and so, we lost.

it never occured to me that we would lose. never once had i thought that portugal would beat us. i was always thinking about england next. overconfidence? not really. it just didn't occur to me that portugal would be able to beat us.

of course, people might be surprised, given that we have a very poor record against portugal. i can't remember the details; i only know we lost in 2004. but i don't really believe in such records playing a part in a match's outcome. after all, advocaat's team is different from van basten's, no? in any case, such records are meant to be broken. arsenal was never beaten by chelsea for a long time. people kept pointing to that. in the end, we lost too. sooner or later, such records would end. waiting to be ended, that's what they are.

so, this head-to-head factor was almost non-existent in my consideration of how the game would turn out. if there was any, it had to be my singular faith in holland. i have never had this strong, definite feeling that we would win the world cup. not even in 2000. i just felt that we would somehow win it. i just believed that in the end, we would win. as simple as that. i can't explain where this feeling or faith came from. but looking back, this was why i never thought we would lose.

i heard bits about the game. i don't really want to know either. all i wanted to know was whether it could have turned out differently, meaning we won. it could have been us. that was all that mattered.

because it is time to move on to 2008.

i think this world cup campaign has been disappointing, personally. i think van basten tried to instil the winning mentality into the team too early. it wasn't wrong; it was premature. he brought too much caution into the team, with his emphasis on pragmatism and defence. of course a good defence is important. but playing with the knowledge that you might concede fills you with inhibition. i think that was what was lacking. we did not play without inhibition. we did not play naively, as ivory coast and maybe ghana, had done. i think i would be able to accept this early exit more easily, had we played naively, free-flowing. then, we can learn our lesson, and play with a more pragmatic, cautious approach, come 2010 or 2008.

i think that should have been the way because the core of this team is perhaps still too young. though i don't really believe that you must be old enough to win. but in any case, let's just take it as that: we are not ready. letting a young team play and fall will go a long way in teaching them the importance of keeping it tight behind, which would greatly prepare us for the next tournament. so, no matter how far you go in this tournament, you know you have gained something for the future. now, we haven't done that. we haven't seen how far we can go without inhibition. the worst thing is that we weren't successful with this pragmatism, which to me, is really the essence of the winning mentality. so what we will think?

it is something like a child trying to grow up too quickly. knowing the dangers of the adult world, but not being able to cope with it, as yet. it just makes things worse.

i think i haven't been able to convey what i really meant. it is very clear in my mind, but when i try to put it in words, it just doesnt come out. maybe the key idea is this: if we were going to lose, we should have lost in the best possible manner: gaining something for the future. i don't believe we achieved that with our manner of playing. the players are probably thinking: we tried to play smart, but we didnt win, so what next? if we had played without inhibition, attacking without thinking about defence, we can look back and said, we should have been smarter, and work on that. something to build on. the only thing to build on now is the youngsters in the team. they will form the core of the team in 2008. and that is now the most important thing. qualify and win. as simple as that.

and i never expected spain to lose to france. it was like a double blow.

so i am fully behind germany now.

a rAT mOVED yESTERDAY

imagine you are a coach.

one day, this player just comes up to you and puts himself in your team.

the thing is, you haven't seen a worse player than him before.

he is just a waste of your time.

you don't want him, but he doesn't give you a choice.

the worst thing is that people like to ask about him.

you try to be polite and tell them that he has "immense potential".

when "shit" really flatters him.

painkillers

world cup is like painkillers. great for temporary relief, but doesnt solve the real problem.

weekends are spent on the world cup.

but when it is over, the emptiness will return.

already, it is returning.

something is seriously missing.

what is it? where is it?
***

beat portugal, and we see where we go from here. one at a time.

play to win. any style. whack them. put them down. be arrogant. remember.

wei wo hao, liang jing ru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFJgsFuZfT0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73OfNy5awuo

the girl inside is damn chio

chihiro onitsuka

songs remind me of years.

some songs are from the 2000 to 2002 period. 2003 to 2004, 2005 to now.

like chihiro onitsuka's songs will remind me of 2000 till 2002.

2003 to 2004 was mainly korean songs, because they stopped showing music station, and it was the korean wave, so i culdnt get much jap stuff on radio and tv.

den i started searchin online. and it was jap again.

but back to chihiro onitsuka, her songs were so nice. and her music station super live 2001 performance of infection was superb. that mssl had like so many of my fave songs from that period: b'z's gold and ultra soul, dct's suddenly, glay's global communication and all standard is you, mr children's kimi ga suki, namie amuro's say the word. etc etc.

chihiro's nicest songs
beautiful fighter
gekkou
infection
ryuseigun
not your god
castle imitation
king of solitude

the worst thing is that the tape wif that 2001 mssl is missing.

desire

it was fantastic. simple joy of playing. nice plays. fond memories of the past, how it used to be played. the thrill. even the rain could not stop it.

but something else did. die polizei.

it was going to be football day. no one could have stopped it. went to another place. it was slippery, so it was walking pace. still fun, but alot of the thrill was taken out. because i was just dying to run. to break out.

how much do you want it?
where is your desire?
where is your heart?

i want it enough to do everything i can to get it.
if you aren't on that wavelength, i don't give a damn.

it's the podolski show. i thought maybe he could have gotten the first hattrick of the world cup. but i have got to admit, klose is really a much better forward now. the second goal was really very clever. he brought 3 defenders away to give podolski all the space he needed to wrongfoot the keeper. i am quite impressed by him, but glad that podolski got the goals.

and germany rolls on. argentina beckons.

i almost believed that mexico could have pulled it off. i was hoping before the game that they would send argentina out. i know that they werent that bad, as pple like made them out to be after the goalless draw wif angola and the defeat to portugal. they are a technical team. technical teams are always difficult to play because they can be so fluid. in fact, they matched argentina yesterday. at least the second half, because i overslept. woke up just in time for the second half. and the commentator was saying something like argentina not finding it as easy as they would have liked it to be. anyway until the 98th minute, i always thought that mexico would grab the winner. not that they were dominating argentina, but they were as dangerous, if not even more. but after rodrigues got that goal, the mexicans' belief evaporated. you could see the passes going stray. they were really fluid prior to that. i think they were playing something like 4-2-3-1. but in attack, they always have men on the flanks and behind the strikers. the moment of the game for me was when gonzalo pineda nutmegged cambiasso and fired in a cross which was headed wide. imagine argentina being nutmegged.

