World Cup fever diluted to a sniffle in Oz...

Some may thing we Aussies don't do football. Maybe because sports commentators continue to refer to it as 'the round-ball game', not to get mixed up with rugby and Australia's own Aussie Rules, both played with the pointy-end ball.

But there are those who are putting in the hard yards during the World Cup, no matter that matches are broadcast at either 9.30pm, midnight, or 4.30am.

A few pubs around the inner city are open all night and offering free coffee to viewers ("to keep you awake in case you miss an Aussie goal!" hahaha) and even on the too-cool-to-wear-anything-but-black Smith St, there were signs out the front of cafes supporting the Socceroos. Now you'd NEVER see that for a rugby or cricket team...

I've gone back to an old friend, the Guardian, which does a live text commentary on its website. It's compared by a journalist and anyone who feels like it drops a line in that may or may not be included. I like this comment from the other night's Argentina v South Korea match:

41 min: Messi wins the ball deep in his own half and skitters all the way down the left wing before feeding Tevez. The perfect counter-attack is foiled, however, when Tevez tries to take on a defender too many, rather than pass right to the unmarked Higuain. "German TV have just trotted out a stat that the Korean players are on average ten centimetres shorter than their opponents," blabs Iain Copestake. "However, they have failed to mention the drag coefficients cause by Argentina having far more hair."

My other fave comment comes at the point of a goal against South Korea.

GOAL! Argentina 2-0 South Korea (Higuain 32') Tevez deserves high praise here. He pursued two Koreans into the corner and then robbed them. They responded by kicking him to the ground and conceding a freekick.

Don't worry, I'm not turning into a football freak, though it was funny to see Argentina's coach, Diego Maradona, parading around like a midget opera singer. You know how it is - not a gambler on the horses except for the Melbourne Cup, never watch athletics except in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games...why break with tradition?