Final blog: Spain Crowned World Champions

Right. First and foremost, what a month! I'm still feeling a slight hangover from it all ^^ South Africa proved all its doubters wrong and put on a show that has lifted the hearts and souls of many people around the world.

Personally, it's renewed my hope in world football and I can't wait for Brazil already (there's the little matter of Ukraine/Poland to deal with first in 2012 of course but still, the idea of Brazil is pretty darn cool!)

So. A quick and very big "thank you" to all of South Africa for this wonderfully organized event. The matches were great. Stadiums looked amazing and the people, well, the people were the heart and pulse that drove this great occasion forward. Great job :)

On to the football and, firstly, apologies to all for the delay and apologies also to all the Spanish fans I've been slating out there too. After the first big disappointment of the world cup (when Spain beat Portugal), I've had to get over the second one (watching Spain lift that trophy!)

Spain have been crowned world cup champions with a 1-0 win over the Dutch, so I've been wondering how I'm going to approach this, my last blog of one of the most exciting and unpredictable world cups I've watched to date.

Do I cave in, bite the bullet and bow down to the new, reigning world champions of football or do I let my biasness and 'anti-Spainism' get the better of me, admiting that Spain won (albeit without being very much fun to watch?

Hmmm... it's a tough one but, seriously, I wouldn't be very Portuguese if I did the former and omitted the latter so, yeah, why not?! I'll start that way anyway. Besides, what would the world be without a little friendly rivalry, right? ;)

So. Spain are officially the first ever team in all of the history of world cups, to lift the trophy without managing to score more than 10 goals in the whole tournament. They scored 8 to be exact and conceded only 2 (both during the group stages).

Every other game after that ended in a 1-0 win to the Spanish.

So what does all this mean? Does it mean that Spain can be labeled, the most "un-adventurous" world champions ever? Or can we say that they've been the most bland, boring and unexciting team of this and every world cup ever played?

I'll be the first to admit that I am a little bitter, sure. I've been rooting for every other team to beat them and now they're the World Champions. But people have been saying that they are the only team to have played "total" football. The only team to have swept past all by playing the "beautiful game".

It's almost like those same people forgot how they lost to Switzerland, scraped past Chile and only just managed to beat Paraguay before reaching the semi's.

They then needed to wait until 15 minutes from time before beating the - until then - very exciting, young Germans and only just managed to score after 116 minutes of football, against the Dutch in the final game of the tournament.

So I beg to differ on the "beautiful game" comments.

About that final, Spain beat the Netherlands in a dirty, tempestuous match that saw 14 yellows and one red, dished out by Howard Webb during 120 minutes of football. In his defense though, he was left little choice as the game became a pretty ugly one right from the off.

In the end, there was even a little controversy surrounding Iniesta's 116th minute strike which, in effect, gave the Spanish the trophy. Sneijder's shot at goal clearly hit the wall and went out for a Dutch corner, but Webb gave a goal kick and the Spaniards went up the other end and scored.

OK. I mustn't take too much away from Spain. They did indeed dominate that one for the most part but as for the rest of the tournament, can we truly say they were the best team?

If we do, we'd have to say though, that it was not by far, and in all honesty, I don't actually think any team really reached their full potential this year (with the exception of maybe Germany and Uruguay).

Ghana also showed the world that they're true fighters with glimpses of extravagant football and of course the Netherlands also surprised a few (including their own), with a great run all the way to the final.

But the tournament will probably be remembered for the teams that didn't perform rather than did.

France, Italy, England and Brazil were probably the biggest disappointments, along with the lack of great individual and team performances.

Although there was great team unity and spirit displayed, it was a little bit flair-less. I can't actually remember many moves that really made my jaw drop or any super, controversial incidents like Zidane's infamous head butt for example.

Some blamed the height of the venues. Others blamed the Vuvu's or referee's but actually there was probably only one statistic that might have really looked a little bad, and that was of the Jabulani ball.

The Jabulani ball was openly criticized throughout the tournament and was touted as 'the best ball ever created', but a crazy stat showed that only about 33% of all shots at the tournament were on target.

That's down almost 10% in comparison with the Premier League and Champions League last season, and also the World Cup in 2006. It's a very low statistic and only 4 teams - Italy, Japan, Slovenia and Germany – hit the target with more than half of their shots.

So in the end, the teams that did well were the ones that controlled and passed the ball and eventually tried to walk the ball in... not the one's that took shots at goal from a distance (sorry Ronaldo! Next time they'll make a ball, specially for you I'm sure!)

Be it as it may though, every team had to play with the same ball and under the same conditions. It's the same with every sport but I guess, at this time, it just suited the Spanish more.

Their passing was crisp and precise and although they were sometimes boringly patient, they got their just rewards through fighting hard and pressing when they didn't have the ball too. I'll take my hat off to them for that... but I'll want the hat back on soon after, thank you very much.

But I can't really say anything bad about this tournament, really, as it threw everything it could at the world of football. It's been a fantastic event and I just wish (like most world cups mind you) it could have gone on for longer.

So...*ahem*... congratulations Spain on your "victory", we'll see you in 2012! Grrrr... Also, many congratulations for Diego Forlan, who picked up man-of-the-tournament, young 20 year old Muller, who got the golden ball and again, many congratulation to all South Africans for putting on a marvelous show

What a great month!

Thanks for reading you guys. Till next time ;)

Predictoctometres

Have you noticed how suddenly, everyone has become a world cup and football expert??? Everyone has their favourites and suddenly, everyone is the best pundit in the world!

Actually, I kinda hoped that would be the case as football has really reached fever pitch now, with the highly entertaining world cup in South Africa drawing to a close.

Despite all this new found interest, as many new lovers of the sport are finding, predicting football outcomes is not always easy. Just take for example France and Italy’s early elimination and Uruguay’s amazing run for one or even Germany’s surprising youngsters and their thrashing of England and Argentina too.

Well, now we’re finally through to the finals. The first semi final was not too hard to call. 85% of the world probably thought the Netherlands, would make it through to their first final since 1978 and they duly obliged.

But it wasn't as easy as most had predicted as the Uruguayans made them sweat a little towards the end. Still, they won it 3-2, in a game with two wonderful goals. Both great blasts from outside the box by both captains, 35-year-old Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Diego Forlan.

The other semi was a little harder to call but most were favouring the Germans. Unfortunately, the Spanish played better, basically suffocating them with their hypnotizing, pointless and boring round-the-back square-passing, waiting till their opponents got dizzy and then giving it to their one striker Villa, only for him to pretty much miss everytime.

In the end, it took a run-of-the mill drab, England-style head-from-a-corner type goal by monster-man Puyol to get them through. Bah.

Who predicted that one then? After waking up at 3.30 in the morning to watch the game, I certainly hadn’t but was expecting a little more to be honest.

1-0 in the end and the poor Germans, who had played the most exciting football in the tournament by far, had been edged out by the pathetic Spanish exploits and their dull possession-style football ...*sigh*...

Sounds like someones's a little bitter, right? But seriously. Many are saying that is a wonderful example of the beautiful game. I don't think so. I think it's boring. Yawn-tastically drab.

The beautiful game should be about attacking, not boring the other team to death with placid, meaningless passes around midfield, till the others are forced to sit back and wait for it. How dull. Anyone else wonder why Spain have won all their games since the last 16 just 1-0? Indeed.

Still, as for the powers of prediction, I'm going to stick with my ...*ahem*... pre-tournament vote and say that the Netherlands will prevail (http://jasonsworldcup.blogspot.com/2010/05/whos.html).

Although, the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Spaniards do another one of their "sucking-the-life-out-of-the-so-called beautiful-game" routines and giving the ball to Iniesta for him to roll around on the ground, everytime someone breaths on him again.

Anyway, moving on...

Now, everyone has an opinion, right? Everyone has their predictions and their ideas and guesses as to who will emerge victorious and sometimes, even how they will do it too.

But none has caught the eye as vividly and mysteriously as the recent phenomenon that is known as ‘Psychic Paul the Octopus’!