messi didnt really impress. he's fast, agile and all that. but i think he still lack match fitness. i am not about to doubt his talent, though i have really yet to see why maradona raves about him.

and i think argentina are really overrated. the 6-0 victory really made them look very good. but yesterday, they could have lost. if people think they are going to steamroller through the rest, think twice, because mexico gave them trouble. wad abt spain and brazil?

think twice before u think argentina can go all the way. because i dun think they will.

but for now, i am praying that ecuador will kick england out of the world cup.

and holland to avenge the 2004 defeat to portugal.

and holland to win the world cup.

fighting spirit of dongbang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjJP1VkcVXw

south korea is out of the world cup. they haven exactly set germany alight. but i still feel a tinge of sadness that they are out. after all, they were the sole flagbearers of asia( if you don't consider australia as part of asia). saudi arabia were crap, iran did not live up to their potential as a skilful, attacking team, while japan, frankly, just didnt had the heart, the desire to win. at least south korea, though they din play very well, were decent.

you may say that 2002 was a fluke. or south korea were aided by controversial refereeing. but the way they played then, i felt that they were good for at least the quarter-finals. they really captured my imagination. a team that played their hearts out in every game, a team that was fast, dangerous, always pressing, breathtaking to watch in attack. it was really reminiscient of the old Holland. and i can forever remember the third placing game, when song chong gug scored the 2nd goal to cut turkey's lead to just 1 goal. he sank to his knees and made a prayer. and the commentator was saying: do we dare believe that korea will come back. that goal was scored in the dying minutes. it was so poignant for me, that image of song chong gug, kneeling on the pitch. the refereeing might have been suspect, but you have to give it to the koreans, they really played.

this world cup, they had the heart and the guts. but not the flamboyance.

but at least they had the heart and the guts. because japan didnt.

which is really sad. because japan has good players. but i always question their desire. how they can play well against strong teams, while flop against weak teams. they only beat singapore 1-0, remember? but all that bit about playing well against big teams is thrown out of the window when they got whacked 1-4 by brazil. and japan better start worrying about the future, because this world cup team is like everyone's around 26 to 28. there are no young fresh faces. there's a website on japanese football. and the young players they were clamouring for zico to include in the team, were all like 24 or something. which is really like the case for france. so japan shuld worry about their future. especially when ogasawara, nakamura, ono are gone. i mean this generation of japanese midfielders has quality. it's the captain tsubasa effect. japanese boys grow up with captain tsubasa and aspire to be midfielders. hence the dearth of quality strikers. they are trying to change that wif another manga about a striker. but still, this generation of midfielders was really good enough to play.

but they didnt. zico may say otherwise, and i have full respect for him, for his contribution to japanese football prior to his appointment as national team coach, but i feel that he didnt motivate the team enough, and was too afraid to ring the changes necessary.

i like japan, and love the crows on her rooftop( ai wu ji wu). pardon the pun, but the crow is also the national team mascot. so i hope the sun won't set.

goodbye, france

so, it's germany vs sweden, england vs ecuador, argentina vs mexico, portugal vs netherlands, italy vs australia, brazil vs ghana, switzerland vs ukraine and spain vs france.

caught the tunisia-ukraine game. tunisia played very well, even when a man down. the ukraine penalty was a dubious decision. jaidi, trabelsi and nomouchi played very well for tunisia. ukraine hadnt been very impressive.

caught the france-togo game too. saw a much-improved france. no doubt togo were seriously lousy, but france played much better, i guess. more fluid in attack. which makes you wonder: was zidane the liability? i think with zidane, they slow down alot. but wif no central playmaker, they are able to just run at defenders and create something from there. malouda, ribery, henry are all pacey players. that's a different approach, rather than rely on zidane to make the passes. and seems to work quite well. though against togo, you can never be too satisfied. defensively they looked shaky at times, while they also gave away the ball unnecessarily in midfield. they still need to polish things up abit here. and trezeguet shuld have been sharper. but that's it. after this world cup, you won't hear much about france for a while. they will slip into obscurity, just as they had risen into prominence out of nowhere in 1998. i mean, they call ribery their brightest talent, and he's like 23 already. while the argentines hail messi as their brightest talent, and he's less than 20. podolski and schweinsteiger are ard there too. and u have only one, while holland has robben, van persie. u see the difference?

but i guess the main point is that rtm1 rocks.

Faith

god gives obstacles only to people whom he believes in.

always, i hold on to this.

especially when the going gets tough.

stormy clouds may gather, lightning may strike.

but as long as you never stop believing, as long as you hold on to your ideals, your dreams...

at the end of the day,

you will see the light.

you will march forth to your destiny.

you will prevail.

you will win.

i am not really referring to holland. but it certainly applies to holland, in retrospect. but it's more to do with another thing. something you can never imagine. just somehow doesn't click with this.

it's LUKAS PODOLSKI!!!!

you should never ask a holland fan his opinion on the game between argentina and holland.

but if you insist, my answer is simple: i don't believe we will lose.

i am hearing stuff like how lousy holland is, how fantastic argentina is. how argentina will surely win.

let me remind you again:
each and every circumstance is unique. the game starts at 0-0, not 0-6.

moreover, van basten and peckerman will probably field second teams.

on one hand, this game is important, on the other hand, it isnt important. doesnt make much sense, but that really sums up the importance of this game. i guess we will leave it to fate. if you want to win the world cup, you have to play spain and brazil somewhere along the way. we don't have to beat argentina to win the world cup either.

anyway, podolski finally scored. nice goal. but i was more impressed by klose's 2nd goal. ballack delightfully chipped the ball into space. it was reminiscient of ronaldinho. speaking of which, we havent really seen much of him here.

and van basten says that he made a mistake bringing jan kromkamp along. i agree. you should have brought de jong along. at least de jong can play in midfield too. which is where we need to buck up.

