World Cup Day 11 – WTWF

I didn’t watch much today besides Brazil and Ivory Coast.

Paraguay continued the South American dominance this morning and took control of Group F with a 2-0 victory over Slovakia, a score which at least looks convincing.

Brazil continued that theme in the afternoon game with a victory over the Ivory Coast.  In doing so they qualified for the round of 16 and extended the African frustration, 1 win in 12 matches.  Brazil showed flashes of brilliance but did seem to get a little unhinged towards the end, perhaps a reflection of their fiery coach, a trait which could punish them as the games become tenser.

The middle game saw New Zealand squeak out another improbable tie, this time against the defending champion Italians.  Another excellent result for the 78th ranked team in the world.  They now actually hold out hope of advancing but need to up their standard of improbability and somehow beat the Paraguayans.

Tomorrow marks the final day of the 2nd set of group games.  This also means its the final day of 3 games at independent times.  Tuesday starts the final set of games when both group games are played at the same time to prevent any unfair competition.

The early game is probably a must win for Portugal if they harbor hope of advancing.  A loss wouldn’t rule them out completely, nor would a tie obviously, but it would mean their result vs Brazil has to be better than Ivory Coasts v North Korea.

The middle game is an interesting matchup between Switzerland and Chile.  Chile is everyone’s favorite darkhorse still but they will come up against a team in Switzerland which has shown they will be happy to absorb the attacking style and try to steal a goal at some point.

The afternoon pairing will probably see Honduras incur the wrath of La Roja.  Spain has surely been salivating at the thought of getting back onto the field after last week’s disappointing start to their campaign.

Nothing much more for today.  Happy Father’s Day.  Check back tomorrow.

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World Cup Day 10 – WTWF

I am going to try to keep this short because it’s the weekend and there has been a lot written the past few days.

Denmark was able to get 3 big points to put their hopes of qualification on their final group game vs Japan; essentially, winner advances. It was a very frustrating game to watch if you were rooting for Cameroon; Denmark was happy to pack the back and did well to capitalize on the counter attack. I was hoping Cameroon would advance but they just kept getting denied in the most agonizing fashion, and were done in by some poor defending of their own.

The Netherlands secured passage to the 2nd round with a 1-0 victory over Japan. They maintained a massive advantage in possession but still seem to be lacking in creativity around the box.  Being outshot (10-9) while holding 61% of possession screams of a lack of any sort of final ideas.

The middle game today was interesting as Australia played quite well despite going down to 10 men about 1/3 of the way in. They had a few great chances to really even out that group but did give themselves a slight chance at moving on by holding on for the tie. That group matches up with Group C in the round of 16, so you can be sure the American’s will be watching.

Tomorrow starts with the 2nd set of Group F games and could see the group begin to work itself out a bit.  Slovakia and Paraguay will look to get a victory before heading into their final matchup.  Paraguay looked unafraid last week against Italy and a victory tomorrow will put them in excellent position heading into their final group game with New Zealand.

Italy will surely like their chances vs New Zealand; the all whites were very lucky to get out of the first game with a tie after an injury time equalizer.  Despite the criticism going into the tournament and a tentative first half, Italy played a very positive second half.  It will be interesting to see if Marcello Lippi is humble enough to recognize that Antonio Di Natale deserves a full 90 minutes.  Of course, how Federico Marchetti handles his sudden promotion to GK #1 will be interesting, even if it is against New Zealand.

The final game is also the most enticing; Brazil v Ivory Coast.  If Ivory Coast harbors any hope of advancing they are going to have to play to their much publicized potential tomorrow.  You can be sure that Brazil will come to play but the Ivory Coast can do themselves a lot of good, both in the Group and in their confidence, by putting together a positive and competitive performance.  Competing and losing though could be crippling.  Much more will be known about how the group is unfolding after Portugal takes on N Korea on Monday at 7:30.

That is all for today…check out the link below though…

If you want more about the US and the blown call, check out any piece of American sports media….

Et al

Another NYTimes Goal blog post from John O’Brien; he continues to be the most insightful person writing about this tournament. Combines excellent tactical understanding with US specific insights.

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