More of that later…
We are four days into the 2010 World Cup, and most of the talk has been about vuvuzelas, not football. Luckily, the noisy, but appropriately cheerful instruments have helped disguise the fact that the football has, on the whole, been pretty drab.
Of all the games so far, only the opening game and the Germany game have provided anything approaching scintillating viewing. But as England fans will need to tell themselves, it is still 'very early days’.
Today could prove to be the most intriguing yet. New Zealand are an unknown quantity who beat non other than New Caledonian, Fiji and Bahrain to get to this World Cup. They take on a Slovakia team competing in their first ever finals as a single nation, so at least there is a novelty element we don’t get so often in today's media dominated World Cup tournaments.
Brazil versus the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should also be a fascinating clash. The Guardian reports that the DPRK will have no fans at all in Johannesburg. However, the Chinese have sent along around 100 pseudo supporters. It’s a shame, because the quiet hand clapping of the mass, cheerless North Koreans all dressed in red would have been another alternative feature of this already unique World Cup.
The DPRK football team themselves are ultra defensive. And this has been further demonstrated by the fact that they are still trying to implement their goalkeeper, Kim Myong-won, as a striker, or is the other way round? Brazil should win comfortably, but I don’t think it will be by the large margin that everyone might expect.
Today’s action also includes what could be the match of the tournament so far. Sven Goran Eriksson’s Ivory Coast take on Nani-less Portugal, with Didier Drogba hoping that FIFA will accept his request to play in a cast. The Chelsea striker broke his arm only eleven days ago, but is apparently desperate to play in what will probably be his last World Cup finals.
But the often brutal Portuguese are bound to target him and it could be a painful 90 minutes for the African player of the year. We may even bring ourselves to feel sorry for the big striker, as for once, he won’t actually be faking his apparent discomfort. However I do feel a sense of karma about the whole situation or am I just being nasty? Good luck to you Didier, and 'our Sven'.
So what do we make of the tournament so far?
I felt the opening game lived up to the hype and South Africa were outstanding. They played well above their capabilities and it just goes to show how much home support in the World Cup really can lift a side. The hosts now have a decent chance to qualify out of a group which is of little quality and already appears to be the hardest of the eight groups to call.
France against Uruguay barely deserves a mention, apart from the amusing irony of watching Thierry Henry appeal for a soft penalty in the last minute. He believed there was a handball you know? But as the former Arsenal striker should know, you need to handball it twice to get the decision. He even had the audacity to look outraged.
As for Saturday’s action – Greece were under-whelming, just as I predicted, and are possibly the poorest team in the World Cup. Although I must stress I will reserve judgment until New Zealand play. How the Greeks got past Ukraine in the play offs I really don’t know and their football team perfectly mirrors their economy at this moment in time. Adject!
Credit to the South Koreans though, who play so well as a unit. They are certainly a threat in Group B.
And what did we make of Argentina? Well Messi was fantastic and appears to be unaffected by his long season at Barcelona., But the little Argentine was - as he probably always be - upstaged by his coach.
Maradona was as exhilarating on the touchline as he was as a player on the pitch, and nobody can pretend they didn't enjoy his antics, surely... But will it become annoying later on in the competition?
In that Group B clash with Argentina, the Nigerian keeper - Vincent Enyeama - in my opinion produced the display of the tournament so far. He made three of four World Class saves and Nigeria were right in that match until the end. Does Argentina’s apparent endless supply of world class striker actually create a paradoxical problem for Maradona? Can Juan Veron last the tournament and can a team with a Newcastle midfielder at right back win the World Cup? We shall see, but they should at least qualify with ease.
The England scenario was as expected in my view. Many people including myself, predicted a draw, but certainly not the manner of it.
Fabio Capello has a big decision to make on Robert Green, who appears to be a very nice guy. Although that has nothing to do with the bigger picture, if it had happened to John Terry for example (perhaps a defensive howler), maybe there would be less sympathy directed towards the Chelsea skipper. Actually I thought the West Ham stopper handled the media scrutiny extremely well. But at this level, should an international keeper be making such an error? This is an especially potent question when the player represents a nation in the upper tier of the world game. The Italian manager could have a sleepless next three days.
Saying that, I still believe England will qualify comfortably in first place. The Algeria versus Slovenia game was a very poor game played out by two un-inspiring teams. England’s chances were also enhanced because Ghezzal -the Algerian star striker - has ruled himself out of the England match after receiving his marching orders for two yellow cards. The second of which must nail him the award for ‘idiot of the World Cup so far’.
Serbia were very disappointing on Sunday and surprisingly lacked cutting edge. The penalty against them was unlucky, but foolish and was certainly the correct decision. The referees have actually been very good so far, and have probably better than the players on the whole.
Ghana surprised me with their display, which was full of energy and verve. They should now qualify and I feel they will definetly give the Germans a run for their money next week in a clash which may well decide which teams plays England.
Many analysts are raving about the Germans, and much of their performance may be down to the fact that most of the team have been using the much publicised World Cup ball in the Bundesliga this season. However, the Australians were unforgivably poor and as I predicted (blowing my own trumpet once again) they appear to be the whipping boys in the group.
I prefer to judge Germany after three matches, not one. But the Aussies, now without Tim Cahill - who picked up a deserved red card – may as well book their flights home right now.
In Group E, the Netherlands looked efficient, if not spectacular, but they have Arjen Robben set to return, which should enhance their chances. However, Robin Van Persie looked particularly off the pace and that is worrying for the Dutch.
The Danes were very disappointing, as were Cameroon, who were surprisingly beaten by the Japanese. That clash was a dreadful game and the Danes will take heart that they still have to play both these teams. Incidentally, Honda drove in Japan’s solitary winning goal. Get it??
So four days in, and very little to write home about. Italy, looked like, well… Italy last night, but apart from that I see no clear patterns emerging. Perhaps after Brazil and Spain complete their opening matches in the next couple of days we may have a clearer picture of the early contenders.
However, as I suggested before, I do believe every team deserves to play at least two games before they can be judged effectively. But of course the big question on everyone's lips is will England even have any central defenders left after these two games?
One thing we must all remember though is that it is called the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and not North Korea, The DPRK coach says so. He - that is Kim Jong-Hun - informed the world’s media of this in yesterday’s press conference in South Africa, fervently objecting to his team being called North Korea.
The fact that that is probably the best moment of the World Cup so far suggests we haven’t really got going yet. But as the great D:Ream once said … "Things can only get better". Let's hope so!
PS. Please keep reading my World Cup blogs. They will be posted every four days throughout the tournament.
Sources/References used:
Guardian podcast - guardian.co.uk
Talksport.net
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment