Euro 2012 update

Italy defeated Germany yesterday 2-1 to advance to the finals against Spain. 

Great moments in World Cup history #7

Here are four different views of the same goal-- Fabio Grosso's against Germany deep into extra time of the 2006 semifinals. All four are worth watching. This is basically the goal that convinced me to root for Italy in the final against France.

English version

American Version

Italian version

Official FIFA movie version

FA Cup aftermath: Michael Ballack will miss the World Cup

Above: Michael Ballack lies injured on the ground and Kevin-Prince Boateng receives a yellow card.

Germany's Michael Ballack will miss this summer's World Cup due to an injury he received playing for Chelsea in last weekend's FA Cup. The injury came on a reckless tackle by Portsmouth's Kevin-Prince Boateng. Boateng, who was born in Germany, will be playing for Ghana in this year's tournament. Ghana and Germany will meet each other on June 23. Boateng will now be remembered for more than just missing a penalty that could have given Portsmouth the lead.

What I have been reading lately #46

On Penalties - Andrew Anthony

When I got this book, I thought it would be a survey of world history and culture from the point of view of penalty kicks. Instead it turned out to be all about the England national team's failure to win three penalty shootouts-- the 1990 World Cup semi-final against Germany, the Euro 1996 semi-final against Germany, and the 1998 World Cup round of 16 match against Argentina. It was an excellent book.

Great moments in World Cup history #3

1994 Quarterfinal: Bulgaria 2 - Germany 1

Bulgarian superstar Hristo Stoichkov played on the great Barcelona squad of the early 1990s. He is best known, however, for this free kick, which helped knock the defending World Champion Germany out of the 1994 tournament. Bulgaria went on to lose to Italy in the semi-finals.

Note-- I believe that the man you can hear shouting before the kick is taken is Germany goalkeeper Bodo Illgner yelling at teammate Lothar Matthaus to move more to the left.

Great moments in World Cup history #1

In just a few months, we will all be watching the World Cup finals from South Africa. In preparation for this important event, Ape Canyon News Service will be featuring some of the most exciting moments from past World Cups.

Our first installment is from the group stage of the 1990 World Cup held in Italy. Germany were already through to the next round, but Colombia needed a win or tie to advance. Germany were leading late in the match when Freddy Rincon scored one of my all-time favorite goals in stoppage time. Later that day, I created a fish stew in his honor and called it Guisado para Freddy Rincon. I seem to recall sending the recipe to him care of the Colombian Embassy in Washington, DC. I am not sure, however, if he ever received it.

What I have been listening to lately #32

What I have been reading lately #14

I have been reading Crisis, 1918: The leading actors, strategies, and events in the German gamble for total victory on the Western Front by Joseph Gies. In case you didn't hear, the Germans ended up losing that war, but it was close.

Soccer can be Dangerous

A 6.5 foot long catfish was found dead in a Bavarian canal on Monday. It choked to death after trying to eat a blue-and-white soccer ball, which was found in its mouth. According to police spokesman, Karl-Heinz Kuberlein , "He tried to eat the ball and it got stuck."

Schweinsteiger's Post-game interview

Here is a video of the German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger trying to answer questions after the Euro 2008 final (which Germany lost). Unfortunately for him, the Spanish team chose that place to have their celebrations, so behind Bastian you can see the Spaniards singing and parading... If this was any other German, I wouldn't be bugged, but Schweinsteiger is my favorite... So I am bugged...



Translator's note: It's unclear what the reporter is asking before the happy Spaniards come bouncing through, but he then asks Schweinsteiger (twice) if their celebrations are "hard to bear." Schweinsteiger kind of shrugs him off and says that the Spanish "can do what they want."

Euro 2008 Final -Spain v. Germany

Germany after their 1-0 defeat.

Full report to follow...

Spain vs. Germany Preview (kind of)

As you all must know, the Euro 2008 final is today. This is the biggest tournament (maybe) in football, after the World Cup. In the final are two of the biggest soccer countries in Europe - Spain and Germany. The funny thing is that anyone could have predicted this result. Sure, maybe some people guessed it would be Portugal instead of Germany, or the Netherlands instead of Spain, but this is not an abnormal final. What is abnormal, is the way we got here. There were upsets (Russia v. Netherlands or Croatia v. Germany), there were blowouts (Netherlands v. France and Netherlands v. Italy), there were comebacks (Turkey v. Czech Republic and Turkey v. Croatia), and, finally, Germany didn't actually play that well.

Anyway, I have compiled some statistics, so that you can see how the different teams compare. To compare the squads, I have combined the probable starting eleven into one gigantic player representing each team.

• The height of the Spaniard is 64'5" (19.61 meters) compared to the German 67'1" (20.44 meters). This comes out to be a 2' 8" difference in heights.
• The Spanish player has 435 caps (aka appearances for the national team), whereas the German has 571.
• The Spaniard is 265 years old, which is 35 years younger than the German, whose age is 300!
• Finally, the Spanish player has scored 43 career goals in international competition, and the German has scored 131.

Joachim Low - Armpit Smelling and Nose Picking

Joachim Low, coach of the German national team, was suspended for the Germans' quarterfinal match against Portugal and had to watch the game from high above in one of the luxury boxes. While his team was down on the field winning, Low was captured live on worldwide television picking his nose. While we couldn't find footage of that event, we can share this short video of highlights of Low's other efforts...

Nazi Anthem Lyrics on Swiss TV

On Swiss TV, while Germany's national anthem was being played for Euro 2008, the lyrics to 'Deutschland, Deutschland über alles' were shown. The station claims it was a mistake...

read more!

Euro 2008 update

In just a few hours, Italy will play Spain in the last quarter-final of Euro 2008. Italy will not be able to use either Gattuso or Pirlo, both of whom are suspended for one game due to accumulated yellow cards from earlier matches. I don't know if any Spanish players have to miss this game - probably not. Those of you who saw Turkey beat Croatia or Russia beat the Netherlands in their earlier quarter-finals will know that we can only hope that today's match is just as exciting. Those of you who only bothered to watch Germany defeat Portugal will probably not understand what I am talking about.

Happy May Day

From around the world!