du hast mein herz gebrochen

ich vermisse dich. dein "ich vermute". und da frage ich mich, ob es gut bei dir geht.
ich vermisse dich. deine Gelassenheit. obwohl ich weiss, dass es nicht echt ist. ich vermisse, dich nach Hause zu begleiten.
ich vermisse dich. irgendwie. obwohl du ganz anders bist. vielleicht vermisse ich die Vergangenheit.

mein Leben ist kompliziert. drei andere dich. wunderschoen.

du hast mein herz gebrochen- yvonne catterfeld

Hör mir zu
Was mir in diesem Leben fehlt bist Du, mein Schatz
Was ist nur geschehen bei ihr

Hör mir zu
Ich denk an Dich, was immer ich auch tu, mein Schatz
Was ist nur, was ist nur mit mir

(Chorus)
Du hast mein Herz gebrochen,
als Du bei ihr warst
Aus Tagen wurden Wochen oder auch ein Jahr
Oh Baby, ich kann nicht glauben,
dass Du mich verlässt
Ich seh in deinen Augen sie nimmt Dich mir weg

Und ich seh
Dass Du schon entschieden hast Du gehst, mein Schatz
Weißt Du denn nicht mehr, wo ich bin

Und ich seh
Dass für mich dein Herz jetzt nicht mehr schlägt, mein Schatz
Wo willst Du, wo willst Du nur hin

chorusx2

Es tut so weh, es tut so weh...

Du hast mein Herz gebrochen, als Du bei ihr warst
Aus Tagen wurden Wochen oder auch ein Jahr

Du hast mein Herz gebrochen

being englanded

likely scenarios

assuming england win their group, which they most probably will
assuming brazil win their group,
assuming spain win their group,
assuming germany win their group,

-if we win our group,
*we won't meet england till the final.
*we will meet germany in the quarterfinal.
*we will meet italy or czech in the semi-final

-if we finish second, we will meet them in the quarter final.
*we will meet italy, czech, spain or brazil in the semi-final

yes, to me, the strongest teams are
argentina, spain, brazil, czech and italy.
germany has the home support.

but the thing is that we don't have to worry about argentina anymore, because we wont see them till the final.

let me tell you which is the team i fear most.

it is england.

yes, crappy england.

i tink they dun deserve to be seeded. i think they are really crap. as in much worse than us. they are inferior to the otehr teams i mentioned, even germany.

but i still fear them most. not because of wayne rooney. no, rooney is a very good player, but i don't fear england because of him.

i fear england because i am afraid of being englanded.

it's the worst humiliation ever. to be englanded.

they are teh tycho kings. they can play like crap but still nick a win. when that happens, you are englanded. and it is an insult. it is something you will never be able to accept. especially when all their fans start to gloat. it is an insult because you know you were much better. the difference between championship form and england's tychoness is that championship form means a team is championship-material but just happen to be off that day but still got the result, while england is perpetually tycho.

this is what i call being englanded.

so maybe we better win our group but not to avoid brazil, though of course for all of brazil's vulnerability, you still wouldnt want to play them.

but i suppose spain has the best squad on paper; they have alot of depth. and remember, i am backing them to go to the final.

but argentina has the best team, i guess. but it doesnt mean they are unstoppable.

brazil has the best attack on paper, but are actually very vulnerable.

of course some of my predictions have turned out wrong. like poland's out, ecuador's in.

but i still believe brazil will fall at the quarterfinals, most prob to spain. and spain will go to the final.

but it could be different if we din win our group.

you might laugh that i still think we can win the world cup. i saw flashes of brilliance. not just from robben. we are still far away from argentina's passing game. but it is a journey. we must grow as the tournament proceed. we didnt win 1988 from the start to the finish. you don't need to.

how argentina can be stopped
1.forget their 6-0 win
2. close them down, remember that serbia gave them way too much space. can u imagine the space cambiasso had? i know we din close down enough against cote d'ivoire. we better do that against argentina
3. heinze, amazingly, seems to be the weakest link in their defence. ayala isnt as good as he was. stretch their three man defence.
4. watch all the running men. they are all over the place.
5. win the battle in midfield.

that was crap.

you can't play liddat against stronger teams. you will be punished.

what was most disappointing was that it was not as if we couldnt play. for maybe the first half hour, we were clearly on top. the opening minutes of the second half also saw us create a few chances. overall statistics say that we have 8 shots on goal, while ivory coast 9. we have 51 percent possession to their 49 percent. but i suppose you know me well; statistics don't tell the full story. i cannot accept being on the backfoot for such long duration of time. can you imagine? close to 40 minutes of the second half was spent in our half. the last time i saw that, was in 1998, the third placing, when we camped in croatia's half for more than 70 minutes of the game. i am certainly not used to seeing this happen to us. you have to wake up. you can't play like this anymore.

van der sar: absolutely nothing to say about their goal. but other than that, error-free. quite steady. no doubt most of ivory coast's shots were straight at him, but at least he din fumble and was steady. but really, he din have much saves to make, for all of ivory coast's possession and shots on goal. 6.5

mathijsen: ok only. made a few key interceptions. but he got to watch his hands. 6

ooijer: didnt see much of him in the game. 6

van bronckhorst: in the opening period, was cruelly exposed in terms of pace by eboue. but managed to pick up his game and improved. once, he even outpaced the ivory coast player. for once, having been beaten for pace most of the time prior to that. think he turned out to be the best performing defender for us. 7

heitinga: dangerous coming forward. but his passing is disappointing and scary. too weak, misplaced. etc etc. but he is strong and steady in defence. too bad he had to be sub out at half time due to a calf strain. but then again, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. more on that later. 6.5

sneijder: for a staunch supporter of sneijder, i must admit i am damn disappointed with him. because i know he is capable of more. none of his passing was there. his touches were poor. and they didnt close down the space well enough. 5

cocu: of course more is expected from him, the inspirational figure. but to me, the entire midfield was a flop. 5

van bommel: i was calling for him to be taken off. because he was committing those cynical fouls. and i wasnt sure what he was doing. true he put himself in to stop the ivory coast attacks and that was brave, but most of the time, he wasnt doing much. i think his peak was over. he shouldnt be starting for us. 5

