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Suarez celebrates his double
The first games of the knockout stages have been played and two winners emerged from hard-fought games. First, Uruguay dispatched of South Korea thanks to a Luis Suarez double while Ghana had to go to extra-time to find their winner against the United States.
It would be a lie to say that I predicted Uruguay's victory but they were the logical winners in a game where talent overshadowed hard work. La Celeste opened the score early as Forlan's cross flew across a static Korean defense to reach Suarez at the far post. The Ajax striker then fired his shot into an empty net as Jung Sung-Ryong had dove – and failed – to intercept the cross. What happened after that was puzzling to say the least. With 80 minutes still to go, Uruguay slowly started to drop back, seemingly happy to defend, letting the Koreans come to them and hoping to hit them on the break.
Now, Korea aren't the most dangerous team to play against but one thing's for sure, they never give up. And as they probed and probed and probed for an opening, Uruguay's defense – who hadn't conceded a goal until today – finally broke at the 68th minute when Lee Chung Yong headed a loose ball past Muslera. Like his counterpart in the first half, the young goalkeeper was in no man's land when the ball reached Lee, putting both teams level.
Once Uruguay conceded though, they got back to work, putting more and more pressure on the Koreans. Finally, Suarez found the opening in the 80th minute with a superb strike worthy of a nomination for Goal of Tournament. Korea had a chance to equalize before the final whistle but Lee Dong-Gook's shot was partly stopped by Muslera before Lugano cleared the ball as it slowly trickled towards the open net. And just like that, Uruguay are on their way to the quarterfinals.
In the other game, a tactical blunder by Bob Bradley proved costly for the United States as a giveaway by Ricardo Clark led to Ghana's first goal after only five minutes played. It wasn't Clark's sole indiscretion of the night as he picked up a yellow card a couple of minutes later before getting subbed at the half-hour mark.
Faced against an organized, aggressive and fast Ghanaian team, the United States were unable to assert any kind of dominance on the pitch. The few times that they managed to get to the opposition's box, goalkeeper Richard Kingson was up to the task.
Everything changed in the second half when Benny Feilhaber was introduced for the US. His presence immediately brought a spark to the team as his first attempt on goal was denied by Kingson. His presence also meant that Dempsey was free to roam higher up the pitch, causing trouble to Ghana's defense. The US' newly found vivacity was rewarded with a penalty-kick coolly converted by Landon Donovan at the hour-mark.
The Africans didn't waste time to take the lead once again but this time it was in the opening minutes of extra-time. Asamoah Gyan outmuscled both Bocanegra and DeMerit before firing a powerful shot past Howard. With that, the dream is over for the United States and we might not see a “Donovan: The Movie” after all. Ghana go on as the sole representative of Africa where they'll meet Uruguay.
The defending champions are once again in a relatively weak group but both Paraguay and Slovakia can cause surprises.
ITALY
Overview
Leading up to the World Cup, there's been talk of Brasil, Spain, Argentina and Germany as favorites. Many seem to forget that Italy are the defending champs and will try to retain their title in the same fashion they had won it: slow and steady. Pirlo's absence in the first games though means that the young Montolivo will be assigned playmaking duties.
Full squad list
GK: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Frederico Marchetti (Cagliari), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)
DEF: Christian Maggio (Napoli), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari)
MID: Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)
FW: Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria)
Keep an eye on: Riccardo Montolivo
All of Italy's offense will rest on the shoulders of the Fiorentina playmaker in the absence of Pirlo.
PARAGUAY
Overview
I haven't seen much of Paraguay so I can't quite comment on their abilities in this tournament. They had the same number of wins as Chile during qualifying and gained their ticket with a 1-0 win over Argentina.
