Slovenia 0 England 1
England finally produced at this World Cup; and it was when it mattered most. In danger of being dumped out they took this game by the scruff of the neck and could have won more handsomely than the 1-0 score suggested. The solitary goal came after 22 minutes when a James Milner cross from wide out right was met on the volley by Jermain Defoe. Samir Handanovic couldn't stop it going in despite getting both hands on the ball.
Due to the result of the USA vs Algeria game England finish second in the group and will face the winners of Group D on Sunday.
USA 1 Algeria 0
This game was decided in stoppage time at the end of the match and the USA progress thanks to Landon Donovan. Jozy Altidore crosses in from the right and after Rais M Bolhi parries it, Landon Donovan jumps on the loose ball and puts Slovenia out. USA top the group and will face the runners up of Group D.
Australia 2 Serbia 1
In a game full of chances it's almost 70 minutes gone before Australia take the lead. Tim Cahill fires a header into the corner of the net after a cross from the right. Less than 5 minutes later and it's 2-0. Brett Holman fires in from 25 yards out. With about 5 minutes left Serbia pull one back. Mark Schwarzer spills a Zoran Tosic shot and Marko Pantelic steals in to tap in the rebound. Too little too late though. The result in the game's other game sees both these teams eliminated.
Ghana 0 Germany 1
This game was also full of chances and it took an hour before somebody broke the deadlock. Mesut Ozil, fires in a dipping shot from the edge of the area to give Germany a 1-0 lead and ultimately victory. Ghana had enough chances to pull level but their liuck seemed to desert them.
Second round ties:
USA vs Ghana
Germany vs England
France 1 South Africa 2
South Africa beat France 2-1 in their final group game but still failed to qualify for the next stage as both teams are eliminated from the tournament. France, in turmoil in recent days dropped Patrice Evra and started with Djibril Cisse up front. France coach Raymond Domenech made a total of 6 changes. Gael Clichy, Sebastien Squillachi, Alou Diarra, Yoann Gourcuff and Andre-Pierre Gignac all started. South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira started Bernard Parker up front alongside Katlego Mphela, goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, midfielder Thanduyise Khuboni , Anele Ngcongoa and Macbeth Sibaya also start.
South Africa take the lead on 21 minutes when Siphiwe Tshabalala's corner from the left eludes Hugo Lloris in the France goal and Bongani Khumalo head in at the far post. 5 minutes later and France's Yoan Gourcuff receives a red card from Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz for an elbow in an aerial challenge with MacBeth Sibaya. After 37 minutes South Africa double their lead when a cross from the left falls fo Katlego Mphela and he taps the ball into an empty net from 3 yards out. France pull a goal back on 70 minutes when Bacary Sagna finds Franck Ribery on the right side of the box and he squares for Florent Malouda to score into an empty net. Siphiwe Tshabalala had a chance to make it 3-1 in injury time, but he some brave goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris denies him.
The game finishes 2-1 and that's not enough to see South Africa through. They go out on goal difference and become the first host nation to fail to qualify for the second stage.
Mexico 0 Uruguay 1
Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Andres Guardado both start for Mexico. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez makes one change; Mauricio Victorino coming in.
Uruguay took the lead just before half-time when Edinson Cavani crosses from the right and Luis Suarez heads in at the back post. Mexico seemed to be happy to sit back in the second-half and let time run out.
The score here means that both teams qualify for the next round.
Greece 0 Argentina 2
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel brings in defender Vangelis Moras and striker Georgios Samaras, Argentina coach Diego Maradona makes seven changes with Lionel Messi as captain. A very defensive performance from the Greeks see them hold out for 77 minutes. Martin Demichelis rises high to meet a corner but his header rebound after his team-mate Diego Milito on the edge of the six-yard box, However, Demichelis is first to the loose ball and he thumps it into the roof of the net. After being marked out of the whole game Lionel Messi plays a one-two before his shot is saved by Alexandros Tzorvas. Martin Palermo latches onto the rebound and side-foots home. 2-0 and Greece are goind home.
Nigeria 2 South Korea 2
South Korea bring right-back Cha Doo-Ri in. Nigeria start with Nwankwo Kanu up front. Yussuf Ayila, Rabiu Afolabi and Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi all start.
Less than 12 minutes in and Nigeria go 1-0 up. Chidi Odiah find Kala Uche 8-yards out amd he gets in ahead of Cha Du-Ri and slots the ball past Jung Sung-Ryong. After 38 minutes Ki Sung-Yeung's free-kick is met by Lee Jung-Soo at the back post to bundle the ball home. 1-1, game on. Less than 5 minutes into the second-half and South Korea go 2-1 up when Park Chu-Young curls in a free-kick from 20 yards out. Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama couldn't get to it. Less than 3 minutes after missing a sitter Yakubu makes amends when he slots home a penalty after Kim Nam-Il clattered into the back of Chinedu Obasi. 20 minutes left and all still to play for; however, the game ends up finishing 2-2.
Second round ties:
Uruguay vs South Korea
Argentina vs Mexico
This looks truly dire...
Should be good for a laugh then!