robben: can you please pass the goddamn ball? i don't know why you are the man of the match. but i know that there were at least 2 occasions when you SHOULD have passed the bloody ball to another teammate in space. and there were a few more occasions when you lost the ball because you held on to it for TOO long. no doubt you were dangerous. but i think you know it: it could have been more. still, i must congratulate you for this performance and the previous against serbia. you proved me wrong; you are a deserving starter. but please for the queen's sake, PASS THE BALL. 7

van persie: my choice of man of the match, if he has to come from holland(otherwise it should have been one of the ivory coast players.) always lively. he gave the leftback nothing but trouble. so much so that the only way to stop him was to bring him down. and during the second half, he came back to defend like hell. and wonderful technique too. 8

van niistelrooy: when he scored, bob and i both said ruud van niistelrooy together. good goal. see wad we were talking about? one chance. glad you are scoring again. its special because its your first ever world cup goal. just do more of it. quite a decent game. won a few balls in the air. but it is never enough, of course. 7

bhoularouz: came on for heitinga. i think he added even more mass to the defence. that's why i say it could have been a blessing in disguise, because i wasnt sure if heitinga could provide that mass we needed. ivory coast is very strong, u know.. decent game. 6.5

van der vaart: came on for sneijder. showed his brilliance with that scissors kick. but just before that he really threw himself to the ground to trap the ball, before executing that. it could have been a goal of the tournament if he managed to steer it better, rather than straight at the keeper. more dangerous than sneijder. but also more dangerous at the back when he tried to dribble out of the area around the box. same problem as robben. 6.5

landzaat: came on for ruud to shore things up. quite ok. but towards the end we got a few more chances and ended their siege. so it might have somehting to do with his presence in the midfield. but then again, serriously, he din do much. 6

tactics: attacking wise, we were ok. but the midfield should come up more. and robben of course should pass more. but it is generally still ok. but only till this game. next game onwards, it's even more serious stuff. but when we play on the wings and deliver crosses, people must go in to attack the ball. it didnt really happen. and i think we rely alot on the wingers cutting in. i like that style alot. but you have to have plan Bs. long shots and crosses. work on that.

defending is a headache. i think there are problems.

1) we get beaten too easily. somewhat like germany.
2) the midfield is not pressing enough. we give them alot of space outside the box. remember, this was how argentina punished serbia. when you watch the game, at any point of time, you just have to pause it and you can circle out all the spaces around argentina.
3) poor communication. it happened alot of times. ok, maybe a few. but its way too many. so i say alot. it results in ball watching and ivory coast just gets the ball and runs away again.
4) the back four. isnt really very convincing. i was wondering if one of the centrebacks were told to move up from the line to press the ivory coast attackers. i mean, i like that idea, but it seems to be wrong, because it means geo and heitinga must move in to the centre to cover the other centreback, but it leaves our wings very very open. which is really another problem. but the fact is that the 3 defenders didnt really cover well enough for the one going forward. and the midfield must do their job too. sandwich them in between. it didnt really happen. so i guess that was why we were so open.
5) the wings. i think this is due to the nature of a 4-3-3 formation. i think we still ahve to work out the shape when we defend.

and i was very glad when it was over. it had been very frustrating. especially since we just sort of self-destructed. full credit to ivory coast; they deserved more. but as i have learnt, life is never fair.

of the 3 teams, 1 must go home. surely you can't expect me to hope you get through at the expense of my holland???

but i think we controlled the game up till the 30th minute. then we let them attack. and we let them score. and i was just praying 1998 and 2004 won't happen again. in 1998 we were 2-0 up against mexico. 2-2 in the end. 2-0 up against czech in 2004. 2-3 in the end.

we just have this funny habit of going to sleep. we almost did today. lucky, undeserving, whatever people may say. but we are through. and for now. that's all that matters.

because when the game against argentina starts, the score line is 0-0, not 0-6.

the starting lineup is out.

van der sar, van bronckhorst, mathijsen, ooijer, heitinga, cocu, sneijder, van bommel, robben, van niistelrooy, van persie.

just go in and do it.

this is kiss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0GxHVssw_c

my favourite chinese song mv, elva's wen.

so many years on, actually maybe only 3 or 4plus, i still like this mtv very much. and the song too. partly because of the last part, when the guy holds out the handphone to the sea. this is the last time listening to the sea with you.

吻

如果时间能把我们的思念稀释了
从此以后互不相干各自爱着别的人
只要不遇见忽然下雨的清晨
在起床的时候 会莫名的失神

说好决定要努力忘了啊
为何还有泪停在脸颊
你身边是否还是那个她
取代我在你醒来吻你吗
取代我在你醒来吻你吗

如果当时我们都能够勇敢的承认
困为太在乎对方所以才倔强的等待着
后来每个失眠的午夜时分
还不愿意后悔 却忍不住会问

说好决定要努力忘了啊
为何还有泪停在脸颊
你身边是否还是那个她
取代我在你醒来吻你吗
取代我在你醒来吻你吗

那段流着眼泪寻找解答的日子
已过去了
只是没想到爱情要 我们付出漫长
想念代价

说好决定要努力忘了啊
为何还有泪停在脸颊
你身边是否还是那个她
取代我在你醒来吻你吗
取代我在你睡前吻你吗

i am suffering from depression, because i am not in leipzig right now. and because in like less than 3 hours' time, i won't even be in front of a screen. i'll be on a train. i like trains, but not at times like these; i would rather be somewhere else.

just two hours.

can you believe it's just two hours i need?

dear god, please let us win.

yuri ebihara+kenji sakaguchi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfVsRQLR1zg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwYuI-LXUvE

i think zespri is some sort of dessert thing. but kenji sakaguchi+yuri ebihara is so kakoi. and i think i forgot to mention that kenji is one of those who fit my idea of cool japanese men. they just look so good together.

stunning.

sweden was held to a 0-0 draw by T and T when i expected them to stroll to victory. actually i should have known. leo beenhakker is a wily old fox at T and T's helm.

england won 1-0 courtesy of a 3rd minute own goal. not very impressive either. quite lucky actually. felt sad for gamarra, the scorer of that own goal. and what's more, he is the captain.

and ivory coast couldnt do wad i implore them to: beat argentina. so argentina got the points.

so we have to win.

because if brazil win their group, we need to win ours to avoid them until the final. i prefer playing france, germany and italy to brazil.

man is by nature a control freak.

we tried to control our environment.

we tried to control our lives.

even our games, especially computer and video games, reflect this obsession.

what if we aren't as successful as we would like to think we are?

crap.

because it's nice play.

perished in beauty. expression describing previous tournaments, except 1988.

