Qualified For Quater-Finals...And Another One Bites The Dust...

Okay seriously, can someone tell me what the heck happened to Portugal last night, ehh??

I always thought even-numbered years brought about good things. And therefore it is good to be born in an eve-numbered year but you know, that's just me and I'm always known for being bias. I'm sure there are good things that occur in odd-numbered years. Whatever they are.

Anywazoo, one of the highlights of this year has been the much anticipated and wholly talked about Euro 2008. Besides the World Cup and the Olympics, this is one of the major sporting events that even up till today, I do not comprehend why the heck do we need to pay a one-time subscription fee for coverage. Hello, Malaysian channels show them for free. And by the way, I think it was free back in 2004. Or was it not??

The group stages are over and the quarter finals beckon. A lot has been placed on the usual suspects to perform and pundits have cast aside teams whom they predict would do the predictable. But see, the thing about soccer is that it's the most unpredictable thing in the world. It's probably even more unpredictable than marriage.

This is the time of the year that some boyfriends would most likely find themselves begging their other halves to please not call them after 11pm and harrangue them about their day because they would seriously not respond. I found myself doing just that as I sat myself comfortably on the sofa and got bugged by a friend on MSN. And even I do not have a boyfriend.
It was already bad enough that I shush my personal trainer, MuayThaiMuscle, and tell him to go away on a text message as I enjoyed watching a Manchester United match one night but you know, if you're friends with someone long enough they should know better when to vie for their attention and when to leave them alone because they would ultimately lose out to the running man in the television dribbling the ball between his feet.

So sixteen teams have been reduced to eight. A week has passed to see teams either qualifying to the next round or get eliminated. Some have been unlucky to crash out, some can hold their heads high and give themselves a pat for persevering throughout the tournament. Some, I cannot even begin to express my utmost disbelief that they are still here. And some just need to get the heck away and go back to their drawing boards.

I cannot say that some are not good enough to last through the group stages because if they weren't, they wouldn't be in the tournament in the first place. I am quite pleased that some whom I feel deserve a place have gotten it and for some who did now, I roll my eyes at because seriously, who are we kidding here?? You've had your chance, you didn't perform, too bad. Get out.

Orange has long been my preferred color and this year's no different. I cannot deny that there has been moments where I smack my hand to my forehead in sheer incredulity because of the stupidity coming from the team. But this year, something is different about the team and there is a change in the air surrounding them. Maybe we stand a chance this year. Maybe.

For this year's tournament, I have indulged myself in a couple of jerseys from countries of which I either like or because their jerseys were too nice to pass up. I opted to leave Spain and Portugal out of my purchases because I already had a World Cup 2006 version of the former and the latter's national flag had a cross on it that I personally would feel uncomfortable wearing. Don't get me wrong, the Portugal jersey --home and away-- is gorgeous.

The latter is white with a bold red V-neck collar and green trim at the sides. The trademark Nikse swoosh is also in in green. Forest-green to be exact. The former is fully red like the red of a sweet ripe bell pepper with the forest-green collar and a white swoosh. The colors of Christmas!! It used to veer more towards the maroon-ish kind of red, which actually clashed with the skin tones of the Portuguese but who am I to be a fashion critique, ehh??

And although I don't fancy any of the Portuguese players --no, not even Cristiano Ronaldo-- I like their style of play. They've got even more flair than the Spaniards. Fine, I used to like Luis Figo but you know, he was the end of the Golden Era and we must all move on (read: FRANCE).

The Spanish jersey is a different kind of red, a little fiery if you will. Like saffron. It looks good with the yellow that seriously reminds me of paella --pronounced PAH-EH-YA-- and since both the Spanish and Portuguese jerseys are red, I chose to colorize my jersey collection rather than just sticking to a monotonous color.

While we're at it, the Spanish are doing pretty well this year. David Villa is on-form and fired in a hattrick for Spain's first game against Russia. It would not be plausible if he got the Golden Boot award this year. During the last tournament in 2004, Milan Baros of the Czech Republic acquired the Golden Boot award for most goals scored. I am still bitter about it because both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney followed closely behind with only one goal less!! And look where Milan Baros is now!! He didn't even score this year and the Czechs are out of the tournament following a last-minute defeat to Turkey (damn, I should've bought their jersey instead of Germany's!!).

Germany, as much that I love to hate them has given me a reason why I should not place my hopes on them for this tournament because it seems like they are behaving like the Dutch used to be a few years back. Bickering with your team mates and getting sent off after you come on as substitution is not going to win you trophies. Seriously girls, put away those claws.

