World Cup: Early exits for U.S, France, England explained

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Manouchehr Mottaki, the foreign minister of Iran, says the U.S., England and France all deserved to be eliminated before the World Cup quarterfinals because the three countries supported a new round of sanctions against his nation over its nuclear program.

We thought they deserved to eliminated because the other teams were simply better. Hmmm. Well, glad to have that cleared up.

Iran, by the way, did not qualify for the World Cup -- wonder what Mottaki would blame that on? -- but fans there have been glued to the action on television.

-- Kevin Baxter in Johannesburg, South Africa