Following the surprising scorelines from the last round of games in Group D, all four sides still stand a chance of making the knock out stages.
Serbia kept their dream of escaping the group a real shot in the arm with their surprise victory over Germany, whilst Australia’s brave draw with Ghana has given them a chance – albeit a slight one – of making an appearance in a second consecutive World Cup last-16. (more…)
Man-nipples aplenty on the Algerian side
So while everyone analyses Fabio Capello’s formation and team tactics, let’s face it, as much as we all want England to win, screaming at the TV just won’t help. Neither will booing.
Sunday’s match was like watching a dog chasing its tail, and so naturally my eyes also began to wander away from the ball. If you haven’t already realised, I’m a girl. So here’s an alternative take on England v Algeria. (more…)
French fans were left hoping for a bit more va-va-voom from Anelka et al following the first round bore-draw
Two games on…
11th June
South Africa 1 – 1 Mexico
France 0 – 0 Uruguay
17th June
South Africa 0 – 3 Uruguay
France 0 – 2 Mexico
Having witnessed an uninspiring first round of matches, most notably accompanied by plentiful criticism of the French, fans were much looking forward to a more direct, purposeful second set of fixtures. Indeed we saw this from Uruguay and Mexico, who brought steel to add to their South American flair and in doing so produced two accomplished displays which put them in pole position to qualify. With the two sides now facing off against each other in a game where the pressure is on neither to win, a draw would see France fail to progress in a stunning anti-climax. South Africa will sense that an urgent performance could see them end with a victory. (more…)
Germany impressed the pundits in their opener against Australia
The first round of Group D fixtures gave us two winners, and those two sides will be looking to secure their progression to the knock out stages in their fixtures this Friday and Saturday afternoons. Group favourites Germany impressed many ‘expert’ pundits, and arguably gave the best performance of any side in the tournament’s first group games, whilst Ghana edged past Serbia thanks to a penalty in a tight and cautious game. Australia have a lot of work to do following their poor display against the Germans all of which must be done without star man Tim Cahill following his harsh sending off. (more…)
Gonzalo Higuaín finally found his scoring boots
Despite the win, Argentina undoubtedly had a frustrating start to the World Cup against Nigeria. Argentina went into this game looking to prove their right to be called one of the favourites. (more…)
England goalkeeper Rob Green buries his head in disbelief after his mistake gives USA the equaliser
England had to settle for a disappointing point on their opening game of the World Cup as Robert Green’s inexplicable mistake gifted USA a well-earned point. (more…)
No comment.
This game was always going to be a bit special for Argentina coach Diego Maradona. His final ever international match was against Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup, before he failed a drug test and was banned from the tournament. Now, he’s facing the Super Eagles in his first ever World Cup match as a manager, and he has unfinished business to take care of. (more…)
Greece were on the whole unimpressive in their opening game against South Korea, but will be thanking Zeus they didn’t suffer a heavier defeat. (more…)
The World Champions are the strong favourites to top this group and are expected to cause some heartbreak in the knockout stages. But even as World Champions they aren’t favourites to reach the final in let alone reclaim their title. How far and brightly will their 2010 campaign blaze?
Paraguay considered favourites to progress to the knockout phase alongside Italy. They saw off both Brazil and Argentina to seal their place at the summer tournament, with two games to spare, during their qualifying campaign. Are their impressive qualifying performances enough to strike fear into the hearts of Group F?
Although they pose little threat to Italy and Paraguay, Slovakia are still expected to outperform New Zealand. But how will they perform against the group favourites?
They’re not expected to move higher than the foot of the table in Group F. Surely they deserve some respect for making it to the greatest stage in the footballing world which some of their higher rated counterparts failed to reach, or are they just cannon fodder for their group mates?
You are currently browsing the Off The Post blog archives for June, 2010.
Should the vuvuzelas be silenced?
Sunday, June 13th, 2010Tags: evra, South Africa, vuvuzelas, World Cup
Posted in Comment, World Cup | 3 Comments »