, and yes, sir... to THE EURO
The explosively brilliant German "young guns"...
...gunned down in Poland - by the Italian "Mafia".2012 FINAL!! And, yes, AGAINST GERMANY, too! Yeah, that team that was captained by Philipp Lahm and which had Mesut Özil, Mario Gomez (yeah, the real "super" one), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Nauer, the toast of World Cup 2010, Thomas Müller, and a host of other incredibly talented young players. Yes, them, who are Europe's hotshot young players... who have played their way into the semi-final round like they were on their way to winning the EURO 2012! Their performance yesterday was lacking in coherence and depth against Italy's solid defense and aggressive attacks with very defined purpose... plus the "veteran" goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, was a "beast" out there!
I am mightily disappointed by the outcome because I really like that 'breath of fresh air' that these German boys generate on the pitch, I do love the way they play... just like I would've loved seeing them going through to the final in South Africa in 2010... if only the draws were worked differently, and they weren't up against Spain in the semis. Uhm, ahem... perdón, "Mama España", I didn't mean to sound like I wasn't rooting for you because I was then, and I am now! And will do again in 2014! :) I just thought it would be fantastic to see Germany's exciting "young guns" playing Spain's tasty blend of "fine wine" and "new brew" at the Euro. I was imagining getting "sweetly intoxicated"! :) And without the "Lionel Messi factor" this time, make that a truly, unadulterated European "intoxication" right
La Furia Roja de Mama España - European Champs...
...still the side to beat!there! Who else could give you that these days but Spain and Germany, whose pool of talents in their own Leagues are of high concentration of talents from their own countries - the best of them all? But, apparently, Joachim Loew had a real reason for feeling stressed out all the time... and I thought he was "over acting" a bit considering what a talented team he's managing! These boys seem to be a bit prone to panic when stared down by the 'big guys' with passionate purpose... I still find it disturbing how Manuel Nauer stood immobile when Balotteli & Co. was gunning for an Italian goal Aaargh... Or... it's as simple as a case of Italy remaining to be a massively strong pillar of European (and world) football despite the tumultuous sea of controversies that their National Team had to navigate a couple of months before travelling to Poland and Ukraine, which is very good, too.
In the other semi-final match, while Spain didn't impress in their 90-minute semi-final match with Portugal two days earlier with a 0-0 deadlock result, they tried to salvage their reigning Champions form in the 30-minute extension time. Their efforts,
San Iker Casillas...
Spain's "1" and only. however, were superbly resisted by Portugal... the Portuguese manned it up, hanging tough through to the shoot-out. But, as we have already confirmed nine kicks later, San Iker Casillas was in his world-class form and up to the testosterone por testosterone task... and that Cristiano Ronaldo's supposed heroic rescue of his team via a Portugal fifth kick equalizing penalty was messed up by an overly dramatic script that was effectively foiled by Cesc Fàbregas when he "talked the ball" into a conspiracy against Ronaldo's diva script. Taking the last kick for Spain, at 3-2 in favor of the defending Champs, Cesc manned up, and took Spain to the final with a fourth goal for Spain's 4-2 lottery win! Crissy didn't even get to display his thighs in their veinly glory... and he didn't get to put his "high-heeled diva" form in the spotlight either. Ah-hehehe... uhm, ahem, sorry... I know, I should feel his "pain"... except that I don't. ;) Oh, oh, oh... and Sergio Ramos, has finally put his Manuel Nauer nigthmare in the 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League semis to rest, and kicked his penalty like a good boy - sending it in this time, when it mattered the most! Must be the new mature-looking hairstyle, which I prefer over his silky girly do previously. Good job there, Sergio!
But, back to the "anomaly"... yeah,
Mario Balotelli... notoreity
even in moment of glory.Germany was ousted by Italy! That's in case it hasn't sunk in yet. Here's another way to force it in... Germany will not be facing Spain in the final, but Mario Balotelli will! Would you believe it... when Germany thumped on Greece in the quarter-finals, to the delight of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, demolishing everyone on their way to the QF, I thought it was a figurative display of the Eurozone's economic state. But with the current holders, La Furia Roja, whose country is on the brink of declaring bankcruptcy, facing the Italians, and their messed-up economy, in the final, it looks like economic woes are a pre-requisite to win a place in the coveted "last two standing" in Kiev, Ukraine. ;) I kid. :) But, oh, well... it's going to be a great final match just the same, especially how Italy and Spain finished on a deadlock 1-1 in the Group Stage.
