Nice 2-liner for the day

Zindagi ke kisi mod par kahin mulaqaat jo ho gayi hamaari
Tu aankhen mat mod lena kisi anjaan ki tarha

If at all we meet at any stage in the curve of life
Don't turn your eyes from me like a stranger

Seekport Search

Multi-lingual European search engine Seekport finds information in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, and Italian languages with options for language-specific or domain-specific searching. Its Image search is powered by PicSearch.

Generator Links

Browsing for a Sunday afernoon. Interesting links from The Generator Blog.

Make your own customised iPod billboard advertisement.

Get an American Indian name for yourself. I'm Benjamin Trusty Mudbath ;-).

Make your own Einstein formula on a chalkboard. This is fun. See my formula. What's the answer for it? Let me know.

Click image to enlarge.



Beautiful nature wallpapers to decorate your desktop.

A Thought on Traffic

The best discipline for traffic is self-discipline that doesn't exist anywhere in India except Bombay, which makes for such a contrast because Bombay is India's fastest city where each minute counts and yet people have the decency and self-discipline to follow traffic rules. Even illiterate taxi drivers wait for the signal to turn green on an empty road during the afternoons in Bombay. Pune is hopeless; Hyderabad and Bangalore are also bad at following traffic rules.

There are 1.7 million Indians on Orkut

Orkut, the social networking Web site of Google that connects people through a trusted network of friends, has about 1.68 million (almost 17 lakh) users from India, and they form 7% of its 24 million users.

This is a good opportunity for Indian IT recruiters. Orkut is better than any placement consultancy to approach a potential candidate through a trusted network of contacts.

Orkut Demographics as of July 30, 2006. Source: Wikipedia.

- Total Users: 24 million
- Brazilians: 66% - 15.9mn
- Americans: 13% - 3.1mn
- Indians: 7% - 1.68mn
- See a graph of Orkut users.

Is Google thinking of an advertising opportunity here, or are Brazil and India nascent e-commerce markets for them to think of advertising on Orkut?

We did see Joga.com football ads on Orkut during the recent football world cup. Or maybe the bad, bad server has had its donut stolen and Google is searching to give it a new donut, but this time around let's have a server that shows only good, good messages. :-)

A Cyberspace Thought

An online medium is an extension of the real world and the courtesies extended IRL (In Real Life) are the same ones that one should 'ideally' extend to so-called friends in cyberspace too.

And that's why I feel bad when I share information with people and some of them don't even have the courtesy to acknowledge or reply, more so on Orkut, where one would again 'ideally' be in the company of friends.

I'm too much of an Internet person to not have emotions associated with it. Yes, I feel bad when someone doesn't reply to my messages, emails, and scraps; more so in an informal context.

Someone on Orkut made me unhappy last evening and hence this thought.

I am open to criticism. I'm open to praise. I can't stand being ignored. People can like me or they can hate me, but it hurts when people ignore you.

Being praised is a sign of respect and sympathy; being hated is a sign of jealousy and also of praise that one is good to be hated for something, but being ignored is a sign of mediocrity and I hate mediocrity.

Reference

For my ready reference.

English-Portuguese translation sites and learning links. There may not be classes to learn Portuguese in Pune, but that won't stop me from learning it. Google Translate is always there.

Portuguese is an interesting language and learning it would open the doors of the Portuguese speaking world to me. Brazil has always been a country that interests me with its similarities to India—the passion for sports, music, family ties, the Amazon rainforests, beaches, and more.

Brazilian trivia: Did you know that 3% of Brazilian population is on Orkut, almost 16mn of them on Orkut?

I've mentioned this more than once on my blog—if I have, make, or save the money; I will honeymoon in Brazil. I love Brazil. Eu Amo Brasil.

A Thought for Today

A beautiful quote on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It has been raining for the last three days and as usual Pune's roads have changed for the worse, as they always do during the monsoons. Rains and bad roads go hand-in-hand in Pune.

A post later on that. This saying is too good to be spoilt by a post on the city's pathetic roads.

Sometimes love is for a moment.
Sometimes love is for a lifetime.

Sometimes a moment lasts a lifetime.

Link: On a wing and a prayer

An interesting video on YouTube.

F-15 fighter plane flies with only 1-wing and lands safely after a mid-air collision during training.

Trivia: Origin of the phrase On a wing and a prayer.

