The blizzard; a lean Christmas; a border crossing

So far, this hasn’t been such a formidable blizzard, although, surely, someone is suffering from it, and for all I know someone has died or will die; and it’s costing us a chunk of change because two nights ago Karin was in a minor crash in a snowy intersection. She had to pay the other driver; her own car’s headlight was smashed; and yesterday, she found out that her car was leaking steering fluid. This is one of those mishaps that it’s dismayingly hard to budget for. (This, and Jasper’s veterinary needs, which never fail to astound.) I have called this blog entry “A Lean Christmas,” although that isn’t really true: we already have bought our goodies, and our needs are met. It might be a lean-ish winter, though.

Edoarda & Stephen have traveled to Nicaragua, as they usually do at Christmastime; on this occasion, they flew to Costa Rica first. I understand that they walked across the border with their suitcases. It’s easier than having Edoarda’s family drive across from Nicaragua and then across again.

The U.S. snowstorm wreaked havoc upon their air travel. They spent a night in an airport terminal.

John-Paul: “Have you arrived in Nicaragua?”

Stephen: “Yes.”

Stephen: “After 30 hours of planes, (sky)trains, and automobiles.”

Stephen: “We left right before the storm got too bad in South Bend. The flight almost didn’t leave.”

John-Paul: “Mom & Dad told me about most of it. How was the Costa Rica-to-Nicaragua border crossing?”

Stephen: “Not bad. Took about 30 minutes total.”

Stephen: “But then … we left behind my carry-on.”

Stephen: “Here’s what I told Mom about it:”

Stephen: “‘I have some bad news. When we crossed the border, someone in the family took my carry-on. I heard people discuss where to acomodar it as I went in the truck, but it somehow got descuidado and left at the border. I lost most of my clothes that I brought, Edo’s Christmas present, and your copy of Shantung Compound. 🙁 I’m sorry.’”

John-Paul: “I’m sorry. It sounds like the border crossing in No Country for Old Men.”

Stephen: “Ha, not that bad.”

Stephen: “Just got back from getting some new clothes. I’ll survive.”

John-Paul: “I’m sure you are as well turned out as ever.”

Stephen: “T shirts and shorts.”

Stephen: “Some underwear.”

John-Paul: “Yes, go on.”

Stephen: “Socks.”

Stephen: “That’s it.”

Stephen: “I forgot to get some zapatillas.”

(Lightly edited.)

I have returned Stephen’s copy of Faceless Killers and am reading The Dogs of Riga, which is shaping up to have more snow in it.

Some frightening teams

Leave it to Alejandro Moreno, the worst commentator I’ve ever listened to, to defend Neymar for weeping out on the field … like a spoiled child … after scoring a tap-in against Costa Rica.

If the Brazilians win this World Cup – and, with all of their talent, they’re poised to do so – I hope they win with Neymar on the bench.

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The Colombians may have lost their first game, but yesterday they showed that they’re one of the planet’s scariest teams. They turned on the style in their rout of Poland.

The Colombians also have enough talent to win this World Cup.

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The Uruguayans have enough talent and more than enough grit. They won’t fear anyone. They’re used to grinding out results, which bodes well for their fate in the later rounds.

They ground out results against Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Then, this morning, they decided not only to clinch the first place in Group A, but to emphasize how dangerous they are. And so they casually routed the host nation.

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Another frightening team is Germany – not for having played well, but for having come back from the dead against the Swedes.

Before Toni Kroos scored his last-minute goal, the citizens of all the other countries had been licking their chops. The Mexicans, especially: their team would’ve qualified for the next round if Sweden had held Germany to a draw.

Instead, Group F remains unsettled. Germany, Mexico, and Sweden all will be excellently positioned if they win their respective upcoming games. Theoretically, even the Koreans could advance.

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Also frightening – but still unproven – are the Croatians, the Belgians, and the English, all of whom have easily qualified for the knockout stage. They all looked quite good against their group opponents, but I wonder how they’d fare against Colombia or Germany, or even Mexico.

More results

Well, Paraguay lost to Venezuela, 1 to 0. So much for Paraguay.

Argentina defeated Ecuador, leaped over several teams, and qualified for the World Cup. Ecuador didn’t field any of the players who defeated Argentina in the first game of the tourney. That, perhaps, is the most surprising fact of Ecuador’s World Cup cycle.

In Lima, Peru and Colombia each scored one goal. Peru’s was a golazo by its talisman, the excellent Paolo Guerrero. He scored with an indirect free kick that was touched by the Colombian goalkeeper. Now, to reach the World Cup, Peru must defeat New Zealand in a two-game playoff. Colombia finished above Peru and reached the World Cup directly.

The Uruguayans scored twice against themselves but still defeated Bolivia, 4 to 2. They also qualified for the World Cup.

These results helped to eliminate the Chileans, whom the group-winning Brazilians defeated, 3 to 0.

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Ironically, the Chileans would’ve qualified for the playoff at Peru’s expense had they not won an earlier judgment in court. Due to Bolivian impropriety, Chile and Peru had sued against that nation. Chile’s 0–0 draw against Bolivia was converted into a 3–0 Chilean victory, and a 2–0 victory for Bolivia became a 3–0 victory for the Peruvians. On the whole, then, the judgment benefited Peru more than Chile. The difference was enough to switch these nations’ respective, final positions (click to enlarge):

(The chart on the left gives the official, post-judgment standings. The chart on the right shows what would’ve resulted without the court judgment.)

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All of this was dramatic enough. But it paled in comparison to what happened in North America.

The Hondurans, obliged to defeat Mexico, narrowly managed to do so. One of their goals came from a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced off the Mexican goalkeeper’s head.

The Panamanians were similarly obliged to defeat Costa Rica. Their winning goal came at the end of the game. I celebrated it with great passion. Their earlier goal was even more dramatic. It was un gol fantasma: the ball never crossed the goal line. But the shooter, Blas Pérez – my old Panamanian favorite – was fouled and should’ve been awarded a penalty kick.

Here’s a video that shows all of this in clear detail. It also shows the Hondurans’ lucky goal.

Why do I care about these North American games? Because they made possible the elimination of the United States, that hollow team, which lost against Trinidad and Tobago. And so one of my dreams, that the U.S. should fail to qualify for a World Cup, has finally come true.

More soccer results

As expected, we beat the Venezuelans – no great feat, especially since the margin of victory, three, could easily have been seven or eight. ‘SUFRIDA’ GOLEADA, headlined the newspapers. The visitors “closed up shop” in front of their goal and stalled whenever play was interrupted. They did this until our central defender, Arturo Mina, burst forward and headed in a cross (our whole team was playing very high up the field).

This occurred early in the second half. Our next goal was from a counterattack, and the third came from an even simpler counterattack after the Venezuelans had no choice but to send their players forward.

Again our most dangerous attacker was Renato Ibarra. He and the “Hormiga” were devastating along the right wing. But neither of them could shoot. (My grandpa likes to tell how, decades ago, he arrived in Ecuador unable to speak Spanish. The evangelicals prayed: O Señor, suelta la lengua del hermano Pablo. In the same spirit, I’d like us to pray: O Señor, suelta las patas de la “Hormiga” y de Renato.)

As I’d predicted, we climbed up into third place, because the Colombians lost against the Argentinians in this week’s duel of desperate teams. Which proud team will miss the World Cup is the question that grips the continent. It’ll be either the Argentinians, the Colombians, or the Chileans. We might miss the World Cup, but we are not especially proud. The Paraguayans, also humble, were hopeful until these last two matches, when they lost against two of the cellar-dwellers: at home, 4 to 1, to Peru, and away, 1 to 0, to Bolivia. This last result has “cooked their goose.”

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In the CONCACAF, the gringos also are in crisis mode. They followed their home defeat to Mexico with a 4 to 0 defeat in Costa Rica. I was very happy about this, and I gloated about it to my Spanish students – most of whom didn’t care – until Mary told me that Martin has been very sad about it. That tempered my glee a little bit.

Copa de Oro

Europeans have the Euros; South Americans play in the Copa América; the nations of North and Central America and the Caribbean put on a farce called the Gold Cup.

In recent years, the tournament has always been hosted by the USA – the venue where the profits can be maximized – and, in effect, co-hosted by Mexico, whose fans fill the seats. The victories have gone to the U.S. or to Mexico. It’s in the interest of those countries to maintain the status quo, and to collude.

