I haven’t had the time to type up the answer to yesterday’s quiz, so instead why not a World Cup open thread? It was pretty easy to discern the pattern in the quarterfinals, where Portugal beat England, Italy beat the Ukraine, France beat Brazil, and Germany beat Argentina — all of the Eurozone squads were victorious, while those nations still puttering along with their local currencies were left to go home and lick their wounds. Hooray for globalization!
But what is it that separates Les Bleus and the Azzurri, victorious in the semifinals, from their opponents? I mean, besides a bluish tinge, a strong wine tradition, almost identical flags, and amazing goals? (And being picked by me to lose?) Eventually it hit me: these were the countries that have been home to Popes! Sometimes simultaneously!
So what will happen in Sunday’s final? Italy has had more Popes, but France has been more of a leader in unifying Europe. A titanic struggle between the temporal and spiritual realms awaits. Allez les Bleus! Forza Italia! (I will, at the time, actually be in Italy, so I’m leaning slightly Forza over Allez, but I wouldn’t bet against that Zizou guy in his last professional game.)
Comments
65 responses to “Weltmeisterschaft”
“Luck [ “serendipity” in Science, making discoveries ]..is that indeterminate factor”
After an even 1-1 game (although France dominated the game late..with ball-control & possession), it came down to a missed PK (hit the dang crossbar!?) from France. Announcers said Italy was lucky that France didn’t score on them late in the game (when they were dominating), France was lucky that the Italy goal was nullified (close offside call by ref). Luck, Luck..& more luck!
In the end, Italy had the last “Lady Luck” smile on them..
“That’s all She [ Lady Luck ] wrote”
In the History books
“I’d rather be Lucky, than Good..ANY DAY”
— famous saying in Auto Racing
“The Thrill of Victory, & the Agony of Defeat”
— ABC Sports
I feel for Team France, they deserved better. (“You’ve come too far!!”) Devastated players sitting on the ground, contemplating what could have been.. At this level, there are NO losers..only survivors.
“Wanna be a great Scientist? Make sure you HAVE A LOT OF LUCK!”
— Leon Lederman, “From Student to Scientist”
“Let Luck reign when the LHC comes on-line next year”
Who will be that “lucky team” who will make a great discovery next year?
Dan, did you mean Holland-Brazil in 1994 ? (this was a great game)
Holland did mean Argentina in 1998 (which was also a very good game)
Hmmm…what should I do? Should I keep up with the game by reading chimpanzee’s comments? Or should I actually WATCH the game?
Please.
Italia wins the World Cup! Uncle Enzo so happy!
Italia!
Italia!
Italia!
No poker!
No physics!
Yes Italia! Let’s talk about Italia!
Honk your horn for Italia!
Beep! Beep!
Thanks Shantanu, you got it right!
What a bizarre win. I spent a full day with several friends/colleagues bouncing like a rabbit in and out of the Tarquinia and Norchia Etruscan tombs in northern Lazio, and could only tune into the game about the time that the famous head butt occurred. Not the kind of game I was hoping to see. But given the fact that Italians are not patriotic (family and town and local region is the most important), seeing the emotional display of Italian flags and their level of ecstacy about that particular endeavor was a rare experience. You may not see such a thing again in your lifetime, Sean.
I just saw an ABC overall summary of the World Cup, references to “diving”, unsportsmanlike conduct, & the Italian soccer scandal (read article, sounds pretty bad). Here’s a question: if half of the Italian World Cup team is implicated, does that dis-qualify those players & Italy’s World Cup championship? Pete Rose (arguably the greatest player in Baseball History) was denied entry into the Hall of Fame, because of gambling allegations? (lots of circumstantial evidence, but only convicted of tax-evasion).
The rules of the World Cup should have a clause, regarding Ethics & Sportsmanship. The US Military (West Point) was rocked by a Cheating Scandal back in the 70’s (& even now, with harassment of female cades @Air Force Academy), whereupon they had to amend the U.S. Cadet Code of Conduct:
“A cadet does not engage in Cheating, NOR DOES HE CONDONE IT (if he witnesses it)”
[ to prevent a “Code of Silence” situation, thereby fueling cheating situations. It’s actually emblazened on a large stone on the Air Force Academy campus ]
If half of the Italian squad is implicated, & the World Cup allows them to walk away with a championship..what does that say about the Credibility of the WC?