After losing 1-0 to Switzerland in their opening game, this was a game that the Spanish had to win. Spain started with both Fernando Torres and David Villa and it was the latter that gave them a 1-0 lead after 17 minutes. He cut in from the left and his shot from the edge of the box finds the top corner of the net.
Spain had a number of chances to increase their lead before David Villa once again scored, on 50 minutes. A Fernando Torres run creates space for Xavi who tees up David Villa and his 25-yard shot takes a slight deflection and loops in. Just after the hour mark Emilio Izaguirre brought down Jesus Navas in the area but David Villa puts it wrong side of the post.
The game finishes 2-0 and Spain will win the group if they beat Chile in their final group game.
This game was decided after 75 minutes when Estaban Paredes beat the offside trap, rounded keeper Diego Benaglio and crossed for former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez to head home from four yards out.
Saudi official Khali Al Ghamdi was rather card-happy in this game and handed out 9 yellows and 1 red card. Valon Behrami was sent off after 30 minutes for an elbow on Arturo Vidal. It didn't look that bad at normal speed and even though the slow motion shows that he did raise his elbow there's no way he impacted with enough force to do any damage.
Goals from Raul Meireles on 29, Simao on 53, Almeida on 56, Tiago on 60 and 89, Liedson on 81 and Ronaldo on 87 gave Portugal a 7-0 victory here.
Just before the half-hour Tiago passes to Raul Meireles and he puts a low shot past Ri Myong-Guk. On 53 minutes Raul Meireles plays a one-two with Hugo Almeida and then finds Simao, who fires home from 12 yards out. 3 minutes later and it's 3-0 when Fabio Coentrao crosses for Hugo Almeida to head past Ri Myong-Guk. Just on the hour mark and Cristiano Ronaldo picks out Tiago and he makes it 4-0 from the edge of the box.
With just under 10 minutes left in the game it's 5-0 thanks to Duda's cross reaching Liedson after a mistake by Ri Kwang-Chon. Liedson volleys home from eight yards out. With only 2 minutes left in the game Cristiano Ronaldo finally breaks his long lean spell at international level with the 6th goal of the game. A mistake in the North Korean defence put Liedson and Ronaldo through. Ronaldo's shot bounces into the air, hits him on the back of his neck before bobbling on to his head. As the ball lands he volleys home from 10 yards. Less than a minute later amd Miguel Veloso crosses for Tiago to head home. 7-0 it finishes.
Schlock at it's best... Or, maybe that should be worst!
Paraguay 2 Slovakia 0
With 27 minutes on the clock, Lucas Barrios slipped the ball through to Enrique Vera and he slotted the ball past Jan Mucha with the outside of his right boot. With less than 5 minutes left Paulo Da Silva tees up Cristian Riverosand he lashes the ball home from the edge of the box. Paraguay move top of the group and Slovakia now need to beat Italy to progress.
Italy 1 New Zealand 1
7 minutes in and Shane Smeltz sneaks onto the end of a free-kick and slots the ball past Federico Marchetti from close range. New Zealand lead 1-0. Just before the half-hour, New Zealand's Tommy Smith pulls Daniele De Rossi's shirt and De Rossi goes to ground rather easily. Vincenzo Iaquinta sends Mark Paston the wrong way and it's 1-1. New Zealand manage to hold on for the remainder of the game and end with a memorable 1-1 draw. Italy are now in the same boat as Slovakia. They must win their last game to progress.
Brazil 3 Ivory Coast 1
Brazil took the lead after 25 minutes after Luis Fabiano latches onto a Kaka pass and smashes the ball away at the near post. Luis Fabiano doubles the lead after 50 minutes. He flicked the ball over one defender's challenge, then over another before forcefully putting the ball past the keeper. He got away with a handball in there. Just after the hour Kaka goes past a couple of defenders on the left and lays the ball back for Elano to tap in from close range.
With about 10 minutes left, the Ivory Coast break from a Brazilian corner and Lucio's tackle of Gervinho results in the ball falling to Yaya Toure. His ball over the top is headed into the corner by Didier Drogba. 3-1.
That's not the end of things though. With only moments left Kader Keita collides with Kaka and goes down as if shot in the face. Referee Stephane Lannoy brandishes a second yellow and Kaka is off. Truly dreadful playacting and an awful decision.
Netherlands 1 Japan 0
Robin van Persie teed up Wesley Sneijder to score the winner on 52 minutes from just outside of the box. Although Eiji Kawashima in the Japanese goal should have done better with the shot than he did.
Australia 1 Ghana 1
Australia took an 11th minute lead when Mark Bresciano's right-foot shot from 30 yards out bounced in front of Richard Kingson and fell kindly to Brett Holman, who tapped in from close-range.
After 24 minutes Andre Ayew crossed from the right and Jonathan Mensah's shot hits Harry Kewell on the line. Italian referee Roberto Rosetti points to the spot and shows Kewell a straight red for handball. Asamoah Gyan confidently slotted home the penalty.