Beautiful Lines are Mehfuz

Jab se tujhe bhulane ki kasam khayi hain
Aur pehle se bhi zyaada teri yaad aayi hain

Ever since the day I've taken an oath of forgetting you
I keep on remembering you even more than ever

These lines appear in the song Bewafa from Euphoria's album Mehfuz. Thanks for the information, Udit.

Mehfuz is an Urdu word that means secret, secure, and safe guarded.

A technical example, thought of this on the spur of the moment, would be—HTTPS is a mehfuz protocol that encrypts data. :-)

Technorati changes its colours

Thoughts on Technorati's new look and feel.

Technorati, the blog search engine changed its look and feel on the occasion of its third birthday on 24th July.

a. Technorati's new look marginalizes the search box and makes searching difficult instead of the opposite.

b. Technorati is a blog search engine and it searches blogs, so why the influx of ads before the search results itself and too much content on the search results page that takes attention away from what shows up in the search results.

c. The Web page requires horizontal scrolling on an 800 by 600 screen resolution.

d. Why do they want the users to select from blog posts, tags, or blog directory for their search keywords. Isn't it a blog search engine that is supposed to tell us what information exists for those keywords, instead of asking the user to actually select specific content.

e. They need to do away with the dropdown box and give the tags and blog directory as plain text links. That would make searching easier. Go to the search box, type what you're looking for, and viola you get it. Keep it simple.

f. Keep a search box and let the user search without asking for blogs or tags or directory. That's a point that has also been mentioned in Steve Krug's 'Don't make me think' book on Usability.

g. Too many ads spoil the appearance of the search results page. What's that 'insurance-related' image ad doing side-by-side with the top three search results?

h. The 'Ping Technorati' link is relegated to the bottom left-hand side of the Web page, and the bottom of the page shows more sponsored text ads.

Pros:
- It's an attempt to gather more content on a single page and engage the user to experiment with various features listed under special headings.

Cons:
- Usability needs improvement. The dropdown isn't required for search.
- Search box needs to be made more prominent
- Too many text ads
- Image ad isn't required
- Too many colours on a page. Green, blue, and pink headings
- Keep the headings green or any other colour. Don't keep them as green, blue, pink, and orange all on one page.
- Requires horizontal scroll on 800 by 600 resolution
- Technorati Tools should be on the top right-hand side of the page

Personal - A Thought For Today

It's an age old saying, if I'm right, I suppose this was said by the Machiavelli of India, Chanakya.

All friendship is in a way self-interest.

It's true to some extent, but great friendship always rises above self-interest, one that doesn't care for money, status, position, or whatever. Friends because we are friends, that's it.

I always try to see that I'm above self-interest in friendship and that's why I never say No in matters of money or in help. Sometimes the experiences are bad and one feels people take advantage, but that hasn't stopped me from rising above self-interest in friendship.

So the thought for today for me is.

All friendship is in a way self-interest, but great friendship always rises above self-interest and Chirayu always keep on making friends like you do, with an open heart, an open mind, and your life as an open book.

I remember Uday telling me this (way back in early 2003 in Bangalore), "you're like an open book, everything is so in your face about you, the good and the bad."

Make Customised Logos

Make customised Yahoo!, Star Wars, Nintendo, Ferrari, Harry Potter, and Monster style logos with Logo54.

Here's my Yahoo! style logo and here's one for my blog.

Spot quiz: Which font is known as the Google font?
Ans: Catull font. The Google logo uses Catull font.

Don't go back to Sleep

It is 1:00am on a Sunday.

A time when sleep takes wings and roams the sky like a bird that seeks a place to rest, yet searches for the right nest in a hundred trees and decides to spend the time flying from one branch to another, resting awhile and continuing the journey till clear skies beckon the start of another day.

This is the right time to post a verse on Sleep by the renowned Persian poet Jalaluddin Rumi.

Sleep

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
~ Read the entire poem

Another beautiful verse from Rumi's Spring Giddiness.

I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.

Now my loving is running toward my life shouting,
What a bargain, let's buy it.

Read poetry on InspirationPeak. Feel the beauty of Rumi's poetry.

Lage Raho Munnabhai—In theatres this September

A movie that I'm looking forward to watch in the theatres is the next innings of Munnabhai. Director Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munnabhai is another chapter in the life of Bombay's friendly neighbourhood 'Robinhood' goon Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt) and his sidekick, brother-in-arms, and partner-in-crime Circuit (Arshad Warsi).

It hits the screens on the first of September and promises to be a laugh-a-minute rollercoaster ride with Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, and Boman Irani. Two of the most beautiful actresses in Bollywood, and my favourites, Vidya Balan and Dia Mirza play lead and supporting roles in the film.

