My Cup Runneth Over

We're down to four teams remaining in the World Cup. My first choice to win, the U.S., got knocked out early. Then I hitched my wagon to Argentina's star, but they just fell ingloriously to Germany. So which team should I jinx now? I have a feeling Spain and Germany are the favorites at this point, so I will go with an underdog: the Netherlands. Why? Maybe I like orange jerseys. Sorry, but the Germans dressed in black remind me too much of World War II stormtroopers. Or maybe, there would be a certain irony in the Dutch winning the World Cup in South Africa.

Otherwise, my thoughts at this point on the officiating and rules. At minimum, there needs to be another official on the pitch. One official just can't keep up with everything that happens on such a large field. Even better, allow for some form of instant replay capability on calls within the box or involving a possible goal. As for rules changes, consider allowing the referee to award a goal when the defenders blatantly use their hands to stop the ball from entering the net at the mouth of the goal. I'm fine with a penalty kick for a handball within the box, but the blatant actions of the Uruguay players to stop the ball from entering the goal in the game with Ghana wound up rewarding them for their actions when the Ghana player missed the penalty kick and the game went into overtime. In basketball, such a blatant foul is called "goaltending" and the referee awards the basket to the shooting team.