Iran knows best

(reuters)

Leave it to the Iranians for the best sound bites. This author has argued repeatedly that the English simply weren't good enough to make a real impact on this tournament. The United States couldn't put together a full 90 minutes of game-play and, ultimately, it was Bradley's fault. As for the French? Fighting and childish behavior wrote off their chances before the World Cup even started. Obvious right?

Not quite. I, and everyone else, on this planet had it all wrong. Turns out Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is a lot smarter than we give him credit for. "Whatever we witness today in the international political arena has been identically manifested in the 19th tournament of the World Cup," he was quoted as saying.

He went on to proclaim, "Those countries which played a key role in imposing new sanctions against Iran - like England, America and France - were all eliminated in the preliminary phases," he said.

Well not quite since England and the United States made it out of the group stages. But I kinda see where he's coming from. After all, it's incredibly bad karma to represent a country that imposes sanctions on dictators seeking nuclear proliferation.

Think this is all some joke? Brazil is one of the few countries that voted against the sanctions and look how they're doing.

So lesson learned. The leaders of the great Western powers must make a decision: World War III or World Cup Champions?  I know I don't want their jobs...