British-born Paul, who lives at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, quite simply is an octopus who has correctly managed to predict all of Germany's results in this year’s World Cup. This even includes their surprising defeat to Serbia in the group stages.

Such is the hype surrounding this 8-legged sea creature, that some are even saying there's no point playing the games afterwards! It's a bit nuts but, basically - as you can see in the picture above - 2 mussels are placed inside two boxes, with the two flags of the countries that are competing against each other, glued on the outside of each one.

Paul then waits and uses his super future-vision-tentacles (or FVT's) to tell us all, that we're a pretty stupid species for wondering who might win the next match. He knows cus he's smart and cool and, like no other octopus has ever done before, he is sharing his insight with the world.

Unfortunately, Paul speaks a 'special' octopaedic language which is too intricate and too fast for us mere, simple-minded humanoids to understand, so he's come down to our level for the last month and decided to communicate via the pathetic use of these two boxes. It's almost like he's mocking us… but I’m sure he’s not, right?

What people don't actually realize is that Paul is an escaped “octovict” (or convict as we know it). He was an infamous politician and was arrested for crimes committed at the under-sea, political Octagon (the American's have a similar one on land but like the rest of us silly beings, they were only smart enough to create one with five sides).

Paul was banished from the underwater world of politics for allegedly "using his FVT powers in less-than-cool ways" and subsequently was sentenced to 'death-by-human-consumption'.

Strangely enough, Paul actually then managed to escape but, in a strange twist of fate, was rather unfortunately captured by the human 'fishing-police' days later.

Incredibly, Paul was offered the chance of a reprieve by helping us humanoids predict the world cup results! A deal gladly accepted at the time in exchange for his freedom and for us not denouncing him to the octhorities (all of which would have resulted in him being given back to us to be eaten!).

But all this over-obsessive use of his FVT's has clearly got out of hand now and looks like it's gonna be coming at a cost. His recent prediction informed the world that the Germans would lose their semi finals. A pretty stupid move for one seeking refuge on German soil, if you ask me!

Many are now calling for the 'octo-beast' to be "thrown into the frying pan" anyway! One German journalist said after the game that he had a sudden urge for fried squid and would do everything in his power to find a restaurant serving it.

In stark contrast, over in the Spanish community, there is a new found love for the recent ‘herocto’ with people praising him left, right and centre. In New York, Spanish celebrity chef José Andrés has honoured the ‘tentacled one’ by removing octopus from the menu of all his U.S. restaurants!

In Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero has voiced slight concerns over Paul's safety by stating: "I am concerned for the octopus... I am thinking of sending him a protective team."

Some may think this is funny, but I for one don't. Also, I'm very disappointed with the fact that the British authorities are not doing anything either. He was born in England for god's sake and, I'm not too sure but, I think he holds dual citizenship!

I think we should start a new campaign here. It's a simple but effective one.

"Free Paul for All!"

Heck, I’d go to that restaurant.

I just hope it's not too late!

Gifted Germans Oust Sorry Argies To Set Up Spanish Showdown ;)

Germany and Spain are gonna play the second semi final of the world cup on Wednesday night. Spain stumbled past Paraguay, showing very little of what they produced against the Portuguese in the quarters and Germany... well, Germany - much to the surprise of many - taught Argentina a lesson on how to play winning football!

It was billed as 'the final before the final' and although it was probably worthy of a 'finals' match, I don't think anyone in their right minds could have predicted this outcome. Everyone was anticipating a close one but actually, it was anything but!

A fascinating encounter, between two very talented sides ended up with the Germans whacking a somewhat embarrassing 4 goals past Argentina and handing them their worse world cup defeat for over 50 years.

It took only 3 minutes to open the scoring in a goal, somewhat reminiscent of the Germany of old. A dangerously whipped in free kick from the left got the deftness of touches from Thomas Mueller and they were up 1-0.



That kind of shock at the beginning of a game can produce either one of two things with your opponent; a stinging response or a stumbling performance. Unfortunately for Argentina, it was the latter that ensued.

The South American's did manage to keep it like that till half time, but they could and should have been behind by more. Germany wasted a couple of opportunities, Klose being guilty of the worse one after Muller had burst through the defense, but the striker was always leaning back too much and it fizzed over.

Argentina did have a couple of chances towards the end of the half, but the unimpressive Messi & co. just couldn't get in anything better than a few shots from distance, all of which were wide, high or dealt with easily by Manuel Neuer in the German goal.

Half time brought a well needed brake for the South American's and they did look a little re-galvanized at the beginning of the second half but the Germans kept them at bay and then smacked'em heavily on the counter.

As the goals poured in, so Maradona's demeanor did slump and there was nothing he could do but watch in horror as his globetrotter, super-studded, star-filled side were torn to shreds by a very exciting, fast moving and slick-passing German side.

Somebody asked me before the match, which team I wanted to win, to which I just replied "I don't really like either team but, you know I love football so I just hope we see something good".

Honestly, I didn't think it would be that good!!! I've never seen a German side so good. In fact, I'm trying to think whether I've ever seen a side, take a team with the caliber of Argentina apart like that.

It was truly ruthless and when Klose got his well-deserved second and Germany's 4th late on, one of the most surprising results of this and many a tournament had spelt doom and true gloom for Maradona's Argentina.

In fact, you could even say that, because of the striker and his team mates, Argentina didn’t even come Klose to winning this one ;) Did you like that one? That was especially for you guys out there ;) hehehe

Maybe it was poetic justice for Maradona but in spite of all his truly cocky fighting talk dished out before the match, you just had to feel a little sorry for the poor guy.

Cutting a dejected figure on the sidelines as the final whistle was blown, credit to the man, he was the first on the pitch to congratulate the Germans and commiserate with his players.

Compassion is a strange 'ol drug, eh?

Mind you, the truth there was quite simple too. I don't think he had enough managerial experience to cope with what happened and his team took the kind of walloping they'll not be forgetting for a long, long time now.

His players have already come out and backed him up, but whether he stays on or not will probably depend on how he personally, as a man, recovers from this kind of embarrassment.

If he does stay on, I think he could do well in the future. There's no doubting his motivating skills. But can he learn how to take it from being a player to a manager?

We shall see, as they say...

As for Spain, well, Spain was a little boring to tell the truth. A little boring and also maybe a little lucky. Paraguay will feel hard done by as they had a goal ruled out for offside.

It was a questionable one too. A cross came in from the right and although Nelson Valdez scored with a cool header, another player was adjudged to be interfering with play and the offside was called.

It was a little harsh but still, it won’t detract from the fact that the game was for the most part, rather uneventful.

In fact, there were only a frantic and rather dramatic few minutes in the second half where Paraguay first got a penalty for the most obvious penalty in the world. What Pique was thinking of when he tugged back Cardozo is anyone’s guess!

Cardozo himself stepped up and smacked a low shot, down to Iker Casillas' left but the keeper got down well and did brilliantly to hold on to it.

With the next attack, the Spaniards then went up the other side and got a penalty of their own, this time for a push on Villa. Alonso then stepped up a struck a beauty into the top right corner but the referee decided there was encroachment in the box and ordered a re-take.

Alonso stepped up again but this time, changed his mind and went low right. Problem was, the keeper guessed it and kept it out! Mental stuff!

To top it all, the keeper then blatantly fouled Fabregas on the follow up but after all that fracas, there was no way the ref was gonna give another penalty.

The Paraguayan's played well enough but Spain had the edge at the end and they got their goal on the 82nd minute through top-scorer Villa. The striker was in the right place at the right time to seize on a shot by substitute Pedro that came back off the post.

Villa's shot then hit one post before smacking the other and then finally going in and the Spaniards had grabbed the last semi final spot to set up, what should be 'another' final-before-the-final with Germany.

