The hosts are in danger of going out after this game. Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan was in sublime form, running the show, scoring 2 goals and having a hand in the other. After 24 minutes he picked up 35 yards out, swiveled and shot; a deflection off Aaron Mokoena took the ball past Itumeleng Khune. By half-time it seemed fairly obvious that there was only going to be one winner in this game. As the second half progressed nothing happened to change that perception and on 76 minutes South African keeper Khune clipped the feet of Luis Suarez and received a straight red as a result. Moneeb Josephs first act as South Africa's second goalkeeper of the game was to pick Diego Forlan's penalty out of the back of the net. Alvaro Pereira made it 30 in injury time after Diego Forlan had played a ball out wide to Luis Saurez and his cross was headed home by Pereira.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- I was always a Forlan fan but this was a much improved player than 6 years ago at Old Trafford.
- South Africa need a result against France in their final game to have any hope of progressing.
- France vs Mexico tomorrow is a huge game for South Africa.
In another game that I only managed to catch as background noise a 52nd minute goal from Gelson Fernandes gave Swizterland an unexpected victory over the highly fancied Spanish side. Spain have been perennial underachievers in virtually every major tournament they've entered up to winning Euro 2008; although they also won that self-same tournament in 1964 when they hosted it. Spain are probably still going to qualify from the group but they've not made it easy for themselves.
It's hard to believe that it's exactly 48 years to the day since Chile last won a game at the World Cup; against Yugoslavia if you were curious. I didn't get to watch the game but I did manage to hear the second half in the background. A very one-sided 1-0 victory was sealed after 34 minutes after a shot from Jean Beausejour ricochetted into the goal off a Honduran defender. Chile could have scored again but failed to do so and the game ended with a 1-0 scoreline to the South Americans over their Central American opponents.
A brilliant defensive performance by North Korea gave us a 0-0 scoreline at half-time and the potential for a shock. After 55 minutes Elano feeds Maicon instead of pulling the ball back from near the by-line he bends the ball with the outside of his right boot and beats Ri Myong-guk at his near post; stunning! Elano doubled the lead on 72 minutes after an inch perfect through ball from Robinho. In the closing minutes Ji Yun-nam scores past Julio Cesar but the opportunity to hunt for an equaliser is curtailed by the final whistle. Not as one-sided as many people probably expected.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Kaka seemed very quiet today.
- Robinho is not the same player than Manchester City let go out on loan to Santos.
- North Korea may just manage to get something out of one of their 2 remaining games.
Both these games were played whilst I was at work today and I never got an opportunity to see either game. Slovakia took the lead in the first game after 50 minutes. Some hesitancy from defender Winston Reid allowed Robert Vittek to head in from a Stanislav Sestak cross. Although, replays suggest that Vittek may have been slightly offside. The equaliser came with 30 seconds left and was scored courtesy of Winston Reid; as he atones for his earlier error and heads in from 8 yards out. It seems that the best action from the second game was Cristiano Ronaldo hitting the post with a dipping, swerving shot from 25 yards out that had keeper Boubacar Barry well beaten. He also went close late on from a free kick. Another game or two and he might just have the taming of the Jabulani.
I didn't get to see either of these games. However, from all accounts, I didn't miss much in the first of the two, Japan winning 1-0 thanks to a Keisuke Honda goal after 38 minutes; the fact that they only had 3 shots on goal in the entire game tells you something. The second game ended 1-1. Paraguay had taken the lead thanks to a header from Antolin Alacaraz, who got onto the end of an Aureliano Torres free-kick after 39 minutes. Italy's equalizer came from another goalkeeping blunder. Simone Pepe whipped in a corner from the left, goalkeeper Justo Villar completely missed his punch away and Daniele De Rossi bundle the ball in from close range. Apparently, on reflection 1-1 was a fair result.
The Dutch got off to a winning start thanks to a Danish own goal and a tap-in from Dirk Kuyt. Not much of interest happened in the first half, but shortly after the restart, Robin van Persie put in a deep cross from the left which Simon Poulson heads away. However, the ball deflects off Daniel Agger's back into the Danish goal. With just about 5 minutes left Eljero Elia is denied by a brilliant Thomas Sorenson save only for Dirk Kuyt to tap-in the rebound.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Nobody has managed to find their free-kick range yet with the new Jabulani ball.
- Some really poor challenges are getting away unpunished whilst some seemingly not-so poor challenges are picking up yellow cards.