Cameroon 1 Denmark 2
Manchester United target Simon Kjaer foolishly passes straight to Achille Webo and he finds Samuel Eto'o in space in the box. A clinical strike past Thomas Sorensen amd Cameroon are 1 up.
After 33 minutes, Simon Kjaer hits a stunning 50-yard pass to Dennis Rommedahl out wide on the right and he crosses for Nicklas Bendtner to score from inside the six-yard box. All level.
Just after the hour Dennis Rommedahl outpaces Jean Makoun and he bends a left-foot shot around Hamidou Souleymanou from eight yards out. 2-1 Denmark and that's how the game finished.
The highlight of this game was the referee blowing the full-time whistle.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- England can still qualify from this group. If they beat Slovenia on Wednesday!
- Based on that performance, the England players on display tonight don't deserve to wear the shirt.
Slovenia took the lead after 13 minutes thanks to a stunning 25 yard strike from Valter Birsa that left Tim Howard stranded. They doubled their lead after 42 minutes thanks to Zlatan Ljubijankic who coolly slotted the ball past the onrushing Tim Howard following Milivoje Novakovic's pass. USA pulled one back after 48 minutes thanks to Landon Donovan who blasted the ball in from an acute angle whilst less than 6 yards out. Michael Bradley slotted home the equaliser on 82 minutes after a nod down from Jozy Altidore. Maurice Edu thought he'd scored the winner on 85 minutes but referee Koman Coulibaly pulls the game back for a foul.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Valter Birsa may end up at a top team before too long.
- This game ending in a draw does England no harm.
- USA can still qualify if they beat Algeria and England beat Slovenia.
A goal after 38 minutes from Milan Jovanovic gave Serbia a 1-0 victory. Milos Krasic crossed, Nikola Zigic knocked it down and Milan Jovanovic, right in front of goal, had time to turn the ball into the back of the net. The goal came less than 2 minutes after Spanish referee Alberto Undiano sent off Miroslav Klose for 2 bookable offences. The bookings, whilst technically correct, were both harsh. Lukas Podolski missed a 59th minute penalty. Nemanja Vidic handled a cross from the right and Podolski shoots low and to Vladimir Stojkovic's left but the keeper saves it.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Lukas Podolski was very wasteful in front of goal.
- Nemanja Vidic, apart from the stupid handball, was solid.
- The referee, Alberto Undiano, was very much over-officious today.
- Jonathan Pearce and Mick McCarthy are an awful commentary team. They are both annoyingly over-opinionated.
I never caught either of these games. The Junior Club was running at work during the first game and I had popped to Steve and Jo's for a meeting concerning the roleplaying club's website whilst the second game was on.
Kalu Uche gave Nigeria a 1-0 lead with a free-kick after 16 minutes. Nigeria's Sanu Kaita stupidly and unnecessarily kicked out at Vassilis Torosidis after 33 minutes and referee Oscar Ruiz produced a red card. Dimitris Salpingidis levels things up just before half-time, thanks in no small part to a huge deflection off Haruna Lukman. Greece's advantage showed in the second half and on 72 minutes Alexandros Tziolis' shot finds it's way back out to Vassilis Torosidis who pounces to give the Greeks a 2-1 advantage.
In the second game Mexico scored 2 second-half goals thanks to new Manchester United recruit Javier Hernandez, who beat the offside trap on 64 minutes and rounded Hugo Lloris to score. Eric Abidal fouled Pablo Barrera in the area and veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored from the spot after 79 minutes.
The result condemns France to the uncertainty of having to beat South Africa in their final game and then hoping that the Uruguay vs Mexico ends up very one-sided. South Africa are in the exact same position in that they need to beat France and hope for a lop-sided game too. It's all well and good that FIFA decreed final group games should kick off at the same time to stop a repeat of the Austria and West Germany fiasco of 1982 that eliminated Algeria. However, Uruguay and Mexico go into their final game knowing that a draw between them would be enough to elimate France and South Africa.
An own goal from Park Chu-Young and hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain gave Argentia a 4-1 victory over South Korea, Lee Chung-Yong scoring for the Asians. Argentina's first goal came after 16 minutes when Park Chu-Young deflected a Lionel Messi free kick into his own goal. After 33 minutes Argentina make it 2 when a Maxi Rodriguez cross is flicked on by Nicolas Burdisso and Higuain scores with a simple header at the back post. South Korea pulled a goal back out of nothing just before half-time. Martin Demichelis took too long on a clearance and Lee Chung-Yong nipped in, nicked the ball and clipped a shot past keeper Sergio Romero. Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-1 after 77 minutes, scoring in an empty net after Lionel Messi had an attempt saved by keeper Jung Sung-Ryong and a second effort come off the post. 3 minutes later and a counter-attack from Argentina sees Lionel Messi chip the ball over to Sergio Aguero, who crosses to Gonzalo Higuain to head home.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Teams are going to be pushed hard by this Argentina side.
- South Korea can still qualify from this group.
- In fact, Greece and Nigeria can also still qualify from this group.
- The strangest thing of all is that if Greece hammer Argentina and South Korea hammer Nigeria in the final two matches then Argentina could be eliminated still.
A wee bit early but I just had to share.
