I'm now in Australia, watching the games at ungodly times of the night. But I'll say this: The commentators here really are excellent (there's just one per game, and every one of them knows football inside out). There is no prattling and prating, at all, about Australia's national glory. It is just a commentary with an occasional "oh my, they're up against it now," or occasional remark about, say, how badly the ref missed this or that call (a common occurrence, on this morning's Croatia v Australia game - but the commentator was even-handed, and went back to demonstrate that Kewell had been offside when he scored the second Australian goal; mind you, the first Croatian goal was from a nonsense penalty, while the Croatian who gave up the first goal through a penalty for handball later committed another handball right in front, which the ref waived away, mysteriously). So, back to the commentary: What a refreshing change from what we suffer in the US. The studio commentators in Australia were Rale Rasic, who coached the team when it last went to the Cup, in 1974 – a hardened Croat who had tears in his eyes as he summed up at the end – and a former Socceroo who likewise did no bragging and blustering... Meanwhile, Australia v Italy Tuesday midnight, here. As one fan commented before today's game, which caused divided or confused loyalties, as there are so many Croatian-Australians): "Who you gonna barrack for, your mother or your father?" Australia is hugely of Italian background, since the 1940s and 1950s. I'm planning to go to the Italian-Australian Club to watch.

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