Thursday, July 26, 2012

I Am Watching the Olympics (Day ii)

Men's soccer: Morocco 1-Honduras 0 with about four minutes to go in the first half. This is Match 3. Match 2 is Mexico and South ... umm? ... yes, South! ... Korea, and it starts at 8:30 a.m. Central. Match 1 (Spain and Japan) starts at 8:45.

Previous reports:


15 comments:

  1. I promise that I'm not going to get on here and hate on soccer for better than two weeks, but I do want to say that the inevitable flopping just zaps whatever burgeoning zeal I start to muster for "the beautiful game." It's distracting from the competition itself, and I don't like that it sets me on this path of suspicion of others' authenticity.

    I also don't like bartering culture; I'm a list-price guy. And I think it's a shame that NBA officiating turned LeBron's championship into a sham.

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    1. So distracting, in fact, that while I've found myself wondering about two or three falls here in the second half of this match, I completely missed the fact that Honduras has scored two goals to take the lead on Morocco.

      And now it's 2-2, in the 67th minute.

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    2. Final, 2-2. Morocco played the last 15 minutes or so with only 10 men.

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  2. I actually was not watching the Olympics for the last couple of hours. I got sidetracked helping our neighbors get a hummingbird out of their garage. Fishing nets and singing failed, but finally the hummingbird left on its own terms.

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  3. United Aram Emirates just took a 1-0 lead on Uruguay, and all of the players for UAE dropped to their knees and bowed, apparently in a prayer of thanks. The NBC commentator said this is the first time the Olympics had taken place during Ramadan.

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  4. So, in the men's tournament, per Wikipedia, 16 teams are divided into four groups: the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team ("Team GB"), Senegal, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay in Group A; Gabon, Mexico, South Korea and Switzerland in Group B; Belarus, Brazil, Egypt and New Zealand in Group C, and Honduras, Japan, Morocco and Spain in Group D. The group games continue through Aug. 1, with two teams from each advancing to the "knockout stage." Quarters will be played Aug. 4; semis, Aug. 7; bronze-medal match, Aug. 10, and gold-, Aug. 11.

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  5. Switzerland leads Gabon, 1-0, too.

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  6. The 2008 men's soccer medalists were Argentina gold, Nigeria silver and Brazil bronze (with Belgium finishing in fourth place). Among those four, only Brazil is playing in the 2012 tournament, and it won its first group match today, 3-2, over Egypt. Brazil has won two silver and two bronze medals all time.

    Crazy that Argentina is not here. It won gold in 2004, as well, and silver in 1996. The all-time men's medals leader, Hungary, which won gold in 1952, '60 and '64 and also has a silver and bronze in its history, is also not in the tournament.

    So, historywise, the teams to watch in London are Team GB (three golds all time), Uruguay (two golds) and Spain (one gold and two silver). Today, Great Britain tied with Senegal; Uruguay beat United Arab Emirates, 2-1, and Spain lost to Japan, 1-0.

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