Manoj's World Cup blog

World Cup 2006: A look back before the Grand Finale!

2006-07-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

What a World Cup tournament this has been! The most yellow and red cards shown in a single tournament in World Cup history! A bunch of sensational matches, all the superpowers progressing through to the latter stages of the tournament, and most remarkably, the return to form of one of the greatest players to ever play the game, Zinedine Zidane, affectionately known as Zizou! I'd like to just highlight some of the memorable moments of the Cup so far, and give you my version of the World Cup All-Stars. Fifa's official All-Star squad was really quite disappointing in certain aspects.

The big plusses:

Trinidad & Tobago, for that inspirational 0-0 tie with Sweden which showed that size of the country does not matter! So, shut up Portugal! Leo Beenhakker really worked wonders with the limited resources at his disposal.

Ivory Coast, for putting up 3 immensely gritty performances in the Group of death. 3 times they went down 2-0 and all three times they came back roaring and played some terrific attacking football that finally came to fruition against the hapless Serbians. They put a smile back on the Ivorians' faces, and for a country torn by civil war, that is quite an achievement.

Italy, for being able to play such great football so consistently when most of the players know they will be out of a job within the next couple of months! Amidst the terrible betting scandal, the Italians have restored integrity to themselves and proved what a footballing superpower they truly are.

Argentina, for playing the beautiful game exactly as it should be played, with flair and skill! Their 6-0 demolition of Serbia & Montenegro will probably live on in most fans' memories as the finest display of the South American style of play, perhaps even of all time! It was sad to see them lose in a penalty shoot-out though.

Germany, for restoring national pride to a nation not known for being patriotic. Heavily criticized before the tournament, Jurgen Klinsmann worked his way into the hearts and souls of every German within the span of 3 weeks, and he had the usually sterile German side playing flowing, attacking, winning football! Truly a great achievement.

The minusses:

Czech Republic, for disappointing so badly after promising so much in their first outing when they took apart the US 3-0. An ageing squad led by an ageing coach looked their age against the energetic Ghanians and rejuvenated Italians. Touted as one of the pre-tournament dark horses to win the Cup, they made a quiet exit in the first round!

Holland, for dragging the beautiful game to its lowest ebb in its game against Portugal in the second round. 16 yellows and 4 reds will tell you quite a lot about the nature of this game, and the Dutch instigated the dirty game by engaging in some horrendous tackles very early in the game. For a team boasting the flair of Robben, van Persie and van der Vaart to stoop so low was really pathetic!

Togo, this one really comes down to the Togo federation that made life so difficult for its players and coaches by being embroiled in a pay dispute virtually throughout their World Cup stay! Despite this terrible drama, it is quite remarkable that Togo put in some decent performances against Korea and France in particular. But you have to wonder how much better they might have been, had all the problems been sorted out before the tournament.

Serbia & Montenegro, perhaps the biggest minus of all in this tournament! They came into this tournament with high hopes, having had a very strong European qualifying run. It all fell apart in their 3 Cup games, however. There was no cohesion, very little effort and almost no skill shown by this side which lost all three of its games to Holland, Ivory Coast and Argentina. A massive clearout is needed if they are to be taken seriously by any opposition anymore! Shameful!

World Cup All-Star Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) - Only 1 goal allowed until the final, and that was scored by his own teammate! Enough said!
Ricardo (Portugal) - If for nothing else, for his sensational penalty kick stopping feats against England!
Shaka Hislop (T&T) - His performance against Sweden remains the best by any goalkeeper in this tournament!

Defenders:
Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) - Commanding captain
Christoph Metzelder (Germany) - Led a very inexperienced German backline admirably.
Philippe Senderos (Switzerland) - Fantastic young center-back with loads of guts.
Philipp Lahm (Germany) - Easily one of the best full-backs in the competition.
Fabio Grosso (Italy) - Probably the best left-back in the Cup, along with Lahm.
Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy) - Easily the best right-back in the tournament.
Brett Sancho (T&T) - Heart and soul of the T&T defence.
Miguel (Portugal) - Marauding full-back attacked as much as he defended.

Midfielders:
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) - Classy holding midfielder, made that superb pass that knocked Germany to its knees in the semis.
Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast) - Immensely hardworking midfielder that made the Ivorian midfield tick.
Michael Essien (Ghana) - Led the Black Stars to the second round, and how they missed him against Brazil!
David Odonkor (Germany) - Only played as a sub, but he changed almost every game he was involved in. Amazing speed!
Tranquillo Barnetta (Switzerland) - Terrific young winger lent pace and skill to the Swiss attack.
Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina) - Pulled all the strings for the Argentines in midfield. Taking him off against Germany was a huge mistake!
Francesc Fabregas (Spain) - Only 19, but now established in the heart of the Spanish midfield.
Zinedine Zidane (France) - The maestro took his time to get going, but he was huge in the wins over Spain and Brazil.

Forwards:
Fernando Torres (Spain) - Proved himself to be a goalscorer at the highest level after having many doubters.
Miroslav Klose (Germany) - Pure goalscoring ability. Kept Germany alive against the Argentines with a typically important strike.
Abdelkader Toure (Togo) - Hardworking, skilful striker overshadowed his more illustrious compatriot Emmanuel Adebayor!
Lukas Podolski (Germany) - The other half of the potent German strikeforce. Fifa Young Player of the tournament.

World Cup 2006: The Semi-finals

2006-07-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Semi-final #1 saw hosts Germany take on Italy, two sides with immense World Cup pedigree. Germany brought in midfielder Tim Borowski to replace Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sebastian Kehl to replace the suspended Torsten Frings. Italy restored Marco Materazzi to the central defence but retained Mauro Camoranesi in midfield, after he impressed against Ukraine. Italy started the stronger of the two sides, and Luca Toni was a constant threat up front. Jens Lehmann in the German goal was called upon to make saves from Toni and Gianluca Zambrotta as the Italians created some chances. At the other end, Lukas Podolski was lively up front for the hosts, but the Italian defence protected goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon impressively. It was 0-0 at the half, although the match was entertaining to watch. The Germans took more control of the midfield in the second half and dominated play more as the Italians seemed to fade down the stretch. However, their approach play was rather dull and they were unable to break down the strong Italian defence. Klinsmann resorted to his usual substitutes Odonkor and Neuville in an attempt to rejuvenate his side. Italy also brought on fresh legs, Gilardino for Toni, and Iaquinta for Camoranesi. After the substitutions were made, the game got more open as both sides pressed for the winning goal with time running out. However, neither side were able to break through, and the game went into extra-time. The first period of extra-time was also cagey stuff, but Italy coach Marcello Lippi made a bold substitution by bringing on Alessandro Del Piero for Simone Perrotta towards the end of the first period of extra-time. The second extra-time period started feverishly, with Gilardino striking the post after a terrific run through the German penalty area and Zambrotta smashing the woodwork soon after from outside the box. It was the Germans who were fading now as they struggled to get their wing players involved. The signs were pointing to a penalty shoot-out despite all the efforts of both sides. However, the never-say-die Italians had other ideas! Off a poor corner kick clearance, Andrea Pirlo collected the ball at the edge of the area, but instead of shooting on goal, slipped through a delightful ball to Fabio Grosso who curled home a superb first-time left footed shot to put Italy ahead in the 119th minute!!!! Fantastic strike from the left-back that left Lehmann with no chance of saving it whatsoever! The Germans were distraught, but poured forward in the dying minutes of the game in search of the vital equaliser. However, Italy broke on the counterattack in the 121st minute and Del Piero sealed the result for the Italians with a clinical finish from 12 yards after being played through brilliantly by Iaquinta! 2-0 Italy with the last kick of the game! Germany was ousted and the jubilant Italians celebrated a fine team performance!

The second semi-final saw Portugal v France. The Portuguese were hoping to beat France for the first time in 30 years and reach their first-ever World Cup final. France were hoping to give a fitting farewell to their great superstar Zinedine Zidane by competing in the final as well. Both sides played with their usual lineups, and the game started with France as the aggressor. Malouda had an early chance on goal but missed it after being played through by Zidane. Portugal took a while to find their rhythm but came back into the game as the half wore on. Deco pulling the strings from midfield and Cristiano Ronaldo taking on the French defenders with pace and skill. Maniche had a couple of long range efforts well saved by French keeper Fabien Barthez. Then on 35 minutes, Zidane played a ball into Thierry Henry inside the box, and the French striker was tripped by Ricardo Carvalho as he tried to turn on goal. PENALTY! Zidane stepped up to take the kick and buried it into the left corner despite the best efforts of Portuguese keeper Ricardo. 1-0 France! That's how they went into the halftime break. Portugal were remarkably subdued at the start of the second half as they struggled to get any offense going against the strong French defence. Instead, France's Franck Ribery looked lively as he tried to put the game beyond Portugal's reach. Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari brought on Simao, Helder Postiga and Paulo Ferreira in an attempt to find the equaliser. Fernando Meira went close in the dying minutes of the game after the knockdown from Postiga, but he blazed his shot high and wide. Barthez fumbled Cristiano Ronaldo's long range free-kick as well, but Luis Figo could not direct his header on target from the rebound. Portuguese keeper Ricardo came up in the final minute as they won a corner kick, but France held on to their slender lead to reach their second World Cup final in 3 attempts!!! Zidane will now play the final with a chance to bow out of football with the greatest prize in the sport!! Truly fairy-tale stuff from a side that was written off by many experts before the tournament began.

So, Germany will play Portugal in the meaningless third place match in Stuttgart on Saturday, and Italy will take on France on Sunday for the 2006 World Cup trophy! A wonderful tournament comes to a close with the greatest player of the last two decades captaining his side in their quest for the ultimate prize in football! And they will play against one of the most impressive and consistent teams in the tournament, Italy. A fitting finale, indeed, for the world's greatest tournament!

