Dead wrong in public ONE LAST TIME.

My prediction was the Dutch would be a little rougher than the Germans and maybe a little more talented that the Krauts minus Thomas Müller and prevail against the highly favored Spanish, who have a history of choking in big games.

Oopsie.

While my former roommate and current blog buddy Abu Scooter has a Hispanic surname (Velasquez, not Scooter), he also has pointy headed intellectual tendencies, and he picked Spain to win with a late goal in regulation. Spain actually won with a goal in overtime before penalty kicks, so he was only off by a few minutes.

Now I explain why I am currently dining on Crow Carbonara. I thought the Dutch would be a little rougher than the Germans. They were a LOT rougher than the Germans, and even their strikers were getting yellow cards, every one of them deserved. Worse than that, the Dutch player Nigel de Jong kicked a Xavi Alonso IN THE CHEST and the referee gave him a yellow card. (The picture is nicked from the ABC website, via the Ghost Grey Cat.) If FIFA is serious, both de Jong and the ref are not allowed in international competitions for a very, very long time.

The Dutch had seven yellow cards before they collected their first red card late in overtime, again completely deserved. There were some real chances for both teams to score, but the Spanish scored because midfielder Andrés Iniesta made a perfect finish. The small midfielder was not the first choice to be the lone goal scorer in the Grand Final, but 24 minutes into extra time, he hit it perfectly at the end of a long run, the Dutch goalie Maarten Stekelenburg defended perfectly to get a boot on it, but Iniesta was just a little bit better.

The better and cleaner team won, and I'm glad I was wrong. In Europe, a pro-thuggery intellectual can be a Communist, but in the U.S., pro-thuggery intellectuals are pro-Pinkerton or pro-police brutality or maybe pro-Black Panther back in the day. That isn't me. I was hoping the Dutch would be a little rough in the defense and a little clever up front, but that wasn't the case. Congrats to the Spanish for breaking through and winning their first World Cup when they clearly had the team in the world that deserved it.

One last thanks to La Estrellita for being my neighborhood bar of choice for this entire wonderful month.

Who likes the Dutch? Pointy headed intellectuals.

I was looking for other so-called "experts" who favored the Dutch to win the 2010 World Cup final on Sunday. All I found was this piece by Max Bergmann on the Huffington Post. He points to the Dutch being both more talented and more thuggish than the Germans and he expects this to work to their advantage more, because taking the risk with hard tackles can give a team the counter-attack chances they need.

As for people who think Spain will win, they are much easier to find. Spain are the current European champs, and they were the pre-tournament favorite. Locally, folks I know who know their football are fond of the Spanish, including Jose, the owner of La Estrellita who was impressed with their play against Germany and the guy who owns the hot dog cart on the east side of Laney College, who likes their tight, low scoring style.


Moreover, the press has been fascinated with Paul the Octopus, who has been correct about every match the Germans have played so far. Two tasty mussels are placed inside separate plastic boxes adorned with the flags of the teams about to play and Paul, who lives in a German aquarium, correctly predicted all the wins and losses for the German team so far, which means the losses to Serbia and Spain and the wins against Australia, England and Argentina.

Given his first chance to pick a game where Germany isn't playing, Paul preferred the mussel in the Spanish plastic box to the one in the Dutch box, yet more evidence that I am whistling up the wrong tree.

Even with all this against me, I still expect the Dutch to win in an exciting replay of the Eighty Years War where they finally won their independence from Spain back in 1648.

See what I said earlier? Only pointy headed intellectuals like the Dutch.

Third time lucky for the Dutch?

Things were so busy for me this morning I didn't have time to pontificate or bloviate about Netherlands-Uruguay before the game was played. Long time readers can imagine the pain this caused me.

The Dutch were favored and they didn't disappoint. While the quarterfinals looked good for South America, the final will be an all-European affair, either Netherlands-Germany or Netherlands-Spain.

Here are the positives and negatives for all three teams left in the hunt.

Dutch Positives: Here's an excellent one. They have won every game they have played in South Africa. No one else can say that. Six games, six wins, all in regulation. They haven't demolished anyone, the biggest win they have is 2-0 against Denmark. But when the 90 minute whistle blew, the score was always Netherlands Just Enough, Opponents Somewhat Less.