Congratrulations to Italy for getting through to the fnal! Impressive job there, gentlemen! Kudos to their manager, Cesare Prandelli, and to Mario Balotelli... and thanks to Balotelli for that hilarious comment on his yellow card - vintage "Super Mario" right there! =)
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Vam--- uh, ka-BLAM! Aaah-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! Pffft....
Second, 6(9)-7(11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 is the score in the 2nd round match of Rafael Nadal and Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. And, NOPE, that's not in favor of the 7-time (and counting) and current winner of the French Open. Better believe it... 'cause it's true! "Anomalous" truth, but the truth just the same!
I was thinking while switching channels with footie in the first set, where the men where negotiating a tight tiebreak, "hmmm... Rafa is on a slow start." But, I was hoping it's just his usual French Open
Rafa Nadal, the best "clay specialist" the world has
ever seen... bested on grass by the World's #100!hangover... he'll figure this one out in no time. After a quick channels shuffle, I was stunned to find what was transpiring in the second set. "Uh, wait, did Rosol just stole a set???"
Later, in the third set where Rosol took the early upperhand yet again, at 5-3 on Rafa's serve, you know the Spaniard was feeling the heat because he won three straight quick points through "the easy way" from his powerful serve, and finished the game with a nice follow through, looking wary at taking chances. He didn't look like he had effectively decoded Rosol's game at that point. I thought to myself, "huh? It's only the second round and this what's-his-face guy is already making Rafa work hard.... Whoa, and he took another set - Mr. what's-his-face!! Oh, boy, this is interesting!" So, yeah, after getting electrocuted (electrified? Nah, electrocuted was more likely) by Mario Balotelli's first goal that put Italy in front of Germany, I watched Rafa lose another set... and his cool, too! Huh? Whatda...?
After it became apparent that the surprisingly lone German goal from Mesut Özil's was not enough for Germany to get a
Lukas Rosol, a baffling force of nature...
that blew Rafa Nadal away to the SW19 exit.pass into the final round, Rafa took a deep breath and pulled the big guns and unleashed big ones, winning the fourth set, 6-2, taking his set winnings equal with those of Rosol. I thought to myself, "oh, okay, he's just flexing his muscles out there. He'll be fine."
My shock from the Germany exit from EURO 2012 knocked me out, and I dosed off, missing the fifth set. When I woke up, I saw Rafa signing autographs as he made his exit from Centre Court... "hmmm, okay, he won." Only... he didn't! HE LOST! Rafa Nadal WAS OUSTED in the second round at the All England Club - a first in a Grand Slam since 2005! Shocker? Definitely! Anomaly? It cannot be anything else! The guy just won the French Open against the Number 1 in the World, Novak Djokovic, in a thriller all-out-tetosterone match that put him on history books to have won the most number of the French silverware... perhaps, will never be equaled or surpassed in a long, long time... if at all! But he was slapped hard in a five-sets defeat and sent packing from SW19 - in the second round... by the #100 in the World! Even the numbers don't make sense... what an anomaly!
But, yeah, while I'd be missing Rafa at SW19, congratulations to Lukas Rosol! Fantastic feat right there, dude!
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Anomalous day for me, too.
So, yeah, what a day!
And then I opened this blog to write my thoughts... it dawned on me, I have like seven "drafts" in my post folder - unpublished! I'm not sure if I knew what's in them... I opened them, and I thought... "huh? I was writing about this?" Yep, such is my state of mind these days... floating on the proverbial space, dreaming of many things, excited about future adventures... and feeling bound to a massive concrete post by the present circumstances. Not all that bad, but it's "anomalous" that I have unfinished blog entries... when I usually write my entries in this blog lying down - literally, thanks to iPad - while I let myself get hypnotized by "the muse" to sleep. And I usually am able to hit the "publish" button before I pass out into a deep sleep! Oh, well.... I guess this is what happens when one is on a break - from life, in general! ;) But, it has got to change... soon! :) Soon? Uhm... on second thought, I really need this break - I do!
So, "anomalous days"... welcome! Please feel free to stay... for a few months. :)
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Photo credits: All photos were grabbed at the Zimbio website - thanks! :)