See a trailer of Lage Raho Munnabhai. Click the button below to play the video. Please be patient while the video loads. Here's another promo that shows Vidya Balan in the frames with Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi.



Browse the Web site of Lage Raho Munnabhai.

Here's some Munnabhai trivia during the shooting.

Fasten your seat belts, Munnabhai aa rahela hai September 2006 main.

Minissha Lamba is a star in the making

Minissha's two new films

After a small role that went unnoticed in Corporate, Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba will be seen in two new releases next month. She looks 'Hot' in the promos of Anthony Kaun Hai airing on TV and she plays Zayed Khan's love interest in the 'Sure to be a hit' (at least for the songs with music by Himesh Reshammiya) film Rocky—The Rebel.

Minissha's first film Yahaan

Minissha looked beautiful without makeup in her first film, Yahaan—a love story against the backdrop of militancy in Kashmir, where she played a Kashmiri girl that falls in love with an Indian Army officer. The film wasn't a success at the box office but Minissha, (that's a beautiful name, isn't it?), got accolades for her portrayal of the Kashmiri girl Adaa. The song Naam Adaa Likhna with poetic lyrics by Gulzar and cinematography that showed Kashmir in its splendour was a big hit.

Let me write a few lines of the song Naam Adaa Likhna. 'Write my name as Adaa'

Pooche jo koi meri nishaani rang heena likhna
Gore badan pe ungli se mera naam Adaa likhna

If someone asks for my identification write the colour Heena (Mehendi)
On my fair skin with your fingers write the name Adaa

Download the song Naam Adaa Likhna. File size: 5.3MB.

Formula for hit songs in Bollywood

A combination of poetic Hindi and Urdu lyrics laced with English; Emraan Hashmi in his trademark 5-day old stubble, jeans, jacket, and t-shirt; the lead actress that shows a generous offering of her midriff and cleavage; the nasal voice of Himesh Reshammiya crooning a soulful melody or a lyrical melancholic song of separation against the background of an International location like Sydney, Dubai, or Maldives; and foot-tapping fusion music is a recipe to make a sureshot hit song in Bollywood.

Blogs on Blogspot back on track

Web sites on Blogspot, Typepad, and Geocities are accessible. Blogs on Blogspot are back on track. The ISPs are no longer blocking any sites.

It was misplaced enthusiasm and miscommunication that led to blocking these domains.

Blogger.com is accessible, but Blogspot Web sites aren't since this morning. Why is it so?

Is there an outage? Although I received emails saying the ISPs have blocked Blogspot.com? Why is it so? Any particular reason? Any way there are always workarounds for blockages. Even Web sites on Geocities and Typepad are blocked.

Here's a workaround to access Blogspot Web sites in Firefox browser.

If Blogspot.com isn't accessible in India, which it isn't since this morning, then download httProxy extension for Firefox browser to access Blogspot.com through a Web-based anonymous proxy service like Anonymizer.com. Thanks for sharing this information, Harshal.

Install the above extension for Firefox, restart the Browser, enter the Blogspot Web site address and click the httProxy button, the one next to the Go button on the Firefox Navigation toolbar. See below for an example of using httProxy to access Blogspot Web sites in Firefox browser.



Is India becoming China? Why have the Indian ISPs blocked Blogspot Web sites? Any reasons? If they have blocked then it's unfair and wrong. And as given above there are always workarounds to bypass blocks. Blocking Web sites is no way for whatever goals they want to achieve. I fail to understand their motive behind blocking Blogspot, Typepad, and Geocities.

Update: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
4:59pm IST

Seems like the DoT Department of Telecommunications has blocked Web sites, for whatever reasons best known to them.

There is talk in the blogosphere of Blogspot, Typepad, and Geocities being blocked in India. Web sites on these domains are not are accessible except through Anonymous Proxies like Anonymizer and httProxy extension for Firefox.

If the govt. has done this then it's an unfair and regressive move that shows badly on India's efforts to oragnize itself in cyberspace. Are we going the China way? The goverment seems to be doing all the wrong things, from closing dance bars in Bombay to blocking Web sites, and doesn't seem to know what to do right.

Are they going to stop terrorism by blocking Web sites?

Update: 9:45pm IST

This logo registers a protest against the block on Bloggers and on Blogspot.