World Cup 2006: The Quarter-finals

2006-07-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Germany v Argentina kicked off the quarter-final round of the World Cup, and what a game it promised to be. The hosts had been playing some wonderful attacking football through the group stages of the tournament, and the South Americans were at their fluid best, especially when thrashing Serbia & Montenegro 6-0. The Argentines made three changes to their usual starting lineup, Fabricio Coloccini stepping in at rightback, Luis Gonzalez replacing Esteban Cambiasso in midfield, and Carlos Tevez getting the nod ahead of Javier Saviola to partner Hernan Crespo up front. The game began in typical fashion, with the Argentines controlling the ball in midfield against a hardworking German defence. It was the Albiceleste that struck the first blow, albeit from an unexpected source, as Roberto Ayala leaped high above the German defence to nod home Riquelme's corner kick. 1-0 Argentina, and the hosts had to chase the game for the first time this tournament! Germany worked themselves into the game slowly but weren't able to equalise in the first half. On 63 minutes, Argentina coach Jose Pekerman inexplicably chose to substitute his star playmaker Riquelme with defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. Sensing that Argentina were afraid to lose their slender lead, German coach Klinsmann threw on speedy winger David Odonkor and super-sub Oliver Neuville along with midfielder Tim Borowski to add some more bite up front. On 80 minutes, the Germans earned the just reward for their pressure, as Borowski flicked on a Ballack cross, and topscorer Miroslav Klose was on hand at the far post to direct a firm header into the far corner! 1-1 with 10 minutes to go! The crowd went berserk as they rejoiced the German equaliser and urged their heroes to add a winning goal. That didn't come, however, and 30 minutes of boring, tired football ensued from two sides who were simply too afraid to lose the game in extra-time! Hence, we had penalties! German keeper Jens Lehmann came up huge as he saved penalties from Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso to lead the Germans to a 4-2 win on penalties!! Pekerman resigned immediately after the game, thankfully, as nobody could legitimately explain his horrendous decision to take out Riquelme with 30 minutes left in the game!

Italy played Ukraine in the second game of the quarterfinals, and this one went totally according to the World Cup formbook. 3-time champions Italy took the lead in 5th minute through Gianluca Zambrotta and never relinquished their control over an average but hardworking Ukraine side. Luca Toni added two further second-half strikes as the mighty Azzurri made light work of the World Cup debutants. Kudos to Ukraine and their classy skipper Andriy Shevchenko for making the last 8 in their first ever attempt, but the difference in class was evident in this game.

QF #3 featured England v Portugal in a rematch of the Euro 2004 semi-final encounter, which the Portuguese won on penalties. England played a 4-5-1 formation with Owen Hargreaves as holding midfielder and Wayne Rooney as the lone striker. Both teams started out sluggishly, though England had the better of the run-of-play in the first half. It ended 0-0 with neither side able to significantly test the two keepers. Then, it all changed in the second half. First, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson replaced captain David Beckham with Spurs teenager Aaron Lennon for what seemed like a leg injury picked up by the England skipper. On 53 minutes, Wayne Rooney went into a full-blooded tackle on Ricardo Carvalho and seemed to stamp on the defender's groin. The referee blew for the free-kick immediately, and a small melee ensued where Rooney seemed to shove, albeit gently, Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. England were then reduced to 10 men as Wayne Rooney was sent off, perhaps for the cumulative mistakes he had just made on the field! Eriksson responded bravely by replacing Joe Cole with beanpole striker Peter Crouch. Despite being down to 10 men, England were able to create some good chances for Lennon, Crouch and Lampard, though none of them were able to put the ball in the back of the net! Portugal seemed to be tiring fast and were hardly able to make their 1-man advantage count. 0-0 it ended after 90 minutes. In extra time, Portugal finally dominated possession and laid siege to the England goal. However, the English defence remained resolute and some excellent work from Owen Hargreaves and Steven Gerrard even helped them create a couple of chances on the break that went to waste. Owen Hargreaves, in particular, showed super-human stamina and fitness as he motored constantly from offense to defence, helping England stay in the game. Portuguese substitute Helder Postiga had the ball in the net late on but was ruled offside. To penalties, it went, and England's bad luck with the shoot-out continued! Portgual keeper Ricardo was superb as he saved 3 penalties to lead his side to a 3-1 win on penalties! Man Utd winger Ronaldo scored the final penalty for the Portuguese to condemn England to yet another loss on penalties!

The last quarterfinal saw Brazil take on France in a rematch of the 1998 final. Brazil, surprisingly, changed their starting lineup as Juninho replaced Adriano in the XI. Both teams started slowly and it figured to be a tactical battle, with neither side wanting to make mistakes. French captain Zinedine Zidane appeared to be in fine form as he controlled the midfield brilliantly. The first half ended 0-0 with really not many chances of note created by either side. In the second half, France struck first! Zidane delivered a cross from the left wing and Thierry Henry, left unmarked at the far post, sidefooted a volley past Dida in the Brazilian goal. 1-0 France! Brazil weren't playing well at all and began to panic as they chased the game against a well-organized French defence. Cicinho, Robinho and Adriano were all introduced late in the second half and Brazil finally pressed hard for the equaliser in the last 10 minutes of the game. It wasn't forthcoming as Lilian Thuram and William Gallas held firm at the back, and the French caused a major upset by dethroning the reigning World Champions in the last 8! Zidane prolonged his career with a vintage performance and Henry gave the French reason to celebrate!

So, the semi-finals were set......Germany v Italy and France v Portugal! Unbelievable stuff, but then again, that's what makes the World Cup so special!

World Cup 2006: Day 19

2006-06-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

In the final round of 16 matches played today, Brazil played Ghana first, followed by Spain v France. Two absolutely mouthwatering clashes and both the games did not disappoint!!

Brazil started their regular first choice XI and got off to a flying start when Ronaldo put them ahead after just 5 minutes! Kaka's through-ball dissected the Ghana defence, and Ronaldo dribbled past the helpless keeper Richard Kingson with a sensational step-over move before tapping the ball home. 1-0 and the fans had barely gotten into their seats! Ghana, to their credit, regained their composure and played some really impressive football in the midfield and created a number of good chances. However, their finishing in front of goal let them down as most of their shots went off target or straight to Dida in the Brazilian goal. Defender John Mensah was incredibly unlucky to see his powerful downward header stopped by Dida's flailing leg on the goalline! Then, right on the stroke of halftime, Brazil made Ghana pay dearly for their profligacy. A lightning quick counter-attack saw the ball played out wide to Cafu, who sent in a first-time cross to the far post where Adriano had the simplest of tap-ins! The linesman had crucially missed Adriano being in an offside position, and the Ghanians protested vehemently, so much so that the Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic was sent off from the dugout for dissent! 2-0 at the break, and really hard luck for the excellentt Ghanians. It was more of the same story in the second half, as Ghana dominated play in the midfield and created numerous chances, but Stephen Appiah's side were just not able to beat Dida in the Brazilian goal. The game was then finally settled for good 5 minutes before fulltime, when Ze Roberto beat Ghana's offside trap and rounded the keeper before slotting home Brazil's third goal. 3-0 it ended, with the scoreline doing no justice at all to the excellent play produced by Ghana. Unfortunately, their forwards just didn't have their shooting boots on and they are left to rue what might have been a great upset.

Spain took France next, aiming to end the international career of France star and captain Zinedine Zidane. They were the more aggressive team at the start and the midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Fabregas ensured that Spain had plenty of early possession. They made it count in the 28th minute when defender Pablo Ibanez was tripped inside the penalty box. David Villa stepped up to take the penalty and coolly slotted home despite French keeper Barthez guessing the right direction. The goal seemed to awaken the French and they started to get more possession later in the half. Patrick Vieira then played a terrific defence-splitting pass to Franck Ribery and the Marseille playmaker kept his composure to round the keeper before scoring France's equalising goal! 1-1 at the half, and it was a thoroughly entertaining match. The Spaniards brought on winger Joaquin and forward Luis Garcia early in the second half to replace captain Raul and goalscorer Villa. The game then went through a period where petty fouls broke up the rhythm of play and neither side could string together passes to create good chances. In the 81st minute, Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, who had excellent game till then, awarded a dubious free-kick to the French for a non-existent foul on Thierry Henry. This proved to be crucial, as France went ahead from the resultant free-kick. Patrick Vieira headed Zidane's long cross towards goal and rightback Sergio Ramos inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net with Casillas in position to save Vieira's initial effort!! 2-1 to France with just minutes remaining, and the Spanish were hard done by some play-acting from France's great goalscorer. Spain poured men forward in the dying minutes but were unable to level the game late on. Instead, the French were able to extend their lead in the 92nd minute as Zizou led a counterattack and beat his marker before firing home from 15 yards. Fitting in some respects for Zidane to cap his final international tournament with a goal. The French managed to extend Zidane's career by one more game, as they will now take on world champions Brazil in the quarterfinals!

The final 8 are decided now, and what a sensational lineup we have - Germany v Argentina, Italy v Ukraine, England v Portugal, Brazil v France!!! Can't wait for Friday now...

World Cup 2006: Day 18

2006-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

The round of 16 continued today with Italy v Australia first followed by Switzerland v Ukraine. After the farcical refereeing of yesterday, everyone was simply hoping for the game of football to take centerstage instead of the men in black!

