Time for a World Cup update; of the 990 minutes of soccer played so far (11 games), I've managed to watch 642 minutes, an extraordinary achievement for a working man. It helps that my company has about 20 television sets around the offices, and that many important people at the company are quite passionate about soccer. Anyway:

• Holland looked absolutely wonderful on Saturday. Sure, it would have been nice to get a second goal, but there was no mistaking their quality. Arjen Robben was positively lethal, and he's the best player in this competition so far.
• England looked crap.
• To watch Australia's boundless joy in the final 8 minutes of their game against Japan today underscores what Cup play is all about. Superb, even if tactically flawed.
• Italy and Argentina are going to be scary, as always.
• Anyone who knows anything about international soccer knew what was coming today when the USA played the Czechs: a full-on face stomp. Leave it to the media to create unrealistic hype about this team, just so you'll actually watch the hideous telecasts. Watching some of the ads in the build-up to today's game you might have thought that all the US had to do was show up. As if. The Czechs are ranked #2 in the world behind Brazil, deservedly so, and I can easily see them as semi-finalists. The USA? They'll be lucky to get a point...

Brazil tomorrow. Gotta like the Orange, though...