World Cup - Week Two

Ten days of World Cup Soccer action has taken it's toll on me. I have not missed a game; in fact, I have seen most of them twice. Once in English and again in the evening in Spanish, just because those colorful commentators on the Spanish stations get so excited. I was forced to miss the last half of the Mexico-Angola game on Friday because of an unavoidable appointment, and went the rest of the day avoiding the results until I could get to a bar and watch the end on replay. My friend calls it "World Cup Fever" and I'm inclined to agree. It's addictive. There's no question about it, each of these games brings something thrilling, new, and exciting...It's more than just a game, I tell people. It's the World getting together, putting aside their pettiness and politics, and playing with honor before the eyes of fans all over the globe. That, to me, is something special.
Without further delay, here's the round up of the games:

GROUP A

Germany vs Poland

This one was a tight match. These teams have been traditional rivals ever since the tanks crossed the border in the fall of 1939. The Poles have never forgotten the legendary 1974 "Rain Match", played in Frankfort, between these two teams. The story goes that, because of the torrential rain, the Poles asked that the game be delayed but the West Germans refused, leading to a Polish loss.
This game was a battle of defenders, with Poland looking better than their 2-0 loss in the opener with Ecuador. They held the Germans to a 0-0 game until the last minute of regular play,when a thrilling blitz by the Germans pounded the goal frame twice in four seconds, before Forward Oliver Neuville finally found the mark, ending this one at 1-0. With this win and a loss by Costa Rica, Germany will play Ecuador for the top rank in the next round.


Ecuador vs Costa Rica

Breathtaking. This match saw the astounding demolition of the Costa Rican defense. 8 minutes into the game a blazing strike by Carlos Tenorio gave Ecuador their first goal, leaving Costa Rica to play a defensive match for the rest of the first half. In the second half, at almost the same amount of time into it as the first, Agustin Delgado drove the ball in for the second. With Costa Rica looking confused and desperate, Ivan Kaviedes hit Ecuador's 3rd at the last minute in regulation time, leaving Costa Rica to play Poland with no hope for either team to advance. Well, what do you expect from a country that abolished their military?


GROUP B

England vs Trinidad & Tobago

For a moment there it looked like the Soca Warriors were going to have a repeat of their 0-0 opener against Sweden, but one of the Worlds Great Soccer Super Powers wasn't going to let that happen. Amid soccer chants and beating drums Peter Crouch scored in the 58th minute, drawing cheers and jeers from the mixed crowd in Nuremerg. Shaka Hislop shined again after blocking England's aggressive strikes over and over, but England fought past a strong Trinidad-Tabago defense to allow midfielder Steven Gerrard to score again in the 90th minute. With this win England stays alive in their group and should be assured a spot in the next round and the Soca Warriors will play a do or die against Paraguay, and hope Sweden loses to England.

Sweden vs Paraguay

In what looked to be a repeat of Sweden's 0-0 game with Trinidad & Tobago the game went back and forth, scoreless until the 89th minute when Freddie Ljungberg managed a devastating strike to shatter Paraguays chance of an easy in to the Final 16. This means that Sweden needs to pull a tie against England and hope that Paraguay beats Trinidad & Tobago. It's not over yet, and it's close games like these that keep the thrills coming.


GROUP C

Argentina vs Serbia & Montenegro

An unbelievable game by Argentina. Six minutes into the game Maxi Rodriguez slipped in the first goal of the game and it was a thing of beauty of behold. 26 minutes later, midfielder Esteban Cambiasso finished a classic play, landing another with ease. 10 minutes later Maxi Rodriguez makes another and Serbia & Montenegro look thoroughly disheartened. The beating, however, did not stop there.
27 minutes after their last goal, forward Hernan Crespo plays smooth and fast to make it 4-0.
Amid the deafening cries of exuberant Argentinian's in the crowd, Serbia & Montenegro watched their defense fall apart like the walls of Jericho. Los Albicelestes kept serving up the goals with a side dish of humiliation courtesy of Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi to clinch their teams berth in the next round, 6-0.


Netherlands vs Ivory Coast

The longshots from Africa, the Ivory Coast Elephants, faced a tough match against the Netherlands in this game. The action took place in the first half, with Robin Van Persie and Rutgerus Van Nistelrooy scoring 3 minutes apart early in the first part of the half, leaving Les Eléphants searching for an opening in the Dutch iron defense. Finally, Bakari Kone brought the joy home to Africa to bring the sentimental favorites within 1 point of a much needed draw.
Sadly, the Dutch gave no ground and Les Elephants could never get their momentum going enough to strike in for a tie. Didier Drogba led the team, rallying a powerful defense in the second half to keep the win from being an embarrassing one, but in the end, the Netherlands came out ahead, leaving the first time World Cup rookies from Africa to build on their experience and, hopefully, return stronger, leaner, and wiser in 2010.