Well, last night, in Semifinal No. 1, the U.S. were upset by Jamaica. Martin was sad. I wasn’t.

In Semifinal No. 2, the Panamanians were outplaying Mexico – and they were winning, despite an early red card (much too soft, I thought).

Jamaica vs. Panama in the final. I was warming up to the idea (though I knew that the gaudy NFL stadium in Philadelphia wouldn’t sell out). Mexico and the U.S. hadn’t done squat all tournament. The Panamanians were actually a little bit interesting to watch. I mean: under pressure, they would bring the ball out with calm, short passes; that’s usually a sign of interestingness.

And then, in the dying seconds – for the second straight game – the Mexicans were gifted a bogus penalty kick by the referee.

The Panamanians were furious, of course. Their bench players charged the field, with my full sympathy (and I don’t often give out sympathy for that). Mark Geiger, the gringo referee, sheepishly refrained from punishing any of them. But the damage had been done; the call stood; the Mexicans had the opportunity to equalize the score.

What was most interesting, though, was the booth commentary, which was by Mexicans (e.g., Jorge Campos). All of them were outraged. Not like this, they kept on saying. Not with another bogus penalty, not for this sorry team. Mexico is undeserving.

Touchingly, they pleaded with Andrés Guardado to miss the penalty kick, on purpose. He didn’t miss it.

During the overtime, the Panamanians were tired. Mexico scored with another penalty kick; and I thought, “This might just be the worst game I’ve ever watched.” (This, after the dismal quarterfinal between Mexico and Costa Rica.)

In soccer, the gravest injustices are arranged “behind the scenes.” Still, I’m grateful when they’re this blatant so that even the purported beneficiaries can’t but be disgusted.

I hope this helps to make a better world.

Costa Rica 0, England 0; Uruguay 1, Italy 0; Colombia 4, Japan 1; Greece 2, Ivory Coast 1

They fight
They bite
They bite and fight and bite
Bite, bite, bite
Fight, fight, fight

The Uruguayans scored late against the Italians, who spent most of the game running out the clock. What everyone is talking about, though, is how Luis Suárez bit yet another opponent. (It’s the third time in his career he’s done this.) And so the tournament probably is over for one of the world’s most exciting players.

Now Uruguay will likely lose against Colombia, the team with the most flair. Last night the Colombian bench players overwhelmed the Japanese. Their fourth goal was one of the tournament’s prettiest.

Touchingly, the Colombians gave some minutes to Faryd Mondragón — their 1998 goalie, now a substitute — making him, at 43, the oldest player in World Cup history.

The Greeks, who’d previously done nothing, knocked out the Ivorians with a stoppage-time penalty. Was it well-called? You decide. The referee was Ecuadorian. Today Ecuador will play its last group game; the referee is from the Ivory Coast.

Costa Rica 1, Italy 0; France 5, Switzerland 2; Ecuador 2, Honduras 1

The Costa Ricans are for real.

The Swiss’s collapse was sorrier than Spain’s. Some of the French goals were as soft as cotton.

Victory for Ecuador. … We looked awful. We looked like we were in the 2002 World Cup: tentative, nervy. Without Castillo, we couldn’t dominate the midfield. It wasn’t pleasing to behold.

A few other notes:

(1) The Hondurans have such dirty players. They tackle viciously; they handle deliberately. Playing beautifully against them is impossible. A cynical, cynical team.

(2) Our second goal against Honduras was a carbon copy of our goal against the Swiss — and of several earlier goals (here and here). A foul against Jefferson Montero on the left side of the box; a bullet cross by Walter Ayoví; a close-range header. This trick may be unstoppable.

Colombia 3, Greece 0; Costa Rica 3, Uruguay 1; Italy 2, England 1; Ivory Coast 2, Japan 1

Pray for Ecuador to beat Switzerland today. …

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The frontrunners for the Tiniest Passing award are the Colombians. Putt, putt, putt. At times they used a four-player phalanx (Stephen’s phrase) to advance the ball against the Greeks.

The Costa Ricans were surprisingly good.

Italy/England. … Meh. Who cares.

The Japanese were tidy and cunning, but in the end the Ivorians were too skilful. Didier Drogba, who started on the bench, wreaked havoc after entering the game.

Four games in one day … grueling.