"there is always a lot of talk in Holland about what is more important. To play good football or to win games. i see it like this. If my team plays the best football and win the games, then there will be no discussion afterwards." - marco van basten

much as i want us to play stylish football, we must remember krol's words: we can play any style, physical, stylish.

remember that.

life isn't very fair.

1988

you know, i am concerned about robben's form, or the lack of it. he isnt quite the same player as he was before he moved to chelski.

but the more i think about it, the more i think about 1988.

people compared 2004 to 1988. after the first game, in which i think van der vaart din play well, they were saying maybe he should be dropped, because in 1988, john van schip, a mainstay was dropped after the first game and they went on to win it. there were other similarities, but i can't think of them, because i dun think there was a serious injury.

but back to 2006. i think this resembles 1988 even more. if robben doesnt perform, it would really be more like john van schip all over again. and whats more, we have van der vaart(most notable of the injured personnel) brought to germany in less than 100 percent condition ala marco van basten in 1988. which means van der vaart must perform as van basten had done. another thing is that in 1988 they lost the first game. of course i want us to win all the way, but this years U21, the same thing happened.

so if you are asking me, if we like just scrape through the group stage, maybe it will be 1988 all over again. the ingredients are already there for 1988 to happen all over again.

of course i hope we can, in the words of van basten, "play the best football and win, so that there will be no debate about playing well and winning."

2008

holland won the u21 european championships. in the uefa website, there is this unofficial team of the tournament. there were 4 dutch players in the team: tiendalli, the rightback, emanuelson the leftback, aissati the central midfielder and of course klaas jan huntelaar.

i think i see the team of 2008.

goalkeepers: steklenberg, kenneth vermeer

defenders: ron vlaar, heitinga, de jong, urby emanuelson, dwight tiendalli,

midfielders: sneijder, van der vaart, maduros, stijn schaars, ismail aissati, demy de zeeuw, vurnon anita, rick kruys, jeffery sarpong

wingers: daniel de ridder, nicky hofs, robben, john goosens

forwards: kuijt, van persie, huntelaar, collins john, babel, quincy

combine the various generations to build the winning team, marco

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=89635&page=4
just found this. they got quite a bit of stuff on young players, not just in holland

huntelaar and ajax

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_65tJ1lCSM0

why huntelaar should be in the world cup. i thought it was very nicely struck. the timing. everything. in football, you train every day, every night, for moments like these, when the ball comes to you at the right moment, the right pace, the right place for you to connect and become immortalised in folklore. just think torsten frings. but the difference here is that huntelaar bided his time to strike; he followed the ball till that moment, den lifted it. i think this can be considered a delightful chip, no? maybe even exquisite.

another reason why he should be in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNX2Y9wYvRA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQA7hLt58qE

highlights of a disappointing 2005/2006 season. nevertheless, it brought cheers to me, seeing all the movement and goals of the ajacied. there were some pienaar moments. think hes leaving. sad to see him go. but we are getting kenneth perez, who is very exciting. i think he will be mroe than an adequate replacement. but sometimes, its the sentimental side of things you know...in any case, perez is already 32...so abit too old... anyway, gabri is joining us. stam oso. i guess they want to get more experienced players. fair enough, but always remember the players at de toekomst. they are the future. let them play, let them soar.

goodbye, galasek. all the best in nuremberg.

on a brighter note, hamburg has signed...guess who... VINCENT KOMPANY! haha at least he isnt going chelsea :D anyway i think hamburg has assembled a strong team. now thomas doll just need to consolidate the good work he has done this year. he better win the title from bayern next season, after all he's got van der vaart and de jong. too bad bayern got podolski. it would be nice to have podolski at hamburg.

let me remind you again, it won't be as easy.

it was a hell of an opening match. 4-2 to germany. klinnsmann promised goals and his team delivered. two contenders for goal of the tournament. wow.

i am quite impressed by germany's passing in the first half. maybe in the second half, they were less fluent. but they had the ideas, they had the shape. but they are like an unpolished diamond. their time will come in 2008. just wait and see. although i think klinnsmann is leaving after this tournament. which is a shame. let's just hope the next guy wont undo his good work, especially in attack.

and i feel cheated by new paper. because i bought it yest, seeing that they had a 25page special on the world cup, and i thought on opening day, maybe they would have something special. but the content was..errr...

the funniest thing was that they suggested how costa rica could shock germany. not that i never considered the possibility. but what i found amusing was that they suggested that the german left wing was one of the weak links. because bolanos is a very tricky player, and schweinsteiger doesnt like to defend, and lahm is a right footer.

first of all, bolanos din play, so maybe, JUST maybe, the left wing wasnt exposed as much. but if you watch the game, i think you would notice schweinsteiger coming back to defend. and hes not afraid of throwing himself into tackles. he even goes to the right flank to track back. anywhere. and lahm...i thought he had a relatively error-free game. and if u think he can only use his right foot, please note that klose's second goal came from a perfect cross from lahm's left boot.

hey, i think the schweinsteiger-lahm combination is mouth watering.

anyway, here's what i think of the german performance:
lehmann: he had an outstanding season for arsenal. but i am afraid his season ended with his sending off against barcelona. it wasnt his fault that wanchope got two goals; keepers are always expected to lose in one on one situations. but if you look at him, he doesnt exude the same confidence. he is not quite the same player as he was just a month or so earlier. you can see it in his eyes. and considering he let in two goals in the first game, i think his confidence would have taken a beating. (ps. arsene, please buy another keeper. like hildebrand.) anyway, i think it would be a good idea to reinstate oliver kahn. and lehmann seems to have picked up an ankle injury. so maybe its a blessing in disguise. i said lehmann is a key player because he needs to play well to cover up for the so called frail defence. but if he doesnt, its better to drop him, because we all know how terrible he can be.

