World Cup 2010 - End of 2nd round

With the Spain-Portugal game yesterday, the 2nd round of the 2010 World cup is over and the best teams have indeed progressed to the quarter-finals of this World Cup.

The best performance so far had been from Brazil, who were a much improved side compared with their first round performance. Their final game in the first round with Portugal was especially ghastly. If they can maintain their 2nd round performance throughout the remainder of the tournament, they will be an unbeatable force.

Argentina, Germany and the Spanish teams were good too but they had their weakness. Argentina went to sleep in the 2nd half after scoring the 3rd goal. One hopes they were only testing their defensive strategy. Germany were impressive but seem to have lost urgency and team structure after they were 2-0 up with England. Spain's passing game was precise and a joy to watch but they seem to lack the goal scoring accuracy.
These teams may not survive against Brazil if they don't fix their weakness in the coming rounds.

The worst game so far was between Paraguay and Japan but both were playing defensively so it dragged on till the penalties.

The next game will between the best European team, Holland and Brazil. So hoping for a beautiful display of attacking soccer this Friday

World Cup 2010 - 2nd Round: Germany vs England

Germany deservedly won this game 4-1 but England was denied a legitimate goal in the first half which would have put the score at 2-2.

This game promised to offer entertainment and it didn't disappoint. Before the match, both teams are deemed to be equally matched and the winner was expected to go home with one extra goal.

From the onset of the game, Germany slowed down England's fast paced game and dictated the game play. This unnerved England and allowed Miroslave Klose to score the first goal of the game. The way the goal was scored showed the lack of communication in the English defense. From a goal kick by the German goalie, Klose managed to out wrestle two English defenders and slide kick the ball in.

The second goal by Germany was also scored by another senior player, Lukas Podolski. The goal was the result of a beautiful long movement of the ball in front of the English penalty box with Podolski rediscovering his sharpness again.

After the second goal, Germany relaxed a bit and allowed England to get back in to the game with their fast pace. This caused havoc in the German defense and allowed the English defender, Mathew Upson to score a goal with a header.

England still controlled the pace of the game and then scored another goal, this time by Frank Lampard. Unfortunately, the ball bounced out of the goal after going in and the linesman didn't see the ball cross the line. So a perfectly good goal was ruled out.

In the second half, Germany managed to keep England totally out of the game. They scored two goals in the counter attack with the English defense totally out of their depth. Both the goals was scored by their youngest player on the field Thomas Muller, who was excellent in this game today together with Mesut Ozil.

There was no way back for England now. Their passing lack precision and there was little team work on the field. So the result at the end of the day stood at 4-1 although the Germans could have scored more if their substitute have been sharper.

World Cup 2010 - 2nd round 1st day

The 2nd round games started with Uruguay and South Korea. Uruguay started brightly and they got a goal within first few minutes from Suarez. After that goal, they decided to go into defense mode and just waited for the South Koreans to bring the ball to them.

This is usually a recipe for disaster especially if the opposing team is as good or slightly lower than you. And so it happens, late in the 2nd half, the Koreans strike back with a goal.

But the Koreans are no match for Uruguay. Suarez had another goal, this time a beautifully curved shot hitting the post and into the net. The 2-1 score made Uruguay the first country to progress to the quarter-finals.

The second game of the day was between USA and Ghana. This was an interesting and exciting match for the start. Ghana quickly settled and got the first goal in 5 minutes from Kevin Prince Boateng who managed to evade the disorganized US defense. The US quickly settled after this goal and started to attack Ghana who decided to get into a defensive mode.

Prince Boateng then got tackled quite violently and forced to exit the game. Amazingly the tackled laid on him was very similar to the one he gave Michael Ballack, the injured Germany captain which made Ballack miss this World Cup.

The US goal came from a penalty after the Ghana defender fouled in the penalty area. Up until then, Ghana defenders were superb and stole a lot of balls from the US.

The game went into extra time and within the first 3 minutes, Asamoah Gayan, in an amazing individual brilliance, managed to evade 2 defenders before ramming the ball in the back of the net. Both teams by now were on their last legs and struggled to play the game

The score stayed 2-1 until the end giving Ghana the 2nd sport in the quarterfinals and giving Africa the hope.

World Cup 2010 - End of first round

The first round of the World cup matches has ended and the last few games were quite boring to tell the truth. The game between Brazil and Portugal was almost a farce, with too many yellow card in the first half and almost a training ground match in the second.

From the first round, the best team and the most entertaining one is Argentina. The team with the most fighting spirit is US and the team which has disappointed the most is Italy. France has basically have shown why they should not be at the World Cup in the first place.

The African teams, while vibrant and full of energy, don't seem to have the killer goal mouth instinct which can be found in most South American teams. If they can improve in that department, they all could easily enter the 2nd round. For now, Africa have to make do with Ghana.

The World Cup is perfectly set for the two South American giants, Argentina and Brazil to meet in the final unless some unexpected upsets happen. Other teams to watch out for are Germany, Portugal and Paraguay.

World Cup 2010 - Brazil vs North Korea

What a surprising game that was. Brazil was made to work hard to break the solid defense of the North Korean team. Almost everyone expected Brazil to score at least 4 goals. The final score was a 2-1 win to Brazil.

Maicon scored the first goal and what an amazing goal that was. He ran with the ball, almost touching the Korean baseline and shot it at goal. The ball curved itself towards the goal.

The game was a good one, with both team playing cleanly without much diving or fouls. Only one yellow card was shown and that was to a Brazilian player.

To be fair to the Koreans, their game was quite good. They are able to break the Brazilian defense at least thrice and on one of the occasions scored a goal.

This game should serve as a warning to Portugal and Ivory Coast that the expected minnow may turn out to be the one that follows Brazil to the next round.

World Cup 2010 - Concert

One day before the 2010 World Cup, the main concert by the organizers started. Black eyed Peas (BEP) started the ball rolling after the speech by FIFA president and South African President.

I think many of us surprised to hear the live voices of the BEP's. Fergie and Will.I.Am sound so different from their recorded voices. Anyway at least they were a live act.

The crowds at the venue was immense and were in good spirits. Now it is less than a day away from the World Cup!