“Once you lost Credibility, YOU CAN NEVER GET IT BACK”
— from a Journalism ethics website
I wonder if some enterprising soul/entity will file a protest (& possible legal-action), claiming disqualification of Italy..thereby handing the championship to France? An Indy 500 result ended up getting wrapped up in a court-case (B. Unser & M. Andretti), before the final result was handed down. The “passing under yellow” rule was the issue, & a lawsuit was filed to have it enforced!
Sportsmanship & Ethics, the Integrity of the Game. The World Cup is about unity of countries all over the world, where they can ignore politics/war & come together (“even playing field”) for some sportsmanlike competition. “May the best player win!”
Possibly didn’t happen, with the Italian soccer scandal.
Recall the 2002 Winter Olympics skating scandal, they actually rectified the situation by awarding TWO gold medals (public outrage forced the Olympic committee to “upgrade” the 2nd place Canadian team). This prompted a lashback, “this defeats the purpose of a gold medal, you can’t have 2 winners!”
There may be some motivation for FIFA World Cup to do something similar. I don’t think they can have their image tarnished by a WC champion (Italy) go around with this “cloud of suspicion”. Look at the recent Tour de France blood doping scandal, the offenders were flat out DQ’d from competition (an Italian cyclist accused L. Armstrong/USA of cheating, a book came out & lawsuits were filed). TDF is taking a stand against cheating, enforcing rules (DQ’d 2 of the top cyclists, Basso & Ulrich) & preventing it from tarnishing their Sport & public-image.
“The predictive power of a Theory”
You’re all scientists, & understand the “global implications” of a local phenomena. This type of “game fixing, refs being paid off” must extend beyond Italian soccer, how big of a problem is it elsewhere? Short response to a solution: Rules & Enforcement. Some education of players/managers, a sports-wide mandate should be implemented. Olympics have 2 stages of blood testing. Some athletes were DQ’d & sent packing home, after failed drug tests at the recent Greek Olympics.
“What’s the point, in participating in a Competition, where there isn’t a ‘level playing field’? May as well go home.”
Dear chimpanzee, if you want to complain about the Credibility of the WC and disqualify somebody, the matches of South Corea in 2002 are surely a better candidate than Italy vs France + Africa.
So, Sean, how about Trieste? Maybe, if you have time, you could write about it and also ICTP, although today Italy might be breathing soccer 🙂 …
Orangutan, you just fueled my argument.
If the 2002 scandal was an issue (& there is certainly one in 2006), then that just paints a consistent picture. “Preponderance of Evidence”. 2002 incident doesn’t lessent he 2006 incident, they *collectively* point to an Ethics/Standards issue.
All Sports are being rocked by Cheating Scandals, the PED (Performance Enhancing Drugs) is a really serious widespread problem. If 1 athlete uses them..& gets away with it, then other athletes feel compelled to do it. If they don’t, they can’t compete (& can’t win). Obviously, the Sanctioning Body has to step in with Rules & Enforcement (drug tests). Unfortunately, Science/Bio-Tech is getting a black-eye here, just like the A-Bomb (“explosive technology”): it’s being used for malevolent purposes.
I won’t forget the infamous Olympics boxing scandal, where a S. Korean boxer was given a decision over an American boxer (black)..after the American clearly won the fight. There were allegations of bribes (“diamonds given to the refs”).
I’m against any violation of Ethics, Integrity, Credibility. Italy’s win is tainted, I’m playing no favorites. “Cheaters never Prosper”
Here’s a good essay on Ethics/Integrity, Man in the Glass, & here
Can Team Italy look at themselves in the Glass? If they do, then they have problems..
Cher chimpanzee,
the 2006 scandal involves some managers of italian teams, not their players. Otherwise (taking into account that italian teams have plenty of foreign players) we should disqualify Italy, France and a dozen of other countries.
exactly @ orangutan. For example, Trezeuget, who played for France, is on the Juventus team that is being relegated. Zidane used to play for them. The scandal there is NOT the players, it’s the managers/ownership.
Forza Azurri!
Yes, Forza Italia!
I think the reason why we (Germany) didn’t win is simply because you can’t be Pope and Football world champion simultaneously. Furthermore I’d like to say that I think it’s a cruel game, because sometimes teams win in the last minute of extra time that played “well” against opponents such as Australia and Ukraine…
Both teams were struggling in the final, the second half was the most static I’ve ever seen. Zizou really decided that game by eliminating himself. I guess even with his experience you can lose your temper when the pressure’s on. So , in conclusion, I disagree with people saying Italy is a worthy champion. They were lucky, which is a big part of football, I know….I guess I’ll make peace with this outcome in a couple of weeks.
Anyhow, I’m all for giving them an Oscar for good acting, though.
Matthias Ihl?