Groups E and F have been finalized. We say goodbye to Cameroon, Denmark, New Zealand and Italy.
Some of these are not a shock but one was. My viewing partner and I were on opposite sides again and let us just say that there was a "little tension" in the room during the game. After the game finished, he got up and walked from the room. This was not a happy man. Oh well, more room for Portugal to stretch its wings. At least we agree there.
The CBC commentator had two great quotes today:
"Slovakian football has never had it so good." and "From World Cup Heroes to World Cup Zeroes."
I have nothing to add.
1) Italian hearts were in mouths. - To "have your heart in your mouth" is the same as "being on the edge of your seat" or "being on tender hooks". This means that anxiety was at a high level. You can use any of these expressions whenever you want to express a feeling of high anxiety. For example: "I had my heart in my mouth until they announced that employees would get bonuses this year." or "My mother was on the edge of her seat for the entire awards show."
2) "running into brick walls" - In the case of this football game, the "brick walls" were the defensive players of Slovakia. The Italian players were having a difficult time getting through to the goal (until near the end of the game when things started to go better). In business you can "hit a brick wall" when you try to sell a product to someone who is not interested. You can "run into a brick wall" when you ask the boss for a raise and the answer is "No." not "We'll talk about it in a month." or "Let's look at your performance record." Essentially "running into" or "hitting" a "brick wall" is getting to an impassable object or person. You cannot find a way through, around or over this object and you cannot find a way to change the opinion of the person. You have no recourse but to keep trying or give up.
3) the challenge was "nowhere near" the ball - "Nowhere near" equates to "not even close to" or "far from". We use all these expressions whenever someone has made a poor choice or has missed opportunity due to choice or ability. If I tried to hit a mosquito that was sitting on your arm and missed because the mosquito flew away, you could say "Your hit was not even close." or "That was nowhere near the target." In business you could say: "Our company's offer to buy that building was nowhere near the final purchase price."
4) This is a rather "dodgy" Italian defense. - "Dodgy" is used like "suspect" or "doubtful". It is not a formal word but is common slang in Britain more than North America. You could say that the cafeteria food in the hospital looks "dodgy". You could also say that the new patio your father-in-law built looks "dodgy". You would not say that your boss's wife looks "dodgy" unless you were not very interested in keeping your job.
"Rather" is a common addition to English expressions and in this context it equates to "a little bit" or "somewhat". "My hair is rather long." does not mean that it is very long but it is a little bit long. It is definitely a word used casually but you could use it in a business setting. For example: "The quote for repairing the copy machine was rather high so I fixed it myself."
5) "calamitous" - "Calamitous" is "disastrous", "devastating" or "catastrophic". Definitely a strong word. Perhaps a little too strong for some people, but for the real fans of football, it is always a calamity when your team loses. Particularly so when the team that beats them is nowhere near the same ranking. Oh well, that's life. Unpredictable.
Tomorrow is our big day. We will get to watch Portugal play and we'll find out whom they will meet in the knockout round of 16. Good luck to everyone else, but my heart remains steadfast.
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