We’re not an Argentina or Spain. We don’t have the best technical touch or guys that will score 30 goals a season. We’re also not a Germany whereas all the players play straight according to script and make it look skillful. We are the USA. We’re a middle ranked team. I believe FIFA ranks us as #12 in the world. I kinda doubt that ranking. I’d definitely say we’re top 20 for sure. Some guys our guys kinda disappear in and some they are always pressing the other team. What I really enjoyed about the matches were 2 things :

1. Never say die. Our players never gave up. They always went for it. Tried and kept fighting. I love that and such an emblem of this nation.

2. Support. There were tens of thousands of fans during the WC. Quite a lot compared to many nations or compared to support at past Cups. Also millions watching back home and just getting caught up on the ride to the final. Sadly the support was not extended further but for a week or so, our guys had this whole nation just breathing and wishing as 1 and for the team.

I would have loved for us to reach the quarterfinals. I felt that we could. We really could have. And if we made it there, hell there wouldn’t have been much to stop us from the semi’s. And I’m not joking. Very serious.

We drew 1-1 with England. Steven Gerrard (Captain at the best club in the world) scored in the 4th on a mistake. Luckily the team fought back. Dempsey scored a nice goal due to a gaffe by the English keeper. Almost feel bad for the guy, all the scorn thrown on him. Sure England dominated but they couldn’t score with out GOD in the net- Tim Howard.

We drew 2-2 with Slovenia. Now the first half of this game was the worse performance. We allowed them space and they kept attacking and scoring and we were on the backfoot. It was like a war between a tarantula and a scared ass cow. 2nd half changed and shocked viewers. Donovan and Bradley led the troops and came through with goals. The guys wouldn’t give up. A 3rd goal courtesy of Edu was disallowed. Why? No clue but the ref didn’t like it. Whatever right, we showed we had heart to come through.

1-0 win over Algeria. Tough match where we couldn’t seem to finish chances. So many shots on goal but no goal. Early goal from Dempsey was “offsides” but no it really was not. The whole game our guys kept attacking non-stop and seemed like it’d be a draw but the best American football (soccer) player ever-Donovan- scored minutes before the match ended.

We had won the game and won the group for the first time since 1930 (original World Cup). In fact we only advanced to the Round of 16 on just a few occassions. (Above I did mention we were not a football nation right.)

We got scored on early against Ghana. Donovan equalized on a PK. But we lost.  Too many defensive mistakes and our strikers couldn’t score. Tactics were at fault. The heart of the players were there but couldn’t match their involvement. It was a really sad moment knowing we wouldn’t equalize in added time. But you know what we can’t cry. We have to move on. Our guys played their best and it showed. They never gave up and you can always respect that. 2014 is right around the corner and we shall shock the world. I always say quarterfinals, but i may have to say Semi’s or better. We are getting better every year. We can go the distance. Come on you YANKS.

Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, Germany, Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, Uruguay all made it to the quarterfinals.

France, Italy and England all bombed out horribly. The first two in the group stage and the later in the round of 16. The French were so horrible they only had 1 point in the tournament and 1 goal and were dominated by the South Africans in their last defeat. Let’s not start on the former world champions. England played poorly and later technically raped by Germany 4-1. So bad that the English wanna ignore all mention of it.

Countries that really impressed me during the tournament were the USA for our never say die attitude and always coming back into games despite a goal or two down, Japan for their stellar attacking play, Ghana for their seemingly perfect play, Germany because despite having some unknowns in the squad they still played as they always do which is PERFEKT.

All African nations but Ghana crashed out in the group stage. Most finishing 3rd or 4th in the group. I guess the whole continent = home advantage didn’t really matter even to the South Africans. But there were games were they played some solid football, especially Ivory Coast.

My favorite goals-

Keisuke Honda of Japan against Denmark. Stellar freekick you were not expecting to go in.

Landon Donovan of USA against Slovenia. Goal nearly tore through the top of the goal.

Thomas Müller of Germany against England. Ozil passed the ball to him for his 2nd and Muller just shot into the net.

Luis Suárez of Argentina against South Korea. Goal happened toward the end of the match and just crushed their hearts. Celebration was also solid.

Oh let’s not forget that New Zealand was unbeatable throughout the entire tournament. 3 straight draws. Way to go Kiwis.

Like I keep saying Argentina-Spain in the final. That would be kick ass. Attacking attacking football at its purest. Though a German-Spain final would also be great considering how much quality the teams have and how they seem to flow perfectly player to player, plus a rematch of the Euro2008 final.