metzelder and mertesacker. can't really distinguish between the two from far, because they are both so tall. but i thought they had an ok game. i don't really blame them for the goals. but they were generally quite stable. of course there would be better strikers than wanchope, so they need to brush up their acts. but they werent as easy meat as pple make them out to be.

friedrich. i think he had a poor game by his standards. he played wanchope onside twice, and wanchope scored twice. watch the line.

lahm. my choice of man of the match. what a nice goal. of course that the costa rican slipped helped set him free. but he cut in very nicely and played the ball very nicely. if you notice, i think it went in perfectly, hitting the intersection of the crossbar and the right post, before going in very nicely. abit of luck, but classy goal. and he was very lively, set up for klose's 2nd goal. i think he had a great game.

and i am very proud of him because he just came back from a knee injury. he was out for like 6 to 9 months? and he's back in the national team. his is a story of inspiration. from unknown bayern reserve loaned out to stuttgart, made an instant impact, became a full international, all in one season. then germany's best player in a lacklustre euro 2004. den a long layoff, fought very hard to get back into action, now in the world cup, starting eleven. scorer of the first goal. i speak of him as though he's my son. that's how proud i am of him. marcell jansen is the otehr left back, even younger than lahm, but i must say, the leftback position is always lahm's. as simple as that.

borowski. i dun think he was as disappointing as they say...it's just that he din had an outstanding game. he was involved in distributin the ball from the centre of the park. he just din make those incisive passes that he's capable of. that's all.

frings. when the ball went in, i was stunned. goal of the tournament. but he need to pass better. just before he scored, i was thinking: theres soemthing missing in this partnership. i think it is this: if borowski doesnt play those through balls, no one would, because frings dont really do that; hes the destroyer, and long range canon.

the answer might be sebastian kehl. he came on for borowski. he seem to give me the impression that hes the man. passer and tackler. he seem to be both. but of course i haven seen enough of him yet. just a few of his touches. and i am quite interested to see how it would go.

schweinsteiger. actually, schweinis play is very predictable: he will always cut into the center. yet, despite knowing that, defenders still get beaten because they dunno when he will do that. and when he cuts in, lahm can come up to offer anotehr option. and i like the way he switches with schneider.

schneider. if i were the german coach, he would be the captain. unlike ballack, he is still very much the same player as he was in 2002, in terms of heart and attitude. no superstar ego from him. tahts what i like about him. and there was once when he was like playing as rightback when friedrich goes up. germany is quite fluid. but schneider is very versatile. and tricky as well.

podolski. he made alot of intelligent play, but they are all rather subtle. he flicked quite a few balls into space. and there was this time when he chested down a ball and volleyed straight into the keeper. but it was really a very good connection. the ball even curled. i just have this feeling that he will score a contender for goal of the tournament. but he really is a tremendous talent, as pele had described him.

klose. the man of the match. i like the way he goes out to the flanks to pick up balls. it adds another dimension to the play, because people can then go into the space. and he got two goals, so what more have you got to say? happy birthday to you, miroslav.

odonokor, he played too little. but he seems to be highly rated. if so, germany's wings are secured, because schneider is quite old already. someone has to fill his boots. so maybe this is the man.

neuville. ok game, din really do much.

but germany must improve alot, alot. this wun be enough to see off tougher opponents. u can say costa rica made them look good. but at least they look good. better than nothing. and no, ballack isnt the answer to their problems.

welcome to munich, welcome to the allianz arena, home to bayern munich and 1860 munich. in just slightly more than 2 hours' time, the biggest sporting event in the world will kick off. it is germany against costa rica.

oh my god, i am excited by the world cup. glad to be here to watch it.

i suppose the biggest question to some people would be, will ballack be playing?

actually, i am not the greatest fan of ballack nowadays. i mean, ja i used to admire him alot, back in 2002. that explains why i like the number 13.

in fact, i think it might be good for germany if he doesnt play. i think his ego is getting too big, bigger than the team. in fact, i feel that he's a little out of sync with the rest...

and i am quite surprised that the midfield pairing was supposed to be frings with ballack. ok, that shows how out of touch i am. but anyway, i feel that borowski SHOULD be in the starting elf(eleven). i think hes a very good passer of the ball. maybe i would even prefer him over ballack.

i am not saying ballack isnt good; i just question his state of mind. he's abit like nakata nowadays. i dun understand what goes through in their minds. captains, but not exactly captaining the team. which is rather disappointing, cos i like both of them.

but i feel that the key players for germany are: borowski, podolski, lahm, schweinsteiger and lehmann. and ballack, to a certain extent.

but i hope it will be the lukas podolski show.

SIEG!(victory)

Jong Oranje are the newly crowned champions of Europe! After a 3-0 victory over Ukraine, who had beaten them 2-1 in the first game. Huntelaar is the top scorer with 4 goals. so this is something the seniors should take note of.

but how is it that U21 championship is apparently played by mostly players born in '83 is a complete mystery to me.

anyway, holland were held to a 1-1 draw by australia. but i think the most worrying thing is that both sneijder and cocu were injured in the game. which is pretty bad, considering we have like maybe 5 days left.

shit.

mokko

national heartthrob

hayami mokomichi

aka

MOKKO










my idea of japanese men has always been defined by people like yutaka takenouchi, takashi sorimachi, ichiro suzuki and hidetoshi nakata. but in recent years, the so called idols that they are churning out look more and more...effeminate.

not mokko of course. hehe.

de toekomst

de toekomst means the future in dutch.

it is also the name of the youth academy of ajax amsterdam.

i suppose you can say it is very aptly named.

in any case, one thing which i used to do, is to sit down, ponder and attempt to predict all the results of the tournament, be it euro or world cup. it is hard to make good guesses this year, because i won't really be updated on form and team news and stuff.

but the least i could do is to predict, at least for now, who will get to the second round.

group a: germany, poland
group b: england, sweden
group c: netherlands, argentina
group d: portugal, iran
group e: italy, usa
group f: brazil, australia
group g: france, south korea
group h: spain, tunisia

i can't resist playing clairvoyant.

second round
munich: germany v sweden---germany
leipzig: england v poland---england
stuttgart: holland v iran---holland
nuernberg: argentina v portugal---argentina
kaiserslautern: italy v australia---australia
koeln: brazil v usa---brazil
dortmound: france v tunisia---france
hanover: spain v south korea---spain

quarter-finals
berlin: germany v holland--- holland
hamburg: australia v france--- france
gelsenkirchen: england v argentina---argentina
frankfurt: brazil v spain---spain

semis
dortmound: holland v france--- holland
munich: argentina v spain--- spain

3rd placing
stuttgart:france v argentina---argentina

final
berlin: holland v spain--- holland, duh.

i think we can win.

