Brazil 3-1 Croatia
Day 1 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was a typical, almost clichéd, Waikato day for me.
Yes, I watched the opening ceremony and game, while helping get the kids sorted for kindy and school. Yeah, I pretty much agree with what everyone has said about the ref, Brazil’s defending, Croatia’s bad luck, and the result being good for the tournament.
Fred’s flop (new US basketball term making the crossover to football) wasn’t great but it’s not the first time in the history of the game something like that’s happened. We have the new whizz-bang goal line technology and the fancy spray can. I guess pens will be the next thing the boffins will be looking at.
The TAB will be bloody relieved that Brazil won. If they hadn’t their $5 million comp would have been pretty much done and dusted before it started. How many live tickets would have been left if Croatia had won?
After the game I crammed in a couple of hours work before hitting the road to Mystery Creek. One of my clients (MIMICO – give them a call if you’re in the market for some equipment for your quarry or contracting business) has a site at this years Fieldays and I needed to get some images and a movie or two for their website.
The Fieldays is not really my scene, even though I was born and raised on a farm. I was tempted to head along in disguise, but figured it wouldn’t have been a great look, so my Swandri, panelled rugby shorts and red bands stayed safely locked away for another year…
It was also my job while there to facilitate the arrival of a group of players from the Chiefs, a team that MIMICO sponsors. Yes, these Chiefs. So not only was I in unfamiliar surroundings, I was also working with a rugby organisation on the opening day of the football World Cup. Irony heaped upon irony, which I’m sure the most observant among you will appreciate. Love it.
Mock huffing aside, it was all good and at least the weather played it’s part. It was nice to have an afternoon away from the laptop. But that’s what just about everyone else in the Waikato thought, I guess, because the traffic was a bugger. It took me two hours to get from home to MIMICO’s site – a journey that would take about 45 minutes on a normal day. Horrible and confirms for me why living in Auckland ain’t on the cards.
I made it home after dark, just in time to assess TV One’s coverage of the opening game on their evening sports news. Sensibly (for once here in NZ) they gave the Brazil v Croatia game the lead, even though you could just see Andrew Saville was itching to get to the rugby friendly being played in Dunedin this weekend. It was a small win, I guess.
Score picking update
I got close with my pick of 2-1. Having said that, I went with 3-1 in the Barlow Family World Cup Score Picking Competition (BFWCSPC) so lead the table after day 1. In your face family!
Picks for day 2
Mexico 2-2 Cameroon, Spain 2-1 Netherlands, Chile 3-1 Australia.