The Italians got off to a good start against the Australians and created a number of good chances in the first half. Alberto Gilardino and Luca Toni were denied by a couple of excellent stops by Aussie keeper Mark Schwarzer. Australia were content to put men behind the ball and try to catch the Italians on the counterattack. With Harry Kewell injured, Australia were forced to play with just Mark Viduka as the lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation. It remained 0-0 at the interval with the Italians just having the better run of play in a tight contest. Italy coach Marcello Lippi chose to replace Gilardino with Vincenzo Iaquinta after the break and he immediately set up Luca Toni with a great cross but the big striker fired well over the bar from 12 yards out! Then, on 51 minutes, Italy were reduced to 10 men when Marco Materazzi was shown a straight red card for a two footed, studs-up tackle on Australia's Marco Bresciano. The Aussies sensed the momentum shifting and had much of the ball for the remainder of the second half, but were unable to break down a well-organized Italian defence marshalled by the excellent Fabio Cannavaro. Lippi then put on star forward Francesco Totti, who was surprisingly omitted from the starting lineup, for Alessandro Del Piero. This proved to be a masterstroke from Lippi, as leftback Fabio Grosso went charging up the field in the 92nd minute and was brought down, albeit rather unfortunately, by Lucas Neill. The referee awarded the Italians a penalty, and Totti stepped up and coolly fired Italy into the quarterfinals with the last kick of the game!!! Utter disappointment for the game Australians, though the final result was fair since the Australians hardly managed a dangerous shot attempt on goal even after gaining the numerical advantage early in the second half.

The Swiss and Ukrainians came out in their game in exactly the same 4-4-1-1 formation, and produced a lively first half with chances for both sides. The game was played at a high tempo and there was plenty of passion and hard work from both sets of players. Ukraine captain Andriy Shevchenko hit the crossbar with a diving header off a Kalinichenko free kick, and Swiss star Alexander Frei also rattled the woodwork with a superb 30 yard free kick. 0-0 at the break but there was plenty of action in the game which suggested that it was only a matter of time before the goals came. Unfortunately, it was not to be so! The tempo slowed down in the second half, and although there was plenty of guts and fighting spirit displayed by both sides, there was a distinct lack of quality from both teams in the final third of the field. The result was a drab 0-0 scoreline at the end of regulation time, and sadly, neither team really dared to venture forward in the extra time periods as well. So, we had the first penalty shoot-out of the 2006 World Cup! Shevchenko was the first man to take a penalty kick, but his shot was well saved by the Swiss keeper Zuberbuhler! However, the luckless Swiss were even worse from the spot as they missed their first 3 penalty kicks. Rebrov, Milevskiy and Gusev converted for the Ukrainians to send them through to the quarterfinals 3-0 on penalties!! It was a rare penalty shootout shut-out for the Ukrainians as well! They will now face the Italians, who will be heavy favorites to progress to the semifinal stage based on current form at least.

Tomorrow, the final round of 16 clashes feature Brazil v Ghana and France v Spain in two sensational matches!! Until then,.....

World Cup 2006: Day 17

2006-06-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today's action saw England take on Ecuador in the first match, and Portugal v Holland in the second game.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson sprung his customary starting lineup surprise yet again by naming Owen Hargreaves at rightback, Michael Carrick as a holding midfielder and Wayne Rooney as the lone striker in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Ecuador retained the same lineup that had started their first game against Poland. From the very outset, this had all the makings of a defensive battle, and that is exactly what transpired. Both sides struggled to come up with attacking moves of any real danger and the first real chance fell to the South Americans when John Terry miscued his defensive header and Carlos Tenorio was clean through on goal. However, a fantastic saving tackle from Ashley Cole deflected the striker's shot onto the crossbar and out of play!! A superb chance squandered by the South Americans. They would not create another chance of note throughout the whole game as well. England also labored to break down the stubborn Ecuadorean defence as Rooney was often left all alone up front to fight against 4 defenders. The sweltering heat of 92 F in Stuttgart seemed to sap the energy of the English in particular. The mindnumbingly boring game finally sparked to life when David Beckham curled home a perfect free kick on the hour mark to put England ahead. You could argue they deserved it because of their possession advantage. Beckham himself struggled severely with dehydration before being taken off with 10 minutes to go for Aaron Lennon. The diminutive Spurs winger injected some energy into the game and Frank Lampard squandered a pair of golden chances to wrap the game up for England. However, with the Ecuadoreans barely managing an attack, Eriksson threw on Jamie Carragher for Joe Cole and effectively killed the game for the remainder of the time. A horrendous game for spectators to watch, sadly, but England go through courtesy of their captain's deadball expertise.

In contrast, the flair and attacking endeavor of Portugal and Holland promised a far more entertaining matchup, and both teams came out playing some good football which was pleasant on the eye, especially after enduring the torture of the morning. Dutch coach van Basten caused major headlines by omitting star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from the side, he would not play any part in this game! Portugal struck first in the 23rd minute as Maniche displayed terrific close control inside the box before smashing home a fierce shot which left Dutch keeper van der Sar with no chance. The Dutch seemed to get a little energy out of this goal and pressed forward in search of an equaliser. This is where Russian referee Valentin Ivanov stepped to the fore! The game was being played at a fast and physical pace, but the referee seemed to be card-happy and intent on punishing the merest of challenges. Several yellow cards, some genuine some unnecessary, were shown to both sets of players, and when Costinha inexplicably chose to handle the ball in the middle of the park, he became the first casualty of the game. He was correctly shown his second yellow card of the day and sent off for an early bath! The Dutch had the numerical advantage and created several great chances in the second half. Philip Cocu was desperately unlucky to volley his shot onto the crossbar from 5 yards! The action got a little testy out on the field and the referee persisted with his card-happy behavior. Soon, the game turned into a farce as Holland had Bouhlarouz and van Bronckhorst sent off while Portugal's Deco also joined the growing contingent of players watching from the sidelines!! A potentially intriguing match was destroyed by the referee and by the time the final whistle was blown, there had been 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards shown, a new record for the World Cup! Unbelievable officiating!! Portugal displayed great defensive intensity to hang on to a 1-0 win, but will surely rue the suspensions to Deco and Costinha as they face England next in the quarter finals! What a game! Loads of drama, but most of it unrelated to real footballing matters!

England must consider themselves fortunate. They are playing terribly but are in the quarter finals and will face a side without its best offensive player and a key defensive midfielder! Lady Luck seems to be smiling at them, but can they make it count by upping the quality of their own play?...

World Cup 2006: Day 16

2006-06-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Back in Nashville now! I did miss the live telecast of the Germany v Sweden game but I did arrive in time to catch the second half of the Argentina v Mexico clash. Nevertheless, let's start with the World Cup hosts.

Germany came out as firm favorites in their game against Sweden, and started game exactly like that! Slick passing and impressive movement off the ball had the Swedish defence in all kinds of trouble early. 20 year old phenom Lukas Podolski ensured that the early German pressure would not go unrewarded as he struck twice inside the first 20 minutes! A left footed blast from 25 yards being the highlight of his two strikes! Sensational finishing from the German prodigy and the hosts were up 2-0. Sweden were up against it from the beginning, but surely this was too much of a mountain for them to climb. To compound Sweden's troubles, defender Teddy Lucic was sent off in the 35th minute for his second bookable offence. The Germans controlled the rest of the game, without unnecessary fuss and finished off the game with customary efficiency. Sweden had their best chance in the 53rd minute when Henrik Larsson was unable to convert a penalty kick, but apart from that, did not largely trouble the German goal. The hosts cruise into the second round with another impressive performance and have sounded a warning to all the other title contenders with this demolition of Sweden. They will now face the winner of the second game of the day, Argentina v Mexico, in the quarter finals.

Argentina were easily the best side of the group stages, and Mexico the clear underdogs in this clash between two Latin-styled teams. Mexico were the brighter team at the start, and captain Rafael Marquez gave them a dream start when he bundled in from close range after just 5 minutes! Stunning! The Argentines trailed for the first time in this competition. However, they bounced back within 5 minutes as Hernan Crespo got on the end of a Riquelme corner and the ball ended up in the Mexico net after taking a deflection of a Mexican defender. 1-1 and only 10 minutes gone in the match! This game had classic written all over it and did not disappoint. Both teams passed the ball around nicely, though neither set of forwards were able to get clear-cut chances as the defences tightened up after the loose beginning. Argenitna brought on impressive substitutes Carlos Tevez, Pablo Aimar and teenage star Lionel Messi in the second half as the looked to push for the winning goal. Tevez had a terrific goal disallowed incorrectly for the linesman in the 85th minute, and extra time was forced. 8 minutes into the first period of extra time, Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez chested a ball down on the right edge of the penalty area and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed volley that crashed into the far corner of Mexico's goal!!! Best goal of the tournament by far!!!! The wonder strike gave Argentina the crucial edge, and they were able to hang on to it as the Mexicans were visibly disheartened by the Argentine goal. 2-1 it ended and heartbreak for a gutsy Mexican team but they were beaten by an absolute beauty of a goal and can take heart from their overall performance. Argentina will move on to face Germany in the quarterfinals in what will surely be a mouthwatering clash!! The absolutely massive games are truly underway now!

World Cup 2006: Day 15

2006-06-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

This will be my last blog entry from Ireland! It's back to the warmth and sunshine of Nashville tomorrow for me, sadly. Amidst doing some sightseeing, I still managed to catch some of the World Cup action today.

In the early games, Spain played Saudi Arabia and Ukraine took on Tunisia. As has been characteristic of play in this group, the football was of the mind-numbing variety! After a brief glimpse at some of the football being played in these games, I chose to spend my afternoon exploring Limerick city instead!! Spain fielded their entire reserve team and played a very dull game against the hapless Saudis, winning 1-0 in the end. Ukraine and Tunisia also played out a horrific game, from an entertainment standpoint, which Ukraine won 1-0 courtesy of an Andriy Shevchenko penalty. As a result, Spain comfortably topped the group and Ukraine finished second.

The last two games of the group stages represented World Cup drama at its best. France took on Togo needing at least a 2 goal win to put them into the next round, and Switzerland took on South Korea needing just a draw, but with the Koreans desperate for a win to knock out the French! The Swiss did the French a huge favor in their game, which was of course played simultaneously, by knocking home two goals from Philippe Senderos and Alex Frei to beat a very hardworking Korean side. Both sides had numerous chances to score in a very entertaining and open game, but the Swiss just managed to nick two goals halfway through either half.