So, 3 games left! Suarez-less Uruguay vs ...*ahem*... my prediction for the tournament, The Netherlands and blimmin Spain vs super cool-looking Germany. I'm going for a Netherlands vs Germany final and of course, how could I then not bet for the Orange Machine to lift that trophy!!! Hehehe :)

Let’s go Holland!!!!

Day 22 - First Semi Decided!

WOW! I say again. WOW! OK, no joke here. FIFA are really gonna have their hands full after this tournament! Once again, more rules may very well have to be reviewed and maybe even changed on what was a scintillating, but highly controversial day at this year’s competition.

The Netherlands and Uruguay booked their places in the first Semi Final of World Cup 2010 yesterday.

In a pulsating match in Port Elizabeth, the Dutch put in a valiant (if not sometimes little dirty) performance to knock out pre-tournament favourites Brazil. While over in Soccer City in Johannesburg, Uruguay ended African hopes by knocking out Ghana, in a game that produced one of the most incredible and dramatic finales to a match, ever witnessed at a World Cup.

The game was 1-1 after 119 minutes of football and Ghana were all over the tired looking Uruguayans. A free kick was sent in from the right and after mass confusion in the box, Suarez blocked a goal-bound header on the line with his hands.




Asamoah Gyan stepped up to take the penalty but missed it, skimming the crossbar with the last kick of the match.

The game then went to penalties, but the wind had been completely taken out of the Ghanaians' sails and Uruguay made all their penaltyies to win and take them through to their first semi final since 1970.

Ghana are out, and with the tears and heartbreak shared by over a billion African viewers watching, it spells a sad end to Africa's participation in this year's world cup.

Now, the rules clearly state that if a man, other than the keeper, handles a ball and stops an almost certain goal, it's a penalty and the guy gets sent off.

The problem is, Gyan then missed the penalty. So, is it fair that the goal wasn't given anyway? Maybe the rule should be that the man gets sent off and the goal is given. That would stop players from doing what Suarez did.

But Suarez is not stupid. He knew what he was doing and within the boundaries of the rules, as a player, he did what any footballer (including myself I have to say) had to do. Heck, I would have probably done that during a Sunday league game in the first minute, let alone in the last minute of the quarter final of a world cup match!

There is an issue of sportsmanship, sure, but you have to try to imagine what would have happened had the shoe been on the other foot - or the hand been on the other arm in this case ;)

Suarez will now miss the next game as punishment but I'm more than 100% sure, that the Ghanaians or any other player in the world would have done the same thing for their country.

It's a little sickening and I hate to say this but... that's football. We've seen the rules change over the years, not least with cards for handballs, cynical fouls that stop play and even not allowing keepers to pick up back passes (which I think was one of the best by the way).

I think this is one rule that might be changed too. But personally, I'm not sure if it should. There are 11 men on the pitch and it's their duty to stop that ball from going into their net. Not only the keeper, but all of them, as a team!

If you stop the ball with your hands then you should be punished. I think a penalty and a red card is enough. If you give the goal anyway, then you are stopping those 11 players from doing everything in their power to save their country. You'd have to watch helplessly when there was something you could have done.

Plus, there's all sorts of permutations from that too; would the ball have gone in? Was he last man? Was it an accident or on purpose? The list would go on.

Let me just say, I was rooting for Ghana 100% in this game. I didn't want Uruguay to win and I think Suarez is already a bad sportsman anyway. He's always rolling around on the floor when he's barely been touched and complaining all the time to the referee.

Unfortunately though, the fact is, what he did was to save his side and help put them through to the next round. As they say, he took one for the team and it pains me greatly to see Ghana out of the world cup, but I, for one, once again, would have done the same thing :( Sorry mum...

The other game was also fascinating but controversial in a different way. Yesterday, what we saw was the slightly dirty side of the Dutch. They reminded me of the Italians! Van Bommel in particular got away with some filthy tackles and Robben was guilty of a lot of play acting too.

In the end, it was too much for the usually, good natured Brazilians and it showed, when Felipe Melo was sent off for a dirty stamp on Robben in the second half.

This game really seemed to be more about who could control the cool-looking Japanese official and it looked like Van Bommel beat the Brazilians single handidly there.

Still, the Brazilians will mostly only have themselves to blame after scoring a wonderful opener through Robinho early on. They sat back and waited for the Dutch and once they got their goals, a late flurry was not enough to save them and they paid the price.

The Netherlands won it 2-1 and are now through, which means that at least one European side will be in the last 4, when many wondered if this year, the South Americans would take the spoils.

So, today! Germany vs Argentina and Spain vs Paraguay! I can't wait!

Whatever Happened To Cristiano?

OK. It's been two days and I've just about got over the shock of losing to the blimmin Spaniards (sry to all Spanish people out there ^^)

So. The burning question is... Whatever happened to Cristiano, eh?



The World Cup is rapidly taking on the format we're now, so used to seeing. The winners and losers. The dark horses and the big boys. The surprises and the disappointments.

This years competition has thrown up a bucket full of wonderful moment already, and we're only just at the Quarter Finals! But what on earth has happened to the guy that was supposed to light up the World Cup with his fancy tricks, his bursting runs and his impossible-to-save free kicks?

Well, the answer is quite simple. I wasn't there ;) Why the Portuguese National side didn't select me is a decision that will shock and surprise many millions of folk for many a year to come ;)

Instead, Portugal chose to call up a young man by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo. CR9 as he is simply know to many now or Mr. Twinkle Toes to others. There are plenty other names too but I won't go there.

To put things into perspective a little, he's the most expensive football player on the planet and the most highly paid too. He is even regarded by many as the most gifted player to have worn a pair of football boots. But maybe those new fluorescent Nikes were just too big to fill this year.

Portugal were knocked out of the last 16 by Spain and that in itself is really rather humiliating for all Portuguese. Before the game, even though Portugal had not really been at 100%, hopes were high to get one over on their Iberian rivals.

That in itself is usually ammunition enough. Carlos Queiroz probably didn't even have to say too much to the players before the match but whatever he did say, it obviously had some kind of reversing effect on the team!

But let’s talk about Ronaldo for a minute here. At just the tender age of 22, on 6 February 2007, he was made captain of the Portuguese side as a favour to the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, Carlos Silva who had died 2 days earlier.

The then coach Scolari said that he was too young for the role but to honour Mr. Silva, 'Big Fil' did it. The truth of the matter is, Ronaldo is not captain material, but the decision has been made I guess Queiroz had to stick with it during this World Cup.

The problem with this whole situation is quite simple. Cristiano is simply not a very good team player. He footballing skills are undoubtedly top draw, no one is questioning that but the fact is, he's just not a leader.

Leaders lead by example. No matter what, they're always the last one to jump ship and heck, if they have to, they sink with it. But where was Ronaldo when Portugal’s ship was sinking?

I'll tell you where he wasn't. He wasn't on the pitch, that's for sure. Insteady, once the game finished, he was trotting off spitting at camera men and sulking down the tunnel telling reporters they should ask the manager, not him, about the countries poor showing.

Portugal did admirably well for a team that basically, had to play against 4 teams with 10 men. And against Spain, that was obviously evident.

Now, you can argue that players are about confidence. We saw it with Wayne Rooney and now we saw it with Ronaldo. Both under performed immensely with the weight of expectation, firmly planted on their shoulders.

Had either of them scored early in the tournament, it's quite likely that we may have seen a very different side to them. But if you look at Messi, he hasn't needed it. Messi has just picked himself up and kept going (he'll probably score 4 against Germany on Saturday now!)

So what's the deal? Why can't CR do it? Does he think he's too good? If a team of 11 players plays against one, most players will tell you it's impossible for the sole man to win. But I actually seriously think that Ronaldo might answer differently.

And he had this problem when he first moved to Real too. Not celebrating with others when they scored and bathing himself in god-like glory when he did so himself. I guess that's all part of the CR9 package, sure, but hopefully he'll learn from what happened in South Africa this year.

He has to learn that great players come from great teams and not the other way around.

