Ole, Ole, Ole, Ola, Argentina

Argentina 0
Netherlands 0

You know what is scary about Argentina? It is the fact that their players look so comfortable with the ball. They can interchange positions and still continue to do a proper job. And most importantly, they have fun while playing. You don’t see them complaining, raving or ranting. Neither do they play dirty to win one over their opponents.

And one player who encompassed all of these qualities today was Lionel Messi. He started the game against Netherlands and soon he was running the show for the South Americans. In the 70 minutes he was on the pitch, he did all that was requested from him, and even more. The only thing he did not do was to score. He showed such skills that belied his age (18).

Now to the match itself. The problem was that both these teams have qualified to the second round. Both had played exceptionally well in their previous two games, more so Argentina than Netherlands. And today’s game was just to determine who will top the group. Argentina needed just a draw as a superior goal difference was enough to see them above the Dutch.

In such circumstances, both teams put out a team without some of their big names – Argentina rested four players, including Saviola, Crespo and Sorin, while Netherlands sat out five, including their most effective player so far Arjen Robben.

Thus the order of the day was not to lose for either of the team, but both of them showed positive attitudes in trying to score goals. I thought Netherlands missed their star players more than the Argentineans. Mind you, in the place of rested players the South Americans had other ‘lesser’ players like Messi and Tevez in the starting eleven. And later in game we even saw Pablo Aimar making his debut in the tournament.

The game ended in a nil-nil draw but both teams showed us that they have that something extra which they can bring about as and when needed.

In the second round, Argentina will play Mexico and I don’t foresee them having much trouble on Saturday, especially when their big guns come back into the team.

As for Netherlands, they will have a tougher draw, playing against Portugal on Sunday. With Robben on their side, the Dutch do look unbeatable but then again the Portuguese are also playing well, winning their top-of –group match against Mexico 2-1 earlier today without five of their regular players.


Coasting for a win

Ivory Coast 3
Serbia & Montenegro 2

The best game of the day has to be Ivory Coast against Serbia and Montenegro. Both these teams have only pride to play for but I wanted so much for Ivory Coast to win this game. They had come to the tournament as ranked outsiders and in the two games against Argentina and Netherlands, they played good attacking football even when they were down.

Led by example by their captain Didier Drogba, these Africans showed us what an entertaining and hard working side they are. Today they were without their captain who was suspended and had gone behind by two goals in the first 20 minutes. They again showed us what they are capable of by coming from behind to win this game by 3-2.

Sadly their participation in the World Cup has come to an end but I think this African team will go far in years to come.