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What a pathetic display by England and what an enspiring match by Algeria. On paper, Algeria had no business winning or tieing that match. But they worked hard and never gave up. Yes, not many chances at goal for them, but they worked their socks off. They now are putting their hopes on beating the US.

What is wrong with England. There is no flow in their match. Not going to writer much more about them, but from the first two performances, they might not advance out of the first round.

But the English fans in Cape Town were very active singing and drinking before the game. Many people would just stand around the areas where the English were sitting just to watch and listen to them. And i heard the fans a few times during the match over the vuvuzelas.

English fans have gotten such a bad reputation as hooligans, but those days are long gone. Both in The Germany WC and the South Africa WC, they some of the funnest fans to be around. Always singing and drinking, but most important, enjoying themselves. Fun to watch.

This was an exciting match to watch. Slovenia played well in the first half and got rewarded for it with two goals. Bob Bradley’s substitution was brave at the start of the second half, making changes that early,nand they seemed to have an effect. Donavan’s goal was spectacular. To me it looked like the keeper got out of the way on that shot. The second goal also was set up nicely and a cool finish by Bradley. Now, can anyone explain to me what the referee saw to disallow the third goal? On replay I saw at least three other penelties committed on the US players. Again, strange refereeing. Pitty for the US, but they are still in the hunt to move on into the next round. But I don’t see them going all the way. There game is still not as controlled as it needs to be and they give the ball away way to much.

Well lots can be said about this match. Refereeing — well both got lots of yellow cards for small fouls. The 2nd yellow on Klose was a bit harsh. A foul for sure. But yellow I think not. It was hard to figure out what was a foul and what was a yellow card offense. But I don’t think it was more for any one team. So we will just leave it.

But one thing came up again in this match as in the first match. Germany can’t finish. They don’t have a goal scorer. Even while Klose in there I just did not feel he was going to score. I am ok with the rest of their game (midfield,defense), but offense looks shaky. Hard to say in the 4-0 win, but if you think back to how many chances were missed and then watch today’s match you again saw the missed chances.

The positive thing about Germany is that I have never seen them run as much as I have over the last two matches. And in the Serbia match Loew brought on three strikers. In past they would have been more conservative. I liked to see that. Overall I am still bullish on them. But they have a large mountain to climb. And World Cup winner I don’t think they will become. But hopefully they will make it into the next round.

Serbia did what they needed to to win this match. Like switzerland, defend with 9 people and then counter attack. And there right sided player owned the German left back. So the result when their way, well done.

How pathetic did France look in this match. Wonder how much better ireland would have been?
Mexico deserved that win. But it looks like South Africa will not move on. And it now looks like Mexico will be playing Argentina in the next round.

The first set of games are behind us and we should all now have a feel for all the teams.

First about the atmosphere here… South Africa is going nuts about their World Cup. Just like in Germany, they are of course very proud of their country. For all the doubters, things have been working out pretty well here. Yes small issues of security guards striking and not all the stadiums being full, but overall it has been working pretty good.

Probably the biggest issue has been the ball and the vuvuzela. The ball is round and within specs. Get over it. The vuvuzela is another story. Interesting they say this is an traditional thing. But from what i hear they stopped years using them at games. People in the paper write letters saying they miss the songs that are usually sung at matches. And if I think back to WC2006, i don’t hear the singing going on in the stadium. I don’t see that changing this WC. What i am afraid of is that the vuvazela will creep into other venues.

To the teams:
Group A
I was hoping that south Africa would might have a chance, but after watching the 2nd match i don’t see that happening. France did not look good. They are missing a midfielder like zidane or viera. Ribery needs help. He can’t do it by himself. Not sure about Mexico or Uruguay.

Group B
Argentina seems to be gaining speed after the second match. I think they have some defensive problems, but they will move to the next round. Nigeria is out. They just don’t good at all. South Korea looked good until they played Argentina. Even though Greece won their match, I don’t think they will make it through.

Group C
England looked shaky. USA looked average. Algeria and Slovenia don’t look strong.

Group D
Germany had a string game against a week opponent. We will have to wait and see how they play against tougher opponent. Ghana also looked good. Still don’t have an opinion about Serbia. Once they have played Germany we will have a better understanding. Australia looked poor.

Group E
Cameroon looked average Holland looked average. Japan was fun to watch. Denmark I just don’t think they will make it into the next round.

Group F
Italy looked very average. The rest I can’t remember.

Group G
Interesting group. N.Korea was a surprise. Portugal looked way below average. Brazil is Brazil. Ivory Coast is still up in the air for me.

Group H
Biggest surprise Spain losing. But i think they will bounce back. A lot of word cup champions have a little slip in the first round before they start gaining momentum. Or they can go like they usually do in WC. They underachieve. We will see in the next match. The other teams should probably not have much of an impact.

The first week and half has been fun. I think the next week is going to give us a clearer picture of the strong teams.