Germany 2006 Day 21(i)

5 minutes in and no score, but I'm encouraged by a few hard shots and some reasonable playing, but discouraged by the fact that half of it is coming from Portugal.

It seems like every time England takes a shot, Portugal answers, and the fouls are coming thick and fast.

Robinson is shooting up in my estimation, twice now he's saved the scoreline. I'm more than a little surprised and pleased that England's showing some sparks in defence, unusual for us.

14th minute - If there ever was a time for England to show some razzle, this is it. We're pulling back and defending. Defending well, but simply defending nonetheless.

(And Ashley Cole's pink boots are freaking me out, Why are they pink?!)

16th minute - This is better, England. Pressure, attack, shots.

18th minute - And here comes Portugal right back atcha. Robinson had it covered, but that was some nice attacking.

20th minute - whoa.. I don't know how many more of these near misses I can take. Sooner of later one's got to go in.

28th minute - And Terry gets a yellow card?! WTF?! That was a 50/50 collision, why does Terry get the card?!

Terry has to sit out the next game - if we go through.

Halftime - Still scoreless, but it's looking like it may get all the more physical.

Note: I was at work whilst this game was playing, so we recorded it and now I'm watching it. What's annoying is that Mrs Doombreed knows the final score. I don't want to know, I want to watch the game, but she's giving me the smug "I know something you don't know" treatment.

On to the second half.

52nd minute - Bye bye Beckham. This is a terrible shame, no disrespect to Lennon. If this game remains scoreless and goes to penalties, Beckham's exit won't help us.

58th minute - Oh, I see, that was almost Argentinianesque playacting by Maniche. Wanker.

61st minute - Rooney gets a red card. FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUKKITY FUCK!

And Crouch is coming on.

Oh bollocks.

Stat alert - England are 9-0-1 when Crouch plays.

Oh, and if we win, Rooney's out for the game against Brazil or France.

Listening to the crowd around the 67th minute, you can tell that England's fans are in the majority. Every time a Portuguese player gets the ball, it's boos and jeers, and cheers for England's players.

Ronaldo is joining the Argentinian squad with his Oscar-worthy diving. Play the fucking game, people.

And now the Portuguese are bringing out a sub with pink boots. Nice.

Okay, I just spotted an England flag in the crowd with the word "MINGE" written on it in big letters. What's that all about?

Robinson and Ferdinand. Fuckin' A. These guys kept the Portuguese out. I get the impression that when he retires, Robinson is going to have his name spoken in the same breath as Banks, Clemence, Shilton and Seaman. [post-game edit: I still believe this, even with the penalty shootout result]

3 minutes of stoppage time and the attack's on. And on! We haven't seen England play like this the entire tournament.

Okay, regular time over. Now we're into extra time, and there's no Golden Goal here. It's 15 mins each way.

No matter how this goes, there's pride in fighting even when down. We're the underdogs, and we always were. And that's how we fight best. We're a man down and still Portugal couldn't score.

This is exactly what I mean about England not scoring first. The donkey's off the field and the lions are loose.

EN-GER-LAND EN-GER-LAND EN-GER-LAAAAAAND!!

YOU FUCKER!!! I do NOT believe this!

Because of the extra time, my DVR STOPPED RECORDING!

So now I have to go to the Germany 2006 website for the final score.

And wouldn't you know it. England go out on sudden death penalties AGAIN.

Maybe in a few days I'll be able to approach this game pragmatically, but for now, I'm just drained and pissed off.

I'm going to bed.