So where do we go from here? The good thing is, the future is actually still very bright for Portugal because of one thing. I have a lot of hope for the Portuguese in 2012 and in Brazil in 4 years time because of one man and one man alone. José Mourinho!

Mourinho has recently been made the manager of Real Madrid and if anyone can bring Ronaldo back to earth from whatever planet he's on, it’s him. This is a man who will, without a doubt, put CR9 on the bench until he learns he's not the best thing since sliced bread.

Ronaldo needs a good old kick up the backside. Until now, I don't think there's anyone in the world who would even dare... until now. I'm gonna love this next season in Spain. It should be grand :)

Stripping him of the Portuguese captaincy may very well be a good thing too but, who knows, maybe he'll just decide not to play for them after that. I seriously wouldn't put it past him.

So, is Cristiano Ronaldo a jewel in the mud of the Portuguese team? If that's the case, I wish they'd just pick him up out of there and put him somewhere else.

Portugal doesn't need pre madonna’s but now that they have one, let’s hope Mourinho can polish this gem up and teach him a thing or two about working with the team instead of against it.

Day 18 - Oranges and Lemons...

I just have to quickly say that in my last blog, I forgot to mention that Tevez didn't only score a controversial off-side goal, he also scored an absolute belter to make it 3-0 that also pretty much put Argentina through.

Along with Suárez's curler for Uruguay the previous day and both of Japan's free-kicks, it's definitely up there in the Top 5 for the tournament so far.

The striker may have got a little lucky with an attempted through ball ricocheting into his path, but there was nothing lucky about his wonderfully struck, 64 mph strike that - excuse the cliché - almost burst the back of the net.

Argentina look on top form here and they're gonna be hard for Germany to knock down. Still, if anyone can, then I guess the Germans can, right? ;)

The top half of the draw was completed yesterday too. Adding to the first QF, the second will be a-must-watch Brazil vs Netherlands. The Brazilians won 3-0 and brushed aside a Chilean side that never really picked up steam and rarely threatened to get off the mark.

First Juan thumped home a header, then Luís Fabiano finished off a swift counter. Finally, in the second half, Robinho tucked away a wonderful strike after Ramires' run had torn the Chilean team apart with purpose and power, right down the centre of the field.



The Dutch, buoyed by the return of Arjen Robben, put in a quiet but efficient performance against Slovakia, beating them 2-1.

Robben himself got Holland going in the 18th minute, running onto a wonderful pass from Wesley Sneijder and then cutting back inside in typical Robben fashion before hitting a crisp, low shot into the bottom corner.

It wasn't all plain sailing though and the Dutch had to wait till the 84th minute before getting that second comfort goal. This time it was Sneijder's turn to finish off a nice move when Dirk Kuyt put the midfielder in for a simple, side foot tap in after taking advantage of a quickly taken free kick.

Now, The Netherlands have gotten this far with very minimal effort. Van Persie still hasn't hit top form and I haven't seen much in the way of real, positive, attacking football from them to suggest that they'll beat the Brazilians in their match but isn't that often the sign of a good team? Get the job done without being at their best?

I went for them at the beginning of the tournament and I'll stick with them. It's gonna be a cracking game on Friday!!

And Now For TV Replays!

Once again, sorry for the weekend delay :-)

You know, I didn't think this World Cup could get any better, but my word, it HAS! I've got Saturday and Sunday's games to catch up and there was one real ingredient that was missing from the World Cup that we now, finally have. Controversy!

OK. There were a few points in the group stages with some wrong decisions, unnecessary dismissals and other little talking points, but Sunday saw 2 talking points that will really evoke changes within FIFA and Sepp Blatter's camp for sure.

Firstly, just quickly, Saturday saw the elimination of South Korea and the United States at the hands of Uruguay and Ghana respectively. The latter two will now meet in the first Quarter Final on Friday.

Both games were highly competitive and both the Koreans and Americans will be bitterly disappointed with the way they went out.

The South Koreans were left with their hearts in tatters as hopes were genuinely high here. They had the majority of possession too but the truth was, when it counted, Uruguay showed the kind of quality that the Koreans lacked when it mattered most with two great strikes by young striker Suarez.

On Sunday, in the first game of the day, England took on Germany in a fantastic encounter. It pained me to watch England's rivals play such great football but I firmly believe this will give England the kind of kick-up-the-backside they need to move on.

Germany thrashed England 4-1. There's no two ways about it either. They were outclassed and outgunned by a young, vibrant side, full of endeavor, strength and invention and I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say they fully deserved their result.

All the talking points came in a thrilling first half with 45 minutes flashing by in an instant. Personally, I actually thought England played better than they had in the previous 3 games but were still being taken apart by the young Germans anyway.

The goal didn't take long and as a route one goal kick was punted up field, schoolboy positioning errors by the humiliated Terry and Upson let Miroslav Klose nip in and the striker showed Wayne Rooney what a real striker does. Persist, fight and get to the ball first instead of moan, whinge and whine when decisions don't go your way.

Germany started running the show and Klose should have made the Brits pay again but fortunately, James was on hand to block his shot.

But there was little he could have done 10 minutes later as, once again, England's back line got their pants pulled down and comprehensively spanked. Some lovely, simple interchanges from Klose and Muller left the latter to sprint away from Terry like he wasn't even there.

With that, Johnson had to come over to cover the huge gap left at the back (Upson was somewhere near the touch-line at this point, for some god-forsaken reason) and Lukas Podolski was left free on the back post. The Polish-born striker composed himself and smacked it under the helpless David James. 2-0 Germany.

5 minutes later, Upson got a goal for England! Strange, I know. A short corner knocked to Gerrard who crossed for the tall defender to knock one in and boring, boring England suddenly thought they might get something from this.

Then came a moment that the English will talk about forever. Shades of '66 is all I can say and it has to be said that the ref's made a right old howler over this one. Defoe looked good as he spun away to run on goal but the defender got a touch on it.

The ball fell to Lampard who lobbed a wonderful volley over the super-tall German keeper Manuel Neuer. It came off the underside of the bar and clearly fell in the goal before bouncing back out again. Goal? No! It wasn't given and the Germans must have been laughing their heads off, feeling finally vindicated for a possible injustice that occurred 40-odd years earlier.



About that final in '66, many English supporters say, "Well, we scored another goal afterwards so it doesn't matter anyway". Well, guess what? Germany then scored another 2 against us on Sunday so why don't we just put both these arguments behind us now, shall we?

"But the game would have been different"... right? Again, the argument now goes both ways.

Please don't get me wrong here. I love England, through and through and, as one of our fiercest rivals, I've never liked Germany, but I didn't cry on Sunday. I didn't weep and I didn't feel in the least bit sorry for English football.

The truth is, we've got an ageing side and this sudden "Golden Generation" label - one I've never heard of till this world cup - is utter rubbish. If the press want to use it, then here goes:

I for one am more than happy to see the back of this Golden Generation. Let's pick it up and flush it down the toilet! Starting with Ferdinand, Terry, Gerrard, Lampard and the two Coles. Please, please, PLEASE do a Paul Scholes and retire from international football NOW!!!

If you don't, then England will not have any chance of bringing new faces through and we'll get stuffed in Brazil in 4 years time. We might do a little bit of damage at the Euro's with this team in 2012, but our hopes for world domination will have to wait another eight years at least!

Capello should also go. I don't care what kind of experience he's got and what kind of reputation and trophies he's famous for. The fact is, he hardly speaks English! How could a man, who needs a translator to sit beside him during press conferences, pick up a team that's 2-1 down and spur them on to win a match against Germany in the last 16 of a World Cup?

Terry came out and said that he fully supports Capello. Well, no wonder. I don't blame Capello. It's just that he's come into the fray with England, when this "Golden Generation" are there. The selection picked itself and Capello had no choice but to go with the golden oldies.

Had he not, he would have been to blame for not taking any experience to the World Cup. So actually, I feel a little sorry for him. He was the wrong man and the wrong time, taking the squad to what should have been the right place.

Out with them all!