The French opened strongly against Togo and created a whole host of chances. Some pathetic finishing from Ribery and Trezeguet and some inspired goalkeeping from Kossi Agassa in the Togo goal kept the score 0-0 at the break. The tension was mounting palpably amongst the French, and BBC commentato/analyst, ex-French international defender Marcel Desailly expressed his and his countrymen's frustration and nervousness at the fact that France were unable to score goals! Togo, for their part, put on a decent effort in the first half and did their best to thwart the French attacks. However, in the second half, they simply ran out of steam again! France captain Patrick Vieira swivelled beautifully in the penalty box before driving home a clinical finish to finally put the French ahead after 55 minutes. A tremendous effort from the skipper who was celebrating his 30th birthday today. 6 minutes later, it was all over as star striker Thierry Henry collected a Vieira flick-on with a superb first touch before placing the ball into the bottom right corner of the Togo net. 2-0 to the French and exactly what they had required at the start of the game! The rest of the game was a very careless affair as both teams settled for the scoreline and slowed down the tempo to almost a standstill. Switzerland go through as group leaders and France qualify in second spot, as a result.

And this completes our round of 16 matchups as Switzerland will face Ukraine next, and France faces a very talented Spain squad that will certainly test them much more than their first round opponents did!! Fantastic lineup of matches coming and it is quite unbelievable to think that 48 of the 64 World Cup games have come and gone already! I will miss the live telecast of the second round matches tomorrow since I'll be on the plane but I will catch them recorded in some form, and put up further commentary perhaps on Sunday. Cheeri-O from Ireland....

World Cup 2006: Day 15 (Special Edition)

2006-06-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

Over the past 24 hours, I've read various articles online about USA's failure to get past the group stages and all kinds of reactions to that ranging from slandering of USA coach Bruce Arena, to conspiracy theories involving George Bush, and disgust at the supposed "cheaters" in soccer (read Ghana forwards) who feign injury and manipulate referees to aid their team's cause. I'd just like to weigh in with my two cents on USA's World Cup performance as well.

Eric Wynalda has been particularly critical of Bruce Arena, his tactics, roster selection etc. and blamed him squarely for the USA's early exit from the World Cup. Admittedly, Arena didn't have the best of tournaments and especially blundered tactically against the Czechs in the first game. However, this is the same Eric Wynalda who, in a World Cup preview show about three weeks ago on ABC, predicted that USA had a good chance of making the World Cup final and even winning it!! For almost any soccer fan (excepting certain misguiding ones in America), this was clearly a case of overhype!! As I far as I can recall, only Alexi Lalas expressed that qualifying for the second round from their group would be a major success for the US.

Thanks to USA's rather remarkable run to the quarterfinals in 2002, expectations had just risen sky high for this year's tournament. Progress at the World Cup is never straightforward and we have seen several powerhouse nations drop out in the first round of the Cup, a la France in 2002! The Americans only needed to look at their roster to realize the true strength of their team. Whereas, almost all of the 23 players on the roster for the top teams like England, Spain, Brazil etc. ply their trade in one of the top professional leagues of the world. In stark contrast, almost half of the USA starting lineup and roster played in the MLS! Of course, individual players do not make a team, but it is just a case of exposure to top-level tactics and gameplay that eventually makes the difference in the World Cup. MLS players simply never encounter top-flight tactics employed by top international coaches, and rarely face the kind of quality they face at the World Cup. So, it does not make sense to expect them to world beaters, just because they happened to do so last time around!

The US has improved significantly in soccer over the last 5-7 years. There's no doubting that. However, for them to become a world power in soccer is going to take another 5-10 years of development. The MLS system needs to get better with quality management and players, and this will obviously take time to happen. The Americans cannot expect instant gratification in soccer, simply because the competition in the rest of the world is so strong. US Soccer needs to go back to the drawing board, revisit their expectations and goals for the near future, and focus on a plan that will enable them to compete on a regular basis against the likes of Italy, England, Spain and Brazil. Blaming Bruce Arena and his staff, even though they deserve a fair amount of criticism, is not going to help the US. And replacing Arena with a top coach like Guus Hiddink isn't going give them instant results either. They have 4 years in front of them now before their next shot at the World Cup, and hopefully, the next time around, we'll see a lot more US players playing for some of the top teams in Europe and/or South America. US soccer fans and the media need to clamour for the development of MLS and the young players in the US, instead of sulking and whining about the failures of 2006!

World Cup 2006: Day 14

2006-06-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

I actually had the schedule of games for today mixed up! I thought the USA game was going to be played at 8 pm Irish time, and so, went on a day tour along the western coast of Ireland! Which, by the way, is extremely beautiful and especially so, since this was the first absolutely gorgeous, sunny day of the week I've been here. Still only 18 deg C for the high though. Anyhow, as a result of my tourist adventures, I ended up missing all the drama of the USA v Ghana game and had to rely on just highlights to get a flavor for it!

With a win absolutely necessary for their survival, the Americans started well against Ghana but went down 1-0 in the 22nd minute when USA captain Claudio Reyna made an uncharacteristic error, losing the ball in his own half. Good finish from the Ghanian forward nevertheless. The USA came back strongly and equalised in the 41st minute when Clint Dempsey thumped the ball home from close range after a neat buildup down the left flank involving the much-maligned DaMarcus Beasley! 1-1 and there appeared hope for the US! However, a dubious penalty decision on the stroke of halftime for a foul by Oguchi Onyewu gave Ghana the perfect chance to ahead again before the break. They did that emphatically. In the second half, Ghana were content to play on the break, and the USA pressed forward in search of more goals. They came close several times, especially when Brian McBride hit the post with a firm header, but were unable to breach the Ghana goal. A good performance from the Ghanian keeper also ensured that the scoreline remained 2-1 in favor of the Africans. The USA were knocked out of the Cup, and they can blame only themselves for putting on a terrible showing in their first game against the Czechs! In a group this tight, they knew every game would be crucial and yet, failed to even put on a spirited display against the Czechs. Recovering from that blow was always going to be hard, and though the Americans improved their performance tremendously in their next two games, they were simply unable to catch up the ground lost. The Ghanians now waited with bated breath for the result of the simultaneously-played Italy v Czech Republic game.

The heavily bruised Czechs started star striker Milan Baros against Italy, despite questions over his fitness. It didn't matter in the end, as the impressive Italians dominated the game for large portions, and ran out comfortable victors 2-0. The goals came from defender Marco Materazzi in the first half and substitute forward Pippo Inzaghi 4 minutes from the final whistle. A sad end to a tournament that began so well for the Czechs that some people expected them to reach the final! Unfortunately, they'll now have to watch the final on TV!! The Italians progressed to the next round as group leaders, and avoided a certain clash with Brazil, while Ghana went through in second place after winning their last two group games!

The night games, I was able to watch, and what sensational games they were! Brazil rested a number of key players in their final game against Japan, and yet their starting lineup boasted Ronaldo, Robinho, Juninho, Kaka and Ronaldinho! Unbelievable depth! The game started well, with both sides able to pass the ball around nicely. Brazil found their rhythm early on and tested Japanese keeper Kawaguchi several times in the first 20 minutes. Kawaguchi seemed to be in inspired form as he repelled shots from Robinho, Juninho et al. Shockingly, it was Japan that took the lead on 34 minutes! Keiji Tamada slammed home an impressive left-footer after being played through by Alex. Japan's Brazilian coach Zico could barely hide his delight on the touchline, and the world champions now had to come from a goal down for the first time in 5 World Cup games! They did so in typical Samba style, however! "Fat" Ronaldo got his World Cup tally off the mark just before halftime when he nodded home from close range after a terrific setup from Ronaldinho and Cicinho. 1-1 was still a scoreline that the Japanese would have loved to take home, but the mighty Brazilians came out strongly in the second half and took the lead on 53 minutes. The excellent Kawaguchi made a terrible blunder and let Juninho's long range effort go straight through his hands and into the goal! From then on, it was total domination from Brazil as they kept the ball with considerable ease and attacked the Japanese goal at will. Ronaldo missed a glorious chance after a sensational one-two with Ronaldinho but made amends for it by driving home in the 81st minute after another one-two, this time with defender Juan! In between, leftback Gilberto got his first ever goal for the Selecao when he finished sweetly after a delightful throughball from Ronaldinho. 4-1 it ended for the world champions, and "fat" Ronaldo equalled Gerd Muller's record of 14 World Cup goals! As every match goes on, the Selecao just seem to get a little bit better! The other teams better beware!

Australia v Croatia started out with Croatia needing a win and Australia a draw to progress. The Croatians struck first in just the 2nd minute when Darijo Srna curled home a superb free kick. Australia fought back and won a penalty when Croatian defender Tomas inexplicably handled the ball in the penalty box (this seems to be a recurring theme at this World Cup for some crazy reason!). 34 year old defender Craig Moore stepped up and calmly scored the penalty for the Socceroos. It was 1-1 at the break, and Croatia pressed forward again at the beginning of the second half. Another goalkeeping blunder, this time by Aussie reserve keeper Kalac, gifted Croatia the lead. He completely muffed a long range shot from Croatian skipper Niko Kovac! The gutsy Aussies fought back again, and managed to tie the game with 11 minutes to go when Harry Kewell netted from close range after some chaos in the Croatian penalty box. Then came some utterly farcical scenes. Referee Graham Poll showed Croatia's Josip Simunic his second yellow card, but failed to realise that it was indeed his second booking! So the defender played on!! Amazingly, Simunic then earned himself a third yellow card in the game in the dying minutes of the match, and this time referee Poll did show him the red card and sent him off!!! Totally nuts, but the game ended 2-2 and Australia made it to the second round for the first time in their history!!

4 more teams qualified for the round of 16 today amidst high drama. Australia will face Italy next, and the World Champions Brazil take on African flagbearers Ghana in what will surely be a fascinating clash of styles. Speed and power against skill and flair. Only 4 more spots remain in the round of 16, and powerhouse nations France and Spain will seek to book their places in that round tomorrow....

