World Cup Day 6- 16/06/10

I'll be honest. I only got to see one game today, Spain v Switzerland. I do unfortunately have other commitments, largely school, so I'll comment on what I know of the games today.
From what I hear, Honduras v Chile was a surprisingly open and entertaining game. I think because neither have particularly high world cup hopes and because they are both small teams, they felt that they were both able to play attacking football, and try to win rather than try to avoid defeat. The goal came for Chile in the first half, and from what I hear it was no more than they deserved. Honduras will finish bottom of the group, there seems little doubt about that. Based on later events of the day, Chile will also be going home early.

Spain v Switzerland. What a shocker. I predicted fast, free-flowing football and a fantastic performance from the Spaniards. For parts of the game, that's what we got. Spain really moved the ball around well, and I doubt there are 3 men on earth who can pick a pass better than Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Alonso. Unfortunately, Switzerland set out their stall to play a form of football which basically should be illegal; anti-football. More content with not losing and trying to stifle their more illustrious opponents, they put men behind the ball and invited the pressure. I don't think anyone was quite expecting the outcome though. The first thing the Spanish defence had to do happened after 52 minutes, when Puyol and Pique failed to deal with a long ball downfield, Casillas spilled a shot and Fernandes slotted home from close range. From then on, Switzerland really defended. Spain really piled on the pressure, coming close on several occasions, but Switzerland were organised at the back and defended well. Up against Chile and Honduras, Switzerland should really have no problem. They showed today that their defence is good enough, and they should be able to attack sufficiently for the remaining group games as well. As for Spain, I think they showed that they are a very, very good side, and if they are allowed to play then they will be a force to be reconed with. All they need to worry about is bigger and better teams setting out their stall in the same way as the Swiss did. But against bigger teams, who feel that they might have a chance of beating Spain, we should be thoroughly entertained.

I feel sorry for South Africa. In the first game, I thought the hosts played really well, but they seem to have been run over by Uruguay this evening. It seems to me that the South Americans showed what a force they have when Suarez and Forlan play well together. Continue like that and they should progress from the group. South Africa will have to hope that France will have 'another one of those tournaments' and that their poor showing against Uruguay will turn out to have been more than a minor blip. The best the host nation can hope for is a draw between France and Mexico, to defeat the French and hope Uruguay can beat Mexico. They can now only finish second though, so their chances of continuing the trend of host nations doing well is rather slim.

My Predictions for World Cup Day 7- 17/06/10
Argentina 2-0 South Korea
South Korea gave a decent performance against a weak Greek side in their opening game, but shouldn't get any such joy against the Argentinians. Messi was on form in the opening game aganist Nigeria, and the South Americans were unlucky to only win by one goal. They should have a fairly comfortable run in against their opponents tomorrow.

Greece 0-1 Nigeria
These two sides were both poor in their opening matches, but Nigeria managed to hold Argentina to only a 1-0 win, while Greece conceded 2 against the much less illustrious South Korea. From what I've seen so far, Greece have one of the worst defences in the tournament, which could well cost them against Nigeria.

France 1-0 Mexico
France got their team selection totally wrong in the opening game, but they undoubtedly have the quality to beat anyone in the group. Start with Malouda and Henry against Mexico and they should just prove to be too much.