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…)
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…)
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?
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