A Prophet and a Witness

Today I am a man of two hats: prophet and witness.

I predicted the England-Switzerland scoreline was going to be 2-1 to England, and it was, and my prophetic wisdom was proven more accurate still by suggesting it would be an "ugly" game (though to be fair, I thought England played much of the 2nd half with an exciting flair that already hints at some of the excitement to come under Capello).

I witnessed the 5-0 thumping Argentina put on Guatemala last night at the L.A. Coliseum, and, though the scoreline should not really come as a surprise given the #1 vs. # 103 disparity in Fifa world rankings, the nature of Argentina's dominance was eye-opening indeed. Playing without their four principal national team strikers (Messi, Tevez, Crespo, and Saviola) Argentina fielded a mostly under-23 team in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, with a sprinkling of seasoned veterans in Javier Mascherano, Esteban Cambiasso, and Juan Roman Riquelme. I was given the opportunity to witness the spectacle from field level for the 2nd half, and was right behind the goal for all three Argentina 2nd half goals. You can even see me celebrating with arms in the air after the 5th goal!

The shocking news today comes from the African Cup of Nations, where both Ivory Coast and Ghana were upset, by Egypt and Cameroon, respectively. Egypt dispensed with favorites Ivory Coast 4-1 while Cameroon stunned the host nation 1-0, setting up a tasty final between the defending champion Egyptians and the always dangerous Cameroon side. It's a bit disappointing that the supposed juggernaut in Cote d' Ivoire was beaten, and same can be said for seeing the powerful Ghanaian side leave its home fans just a bit wanting, but the good news for Chelsea fans at least, and particularly for FFF's Steven Cohen, is that now Drogba, Kalou, and Essien can all return to Stamford Bridge sooner than expected.

USA and Mexico played to a 2-2 draw last night, with Mexico clearly the better team on the night, but AGAIN being denied a victory on American soil by some opportunistic attacking by Oguchi Onyewu and Jozy Altidore (a.k.a. "the new hope"). It was a festive atmosphere in Houston, as it always is whenever and wherever El Tri play in the United States. Mexico have to be bitterly disappointed with the result.