World Cup - After 1st Match
All teams have now played a game each.
Group A:
All teams are in the mix. I hope France finish first, I don't want Argentina to play them in round of 16.
If France don't pick themselves up, they might find themselves out of the tournament.
Group B:
Argentina looked lively, Messi in particular. The defence looks shaky though. Veron will be out for the game against Korea(which is not a bad thing.) I hope Pastore comes in for him instead of Maxi. It's only a matter of time before Messi and Higuain start scoring. I would like to see Milito getting more time. Korea played well against Greece. They were fit and fast. Surely will test Argentina defence.
Group C:
As expected USA did trouble England. Despite Green's howler, I guess Cappelo will continue to play him. He has been excellent last 2 or 3 seasons.
England still look favourites to top their group.
Group D:
What a game by Germany. By far, they played the best football of the tournament. And in the process scored 4 goals. Can never write them off as I wrote in the last post. All other teams still got a shot at finishing second in the group.
Group E:
Dutch seem to have left the "total football" at home. They played a scrappy game against Holland and were lucky to have won the match 2-0.
It's result that would hurt Denmark. If they don't recover and come back strong, they will be out. Denmark must beat Cameroon and Japan to progress.
Group F:
A point table similar to that of Group A's. Like France, Italy struggled to create chances and did little to defend their title.
If they don't improve they will find it hard to qualify for next round. I believe it's a wide open group.
As I wrote in my last post Italy and France really got to step up to make their mark.
Group G:
Brazil as expected laboured to victory, not before North Korea put up a good defensive display. Maicon scored a beauty of a goal. How much of that was the ball, no one knows.
Portugal and Ivory Coast haven't done anything noteworthy and should improve if they fancy playing in round of 16.
Group H:
The big shock!! Swiss defeated Spain 1-0. A very commanding display from Swiss. Spain lacked cutting edge in front of goal. They had nearly 70% of possession and nothing to show for it. Torres was rusty and looked short on match practise.
Now this changes everything. If Spain finish 2nd, they will play Brazil in next round. One of the tournament favourites will be out.
Pele's curse continues. Thank God, he didn't pick Argentina as favourites.
So far, all teams have played safe and focussed more on defense than attack. It hasn't been very exciting but that's been the trend: keep a clean sheet and score the odd goal. Now that teams have played a match, I hope they will express more and play good football.
More later...
Group A:
All teams are in the mix. I hope France finish first, I don't want Argentina to play them in round of 16.
If France don't pick themselves up, they might find themselves out of the tournament.
Group B:
Argentina looked lively, Messi in particular. The defence looks shaky though. Veron will be out for the game against Korea(which is not a bad thing.) I hope Pastore comes in for him instead of Maxi. It's only a matter of time before Messi and Higuain start scoring. I would like to see Milito getting more time. Korea played well against Greece. They were fit and fast. Surely will test Argentina defence.
Group C:
As expected USA did trouble England. Despite Green's howler, I guess Cappelo will continue to play him. He has been excellent last 2 or 3 seasons.
England still look favourites to top their group.
Group D:
What a game by Germany. By far, they played the best football of the tournament. And in the process scored 4 goals. Can never write them off as I wrote in the last post. All other teams still got a shot at finishing second in the group.
Group E:
Dutch seem to have left the "total football" at home. They played a scrappy game against Holland and were lucky to have won the match 2-0.
It's result that would hurt Denmark. If they don't recover and come back strong, they will be out. Denmark must beat Cameroon and Japan to progress.
Group F:
A point table similar to that of Group A's. Like France, Italy struggled to create chances and did little to defend their title.
If they don't improve they will find it hard to qualify for next round. I believe it's a wide open group.
As I wrote in my last post Italy and France really got to step up to make their mark.
Group G:
Brazil as expected laboured to victory, not before North Korea put up a good defensive display. Maicon scored a beauty of a goal. How much of that was the ball, no one knows.
Portugal and Ivory Coast haven't done anything noteworthy and should improve if they fancy playing in round of 16.
Group H:
The big shock!! Swiss defeated Spain 1-0. A very commanding display from Swiss. Spain lacked cutting edge in front of goal. They had nearly 70% of possession and nothing to show for it. Torres was rusty and looked short on match practise.
Now this changes everything. If Spain finish 2nd, they will play Brazil in next round. One of the tournament favourites will be out.
Pele's curse continues. Thank God, he didn't pick Argentina as favourites.
So far, all teams have played safe and focussed more on defense than attack. It hasn't been very exciting but that's been the trend: keep a clean sheet and score the odd goal. Now that teams have played a match, I hope they will express more and play good football.
More later...
posted by Srikanth | 10:25 AM
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