Full squad list
GK: Justo Villar (Valladolid [Spain]), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno), Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin [Colombia])
DEF: Dario Veron (Pumas UNAM [Mexico]), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors [Argentina]), Denis Caniza (Leon [Mexico]), Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro [Brazil]), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland [England]), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo [Argentina]), Antolin Alcaraz (Club Brugge [Belgium])
MID: Carlos Bonet (Olimpia Asuncion), Edgar Barreto (Atalanta [Italy]), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg [Germany]), Enrique Vera (Liga de Quito [Ecuador]), Victor Caceres (Libertad), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul [Mexico]), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors [Argentina])
FW: Oscar Cardozo (Benfica [Portugal]), Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City [England]), Edgar Benitez (Pachuca [Mexico]), Nelson Valdez (Borussia Dortmund [Germany]), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund [Germany]), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad)
NEW ZEALAND
Overview
It's hard to judge New Zealand as they easily dominated a weak Oceania qualification group and lost all but one preparation game (a 1-0 win against Serbia who have their own scoring issues). I don't see them picking up one point.
Full squad list
GK: Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory [Australia]), James Bannatyne (Team Wellington)
DEF: Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix), Winston Reid (Midtjylland [Denmark]), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers [England]), Andy Boyens (New York Red Bulls [USA]), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town [England])
MID: Simon Elliott, Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Andy Barron (Team Wellington), Michael McGlinchey (Motherwell [Scotland]), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Dave Mulligan, Jeremy Christie (Tampa Bay [USA])
FW: Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast United [Australia]), Chris Killen (Middlesbrough [England]), Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle [England]), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion [England]), Jeremy Brockie (North Queensland Fury [Australia])
SLOVAKIA
Overview
Like Serbia in Group D, Slovakia may quietly sneak under the radar as they count on a talented side which finished first in their qualifying group ahead of Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Poland. They have serious pace on the wings so defenders should beware.
Full squad list
GK: Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw [Poland]), Dusan Pernis (Dundee United [Scotland]), Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui [Romania])
DEF: Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg [Germany]), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool [England]), Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion [England]), Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz 05 [Germany]), Jan Durica (Hannover 96 [Germany]), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava), Martin Petras (Cesena [Italy])
MID: Zdenko Strba (Xanthi [Greece]), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City [England]), Jan Kozak (Timisoara [Romania]), Marek Sapara (Ankaragucu [Turkey]), Miroslav Stoch (Twente Enschende [Netherlands]), Marek Hamsik (Napoli [Italy]), Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague [Czech Republic]), Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava)
FW: Stanislav Sestak (Bochum [Germany]), Robert Vittek (Ankaragucu [Turkey]), Filip Folosko (Besiktas [Turkey]), Martin Jakubko (FC Moscow [Russia]), Erik Jendrisek (Kaiserslautern [Germany])
Keep an eye on: Marek Hamsik
The Napoli playmaker is the key to Slovakia's attack. Only 22 years old, he has impressed at club level, twice finishing as Napoli's top scorer and twice elected best young Slovak of the year.
Heinze celebrates his goal
The Albiceleste were the first Cup contenders in action this weekend, facing African underachievers Nigeria at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Although Argentina dominated the game, they had to settle for only one goal as goalkeeper Enyeama had the game of his life.
Maradona's men had a brilliant start, opening the score in the sixth minute via a header by Heinze on a corner-kick. The defender tasked with picking up Heinze was sleepwalking on the play, leaving a wide open space for the veteran to run through. After that goal, it seemed like the Messi-led squad were on their way to a good old-fashioned thrashing, but goalkeeper Enyema made sure that it didn't happen.
The 28-year-old was magnificent through 90 minutes of play, stopping Messi's beautiful long-range curlers as well as point-blank shots by the Barcelona striker and Higuain. At the other end, the young Romero didn't have much to do but his defense revealed all sorts of flaws that can be easily exploited by stronger teams.
For all their firepower in front, Argentina are quite weak in their own end. They are vulnerable to both crosses from the wings and late runs by opposing midfielders. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for Enyema's composure and Nigeria's lack of finishing, we could have had a classic barnburner in our hands. The final 30 minutes were especially enthralling as the game suddenly became end-to-end with great scoring opportunities at both ends.
