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
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