World Cup Roundup - Day 2
South Korea 2 – 0 Greece
Argentina 1 – 0 Nigeria
England 1 – 1 USA
Well, the big game came and went and I can’t complain about the result. I’ve gotta think the US earned a fair bit of respect for their performance today.
South Korea vs. Greece
Well, we finally got a winner. The Koreans played great team ball. They worked well as a unit and gave the Greeks trouble the entire match. The Greeks really didn’t do much and the Koreans seemed to have their way most of the match. To be honest, my coffee hadn’t completely kicked in yet but I’ve a feeling we’ll be seeing more of the Koreans in the next few weeks.
By half time I started to wonder if it was Argentina who looked good or Nigeria who were so poor. As the match progressed, I decided that Nigeria was helping the Argies look much better than they really are.
It was not an awful match but Nigeria really did a good job of making Argentina look much better than they are.
For all the build up of the two sides, I ended up not being too impressed with either of them. Yeah, Argentina won but they really are just a collection of individuals and teamwork is more a concept than a game plan. Nigeria were worse.
Argentina = A bunch of fantastic players who just can’t seem to figure out how to play with each other.
Yanks vs. Planks
I don’t think I’ve been that nervous before a match in a long time. The US seemed pretty nervous too. The first 20 minutes the US just didn’t seem to be able to settle down. Unfortunately, England needed less than 5 minutes for Gerard to find the net. Ricardo Clark allowed his man to get goal side of him.
After settling down, the US started to look dangerous. However, the breakthrough came 5 minutes before the break thanks to the best goalkeeping blunder I’ve seen in years. Green should have easily picked up Dempsey hit a shot from about 25 yards out. However, the former N*rwich keeper showed his worth and…well, the ball ended up in the net. 1-1 at half time.
The second half was pretty entertaining though I didn’t realize it until my second viewing. Good end-to-end stuff. The result could have ended up going either way. But a 1-1 draw was a fair result.
I do have to question some of the substitutions though….well, the timing of them. Capello made 2 pretty early changes. Bradley waiting until very late to make any changes.
Anyway, both sides get to see what happens in the other Group C match tomorrow morning. If you ask me, the group will now come down to who can come up with the best goal difference in their next two matches.
Reading the reviews from media outlets in the UK their tone has changed. The US is now a solid well-organized side. If nothing else, the US has earned some respect today. England were sniffled. They weren’t able to play their game once the US found their rhythm and were every bit the equal of England.
Ya gotta love it.
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