Congratulations are in order...

A big weekend for sports aficionados...

It was the World Cup final this morning and after 36 teams battling it out, it all came down to Italy and France. It was tough game with both sides kicking a goal each early in the game and each team's tough defence battling it out till extra time. The French captain Zidane got a red card, which marked an ugly end to an excellent career.

It all came down to the penalty kick shoot out. Italy came out as the winners.

Congratulations to Italy for winning the 2006 World Cup. This win makes it the fourth for Italy, only one short of Brazil who is the holder of the most World Cup wins.


The Azzuri celebrating their World Cup win, the last being in 1982. (Photo from The Herald Sun)

Also, the Wimbledon final was on between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, whom both faced each other during the French Open. There was no question of Nadal winning that, being an ace on clay courts. But grass is Federer's baby, and he came out as the victor.


All smiles knowing he's the king of the grass. (Photo from The Herald Sun)

Congratulations to my most favourite tennis player. This makes his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. Here's to you winning the US open!

The ugly side of the "Joga Bonito"

During the Australia - Italy game early Tuesday morning, the city was packed 30,000 strong, with huge tv screens allowing people to watch and soak in the atmosphere of the World Cup. Melbourne's own "Little Italy", Lygon Street, was overflowing with Italy and Australia supporters alike and it seemed like the whole event will go on without incident.

But also, I wasn't completely surprised when I read in the papers that there were a few people arrested for public drunkeness, throwing flares, and over enthusiastic fans goading each other and creating a ruckus. Story can be read here.

This, unfortunately, is the ugly side of the "Joga Bonito", the "Beautiful Game." Considering that the crowd was huge, the arrest of 14 people was not so bad. I guess it's not as bad as the other football leagues around the globe where people end up getting very violent.

And who can forget that poor Columbian goalkeeper who was killed by his countrymen a few years ago because he wasn't able to save a goal? It's just amazing how some people just don't have a life.

I do agree that soccer, the TRUE FOOTBALL, is a beautiful game that should be appreciated, but I find it idiotic that people get all riled up by something that is meant to be a friendly sort of competition. In the end of the day, it's only a game.


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On that note, congratulations to Brazil for winning against Ghana 3 -0. Also, kudos to Ronaldo for making it in the history books as the fellow who has scored the most goals in. He may have packed on a few pounds, but he still has that magic touch.

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I will try my very best not to talk about soccer in my next post. Please bear with me. Melbourne is a sport mad city and it's very hard to ignore :)

Cheers!

The dream is over...

Australians all over the world mourn the defeat of the Socceroos against Italy this morning. For a whole 90 minutes, the Aussies made a valiant effort of preventing the Italians from kicking a goal albeit a lot of opportunities that went their way. It all went pear shape when the stupid referree made a false call on Luke Neill and instead of fouling him or giving him a yellow card, he gave the Italians a penalty kick in the last few seconds of the game. Penalty kicks, as any soccer fan would know, are almost impossible to block regardless of which team performs it. Sure enough, Italy scored and won.

Bastard of a referree! He robbed us of an opportunity to go into the penalty shoot out which I don't doubt we have every chance of winning!

I stayed up all night and watched the game from 1:00 am till it finished around 3:00 am. I am now at work, all groggy, and majorly disappointed. But oh well... the Socceroos did a great job nonetheless. Australians have never been in the World Cup for 32 years and got through the group stage. Fantastic skills were displayed by every player in the team (well, maybe except for "butter fingers" Kalac).

I guess us Aussies would have to wait for another 4 years to get a shot at the Cup again.

Until then, I'll be cheering for Brazil... GO RONALDINHO!

Off to Round 2...

All Australia needed was a draw with Croatia to get through the second round of the World Cup and we did it!!!

Croatia's Darijo Srna kicked a goal two minutes in. Australia's Craig Moore kicked the equalizer goal around the 40 minutes mark. Come the 57th minute, goalkeeper Kalac misread Kovac's low drive from just outside the penalty area and gifted the Croats another goal. All hope was lost...

... until the man of the match, Harry Kewell, kicked the most important goal of his life in the 72nd minute, forcing a draw between the competitors.


Moore is joined by Harry Kewell as well as Cahill as dreams of a second round clash begin to blossom (Picture and caption from Herald Sun)


Before long Moore is mobbed by the rest of the Socceroos as the Stuttgart crowd goes wild. It set the tone for the rest of the game, with excitement rising every minute thereafter (Picture and caption from Herald Sun)


The man of the match, Harry Kewell, celebrates after the brilliant equalizer goal (Picture from Herald Sun)


Kewell enjoys the moment of victory with John Aloisi (l) and Tim Cahill (r) (Picture and caption from Herald Sun)

So we're on to the knockout phase of the competition. Our first game is against Italy. It'll be tough, but Australia's "Never Say Die" attitude can make mountains out of mole hills...

AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE!!!

OI! OI! OI!

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On a different note, who can forget Brazil's spectacular win against Japan? Ronaldo, amidst all the talk that he is not performing well in Brazil's last two matches, proved that he is still the fabulous footballer that he is. He kicked two out of the 4 goals that won them the match.

Who said he lost his magical touch? (Picture from FIFA World Cup official website)


The Brazilians celebrating their win (Picture from FIFA World Cup official website)

But personally, I have a soft spot for Brazil and it is because of one man...

RONALDINHO

Move over, Beckham... here's my new footballer crush!

He may not be as good looking as the English captain, but boy he can f**king play! Tagged as the new Maradona and the man whom the great Pele himself praised as the new face of Brazilian football... he even asked for his jersey!

Check out his amazing website here.

If Brazil ends up winning the Cup (very likely), I'll cheer loud and hard... because of this man. What a hunk!

Conquered the Rialto!

Wow, I can't believe that my team actually finished! We finished in 25 minutes! It was very hard work, the higher we got, the harder it was to breathe. I honestly thought it was impossible for a person to sweat in the middle of winter, but there we were drenched and dripping in sweat. Eeeeewwww!

I am fitter than I thought I was. I thought that after I climbed the last step in the 55th floor and crossed the finish line, I wouldn't be able to walk. But here I am, in front of my computer at school, putting in this entry (the lecturer is just blabbing in the background :p). I feel fine, really good as a matter of fact.

I believe I deserve to have a nice big meal for dinner and a long hot bath when I get home.

Thanks to Gary, Rebecca, and Geoff for joining me in this seemingly "idiotic" challenge. I think we did our company proud (my boss was quite happy to sponsor us for this event).

I am very happy that I have done something as physically challenging as this. Next stop: the Women's fun run on December...

Might as well start training again ^_^

The Rialto Run-Up

Tomorrow will be the test of my physical fitness and endurance. Four of us from my company have signed up for the annual Rialto Run-Up. This event takes place at the Rialto Tower, the tallest building in Melbourne. The Run-up is basically a competition of who makes it first to the top floor, on foot, all 1254 steps of it!

I know, I'm insane!

I guess I just want to gauge how fit I have become these past two years of religiously working out.

Wish me luck!