Unfortunately, the World Cup comes around at a rather busy time of year, so it’s been hard to keep up, but I figures that the end of the group stages was a good time to reflect upon the tournament so far – and what a strange tournament it’s been! Firstly, a few notable facts:
- New Zealand have been eliminated without losing a game – they drew all three, emulating Scotland in 1974 in going undefeated, but still managing to take the early plane home
- France and Italy were both knocked out – the first time both the World Cup holders and losing finalists from the previous tournament have been knocked out in the first stage
- Not only did Italy and France both go out, they both finished plum last in their groups
- Uruguay and Portugal are both yet to concede a goal at the World Cup
- The Netherlands and Argentina were the only teams to win all three games
I could spout more, but I’ll save that for when the BBC employ me to be the new Statto. So, here is a group-by-group rundown of the opening stage.
Group A
France struggled to qualify for the World Cup. Few people thought France would go very far in the tournament, but they were still expected to progress to the last 16. South Africa were expected to finish bottom, with Mexico marginal favourites to edge second in many people’s books. Oh dear. France were dreadful. Their 0-0 draw with Uruguay was torture the CIA would be proud of. Their loss to Mexico was toothless and South Africa could, with a little composure in front of goal, have scored half a dozen or more. But still ,at least the team gave us plenty of off-field action, including sending one man home, going on strike and pushing a member of the French Football Federation into a typically French schoolboy tantrum, chucking his ID badge on to the grass in front of the world’s media. Oh, and a fight too – and don’t forget the fiasco over Gourcuff’s red card, or Thierry Henry sheepishly claiming handball quieter than a mouse. It wouldn’t be so bad, except for them also crashing out of Euro 2008 and the 2002 World Cup.
So anyway, Uruguay made Mexico look ordinary – which they are – and South Africa, try as they may, couldn’t quite stumble through. A little more composure in front of goal and they could easily have qualified. Ad don’t forget the opening goal of the tournament – what a peach of a finish!
Group B
Argentina may have struggled to qualify, but they dominated this group. Never threatened, they won the group in style. In truth, the rest of the group was rather ordinary. Greece didn’t really stand much chance and Nigeria aren’t the side they once were, with little to offer in attack. South Korea edged the second spot, but it’s hard to see them making the quarter finals.
Group C
Group C, England’s group. An easy one, eh? Well, maybe, unless you pick Robert Green in goal, ahead of the more experienced David James, who has been impeccable for the last couple of years, and Joe Hart, who surely will be the next England goalkeeper. I still don’t understand that. Oh, but that wasn’t all. Joe Cole was left on the bench, as was Peter Crouch, and instead Emile Heskey played alongside Rooney – quite possibly the least prolific international partnership of the 21st Century. So, unsurprisingly, England struggled to score and were pipped by the USA. After two draws, England played better against Slovenia to win 1-0, but will need to raise their game now. The USA will fancy their chances of progressing.
Group D
This, to a real football fan, was the real “group of death”. Looking at the start of the tournament, you could see any combination going through. Germany turned up early, beating Australia easily. Ghana’s defence took the Hand of God approach, to surprisingly good effect. One red card and a saved penalty later, they sneaked a 1-0 win against Serbia. Serbia and Germany then met, with Serbia taking an early lead, and Miroslav Klose an early bath. Then, the unthinkable happened. A player in a German shirt missed a penalty. Except it was Podolski, who is actually Polish, which only reinforces the argument that a German player on the German team should have taken the penalty – because Germans never miss. Anyway, Germany lost 1-0. Serbia topped the group, with Australia at the bottom. Surely Serbia and Germany would go through? Well, Germany did, winning 1-0 against Ghana, but Serbia managed to lose 2-1 to Australia, demonstrating perfectly the fallacy of anyone trying to pick a winner out of the group. Serbia go home and Ghana go through – an injustice.
Group E
The Netherlands and Denmark both impressed in qualifying. The Netherlands were always expected to win the group, and they did, with three understated wins. They didn’t show their hand too much, but they did enough in a group that could have caused problems for them. Japan are a good side and showed it, finishing second., but the Danish struggled to find the target, and Cameroon just looked uninspired. A very under-the-radar group, but it would be a mistake to dismiss either qualifier.