World Cup 2006: Day 13

2006-06-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today was the last official day of the conference I am attending in Ireland! So, from this evening on, I could totally concentrate on FOOTBALL!! Haha! 4 teams had already booked their matches in the round of 16 yesterday and 4 more intended to do so today.

In the first set of games today, Mexico played Portugal for the top spot in Group C, and Iran played Angola for the bottom spot! Portugal rested all 5 of their players on a yellow card as a precaution for this game, including star players Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo and skipper Pauleta. A brave move by Big Phil Scolari but then again, Portugal only needed a draw to top the group. Mexico also made a couple of changes, but by and large, fielded their strongest possible lineup. The Portuguese stormed out of the gates in the first half and scored within the first 5 minutes when Maniche drove home from the edge of the box. Then, Mexico skipper Rafa Marquez inexplicably handled the ball in the penalty box, and Simao extended Portugal's lead. It was a pretty dire situation for the Mexicans who could hardly put any pressure on the Portuguese goal. However, they pulled one back just on the half hour mark when Kinkin Fonseca glanced home a Pavel Pardo corner. 2-1 at the break and Mexico were back in it, even though they barely deserved it! In the second half, Mexico came out strongly and played much better than in the first half. They were given a dubious penalty decision when Miguel inadvertently handled the ball in his penalty box. Omar Bravo stepped up to take the penalty and blasted the kick high and wide of the goal! Terrible attempt, and perhaps poetic justice for the hard-luck Miguel, who was substitute shortly afterwards. The Mexicans then had Luis Perez sent off for diving (a second bookable offence!), and denied another legitimate penalty shout. They began to put plenty of pressure on Portugal despite being a man down, and Scolari's frustration at his side's poor play was evident on the touch line. Try as they did, the game Mexicans could not level the game, and were now left hoping that Angola did not beat Iran by two goals! Otherwise, the Africans would go through and the Mexicans would be headed home!

Angola, though, hardly looked dangerous against Iran in the first half of their match. The Iranians clearly dominated the game, and created many chances that were wasted by the profligacy of their strikers, Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian. 0-0 at the break, and the game grew more open in the second half as both teams ventured forward a little more. Angola took the shock lead in the 51st minute when Flavio timed a sweet header into the Iranian goal after a quick Angolan counterattack down the right flank! They were now 1 goal away from the second round! However, the Iranians finally managed to convert their midfield dominance into a goal when defender Bakhtiarizadeh headed home from a corner kick. 1-1 it ended and the plucky Angolans were out of the tournament, though in fairness, they probably didn't deserve to make it through to the next round anyway! A huge disappointment from Iran, not being able to win this game at least, and their talismanic captain and topscorer Ali Daei will now retire from international football as the leading all-time international goalscorer but with zero World Cup goals against his name!

The late fixtures saw Argentina v Holland and Ivory Coast v Serbia & Montenegro. Ivory Coast were forced to play their final game without suspended striker and captain Didier Drogba, while Serbia were playing to restore some of their pride after being shellacked 6-0 by Argentina in their previous game. The Ivorians got off to their third disastrous start in a row, and found themselves 2-0 down within the first 20 minutes as Nicola Zigic and Sasa Ilic scored after silly mistakes by the Ivorian defenders. In between the two goals, Ivory Coast missed a great opportunity to level the game as Keita hit the bar and Kanga Akale missed from close range. However, the most comical handball of all time by Milan Dudic gave the Africans a chance to cut the lead in half, and Aruna Dindane promptly did so, although he had to retake his penalty kick once for encroachment. Then, just before halftime, Serbian midfielder Nadj was sent off for his second yellow card of the game and the momentum swung heavily in Ivory Coast's favor. The Serbs came out determined to defend their one goal lead in the second half, but could only hang on for about 20 minutes before Ivorian hero Dindane struck a header home from a cross. 2-2 with still 25 minutes left! The Africans laid siege to the Serbian goal and their efforts paid off as Dudic handled the ball a second time inside the penalty box!!! Absolutely shocking, and somehow he managed to stay on the field after that!! Kalou scored from the spot to seal a well-deserved win for the Africans. The pathetic Serbs go home winless, pointless, and with a goal difference of -8! Unbelievable, for a team that was unbeaten in qualifying and let in only 1 goal in 10 matches. Until it all fell apart!

Argentina v Holland was supposed to be the flair match of the tournament so far. However, both coaches sensibly opted to rest most of their stars in a largely pointless match. Argentine youngster Lionel Messi got the start along with Carlos Tevez in attack, and the Dutch brought in Dirk Kuijt to replace Chelsea winger Arjen Robben. The game was played at a high technical level, but both defences put up superb displays to nullify each other's creative attacks. Argentina, it could be argued, had the better of the first half while the Dutch pressed forward more in the second half. Nevertheless, both goalkeepers were hardly put to work and the game ended 0-0. Certainly not the exciting feast of football that had been expected, but it was dull either. It was great to see two top offensive teams put up sterling efforts defensively. One of these two teams is going to be in the semifinals if not the final!

So, 2 more second round matchups were decided today. Mexico will play Argentina and Holland will take on Portugal. However you look at it, these are both mouth-watering matches and should provide some excellent entertainment this coming weekend! Tomorrow and Friday, I am off to do some touristy stuff here in Ireland so I should have plenty of time to put in my regular blog entries. Cheers....

World Cup 2006: Day 12

2006-06-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today was the day of my presentation at the conference in Ireland! So, for the first time in about two weeks, I was forced to think and talk about science for an extended period of time!! ;-) It went well nevertheless. It was also the first day of the final round of group games at the World Cup.

Group A had already been pretty much decided before the start of play today, with Poland and Costa Rica booking early flights home. Those two sides would meet each other, in a game with only professional pride at stake. This meaningless game began with quite a few chances being created by both sides. Paulo Wanchope and Ronald Gomez looked dangerous for Los Ticos, and Zurawski likewise for the Poles. It was the Costa Ricans that struck first when Gomez drove home a free-kick from about 25 yards out! A shock 1-0 lead for the CONCACAF minnows! However, the lead barely lasted 10 minutes as Polish defender Bosacki levelled matters off another set-piece. It was his first ever goal for Poland! There was more in store for him as Bosacki finished off a Polish corner in the second half to give Poland the lead! Sadly, the Ticos didn't really manage any other good chances to get their first point of the tournament and the game ended 2-1 to the Poles. Costa Rica went pointless through the tournament, after promising so much on the opening day when they scared hosts Germany by scoring twice! A disappointing tournament for the Poles overall as well, although they were mightily unlucky to have conceded the late goal to Germany in their second game.

Germany and Ecuador fought it out for the top spot of the Group at the same time as the first game. Ecuador made 5 changes to their lineup, as they rested most of their key players for the second round, and essentially handed this game on a platter to the Germans. The Germans still had to score to win though, and Miroslav Klose scored right at the beginning and at the end of the first half to put the hosts comfortably ahead 2-0. Klose is now the topscorer in the competition with 4 goals so far, 1 ahead of Spain's Fernando Torres. The Ecuadoreans seemed to lose their fight almost totally in the second half, and the Germans got their young striker Lukas Podolski on the scoresheet as well, as they wrapped up a comprehensive 3-0 win! Germany qualify at the top of Group A with Ecuador in second spot. They would play the second-placed team and group leaders of Group B respectively.

The Group B teams played their final group games later, as England took on Sweden and Paraguay v T & T, again simultaneously. T & T needed to win their game and hope for a Sweden loss to qualify for the second round. A little bit of a tall order, but then again, the Caribbeans had defied all the odds so far! Paraguay, though, were in no mood to surrender as they looked to salvage some pride from a rather disappointing World Cup. They lost both their previous games 1-0, and came out motivated in this match. T & T defender Sancho was rather unlucky for putting the ball past his own keeper in the first half, giving Paraguay a deserved one goal lead at halftime. It was more pressure from Paraguay in the second half and they made it count by scoring a vital second goal, and sealing the result. A disappointing end for a T & T side that displayed plenty of guts and determination, but just never had the quality to score goals against top opposition.

England took on Sweden knowing that they only needed a draw to top the group and avoid playing Germany in the second round. The English started star striking combination Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen against the Swedes, but this pairing lasted just 50 seconds, as Owen went off after apparently twisting his knee badly. The extent of the injury is currently unknown but it looked serious enough for him to miss a few games if not the rest of the tournament!! A huge blow for England, and they brought on beanpole striker Peter Crouch to replace Owen. England completely dominated the first half against the Swedes, but found it hard to score until Chelsea winger Joe Cole unleashed an unstoppable volley from 30 yards that landed in the top left hand corner of the Sweden goal!!! Absolutely stunning strike, and possibly the goal of the tournament so far!! 1-0 England at halftime, and the Swedes hardly had a sniff at the England goal. That all changed in the second half, as Sweden came out strong and Marcus Allback scored the equaliser with a deft glancing header from a Tobias Linderoth corner kick. 1-1! The England defence had gone to sleep for that one and all of a sudden Sweden had equalised. They piled on the pressure on the England goal and struck the woodwork twice more from set-pieces and had shots cleared off the line as well!! England's defence was looking shambolic, and they were barely hanging on to the draw. Eriksson then replaced a tiring Rooney with Steven Gerrard, and the Liverpool skipper promptly popped up in the Sweden penalty to box to head home a nice cross from Joe Cole in the 85th minute! Just as it looked like England might finally beat Sweden after 38 years, some more shambolic defending by the English off a long throw-in allowed Sweden to nip in a 90th minute equaliser!!! 2-2 it ended, with Sweden saving their last two games with desperate goals in the final minute! Unbelievable!

Anyway, the round of 16 matchups will now see Germany v Sweden, and England v Ecuador! Tomorrow's highlight games will surely be Argentina v Holland and Mexico v Portugal as these powerhouse teams seek to seal their passage to the second round as group leaders! Another intriguing day of football awaits.......