The other game saw Argentina defeat Mexico 3-1 in, what also turned out to be a highly controversial match. Carlos Tevez scored a goal when he was clearly offside but the linesman and referee didn't see it.

But then, somebody decided to show the replay on the big screens in the stadium and suddenly there was pandemonium!!! And rightly so! If I was a Mexican player, I'd have been furious. The referee's made a mistake and they were shown it on the big screen so suddenly, the referee's were in big trouble.

What should they do? Disallow the goal or let it go? FIFA are gonna have their hands full after this one.

The big argument now is for video evidence to be put in place. But what about the pace of the game? I'm not all that sure right now. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Day 14 & 15 - There's too much happening!

It's official. This is by far the best World Cup that I can remember!!! There's just too much going on and I'm loving it all :)

I have 2 days to catch up on so I'll have to do it briefly but first of all, I just wanna say that I've just calculated that this is my 7th World Cup! I can remember my first one back in 86. Mexico! I was 10 and I can clearly recall being utterly dumbfounded when Maradona's "hand of god" effectively knocked England out.

I think I was still in shock when, minutes later, Maradona (again!) picked up the ball inside his own half and under pressure, taught Zidane how to do his own "Zizou 360 move" before taking it past another 4 playes and scoring the most memorable goal in footballing history.

I'm gonna say that because, when you look at "moments in footballing history" there are very, very few that compare with that one. Technically, there are many, many great goals. Fantastic volleys, bicycle kicks, goals from the half way line, free kicks, bla, bla, bla.

But, put everything together, including the importance of the goal and in my opinion, this one beats all of them. They even put up a statue in dedication of the goal outside the stadium. Anyway, let’s leave that debate for another time and maybe another blog ;)

Maybe this is one of those "age" things. A kind of "Do-you-remember-where-you-were-when..." thing. I mentioned it to my class the other day and one of my students said "Oh 86! That's when I was born!" I then asked him if he remembered it but after a few moments of contemplation, the answer was negative.

He did, however, have a moment of clarity and feigned a punching action, similar to that of the Diego man himself, when he realized the year! (Funny what people remember though. Instead of the magnificent goal, here's a South Korean, born in the same year, knowing about the match for the infamous hand of god instead.)

If the USA think they've been unjustly treated this tournament then just turn the page back 20 odd years, look at that quarter final and think about how we felt and still feel now.

Anyway, back to World Cups. Since then, we've had Italia 90 and the mysterious Salvatore Schillaci. Disciplinarily, one of the worse world cups ever with 16 red cards dished out, including the first ever in a final. USA '94 (not happy cus England weren't in it!), France 98 and the Beckham-sending-off saga. 2002 with the Ronaldinho lob and 2006 with the Zizou head butt.

But I really can't remember one as exciting as the one unfolding in South Africa right now. I can understand people's frustrations when we look at goals and winners and losers in matches, but the truth is, you need that so that you can put great footballing moments into real perspective.

So, a quick re-cap then, the final 16 is decided and it kicking off later today in Port Elizabeth where South Korea will take on Uruguay.

The biggest surprise is the omission of both of last World Cup's finalists, France and, somewhat amazingly, Italy. The Italians were - and probably still are - in utter shock as they made a super-dramatic exit, losing to Slovakia in their final game 3-2. Unbelievable stuff!

For the first time, I actually feel a little bit sorry for them... but in football, you learn that actually, there is no such thing as pity for your opponents. So actually, deep down, I'm quite happy hehe (sry to all Italians out there).

Last night there were no real surprises, Brazil and Portugal made it through with a very boring 0-0 draw (luckily I got drunk so actually I don't really remember it! - in fact, to tell the truth, I'm still a bit drunk now!) and Spain also scrapped in with an ill-tempered match against Chile. In the end, Switzerland couldn't score against Honduras so the South American's are through as well.

The night before that was the one with the Italian's scandalous departure, Paraguay and Slovakia making it through there and in Group E, Japan put in an impressive performance to fend off the Danes, with the Netherlands already through, beating Cameroons 2-1.

So, here we go! The last 16! Great games to come with Spain playing Portugal and England taking on the Germans. The winners will face either Argentina or Mexico in the quarters.

Other games see Brazil vs Chile, Paraguay and Japan, Netherlands against Slovakia and later today USA vs Ghana to add to the South Korean game.

If, like me, you thought it was exciting till now... just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait ;)

Day 13 - 4 More Through

4 more teams made it through to the last 16 last night. 4 more teams and a lot more drama! It's all becoming almost too much for some with grown men weeping in the crowds (I didn't see any by the way but I can just imagine it ^^).

Firstly, Group D saw Ghana and Germany battle it out for top spot, while Serbia and Australia were hoping for results to go their way a little.

Both Germany and Ghana looked impressive. The Germans, ever industrious, ever strong and forever (annoyingly) successful! The manager Joachim Löw made a few changes from the one that lost 1-0 to Serbia in their last game.

Out went the suspended Klose and Holger Badstuber and in came Cacau and Jérôme Boateng. For the Ghanaians, Jonathan Mensah came in for Lee Addy in defense.

Both teams went out to win it and both showed some calm, confident football and in the end, they were in fact so evenly matched, it took a wonderful strike from new German sensation Mesut Özil to separate the two teams.

The Germans took it 1-0 but the Ghanaians could so easily have had a few of their own too, were it not for a combination of wasteful chances and heroics at the back for the Krauts(!), including a wonderful block by stand-in captain, young Philipp Lahm. I'm not sure where he's from but that name sounds awfully French to me ;)

Still, the result meant that either Serbia had to draw or Australia had to win by a margin of 4 goals and in a pulsating match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, both results actually looked like they may have come through (!).

After a goaless first half, the Australians came out strong and scored twice in quick succession through Cahill and new hero Brett Holman but the Serbs broke Ozzie hearts and hopes when a tricky shot came in, Mark Schwarzer spilt it and Pantelić was on hand to swing it back in Serbia's favour with a toe poke from close in.

So, in the end, German and Ghana through, 1st and 2nd respectively.

In group C, The Americans were in a good position to go through, by they needed to beat the Algerians and for most of the game, they really seemed like doing it. But they were given a stern warning after just 4 minutes when Algeria came close by smashing the bar.

But that was as close as they'd get as the U.S. picked up the game and started to probe forward. They must have thought things were totally against them too as they had another goal disallowed, this time for offside. Replays show the decision was probably just about correct, but it was very close.

In the end though, they got their just rewards 2 minutes into injury time, when Donovan pounced on to a parried shot to slot the ball home, with the Americans celebrating like there was no tomorrow. Luckily for them, there is a tomorrow, and in fact, there is Sunday and a place in the last 16 too.

That meant that England needed a victory over Slovenia by 2 goals or more in their game against Algeria to top the group and avoid a clash with the Germans in the last 16.

Right from the beginning, it was obvious there was a little more urgency in Fabio Capello's team than in the two previous games. Recently, the trials and tribulations surrounding the England camp bore the marks of the kind of rapidly sinking ship that the French got on before they sailed out here.

John Terry was the focal point, stating that the manager needs to play Joe Cole if he's to have someone on the pitch that can 'unlock' the opposition's defense (which I agree with actually). That, and a statement indicating that there was unrest among the players, was not seen by the Italian in a nice light.

Still, everything rectified, and Terry himself put in a would-be-captain's performance to help England get through. The much awaited goal of comfort, came from Jermaine Defoe, who finally started up front with Wayne Rooney.

James Milner, also a change from the last game, replacing Aaron Lennon, whipped in a wonderful cross from the right and Defoe got in front of his marker to put the ball in the back of the net. It looked like it came off the inside of his calf, to be honest, but he won't mind and neither will England.

Frankly speaking though (!!!), personally, I was really rather disappointed with the performance. In truth, I didn't believe they really looked like a side capable of going too far. They were miles behind the likes of Argentina, Brazil, Germany themselves and even Spain, who haven't played that well but still look better.

