Waiting for Australia vs Ghana

It's half an hour before Australia meets Ghana. After Germany's shock loss to Serbia, we've got to win this one to progress. I don't much like our chances. We're too slow, too old, too lacking in inspiration. I'll be cheering the Socceroos on like the rest of Australia, but I think we all know it's a lost cause. Better to focus on 2022, when we'll be fielding a generation of footballers raised on the Dutch 4-3-3, and (hopefully) playing in front of Australian crowds.

The problem is that we lost a generation of footballers in the intervening time between the old NSL and the new A-League. It was a necessary evil to get the domestic league solvent again, but it meant that a crop of promising young players didn't have the chance to play in a national competition. End result, we're relying on the same bunch of players that we did in 2006. It'll be okay in 2014 and 2018, when the first batch of Dutch-trained players start breaking into the national side, but it's a bit awkward now.

Then again, considering how many times I've been wrong about this World Cup, we'll probably thump Ghana 4-1 and canter into the second round in first place. Here's hoping, anyway.

So on the 308th last day of my 20s, I went to work, got laughed at by my nurse over my hair, came home, had a nap. I think watching the World Cup is catching up with me. I'm constantly exhausted and sleepy. Went to my old church and met some people I haven't seen in over ten years. It was surprising to see how much they've changed, and even more surprising when they told me how little I've changed. I've the same mannerisms, same stance, same vocal inflections that I did when I was 19. Kind of frightening.