On to the Quarters…

OK, I’ve somewhat recuperated. My throat is hoarse. I still have a migraine headache. The nerves are shot and one glass of red wine at 11am didn’t do the trick. But we did it!!!!!

5 Things we learned from Match day 8 -

1) Villa is GOD - in the 92nd minute, El Guaje took all the pressures of the team on his back. He clinically finished with a beautiful flick, and placed it in the corner of the net, a la Thierry Henry. Kudos also goes to Joan Capdevila, for the foresight to make the long ball pass. (YES long ball!)

2) We can win ugly! We can grind out the result, even when the going gets tough and the game goes all pear shaped. Yes, we suffered and got frustrated, but we managed to get all 3 points, against all odds. Shame on Sweden for going for the draw.

3) Sergio Ramos can have two consecutive bad days on the pitch. What is going on in the mind of Sergio? Has the ego landed? Is he still stuck at the disco? His decisions of late, have been rash and questionable. I know he can play better than this! We’ve all seen him at Madrid these past two years. Calmate Sergio, por favor. You are due for a stellar performance. Just relax…..

4) Lucky Gus is still Lucky Gus. The Russian beat the Greeks, which means Spain has qualified to the next round in first place. Quarter finals here we come! The old man can use this opportunity to rest some of our players and play Guiza, Xabi Alonso, etc. And not a minute too soon because…

5) Carles Puyol is TBD. Reports are stating that our rock in the defense, Carles Puyol has injured his foot. Please oh please wrap him up in cotton wool and let him be well for the quarters. We need you Carles badly!!! Let’s all pray for his safe return asap.

Well, not the most convincing win, but a win is a win. Raul Albiol and Carlos Marchena didn’t overly embarass us in defense. I thought Silva played his a** off and never quit. But teams are seeing through our midgets in the midfield approach to games. We need to be more versatile, flexible, take more risks.

That said, we all need to root for Romania now, to pull a miracle over Holland. Or maybe a draw is sufficient, cause you know what happens when two big clubs meet? Draw Draw Draw. Vamanos!