I was a little in shock when the next morning, the press seemed to be bathing Capello's tactical nuances in sweet champagne, praising the teams dedication and also the brilliant way in which they got their victory. To be fair to John Terry at least, the guy almost dislocated his blimmin arm when heroically throwing himself at a Slovenian shot when he was practically on the ground already!

But still, playing a mediocre team, I wanted GOALS! Once again, maybe I was watching a different game to the one the newspapers were watching. I dunno. To me they still looked very slow, languid and short of quality.

Rooney had an abysmal first half apart from a nice little knock back to Gerrard who, to his credit, tried to place it into the bottom corner but the shot lacked power.

Apart from that, I thought Rooney lost too much possession and in the second half, he had a great opportunity to score, breaking the offside trap, but seriously lacked composure by scuffing his shot. The keeper got minimal finger tips to it and it went off the post but all in all, I really didn't rate him at all. Maybe he hasn't quite got over his outburst on the telly after the Algeria game. I don't know.

Sooooo, this result means a clash with Germany on Sunday. A team that look like they're up and ready to kick anyone out of this world cup. A team to genuinley fear. Just one more goal and we'd be in the top half of the table. Now we have to face the Germans and - if we get through - the Argentineans, and then - if we get through - the Spanish / Portuguese, and then... Well, I'll be singing a different song if we get that far!

So, ummm... Why were we so pleased again?

Day 12 - The Last 16 Is Open For Business

In a way, the knockout stages began last night. At least, it's the knockout stages of the first phase of the... you know what I mean ;)

We've gone full circle twice and last night, 8 teams from both Groups A and B, fought it out for the right to progress through to the next round. In Group A, Uruguay and Mexico faced each other knowing that a draw would automatically guarantee them qualification.

The only way one of them couldn't, would have been for one of them to suffer and defeat and for there to be a 5 or 6 goal swing, in favour of one of the teams from the other game which pitted the hosts, South Africa and the French together.

Now, this is also the annoying stage where, because of the scandal of the "Shame of Gijón" back in '82 - when West Germany and Austria played out 80 minutes (after the Germans scored in the 10th) of mutually beneficial, non-attacking football so that both teams could progress - all the last games of the group stages are played at the same time.

This means that usually, you have to decide on one game or another (unless you're in a bar/pub that has both matches on simultaneously which then usually results in you getting a sore neck from turning to face different tellies every couple of minutes) and because of Lauren (my good friend and work colleague) is from South Africa, we decided to watch the Bafana Bafana vs Froggies game.

The game was good, although understandably super tense for Lauren, with both sides showing a little more gusto than in previous matches, but in the end, I must say that I was rather surprised (though maybe I shouldn't have been) to see the sorry demise of a French side resembling a cart, full of top-notch fruit in it... but with nobody there to push it to the market.

It's kind of what their team is really. Loads of talent but no cohesion and riddled in scandal, they’ve had a appalling World Cup. After drawing in a tepid match against Uruguay back on the 11th of June and getting well beaten by the Mexican's, there was to be no bizarre/miraculous revival as they succumbed to the hosts 2-1.

The faster they forget this World Cup, the better I think. I watched a CNN report this morning that showed crowds of French people by the Eiffel Tower - watching the game on big screens - actually cheering when the South African's scored their first goal!!!!! Ahhh... you gotta love the French sometimes ;)

So thanks to a grand final game by Bafana Bafana, the French are going home. And look! South Africa even gave them a plane to go back on ;) Isn't that nice :o



In the other game, apparently (cus again, I couldn't watch it), the Mexican's were terrible but because they only lost 1-0, they went through with Uruguay who topped the table in a total shock to World Cup Group A. My pre-tournament prediction turned out to be an exact mirror image of what actually happened!

France 1st, South Africa 2nd, Mexico 3rd and finally Uruguay in 4th. What do I know about football, eh? I'm just happy I've never been a gambling man ;)

To Group B! Here in Seoul, for some reason, nobody was watching Argentina vs Greece ;) What? Messi is on the other channel and no-one is watching it???

That's right, because here, at 3.30am, everyone was out on the streets or in bars, restaurants or at river side parks with millions of others, cheering on and expectantly hoping that South Korea beat Nigeria and made it through, past the group stages for the first time ever off of home soil.

It was a nail biting game though as Nigeria, who might also have progressed if they won and if The Argies beat the Greeks, started the brighter of the two and scored early on through Kalu Uche in the 12th minute.

The Red Devils - playing in white this time round - got one back though through Lee Jung Soo who found himself on the end of a free kick crossed in the from the left. The defender kinda scooped down to head the ball and actually missed it but somehow, luckily it hit his leg (somewhere!) and it went in! And the streets here went crazy!

If the scores stayed like this, South Korea were through!

Into the second half and in the 49th minute, South Korea got a free kick on the edge of the box. AS Monaco striker, Park Chu Young lined up what looked like a cross but instead he expertly curled it in to the bottom left corner, leaving keeper Enyeama totally helpless! Delirium as people everywhere jumped up in the air, tipping chairs and beers all over the place!

So now they just needed to hold on but to their credit (and maybe some peoples dismay) they kept it lively, going for a third and the game started to see end-to-end action all round. As the match wore on though, it was the Nigerians in the ascendancy as the Koreans started to get understandably nervous, trying to hold on to the result when they didn’t score the comfort goal.

Still, you had to think it was their night though as on around 65 minutes, Yakubu missed a chance to level the score from less than 4 yards out and with an open goal. How did it happen? You need to ask him. Amazingly, a cross came in low and beet the keeper, only for the Everton striker to knock it back between Jung Sung-Ryong, the post and out for a goal kick.

It wasn't the miss of the tournament; it was the miss of ALL tournaments!

But 4 minutes later, Nigeria were awarded a penalty and Yakubu, with balls of steel or something, stepped up to redeem himself and put Nigeria back on level terms. In the other game, the Argies finally scored after 77 minutes of trying, which suddenly meant that if Nigeria could score another, THEY would go through!

The final 10 minutes was frantic with the South Korean's doing everything they could to run down the clock, keeping the ball as much as possible or hoofing the ball up field. Each time, the latter was greeted with screams of ecstatic delight from the locals here!

It was heart-in-mouths time but South Korea held on for the draw and with the other game ending 2-0 to Argentina, they automatically qualified in 2nd.

So, the first part of the draw is complete! Uruguay will play South Korea and Argentina will play the Mexicans!

And tonight... it's England! A win and their through. Simple. A draw and they'll be looking over at other results with the USA likely to pip them for 2nd place. That would be interesting.

Also, in Group D, Ghana could become the first (and probably only) African team to go through if they win or draw against Germany. If they lose, they still go through unless the Serbs win.

There is also a small chance Australia could do it if they beat Serbia and make up the 5 goal difference on Ghana ooooor if Ghana straight up beat the Germans and the Ozzies win their game, then Ghana and Australia would go through!

Go Ghana and Australia!!!!

It’s hotting up I tell ya!

Day 11 - Iberian & Brazilian teams finding their feet

The 4 matches to catch up on from Sunday and Monday are from Groups G and H and bring to a close the second phase of the first stage of the... well, again, you know what I mean ;)

Starting with Group H and Spain came out against a Honduran side knowing that victory was imperative for their chances of progressing through to the next round. It didn't take long for David Villa - who was unfortunate to only hit the crossbar with a wonderfully struck shot moments earlier - to score with a stunning solo effort.

The striker picked up the ball way out on the left flank, jinked past 2 players and then nipped inside a third before lashing home a glorious shot into the top left corner.

The Honduran side put up little resistance and Villa added another in the second half to make it 2-0. The striker then had a chance to get this year's second hat-trick from the spot but fluffed it wide and the score stayed as it was.

The other game saw a highly entertaining match between Chile and Switzerland. Highly entertaining for two reasons. Firstly, the Chileans put on a pretty good showing with some nice touches and I was impressed with their all round play. But secondly - The Ref! LOL!