Now of course you’re thinking “wow, how is it that you, an American, care so much?” Well it’s easy, because football is the best sport on the planet. Duhhhh. When I was 9 or so I started at a Magnet school and slowly got into playing football with some friends there. Had me an addict ever since, but more of a closet addict cause I was never sure how to show my love for the game.

I was so excited after getting into the sport that I went to my grandma’s house for the summer to watch the 98 World Cup on Pay Per View, but of course that was confusing cause I didn’t know any of the American players and the game was in French and although I was learning it in school, I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to follow. So I gave up. 2002 World Cup blew past me without even a notice but that was due to the fact it was in Japan/South Korea and games on at 3 am or so. Now I watched some games of the 2006 World Cup but showed very little enthuisasm. But now I am back.  I wanna watch every game and of course difficult since I have work as well but I’ll find a way.

1 heartfelt moment in that South Africa is hosting. So cool that it’s finally arrived on the African continent and to such a diverse and interesting nation such as that.

Also what is really awesome is how the media is pimping the hell out of not only the World Cup but also the US national team. They are all over Sports Illustrated, doing ESPN commercials and interviews, hell even Landon Donovan was on Jimmy Kimmel recently.  Seriously the USA- England match later today is so pimped out in the style of the Revolutionary War and being aired on ABC. Huge ratings and everyone knows that.

That’s really awesome. A lot is riding on our boys to perform. I myself am praying they get to the quarter-finals but if we were to defeat England in our 1st game and say topped the group, that would be HEAVEN in itself cause we all know we Americans have historically fallen short in the tournament but this year we will make history and show the world we can play.

Oh btw the 32 nations are

Africa- South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon

Asia- Australia, South Korea, North Korea, Japan

Oceania- New Zealand

CONCACAF- USA, Mexico, Honduras

South America- Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

Europe- Denmark, France, Serbia, England, Portugal, Spain, Holland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland

I myself am predicting Spain to win it all. They have the best players and the best style and play with their hearts and that’s all you need.

P.S. – Let’s go YANKS.

1.           Find a job that I’m good at. Whether it be in the field of history or perhaps filmmaking or maybe I’m just a writer. Regardless either one or maybe bits of all 3 would make me happy.

2.         Have a 3way. Thinking with my dick or being vain? Maybe so but I’m not hating. I wanna experience that feeling with 2 other women (obviously). Just once, well maybe twice but it’s no addiction that I need, just a casual attempt.

3.         Multiple kids. 5-8. That would be quite lovely. All with nice hair  and non-dull personalities.

4.         Travel the world or more specifically go backpacking through Africa, Asia and Australia. If I were to do so by the age of 25, well safer to say age 30, than I would certaintly have achieved something of great importance. So much history in those lands and it would affect me like no travel I have ever undergone so I seek those adventures and dream of accomplishing.

5.        HAPPINESS. Sorta cliche or just unimaginative yet it’s what I seek. I wanna laugh with my friends and run my pregnant wife’s belly and just pop open a favorite book of mine. It can’t be understated for it’s the 1 true object worth seeking in the entirety of a person’s life or so I believe. And I do trust me.

