Saturday, June 17, 2006

Mexico 0-0 Angola

Angola surprised everyone including themselves after they held Mexico to a 0-0 draw. This is a dream result for Angola, debutants at the World Cup, as it keeps their hopes of qualifying alive.

The Angolans defended diligently and repelled the Mexican attack and the goalkeeper Joao Ricardo gave the performance of his lifetime. Their job was made even harder when they had Andre sent off in the 79th minute, but credit to the defence for holding firm to register their first ever point in the World Cup.

Without taking anything away from the Angolans, Soccer Pundit feels that the Mexicans could have done better as they squandered away a lot of chances and have only themselves to blame if they fail to qualify.

This group is still wide open and anybody can go through. If Portugal wins against Iran, then Mexico will face a do-or-die mission when they meet up with Portugal in the third match of Group D. As for Angola, they can progress by winning against Iran with a wide margin and Portugal defeats Mexico.

Netherlands 2-1 Côte d'Ivoire

The Netherlands progressed into the second round after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Côte d'Ivoire with goals from Robin van Persie and Ruud van Nistelrooy. This win puts them alongside Argentina with 6 points while Serbia and Montenegro and Côte d'Ivoire were eliminated.

After Van Persie's 23rd-minute free-kick opener, Van Nistelrooij doubled the Dutch lead four minutes later but the Ivorians hit back through a spectacular Bakary Kone effort and threatened an equaliser on more than one occasion.

Despite conceding two goals, the Ivorians refused to give up. They pushed back the Orange tide with their creative play and shocked them with a goal before half-time. For long periods of the second half, Côte d'Ivoire kept up the pressure on Holland and launched waves of attacks on their goal mouth but they were missing a slight element of luck.

Said Mark van Bommel: "Until leading 2-0 we had played well, then we lost it..... We played badly but...we have to learn from it. Ivory Coast were strong opponents. They were always dangerous. I'm glad we don't have to play them again." A very frank comment on the proceedings of the match.

Soccer Pundit was pleasantly surprised by the fighting spirit and skills of the Ivorians who were not awed by the situation and took the game to the Dutch. This is without doubt one of the more entertaining matches in the World Cup so far, with end-to-end action and the Dutch had to dig deep into their reserves to cope with the high-energy level of the Ivorians.

Soccer Pundit feels that the Ivorians could improve on their finishing though as they needed far too many chances to score and you simply can't have that at the World Cup. But they will be back, i believe, stronger and sharper than before in 4 years time..

Argentina demolish Serbia & Montenegro 6-0

Argentina produced a world class display of attacking flair to move into the second round with a 6-0 battering of Serbia & Montenegro in Group C.

1st goal: Rodriguez toe-poked a goal from the left after Javier Saviola, fed by Juan Pablo Sorin with a back heel on the left wing, steered a square ball into the box.

2nd goal: Saviola fed Crespo who stepped over the ball and backheeled it for Cambiasso to fire into the roof of the net past a static Dragoslav Jevric.

3rd goal: Again Saviola created the chance. He robbed the ball from Mladen Krstajic out on the right wing and ran into the box to shoot low. Jevric got a hand to the ball but it fell to Rodriguez to tap in at the far post for his second.

4th goal: With 12 minutes left he made his presence felt, breaking down the left and sending a low ball into the box for Crespo to tuck in.

5th goal: Tevez cut in from the left, nutmegged a defender before finishing calmly with a low shot home.

6th goal: Messi scored in the 88th minute with a low shot through the legs of the keeper after finding room in the area.

A solid performance with creativity coming from all sides of the Argentinian team. It will be a pleasant headache for any manager to choose the first XI from this array of talents. If they carried on this form, Soccer Pundit has no doubt that they will be in the semi-finals with relative ease. Saviola was difficult to contain and his running and passing gave all sorts of problems to the Serbia and Montenegro's defence.

Coach Pekerman brought on Tevez and Messi in the second half and both, despite their youth and inexperience at the world stage, peformed with the confidence and assurance of veterans. The former maestro, Maradona, was absolutely elated with their performance. It has been a long wait since 1986 when he led Argentina to the trophy.

