Hah! I was praying that this one would be watchable because I wasn't able to catch the previous matches. I'm not going away for sure.

Love this weird combo of bad/exciting play. Headers nowhere near the net, solid strikes floating into the second row, offsides galore, great saves, head-shakingly bad give-aways, solid walls, a perfect set play*. It's all there!!!!

Umm. This game got good real fucking fast.

Early on it would seem that Honduras has unleashed their famed "Wonky" Defense yet Ecuador's "Wide Left/Right, Over The Crossbar" Offense has failed to capitalize.

[reaches into pocket to grab invisible money]

Honduras vs. Ecuador-Winner gets to ethnically-cleanse the loser's country!

"Deafblind Boy"

Canadian here: English football fans (all the ones that I encounter) have so much in common with Toronto Maple Leaf fans. No matter the makeup of their team or the quality of the opposition, they both think that they will somehow, against logic, prevail. Every year. EVERY SINGLE YEAR!. It's a sickness, right?

Game Show Host: "You're a striker on the Japanese World Cup team. You've got a chance to either kick the ball into the opposition goal or into the second row of stands. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?"

You do the classy instrumental, I'll do the woozy one.

Nope. No more. Too much of a bad thing ends up being a really bad thing.

Here's one of the many ways to rise above.

I'm sure they'll eventually get through it-it's not the first time the majority of Japan has been under a cloud.

How Japan is going to play well given the horrible news from home is beyond me. You can't just pretend something like that didn't happen. That's gotta weigh heavy on all the player's minds.

This "Gimme Good Lovin'" youngster matured into a guy that had a hit with "While You See A Chance" but the album's title track was great.

"Aay, you want I should come down dere and, you know, "disperse the crowd" a little bit if you get my drift? Nothing big, coupla broken thumbs, maybe somebody slips on sumthin', maybe cracks their head open. Happens all da time where I'm from. Wadda you say?"

Croatia has its foot on the gas and will not let up.

Don't mess with the Croutons!

I'll balance things out song-wise and then we will have achieved equilibrium and we'll start over again from there.

Desi Relaford told me that he would like three of each. I'm sure he's good for it.