Mistakes and misgivings

After four days of openers, I think we've all got to have another look at our expectations for this year's cup. Of the games that I watched, this is what I saw: 


Argentina - A team I had personally placed among the top contenders for the final, on paper they should win it on talent alone. But seeing them flail and rush and give up numerous balls, I'm struck by the impression that they are a team that just don't know one another. Too many possibilities in front of the net when one player couldn't read his own teammate. But who can blame them when their boss fielded 100 different players before the opener. They say Maradona won a world cup. They'll say he lost one too.

England - Always buried with pressure to regain 44 year old glory, this year also looks to be one in which they could actually pull it off. But coming away from facing the States with only one point says a lot to the contrary. Starting from the front, (aside from the one click that resulted in Gerrard's fantastic finish) both Heskey and Rooney were in poor form or more or less anonymous, respectively. SWP also seemed to have decided to leave the game up to Lamps and Gerrard. Carragher and Terry showed a serious lack of pace, and well the fact that Green started reveals a problematic approach by the man charged with managing the entire squad. Changes will have to be made.

USA - The players showed excellent fitness and strength of pace. But that was their strongest point. When it came to bringing the ball to the net, there were far too many times when Dempsey would charge down the middle and Altidore and Findley would simply stay at the corners of the area, close to their defenders. Far too many shots from far out, fortunately for them one jubilani ball made it's way past the hands of Green (more on that later).

Ghana - Very energetic and looking confident most of the time, they still seemed to be playing in the Africa Cup of Nations style with lots of long shots and an overall attempt at outpacing the giant Serbains rather than outclassing them. I don't see them getting very far if they stick to a contest of athleticism and individual talent.

Germany - They looked deadly. Cool, smooth, precise. It was like the German stereotype. Yes, it's true, they played an Australian side that was too timid to challenge for the ball mid-field and more or less looked like a bunch of athletic boys playing against a professional team. But still, you have to appreciate their calm calculations between the back four as they waited for the Socceroos to get hot and leave a gap. Without a doubt the strongest performance of the cup so far.

The Netherlands - Started out looking fierce, fast and aggressive. They stripped the Danish dozens of times. But they themselves gave up the ball too often, and as they seemed to slow during the middle of the match they were generally a bit sloppier than you expect the Dutch to be. But a formidable side nonetheless, and one to keep an eye on.


Italy - They came out to play much more aggressively than I'd expected. Considering that losing their first game as defending champions to a team that's never won before would be devastating to a side that's already being derided by their own fans, many thought they would simply park the bus. Instead they went out to win. Unfortunately they didn't, and when Cannavaro and De Rossi let Alcaraz simply leap up between them and net Paraguay's only goal, they showed telling weakness and lack of ability to control the game (if giving the ball away often and almost never finishing didn't show enough). But then again, it's true that they have a knack for sticking it through and coming out strong in the end. We shall see, especially considering they have only to beat Slovakia and a country that qualified by beating teams whose aggregate national populations hover somewhere around 2 million.

Paraguay - While many called Denmark the tournament's dark horse, it seems Paraguay are the squad to surprise. They came out fighting and might have won it if not for one defensive blunder, which seem in one way or another to be littering this tournament so far (again, more later). Though they might not have enough of a chance to be considered dark horses, coming out of their conference and starting out as strong as they have with no star player but Santa Cruz (who only came on in the end anyway) makes them one of the more impressive teams thus far. It will be great to see how far they can progress.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Most teams look less than comfortable and very scared to lose their first matches. Lots of defense and poor follow through (except of course ze Germans). Some say altitude, others say vuvuzela, and many say the ball. Are they to be blamed for all the wide shots, or is it the strategy so many seem to be adopting to shoot from 30-40m out? And then again, if those factors are distracting keepers and defenders so much, then why is it that by the start of the 8th match in 2006, there were more than double the number of goals already scored (2006: 17 vs. 2010: 8)??

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?

- Tommy "I thought you were still standing there" Spaeth


Also, watching Portugal v Ivory Coast the other day, I was reminded how lucky Italy was to escape so many deserved cards. Was the referee scared to book the Italians or what??