More of the same

Maybe it's a good thing we're not quite this World Cup crazy here:

An assault on a seven-year-old boy who was punched and kicked while playing in a city park for wearing an England shirt was today widely condemned as bringing "shame on Scotland".
Hugo Clapshaw was enjoying a kickabout in Edinburgh's Inverleith Park when a man punched him on the head before growling: "This is Scotland, not f****** England."

Poor kid! Sadly (and not surprisingly), that wasn't an isolated case:

A disabled man was left with a black eye after being assaulted for wearing an England shirt. Ian Smith, 41, from Aberdeen, was sitting in his parked car when he was dragged from the vehicle and beaten...Mr Smith said: "He came up to the car and gave me a load of abuse about supporting England. I told him there was no need for all this bigotry because it's only football but he grabbed the flag, snapped it in half, then pulled me out of the car and threw me to the ground."

And yet in this country, the focus would have been on the flag being snapped in half instead of on the beaten man...but that's neither here nor there.

So who to root for now that the U.S. is out of it? I'm thinking Australia, since they've been a surprise (and the guys are hot). Plus, I love that they're called the Socceroos. Too bad they don't offer the Lucky Undies for women- I'm thinking thong style or even a cute boy short. Can't we offer our support underneath it all too?