Chrissy Amphlett said it well when she sang that there's a fine line between pleasure and pain, and nowhere is that more apparent than at the World Cup. Sometimes mixed in with that pain and pleasure there can also be a little bit of humour.
I've often been bemused that the reserve goalkeepers who sit there with the boots laced and gloves on, but I realised while watching Group A's second round of games that there's a very valid reason for this.
The reserve South African keeper was caught short and had three guys who practically had to help him get dressed after tragedy struck. Itumeleng Khune, who'd been outstanding between the posts, was issued an immediate red for clipping a Uruguayan player in the box and, while I was simultaneously gutted at his dismissal, I was amused by the reserve keeper's inability to recognise that socks, shinnies, and laces should come before donning the gloves.
On a more serious note, though, is it just me, or is coming on cold to be the one man to defend a penalty among the most nightmarish footballing experiences ever? Rubbing salt in the metaphorical wound, it turns out that the Uruguayan player was actually offside when he was taken out. Ah, the pain.
The only upside to that red card, which saw South Africa lose not only their stellar keeper, but then have to sacrifice another player in order to sub on the reserve goalie, was that the subsequently scored penalty took some of the wind out of the torturous, deafening, swarm-of-killer-bees vuvuzela buzzing.
Some pleasure that can be taken from pain, too, and none more so than from France's 0-2 loss to Meh-hee-koh. My guess is that the Irish are still celebrating.
The French bench cut not swathes of thoroughbred-like sportsman raring to play, but forlorn figures, with chequered bunny rugs draped across their laps. With beanie pulled low and jacket collar pulled high, Thierry Henry looked more ski bunny than footballer. Not one French bench player looked like they were going to sub on and set the footballing world alight. Not one looked like they would be willing to shed their jackets and rugs to even attempt to do so.
The Mexicans, though, were doing just that. They scored after sure-footedly beating the keeper one on one, with the goalscorer almost set the record for widest mouth opening in human history during his I'm-excited-I-just-scored-at-the-World-Cup celebration. They were later issued a penalty after, (pricelessly) according to the commentator, 'Abidal has been adjudged to have upended a Mexican' in the box.
Closer to home, the Australian campaign is currently experiencing nothing but pain, and the Germany game, which has damaged us on untold levels, is best left undiscussed. Putting that demoralising capitulation aside, what I'm hoping for from at least the next few games of the round, both in Group A and our own Group D, is more pleasure than pain and maybe a little bit of humour.
