Not Klose!!

In a final conversation before I had to head out to a meeting this morning, the Ms. asked who the key players were for both Ecuador and Germany. After identifying several key Ecuadorians, I turned to the German squad: Miroslav Klose, I told her, was the go-to-striker on the German team; Ballack is the key midfielder, but also a prolific goal scorer. These were among the several important German players.

So I'm at my meeting and my phone vibrates -- only a few minutes after the game started. Already 1-0 Germany!! And it got worse (from our perspective, not that of my traveling colleagues). Two more times my phone buzzed, but that "0" never changed and the German numbers kept going up. When I got back to the office and could look at the summary, it was there staring me in the face: Klose: 2 goals;, Poldolski: 1 goal;, man-of-the-match: Ballack. And the report from my wife: Germany clearly dominated, was the better team, and that while Ecuador had chances, they couldn't get a shot on net. Look at it this way: a learning experience and it will get them ready to play their next opponent, which will be another European team.

So, now I know where I'll be Sunday and who I'll be rooting for in the second round's third game.