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.
Spain:
1. There was never before a WC winner who lost the first game. Maybe history os about to change.
2. I agree that they’ll bounce back.
3. They played (or maybe coached) like boneheads. They tried to break through the dense Swiss defense again and again and again. It didn’t work so they should have changed their tactics during the game. I was watching and shouting (at the TV) “open the game up”. They should learn from Argentina.
Brazil:
Brazil looked like Brazil. Not playing great, but still wins. Still, I was surprised, that N. Korea cut through what is considered the strongest Brazil defense ever, so easily.
England-US:
The poor mistake by the keeper aside, I think Eng underestimated the US. Eng couldn’t get its game going because the US is a tough opponent. Maybe not playing the best football in the world, but a bunch of tough guys in good shape. In the 2nd half the US was up to par with Eng,
I swear I wanted to write two things (before the Germany-Serbia game):
1. Same old: football you play 90 minutes and Germany wins at the end. Wow, what a shocker. Justified YC to Klose.
2. Serbia looked strong against Ghana. This was not a frick win.