Use pkblogs.com to access your blog on Blogspot. Works with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Use the URL as http://www.pkblogs.com/yourblognamehere
For example, http://www.pkblogs.com/chirayu

Preloadr edits photos on Flickr

Preloadr is an image editing Web site for photos on Flickr.com. Visit Preloadr, login to your Flickr account from Preloadr.com and click the edit link at the bottom of the images that appear on the Web page. That's it. Start with basic editing or use the advanced tools to scale, move, or add text to photos.

Try Preloadr.com. It requires a Flickr login id. It requires a broadband Internet connection, and one that doesn't snap every ten minutes like BSNL DataOne is doing since the last one and a half month. I'm trying to edit a photo by using Filters and adding text, but the Internet connection is slow. More later.

Update: 12:52am

Here's an example of editing a Flickr image with Preloadr.

ABCs of Friendship

A popular forward that is making the rounds of the Internet and on Orkut. Click the flower on the bottom left-hand side of the above Web page link to start the flash presentation. It's nice and worth practicing.

Play this game

Have you played the Zidane game?

Travel ads on Bollywood site

Online travel is going to be big business in India. India is incomplete without cricket, films, and politics and the travel Web sites have got it right.

See the movies Web page of Bollywood Web site Indiafm. There are three banner ads on its homepage and all are of travel web sites: Mobissimo India, ClearTrip, and TravelGuru.

Not a complete list of Travel related Web sites in India:

- Mobissimo India meta travel search engine
- ClearTrip for airfare bookings
- YatraOnline is going to start operations soon.

I would like to be a tour guide travelling across 5000 places in India. Something better than watching, not even watching (my desk faces the wall), an empty afternoon go by, sitting before the computer doing almost nothing. :-(

Chirayu, Maan, do something with your life—get a life :-) Spend an afternoon lazing by a stream, near the countryside, watching drops of silvery rain fall from grey overcast skies and the wind kiss your face and ruffle your hair. You won't get paid for that, that's the only difference. :-) Does it matter? :-)

- Zuji.com (Travelocity India) is coming soon.
- Xplorz.com finds airfares. To check this site.
- TravelGuru
- MakeMyTrip
- Indiatimes Travel is too congested. Keep it simple. What do you want a potential customer to do? Show that. Not everything related to travel on one page itself.

- NDTV Travel
- Rediff Faresearch
- GoIndigo.in is a new low cost airline. They need to take the search box higher on the Web page for Firefox browser. The clouds and sky interface looks good. To check this site.

- Any more? Let me know. Of course all the usual suspects, the airline web sites, Mobissimo takes care of them, so don't need to search those sites separately.

Tip to travel Web sites: Book ads on Cricinfo.com for the period Jan-Apr 2007. The cricket world cup takes place in the West Indies in March and April next year.

Friday night is the best time to blog, oh! it's Saturday early morning. This Zidane song (see below) is addictive. :-)

Have you heard this?

Put on your headphones, relax, and listen to the Zidane song Coup de Boule in French.

Thought

Mahanagari Mumbai, ek aisa shaher jise kabhi neend nahin aati, jo jaagte huye bhi sapne dekhta hai.

Mega metropolis Bombay, a city that never sleeps; that dreams even when awake.

Why kill innocents in the name of revenge and retribution?

The media may speak about the resilience of Bombay and how life is back on tracks after Tuesday evening's bomb blasts on rush hour Western line local trains, but there's tension in the air, and how many more deaths is the city going to see before the f*cked up politicians know the city is heading towards disaster with one calamity following another—rains, traffic jams, riots, bandhs, bomb blasts in local trains, uneasiness, anxiety, and fear of an unknown terrorist lurking somewhere amongst those anonymous millions hanging out of local trains in search of their bread, butter, Karma, and destiny.

If you've travelled by a Virar or Borivali fast at any time of day, let alone peak hours you will get a glimpse of what life in Bombay is—a struggle for survival, for a toehold on the footboard and fingerhold on the door.

Now imagine a rush hour Bombay local train filled with 450 people in a railcar, 5000 people in a 9-car rake; a mixture of sweat and deo in the air, their tired faces feeling the breeze, heading home after another day in 'paradise' only to meet an unexpected end with blood on the train tracks.

Is there a God, if there is He doesn't seem to care for this mega metropolis of 17 million individuals that are all in this together.

India would be a better place without religion and politicians. The world would be a better place without religion.

May God give Bombay and Bombayites, Mumbai and Mumbaikars, the strength and courage to fight all obstacles and come out of all battles unscathed.

