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
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