The 2010 World Cup, Round of 16 (Post XI)

Hello All,

I will start by saying that of course I was deeply disappointed with the US's 2-1 loss to Ghana in the Round of 16, but I was immensely pleased with the overall run of the team through the Cup this year. We may have initially underestimated Slovenia and Algeria (and also Ghana) but we still played pretty well this year. This has been my favorite US soccer team to watch and I hope a majority of them will return in four years in Brazil. GO USA!

Second of all, I was very excited watching all of these games. I was happy to see a couple of extra time games and even the first penalty kicks of the tournament. I was disappointed to see Japan and South Korea eliminated, but they also played great this summer. Good run guys.

I do admit, that I enjoyed England's loss at the hands of Germany. I am not a fan of Wayne Rooney, and think that he was grossly overrated in regard to this cup. He didn't score a goal and was even a sore enough loser to call out his own fans. I don't like him and probably never will. Other than that, it was great to see Germany dominate.

I know many are thinking that England and Mexico got screwed in their games, but let me reassure people that while they DID have those calls go against them, neither team would have came out on top. Argentina was too strong of a team to go against Mexico. They would have lost anyway. While many believe that England's second goal would have brought them back, play a different style, and possibly turn the game around, I honestly think that it would have just turned out Germany winning 4-2 instead of 4-1. Germany is also too strong of a team, and England just played awful in this cup. Yea, hurray for Manchester U, Chelsea (my team), and a few others for having English superstars, but they just don't play well together.

Well there are some massive games coming up tomorrow and Saturday. I am most excited to see the Germany vs. Argentina game. That should be something special. The Netherlands vs. Brazil is also great. I am pulling for a Netherlands upset for that one. I'm sure Brazil will come away with the win (and what the hell, I have a Brazil vs. Spain final predicted), but my heart would love to see the Dutch take it. Be on the look out for Sneijder to step up even MORE to take on the Brazilians. Watch out for Kaka and the one yellow he already has. I'm hoping Spain should have no problem taking out Paraguay. God, I wish David Villa would come over to Chelsea. (Although Barcelona has always been my second European team and I love their roster). Well thanks for readin...

-Adam

The 2010 World Cup, Days 10-14 (Post X)

Hello All,

Well we are finished with group play and are moving in the Round of 16 tomorrow. We have seen some amazing matches so far in this World Cup, some great goals, and some surprises along the way. For example, I am 9-7 with my predictions this year. At least it is still a winning record. Needless to say, I was caught off guard with some of the great teams that emerged during group play.

As we look forward to the Round of 16, I want to look back at some of the best aspects of group play that we have seen in this World Cup. I will name off my "Top 3'" in regard to: most surprising teams, most disappointing teams, most impressive players, most disappointing players, and who I think is the MVP of the Cup thus far.

First we will start with my top 3 impressive teams of the tournament so far:

3.) South Korea

I will give everyone a hint. This is not the only Asian nation that will emerge in this little category. The reason South Korea is on here is because I completely underestimated them. I thought they were going to lose all three of their games, and thought they weren't going to be able to do it off their own soil. I was wrong. They came off a strong win in their first game against Greece, struggled against Argentina (who wouldn't), and had another strong showing with Nigeria. Park Ji-Sung has played great and has captained his team to the Round of 16 with more ease then I thought they ever would.

2.) Slovakia

Here is a team that is playing in its very first World Cup as an independent nation. Its a typical Cinderella story, but perhaps one that no one believed could happen. I predicted them getting through to the next round, but I did it based on that cliche of the heart. They surprised me because they are actually a solid team and it wasn't just the cliche that got them through to the next round. Right now Robert Vittek is tied for most goals with 3. The Netherlands should not underestimate this team.

1.) Japan

Out of every team in the World Cup this year, Japan has impressed me more than any other. Yes, I know that Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, and Germany are all good, but they are supposed to be good. I wasn't looking to be impressed. Japan came out and beat Cameroon their first game, fought with the Netherlands with a lot of spirit, and then dominated Denmark. Keisuke Honda has been spot on, and I have much enjoyed watching them play. I didn't pick them to advance out of their group and I was completely wrong to think that.

Alright so here are my top 3 disappointing teams of the World Cup:

3.) Cameroon

The three spot was a tough one to decide upon. I feel as though other teams such as Greece, South Africa, and Nigeria could have easily filled in here. I decided upon Cameroon because of Samuel Eto'o. I think that if he could have played a little better, his team could have made a decent run to get out of the group. They have a very solid team, but they just had no chemistry during their games. The one moment that I saw some hope was Eto'o's first goal against Denmark, but that was cut very short. I wish Eto'o could have played like he does for Inter-Milan. I know he had some problems with old Cameroon legends calling him out, but c'mon Samuel...this is the World Cup.