1. Zoolander
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
4. X-Men 2
5. Snatch (UK)
6. Thank You For Smoking
7. 3:10 To Yuma
8. Old School
9. Blood Diamond
10. Taegukgi (South Korea)
11. Charlie Wilson’s War
12. Ondskun (Sweden)
13. Fuhrer Ex (Germany)
14. Batman Begins
15. Full Metal Jacket
16. The Simpsons Movie
17. Dawn of the Dead
18. The Bourne Supremacy
19. The Lion King
20. Eurotrip
21. Saw 4
22. The Breakfast Club
23. Death at a Funeral
24. Serenity
25. A History Of Violence
26. American History X
27. Lord of The Rings: Return of The King
28. Born On The 4th of July
29. Hotel Rwanda
30. Pineapple Express
31. The Road Warrior (Australia)
32. Malcolm X
33. Changeling
34. In Bruges
35. Spiderman 2
36. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
37. Aliens
38. The Ghostbusters
39. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
40. Gran Torino
41. Independence Day
42. The Hangover
43. Twilight: New Moon
44. See Lola Run (Germany)
45. The Hills Have Eyes
46. Schindler’s List
47. License To Kill (UK)
48. Jarhead
49. Inglorious Basterds
50. Brokeback Mountain
51. 28 Days Later (UK)
52. War of the Worlds
53. Hot Fuzz (UK)
54. Shrek
55. Meet The Parents
56. Joint Security Area (South Korea)
57. Crash
58. Tropic Thunder
59. Love Actually (UK)
60. Starsky & Hutch
61. I Am Legend
62. Patriot Games
63. Grind
64. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
65. Bødre (Denmark)
66. Basic
67. The Aviator
68. Glory
69. Bad Boys
70. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
71. Ten Things I Hate About You
72. Die Hard With A Vengeance
73. Romeo & Juliet
74. Silverado
75. Public Enemies
76. Scary Movie
77. Terminator 2
78. Commando
79. Cliffhanger
80. Broken Arrow
81. Zwartboek (Netherlands)
82. Lucky Number Slevin
83. Kill Bill
84. The Defiant Ones
85. Munich
86. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner
87. Gladiator
88. Face/Off
89. Lethal Weapon 3
90. The Patriot
91. The Goonies
92. The Lost World
93. Back To The Future
94. Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
95. Beverly Hills Cop 2
96. Trading Places
97. Ocean’s Eleven
98. Footloose
99. In America (UK)
100. Tremors
101. The Ex
102. From Paris Eith Love
103. In The Heat Of The Night
104. Casino Royale (UK)
105. Donnie Darko
106. Troy
107. Jackie Chan’s First Strike
108. Holes
109. The Punisher
110. Good Will Hunting
111. Silmido (South Korean)
112. Forrest Gump
113. 48 Hours
114. The Invincibles
115. Twelve Monkeys
116. Public Enemies
117. Star Wars: Revenge of the Jedi
118. Twelve Monkeys
119. King Kong
120. In The Land of Women
121. Jurassic Park
122. Mulan
123. Battle Royale (Japan)
124. Collateral
125. The Kingdom
126. Big Fish
127. Sleepy Hollow
128. Coming To America
129. Silverado
130. The Lost Boys
131. Shallow Grave (UK)
132. Trainspotting (UK)
133. The Wild Wild West
134. Planet Terror
135. The Thing
136. The Outsiders
137. Young Guns
138. Batman Returns
139. The Great Debaters
140. Shawshank Redemption
141. The Talented Mr. Ripley
142. Buddy
143. Collateral
144. The Running Man
145. Predator
146. True Lies
147. Top Gun
148. Rota 9 (Russia)
149. The One
150. Equilibrium
151. Running Scared
152. Apocalypto
153. Gone Baby Gone
154. Bee Movie
155. Vantage Point
156. Smokin Aces
157. There Will Be Blood
158. Children Of Men (UK)
159. Road to Perdition
160. Pitch Black
161. Råzone (Denmark)
162. Vikaren (Denmark)
163. Arn Templeriddaren (Sweden)
164. The Terminal
165. När mörket faller (Sweden)
166. Running on Empty
167. The Faculty
168. Shaun Of The Dead
169. Spiderman 3
170. X-Men 3
171. Kung Fu Panda
172. Team America: World Police
173. Burn After Reading
174. Serpico
175. Die Another Day (UK)
176. Stand By Me
177. Supercop
178. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
179. Curious Case of Benjamin Button
180. Heartbreak Ridge
181. Garden State
182. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
183. Max Manus : Man of War (Norway)
184. Meet The Parents
185. LA Confidential
186. Platoon
187. Rush Hour 2
188. Angels & Demons
189. Terminator Salvation
190. In The Loop
191. Transformers : Rise of the Fallen
192. I Love You Man
193. Persepolis (France)
194. American Gangster
195. Land of the Lost
196. Next Day Air
197. The Usual Suspects
198. Sex Drive
199. Star Trek
200. Year One
201. Young Frankenstein
202. Dog Day Afternoon
203. Kick-Ass
204. Men In Black
205. Män som hatar kvinnor (Sweden)
206. Avatar
207. Four Feathers
208. Shutter Island
209. The Blind Side
210. The Taking of Pelham 123
211. Miracle
212. Død snø  (Norway)
213. Fritt Vitt (Norway)
214. District 9 (South Africa)
215. Up
216. The Lovely Bones
217. Revolutionary Road
218. xXx
219.  The Basketball Diaries
220. Young Einstein (Australia)

6 weeks from tomorrow I leave for Sweden. It’s already known that I’m quite excited and happy for this. I even have my clothes packed. 7shirts and 5 pants with a pair of shorts as well. Just need to add a pair of towels and I’ll be complete. I pack light and travel fast. I’m not sure why but I imagine that’s the proper way for someone traveling with limited funds.  I still need to coordinate living arrangements and book a bus ticket from Den Haag to London as well as get a camera but it’s coming along just fine.

