The favourites, frogs and the French
The World Cup enters the 10th day today. We have seen 29 games played thus far and most of the pre-tournament favourites have kept their form and moved into the second stage.
Some favourites have amassed maximum points without playing well (read: England and Brazil) while there are others who started superbly but then struggled in the second match (read: Czech Republic and Italy).
And then there were the dark horses who entertained and perhaps surprised us with their level of play (read: Ecuador, Ghana and Ivory Coast). Of these three, I have been so impressed by the performance of the Africans. Sadly Ivory Coast, despite playing so well, is on the way home after two defeats but I truly hope Ghana will make it to the following stage.
And finally, there are some teams who have done so very well, playing good football and continue to mesmerize us with their performance (read: Argentina and Holland).
By the end of today, I hope Spain will join in this category. In their first game against Ukraine, they were simply irresistible. They played good football, passed the ball well and kept going forward and was rewarded with four well-worked goals. Their victory was much sweeter as it came against a fancied Ukraine side.
Today they play their second group match against Tunisia and should win this one. However I somehow don’t see them scoring many goals in this victory. A win will cement their tag as one of the new favourites of the tournament.
In the other group game, Ukraine will play Saudi Arabia and will look forward to kick-start the World Cup campaign. Amazingly, their excuse for the defeat against Spain was that croaking frogs had kept them awake the night before the game. Now presumably with the frogs caught and destroyed and with a good sleep in the way, they have no excuse in not beating Saudi Arabia.
The day however starts with a game between Switzerland and Togo. A win for the Europeans will certainly put the utterly unimpressive French under pressure and may result in them being packed home after just three games.
Hhmm, what a tournament this has been so far. May it continues to entertain us.
The World Cup enters the 10th day today. We have seen 29 games played thus far and most of the pre-tournament favourites have kept their form and moved into the second stage.Some favourites have amassed maximum points without playing well (read: England and Brazil) while there are others who started superbly but then struggled in the second match (read: Czech Republic and Italy).
And then there were the dark horses who entertained and perhaps surprised us with their level of play (read: Ecuador, Ghana and Ivory Coast). Of these three, I have been so impressed by the performance of the Africans. Sadly Ivory Coast, despite playing so well, is on the way home after two defeats but I truly hope Ghana will make it to the following stage.
And finally, there are some teams who have done so very well, playing good football and continue to mesmerize us with their performance (read: Argentina and Holland).
By the end of today, I hope Spain will join in this category. In their first game against Ukraine, they were simply irresistible. They played good football, passed the ball well and kept going forward and was rewarded with four well-worked goals. Their victory was much sweeter as it came against a fancied Ukraine side.
Today they play their second group match against Tunisia and should win this one. However I somehow don’t see them scoring many goals in this victory. A win will cement their tag as one of the new favourites of the tournament.
In the other group game, Ukraine will play Saudi Arabia and will look forward to kick-start the World Cup campaign. Amazingly, their excuse for the defeat against Spain was that croaking frogs had kept them awake the night before the game. Now presumably with the frogs caught and destroyed and with a good sleep in the way, they have no excuse in not beating Saudi Arabia.
The day however starts with a game between Switzerland and Togo. A win for the Europeans will certainly put the utterly unimpressive French under pressure and may result in them being packed home after just three games.
Hhmm, what a tournament this has been so far. May it continues to entertain us.
posted by Kabilan K at
10:17 AM
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