Since then, Argentina has been disappointing in their outings. This could just be their year but whatever it is, Soccr Pundit feels that the future of Argentina looks very bright indeed...

Friday, June 16, 2006

Sweden 1-0 Paraguay

Sweden scored a late goal through midfielder Freddie Ljungberg in a 1-0 Group B win over Paraguay.

Ljungberg headed the ball into the bottom corner in the 89th minute after a right wing cross was headed back across goal by substitute Marcus Allback to hand Sweden the points. Ljungberg almost added a second in injury time with a long-range shot that Aldo Bobadilla pushed away for a corner as Sweden looked to finish off the plucky South Americans.

Sweden applied the pressure on Paraguay right from the start but their goalkeeper, Bobadilla was in excellent form and he produced several quality saves to keep Paraguay in the game.

Midfielder Kim Kallstrom, promoted to the starting lineup after a strong performance in the first match against T&T, was a constant threat. In the best moment of the first half, he forced an outstanding diving save from Aldo Bobadilla with a powerful shot from just outside the penalty area. Strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson also had good chances to put Sweden ahead but just could not get past Bobadilla.

Soccer Pundit sees close similarity between the fate of England and Sweden, it will be interesting to watch the encounter between the two. Could it be a fire-cracker of a match or a boring display. Most likely the latter, yawn...

England win 2-0 against Tobago & Trinidad

England had to wait till the last ten minutes before Peter Crouch and then Steven Gerrard powered them into the World Cup second round with a hard-earned 2-0 win in Group B.

It was a frustrating match with little goal-mouth action and it was not long before England fans were chanting for Rooney to play. Coach Sven did bring him on together with Aaron Lennon in the 58th minute to loud cheers by England's fans. With both their arrival, England looked sharper in their attack as they beseiged the Soca's defence. Lampard in particular had about 7-8 chances to score but it was not his day as he fluffed them all.

It was left to captain David Beckham to do something and in the 83rd minute, he floated a perfect ball from the right to the far post where Crouch headed it powerfully into the net. With a minute remaining Gerrard finish off the game by scoring with a left-foot drive from the edge of the box.

Despite this win, Soccer Pundit still feels that there is much to improve in England's play and they need to have more variety in their attacks. Right now, it is one-dimensional long balls and the midfield is bypassed most of the time. This makes their game too predicatable and the opponents just have to be quick enough to get to the ball to snuff out their attacks.

In this match, they were also lucky to escape from being a goal down when John Terry cleared off the line after an aerial duel between Rio Ferdinand and Stern John. Lady luck doesn't always smile on you, England....

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Ecuador 3-0 Costa Rica

Ecuador turned up another convincing display as they beat Costa Rica 3-0 in the second round of the World Cup. Goals from Carlos Tenorio (8) and Agustin Delgado (54) and then a late strike from Ivan Kaviedes gave them a perfect start in group A with two wins. Tenorio and Delgado also scored for Ecuador against Poland.

The Group A leader will be decided when Ecuador meet the hosts Germany. It will be an exciting moment for Ecuador to face the favourites of this tournament. Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez was already looking forward to that match after the convincing victory. "It will be very difficult against Germany because the players are going to be tired. They played two games. They want to play a very good match against Germany. It will be a historic match," he told reporters.

For Ecuador's second appearance on the world stage, Soccer Pundit feels that they have done extremely well and their fairy tale will not be ending any time soon. They displayed a high level of energy, played compactly as a team and controlled the game well. Any team who is coming up against them will have to be in tip-top condition to wrestle the midfield control and prise open their defence.

Germany 1-0 Poland

Germany battled and battled away to finally score a dramatic goal in stoppage time to beat Poland 1-0. Poland can hold their head up high despite this loss as they gave everything they had and really fustrated the Germans with their resoulute defending.

Oliver Neuville (an old guard) latched on to a low cross from fellow substitute David Odonkor to slide the winner past keeper Artur Boruc as the game reached the 92nd minute.