I prefer the name Bombay in English. I prefer Mumbai in Marathi and Gujarati.

Make Google your religion

It may well be true, in the times we're living in.

View more Google drawings on GapingVoid.com.

Football World Cup Final

Zidane self-destructs; Italy wins on penalties

A genius self-destructed himself on a fateful night in front of a billion people and without much to separate the two teams, Italy scored all five penalties to win the 2006 football world cup by defeating France by 5-3 after the score was tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes of play and 30 minutes of extra time.

The game had a slow start with Henry being injured in the first minute of play, then France scored with a special and lucky Zidane goal after Malouda was felled in the penalty box. Italy played well in the first half and had most of the ball possession and managed to equalize soon with a Materazzi header, from a perfect corner kick taken by Pirlo, which Barthez could only watch sail inside the net. Italy hit the crossbar in the first half and looked the better team for the first forty-five minutes. France came back strongly in the 2nd half and Italy it seemed was doing all the defending. The ball was in Italy's half and they had seven players defending the goal.

It was even stevens at the end of 90 minutes of play with France getting the upper hand in the 2nd half while Italy controlled the first half after an early French goal.

The first half of extra time was uneventful except for a Zidane header in the 104th minute that Buffon saved with a spectacular jump to push the ball above the crossbar.

In the 119th minute, Zinedine Zidane; captain, friend, talisman,, and hope of France; playing in his final International game and the biggest match of the world cup did an unthinkable thing, against the run of play he headbutted Materazzi, who had heckled him while defending, and sent him sprawling to the ground. Zidane had just self-destructed himself. Wonder what happened, and why the sudden rage on the greatest stage of footballing history from a person who was the epitome of grace and modesty on the football field, but it did happen and Zidane in his final International match had to leave the field with a red card.

Even without the red card the match was heading for a penalty shoot out because the only team that was playing to score a goal was France. Italy was defending from the 46th minute to the 120th minute of play. Goals are what matters and the French could not put the ball behind Buffon's back.

After a 120 minutes of absorbing fooball it came down to the penalties. Neither Buffon nor Barthez could save any shots, but Buffon got lucky when Juventus team-mate and French substitute David Trezeguet's shot hit the crossbar and didn't go inside the net. The Italians scored all five penalties, Barthez couldn't save any of those shots, and France missed one out of four. Fabio Grosso scored the fifth penalty to make Italy the champions of the world.

It was an absorbing contest between two evenly matched teams, although it would have been even better had Italy decided to attack ion the second half, they didn't but they held on to draw the match and prevailed in the penalty shootout.

Zinedine Zidane's exit wouldn't have made the difference because there were only ten minutes left for the match to go to penalties, but it was sad to see a great player leave the biggest stage in the footballing world with a red card, and at the end of it all there was ticket tape, smiles, and joy for the Italians while it was dejection for the French.

So Italy are the world champions of football until 2010 and hope Argentina with Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, and Saviola take the magic they created for some part of this world cup to 2010.

Did the most deserving team win the World Cup? The best defending team won the world cup. Italy converted the penalties when it counted and they won the match and the World Cup.

Argentina versus Germany was a fabulous match and so was the one between Mexico and Argentina. Germany played well to take the third place with a convincing win over Portugal.

So the world football order on July 9, 2006 is
1. The Azzurri Italy
2. Les Blues France
3. Germany
4. Portugal

It will be a question of passionate debate on why a team played the way it did, and why did a player react in an extreme way, and supporters of both teams would have their own reasons.

For a neutral football fan it was an absorbing game, not exciting and free-flowing but nevertheless an absorbing context and I was sad for Zinedine Zidane, he didn't deserve this farewell. If Zidane would have stayed and France would have lost, still it would have been a fitting farewell, but this exit through a red card feels sad for a great player.

So that's the end of the 2006 FIFA football world cup, now it's back again to empty boring evenings and no matches to watch at nights.

Berlin, Sunday, July 9, 2006
2006 FIFA World Cup Final
120 minutes of play - Italy 1 France 1
Penalty shoot out Italy 5 France 3

Score: Italy 6 France 4

Football is a fabulous game.

It's Azzurri v. Les Blues in the football world cup final

It's Azzurri versus Les Blues in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final match on the 9th of July in Berlin. Will Zinedine Zidane inspire France to be the world champions of football or will Italy script a 'not in contention to world cup winners' story in Berlin? Will it be Forza Italia or Viva Les Bleus? Follow the final match of the football World Cup, live on ESPN, at 11:30pm IST on Sun., 9 July.

