World Cup 2006: Gerd Muller look out!
It's amazing how much football you can miss simultaneously at the end of the group matches. This afternoon, whilst attending read-throughs and rehearsals of Not Going Out at the rehearsal rooms, I - and indeed we - missed Czech Republic Italy, and Ghana USA. Lee put a small portable on between episodes, for a couple of minutes, but spent most of those fiddling with the aerial. It wasn't happening and we had to banish thoughts of football altogether. We finished the final, invited-audience read-throughs at 7.30, which meant I wasn't home until 8.30, but at least I caught most of Brazil Japan, which was one I'd hate to have missed.

Czech Republic 0 Italy 2
21 unbeaten international matches for Italy, who did all they had to do to sit on their win, so it seems. The Czechs went one man down, which didn't help. Totti was top.
Ghana 2 USA 1
Nice one. Good to see America out. (Don't tell Megan, the American lead in Not Going Out that I said that!) But better to see one of the African sides through to the magic 16. They play Brazil, which is a blow, but that's still going to be an entertaining one. They have my full support, especially once England are out. (Don't tell any of my English friends that I said that!)
Japan 1 Brazil 4
Japan put on a good, consistent show, but nothing can beat the 2006 Brazilians for peaks and troughs, with Ronaldo providing most of them: forgive my oversimplification but he pretty much missed any chance that involved him running very far or jumping off the ground, and potted two that found him standing in the right place at the right time, dreaming of his next helping of rice and beans. He is only fat in footballing terms, and there is something a bit sad about seeing him lolloping around the field, but what drama there is in a national hero proving the naysayers cheap and wrong by overtaking Pele and Just Fontaine to equal Gerd Muller for most goals scored at a World Cup - that'll be 14 then. I'd rather see Ronaldo than a leaner, fitter player just doing their job. "A joy to watch," is how Steve Wilson described him. Alan Hansen is right to downplay and say that Brazil were funtional rather than scintilating, and that they must pull up their yellow socks to win the tournament, but they have improved match by match, unlike, say, England. Sorry, should I have mentioned England? Sven's expected to play Theo Walcott on Sunday. That's the act of a man who's painted himself into a corner, especially after Alan Hansen pointing out the risk in such a novelty strategy, when "every second counts". So Sven made a tactical error with the squad, not bringing Jermain Defoe in favour of a teenager, a lad with a bad foot and a ready-to-snap Michael Owen - what's he to do to dig himself out of this mess?
Croatia 2 Australia 2
How exciting are the end-0f-group matches though? With two crucial results playing out in parallel! Each time Australia or Croatia scored, thus altering the balance of the table, the BBC split the screen. Japan were one up when Austalia equalised in the 38th minute, thus edging ahead of them. It was a nail-biter. Harry Kewell, with his tremendous name (a Liverpool player, I have learned from the ponce's Guardian guide, now well-thumbed), scored the second Aussie goal. Both teams went down to ten men, with more than one player yellow carded for disagreeing with the English ref. Simunic was given his third yellow card, which has to be historic, just before the final whistle. Well done, that English ref! At the end, Croatian players were just strewn like bodies across the pitch, dejected rather than dead.

Thanks for all the info on Go West. I know too much about it now. On a pundit note, why is Leonardo's hair like that? He looks like he's running even when he's sitting down, which he mostly is. Julie's theory is that it's simply a bad haircut. Or perhaps he wants that brunette Trisha Yates look. Can somebody in BBC makeup not give him a decent blow-dry?