Day 4 of the World Cup

Day Four of the World Cup is already here, making some steady progress through the group stage!

Here is my take on the day.

Netherlands vs Denmark
Result: 2-0 (Agger 45' [og], Kuyt 84')

- Of course, the Netherlands dominated possession throughout the game like they inevitably do, but the first half was mainly just possession for possession's sake. It never really amounted to any good chances because Denmark had time to set their defense up, which becomes tough to break down against an organized opponent. Elia, who I thought should have started, changed the tempo of the game by making excellent runs down the wing and taking defenders on, which led to the second goal. Poor luck by Denmark on the first goal, but they can build on this. They performed better than the scoreline indicated and should do alright from now on having played the best team in the group.

Japan vs Cameroon
Result: 1-0 (Honda 38') <-- lmao

-Really Cameroon? What is with these African teams choking on their home soil! Japan is a very mediocre team. They pinched a goal off a calm finish by "Honda" lmao, and then proceeded to park the team bus in front of the goal. The African side made various attempts at equalizing (one thrashing shot in particular had the posts rattling for a good minute afterwards) but could do nothing to break the stout Japanese defense. Who needs the Great Wall of China anyways? Cameroon needs to work on putting better service into the box, it seemed like no one was winning headers in that third of the pitch.


Predicted Finish for Group E
1) Netherlands - 9 points
2) Denmark - 4 points
3) Japan - 3 points
4) Cameroon - 1 points

Thoughts:
Cameroon really hurt themselves by dropping points to Japan, and that might spell disaster for them unless they can maybe tie with the Dutch and beat Denmark. The problem is that both teams they have left to play are more quality sides than what they already lost to, so we shall see how they do.

Italy vs Paraguay
Result: 1-1 Draw (Alcaraz 38', De Rossi 62')

- Wow Italy, how far have you fallen! Buffon is hurt, and Pirlo is out, leaving a huge lack of creativity in the midfield. I was really dissapointed with this effort, they just seemed very slow and predictable for much of the game. Even when Paraguay scored it didn't seem to wake up the Italians. But, the Italians know how to win so let's not discount their ability to play gritty, ugly football and get through to the group stage. They've been blessed with a particularly easy group so this shouldn't be the end of the road for them. Paraguay looked alright, was impressed on their first goal where their tiny defender, bound for West Ham United, won an outrageous header through two men. Class.

Day 3 of the World Cup

Group C

Slovenia vs Algeria
Result: 1-0 (Koren 78')

I'm going to be honest here, I watched this game in spurts as it was on at 7 am. From what I did see, Slovenia looks like a pretty solid team, and Algeria looks like a team in shambles. Yet another gift from the Algerian goalie in Group C gave Slovenia the win, after letting the ball go in after it hit him in the chest. The US face a must win this friday.

Thoughts on Group C:
I'm actually not going to put my predicted finish up here, because I don't want to jinx my two teams!!

Ghana vs Serbia
Result: 1-0 (Gyan 83' penalty kick)

This game picked up quite a bit of quality from the Slovenia-Algeria game earlier. I was impressed with Ghana and thought they did deserve the win, however it was unfortunate that they could not take it in the field of play and had to rely on a late handball to win. It's a great result for all of Africa though, as they are the first African team to ever win on African soil in a World Cup. Not to say that Serbia played poorly, I actually thought they were really an impressive team too. They missed one golden opportunity to ice the game in the 80th minute playing with ten men, when the ball came across the 6 yard box right to a forward. However, he blasted it right at the keeper who did well to control it.


Germany vs Australia
Result: 4-0 (Podolski 7', Klose 25', Mueller 66', Cacau 69')

I was at work for the latter half of the game, but I didn't need to see much. Germany pwns, and Australia uber sucks lol. I think Germany had something like 90 percent completion rate of their passes which is illy. Honestly I wish Germany had drew with Australia because I hope them all the worst for this World Cup, but it wasn't to be. Australia is in a heap of trouble too because Tim Cahil, the Evertonian, was issued a red card so he's banned from the next match.

Thoughts on Group D
--This is probably the strongest overall group we've seen in the World Cup thusfar. Germany are favorites to win it after turning in the most impressive performance of the tournament, yet Ghana and Serbia both turned out to have solid defenses and enough firepower to make things interesting.

Predicted Finish :
1) Germany -- 7 points
2) Ghana -- 7 points
3) Serbia -- 3 points
4) Australia -- 0 points

USA vs England!

