World Cup Day 3- 13/06/10

At about 5:00pm this afternoon, I was mentally preparing this blog, talking about how it had been a disappointing day, and so far a disappointing lack of goals in the tournament. I think it's fair to say that's all changed now. Dayt 3 also saw a red card in each of the 3 games,with an element of controversy behind at least one.
But before we get onto the exciting stuff, let's get the more boring game out of the way first. Algeria v Slovenia was never going to be a huge thriller, but I think we all expected a lot more than what we got for the first game of Day 3. Algeria's only serious attempt was a Belhadj freekick early on which Slovenia goalkeeper Handanovic did well to tip over the crossbar.
It took around 72 minutes for us to all get wakened up, as substitute of 15 minutes Abdelkader Ghezzal recieved his second yellow card. There could be no complaints about either booking, the first coming seconds after Ghezzal came on as a sub, for shirt pulling. The second, barely a quarter of an hour later was, not for the last time in the day, a trully stupid handball. Diving for a cross, Ghezzal for some reason stuck his arm out, and promptly recieved his marching orders.
That decision may well have cost Algeria, as 7 minutes later Robert Koren's tame shot somehow crept through the arms of Faouzi Chaouchi and into the Algeria net, for what proved to be the winning goal.
I think it's fair to say that neither England nor the USA have anything to fear from these two. Neither side showed any real cutting edge, and the error from Chaouchi will make England feel much better about having Rob Green. England's main concern now should be their failure to beat the Americans, as topping the group could be vital to England's world cup hopes. Should the USA come top, England would likely play Germany in the last 16. Beat them, and Argentina would probably lie in wait in the quarters. If England somehow stop Messi and co., it will be Spain in the semis, barring a major shock in a previous round for the Spaniards. And if England somehow make it through to the final, it will most likely be against Brazil. Even if none of these four teams are able to win their groups or make it through the next rounds, the likes of Portugal and Holland will stand in England's way instead.

Away from Group C, Ghana became the third African nation to kick off their world cup campaign. I predicted a 3-2 win for the Ghaneans here, and while I may have been a way off on the amount of goals, I was certainly accurate on entertainment value. The two sides contested a terrific match, with Ghana's strength in midfield just about outplaying a Serbian side for whom it seems almost a requirement to have a surname ending in 'vic' in order to play for them. It was an open, end to end match, played at a frantic pace, though both sides seemed to lack a final ball at times. Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan hit the post in a second half in which Ghana were far the better side, with the Serbs trying desperately to feed 6ft 8" striker Nikola Zigic, who failed to make the most of the few clear-cut chances he was given. With just over 15 minutes of the game remaining, we saw the second red card of the day, as Aleksandar Lukovic recieved a second yellow for hauling down Gyan. Though initially it was unclear what his first booking was for, it later emerged that he had fouled Boateng shortly after coming on, an indident not noticed by TV cameras due to the referee playing a good advantage.
With 5 minute remaining, we had the second stupid handball of the day. Serbian substitute Kuzmanovic punched away a cross which didn't appear to be heading to anyone in a white shirt, and Asamoah Gyan confidently slotted home to finally give an African nation a victory at the African world cup.
Group D is a very tough group, with all four sides boasting strong sqauds. I have no doubt that Germany will top it, and on todays evidence it looks like Ghana will come second. They are a very physical side, and use that to their advantage to deny their opponents much in the way of serious possesion in midfield. With the likes of Gyan, who had a fantastic game today, leading the line, I think Ghana will be a tough team to beat and may well be the strongest of the African nations at this years competition.

By far the most exciting game of the day was contested between Germany and Australia. In my predictions for today, I said that Australia had a good defence, but may be let down by their attack. I was completely wrong, as the Aussie defence fell to pieces, allowing far to much space to Podolski, Klose, Mueller and Cacau as Germany romped to a 4-0 win. Germany coach Joachim Loew certainly proved a point today as well. With much debate going on over who he should play as his front 3, and Loew then being criticised for his final selection, the German team certainly answered those critics as all three strikers scored. No sooner had the third, Mueller, scored, another, Cacau, was introduced. No sooner had Cacau come on, he added a fourth to complete the rout.
The first German goal came after just 8 minutes. Thomas Mueller's drilled cross fell behind Klose, but no-one in the Australian defence picked up Podolski's far post run, and he slammed home the opening goal. Less than 20 minutes later it was 2, with Miroslav Klose continuing his fantastic world cup goalscoring rate by heading home Philip Lahm's fantastic cross. The defence was again at fault here, with Klose being allowed to run between two Australian defenders and head past Schwazer, who had commited himself to a punch he just wasn't going to make.
Ten minutes into the second half saw one of the worst refereeing decisions of the tournament so far. Tim Cahill went in hard on Bastien Schweinsteiger and was dismissed by referee Marco Rodriguez. Cahil was late, yes, but it was not a malicious tackle, it wasn't two-footed, it wasn't in the air and it wasn't studs up. Bookable, yes, sending off, no chance.
With just over 20 minutes to go, Germany added a third. Thomas Mueller twisted and turned on the edge of the box before firing a great shot into Mark Schwazers far post. More poor tackling on show from the Socceroos. It got worse just two minutes later when Cacau, barely on the field for a minute, was left unmarked in front of goal and latched onto the instrumental man-of-the-match Ozil's cut back.
I think Germany's hopes of winning the tournament may have now increased. Ozil was simply superb in midfield, Klose and Podolski have fantastic goalscoring records at the world cup, and th midfield was simply dominant today. As for Australia, their tournament is as good as over. Not just because of the lack of ability to mark at the back, but because of the woeful decision to send off Tim Cahill. The game was already beyond the Aussies, who were 2-0 down at the time, but Cahill will now miss the remaining group games, which could cost his country dearly.

Off the pitch, a major issue emerged today, when it was announced that South Africa would consider banning vuvuzelas. This is an outrage. The vuvuzelas create a fantastic atmosphere, there is nothing worse than a quiet football stadium. Players are complaining about not being able to communicate on the pitch, but to be honest they should be used to noisy stadiums, and if they're not then there's something wrong. Aside from that, the horns are a symbol of the host nation. Take them away and you take away the main factor in the match which reminds us that this is South Africa's world cup. This is the world cup which shows once and for all that football is more than 'just a game'. Let the hosts have their vuvuzelas. It's a symbol of who they are; a country that loves its football.

My Predictions for World Cup Day 4- 14/06/10
Denmark 0-3 Holland
For me, the Dutch are the strongest team at the world cup. Not only are they blessed with players like Robben and Snjieder, who set the Champions League alight this year, but they work extremely well as a unit and make the most of the creativity which they are so blessed with. There's no doubt they'll defeat the Danes. The question is, how much by?

Japan 2-1 Cameroon
Japan showed against England that they are a good side, and are not to be underestimated. Shunsuke Nakamura is still one of the best freekick takers around, so Japan should prove to be too much for Cameroon. Don't rule the African's out completely though...

Italy 3-0 Paraguay
Italy certainly aren't as strong as they were when they became World Champions four years ago, but they are still one of the strongest sides in the tournament. With a ruthless defence featuring 2006 world player of the year Cannavaro, a midfield bossed by the tough-tackling Gattuso, the creative force of De Rossi providing ammo to the likes of Gilardino, they should be able to outclass the South Americans.