Oh I have even either forgotten or just could not find a razor. Most likely the latter, but I haven’t shaved in probably 6 or 7 weeks so I’ve gotten quite a thick moustache and an even thicker goatee. Which I do like cause I can rub them for dramatic effect when discussing something pretty “deep”.

USA MNT have a few friendlies against Turkey and the Czech Republic next week. All in preparation for the World Cup that begins in only 3 weeks. Sadly I was planning to attend the Czech friendly but decided to save the cash for the trip which had more meaning for me. Though I will be watching both on ESPN. The WC starts on June 11th and the USA’s first match is against England in Group C on the very next day. It should be 1 hell of a match. Think of the Revolutionary War but ammunition will be a football (soccer ball).

Work is the same as usual. Always shit. I bust my balls but I don’t mind. All that coarses through my mind is saving more and more cash for the trip. The trip is all that matters so I don’t mind. Over the last few months I have grown to truly despise the job but luckily I’ve been working more on the grill and less on drive thru. Drive thru overnights on the weekend can be a bummer and you can be worked to death. I much prefer manning the grill with some Linkin Park song blasting as I prepare sandwiches and the sort.

I finished school for the semester. I completed that dumbass class Freshman Seminar with a C, sadly I hoped for a B but that’s what happens when i don’t study for the final. I got an A in Intro to Mass Comm. Such an easy and lovely class. A in US History and B in Black History. I failed Math but that was logical event to happen after I stopped showing up to class in March.

My sister Sherika 17, graduated from high school last night. At the same church that I graduated from. Brought back memories. Hard for me to say to her since you’re aware of my family problems I suppose, but I am proud of her. That I am.

Hope that was a decent recap of recent events. Oh let me go on a bit. Lost series finale is Sunday. After 6 seasons it comes to an end and I will be watching. It’s 1 of my favorite shows of all time. I saw Clash of the Titans and it sucked. Luckily I downloaded it. Some films that I saw recently and enjoyed are Death at a Funeral and Kick Ass. Both worth a viewing and as well $7.00 for that viewing.

Yesterday and today I called a few friends abroad. My crazy pal Panos in Greece, my insanely descriptive amiga Jennifer in Saskatchewan, Canada, my sweet pal Jimmy in China (who happened to be in the middle of dreaming), and I left a voicemail for my Spanish sister Irene. Yes her name is Irene just like my soulmate. Coincidence? Kanske sa. Oh and also she’s not my sister but I just call her “mi hermana” a lot.

Shit else is new. Just working my ass off to save up. I have to be patient. The time will move by quickly and that will be all that is needed. It’s just even with like 119days to go, still seems too damn far away. I have a lot to plan. Should I pay for the flights/bus tickets/hostels in April or May? And which should I book first? And will Irene and I be going to Copenhagen for 3 days or should we just save that cash?  I’ll have answers to these in the upcoming months if not weeks but until then, they shall haunt my mind.

I wanna go see Clash of The Titans next month. It looks incredibly kick-ass. The lead guy, Sam Worthington, was also in Avatar and the last Terminator film. Dude is taking all the roles for Americans. I say that since he’s an Aussie but it’s all good. Aussies are allowed such a privilege, me thinks. I also wanna see the new Matt Damon film -Green Zone. I would love to also see Alice in Wonderland. I should have a few books to go see the later 2 in a few weeks.

As I mentioned nothing new under the sun for me. I need to turn in some paperwork so that maybe I can live on campus in the fall. Lord knows I’m done staying at home. In fact I am nearly done with everything family related. My mom is the only family I want or need. The rest can just fuck off.

Irene called me yesterday. Finallllllllly! I kept telling her I’d ring her house number but she was either too busy picking up fire wood or looking for a job or simply sleeping all day. It was so great to hear her voice. It really touched my heart. It did.

Last few weeks I have been flirting a bit at work and at school. Why yes I have. And yet all failed miserably haha. That serves me right. Women are quite a technical species. I prefer to make a woman laugh, cause that’s the easiest way, anything else causes difficulty haha. But my Irene. She makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me smile. She is everything for me and to me. Now how did this ever come to be? I blame the slowly brainwashing she gave me to be pro-Sweden.