World Cup 2006: Day 11

2006-06-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a last game yesterday!! Let's start with France v South Korea since I missed that game yesterday. The French came out with an impressive first half display against the hapless Koreans, and Thierry Henry gave them a deserved early lead in the 8th minute. Patrick Vieira should have made it 2-0 when his header seemed to cross the goalline. However, the referee blew for an infringement and the goal was disallowed. Even though they only managed the one goal, France dominated the game thoroughly and Korea barely created a noteworthy chance. The second half, though, was a different story. Dick Advocaat made some tactical and personnel changes for the Koreans, including the introduction of talismanic striker Ahn Jung Hwan, and the Koreans seemed to grow in confidence as the second half wore on. The French were still mostly in control but seemed to take their foot off the pedal just a little bit. With 10 minutes remaining, catastrophe struck the French and a sweet Korean move down the right hand side led to a header across the box from Cho Jae Jin, and Park Ji Sung stole in at the far post to draw Korea level!!! An absolute shocker for the French who seemed destined for the win for the most part of the game. In the end, though, they were fortunate to leave with a point as the Koreans pressed hard for the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game, and came close through Ahn. 1-1 it ended and the French now have a massive task ahead of them if they want to make it to the second round. They have to thrash Togo and hope for other results to go their way! Unbelievable!

The first game today was Switzerland v Togo and most people had labeled this as one of the more boring matches of this tournament. Contrary to expectations, the two nations served up one of the most entertaining first halves of the competition so far. Togo came out very strongly, although the Swiss took the lead when Alexander Frei finished off a neat cross from the right. Togo's star striker Emmanuel Adebayor then had two excellent shouts for a penalty turned down by the referee, and his fellow countrymen missed a host of great chances to draw level. The Swiss keeper also made a number of terrific stops to keep the scoreline in favor of his team. In the second half, the hardworking Togolese began to tire visibly, and the Swiss slowly gained the upper hand. They finished the game off when Tranquillo Barnetta rifled home a superb shot from the edge of the box to make it 2-0. Hard luck for the Togolese, especially since the game could have gone their way had they got either of their penalty claims awarded by the referee. Perhaps, the refs were siding a little bit with the more established teams, especially considering the refereeing in the USA v Italy game as well!

Next, it was Ukraine v Saudi Arabia. The Saudis had pulled off a surprising draw in their first game with Tunisia, and I expected them to come out with energy to try to get something out of this game. However, what transpired was a totally dominant performance from a Ukrainian side that looked completely transformed from their first game thrashing at the hands of Spain! The Ukrainians scored as early as the 4th minute and then bulged the net at constant intervals. This one ending 4-0 in their favor, and never really was a contest! The only remarkable fact was Ukraine captain and new Chelsea recruit Andriy Shevchenko finally got his first ever World Cup goal! I feel there will be more to come from him.

The final match of the day saw Spain take on Tunisia in the last game of the second round of group games. Tunisia badly needed at least a point from this game after missing out on all 3 points against the Saudis, and came out in a defensive 4-5-1 formation. Spain retained the same XI that comprehensively beat Ukraine in their first match. Shockingly, Tunisia took the lead in just the 8th minute when Mnari bundled his own rebound past Spain keeper Iker Casillas! Spain had been caught napping at the back, and Tunisia scored! Unsurprisingly, the Africans then set out their stall to protect their lead for the rest of the game. Always a dangerous tactic, and especially so when there are 80 minutes remaining on the clock and you are playing against a good team like Spain. However, the Tunisians were very organized and hardworking and managed to stay ahead going into halftime. Spain dominated possession, as expected, and even created a few good chances but were just unable to score. After halftime, Spain coach Luis Aragones brought on subs Raul, Cesc Fabregas and Joaquin, and the introduction of these three players improved Spain's play tremendously. 18 year old Fabregas was particularly impressive playing in the center of midfield, and he was at the heart of all of Spain's dangerous attacks. It took the Spanish till the 70th minute to break through, when Raul bundled the ball over after the Tunisian keeper had palmed away Fabregas' low drive. Just 5 minutes later, Fernando Torres took advantage of some very dodgy positioning from the Tunisian keeper Boumnijel to tuck home Spain's second goal! Tunisia now had to chase the game, and left all kinds of space open at the back for Torres and Raul, who created chances at will now. Torres won a late penalty in the 90th minute and picked himself up to score the spotkick that sealed Spain's comeback win. 3-1 it ended, with Spain particularly impressive in the second half. Fernando Torres is now the leading goalscorer in the tournament!!

The absolutely critical Round 3 of the group stages begins tomorrow with the key matches of the day being Germany v Ecuador and Sweden v England! Woohoo! The knockout stages are almost here and the excitement is building up!!!

World Cup 2006: Day 10

2006-06-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Shannon, Ireland this morning after a Delta flight from Atlanta that seemed to suffer every possible delay on its journey, from hydraulic leaks to mechanical problems to lost luggage to unavailable gates! Finally, though, I got here with some time to spare before the first game of the day kicked off at 2 pm IST (no that is NOT Indian Standard Time! It is Irish Standard TIme) I was able to find myself a nice sports bar near the University of Limerick, and had lunch and a nice complement of Guinnes draught to wash it down!

Japan v Croatia was the first game of the day, and both teams had lost their first games against Australia and Brazil respectively. So, both sides came out with purpose and played some good football especially in the middle of the park. Japan had a slight edge in possession but Croatia had the better chances, but neither side was able to score as the first half ended 0-0. It was more tense stuff in the second half, as both coaches threw on extra strikers to help their respective teams score a goal. Japan's Atsushi Yanagisawa was guilty of missing the best chance of the match, arguably, as he shot well wide after being found wide open in the six-yard box! Croatia hit the woodwork a couple of times, and even won a dubious penalty kick, which the Japanese keeper Kawaguchi saved brilliantly! Entertaining football, but both sides sorely lacked a goalscorer as some of the finishing was simply atrocious. 0-0 it ended and both teams will still harbor some hope of making it to the next round!

Brazil was up next against Australia, who had recorded their first ever World Cup win in their last game against Japan. Brazil, looking to stretch their 8 match winning streak in the World Cup, started the same lineup as in their first game. All eyes were on "fat" Ronaldo as the game began, and he looked considerably more mobile than in his previous outing. Australia played with just Mark Viduka as a lone striker as they tried to play for a draw. Ronaldo missed a couple of good opportunities to score as the half ended 0-0. That changed in the 49th minute as Ronaldo teased the Australian defence before setting up strike partner Adriano, who rifled home a clinical strike from the edge of the box!! 1-0 Brazil and an assist to "fatty"! The game opened up significantly after the first goal as the Aussies pushed forward more. Ronaldo eventually came off after 72 minutes and was replaced by Robinho, who put on yet another effervescent performance. Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka had terrific opportunities to level the score as Brazil's defence, goalkeeper Dida in particular, showing signs of vulnerability. However, Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira replaced goalscorer Adriano with Lyon striker Fred with 5 minutes to go, and the substitute promptly repaid his coach's faith by scoring the gamewinner! Cafu struck his fierce shot against the upright and Fred was in the right spot at the right time to mop up the rebound with Aussie keeper Mark Schwarzer totally out of position after the inital shot. 2-0 it ended to Brazil and the scoreline was probably a little bit harsh on the Aussies who fought hard but just didn't have quality in front of goal to make Brazil pay for their mistakes.

France v South Korea is the third match of the day at 8 pm IST, but I am a little bit tired with jet lag and all. So, I am going to give the game a miss unfortunately. Hopefully, I will be able to catch a game or two from tomorrow through Wednesday in between having to attend the conference talks (and actually give one too!). Until then, cheers from the land of Guinness!

World Cup 2006: Day 9

2006-06-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
As reported earlier, I am now in Limerick City, Ireland. Let me first comment on the events that transpired yesterday, since I missed my regular blog entry, courtesy of Delta Airlines and their shoddy scheduling!

The first game of Day 9 featured Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal against Iran. Iran needed at least a draw to remain alive in the competition and set their stall out to defend from the very beginning. Portugal began sluggishly and hardly threatened the Iranian goalkeeper except for a sharp volley by Deco that was brilliantly tipped over the bar. Iran looked dangerous on the counterattack themselves, and managed to create a few openings for Vahid Hashemian, in particular, though they were unable to score the vital goal. After the break, Portugal upped the tempo and found the back of the net, courtesy of a superb curling effort from playmaker Deco that gave the Iranian keeper no chance! 1-0 Portugal, and Iran was forced to come out of its shell and attack the game now. The match became end-to-end stuff quite literally, and Iranian substitute Khatibi missed two glorious chances to level the game for the Asians. He would come to rue these missed opportunities, as Portugal was awarded a soft penalty kick after Cristiano Ronaldo went down in the box. He recovered to take the penalty and made no mistake from the spot. The second goal knocked the wind out of the gutsy Iranians and they never recovered from the blow. Portugal could have increased their lead late in the game, but 2-0 was a harsh enough scoreline for a game that was rather more tightly contested.

Ghana took on the Czech Republic next, needing some points to show for their efforts. The Africans had played well but still lost to the Italians in the first game. The Czechs were coming off an impressive demolition of USA and were looking to play themselves into the second round. The Ghanians came out firing on all cylinders and took a shock lead 2 minutes into the game when Asamoah Gyan clinically finished off a swift Ghana attack! Down 1-0 the Czechs tried to exert more influence on the game but were unable to overcome a strong Ghana midfield anchored by Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah. The referee again played an important part in this game as the Czechs were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, and conceded a penalty kick to boot! Petr Cech saved the resultant penalty but Ghana increased their lead shortly after, as they made their man advantage pay. The Czechs tried to cut the deficit in half and went close on several occasions, but never managed to stick the ball in the back of the net. They certainly missed the presence of Jan Koller and Milan Baros up front! 2-0 Ghana it ended, and the shock win for the Africans kept US hopes of making it to the next round alive.

