The Beeb reports that Islamist gunmen burst in on a cinema in central Somalia that was showing a banned World Cup game. When the shooting stopped, two people were dead.

For whatever reason, a number of marketeers have been emailing me lately. Here's some sample messages.

Taking the street car eastbound on College this evening, an armada of cars -- at least three -- bearing French flags honked their way westward ("You Portuguese swine: I fart in your general direction!").

Not one Citroen or Peugot in the bunch. :)

As we approach my stop, I mention to the operator that this is the first time I've seen French flags on a car for the entire World Cup tournament.

"You know, I don't like soccer," he said. "What a wimpy sport. The guy gets pushed a little bit and he goes down screaming. There's hundreds of millions of people watching. I'd be embarrassed to do that."

And he's right: It's the single worst thing about soccer as a sport, although as an aside, the National Post reportedly had a story in Wednesday's paper on the art of the dive. :)

Anyways, the operator went on: "Can you imagine a hockey player doing that?"

Well, in fairness, there are some divers in hockey, but they are scorned.

And even then, no hockey player has taken diving to the operatic heights of some of soccer's master thespians. :)

Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal's coach, had won 12 straight matches in World Cup competition.

However, France prevailed on this day, winning 1-0 one a first-half penalty kick by France's veteran Zinedine Zidane. Portugual's goalkeeper Ricardo guessed right, but the shot was hard and perfectly placed.

Portugal had chances, but the poor shooting that haunted them against England continued today. Luis Figo will be haunted for the rest of his life by the short-range header he missed (but Fabien Barthez, France's goalkeeper, gets to forget about the inept way he bobbled the ball, giving Figo that opportunity).

So, it will be Italy vs. France in the big game on Sunday. I like Italy's chances. On Saturday, Germany will win the consolation game over Portugal.

Some vignettes:

I tell a cop at College and Ossington that he should have an easy shift tonight, as Portugal just lost 1-0.

"You know, I worked until 2 in the morning and was back in at 8, so I'm glad Portugal lost, because I don't want another night like that," he said with a chuckle.

On the east side of College Street, some young Portuguese guy clutching a replica of a World Cup statuette darts around on the sidewalk. "Come on: Steal the World Cup from me," he yells. "I'll say you're French!" Mild laughter from the assembled Portuguese jersey-wearers.

A buddy of his loudly muttered: "Fuckin' French. Fuckin' assholes."

But then who comes up the street are two young guys wearing French flags! (And big smiles, it goes without saying).

To his credit, the France-hater goes over and shakes hands with the two France supporters.

But then, as they're walking away, he yells at them: "You're goin' down to Italy!"

Finally, a 40-something woman wearing a Portuguese flag as a cape had the right spirit: "Who cares if we lost? We can still party!"

And at Cervejaria, a few die-hards were still making the best of it this evening.

At the Monarch, mixed reaction amongst the Portuguese regulars, with some matter-of-fact and others acting like their hearts had been ripped out.

For a little context, however, one keen observer of the scene said: "What's the big deal? These guys watch soccer once every four years!" :)

I don't know if this is the typical response of people who have seen Road to Guantanamo, but I still don't have a satisfactory answer to this crucial question: What the fuck were you Tipton Three guys doing in Afghanistan with the war underway?!?!