. . . and I'm back

From London, after an excellent wedding. Photos and full report to come. But first, the World Cup Final. I can only conclude that France don't really want to win. They had the run of the second half, Zidane had more freedom, and yet Henry was never in the box when Meluda (frequently) got a long way up on the left. The World War II jokes are coming thick and fast at Dumpling Towers, and show no signs of letting up. Extra time has just kicked off; back in 15 minutes.

And, not much to report. FIFA might claim that this has been an excellent tournament defensively, but that does make it rather dull for spectators. I want to see goals -- lots of 'em, and I don't mean during penalty shootouts. There ought to be a better way of deciding the match: golden goal, playing until the first player drops from exhaustion or someone scores, randomly pulling out names of players to take off. Anything rather than penalties -- and not just because England are crap at them. OK, back to the telly for the next 15 minutes. Let's hope someone -- anyone! -- scores.

Oooh! High drama! Zidane's off, and deservedly so. Why would he headbutt a player in a final? When there are TV cameras everywhere!? It's absolutely insane behavior! But will hopefully lead to a goal.

No such luck. Penalties. I'm rather hoping that France win, just because the Italians didn't do anything in the second half or extra time.

And it wasn't to be. That's so unfair. Italy really didn't deserve to win. We've decided that FIFA should have a pool of judges, boxing style, who would rate the teams on the basis of their play throughout the game. Three of those judges' scores would be randomly selected, to decide the winner. This would only apply in the final, I think, but would give the game to the better team.

Damn. My Italian colleagues will be unbearable tomorrow.