They were up next against Italy, and sadly, I had to be flying from Nashville to Atlanta during the first half! So I missed what turned out to be a scintillating first half display by the previously sluggish Americans. In another game dominated by the man in black, one player each from Italy and Ghana was dismissed in the first half and both teams managed one goal apiece as well. 1-1 at halftime, and this is where I resumed watching live action from a overcrowded bar at the Atlanta airport! Just after the restart, the refereeing farce continued as Eddie Pope (USA) was sent off for a second bookable offence. 10 v 9 now! Incredible, especially for a World Cup game, to see 3 players sent off within 50 minutes of a game! The game itself was immensely entertaining. USA pushed forward in the first part of the second half in search of the crucial second goal, and thought they had it when substitute Beasley put the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out for offside. The Italians then realized their man advantage and Alex Del Piero and Vincenzo Iaquinta came desperately close to giving the Azzurri the lead. Only the heroics of USA keeper Kasey Keller kept the Italians at bay and the USA was able to cling on for the draw and 1 absolutely crucial point!

This group is now fascinatingly poised going into the last round of group games. Italy has 4 points, the Czechs and Ghana 3 apiece and USA 1. USA takes on Ghana and Czech Republic plays Italy in the final round, with the Italians only needing a point to secure qualification. The Czechs, regardless of what they do against Italy, need USA to beat Ghana. Otherwise, they would be out! The USA also obviously needs to beat Ghana (and well too) and needs the Czechs to lose to the Italians. Obviously, Italy and Ghana are well-poised at this stage, but anything could still happen in this group, and we will find out for sure on Thursday!

World Cup 2006: Day 8

2006-06-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

What a day of soccer it promised to be!! 2 games from the group of death and Mexico v Angola. I was totally pumped up to see all three games in the day. Argentina were the first to play, taking on Serbia & Montenegro who were fortunate to lose by just 1-0 against Holland in their first match. This time though, there proved to be no reprieve. Maxi Rodriguez put the Argentines ahead after just 8 minutes off a nice pass from Saviola, and then it was all Argentina! The Serbians seemed to have forgotten how to play as a team, and Argentina put on a footballing clinic as they strung together 12-14 passes in a row before a clever backheel by Crespo released Esteban Cambiasso to rifle a left footed shot into the net! Absolutely breathtaking team football, and by far, the best team goal of the tournament so far. The pathetic Serbs were then put deeper into misery as Rodriguez scored his second just before halftime as Saviola easily dispossessed Krstajic deep in his own half! 3-0 at halftime and the Serbians didn't look like they had the fight in them. It only got worse in the second half as Kezman was sent off for a terrible two-footed tackle on Rodriguez. The Argentines brought on Carlos Tevez and 18 year old boy wonder Lionel Messi in the second half, and they promptly inflated the scoreline further. Messi setting up Crespo for a simple tap-in, Tevez nutmegging two defenders on his way to a superb solo goal and Messi wrapping up the scoring feast with a sublime finish late on. 6-0 it ended and the Serbians were nothing short of an embarrassment on the soccer field. They totally gave up on the game and might as well have left the field in the second half, as the commentators duly suggested. Excellent display for Argentina on the other hand, and their only worry must be whether they have peaked too early in this competition!

So, it was up to Ivory Coast to salvage the Group of Death from becoming the Group of Thrashings. They faced Holland needing at least a point to keep their hopes of moving on to the second round alive. Holland started the brighter of the two sides and were up 2-0 within the half hour, as van Persie unleashed an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner and van Nistelrooy clinically finished off a beautiful through ball by Arjen Robben. Thankfully, in this game, the Ivorians woke up from their slumber and put on a brave fight. Bakary Kone pulled one back for the Africans with a superb solo goal just before halftime. The Africans pressed on hard in the second half and created a number of chances but were unable to increase their goal tally. Holland, surprisingly, went into a shell and were content just to sit on their one goal lead. 2-1 it ended with the gutsy Ivorians left to rue a bunch of wasted opportunities. Hard luck for them but at least they gave a good account of themselves and made for a very entertaining and watchable contest.

Mexico could virtually assure themselves of a spot in the second round if they beat minnows Angola in their second match. However, they would have to play the game without their leading goalscorer Jared Borgetti, who was out with a hamstring injury. Angola, coming off a determined defensive effort against mighty Portugal, looked for more of the same hardworking, defensive style against the favorites Mexico. In a rather dull and disappointing game, the Mexicans struggled to break down the stubborn Angolans and Omar Bravo squandered a golden chance when left one-on-one with the Angolan keeper after a terrible mistake in the Angolan defence. Rafael Marquez then had his long range effort superbly saved by keeper Joao Ricardo, and the Angolans hung on desperately even after having Andre sent off with 10 minutes to go for a second bookable offence. 0-0 it ended in one of the biggest upsets of this World Cup so far!! Mexico might yet come to rue this result especially if they falter against a strong Portuguese side. The Angolans will meanwhile enjoy their first ever World Cup point and will have a chance at making the second round even, if they can beat Iran in their final match!! Unbelievable!!

Well, folks, I am flying out to Ireland tomorrow so I will not post an entry tomorrow. It should be a great day of soccer and I am sorely disappointed at having to miss Czech Republic v Ghana and USA v Italy. Hopefully, I'll be back in front of a telly on Sunday and be able to post some comments as well. Enjoy the games....

World Cup 2006: Day 7

2006-06-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Day 7 was the first full-fledged day of the second round of group games at the World Cup. Teams like Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden and Paraguay were all fighting to stay alive in their respective groups, while Ecuador and England were looking to seal berths in the second round of the competition. Ecuador was first up, facing a Costa Rican side that earned plaudits from many neutral observers despite letting in 4 goals against Germany in the opening game. However, today was a different story. Los Ticos were hardly able to get a foothold in the game, when Carlos Tenorio came up with yet another bullet header to put Ecuador up 1-0 inside the first 10 minutes. Ecuador proceeded to completely dominate the first half, and Costa Rica hardly had a sniff at goal. The Ticos came out with a little more attacking intent in the second half and created a couple of chances, but Agustin Delgado effectively ended the match as a contest when he rifled home a volley to make it 2-0 8 minutes after half-time. Symmetry indeed! Ivan Kaviedes made it 3-0 in the last minute, and Ecuador recorded their second win comfortably, putting them into the second round for the first time in their history! They will play Germany next in a game that will decide who goes through as the group leader.

The much anticipated clash between England and their former colony T&T was up next, with the newspapers reporting that Wayne Rooney was declared match fit by the doctors and would likely play some part in this game. The game got off to a sluggish start as T&T set out their stall to try and repeat the 0-0 draw they miraculously achieved against the Swedes. Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch both had chances, which they promptly wasted, to put England ahead. On the stroke of halftime, England needed the acrobatic intervention of John Terry on the goalline to keep the scores level as Stern John bullied his way through a box to meet a Dwight Yorke cross. England came out a little more aggressively in the second half, but still could not break through a stubborn T&T defence. It was particularly refreshing to see Sven-Goran Erikkson bring on attacking subs like Wayne Rooney, Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing, as England sought the goal that would put them through to the next round. The substitutions worked as England were much more dangerous, especially with Lennon and Downing on the flanks, and more chances were squandered by Chelsea star Frank Lampard. T&T seemed to be holding out for another famous 0-0 draw when beanpole striker Peter Crouch rose high to head home a David Beckham cross! 1-0 England in the 83rd minute. T&T tried to push forward in search of an equaliser but it was England who struck in the final minute, as Steven Gerrard showed Lampard how it is done, striking a sweet left footed shot into the top corner of Shaka Hislop's net. 2-0 it finished, and a fair result for the English who dominated possession and created numerous chances. They must be worried with the finishing, however, with Michael Owen looking particularly average. Nevertheless, they can face Sweden now needing only a draw to go through as group leaders!

Sweden and Paraguay met in the final match of the day with both sides desperate for a win to keep their hopes of progressing alive. Sweden showed a much more determined effort this time around, though they were unable to seriously threaten the Paraguayan goal, while Paraguay played with their typical feisty approach. After a rather poor first half with no real chances for either side, Sweden created a couple of fantastic chances that were squandered by Marcus Allback in particular. The linesman also denied Allback a clear run at goal with an erroneous offside decision. Sweden piled on the pressure, and it paid off eventually in the 89th minute as Freddie Ljungberg sneaked in at the far post to head home a Allback cross. The gutsy Paraguayans were visibly deflated, and Sweden was able to kill the rest of the time by playing the ball into the corner flag area. 1-0 to Sweden, and that ends Paraguay chances of qualifying for the second round. They will now play T&T in a game where the Caribbeans will actually have a chance to qualify for the second round, if they win and Sweden lose to England. It is intriguingly poised indeed!

The knockout games have effectively arrived now, and the excitement and tension quite palpable as teams fight for their World Cup lives! Tomorrow, Ivory Coast and Serbia & Montenegro will fight for their chance to remain in the World Cup in the infamous Group of Death! Can't wait.....

World Cup 2006: Day 6

2006-06-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

First game of the day today was supposed to be the best contest with Spain taking on debutants Ukraine. Though this game was billed as essentially the clash between the top two teams in this group, Spain seemed to be in total control right from the kickoff and struck first through a Xabi Alonso headed goal. Just 3 minutes later, it was 2-0 as David Villa's free kick took a cruel deflection off a Ukrainian defender which wrongfooted the goalkeeper. Ukraine seemed to have no ideas whatsoever going forward and Spain looked dangerous every time they had the ball. To compound Ukraine's woes, the referee inexplicably sent off Ukraine defender Vashchuk and awarded Spain a penalty kick for an innocuous challenge on Villa on a through ball. They could barely play with Spain with 11 men let alone 10! Terrible officiating! Villa recovered to score from the penalty spot, and Fernando Torres sealed an emphatic win for the Spaniards by netting a superb fourth goal. The worst thrashing of this World Cup so far, though the referee played a huge part in it and the Saudis were yet to take the field!