GROUP D

Mexico vs Angola

Here's a good example of how African Soccer can undermine the fast pace and sharp ball handling of American Soccer. After coming off of their 3-1 win against Iran, Mexico appeared confidant and strong but faced a hungry Angolan team, eager to prove themselves after a 1-0 loss to Paraguay. With several goal strikes both teams came up empty, leaving the game at a 0-0 draw. This leaves Mexico waiting to see how Portugal fares against Iran, and quite likely, facing elimination.
The combination of missed goal chances and a tough defense from the Black Antelopes could have devastating results on the Mexicans chances of advancing to the Round of 16.


Portugal vs Iran

This one went back and forth for the first half with crowd support present for both sides but it was midfielder Anderson Deco who scored for Portugal 23 minutes into the second half. Iran tried repeated unsuccessful replies but without Ali Daei on the pitch, were left scoreless. Portugal broke through Iran's defense more than once but was denied by goal keeper Ebrahaim Mirzapour. In the end it was a penalty kick by Cristiano Ronaldo five minutes from the end that doubled the Seleçao das Quinas lead and shut out Iran. Next, we wait to see how Team Melli will perform against Angola.


GROUP E

Czech Republic vs Ghana

The team that flogged Team USA got their own bell rung by Ghana. The Second Ranked Czech's looked stunned to be taken down so hard by this team from the tiny African Nation. 2 minutes into it forward Asamoah Gyan scored the first goal of the game for Ghana, and let the Czech's know that they were in it to win it.
The Lokomotiva looked stunned as goal attempt after goal attempt was denied, and the Black Stars were determined to defend the honor of their continent, after their 2-0 loss to Italy in their opener.
But the Czech's didn't earn their #2 world ranking by giving up. They marshaled all their efforts to scoring, taking wild shots, while keeping up a strong defense until the clock ran out. In the end, however, midfielder Sulley Muntari locked in the win for Ghana in the 82nd minute, sending the fans from Ghana into fits of ecstasy and leaving Czech fans to shake their heads in disbelief.
Ghana remains safe from elimination, at least for now.

Italy vs United States

After a dismal loss to the Czech's in their opening match, followed by a vicious tounge lashing from Bruce Arena, Team USA came out with good ol' American grit to hold the Italians off. Things looked grim when Alberto Gilardino scored in the 22nd minute for the Azzurri but US Goalie Kelsey Keller stood his ground against an unrelenting Italian assault, blocking every other ball that came his way. It was by sheer luck and the grace of God that Team USA received a score when Italian defender Cristian Zaccardo bumped Clint Dempsey's cross into the net for an own-goal to tie the game at 1-1.
When Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi threw an elbow into Brian McBrides face that split his cheek and sent the American off the field covered in blood things got ugly. De Rossi was red-carded out of the game, but Referee Jorge Larrionda seemed to get a taste for the red card, because Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope were thrown off the pitch on each side of the half.
This game brought up concerns by World Cup Chairman, and Soccer Legend, Franz Beckenbauer, over the amount of yellow- and red- cards being thrown around by the ref's in these games. Jorge Larrionda, for his part, ref-ed a terrible game, stopping the momentum at every chance, and tossing players when either a yellow-card or a warning would have sufficed. Consequently, Team USA goes into their deal-breaking game with Ghana without two of their best players. In light of this I'd like to pass along a Sam's Army Soccer Chant:

Rope-Tree-Blind-Deaf
I want a rope, a tree
To hang the referee
I said I'm blind, I'm deaf
I want to be a ref
(Repeat)

Group F

Japan vs Croatia

In scoreless games like this one it's always the Goal Keepers who shine. In this game it was Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi keeping the Champs from Asia a little farther away from elimination with dazzling saves and pin point blocks, and Stipe Pletikosa for Croatia who remained on the mark to deny Japan a score. Both teams held fast to their chances, but need to win their last game to keep any hope of moving into the next round going.

Brazil vs Australia

This was the game of the week for me. Not only did the Spanish stations feature shapely women in skimpy outfits with tight little green BRAZIL tee shirts, but the outpour of fan support for both teams was a delight to watch. Early on there was some confusion about uniforms because both teams sport yellow and green as their colors but this was soon solved when the Socceroos came out in their dark blue uniforms, leaving La Verde Amarella to their own.
Australia didn't really need to win this game, a loss or a draw would have placed them pretty much the same. As long as Croatia doesn't beat them on Thursday the Socceroos will waltz into the next round.
With the artistic style that has become their trademark, Brazil kept Australia from scoring through the first half, and early into the second forward Adriano knocked home a goal to put Brazil up, and at the close Fred tapped one in right over the line to close it 2-0. Thrown in through the game there were moments of bliss watching Ronaldinho.
For those of you who don't know who this man is I urge you to find out. Get some tapes, find some footage on the 'net, or better yet, catch their next game on Thursday. Chances are you have already seen his swarthy, buck-toothed face in a commercial somewhere and thought that what you saw him do with a soccerball had to be trick photography. I assure you. it's not. This 26 year old has several more years left in him but, as the World Cup comes along only every 4 years, he will be 30 for the next one, and undoubtedly slower and less agile. He is at his prime, and a thing of beauty to behold.