Group F
There’s no getting away from it, the biggest shock of the tournament is definitely Italy going out. France had performed poorly all the way through to the finals, but Italy were expected to do well. An opening draw against Paraguay wasn’t unexpected – they are, after all, a tough team to break down – but a draw against New Zealand really put them on the back foot. Another poor performance against Slovakia and they joined France on the early flight home. New Zealand and Italy had both been one goal from going through, but neither managed it. Paraguay deserved to win the group, Slovakia deserved to come second. New Zealand, like South Africa, may well have qualified if they had been a little more clinical up front.
Group G
Let’s face it, North Korea were always going to finish last here. Brazil were always favourites to finish top. The battle for second was between Portugal and the Ivory Coast. The two shared a predictable draw in the opening group game, and Portugal tore North Korea apart in the second as Brazil beat the Africans. They then knew they were as good as through, short of the Ivory Coast scoring ten against the Koreans. They didn’t, and to be honest, they struggled to supply Didier Drogba throughout. So, Brazil win the group, with Portugal finishing second, keeping three clean sheets, failing to score twice and scoring seven once. Calculating. They did precisely what they need to, just like the Dutchmen.
Group H
Spain had two-thirds of the possession again Switzerland, but they lost 1-0. A freak result? Perhaps it had more to do with poor finishing, as David Villa missed chance after chance against Honduras in a 2-0 win. Chile were surprisingly good, winning their first two matches, but Spain needed a simple win in their last game to top the group and avoid a clash with Brazil, which they did. Switzerland couldn’t beat Honduras, so Chile qualified – deservedly so.
Round Of 16
So, we’re now down to the last 16. You want to know my picks, right? Oh, go on then…
Uruguay vs. Korea Republic – Uruguay to win. Korea ship goals like foreign aid to Gaza. Uruguay concede as willingly as Israel lets foreign aid in to Gaza.
USA v. Ghana – USA to win. Ghana are the weakest team left. I’m more interested in whether Landon Donovan will manage to decapitate Ghana keeper Richard Kingson’s head with a shot.
Germany v. England – Germany to win, without extra time. But it’s a hard call. If England are going to win, I think they need to outgun Germany. If they try and out-defend the Germans, I can’t see an England win. If it goes to penalties, Jermain Defoe must not take a penalty. He’s missed six of eleven for Tottenham. And Podolski shouldn’t take one either. He’s not German, so he’s liable to miss. Hell give them both one! Remember, though – Germany have Neuer in goal. He’s young and I don’t remember him being involved in a penalty shootout before. That could give David James a small psychological edge.
Argentina v. Mexico – Argentina. They’re good. Mexico don’t stand a chance.
Netherlands v. Slovakia – Interesting. The Dutch have been very understated, as have Slovakia. The Netherlands should win – I expect them to – but Van Persie needs to raise his game. I expect Slovakia to come out and attack, but the Dutch will probably look to sink them on the break. Will the Dutch look to do just enough again, or will they show their hand? They definitely have more to give.
Brazil v. Chile – Brazil. They showed a defensive steel against Portugal. It will take an explosive attacking line to sink this team.
Paraguay v. Japan – Tricky. I fear a 0-0. Japan have scored four goals, but two were free kicks. Paraguay have conceded one. I’m going for Japan on penalties.
Spain v. Portugal – Portugal. Twenty-two clean sheets in twenty-six matches. If Spain are going to win, they’ll need to take all the chances they get, because they won’t get many. They haven’t been taking them so far and I can see Portugal punishing them for it.
So there you go… now wait for me to be proved completely wrong!
I agree with most of your predictions, except that I believe Spain will beat Portugal. (Given the way that Portugal played in the group stage, I hope so for the sake of football – they’re unlikely to repeat the kind of display they put on against North Korea, and are much more likely to attempt to repeat the game against Brazil as the opposition gets harder)
Mexico were better than you gave them credit for – although Argentina did win relatively comfortably, it could’ve been different if a couple of shots off the woodwork had gone in, or the linesman had been paying attention for the 2nd goal.