The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
By the time you read this, the pain I feel after watching Portugal lose to France 1-0 in the other semi-final match of the World Cup will almost be gone. The healing process now begins. What makes the loss hard to take is that Portugal played a good game Ð just not enough to win. Two things disappoint me about the loss. The first being that France scored the winner 33 minutes into the game on a penalty kick by Zinadine Zidane. He and the rest of France should thank Thierry Henry because if it wasn't for his play in the penalty area when Ricardo Carvalho tripped him, he would not be looked at as the hero. The second thing that disappoints me were the dives that some of the Portuguese players took to get a call. I have little respect for those actions. I hate to pick on the kid, but Cristiano Ronaldo was the worst for it and then he cried foul when the referee wouldn't take the bait. The 21-year-old has talent and was key in helping Portugal get as far as they have, but those actions can tarnish his reputation. While they feel disappointed to lose, they still have a chance to earn a third place finish if they defeat the Germans. The French played a solid game, but I believe (feel free to think I'm biased) that Portugal created more offensive opportunities. It's quite possible had Carvalho not tripped Henry, he may have scored on his own. Despite the loss, it was an entertaining game. The French got a run for their money against their southern neighbours Ð more than what the Brazilians were able to do as they managed just one shot in 90 minutes. It will now be a France/Italy final. If you hadn't guessed it, I'm cheering for the Italians. I will watch eagerly this weekend and hope the Portuguese will defeat Germany. One thing I've been thinking about lately is how Don Kirkham (of Kick It With Kirkham) is handling England's loss as he is on that side of the planet right now? For his sake, hopefully he's alright. His predictions for the semi-final were pretty good since he went 3-for-4. The Portuguese prevented a perfect prediction, which back in his 10th column, Don said, "My second prediction is that Portugal will have to buy lottery tickets if they hope to win anything!" It's okay, Don, we all make mistakes.