So anywazoo, because I love being different I decided not to get the normal Germany home jersey as I already have it and although I love its material, white is so not my color. Hence my tendency to stay away from it. I bought the away jersey instead and before you point out to me that the away one has red elements to it as well, I already know.

It's just that I couldn't resist the embossed thing --eagle?? Griffin?? Some winged animal with a beak??-- on the back of the jersey and well, it's got a wide black centrally vertical stripe which goes well with the two red ones on either side. The jersey is unlike the others because Germany's crest is smack-dab in the center instead of the left chest area.

Out of the jerseys that I bought this year, I have two favorites: the Dutch and the French jerseys.

Now, anyone can tell you that I am not a die-hard French fan because they are just begging to be kicked out from the tournament --which they were, by Italy-- for the way they've been playing. If I had to pick between France and Italy, I'd take France any day just because they're the lesser of two evils and their jersey is ohh, sooooo sooooooft!!

I went to an Adidas outlet at Citylink Mall to check out the new kits one day and drawn by the funky blue of Les Bleus, I reached under the mannequin's shirt and found absolute softness. Like, a pashmina kind of softness. But this was the guy type of pashmina. It just floats on your skin like a lover's caress, I swear!! And of course, I just had to have it. The thing that makes all this jersey-buying so worthwhile is that you know whenever you slip into it, you'll be transported into orgasmic bliss in seismic proportions. I'm dead serious.

And when you go for that high-intense cardio workout, you'll have a blast without feeling a drip of perspiration on any part of your skin that has been coccooned in the material. This, despite rivulets of water flowing down like as though your arms had been turned into leaky faucets.

And at the back of the white collar, it reads Fédération Française de Football. Très impressionnant!!

So, you know, despite their awful showing this tournament I still like their jersey. I wore it to the gym on the night before they got thrashed by the Netherlands 4-1 and on the day after, I proudly took out my Netherlands jersey, hugged it tightly and paraded it at the gym.

The Dutch jersey ultimately proclaims my love for the Oranje army although again, in attempts to be different I went for the away kit in sky-blue rather than the usual eye-popping orange. The material of this jersey is different from the rest because the Dutch jersey is from Nike. It feels a little scratchy when you first pull it over your skin but the impact is similar to the Adidas one. The three horizontal stripes of red, white and blue present on the home kit's collar running downwards represent the flag of the Netherlands is absent on the away kit. Instead, the stripes streak horizontally across just below the chest and its V-neck is not as deep as the home kit.

Both the jerseys have a whole sentence in Dutch stamped across the collar of the jersey just above the Nike label which I forgot what the heck it was. Never mind, I shall go and check later.

I can actually go on about the Netherlands and their form all day, from which I would bore people to death. You know how it is when I get on a roll about soccer.

Out of all the national jerseys that I have, only two have let me down so far. The French and the Swedes. My Swedish jersey is not from the latest edition. For the life of me, I cannot remember when I got it --circa 1998 or 2000-- and it was my very first jersey. Dad bought it for me, which was weird because like every other young child, I was expecting an England jersey. My fascination for Michael Owen during the '98 World Cup had led me to the wide world of soccer. Instead, I got a sunny yellow jersey with blue trim.

I never made a point to wear it religiously because of the fit but I do so now when I'm at the gym. The first time I wore it there, it was my first training lesson with MuayThaiMuscle. As I strode towards the boxing ring to meet him, then inclined his head with indication to my jersey.

"Oooh, what's this?" said he. "You like Sinchi F.C??"

He did not escape unscathed as my leg uncurled for an unexpected swift kick. Of course, this was expertly blocked his gloved hand. He's good. He has come to time my kicks to a perfect T whenever I felt the need to lash out.

"What Sinchi!?!?! It's SWEDEN, dude," snarled I. "Svenska. I don't do local football."

His response was a hearty laugh followed by clamping me into a headlock. Ass.

Anywazoo, so far it's been going good for me and my investments. I would like to think of them as investments because of the inordinate amount of money I have placed on them. It is almost like placing bets and taking risks but the legalized version. It gives me a kick to know that the worth I have placed on these shirts have been reflected on the games my teams have won. Although ultimately, I know there can be only one champion, it would make me deliriously over the moon for whichever team's jersey that I own to be crowned for glory.

After all, what are the odds that out of the 3 remaining teams whose jersey I own amongst the 8 teams left (7, after Portugal lost), one of them takes the cake??

Laterz...
Lenny