>>>As I predicted, Germany easily beat Brazil! :rolleyes
>>
>>Stunner. Absolute stunner. Germany 7, Brazil 1, with the Brazilian goal scored in garbage time. Four goals in six minutes. In Brazil. Having to play without Neymar and Silva does not explain it. The outcome would not have been different even if the score had been different. Suddenly it's Germany looking invincible. (Then again, they said that in 1939 too).
>>
>>You know who I will be cheering for today.
>>
>>There was a really good article about Lionel Messi in the NY Times Sunday Magazine just before the Cup started. He was on the cover. It basically said he is certainly respected in Argentina but not beloved. It said he is perceived as too emotionally detached and not Argentinian enough. It said he doesn't inspire the passion Maradona did, even though Maradona went to prison for drugs. Maybe leading his country to the WC will thaw them out a little.
>>
>>UPDATE: One of the great moments in soccer history -- the "hand of God" goal. He was a kid from the slums (as Messi is not, although his family was not wealthy) and he did what he had to do.
>
>Brazil where appalling. No defense at all.Luiz had the worst game I have ever seen anyone have. The crowd lost my sympathy when they where booing Fred. I felt sorry for the players and didn't enjoy the game it was so one sided. One reason Messi has never acheived as much popularity as maradona is that he has never perfomed that well for his country as for his club. In England we have a whole team made up of people like that :-(

He may be on the verge of changing that view. I agree with the rest of what you say. For the expected clash of titans it was a massive disappointment to watch. It still mystifies me that Brazil was so empty. Their fans seemed to have a lot more invested in it than the players did. And who wants to watch a Brazilian woman cry? ;-)