World Cup Day 8- 18/06/10

We're getting to that exciting stage now where teams know what they have to do, and are willing to play open, expansive football in an attempt to win games. Since each team played their first round of fixtures, games have got noticeably more exciting, and today was no different.

After Germany's victory over Australia, I along with many others expected a comprehensive victory over Serbia today. The game started fairly openly with chances from both sides. But one single decision changed the game; the absurd decision to send off Miroslav Klose after 37 minutes. Klose received his marching orders after picking up two yellow cards, the second of which was soft at best, the first of which was frankly ridiculous. Barely a minute later, Serbia took the lead. The goal was poorly defended in a similar manner of Japans goal against Cameroon. The ball came in, two defenders jumped for the same ball and missed, Zigic headed it back across and Jovanovic exploited the space left by the other centre back to give Serbia the lead. The second half was all Germany, and they really should have drawn level, with Podolski missing about 5 decent chances, including a penalty. The result blows group D wide open, though I'm still backing Germany and Ghana for first and second, though it will very much depend on the Ghana vs Australia match.

The most exciting match by a long way today was between the USA and Slovenia. Slovenia gained their first ever world cup victory over Algeria last Sunday, and so were high on confidence, while America put on a good showing against England. The first half was fairly even, though wass shaped by a trully brilliant strike form the impressive Birsa after 14 minutes. 3 minutes before half time, Slovenia doubled their advantage with a goal from Zlatan Ljubijankic . But credit to the USA, they really took the game to their opponents in the second half, and were rewarded with goals from Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley. They should have got a winner late on, but Maurice Edu's goal was inexplicably disallowed due to pushing as a free kick was played into the box. Group C is now also wide open, and for me is too close to call, particularly after Englands result in the evening. They put in a dismal performance against Algeria, again showing some intelligence going forwards but failing to find any sort of a finish. Balls into the box from the wingers were poor, and the full backs are still a bit of an issue. With Steven Gerrard playing on the right, Ashley Cole didn't forray forward as much, instead dropping back as cover for Gerrard, limiting England's attacking options. Glen Johnson is good going forwards, but poor defensively. Because Liverpool don't play with any real width, Johnson is used as almost a utility winger, so when playing for England he gets caught out of position far too much. England now need to win against Slovenia, as a draw would give England 3 points, putting Slovenia through, and the 3 lions would then need to rely on America drawing with at least 2 fewer goals than them.

My Predictions for World Cup Day 9- 19/06/10

Holland 2-0 Japan
Japan played well in their opening fixture, but the Dutch should just prove to be too much for them. If Holland play well, they can beat anyone in the world. If not, they could probably still beat a weaker team like Japan.

Ghana 2-0 Australia
Australia will miss the influence of Tim Cahill big time, and a lack of his creativity plus the power that Ghana have in midfield should give the Africans a relatively comfortable victory in this one.

Cameroon 1-1 Denmark
These are two very evenly matched teams, and if they both play to their best it could be an interesting match up. What is crucial however, is that Cameroon play with Samuel Eto'o as a centre forward rather than a right midfielder as they did in the last match, and that Denmark do not let their heads go down if they concede the first goal. This is the game which could potentially decide who goes through with Holland.