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.

The most intriguing game tomorrow will be the clash between current group leaders Ghana and the pre-tournament group favourites Germany.

The Germans shock loss to Serbia has put their progression in the tournament in real jeopardy and they must now beat the Ghanaians to guarantee their place in the knock out stages. On flip-side a draw for Ghana would see them through, although that may mean they would finish the group as runners-up and possible date with England (some would say that would be a good thing!).

Germany will be without veteran goalscorer Miroslav Klose following his sending off in the Serbia game, and coach Joachim Loew will be nervously hoping that his probable replacement Cacau will be able to add to his account following his strike against Australia in their opening fixture. Other changes are possible as the Germans look to recapture the form that saw them so comprehensively defeat the Aussies.

The Ghanaians have problems of their own, with rebel midfielder Sulley Muntari having yet another bust-up with coach Milovan Rajevac, and although the talented Inter Milan man has apologised to his national manager, he looks likely to remain on the bench. Star defender John Mensah has recovered from a calf problem and looks likely to come back in to the side who will no doubt be looking for a stronger performance from ‘keeper Richard Kingston following his mistake in their last game which gifted Australia’s Brett Holman with a tap-in.

With South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon already out of the competition, the Ghanaians will be desperate to ensure there is an African representative in the knock out stages. Whether they will be get anything out of the Germans remains to be seen, and you somewhat feel that they may have missed their chance with the stalemate in the previous game.

Should Ghana fail to get a satisfactory result from their clash with Germany the door will be left wide open for Serbia to earn a place in the last-16.

The win against the Germans was perhaps somewhat fortunate, with the foolish and ridiculous handball from Nemanja Vidic going unpunished following Lukas Podolski’s poor penalty, as well as the Germans having to play with ten men for nearly an hour.

What couldn’t be questioned however was their defensive solidarity, and once they had got the opening goal, it was very difficult for the Germans to break the Serbs down. A similar performance at the back against the Socceroos tomorrow should be enough to keep a clean sheet, but they will probably be looking for more from giant forward Nikola Zigic, who has flattered to deceive in front of goal so far in South Africa.

Hoping to end the Serbians knock-out chances will be the Australians who have a very slight chance of making it through themselves, although they will have to do so without the aid of Harry Kewell following his red in the Ghana draw, and will also be missing veteran centre half Craig Moore who has also picked up two yellows in the tournament’s first two games.

The Aussies will be boosted by the return of Tim Cahill from suspension, although how much impact he can have leading the line is questionable – particularly against such a strong and experienced defence, and coach Verbeek may chose to utilise Cahill in a familiar attacking midfield role and opt for the more physical presence of Josh Kennedy.

The Socceroos need to win tomorrow and rack up the goals to stand any chance of qualification, with at least a three goal swing required, with their humbling defeat to Germany coming back round to punish them.

The odds on the Aussies are slim, and Serbia look likely to progress, however it’s always perilous to right them off in any sport and only a fool would say they had no chance.

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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…

11^th June

South Africa 1 – 1 Mexico

France 0 – 0 Uruguay

17^th 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.

Uruguay stepped up their attacking game, with the introduction of Edinson Cavani of Palermo seeing Diego Forlan drop in to a deeper role, where he ran the game like a dictator – playing short one-twos in the midfield, peeling off the full backs and moving infield, generally finding the opposition questioning who should mark him. His conversion of a penalty which he waited all of 5 minutes for, was indicative of his temperament and confirmed him as the man of the match for his second successive game. Oscar Tabarez’s team set the tone for the next game in the group… and another precise, deserving victory was delivered.

Forlan Celebrates his first goal

Perhaps less surprising than any of the results was Mexico’s comprehensive deconstruction of France, who must surely now be regarded as the poorest team in the tournament. Franck Ribery was truly awful in an unnatural position, perhaps even worse than he was in the first game, which is saying a lot. Nicolas Anelka was ineffective and Sidney Govou once more completely anonymous. The complete lack of urgency in their play was merely an on-field demonstration of the malaise surrounding the French camp. Perhaps there really isn’t a better word to describe it. Much has been said of the lack of unity and how the players have not forged an understanding with Raymond Domenech, with the post-match inquisition has doing little to dispel this ill-feeling; “We had good intentions but it didn’t work.”

The longest-serving French coach of all time, a master of no tournament but thankfully, a master of stating the obvious.

In keeping with a desire to end on a positive note, the Mexicans stepped in just where the Irish would have wanted them to – playing with a verve and control that suggested they were the superior team and prepared for the game knowing it. Their confidence was refreshing and their determination to carry the performance through to the last minute, equally so. Giovani Dos Santos, so often a dreadful disappointment in English football, looking as if he were on an academy player mistakenly thrown in to the deep end; looked as if he were indeed still too young to be playing but doing so with a guile and precision that should earn him a look-in at another good club. Spare a mention for Carlos Vela, who was substituted in the first half with what looked like a tournament-ending hamstring injury. Although Guardado or Barrera could be brought in, Vela is a favourite of coach Javier Aguirre and would be missed.

The introduction of Hernandez though, was the turning point. Just as the French looked like gaining momentum, troubling the Mexicans with crosses, the ineffective Franco was brought off for the livelier, quicker ‘Chicarito,’ giving his team a focal point to trouble the suspect pairing of Gallas and Abidal, neither of whom seemed to know who should be marking the lone striker. He took his goal wonderfully, and showed enough clever touches and runs to surely warrant his selection for the final game. The introduction of Cautehemoc Blanco also provided the composure and probing final-pass that was required to transform good possession into effective possession. His run up and finish for the penalty was as wonderful as it was bizarre and it was a special moment for the veteran to have his name on the score sheet in a victory that will rightfully be celebrated not just in Mexico but back in Dublin too.

Substitute Hernandez makes the breakthrough for Mexico and Ireland.

Certainly we hope that this second round of matches will continue to be much like what we have seen in the past day and less like the overly cautious, too-nervous-about-our-quality football that we have been ‘treated’ to so far. What we do know so far is that Group A has given us excitement from the underdog, the tournament’s best player so far… and it’s worst team.

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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

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?

Slovakia

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?

New Zealand

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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