The past 2 days have seen matches with mixed tempos. On one hand, we had the likes of France, Switzerland and...........wait for it...........................yes, Brazil, would you believe it, putting us to sleep (quite literally....about 60 min. into the Brazil - Croatia match I was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................!!). On the other hand, one of my favourite teams in this WC, Spain, put on a master-class that left the Ukraine players wondering what sin they committed in their previous life to receive such a thrashing in their very first game ever in a World Cup!
To start off with, Korea showed us how a comfortable game on paper can be converted into a mess by just about managing to beat underdogs and newcomers Togo 2-1, with a substitute needed to come on and grab the winner. On the back of this performance, I cannot see Korea progressing from the group stages, and will have to come up with something special against France and/or Switzerland to have any chance of going through. France-Switzerland was probaby the most boring game of football I have seen in a long time, though England-Paraguay would come a close second. Thierry Henry for some particular reason is just not able to deliver for his country the way he does day in and day out for Arsenal. Zidane looks a shadow of his former self.... and to top it all the average age of the French starting XI was over 30 or something!!!!! How can anyone expect them to go all the way?!
Group H saw two very exciting games with contrasting styles of play. Spain, as I mentioned earlier, made a statement, and the rest of the 31 teams better beware. Even without their talisman Raul, this young and talented team looked at ease against quality opposition, and I see the likes of Fabregas, Puyol, Torres and Villa as the stars of this tournament. I only hope they do not choke in the knockout stages as they did last time around. Andriy Shevchenko definitely looked like someone just returning from injury, as he struggled throughout the match to get a decent chance of scoring. In the end, Spain more than deserved their 4-0 victory. The other match was thrilling for other reasons. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia didnt exactly produce world-class performances, but their high tempo and an immense desire to win brought the match to life. A pulsating end to the match saw the Saudis almost winning it with a late goal, but Tunisia produced an even later goal through Radhi Jaidi, who has produced such headers regularly for Bolton Wanderers in England, to break the hearts of Saudi supporters all over the world. If the Saudis had pulled this one off, it would probably have been the best moment in the lives of those 11 Saudi players. Ultimately 2-2 was a fair result, one would have to admit.
Until the next round of matches.......
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