Soccer Pundit feels that it is a waste that Poland is going out. This was a game with raised stakes as Germany needed the points for a secure passage into the last 16 while Poland also needed a win to avoid early departure.

The fighting spirit of the Germans was particularly impressive as they kept the pressure on the Poles and refuse to give up the search for goal until the final whistle. Defence wise, they may not be as efficient as their predecessors but this team holds the same key characteristics which made Germany such a feared opponent, i.e the mental strength and winner's mentality.

Tunisia draw 2-2 with Saudi Arabia

Just a short commentary as this match doesn't raise my interest much.

Ziad Jaziri opened the scoring for Tunisia in the 23rd minute, volleying in a loose ball after a free kick rebounded from Saudi defenders Redha Tukar and Hamad Al Montashari. But Saudi Arabia equalised in the 57th minute when Yasser Al Qahtani guided in a cross from Mohammed Noor.

Substitute Sami Al Jaber struck the winner six minutes from time when he broke free on the left and ran on to score but Saudi joy was short-lived when Jaidi scored the late equaliser.

Both were desperate to win: Tunisia have not tasted victory at a FIFA World Cup since their first-ever game in Argentina 1978 against Mexico while the Saudis were looking to end a run of seven matches without a win on the world stage. Soccer Pundit feels this is a fair result for both teams.

Spain 4-0 Ukraine

It is a puzzle to Soccer Pundit why Spain, with one of the most skilful, competitive leagues and so many fine players have always been packed off prematurely at the World Cup. However, they could finally be enjoying better luck if this 4-0 demolition of Ukraine is anything to go by.

Two goals from the outstanding David Villa, one a deflected free kick and the second from the first penalty awarded in the competition, a header from Xabi Alonso and a powerful volley from Fernando Torres secured Spain's emphatic Group H victory.

Ukraine were reduced to 10 men after 47 minutes when Vladislav Vashchyuk was harshly sent off for tugging at Torres's shorts. Andriy Shevchenko, the 2004 Footballer of the Year who has been signed by Chelsea from AC Milan for almost 30 million pounds ($55.24 million), hardly had a meaningful touch.

Spain has now taken their run to 23 matches without defeat since Luis Aragones became coach after Euro 2004. Soccer Pundit feels that this may just be the opening match but Spain has really played excellent football in defence, midfield and attack and could easily have added more goals. They also have two young strikers, Torres (Atletico Madrid) and Villa (Valencia) who can strike fear into any defence and a promising midfielder in Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal).

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Brazil 1-0 Croatia

Out of Brazil's Fab Four, only Kaka performed credibly today when he struck a scintillating goal just before halftime to grab a 1-0 advantage for the world champions. In the first half, Croatia mainly confined themselves to trying to catch Brazil on the break. Niko Kranjcar shot wide after Marko Babic broke from midfield with a strong run in the 23rd minute.

Other exciting moments were when Roberto Carlos had unleashed a fierce shot from outside the penalty box in the 15th minute which Stipe Pletikosa tipped over the bar. Moments later, Ronaldinho sent a low, long-range shot just wide of the left-hand post.

Croatia gave a dogged display even when they were a goal down. If Brazil thinks they can walk over their opponent, they were mistaken. In the second half, Croatia had a lot of good chances to equalize. Three times they were in position to score but were let down by poor finishing.

Soccer Pundit thinks Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be delighted with this win but he will have a lot of tactical changes to make to improve Brazil's play.

France 0-0 Switzerland

A goalless draw between France and Switzerland leaves both of them two points beneath early leader Korea Republic in Group G.

Switzerland proved to be a tough nut to crack for France and is a repeat of their recent encounters where they have already drawn twice during the qualifying matches to the World Cup. This was a tight match with few clear-cut scoring opportunities. The closest either side came was when Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta's free-kick bounced back off a post and Alexander Frei failed to convert the rebound.

It seems France have not shaken away the nightmare of World Cup 2002 where they arrived in Asia with great hopes of retaining their title, only to exit the competition without a single point and, more embarrassingly, without having netted a single goal. In other words, they have gone eight years since 1998 without scoring in the World Cup Finals.