Dutch Negatives: They have never won a World Cup. In the 1970s after Pele left the stage for Brazil, experts agreed that the Dutch were the team to beat.

In 1974, the hosts of the World Cup West Germany beat them.

In 1978, the hosts of the World Cup Argentina beat them.

They are not a populous enough country to have a host of top quality players every four years when the World Cup happens, but the stars are certainly aligned now. And the host country South Africa? Nowhere to be seen.

Spanish Positives: David Villa, the top goal scorer in the tournament so far. And they have shut out three of their five opponents so far. That's nice math to have on your side.

Spanish Negatives: They have never played in a World Cup final. They are the famous chokers of Europe in this regard. For American sports fans, the Dutch are like the Minnesota Vikings, who have played in plenty of Super Bowls but never won once. The Spanish are like the Cleveland Browns, who have never played in a Super Bowl, always losing some time in the AFC Playoffs.

Also, the Spanish lost in the opening round to Switzerland, a team that didn't make the knockout rounds.

German Positives: The Germans have won World Cups in the past, the only team left in the mix that can say that. In five games so far, they have DEMOLISHED three, count them three opponents. Australia 4-0? Maybe not impressive. England 4-1? The English can say they were robbed, but the rest of the world isn't listening. Argentina 4-0? Okay, that was a serious ass-kicking. When this team is working, they look really good.

German Negatives: Like the Spanish, they lost in the round robin part of the tourney, falling 1-0 to the Serbs who didn't make the knockout round. More to the point tomorrow, they lost Thomas Müller, their 20 year old wunderkind to a yellow card last game and he won't suit up against Spain. He has four goals, one off the tournament lead, and three assists, the best in the tourney so far. That's a lot of firepower off the pitch, but the Germans lost team leader Michael Ballack to injury just before the tournament and many doubted they would compete without him. They have proved all the doubters wrong so far.

Matty Boy out on a limb: It's a very sturdy limb, though. I pick Germany over Spain in a nail biter and the Dutch over the Germans in the final. It's finally time for the Clockwork Orange.
(I'll also pick them over the Spanish if I'm wrong about tomorrow's game.)

I won't see tomorrow's game, what with all that pesky working for a living and all, but I will be in front of a TV, vuvuzela at the ready, for the Grand Final on Sunday.

Only one month every four years, but so much fun packed in!

A great neighborhood bar and grill

Today and tomorrow, the quarterfinals of World Cup 2010 are being played. On the West Coast, this means a game for breakfast and a game for lunch. It's a great time for football fans, but for real fans, you don't want to watch the games alone. In my neighborhood, there is no better choice than La Estrellita bar and restaurant on the corner of East 12th Street and 5th Avenue. I haven't been a "regular" at a bar or restaurant in quite a while, and I have to give mad props to the folks at La Estrellita. They have made me feel more welcome as a patron than any place I have ever visited. The restaurant is open for breakfast and the owner Jose Macias is a fan, so the TV is always on when there's a game. Being Oakland, folks of every color and from every corner of the world come in the door of any place of business that puts out the welcome mat and really means it. I had breakfast this morning with the Gosh Darned Pater Familias and my sister Karlacita!, who was on her way from her home in Monterey to a visit to Ukiah to publicize her book. We watched the Dutch beat the Brazilians, and though it breaks my heart to say it, the better team won. I had my favorite, the chorizo con huevos, Dad had the pozole and Karla the hamon con papas y huevos. The food is good, the portions are generous and the atmosphere is sweet.

I came back for the lunchtime game, still full from breakfast but willing to have some liquid nourishment, just to keep body and soul together. A bigger crowd gathered at 11:30, including my tablemates Edwin and Juliet from Kenya, who for the day would claim to be from Ghana. Ghana came tantalizingly close to winning the game at the end of overtime when a well-deserved penalty kick slammed off the upper crossbar, only to lose on penalty kicks 4-2 after the 120 minutes ended. So now it's Uruguay vs. Netherlands in a semifinal on Tuesday, a game I will miss because of work.

If you are a soccer fan in Oakland, I heartily recommend La Estrellita for the World Cup games, and if you would just like some Mexican food or a drink during a sporting event, it's also an excellent choice. For generous portions, good food and good service, it's my favorite neighborhood bar and grill in Oakland.