Soccer

Only played the first half today, just to rotate in some other players I think. Nothing terribly memorable, unlike last week. We were 3-0 up at the half, and ended up winning 5-0. I got a big bruise on my ankle (accidental kick) that fortunately just hurts a bit (no loss of mobility).

Movie

Saw "Iron Man", which was entertaining enough, but not all that. Seems like I'd seen this movie before. And all the special effects too.

Soccer

Hoo boy. Big match against the league leaders today. They have one key striker who's really strong and good at distributing the ball, and my sole job today was to prevent him from getting the ball, and tie him up as well as possible when he did.

We took the lead on a free kick chipped to the far post -- our key striker let it bounce once, then roofed it beautifully. Shortly afterwards we scored again on a counterattack, out of nothing really. They claimed offsides on both. Either or neither might have been, I don't know. The referee was one of the most clueless we've seen, though.

They started trying to take advantage of that, diving left and right, and getting the call consistently. I dispossessed my man cleanly just outside the box, but the guy yelled as he fell and got the call. A few minutes later he tripped over my legs and took another dive. I yelled at him, calling him a "f*cking p*ssy" I think, and he got up and tried to get in my face. When I wouldn't take the bait he actually spat on me. I laughed and said, "Classy."

A few minutes later, I slid in on a different player, and got the penalty called on me. Their player tried to gloat to me. Whatever. That made it 2-1.

Halftime, and we restored our discipline. Still, we were under a lot more pressure in the second half. Highly nerve-wracking, not being able to tackle your man without getting called for a foul, and not being able to trust in getting an offsides call either. But we held on. I just had to stand up my man when he got the ball, and not challenge too hard. Once when I was doing this he got off a beautiful chip to the far post to a charging player, but our keeper had a beautiful save, the save of the season no doubt.

The ref blew time at least five minutes early, from what our players on the sidelines said. Karma I guess. Their players got in the ref's face with some of the angriest words I've heard out there, but it was all over -- 2-1 was the final. Phew! Nasty game. Did we sing the team song today? Yes we sang the team song today.

Soccer

The domination continues... Won again today 7-0 or 8-0, against a physical (and dirty) Chilean team. I had a few good plays but more than a few crap ones too. Like my foot was on crooked or something. Also gave up a penalty (that shouldn't have been a penalty, but their guy yelled as he fell, and that always seems to work). But our keeper saved it, and I cleared the rebound.

Injuries: contusion on the back of my calf from being hacked by their frustrated striker. Also broke the little thing that connects your upper lip to your top gum (from an intended head ball that became a face ball).

Movies

Saw "The Black Dahlia". Thirty minutes in, I vowed never to watch another Brian DePalma movie.

Also saw "The Dead Girl", which was much better, and made me want to track down writer/director Karen Moncrieff's other works...

Soccer

Our onslaught continues. This week, 11-0. We have just been unstoppable. I thought I played pretty well too. After my usual stint in defense I got ten minutes or so as right winger, but only had one decent run up, which resulted in a corner.

Injury free for the second week, and no back pain. Sweet. Our other three teams all won today too; the combine tally was 23-1. And Australia beat Iraq in the first World Cup qualifier, so it was a good soccer day.