Group C:
- USA: Rough start and very fortunate to equalize against the English. Played much better in the second half. Should get Torres and Feilhaber involved in their next match against Slovenia.
- England: Great start, only to see the side get less scary as the match progressed. Horrible goal keeping error as everyone has seen by this point. Need to get the play to flow through Rooney more often (didn't touch the ball until the 17th minute) and I would start a Shawn Wright Phillips or Peter Crouch over Heskey in the next match.
- Slovenia: On top of Group C, for now. The squad will be hoping two surprise the US or England to be an unexpected 2 seed. Don't count on it though as Slovenia did not have much quality on the night, connecting on 0 of 19 cross attempts.
- Algeria: Another goal keeping blunder cost Algeria the goal, but two yellow cards given to Ghezzal over the span of 14 minutes (and he was a substitute one minute before his first yellow) most likely shifted the advantage to Slovenia and it never came back. Would need victories over the USA and England to advance most likely. So we will see you for the 2014 qualifiers.
Group D:
- Germany: Most impressive performance of the tournament so far. Although up a man for the 2nd half the Germans clearly were playing on another level. If their form proves true they should get another 6 points and be into the knockout rounds easily.
- Serbia: Had a lot of hype coming into the tournament, but failed to look strong against a very young Ghana side. Like many squads so far they seemed unable to link up and get control of the new ball for crosses, corners and free kicks. With the next match against Germany, they are most likely already done.
- Ghana: First African team to win in this year's tournament and most likely to advance at this point with their next match against Australia. With a young squad (winners of the U-20 World Cup) might have the energy and excitement to get them through matches they would otherwise sit back in.
- Australia: Sure Germany was great, but Australia was equally as bad. Many thought after a good qualifying campaign in a new region - Asia - that Australia could be a strong team to upset a few sides (and they still might). Australia only managed two shots on goal the entire match and will be without play-maker Tim Cahill after two yellow cards.
Group E:
- Netherlands: A highly stacked Dutch squad and didn't appear as dangerous as many had hoped. With Robben returning and the super-sub Elia, Netherlands will develop into a strong side and should easily advance from this group.
- Japan: Shocked the Indomitable Lions after putting up only three shots (total, not just on goal) but grabbing the three points. Considering the competition can still easily advance, but will probably need to increase the attack against Denmark.
- Cameroon: Eto'o never seemed to find his rhythm in this game and was probably playing too far back. They are now forced to beat Denmark if they hope to advance. Africa's highest ranking team in the 2010 World Cup.
- Denmark: Tough result for Denmark after giving up the first own goal of the tournament. But on the positive side they are done with the group's toughest team. Based on the first set of games Denmark has the ability to beat Cameroon and Japan - wide open play for the 2nd spot.
Group F:
- Italy: Too old, too slow? The early analysis probably still holds up as the cup holders fell behind early and only woke up in the second half to level. In many other groups they would probably be knocked out early, but have too much talent to fall to New Zealand and Slovakia. Will perhaps be without Buffon.
- Paraguay: Came out the stronger of the two sides in a rain soaked match. Went ahead showing they wanted to win the game and not settled for a draw against the groups 'strongest' team. Have the best road toward's the group stage at this point.
- Slovakia: While controlling much of the match, not as dominating as one would have expected going up against the Kiwis. How will they respond in their next match (against Paraguay) after dropping 2 points in the final moments.
- New Zealand: Earned the country's first ever World Cup point with a shocking last minute header by Reid. They next face the current World Champions, but hopefully the point will give them the confidence to take the game to Italy. They lacked the skill to link up the midfield with the strikers for most of the match.
Group G:
- Brazil: Went out and got three points as expected, but with the competition on the light side we should hold our judgement until they take on the Ivory Coast.
- Ivory Coast: With so many skill players from across Europe this exciting side was unable to place many attempts on frame. Drogba's entrance proved he is Africa's star player. Hopefully will start against Brazil this weekend and provide the moments of excellence everyone is waiting for.
- Portugal: It appeared as though Ronaldo was going to be the first player to truly tame the new ball and light up the goal from long distance. That early strike on the post would be his most dangerous moment. They lacked the finishing skill and will now most likely play the goal differential game with the Ivory Coast.
- North Korea: Finally emerged from their secretive nature to take on FIFA's #1 ranked team. Considering they are ranked outside the top 100 countries a 2-1 result is quite impressive and holding Brazil off for nearly 2/3rds of the match. Not expected to advance and most likely still won't.
Thoughts on the action so far?
It's been full of surprises so far, even if short of goals!! A lot of the "smaller" teams have earned draws against big name opposition and so far, only Germany and Holland look like genuine contenders.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I think it was a very tentative start for most teams in the first set of group play matches. We should see more goals and attacking action as the tournament continues.
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