Sunday, June 25, 2006. The world stops in the second minute to watch Beckham take a free kick from twenty-five meter, his trademark. England has more confidence in the second hal.

Saturday, July 01, 2006. England wants to bring football home. Today they face their biggest hurdle so far. Portugal reaches the quarterfinals over the back of the Dutch. For details of the game, I refer to my match reports. If I may close the subject. Terry, for England, receives a yellow card.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006. The last match of round two promises to be one for the history books. France struggled through round one, while Spain stormed through. However, the French record dwarfs the Spanish one. Today Spain is looking to break the prejudice forecast and send France home. He forgets both nations also house a high paid professional defense, the match starts slow.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006. The television captures a village in Ghana watching a battery powered black and white television to see the match. Why could the camera crew not loan the good people a color monitor, goes through my mind. Ghana is living the dream as large as you can live it. They shuddered the finances of the soccer bookies by progressing to round two. Today they can give a knock out punch to the same bookies, if they beat Brazil. Brazil is counting their chickens, before the eggs are hatched.

Friday, June 30, 2006. Both teams bring drama to the next match. Ukraine is the only underdog left in the tournament, their dream is the toughest. Italy is heavily favored but brings a shocking mental baggage to the pitch. The league in Italy is under investigation. Fixed games and betting scandals are keywords in the Italian story, and thirteen players on the field for Italy today are affiliated with accused clubs. The Italian fans spring alive. The love for the cup forgets all disputes.