Saudi Arabia v Tunisia was labeled as the yawner of this tournament. Neither team had won in 15 previous World Cup attempts. Predictably, the African champions took the lead off an acrobatic finish from Ziad Jaziri after 25 minutes. However, the Saudis weren't playing particularly poorly. In fact, they dominated possession without ever really threatening the Tunisian goal. That all changed in the second half, as the Saudis built up momentum and finally broke through and equalized through Yasser al Kahtani. They grew more and more confident as the half wore on, and late substitute Sami al Jaber gave them the lead just 90 seconds after coming onto the field! Surely the Asian champions would pull of a surprise win! Radhi Jaidi had different ideas, though, and netted a bullet header of Jaziri's cross in the 91st minute to tie the game 2-2. A pulsating draw from two teams hardly expected to make a splash at this World Cup!

So, at the end of the first round of games at the 2006 World Cup, the United States team is in 31st place, below the much maligned Saudis but above the severely overrated Ukrainians. The 4 Asian teams scored a total of 4 points, an effort which was matched by the 4 CONCACAF teams. The Africans, however, were disappointing and could only manage a solitary point (Tunisia). As expected, the Europeans and South Americans have dominated proceedings so far, with all the major soccer powerhouses, Brazil, Argentina, England, Holland, Germany, Portugal and Spain all recording wins in their first game.

The hosts Germany took on Poland in their second game of the tournament in the day's final match. Poland put on a much more determined effort than against Ecuador, and the Germans had some trouble putting the ball into the back of the net in the first half with Podolski and Klose missing good chances to put the hosts ahead. The Polish defence, and goalkeeper Artur Boruc in particular, played heroically in keeping out wave after wave of German attacks. Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann threw on youngster David Odonkor and veteran striker Oliver Neuville midway through the second half, and the pair combined superbly to score a dramatic winner in the 91st minute! Klose and Ballack had both hit the woodwork just seconds earlier, and it had seemed like the game was destined to end in a draw. But somehow, Poland managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!! The Poles are now out of the tournament and will play their meaningless last game against potential first round dropouts Costa Rica.

What an unbelievable day with two out of three games being decided in the final seconds of the game. None of them helped me, unfortunately, as I ended the day slipping drastically in my online betting standings having predicted the outcomes of all three games today wrong! Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day for me and my predictions. Come on England.......

World Cup 2006: Day 5

2006-06-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

The highlight of Day 5 was supposed to be defending champion Brazil's opening game against Croatia, but the day started with Korea taking on debutant Togo aiming to record their first World Cup win on foreign soil. After a disappointing start to the World Cup for Asia (2 losses out of 2), I was hoping for Korea to salvage some pride for my continent! However, it was the Africans who shocked the 2002 semi-finalists by taking the lead against the run of play midway through the first half. Togo certainly did not look like a team in disarray, considering all the drama concerning their manager and his pay packet. Korea threw on 2002 hero Ahn Jung Hwan from the start of the second half and began to dominate play. The equaliser came from a superb free kick after the Togo captain was sent off for a second bookable offence. Ahn then came up with a brilliant strike from 30 yards to seal a fairytale ending for the Koreans and send 2 million Korean fans into the streets of Seoul!

France took on Switzerland in the second game of the day, and this was supposed to be the game where the French showed whether they would be world-beaters or also-rans. Interestingly, Marseille midfielder Franck Ribery started for the French who opted for an unusual 4-5-1 formation. The result was a SNOOZE-FEST!!! Hardly any chances of note created by either side throughout the game, except for a brief flurry at the end of the game. The only notable event was the introduction of Vikash Dhorasoo (France), the first player of Indian descent to ever play in a World Cup, in the 80th minute. He even had a good long range shot that didn't miss by much! 0-0 it ended, and the last goal for France in the World Cup still remains Emmanuel Petit's goal in the 1998 final at Paris!

Finally, Brazil played Croatia in the late game today, and the world finally got to see the dazzling quartet of Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka and Ronaldo play together in the World Cup for the first time! Brazil played well within themselves (Ronaldo even more so than the rest) but still easily dominated the Croats and had numerous shot attempts on goal in the first half. It wasn't until the 44th minute, though, that they found the back of the net when Kaka collected the ball outside the box and placed a left footed shot perfectly into the right hand corner of the Croatian net! 1-0 Brazil on the stroke of halftime. Ronaldo almost didn't even show up for the second half kickoff and continued to be anonymous through the hour mark before he was replaced by the effervescent Robinho. It is hard for me to see Ronaldo staying in the first XI with such a terrible performance! Croatia created a few chances in the second half as Brazil seemed content to pass the ball around without too much goalscoring intent. It ended 1-0, and a good start for the defending champions as they never needed to get out of second gear for much of the game.

Two good games tomorrow as Spain takes on Ukraine in their first match, and the hosts Germany plays their second game against neighbors Poland. Until then.....

World Cup 2006: Day 4

2006-06-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Day 4 saw the first games played in the second "Group of Death" involving USA, Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana. However, the first game of the day was Australia v Japan. Japan played fairly well without creating any serious chances, but went ahead after 26 minutes, very controversially, as Nakamura's cross ended up in the Aussie goal while Aussie keeper Schwarzer was bundled off his stride by Japanese striker Takahara. Nevertheless, the Japanese were never in any serious danger of losing their lead until Hiddink threw on Tim Cahill and John Aloisi with 15 minutes to go in the game. Cahill was sensational, especially his second goal which flew into the net off the post from 25 yards, and Aloisi netted another late goal to seal a fantastic 3-1 win for the Aussies. It was heartbreak for the Japanese who fought very well for 80 odd minutes, but the Aussies simply created more chances and probably deserved the three points at the end of the day!

USA went into their game against the Czech Republic needing at least a draw to make it out to the next round. However, USA coach Bruce Arena made a tactical blunder in my opinion by setting the USA up in a flat 4-4-2 formation with Donovan and McBride as forwards against a Czech side that packed the midfield in a 4-5-1 formation with the giant Jan Koller the lone forward. The result? USA was completely outplayed in midfield by the speedy Czechs and lost badly 3-0. Eddie Johnson was the brightest spark for the US team, and it would be worthwhile for Arena to consider playing a diamond 4-4-2 formation with Donovan as an attacking midfielder instead of a forward and Johnson and McBride ahead of him. They also need to figure out the wing positions, and should probably have Convey and Dempsey start on the flanks against Italy. It was a terrible effort from the US team and it is not going to get any easier against Italy or Ghana! Very disappointing!

The last game of the day was the best contest of the day, from a footballing point of view. Italy and Ghana played out a superb game, played at a very high tempo and lots of physical play. Both sides showed exceptional speed on and off the ball, and played some neat passing to create loads of chances at both ends of the field. The difference, though, was the finishing in the final third of the field. The Italians were able to hit the target more often and eventually broke through when Andrea Pirlo smashed a short corner into the left corner of the Ghana goal. The Ghanians responded in the second half with some excellent moves, led by the superb midfield duo of Michael Essien and captain Stephen Appiah. However, their failure to convert chances into goals was punished severely when Vincenzo Iaquinta capitalized on a terrible backpass by Samuel Kuffour to round the keeper and put Italy 2-0 up. Hard luck for the Ghanians though they showed plenty of talent and effort in their World Cup debut. The Italians were especially impressive for being able to keep the speedy, physical Ghanians under control and create numerous chances of their own. The USA better be prepared for a speedy onslaught in their next couple of games, or they will have to be content with seeing the rest of the World Cup on TV!!!

Until tomorrow, so long....

World Cup 2006: An overview of Days 1-3

2006-06-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

I know I have begun this blog just a little bit later than I had hoped for. However, from now until the end of the World Cup, I hope to be posting my daily ramblings on the World Cup 2006 matches that are played that same day.

First, a quick update to bring everything up to speed. 3 pulsating days of World Cup action had already passed us before today. Germany ran up an impressive tally of 4 goals against Costa Rica in the opening game, in a very entertaining first game, where the Central Americans displayed their talent at making the most of their opportunities scoring twice on 3 shots on the German goal. Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann earned himself the kudos of the entire host nation, by guiding his side to what was eventually a comfortable first win. Ecuador then mildly shocked the football world by comprehensively outplaying a dour Poland side 2-0. It is going to be an uphill battle for the Poles to make it to the second round; their next game is on Wed against the hosts!

Day 2 saw 3 games being played. England scrapped past a determined Paraguayan outfit 1-0 on a Carlos Gamarra own goal before the minnows from Trinidad & Tobago produced the first major upset of this tournament by holding Sweden to a goalless draw. This feat was even more remarkable considering that the Soca Warriors were down a man almost the entire second half. In the final game of the day, Argentina coasted to a 2-0 lead against Ivory Coast before the Africans made a desperate attempt to save the game in the latter stages of the game, and eventually falling just short 1-2. Great effort from Didier Drogba and co. but the classy Argentinians just managed to hold on in the end.

The youthful Dutch squad led by Marco van Basten opened their World Cup on Day 3 against Serbia & Montenegro with an impressive showing, particularly by Arjen Robben, though they only scored a solitary goal, scored by Robben, against the Eastern Europeans. CONCACAF powerhouse Mexico then overcomed a gutsy Iranian side and plenty of nervy moments before edging a close game 3-1 on the back of two late goals by Omar Bravo and Zinha. Hard luck for the Asian side who battled admirably for 75 minutes in that game. Euro 2004 finalists Portugal were next up against debutants Angola, and they began in impressive fashion with Pauleta scoring after just 4 minutes. However, the Portuguese were unable to add to their goal tally, and Angola put up a tough fight the rest of the game to lose just 1-0. Not a bad effort from the African minnows!

Great! Now you are up to speed. On to Day 4!