2.) France

I know I have never been one to love the French. However, when it came to my predictions, I did NOT follow my heart. I followed my soccer head, and my head told me France was good. My head told me that on paper, France had one of the best teams on the pitch. Well, congratulations France, you have proven that amazing, talented, well paid football players can do well on their club teams, but together they are not good. Now I love Bayern-Munich and Ribery. And Chelsea is my European team, thus I like Nicolas Anelka...but wow. Good work fellas.

1.) Italy

France would have been number one if Italy had advanced out of group play. I couldn't believe how poorly they played this year. I am Italian so Italy is my number 2 team, so I was pretty disappointed. I knew they were in for a bad time when Buffon couldn't play. I was hoping De Rossi, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, and Pepe could still lead them through. But yea, they are old. And he is what also angered me. They left behind a great player in Giuseppe Rossi. He was born in the USA for crying out loud but he has dual-citizenship and wants to play for Italy. He is young, quick, and learning. He will be good and he should have been brought along. I am going to write him and let him know that his options are open (AKA play for the USA!). Other than that...what else can you say. There will be a new Champion in South Africa this year.

Alright, so now I will quickly list my top 3 impressive and disappointing players of this World Cup thus far:

Most Impressive:

3.) Vincent Enyeama (GK, Nigeria)

2.) Robert Vittek (FW, Slovakia)

1.) Keisuke Honda (MF, Japan)

Enyeama played amazingly even though Nigeria didn't get out of group play. He held Argentian to one goal and it wasn't Messi's goal, and NOT for a lack of trying on Messi's part. Vittek is part of a underdog team who has proven that they are not to be underestimated. He has 3 goals thus far ties him for most overall with David Villa (Spain) and Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina). And Honda has been awesome and could very well be the reason why Japan is advancing. My hat off to these three players.

Most Disappointing:

3.) Daniele De Rossi (MF, Italy)

2.) Fernando Torres (FW, Spain)

1.) Cristiano Ronaldo (MF, Portugal)/Wayne Rooney (FW, England)

Yes, there is a tie for first place here, and I will explain in a moment. First off, Daniele De Rossi could have led his team so much further. He even gave up a huge turnover to Slovakia which helped give them a 1-nil lead which pretty much sealed the deal early on for Italy. He is a lot better than that. Fernando Torres is a player that I love. I was upset to see him hurt earlier in the year, and even more upset to see him cut his hair. However, he just hasn't produced a goal for Spain yet, and he needs to if Spain is going to come close to winning the cup. Thank God for David Villa. Finally, we have two possibly very overrated football players. Rooney is a thug, in my opinion. He can't score goals so he yells at his fans. England is VERY lucky to be getting out of group play. Rooney is supposed to be a powerhouse and scoring tons of goals. Doesn't have a problem doing it for Manchester U. And Ronaldo, who is supposed to be even BIGGER then Rooney has been a huge disappointment. He scored one goal in group play (first goal for Portugal in over 2 years!) and it made the match against N. Korea 6-0. He won man of the match for every game. I guess making the game 6-0 in the 80th minute is a real game changer. Bottom line is he played amateur in his first three games and won man of the match because of all those girls who vote. I wish people who actually knew things about soccer would vote. I feel bad for Tiago who scored twice in the N. Korea game but didn't get any recognition from the fans. He just doesn't look the part. I know Messi hasn't scored either, but he has been the REASON why Argentina has scored. He set up most of them. Ronaldo...pfff.

Alright and finally, my MVP of the group play stages thus far!

David Villa (FW, Spain)

My USA filled heart wanted to say Landon Donovan, and in my heart...he IS the ultimate MVP at this point. However, I want this analysis to be more unbiased and from the head. So Villa is the reason why Spain was able to come back from that awful lost against Switzerland and save their hopes for advancement. When someone like Torres isn't scoring, a player like Villas HAS to step up and he did. It doesn't hurt to be surrounded by Spanish all-stars, but that 35 yard goal he scored against Chile was incredible. If Villas keeps playing like this, Spain WILL win the cup, and he will be the overall MVP of the tournament.

Well, its been a long post, but I hope you have enjoyed the Cup so far this year. I have been rehabilitating my knee this summer after dislocating it in April and have been able to watch every minute of the Cup this year. 4,320 minutes of football down, 1,440 to go. What a great summer. What a great World Cup. Thanks for readin...