In truth, I can’t see Saudi Arabian referee, Khalil Al Ghamdi, being selected to go through to the next round after a really rather laughable performance in which he showed a total of 10 cards. One of which was a very questionable straight red.

I was watching it outside the GS25 (our little local supermarket) and me and my mate Kellen where having a field day! Into the second half, every time a player did something weird or sometimes even touched the ball, we'd be shouting "BOOK HIM"! BOOK HIM! Hehehe!

The first yellow came after less that 60 seconds of play and went to Humberto Suazo for a high tackle that really didn't seem that bad at all. One Swiss guy then tripped and fell on a Chilean dude and got booked for that too. Others seemed to calmly ask the referee a question and got booked for that as well! Incredible stuff! We loved it ;)

Anyway, the game finished 1-0 to Chile, giving them 6 points and an out-right lead in the group. Good job!

And then...*drum roll please*... Group G! Rah!

Group G saw Portugal get their first win and goal(s)(!!!) of the 2010 World Cup. No fewer than 7 in fact! A strange old game saw North Korea rattle the Portuguese a little in the first half, coming close through Cha Jong Hyok and Hong Yong Jo.

They played some industrious football and nearly took the lead but in the 29th minute, Porto's robust midfielder Raul Meireles burst through the North Korean defense and was exquisitely found by man-of-the-match (in my view anyway) Tiago. He took the ball in his stride and smashed it under the advancing keeper.

The first half ended 1-0 with both teams still in it but after the break, the Portuguese took control. First, Simão Sabrosa on 53 and then Hugo Almeida on 56 put the game beyond North Korea's reach.

4 minutes later, Tiago capped a wonderful Portuguese move by scoring the 4th and suddenly the rout was on. "A Selecção das Quinas" then wasted a whole host of chances including a superb Ronaldo shot that smashed the cross bar, before substitute Liedson got their 5th on 81 minutes.

Ronaldo then finally got what he'd been looking for with a bizarre goal. Liedson intercepted a ball off the North Korean defense and the two of them were through on goal. Ronaldo got there first but only just managed to poke the ball in the keeper’s direction.

The ball then somehow rose up into the air before seemingly resting on Ronaldo's back who was stumbling forward after jumping over the keeper! Weird, I know! (See the video if you want, just here to the right ~>)

Somewhat fortuitously, it then rolled down his right side and he was left with a simple tap in to get Portugal's sixth.

Unbelievably, it wasn't over yet and in the dying minutes, Tiago added another and his second to make it seventh heaven for Portugal.

The mood here was not the best. It may seem strange to some (including myself a little), but to many (South) Koreans, Korea is still one people and regardless of the problems between the two Nations in recent times, watching their "brothers" let 7 past them was not a nice thing at all.

Finally, the other game in the group was Brazil vs Ivory Coast and the Brazilians took it 3-1. The game had two major talking points. Firstly Luis Fabiano's 2nd goal definitely looked like he handled the ball on his way through to scoring. Put that aside for a moment and it was actually a wonderfully worked goal from the striker.

But pictures show the referee actually asking the player afterwards if he had handled it! Fabiano said "no", of course... but I wonder what would have happened had he said "yes"??? Hmm... interesting. Would the ref have pulled it all back and disallowed it? That certainly would have been a first.

The second big talking point was Kaka's second yellow and subsequent red card, with shades of the Rivaldo 2002 incident, seemingly coming back to haunt them.

It looked like the squeeky clean, golden boy of Brazilian football, really didn't do much to Abdelkader Keita as the two innocuously came together but the Ivory Coast winger went down in dramatic fashion, clutching his face and rolling around like he was being stung by a billion bees or something.

After a big kafuffle involving players and staff from both sides, Kaka was sent off and will now miss the game against Portugal (phew! hehe) and, depending on how FIFA see it, may even miss the one after that too.

But the win guarantees Brazil's participation in the last 16 and the game against Portugal next Friday will be one to be watched. The winner and loser almost certainly deciding who will top the group and subsequently, who will face Spain (probably) in the next round!

I can't wait!!!!

Days 9 & 10 - Into The Final Stages!

Firstly, sorry about the delay on the blog. Weekends seem to be busier than week days recently ;) So just quickly, I'll recap on 5 games. A lot has happened! We're into the final stages of the group matches and much has been decided!

Firstly, in Group D, after Serbia's surprise victory had blown the group wide open with a great win over the Germans the previous night, Australia and Ghana both knew that this was a great chance to get some valuable points up on the board.

Playing without Tim Cahill due to suspension, Australia took the lead through stand-in Brett Holman. The goal, somewhat surprising, marked the first ever time Australia had scored first in a World Cup Finals game. But the lead was shorlived as Ghana came back into it as Harry Kewell was sent off for a deliberate handball in the box. Kewell complained like nothing but the stiker can have nothing to complain about after replays clearly showed he handled it on the line and stopped them scoring. Silly sausage!



Ghana scored from the penalty spot and the game then flowed, more Ghana's way but with the Ozzies counting on the counters, there were chances at both ends and either side could have snatched it in a frantic finale to the game. Still, it wasn't to be and both had to settle for a 1-1 draw, so everything is still to be decided.

In Group E, Cameroon - many people's tip to go furthest out of all African teams (including mine) - was the first to fall out. In a game strewn with mistakes, the The Indomitable Lions got the "In" taken out of them by the Dominating Danes (sorry about that one ^^).

Samuel Eto'o, unlike in the previous game, was played up front and it seemed to have worked when he put the Cameroonian side ahead but Denmark fought back valiantly with two good goals from Bendtner in the 33rd and another from Rommedahl in the 61st minute.



In the other game, Wesley Sneijder’s powerful shot gave the Dutch all 3 points in their match, with a Japanese side that showed good fighting spirit but were in effect, ineffectual.

The result meant that The Netherlands were the first team to guarantee qualification through to the next round and leaves Morton Olsen's men to battle it out with the Samurai Blues for the right to go through with them. Should be a good one that.

In Group F, the game between Italy and New Zealand produced the real shock of the past few days with the All Whites claiming an historic draw over the current World Champions.

Shane Smeltz gave the Kiwi's a surprising 7th minute lead and although the Italians clawed one back via a highly debatable Iaquinta penalty, they failed the break down a resilient New Zealand side that held on for what was certainly their proudest ever result. Crazy stuff!

Finally, Paraguay eased past a poor Slovakian side in a relatively dull match, with goals from Vera and Riveros. This means that everything is out in the open for the last match next week. Paraguay are in pole position with 4 points, Italy and New Zealand follow with 2 and Slovakia brings up the rear with 1.

Next Blog is a special one so stay tuned ;) hehehe

Day 8 - Big Egos...

England had to play against Algeria today, but over here in Seoul, the game started at 3.30 a.m. So I decided to put my alarm on for 3.20 so that I could get up for it. But something strange happened... my alarm didn't go off!

When the daylight streamed into the room, I rolled over to check the time and saw that it was 6 a.m. "Damn!", I thought, "I've probably missed the revival and stunning victory that Rooney himself predicted would be easy, for even an under-strength England side! Dammit!"

Moments later, and after checking the scores on the BBC website, I felt simultaneously pissed off and ecstatic. Pissed off cus Wayne Rooney obviously lied to everyone and super-happy cus I didn't waste 2 hours of valuable sleeping time over it.

England had drawn to Algeria 0-0, in a lackluster, drab and extremely dull encounter. Boy was I happy / angry! So, what does this result mean? Well, basically, it means that England are crap! Sorry for the language but, seriously, this is a terrible result.

In terms of qualification, what it means is that there's still no need to panic. This seems to be the general message being voiced from the England camp. Don't panic, don't panic. We just need to win our next game and we're through!

I don't know. Maybe I'm becoming cynical in my old age but hell, from the highlights I saw, England were exactly all those things; lackluster, drab and extremely dull. And to top it all, as Wayne Rooney was walking off the pitch, he turned to the camera and said: "Nice to hear your own fans booing you, that's loyal supporters".