The most anticipated game and the one where I was most nervous was this one, the game of the first round! Truthfully, it would have pained me to see either team lose, because I desperately want to see both teams go through. The crew gathered at Bills to watch the game, and things got off to a rough start when England scored early. However, I can honestly say that when USA scored it was one of the best moments of my life, we went crazy lol!!!!!!!!!!! Heres my analysis:

USA vs England
Result: 1-1 Tie (Gerrard 3', Dempsey 39')
Thoughts: England's passing was quite clinical at times, but they lacked that final ball in the last third of the pitch. Rooney had flashes of being dangerous, but even with superb distribution his teammates couldn't get the game winner. Lennon looked quick on the wing, although they need to find a better winger to accompany him because Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips both were bad. Coach Fabio Cappello was crazy not starting Peter Crouch or Jermain Defoe over Emile Heskey. The US was shaky to start but gradually grew more and more confident as the game grew, and were lucky to pull a draw out due to a completely lucky gift by the England Keeper. Had a chance to ice the game but were robbed the victory by the post, and I was really impressed with Jozy Altidore. He needed Edson Buddle or Hercules Gomez up top with him instead of Robbie Findley because Findley just cannot posses well. Great Result though!!

Day 2 of the World Cup Part 1

Today's matches proved more and more interesting as the day went on, as of course the USA was playing!!!! Let's start off with my takes on the early games

South Korea vs Greece
Result: 2-0 Win (Lee Jung-Soo 6', Park Ji-Sung 51')
Thoughts:
South Korea looked very creative! Their movement off the ball was pure class, though it was made to appear exponentially better since Greece looked as stagnant as a still pond. After watching that game, I can safely say that Greece is the worst team in this tournament. South Korea opened the scoring early with a nice cross over the heads of three Greeks, into the oncoming path of goalscorer Lee Jung-Soo. Later in the match, Manchester United man and captain of the squad Park Ji-Sung put things to bed with a clinical finish past the goalkeeper. It's unclear right now how good South Korea is, mainly because Greece is so terrible, but they won't be afraid to go against any competition.

Argentina vs Nigeria
Result: 1-0 Win (Heinze 5')
Thoughts:
Once again Manchester United, a club of superb quality might I add, produces another goalscorer. This time it's former United center defender Gabriel Heinze, who runs unmarked into the box off a corner and lazers a header into the underside of the bar. Argentina would go on to dominate possession and produce a lot of chances off of quick little cheeky passes around the box. Messi had eight shots on goal, of which maybe 3 should have went in if not for superb saves by the Nigerian stopper. They looked pretty dangerous, though lacked the killer instinct needed to kill this game.

Thoughts on Group B:
-Argentina proved to be the most dominant team of the day, with South Korea lurking closeby. Both international teams were impressive in their wins, however I will be interested to see whether a Nigerian team can nick a win off of South Korea and advance. Greece will remain in the cellar for this tournament.

Predicted Finish After First Round of Games:
1) Argentina - 9 points
2) Nigeria - 6 points (going out on a limb)
3) South Korea - 3 points
4) Greece - 0 points

Opening Ceremonies (and games)

South Africa vs Mexico
Result: 1-1 Draw (Tshabala 59'[RSA], Marquez 79' [Mex])

What a start to the tournament! Great stuff seeing the host nation somehow manage to score first after getting dominated in terms of possession by Mexico in the first half. Their defense from crosses coming in was really worrying and Mexico should have capitalized a few times the first half. South Africa's counters always looked dangerous though and it took a wonder-strike by the unknown Tshabala to draw first blood. Unfortunately Mexico took advantage of a serious defensive lapse of judgement by the South African captain and equalized it to settle the matter at a draw.

France vs Uruguay
Result: 0-0 Draw

Goodness me. What an awful game. On more than a few occasions it put myself and a few of my friends to spells of sleep. Uruguay played with five defenders and what looked like two extremely defensive minded center midfielders, forming an obstinate defense. From the start it was clear that they were looking for the draw, maybe stealing three points from a counter-attack by their powerful striker combination of Diego Forlan and Suarez. France came close on several occasions to breaking the deadlock, but never seemed to click as a team, leaving their best chances left up to individual efforts such as Gourcuff's free kick. The chance of the match had to be Forlan's miss inside the box when his teammate laid the ball off to him from a long throw-in. Didn't have the quality needed to grab the goal and effectively kill the match.

Thoughts on Group A
-Completely up for grabs, though Mexico looked most dangerous in terms of attacking football. I must say though, the gap between the best and worst team of this group is paper-thin. Next week will tell us a lot--a win would surely send the victors through to the knockout round.

Predicted finish after watching the games:
1. Mexico 7 points
2. South Africa 5 points
3. France 2 points
4. Uruguay 1 point

Fifa World Cup 2010 South Africa!!!

Lets get this party started!!!!

After what felt like a millennium, the world's greatest sporting event is finally back! And this time on African Soil! I was quite skeptical upon hearing that South Africa would host the cup, because let's face it who knew much about what they had to offer before this, but I have been impressed with the country's culture and overall aptitude at holding the games so far.

Good luck to England and the United States, and let's hope for some great goals, games, and match-ups!