In the end, for a team keen on winning the Cup, Argentina have a fair share of problems they must fix before getting to the knock-out stages. Their defense isn't too reassuring and in front Higuain is slowly confirming his reputation as a floater during big games. Korea will put up a much better fight than the Africans; there we will see how Argentina responds to adversity.
My man of the match: Vincent Enyema
On the football stage, the Koreans are well-known for their vivacity and stamina and not much else. Greece, on the other hand, shocked the whole world in 2004 by winning the European Football Championship using an ultra-defensive system that stifled their opponents.
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The World Cup started with a bang as Mexico and South Africa battled to an entertaining 1-1 draw after a nice opening ceremony that featured R. Kelly (!!!) among others. That game was offset by the tepid encounter between France and Uruguay. All in all, it didn't top 2006's opening day but was pretty good. Here are some random thoughts on the day's events.
- The vuvuzelas aren't as annoying as people make out to be.
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When Lassana Diarra was ruled out of the World Cup with an illness, Raymond Domenech shifted his team's formation from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3. Surprisingly, he went back to the 4-2-3-1 against Uruguay, benching Malouda and starting Abou Diaby instead to play beside Toulalan. France started the game well, but they often got in each other's way in the final third, leaving Uruguay relatively unharmed.
Individualism was the key word for Les Bleus throughout this game as no one seemed to trust his fellow teammate to finish the play. Gourcuff was the most guilty of that behavior, wasting free-kicks by shooting at the net instead of looking for a cross and going for the shot instead of looking for the killer pass. Anelka seemed to want the ball all to himself as soon as France reached the edge of Uruguay's penalty box to the point of killing one of France's best passing sequence when – in an offside position – he took Diaby's through-ball destined for Govou who was speeding down the wing
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Tshabala after scoring the opening goal
The world's biggest sporting event got underway today in Johannesburg where South Africa and Mexico shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
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The Oranje should easily dominate this group and finish on top. Behind them however, all three teams can hope to advance to the next round.
NETHERLANDS
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Germany are the sole powerhouse in this group but Australia, Serbia, and Ghana all lie in wait behind them, ready to stun the whole world watching.
GERMANY
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On paper, Group C seems like an easy task for England but a surging American squad and a cohesive Slovenian block could prove tricky to deal with.
ENGLAND
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Unlike Group A which is pretty much wide open, Group B is more a question of will accompany Argentina to the knock-out stages. Nigeria, South Korea and Greece all seem to be on the same level and it looks like it will be a fight to the end for those three teams.
ARGENTINA
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Only five days remain until the World Cup kicks off. We will be counting down the days here at FootballSlate with group previews and get everyone ready for all the action starting with Group A.
Featuring four ex-World Cup hosts as well as the current one, Group A is a group of uncertainties with all four teams coming in with question marks over their capacity to go through
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Is another early exit in the cards for Les Bleus?
Although Raymond Domenech coached Les Bleus to a runner-up medal in 2006, there was no illusion that it was in great part due to Zidane's brilliance during qualification and in the tournament. As if the public needed any proof of Domenech's incompetence, his squad promptly flamed out of the 2008 Euros, their only point coming off a 0-0 draw against Romania. Even then, who can forget about his substitution blunder in the Italy game where, down 0-1, he pulled off Nasri who had just replaced Ribery in favor of a defender after Abidal's red card? Despite those shortcomings, the FFF (French Federation of Football) kept him on as France went on a tumultuous qualifying campaign which ended with the infamous Hand of Henry affair, ensuring France's qualification at the expense of Ireland. Now that the squads lists are out, let's see who Domenech intends to bring to South Africa.
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Don't be surprised to see different faces come June
If there was one team roster that everyone couldn't wait to see, it undoubtedly was Maradona's choices for Argentina's national team. As expected, there are several surprises on the list (and off it) leading to question marks all over the place.
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