Whose World? What Cup? (Day 04)

Well, here I sit as the second half of Denmark-Netherlands commences. I am impressed by the tempo sustained in blistering heat by these tall, hefty Northern Europeans (some of whom used to be Northern Africans, from the look of their statuesque frames and darkly-chiselled features). But it is still 0-0.

Denmark is one of the largest countries on Earth, by virtue of its associate country (as of 2009), Greenland. Greenland, at over 2m square kilometres or about 836,000 square miles, was granted home rule by their Danish overlords in 1979 and became an autonomous nation in 2009. That association makes Denmark the third largest power in North America, and the second largest physical presence in the Arctic Circle next to Russia.

The Netherlands is an agglomeration of trading states, the twelve provinces of the Dutch people. Two of those provinces are called North and South Holland, which is why some people persist (to some Dutch irritation) in called the Netherlands 'Holland'. 50% of its land is less than a metre above sea-level; should global warming raise the oceans, the Netherlands could well become the Sunken Lands.

But as I watch the goings-on in South Africa, they haven't sunk yet. Nor do they seem likely to do so.

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Well, 2-0 to the Orangemen in the end. And at half-time in the second match of the day, Japan lead Cameroon 1-0, by the feet of one Honda. A well-placed kickstart, shall we say?