-Adam

The 2010 World Cup, Days 7-9 (Post IX)

Hello all,

I think its now safe to say that the World Cup is officially underway. I say this because the first week of matches, we saw a ton of draws. We saw a lot of defensive playing and a lot of caution. Teams wanted to not lose rather than to win. Now we are looking at matches that are being played like there is no tomorrow. Every team is playing to win and get a spot in the Round of 16. It is started to get really good now.

What is making every insane over these last few days of the World Cup is obviously the officials. Hell, as an American I, of course, was VERY upset with the way the USA vs. Slovenia game ended. Don't get me wrong, the comeback was epic, and I am proud of my country's soccer team, but we still should have had those three points. However, it is all over with and nothing can be done. So now the USA needs to look past that moment, and prepare for a must win situation against Algeria. The USA could win with a draw, but that would also depend on a draw in the England/Slovenia game, and outscoring the English by at least 2 goals. So a draw gets us into the murky waters of goal differentials, so a win would obviously be the best.

We also saw some nasty calls during the Germany vs. Serbia game. If you ask me, the Germans were robbed from that win when Klose was sent off with the red card. I am not saying that Podolski didn't help the cause by missing a PK late in the game, but Serbia may not have grabbed momentum and that winning goal if Germany's best player wasn't sent off on a garbage call. Oh well, again, what can ya do...

So far we have seen some amazing goals, and I would quickly like to post my top 3 goals that I have seen thus far:

3.) Simphewe Tshabalala's goal against Mexico the very first game of the tournament. It was a perfect strike into the corner of the goal and was a great way to start the tournament.

2.) Maicon's goal against North Korea. Not only was it a goal from such an angle that physicists had to calculate its possibility, but it also came from Maicon...who is a defensemen. He wrapped that shot around the pole like a veteran striker.

1.) Call me biased, but I don't care. Landon Donovan's goal against Slovenia coming out of halftime down 2-nil has been the best goal of the tournament thus far. Not only was it one of the sexiest strikes I have ever seen. But it also started the momentum for a great comeback. Just look at the goal. Look at how Donovan gets it up into the top of the net. It was amazing.

Anyway, we are entering the second half of the second games in group play. I will be looking forward to the Brazil vs. Ivory Coast game as well as Spain's next match. They need to prove that they can still win the Cup. I am most looking forward to the USA vs. Algeria match this Wednesday. GO USA! Thanks for readin...

-Adam

The 2010 World Cup, Days 4-6 (Post VIII)

Hello all,

Well we have finished the first matches of group play and are now starting the second games. So far, up until this point, we have seen a lot of defense, not a ton of goals scored, and a lot of ties. A former high school teacher of mine brought up an excellent point when I was discussing this with him. He said that many teams are more focusing more on NOT losing then they are winnings. It does seem odd that that may be the case, but he is right. Many of the teams are just wanting to come away with at least one point. However, I think this will change as we get into the next bunch of games. We will probably see higher scoring games and clear cut winners.

Anyway, for this post, I just wanted to simply point out the most impressive/surprising teams thus far and the most disappointing teams so far in the first games of the tournament.

I would say the top 3 impressive teams that I have seen so far are:

1) Germany

2) The Netherlands

3) South Korea

Germany was the only team thus far to completely dominate in their opening game. They are here to win the cup and nothing else. The Netherlands looked very good against the team that was predicted to take second place in that group, Denmark. They were very organized and looked very strong overall. Finally, I really enjoyed watching South Korea in their first game against Greece. Greece was favored and S. Korea came out strong and fast to shut them down. Good for them. I'm not saying that they will get past group play or anything. I'm just saying they played well.

Here are the more disappointing teams I've seen:

1) Australia

2) Brazil

3) Italy

I know that Australia wasn't supposed to be amazing, but they weren't supposed to let 4 goals in. I picked Australia to take second in the group and get to the Round of 16 but it probably won't happen. Especially if they keep playing like they did against Germany. Brazil won...yea, but they didn't WIN like Brazil usually wins. They were supposed to dominate North Korea (who is the worst ranked FIFA team in the tournament, somewhere around 105 or so). They only won by a score of 2-1 and giving up a goal AT ALL was disappointing. Finally, Italy, the defending champs, who pulled out a 1-1 draw against Paraguay. It was upsetting to watch, but they ARE old and did lose Buffon after the half. Although, they didn't really have their second string goalkeeper tested so it could have been worse for them. I hope they come out hardcore for their next game to make up for the first.

Notice that Spain didn't appear in the most disappointing section. I was VERY upset with their loss but I wasn't disappointed with them. If the close chances they had would have resulted in goals, they would have won the game 18-1. They had many many chances and just got unlucky. ESPECIALLY with the one goal that Switzerland did score. If you watched the game, Spain controlled the game in every aspect (possession, shots, passes, everything). The loss is awful for them but not a testament to their team. I'm expected them to come out and show no mercy in their next game.