Well, I think I'm not alone when saying that if I was one of those supporters, I'd be pretty annoyed too. Maybe £1000-odd is not that much money for Wayne, but I'm sure it's quite a big dent on the wallets of many of those England supporters who traveled out there, and I think they've got every right to boo the team off the pitch.

Maybe this is also what the team needs too. A kick up the backside and someone to tell them we're not happy with all this. But isn't that Capello's job? Anyway, I guess we've got nothing else but hope... so lets stick to that. Thanks England! I was kinda hoping for some good football instead of hoping or depending on hope itself.

Anyway, on to Germany! Yay! The Germans are in a bit of an interesting position too. At least it wasn't only us that had a stinker. Playing against Serbia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and after having thrashed the Ozzies 4-0 in their previous encounter, the Germans were seriously caught out with their over confidence.

Before the match, The German newspaper Bild had stated: "We're going to blow you all away"! Well, they certainly blew something away! At least, unlike ours, the game was exciting though. The Germans were having most of the chances until 2 stupid tackles by Miroslav Klose earned him 2 yellow cards and an early bath.

To be fair, he probably didn't deserve the first one, but after receiving it, he really should have been a little more careful. 90 seconds later, the Serbs got their goal through Milan Jovanovic and then held on to take a shock victory 1-0. Lukas Podolski wasted the best of the Germans' chances, including a penalty, easily saved by Vladimir Stojkovic after Nemanja Vidic had inexplicably handballed in the box.

The other match saw a riveting contest between Slovenia and the USA. The Slovenians took a shock 2-0 lead into the break before being pegged back in the 2nd with goals from Landon Donovon and Michael Bradley and they should have won it with a last-ditch goal that was unfairly ruled out for a mysterious tug in the box.

Donovon hit a good free kick into the box and for a moment, it seemed the Americans had done the unthinkable and snatch it at the end when Maurice Edu hit a great volley into the back of Handanovic's net, but the celebrations were cut short as referee Koman Coulibaly, officiating in his first ever world cup, disallowed the goal for a pull on one of the Slovenian defenders.

It was an unfair finale to the game and one the Americans will rightly be furious about but they'll have to pick themselves up and (like the English, and everyone else in the group) win their last game if they're to have any chance of making it through to the next round.

All in all, it was a day of big ego's getting smashed (maybe not so much for the Americans but certainly for the English and Germans). Will this serve as a message to be learned from? I guess we'll only know next week.

Day 7 - "Picking up steam"

After a tentative week, we're into the 2nd stage of the 1st stage in the first round of... anyway, you know what I mean, right?! These are the games that, once played, are gathering all the team's fans round the drawing table, calculating all the if's and but's and how's and why's and everything or anything else that could happen. You gotta love the World Cup ;)

Yesterday's games were purely thrilling and after Uruguay's win against the hosts on Day 6, Mexico and France were left to battle it out to see what the teams would be required to do on their final games in Group A.

This was a game both the French and the Mexican's knew they had to win. Defeat would leave things very awkward in their final matches and this seemed to inspire both to drop their defensive tendencies and go for it.

France started the strongest but gradually, much against what all had predicted, it was Mexico that started to take control of the game. Their slick passing often finding spaces all around the leaking French backline and it was just surprising they didn't get anything for it in the first half.

By the second half though, the Mexican's finally got what they deserved. A delicate ball played over the static back line of the French and substitute Javier Hernandez - soon to be plying his trade at Manchester United - showed great composure to round one of the best keepers in the business and put the Mexican's 1 up.




This should have pumped the French up but instead, it was Mexico who got the second from the penalty spot. A darting run from Pablo Barrera ended when Eric Abidal took a lunge and brought him down. That was pretty much game set and match as 37-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco stepped up to convert the penalty. 2-0 Mexico!

The other two games of the day were also super exciting. Nigeria vs Greece had both teams going full pelt from the off and it was Nigeria who took the lead with one of those free kicks-come-crosses from 50 yards. Every player jumps, nobody touches it and it goes straight in (making the keeper look a little silly).

Till then, Nigeria had been the stronger of the two so deservedly took the lead but on 33 minutes, the game was around when Nigeria's Sani Kaita was sent off for, what looked like a kick-out at Vasileios Torosidis. Replays are inconclusive as to whether there was any contact, but it was still foolish of Kaita to raise his foot like that, after the two had tussled slightly on the side line.

From there, the game was all for Greeks to go out and win and so they did. The first came from a deflected strike from Dimitrios Salpingidis, right at the end of the first half and second was a tap in, after Nigeria keeper Enyeama spilt his save and the rebound was tucked in by Alexandros Tziolis, giving Greece their first ever World Cup win. You can imagine the celebrations ;)

Finally, Argentina and South Korea. Well, what can I say. Sunah and I watched at our local, which was understandably joyous and packed pull of expectant Korean fans and I wish I could make this blog a nice one for them to read (I'll try though, I promise, me and my bias little eyes ^^).

First and foremost, I'd just like to say that the final score, in my opinion (seriously), was not a fair reflection on how the game went. It may have been a fair score line when you look at things like possession, style of play and goal scoring opportunities, but as for the pattern of the game, I think it was a bit harsh and people, here in Seoul, were genuinely hurt.

After such a convincing performance against the Greeks, The Red Devils seriously thought they could have a fair crack at the Argies and although everyone here was saying it was impossible or that the best they could get was a draw, deep down, everyone believed an upset was possible. Especially after all the shenanigans with the Spaniards the night before and the French and Italians, the English... the list goes on.

All the talk prior to the game (in fact, since the draw was made back in December last year) had been about one thing in particular. How do we stop Messi? He's been the talk of the town since arriving in South Africa and today, he played in a slightly unfamiliar role, playing in the hole behind Higuain and Tevez.

It was a bit surprising to see him so deep and personally, I don't think that's his best position. He seemed to be floating around a little too much for my liking but still, when he did get the ball, it was, as many predicted, a joy to watch.

The two first goals came from Argentina. One from a Messi free kick which was very unfortunately turned in by Park Chu Young and another from a Messi cross, flicked over by Nicolas Burdisso and simply turned in at the back post by Higuain.

A rout was on the cards and South Korea needed something from somewhere and they almost got it with a spectacular drive from Celtic's Ki Sung Yeung (who many have labeled as the Korean Gerrard). Unfortunately, the shot, which was from almost 30 yards out just fizzed over the bar with Sergio Romero scrambling over but effectively beaten.

South Korea probed but it was Argentina with the more assured control and Messi once again wowed the crowd with a dazzling little run and a chip that was just pulled wide of Jung Sung-Ryong in the Korean goal.

The show really was belonging to Messi but with time running out at the end of the first half, South Korea sprung a little surprise on the Argies when Dimichelis was caught napping at the back by Bolton's Lee Chung-Yong, who nicked the ball off him on the edge of the box and finished with class, clipping a half volley with the outside of his boot, over the advancing Argentinean goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

That was the last action of the half and when the second half began, we saw a far more adventurous Korean side coming out of the blocks a little harder and faster then their Group B opponents. The quality possession still belonged to the South American's but slowly, the Koreans were ruffling a few of their feathers, including Messi who was getting ever more frustrated by the tight marking on him.

Gabriel Heinze saw a yellow too for ungentlemanly conduct by throwing the ball away before Yeom Ki-Hun had the chance to change the game around and write his name in the history books. A wonderfully placed through ball put him one on one with the keeper the but winger placed his shot wide with his left foot, when he probably should have used his right.

That was pretty much that and with the Korean's pushing for the equalizer, the Argies took full advantage of the spaces left at the back to hit them on the counter with two goals in quick succession. Both goals had Messi to thank (at some point in the move) and both were converted by Higuain who became the first player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup since Portugal's Pauleta in 2002.

Now, with the Greece vs Nigeria match finishing the way it did, South Korea have to beat the Nigerians or get at least the same result that the Greeks get against the Argentineans, who will more that likely be playing an under-strength side next week.

Man. What a day!