Both teams have strong defence and champion goalkeepers. Italy looked unbeatable in defence and played a good counter attacking game against Germany while maintaining ball possession. France seem unstoppable inspired by Zindedine Zidane. It should be an exciting game of football, provided Italy continues with its form from the semis and France turns on the magic like it did against Spain.

Road to the World Cup Final:

France drew with Switzerland (0-0) and South Korea (1-1), won against Togo by 2-0, and came back from a goal down to beat Spain 3-1 to advance to the quarter-final where they defeated Brazil 1-0 with a 33rd minute penalty from Zidane taking them past Portugal in the semi-final.

Italy beat Ghana 2-0, drew with USA 0-0, defeated Czech Republic by 2-0 to reach the pre-quarters where they got the better of Australia with a penalty in the last minute of the match. They beat Ukraine in the quarter-final by 3-0, then went on to beat Germany by scoring two goals in the last three minutes of extra time to reach the world cup final.

Yahoo! India gets a new look

Yahoo! India gets a sleek, new greyish-silver look on the lines of Yahoo.com. The Y! Cricket box shown on the bottom right of Yahoo! India would get more hits if moved to the top right on the homepage.

Related:
Take the World Cup opinion poll and quiz on Y! India.

ClearTrip

ClearTrip travel Web site finds airfares and hotels in India.

Cricket: India wins Test and Series versus West Indies

India won the fourth and final test match at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica; by 49 runs to win the 4-test series 1-0. In a low-scoring test, West Indies chasing 269 for victory were all out for 219 with Anil Kumble taking 6 for 78 to hasten their downfall.

Captain Rahul Dravid lead from the front by example with two half centuries (81 and 68) on a wicket where no other batsman looked comfortable. He shared a crucial 93-run 7th wicket partnership with Anil Kumble in the first innings that helped India reach 200.

Harbhajan took a five wicket haul in the first and Anil Kumble went through the West Indies middle and lower order with a 6-wicket haul in the second innings to give India a 49-run test win and a series win in West Indies after 35 years.

Well played Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and the Indian cricket team.

Brief Scores:
4th Test Match played at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
June 30, July 1, and July 2

India: 1st Innings: 200 all out
West Indies: 1st Innings: 103 all out
India: 2nd Innings: 171 all out
West Indies: 2nd Innings: 219 all out

Result: India won by 49 runs

Man of the match: Rahul Dravid
Man of the series: Rahul Dravid

Read the complete scorecard of the 4th test match. Match report of the 3rd day's play.

Semi Finals

1. Germany plays Italy in Dortmund. Live on ESPN at 12:30am IST on Wed., 5 July
2. France plays Portugal in Munich. Live on ESPN at 12:30am IST on Thu., 6 July

Football World Cup

The final before the final. Argentina v. Germany in the quarter final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

It is sad to see a great team lose, but when two giants meet in a knockout match there can only be one winner and it was Germany in yesterday's quarter final.

Argentina played great football, but Germany proved to be the stronger and tougher team on the day. The absence of their main goalkeeper during the penalty shoot out also played a part in Argentina's 5-3 (1-1 after 120 mins) loss to Germany on a penalty shoot out (4-2) in the quarter final of the FIFA world cup.

Argentina controlled the better part of the first half, Germany had more possession in the secind half and there was little to choose between the teams. The match was played in the mid field with strong defence from both teams, however an extra striker would have made the difference for Argentina, but they didn't give Messi or Saviola a chance to show their skills.

The Argentine coach should have been bold in his substitutions and brought on Messi or Saviola in the last twenty minutes of the game to take the attack to Germany. The Argentines didn't do that, tried to play in the mid-field and Germany pushed forward to get a late equalizer through Miroslav Klose's fantastic header in the 80th minute of the match.

From there it was Germany's superior physical fitness and determination (the smashing penalty kick taken by their captain Michael Ballack who could hardly walk on the field during the last few minutes of the match), plus the diving saves of their goalkeeper Jan Lehmann that separated the two teams.

Hard luck, Argentina and all the best for the next world cup in South Africa in 2010.

Germany start as strong favourites against Italy in the first semi-final. Watch it Live on ESPN at 12:30am IST on Wed., 5 July.

Brazil and Germany are on course for a meeting on the 9th of July in Berlin, unless France or Portugal have other plans.

Related:
- Photographs from the 2006 football World Cup in Germany.