Category: World Cup (Page 11 of 17)

England became the third team to advance out of the group stage with a with a nailbiting win over Trinidad and Tobago 2-0.

It was closer than that.

England, looking like they couldn’t finish if their life depended on it–and it nearly did, looked like they were going to be held until Beckham finally hit Crouch with a great cross that he finally got into the net. Until that moment, Crouch didn’t just look bad, he was horrible. I couldn’t understand what he was doing on the pitch–nor, apparently did he. At least he had the good sense not to do that robot rubbish afterwards.

England showed no spark whatsoever until Rooney, Downing and especially Lennon came on late to open up some space. Up until England scored, the play of the game was John Terry’s clearance off the line in the first half that nearly put the minnows in the lead. Frank Lampard was at least taking shots–mostly feeble balloons, but shots none the less. No one else on the team was doing much of anything. Gerrard was invisible until he poked in the second, nearly at the whistle.

The English criticism of Ericksson is starting to look on the money. This cool and calm team has no sense of urgency and are soon to find themselves in much hotter water.

Other than picking up the three points, England also was able to give Rooney a run out. Broken foot and all, he came on and was hustling all over the pitch.

So England are through, but they certainly have a lot to work on.

Lowly Ecuador, the team that wasn’t expected to be able to compete at sea level, has bounced Poland and Costa Rica out of the World Cup. Costa Rica didn’t seem to comprehend what exactly was at stake in the match as they were soundly thrashed 3-0.

What it also means is that a draw in the last match of the Group won’t be good enough for Germany to take the top spot. England will probably be in the unusual position of praying for a German win against Ecuador.

That won’t be a problem.

Ecuador will be very pleased at being able to take advantage of the Poland slip, while playing over their heads themselves for two matches, to get themselves out of the group stage.

Whatever else happens, this team will surely be considered the weakest in the next round.

I haven’t had a chance to watch the match yet. From what I’ve read, it looks like I can just skip to stoppage time. Germany’s defense must have been better in the 1-0 win that effectively knocks Poland out of the competition.

There were apparently hundreds of arrests before the match. No surprise there. That’ll give the American media something to harp on anyway. Finally, something happened in the World Cup that they can all actually understand–thanks to the skinheads.

If this wasn’t a fluke, and Germany actually has some semblence of a defense, they’ll be tough at home. There’s nothing wrong with the attacking side of their game. I’m not sold, yet, but I’ll go give it a butcher’s.

Ok, it was a mildly exciting finish, but the last match of the first round of the group stage was a duel between the two worst teams in the tournament. Tunisia, by pulling the goal back in stoppage time to draw with Saudi Arabia 2-2, effectively knocked both teams out of the World Cup.

Neither team was ever going to advance anyway.

This game had the look of a Division II college match. The Saudis probably deserved the three points, but who cares?

Ukraine, despite their abysmal performance today, has nothing to worry about.

Ukraine wilted in the heat as Spain struck early and often for an easy 4-0 win. Shevchenko, warming up for his role at Chelsea, was non-existant. The entire Ukraine team put in a pathetic effort, and Spain just coasted.

It was only 2-0 when a horrible call gave a penalty to Spain, making it 3 and Ukraine was a man down. They seemed like they were about 4 or 5 men down from the start, though. They were never in it, and the only question was how many Spain wanted to score.

It’s hard to tell if Spain are really clicking or not. They sat Reyes, and Fabregas and Raul only made a run-out to stretch the legs late. Ukraine wouldn’t have beaten anyone today.