1) van niistelrooy need to prove ferguson dead wrong. he need to repay van basten's faith in him. i think he will.

2) this is van der vaart's big chance to remind the world of his presence. i think he will.

3) this is the first time in a long while that we don't hear any squabbling from the dutch camp.

4) this is cocu' last shot for success. he, together with van der sar, are the last of the Golden Generation. this success, won't be his alone, but would be a tribute to those of his generation as well. bergkamp, overmars, davids, seedorf, stam, numan, reiziger, jonk, the de boer twins. the class of 1998.

5) the hunger. we missed out on the party in 2002.

6) we are not that inexperienced. most of the younger players were actually part of the 2004 team.

7) 1974.

i only wished that people din notice us. then we would have the element of surprise. but i guess that had been used up in the qualifying campaign.

oranje orange!

attack all around

other than musing about the world cup, i also spend alot of time staring at the computer screen, trying to figure out who is who in the bokura no te video. correction: which is chiaki ito, and which is yukari goto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWZumRZpQ7w

it is intriguing. quite early on, i recognised misako uno. she's the one with the shorter hair in the middle. i felt that the one, from the viewer's pov, on the right would be ito. she just got that itou chiaki feel. but it was very hard. i couldnt find many pictures online. but i was staring at the pics that accompany their profiles. and i realised all of their hairstyle were very different. so i was replaying, replaying, trying to match the faces. which was also very hard, because either my eyes had something wrong with them, or they also look very different from those photos. then there was one website which had colour-coded lyrics, meaning they indicate who sing which part. never mind that in the performance, they could throw that out of the window, but i was congratulating myself on the "success" when i realise the girls had NO solo parts. they all sang together. so it was back to the pictures.

until i realised that tehy were standing in one line. and on the profiles were the heights too. ito is 153, while uno and goto are both 160. so i decided to try this approach, even though i was perfectly aware that such a thing known as heels exist. but even so, it was worth a try. and there you have it, i managed to spot ito. she was indeed on the right. that she was shorter than misako uno was palpable.

but i must still admit, she didnt look like chiaki ito in the pictures from the drama they starred in. even the guys look different. that's why i din go on to try to id teh guys.

if you can believe me on that.

AAA stands for Attack All Around. how apt!

what can i catch with my hand?

i am always by your side

underdogs

this world cup, in my opinion, is very open, because there arent really any favourites, especially with the decline of a number of european teams.

but even so, i doubt any of the underdogs will win it. even though i always like a fairy tale. but that team must play exciting football of course, not like greece please.

why not any team? after all, i said before, the key was gettin to the world cup, and then everyone starts at the same line. so gettin there was most crucial; everything else will be just wait and see. actual day performance, that kinda stuff. if you cant even get there, you can forget about the actual performance.

you can say that i don't totally practise what i preach. in fact, that world cup analogy was conceived for anotehr entirely different matter. so it didnt really apply to the world cup. there but not there.

anyway, i cant really explain why i don't think ivory coast, sweden, usa can win the world cup.

i jsut don't think it will happen.

but then again, you can never say for sure. if i were to watch a few games, i might change my mind. but based on teh current situation, i don't think so.

even so, there are many teams which look not bad, just won't win. teams like ivory coast, serbia, usa, ghana, south korea, japan, iran(which i believe to be the best team from asia), australia, sweden and mexico. and they rave alot about tunisia. though i must admit, i noe nothing much about them.

about japan. they have big match temperament. they play very well against the big teams, but flop against the small teams. you can't do that. you will end up like drawing all the games. their performance will peak and fall, but the result will be one straight line. you get wad i am saying?
that's their biggest problem.

world cup- time to make friends

i bet they are gushing over england's 6-0 win. this is after all, england country. but that is how they are, erratic. and that's the reason why jamaica arent in the world cup.

my mum asked me where the next world cup would be held. i realised i din noe. den she commented that if i were studying in germany now, i would be at the world cup.

it was only then that i realise how close i was. either way, it was two years. early or late, there are 2 ways of seeing it. i went to germany in 2004. i was early by two years. but the consolation was that i got to watch euro at normal times. if i do leave in 2008, it would depend on whether i leave in april or october. better be april, cos euros in june. and austrias pretty near.

but still, i am missing out on the world cup. more than just not being there. even watching here would be a problem. and it would be the first tournament i am missing since 1998.

i dun believe there is any clear favourites for this world cup. i mean, people are probably gushing about brazil, england and argentina. but everytime i think of brazil, i think of argentina's 4-1 victory. it says how vulnerable brazil actually is, even though that was like so long ago. there is a way to beat brazil. personally, i think soaking up and hitting them on the counter is too risky, after all, what if they really score? and they are perfectly capable of scoring. going at them right from the start is like dangerous too, because they can hit u on the break, and they can probably do it better than you? so it is about the balance. the right amount of caution. the first goal. exploit their defence, don't let them attack. brazil is quite an imbalanced team. that is their biggest flaw. face it, the best team don't always win.

i don't think highly of england. i think people think they are so good is only because they only watch epl and don't see other leagues. i am not very impressed by their 6-0. jamaica were WEAK. as simple as that. and rooney is still a question mark.

argentina? they look best on paper, i must say. the thought of combining five generations of youth world cup winners is tantalising. it was what ought to be done. but my gut feeling, if you can believe it, after it had been wrong twice( on the champs league final and thierry henry), is that they wun really perform. there is jsut this lingering doubt whenever i try to tell myself that they are the favourites. you can see it as herns(was that his name? its the tortoise in over the hedge) tail twitching whenever somethings not right.