GROUP G

France vs South Korea

Les Bleus had not scored a goal in the World Cup since their Emmanuel Petit sank one back in 1998 with their win over Brazil. The World Cup was held in France that year and the streets of Paris were filled with joy. France went into this game in an already desperate situation, needing a win to assure a place in the next round but the fans would have to be satisfied with what they got, which was an end to their dry spell. That came to an end in this game when a Sylvain Wiltord bounce fed one to Thierry Henry, who put it in to the net 9 minutes into the first half.
Korean fans were out in force, too, though. In Los Angeles they opened up the Staples center and filled it with 20,000 fans of the Reds, cheering from thousands of miles away from both home and the game. The Koreans kept France down to a 1-0 score for the rest of the game until, toward the end of regulation, they attacked with a furious volley of attacks on the French net that kept Fabien Barthez busy until midfielder Park Ji-Sung finally hit one home to tie the game 1-1.
Now France is dependent on the outcome of the remaining games in the group, and what's worse, they will face Togo without play maker Zinedine Zidane who drew a red card 85 minutes into the game and was tossed.



Togo vs Switzerland

After Togo's 2-1 loss to South Korea this was a must win situation for the African team. In this game they showed little of the ball handling and all of the determination they showed in that game. This time, the Swiss scored on them first when forward Alexander Frei scored on them in the 17th minute of the game.
For the Swiss it was their first World Cup goal since Adrian Knup scored one in Detroit during the 1994 games to beat Romania 4-1.
The Sparrow Hawks went into full defensive mode and held Die Eidgenossen off through the rest of the first half. They came out strong in the second but dissolved into a desperate team, deflecting, blocking and tackling until, in the 88th minute, midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta scored one on them, sending Swiss fans into song and silencing the fans from Togo.
The Chief Shaman from Togo said that the spirits had predicted the tiny African nation would advance to the next round, would, in fact, win 2 games. So much for other worldly aid at the World Cup.

GROUP H

Saudi Arabia vs Ukraine

After holding their own against Tunisia, Saudi Arabia was expected to make a stronger showing against the Ukrainians, who were beaten by Spain 4-0. Defender Andriy Rusol crashed through the Saudi defense 4 minutes into the game to set the tone for the rest of the match. Al-Akhdar goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid stayed busy, guarding his net through several attacks from the Ukraine and finally gave over another to forward Sergei Rebrov in the 36th minute. In the second half a refreshed Saudi defense kept things clear and looked to be making a rally but a minute into it Andriy Shevchenko shot one into the net and robbed the Saudi's of their vigour faster than a Texas wildcatter with their oil. It was all down hill from there, and when midfielder Maxim Kalinichenko scored to make it 4-0 at the 84th minute, the death knell was sounded for the Saudi's. Now, it's all but over for them, as the Ukraine need to win their next match to advance into the next round.

Spain vs Tunisia

A very painful game to watch. midfielder Jaouhar Mnari scored 8 minutes into the game and Tunisia held on to that lead by the strength of goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel, who was always in command of the team. With a snarl and a wave, he seemed to challenge Spain to attack his net and, for the first half, he defended it with the passion and frenzy worthy of Hannibal. Through the first, Spain looked frenetic and disoriented but remained intact enough to launch several vicious attacks on Tunisia, each sustained and denied by an energetic Boumnijel. But he's 40 years old, and perhaps, not the man he once was. In the second half Les Aigles de Carthage held strong until a lean Raul Gonzalez finally netted one in the 72nd minute for La Furia Roja, energizing the fans and, perhaps, his team.
Suddenly, The Tunesian Carthage Eagles were forced to go in the offensive again, sparing their defense on the needy Spanish Red Fury. Four minutes later young-blood Fernando Torres scored again, slipping Spain into the lead. Energized, Spain showed renewed ball handling skill, moving in on the second lead Tunisia has lost in these games, to force the showdown penalty. Torres lined up in the rain soaked pitch and stared down the old vet, Boumnijel for the penalty kick. Long story short, Spain wins it 3-1.
There's several reasons why he missed that block but none of them really matter since having held it would have done Tunisia no good. A thrilling game and a fantastic end to this round of play. Now, Tunisia has little hope of advancing and Spain is almost assured of a spot in the next round.