I notice that there’s a new variety on the Nigerian 861 scam. This time, the person claims that you have money coming to you from Swiss banks that are paying out money belonging to Holocaust victims. It sounds a little more plausible than that poor widow of General Abacha, but it won’t help Switzerland get past England tomorrow. (Professional segue, don’t try this at home.)
Yesterday, Holland did manage to self-destruct, as feared, but salvaged a draw all the same thanks to van Nistelroy, whose instinctive goal was not only unexpected, but hard to grasp. I’m still not sure what part of his body hit the ball – I’m thinking his upper thigh – but a great goal. Germany deserved the win, and that young winger, Schweizerschweiger or whatever his name is, was excellent coming in off the bench. And, as I predicted, the Czech Republic put away Latvia despite the surprise early goal.
Tonight, Spain has too much quality for the Greeks, while I expect Portugal to easily take down a Russia without their best player. Mostavoi isn’t the only one who doesn’t think the Russians can get past the group stage; even so, he should have kept his mouth shut.
As for American sports, I was quite happy to see the Lakers lose. When will teams learn that star-collecting doesn’t make a great team? You’d think Daniel Snyder would have figured this out… I’m no Detroit fan, but it’s nice to see team play succeed in the bastion of individual play that is the NBA.