The curtain has been raised on every team at the World Cup now and there more questions than answers. Spain's loss to Switzerland has thrown an enormous wrench in the works as the possibility of a Brazil vs. Spain round of 16 match that now looms on the horizon. The hopes of the African continent are fading fast with the humiliating loss host South Africa suffered to an, at best, fortunate Uruguay, (Uruguay to me is just repugnant-the luck of the deflected goal and a disgraceful embellished fall for a PK) there was slight contact with the South African goalkeeper but the way Suarez went down was ridiculous. The slow motion replays made him look like a puppet that just had its strings cut by his master. The saddest part is now we have Uruguay more than likely coming through and we have to suffer those extra 90 minutes of them on the stage and not the joy of watching a host country. African teams as a whole have disappointed to this point but time is still on the side of Ghana and Ivory Coast but wins are now a must for each to insure round of 16 play. However, Algeria, Cameroon and Nigeria are on a razor's edge for game two; another loss and their adventures are over for this World Cup. The tallest task is that of the Ivory Coast as they now face Brazil. Although, one of the questions not answered is Brazil. The 5 time champions were not at their fluent best but efficient enough to win their 8th straight opening World Cup match. Will the Brazilians turn on the switch and find some consistent pace and precision passing in the final third as with their second goal vs. North Korea to raise their game to Finalist level quality?
Another question mark lies next to the Italian side. Notorious slow starters at World Cups, the Azzuri did nothing to change that trend. I've picked Italy to finish second in the group to face the Dutch next, still on track. Finally, can Switzerland and Chile pull off a huge coup and oust everyone's darling to win this tournament Spain at the first hurdle. With all these 1-0 games, it could happen. Peace?
1 comments:
IMHO, modern football is quite dependent on set piece goals, rather than those from run of play (especially with sides commonly playing with 5 backs and 1 striker) Thus, it would seem, especially from visual evidence of numerous Baggio-esque free kicks from dangerous positions (18-30/35 yds out facing the frame), that few goals at SA 2010 are due to not only "saftey first" tactics in group play but also a combination of altitude and "the ball", whether a mental effect which is likely, or something really to do with its flight characteristics, making set piece goals more difficult to come by. Notice that most of the teams that have come up with multiple goals are either elite sides (Brasil, Germany, Argentina, Holland) or have done so against 10-men or sides that might not have qualified had they been forced to do so...
BTW - I'd rather watch 16 hours of Uruguay than 16 minutes of the diving, chippy hacking, bitchboy style of the Portuguese!
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