italy also has a good team. they are showing what italians have been missing out on thanks to their obsession about defence. they have always had the potential to play attacking football, and now they are realising that potential. but the scandal comes along, and psychologically they are taking a beating.

germany is too young. the defence especially. hasnt looked stable.

france is in a stage of rebuilding, i am excited by ribery. i think their run will not actually hinge on zidance, but on ribery and henry. henry has never really delivered on the international stage, partly because the french players arent as fantastic as arsenals. but theres ribery. the new zidance. but they are still rebuilding.

mebbe the czechs were the best team in 2004. but that was about it. i think that was their peak. even though they just beat TandT 3-0, it wasnt quite enough to convince me that they can reach the heights of 2004 again. czech now was like france and holland. but of the three, the dutch rebuilding progress was the most in progress, while czech, the least.

spain is very talented, but that's about it. they arent really scoring. they arent really impressive. of course i hope tehy will do well, i like them, of course not as much as holland. and i wish vicente would be playing, but he wun. but if spain can get their act together, they will be promising. but thats a big IF. though in life, even soemthing tahts 0.0000000001 percent chance can happen.

portugal. haven heard alot about them. they are another team in transition, i suppose. scolari is wily. deco is wily. ronaldo, until he starts to pass better, is not much of a threat, frankly. he will just run himself down. i think they are like czech: their best shot at success was in 2004.

ORANJE- the reserves just beat mexico 2-1. people are quite impressed. i am not that impressed. i mean, of course it's good to see that the second team is ready. but the first team is still the most important. i still wish de jong and huntelaar would be playing. i do hope van der vaart will quickly recover. this is supposed to be his year. why he moved to hamburg. it was to be the man they say he was going to be. it was to play at the world cup. you can't miss it just like that. what is wrong with holland's team? too young, maybe. but thinking about it, maybe not. you can never be too young. and cocu's there. van der sar's there. van the man is there. it should be ok. and some of the young players were in portugal. so it should be ok. i think the 2 pressing issues are form and our grouping. like i say before serbia is defensively solid, ivory coast is like very explosive, and argentina is tricky and classy. form wise, its hard to say.

i think we are really banking on the saying that form is temporary, class is permanent. so it is really down to you, ruud van niistelrooy, to show us how classy you are. and van basten is actually right on strikers not really needing form. you just need one chance to make yourself the hero. the defender can be on top for 89 minutes 55 seconds. but that 5 seconds may be all that you need. in fact, even that might be too long. whatever the case, the defender can win 9/10 challenges. the striker just need one chance. and he wins. van basten's insight on defenders needing games to build up form more than strikers consolidated my trust in him, just as it was sinking alittle, due to huntelaar's omission. but he himself said he was looking at 2008. and if so, huntelaar's omission reflects taht. huntelaar will play with the youth team. i think as an overage player. but in any case, it will be to get experience. after all, he might not be playin at all in germany, so why not send him to play with the youngsters and to lead them? whatever the case, there are people who say we are the Crockwork Machine.

We are the Naranja Mecanica. Orange Machine. Clockwork Orange. The Rembrandts. (the artist). The Koolhaas(the architect).

and maybe the Kampioen, come July.

what can i catch with my hand?

AAA's bokura no te
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWZumRZpQ7w

i am absolutely in love with this song. i am moved by their performance. it's just so complete. how everything clicks, how everything falls neatly into place. i love their voices, because they are so full of passion, so full of faith, so full of sincerity.

now, all i wish is to get the song, the performance, the mtv on my com and mp3.

while waiting for heng hui just now, there was a heated argument in the control room of the mrt station. sitting there, watching the two staff members quarrel and gesticulating wildly(actually only one was, the other was turning his back on him, shaking his head in, i would say, disbelief) while the otehr members were jsut watching on, i felt strangely detached. we were separated by glass. i could hear no sound. it was that feeling of being there and not there.

this week has almost been surreal. feels as though i am detached from reality, as i take the bus, as i take teh train, as i walk along the street. it's as though i don't really belong to this world. like a guest. i wonder if my parents felt the same. this person whos staying in for a whole week.

the funniest thing is taking 852 and finding someone who used to be on the same bus as you every morning on it. and morning as in trying to reach school before 630. the thing is that few people go to school at that time, so the bus is often empty. and of the people on it, most would be sleeping. but we seldom slept. there's jsut this kind of link. and on that wednesday when we were on the same bus again, at that moment when her eyes fell on me, it seemed to confirm my existence, that i was alive, that i was part of this world, after all.

i suppose wednesday must have been an eventful day. because earlier on in the morning, while again on the bus, i saw this grandfather with his granddaughter. he was holding on to her hockey stick, she was eating some puff and drinking some stuff. and i smiled at that scene. i can still remember it vividly. i can't really explain the emotion that welled up in me. i suppose the closest would be heart-warming. but at the end of the day, i turned away. because that very scene reminded me of my humanity. i cringed because this image reminded me that i was human, and in doing so, rendered me not immune from the guilt of all my sins. a girl in all her innocence, an elderly man, in all his serenity. and me, with neither innocence nor serenity. it is humbling.

i alighted first, and as i disembarked, a random thought struck me. she was no more than ten. what made her decide to play hockey?

tidy up the clutter in my heart

it's official. the past is left behind. the search begins.

let's go!

to degrade one's pride-to loose one's hold on the best, after having had it- is death to the soul growth of man or nation - from a daughter of the samurai

haha i cant believe i found the full version of the above book. it was so coincidental. but ja, i have been hoping to read the second part of the book. and now i have. i tink i prefer the first part more. somehow.

so after coelho's devil and miss prym and daughter of the samurai, its on to martell's life of pi.

good and evil have the same face, it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.- from paulo coelho's the devil and miss prym, when the stranger was saying the story behind da vinci's the last supper, how the beggar used for judas' face was the same as that used for jesus.

"three years ago, before i lost everything i had, at a time when i used to sing in a choir and my life was full of dreams. the artist asked me to pose as the model for the face of jesus."

it strikes you like a roberto carlos freekick.

it was all a matter of control. and choice.

nothing more and nothing less.