Alright, I am off to watch the next couple games that I had to tape on the tivo this morning. I have watched 1,530 minutes of the World Cup thus far and only have around 4,230 to go! Thanks for readin...

-Adam

The 2010 World Cup, Days 1-3 ( Post VII)

Hello all,

We are finished with the first weekend of World Cup play, and it has been great so far. I wanted to post here my first impressions, things that were satisfying, things that were disappointing, and perhaps even some surprises after the first eight games.

I will start with my overall impressions so far. I have only been alive for six World Cups, but even more than that, I've only watched three (02, 06, 10). So far, this has been the best start to any of the tournaments I've seen in the past. All of the games have kept me interested and have had some sort of particular excitement in them. I was very happy that the first goal that was scored this year was scored on behalf of South Africa by one of my favorite players: Simphewe Tsabalala. It put South Africa up 1-0 against a strong Mexican team, and even though Mexico would bring the game to a draw, South Africa proved in their first 90 minutes that they can contend and play against any team.

Another thing I have been very happy with so far has been the great defense that has been played. Through the first seven games of the 2006 World Cup, there were 16 goals that were scored. Going into the eighth game this year, there were only 9 goals scored. Defenses have been playing VERY strong so far and it makes the game much more tighter and exciting. Obviously, the Germany game finally changed everything (and I figured that this tight/close gameplay may come to an end once we start seeing Brazil, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and Spain start to play) but for the most part, every game has been exciting and close. Oh and on a side note: FEAR GERMANY. Big time. I told everyone that they could still dominate without Ballack...I guess I was right.

As a USA fan, I was of course, pumped about the draw against England. This puts us in a great position for hopeful wins against Slovenia (who won their first game) and Algeria (who lost to Slovenia). The USA losing these games would be devastating to them and the fans. If they can win the next two games, they should have no problem getting out of group play.

Finally, I was very happy to see South Korea come out and dominate the Greeks. I was initially throwing my support behind Greece, but after the first goal was scored by S. Korea, I swung over to their side. They are a fast, disciplines, and very efficient team who could go very far (2002 4th place? *cough cough*). Vincent Enyeama

I really don't have much to be disappointed about so far this year. I was initially upset that Greece got their butt's whooped, but as I've said, was glad to see S. Korea come out strong. Australia's defense today was, as they might say, "Bloody" awful. Yea, Germany won 4-nil, but it could have easily been 10-nil if they had put in all their close chances. I know that Australia was down a man for the last 35 minutes, but Germany could have done all of that regardless...they were for the first half. Finally, I was disappointed with Nigeria. I was hoping their offense would be a tad stronger, but thank God for their awesome goaltender: Vincent Enyeama. The game ended 1-nil in favor of Argentina, but if it wasn't for Enyeama and what he did, it would have been much more. Yea, Messi might have taken around 14 good shots on goal, but guess what? None of them went in because Enyeama was there to deny him. Good for him. But c'mon Nigeria, help him out and score some goals.

The biggest surprise thus far: Fouls and Penalties. Holy God, the refs and officials are leaving nothing on the field. We have already seen four red cards (three JUST today!) and countless numbers of yellow cards (up to around 7 just for the Uruguay/France match). I am surprised, but also happy that the refs are bringing the ax down. We also saw the first penalty kick of the World Cup this year that helped Ghana beat Serbia 1-nil.

So I guess this is where we are so far. Tomorrow has a couple of good matches in the morning that I am excited to see: Netherlands v. Denmark and Japan v. Cameroon. I have watched all 720 minutes of the Cup so far, and am excited to see the rest of it. Thanks for readin...

-Adam

Best Pitchers in the MLB through May 2010 (Post VI)

Hello All,

We are about a month away from hitting the halfway point in the 2010 MLB season and if the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays haven't surprised anyone in regard to their level of playing currently, then we can be nice and surprised at the AL and NL pitchers I have chosen as the best currently playing the game.

I suppose these two pitchers being the best right now isn't too hard to understand, considering their statistics are able to tell the story, but at the beginnings of the season, no one would have suspected that they would be the best right now. It is usually all about Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, C.C. Sabathia, and Josh Beckett. However, Lincecum has recorded 5 no decisions already (currently 5-2, but leads the majors in K's), Beckett has played AWFUL so far this year, and Sabathia is only 5-3 with a 4.14 ERA. Yea, yea, Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game recently, but so did Dallas Braden who was completely unknown minus the incident with A-Rod (which was a completely garbage freak out by Braden, but I digress).