The harsh sending off of Australia's talisman Tim Cahill after 56 minutes ended this game as a contest. However, truth be told, Germany were already well in control by then and would probably have gone on to win the game anyway. Lukas Podolski put Germany ahead inside the first 10 minutes with a fine strike. Miroslav Klose doubled the lead with a header after 27 minutes. Thomas Mueller, the new young sensation of German football, slides home the 3rd, with aid from the upright, after 68 minutes. Brazilian born Cacau makes it 4-0, and completes the scoring, just 2 minutes later.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Mesut Ozil was easily the man of the match.
- Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez showed some inconsistency in his handing out of cards.
- Germany will definitely win this group.
- Australia should have strong grounds to appeal Tim Cahill's red card.
Unfortunately, I didn't see either of today's earlier games. I was at my Godson's first Holy Communion and a celebration party thereafter.
In the first game, Algeria's Abdelkader Ghezzal was dismissed after 72 minutes for 2 bookable offences before former West Brom midfielder Robert Koren scored late on with a dipping 20-yard drive that eluded Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi.
In the second game, Serbia finished with 10 men after Aleksandar Lukovic was dismissed for a second bookable offence after 74 minutes. The game was decided after 85 minutes with a penalty from Asamoah Gyan, after substitute Zdravko Kuzmanovic handballed in the area.
This is a short movie clip made as a test for Warner Bros. They need to green light a new movie:
A calamitous error in the last few minutes of the first half denied England victory in their first game of this year's World Cup. Steven Gerrard latched onto a sublime little touch from Emile Heskey to put England ahead inside the first 5 minutes. USA had a few chances to equalise before Clint Dempsey's 25 yard shot slipped through Robert Green's hands to gift the USA a 1-1 scoreline at half-time. England had the best chances in the second half, although Robert Green made a fine save after Jozy Altidore had skinned Jamie Carragher down the wing.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Emile Heskey may not score many goals but he contributes so much more.
- Both these teams should qualify from this group.
- We drew our first game in 1966 and went on to win the World Cup. So, it's not really that bad after all.
- Italy, who went on to win in 2006, drew one of their group games 1-1 against USA that year.
- Why have we left Theo Walcott at home and took Shaun Wright-Phillips?
Argentina won this game thanks to a Gabriel Heinze diving header from near the penalty spot. The goal came in the 6th minute after a corner from the right hand side; very lax marking. Scoreline should have been much wider than this but Argentina were very wasteful going forward and Nigeria had chances to equalise.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama kept the score down.
- Argentina are much better going forward than backward.
- Older players are going to be more affected by the altitude as the games progress.
South Korea took full advantage of a lacklustre Greek display and ran out desrved 2-0 winners. Lee Jung-soo scored the first after only 6 minutes with a tap-in following a free-kick out near the corner flag. Park Ji-sung pounched on Loukas Vyntra's mistake after 52 minutes, held off 2 defenders before slotting the ball home to give the South Koreans a 2-0 lead. They had further chances to increase their lead but ended up running out comfotable 2-0 winners.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Giorgos Samaras, usually Greece's most influential player, going missing.
- Some empty seats in the stadium.
- South Korea have a chance in this group; especially if they get a result against Nigeria.
- Greece are going to get taken apart by Aregntina.
South Korea v Greece, Kick-off 12:30BST.
Argentina v Nigeria, Kick-off 15:00BST.
England v USA, Kick-off 19:30BST.
Image via Wikipedia
With Lionel Messi at the heart of the Argentinian team you really can't see anything but a victory for the South American's in the second game of the day. A victory for Nigeria would definitely be an upset. It's likely that Argentina will start with a 3 man attack of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain,
The big game of the day though is undoubtedly the clash between England and the USA. The 2 countries have met 9 times with England winning 7 of those. The 2 USA victories came at the World Cup in 1950, in Brazil; 1-0, and in June 1993 in the USA; 2-0. England are the seeded, and higher ranked team, and should win this game; especially against a suspect American defence. But, you never know for certain.
Not exactly a great game of football. Both sides had a couple of chances to score but failed to take them. The only real talking point of the game was the red card handed out to Uruguayan substitute Nicolas Lodeiro after 81 minutes. He had received a yellow card for kicking the ball away only moments before a clumsy challenge on Bacary Sagna produced a second yeloow and then accompanying red card.
Things that I noticed during the game:
- Mexico may stand a chance of progressing, even with their short goalkeeper.
- South Africa also stand a chance, even with their lax defending
- Argentina and Nigeria, the likely second round qualifiers from Group B, don't seem to have a lot to fear from Group A.
