Football

[tilly]

I saw that. Might just have to book a table.

and apparently germany will come third!

[Beate]

Yeah but I don't think there's a food deal on for that....

[The Sparrow]

We've all heard about Paul the Octopus but have you heard about Manie Parakeet? His record for predicting the World Cup winners is better than Pauls.

He predicts that the Netherlands will beat Spain on Sunday.

World Cup final: It all boils down to the octopus v the parakeetA pair of clairvoyant critters have dominated World Cup coverage this week and made suckers of the pundits


It has been an unusual World Cup, one that has bashed down expectations at every turn. Several sides who thought they were good turned out not to be. Absolutely every South American team lost within hours of everybody noticing how well all the South American teams were doing. Pundits were sacked for selling their tickets, told off for wearing branded clothing and embarrassed by their mobile phones. Every World Cup seems to launch one person from obscurity to global fame, and 2010 was no different – except that usually that person is a footballer and on this occasion it is an octopus.

We are all pretty bad at being told what to think about sport. TV stations spend thousands hiring people with impeccable records of footballing achievement to clue us in on what's going on and still we sit on our sofas and proclaim them idiots.

Yet the opinion of Paul le Poulpe – he might have been born in England and adopted by Germans, but like pretty much everything else he just sounds better in French – is considered of such importance that it makes the evening news. It took until yesterday for anyone to emerge who had a better record than Paul at predicting events in South Africa and, with exasperating inevitability, that turned out to be a parakeet.

Mani, the bird in question, lives in Singapore and had correctly identified all four semi-finalists, but one of the clairvoyant critters will be sick as a parrot by the end of the weekend:Mani thinks Holland will win the final, and Paul's backing Spain. Me, I've never b*ght into the cult of Paul le Poulpe. For some reason, when I look at pictures of him, his tank surrounded by acolytes and all eight of his legs slithering hideously all over the
place and leaving him grotesquely glued to the glass, one word springs immediately to mind: suckers.

Blanc plays it by ear
One thing that doesn't sound better in French is humiliation. Still, that is all behind them now. Laurent Blanc has already begun the process of rebuilding his disgraced side after their hideous and unimaginable failure. His first move, proving instantly that he possesses the bravery required to stand up to the squad members who made the last days of Raymond Domenech's reign so shameful and catastrophic, was to ban them from using headphones.

It was a curious opening gambit. Clearly, Blanc decided, something or someone had to be at fault for the disaster in South Africa, and music won the vote. Not since the Beastie Boys inspired a generation to snap the badges off Volkswagens and wear them as jewellery has popular music been held responsible for such wrongdoing. Nicolas Anelka and Patrice Evra may have seemed the more likely scapegoats, but Blanc chose to take the Jacksons' advice and blame it on the boogie.

Italy, too, have a new manager to drag them clear of the humiliation that accompanied their first-round exit, and Cesare Prandelli has already set out his vision for the future. "What has happened has happened," he said. "I hope to organise a team based on real human values." That was precisely the problem with the final iteration of Marcello Lippi's side, though in these circumstances there are perhaps better choices of human values than greed, sloth, pride and envy. Plus, to be fair, and particularly when a Slovakian forward was around, charity.

As for England, well, perhaps it is just as well we didn't sweep to glory. World Cup victory seems to encourage people to act up to the furthest extremes of their national stereotypes. When Brazil win they head to the beaches and throw a carnival. When France won everyone stopped working and marched through the streets of central Paris holding placards. The last time Germany won the victorious team sped down the autobahn in Mercedes and then held a big rally. In Italy the entire population drives around erratically while hooting their horns and leaning out of their windows to shout at each other. If that's really how it works an England victory would be insufferable: millions of people would take to the streets of London and steadfastly refuse to talk to each other, and then it would rain.

But there's no need to worry about that, not for another four years at the very least. England's future is in the hands of the same manager and more or less the same group of players, and is almost certain to feature the same sort of results. We'll leave the major change to others. Of course, though, with change comes uncertainty. Nobody in France, for example, can know how well Blanc will take to international management. Though they can be pretty confident that he'll think it's as easy as ABC

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... 10-octopus

[superhero]

When's the groundhog going to come out and pick the world cup winner?

[bubblez]

^
^
The Sparrow - thanks for sharing it was quite interesting to read but then I had to skim the rest

I want Holland to win but I like to watch Fabregas & Torres okay maybe Villa too!

[superhero]

Good Luck to Germany tonight...

[PeteYork]

Is there some sort of football competition going on at the moment?

[Beate]

He he. I have booked a table at La Tasca West India Quay now, going with my uncle and aunt. Blergh. Anyone else doing the same?

[ejwrank]

Beate - knowing how you feel about this consolation game tonight it's a good idea to avoid it! Those of us who are (were!) England fans have had nothing to look forward to for weeks! At least your team put in some good performances. La Tasca sounds a good choice as it's always buzzing and busy so you might get through the dinner without too much fuss!

[Beate]

Who's talking about avoiding the match tonight? I am going to La Tasca tomorrow - I guess while watching the match I won't have to talk too much to my relatives so that's good news!