So this year, about 60 games into the season, the two best pitchers in the MLB right now from each league is Ubaldo Jimenez(NL) and Phil Hughes (AL).

Jimenez has started 12 games and in those games, he has an 11-1 record with a...wait for it...0.93 ERA! He came into last nights game with a 0.77 ERA but gave up 2 runs in the 8th to make is explode a little bit. But really, it didn't matter because he is DOMINATING right now. He follows up those big stats with 87.1 innings pitched, 52 hits given up, only 2 homeruns given up, and 78 strikeouts. The Rockies aren't playing up to their potential right now, but it is still early in the season. Just to put it in perspective: if the Rockies has two more pitchers who were as great at Jimenez, they may be undefeated right now.

Phil Hughes came out of the bullpen for the Yanks this year, barely winning that 5th spot in the rotation. Well Giradi, Dave Island, and the rest of the Yankees are absolutely thrilled with how he has performed so far this season. He has a solid record of 7-1 with a 2.54 ERA. For those who have trouble with baseballs stats, any ERA below a 3 is considered incredible. Hell, a 3-4 point ERA is average so a 2.54 is very good (obviously not a 0.93 but Jimenez can't be touched this season). Hughes has also recorded 47 hits in 63.2 innings (again for those who don't get it, the less hits you have per innings you pitch is the best. 100 innings and 100 hits is not so great but 100 innings and 60 hits is great). Hughes has only given up 4 homers and has recorded 64 K's. The Yanks are still second in the AL East and about 2.5 games up in the Wild Card (with the two teams behind them being Toronto and Boston so anyone who says the AL East is NOT the best division in baseball has no knowledge of the game whatsoever), but again it is still early and anything can happen.

These two pitchers are winning their leagues at the moment, but anything can happen. There are still 100 games to be played which can make these stats obsolete very quickly. However, the stats DO talk and if both Jimenez and Hughes keep pitching the way they are right now with no slumps, then they should both be in line to win their respective CY Young awards.

Thanks for readin...

-Adam

World Cup IV (Post V)

Hello All,
So when we last left my World Cup predictions, we had four teams in the running to become the World Champion. If things weren't getting intense up to this point, then this will be the most exciting part of the tournament. Today, I will predict the final four matches and then the 3rd place and final match. The World Cup is one week away so everyone should be getting crazy excited. Again, everything I've posted on this blog thus far has been a prediction and I would be incredibly happy if it actually turned out this way.

Alright, so lets finish this:

England (1C) vs. Brazil (1G)

This is would be a big match and I would be very excited to see how it played out. Both teams fought hard and played well to get to this point. Brazil would be the clear favorite but I believe that the first half will end nil-nil with England playing amazingly well. However, Brazil would pick it up in the second half, score a few goals, and put England away to make their way to the final match.

Winner: Brazil

South Africa (2A) vs. Spain (1H)

South Africa has made a surprising run for the Cup at this point and with their home team crowd and strong momentum, they are going to make this game interesting too. However, Spain is too strong and is wanting the trophy too much at this point and will probably just overpower South Africa. I hope South Africa gets this far because they would deserve it. Go Matthew Booth! But Spain will win this match.

Winner: Spain

Alright, now we will move on to the 3rd place match to determine who will get the bronze and the final match for the World Cup.

England (1C) vs. South Africa (2A)

This would be a great match for third place. South Africa, still feeling the defeat from Spain will come out blasting at all cylinders and wanting to take home some prestige. The English will have broken momentum and probably some ill feelings based on their match against Brazil and won't be able to match the home-team, glory filled South African team. South Africa will win this game and make one of the best runs at the cup for a lower-seeded team.

Winner: South Africa

World Cup Finals: Brazil (1G) vs. Spain (1H)

What a match this will be. The final match to determine the Champion of the World will be very close and come down to the last tick. I don't see the match going into Penalty Kicks after regulation as it did four years ago, but the final tick on stoppage time will still be incredibly intense. It will be tied 1-1 going into the second half and Spain will strike putting them up 2-1. It will stay like this until the final moment and Brazil will come very close but will fall short. Spain wins the match 2-1 and wins their first World Cup

Winner and World Cup Champion: Spain

Ok, so there are my predictions for the 2010 World Cup spanning four posts. I hope you enjoyed reading this and hope that it has also primed you up for whats ahead over the next month. Again the winners will hopefully be:

Champions: Spain

2nd Place: Brazil

3rd Place: South Africa

Alright, I will be blogging a fair amount during the Cup, I'm sure but I will also be returning to anything and everything else sports related from here on out. Thanks for readin...

-Adam