(The US and) Ghana! Holy Shit! Ghana!

First of all, great game by the US. The red cards all looked deserved to me, but according to the commenters on Steve Gilliard's (and Jen's) Newsblog the ref was obviously bought, the whole damn tournament is crooked, who can ever trust FIFA again, and so on. Look, people, it's a fucking miracle that the US didn't lose by three. I have been planning a post about the national teams that I like and why, so you can wait a few days to hear why I love watching Italy play, but face the fact that they are GOOD. The US held them despite being down a man, and that will earn the US a lot of respect. Appreciate that. I was playing futsal (a five-a-side variation of soccer) and the Brazilians were relentless in making fun of my lack of confidence in the US. Most of them gave the US more of a chance than I did in the World Cup pool. The US tied the game, but won an important battle. Unfortunately, Ghana is next.

Ghana. What can I say? If you want to know why I love soccer so much, watch Ghana. If you have a friend, relative, coworker, acquaintance, enemy -- anybody -- who doesn't like the game, suggest that they watch Ghana. Ghana makes me happy. Ghana shows why it's called the beautiful game. If you can stomach watching the US get their heads handed to them, watch Ghana. Quit your job, if you have to, Ghana is just that much fun.

More on Ghana later.