France have world-class strikers in its rank with Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Djibril Cisse (out with a broken leg) and Louis Saha, so they should not have any excuses with the lack of strikers.

Soccer Pundit feels that they need to inject more creativity into their link-up play in midfield and create the proper chances for the strikers. Right now, the over-dependence on Henry and Zinedine Zidane is hurting France's chances of advancing. Other players have to step up to relieve their load. In this match, they brought on a newcomer Franck Ribery, an exciting player who has the power and explosive acceleration. Time will tell if he will be able to take over the midfield role once Zidane retires..

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Korea 2-1 Togo

The hero of the 2002 World Cup, Ahn Jung-Hwan, came to the rescue again for Korea as they edged out to a 2-1 win.

In the first quarter, both teams played nervously and Korea did not seem to get going with a lot of misplaced passes and no real goalscoring opportunities were created, save for some set-pieces. Goalkeepers for both sides had very little to do until the 31st minute, when Mohamed Kader of Togo fired a great goal into the corner of the net from the right side of the penalty box.

Korea was shocked and started to push upwards in search of an equalizer but it was Togo who almost scored again before halftime when Yao Senaya's curling free kick was tipped over the bar by Lee Woon-jae.

Dick Advocaat (Korea coach) sent on forward Ahn at the start of the second half. His first effort was a wild shot over the bar in the 50th minute as the Koreans finally began to gather some momentum. The turning point came in the 53rd minute when Togo skipper Jean-Paul Yaovi Abalo Dosseh was shown a red card for bringing down Park Ji-sung on the edge of the area. The referee awarded a free kick which was converted by Lee Chun-soo.

The goal sparked a wave of Korean pressure, with Park at last displaying the dazzling runs that made him so popular at Manchester United last season. Togo gallantly went for the win despite being a man down, but they were sunk when Ahn picked up a loose ball and advanced to fire an unstoppable shot past Agassa.

Soccer Pundit thinks the Koreans had a bit of luck in this match but credit to both sides who battled to the end. The hot weather is starting to play a decisive factor for this World Cup as it is apparent a lot of players are struggling with tired legs and dehydration (grabbing water bottles at every opportunity) even before the first half had ended. The team which can still keep its shape and focus right to the end will win...

Italy 2-0 win over Ghana

The Italians showed that they can play some entertaining football in this match. Goals from Andrea Pirlo and Vincenzo Iaquinta gave Italy a 2-0 (40th, 83rd minute) victory over Ghana.

Ghana also gave their best and turned in a good performance in the first half despite a nervous start. They had two clear chances by Asamoah Gyan and Emmanuel Pappoe which were wasted but nevertheless gave the Italians a fright.

In the second half, Italy was rarely threatened, save for a penalty appeal in the 79th minute which was rejected.

Overall, a solid performance by the Italians and given their pedigree, they should advance from the group stages with little effort.

Czechs 3-0 USA

The Czechs took control of the match early on when top scorer Jan Koller headed in a right wing cross from close range in only the fifth minute of the Group E fixture.

Two goals from Tomas Rosicky later on in the match gave the Czech Republic a 3-0 victory over the United States but Koller suffered an injury that threatens to end his World Cup early.

Soccer Pundit saw the Czech Republic totally dominating the field and their simple, direct play was a joy to watch. USA was left chasing after the ball for long spells of the game and rarely threatened the Czech goalkeeper, Petr Cech.

If the Czechs carry on playing like this, they are going to be a strong force to be reckoned with and will surely be in the semi-finals, short of any serious mishaps. Pavel Nedved, the midfield mastreo who came out of international retirement to lead his country for the last time was simply majestic. His simple passes unlocked the USA defence with ease and most of the attacks originated from his feet. Other opponents will do well to keep a closer eye on him and deprive him of the ball.

The only worry for Czech Republic will be the injured Euro 2004 top scorer Milan Baros, and now Koller's hamstring injury. Upfront, they seem to be a bit thin at the moment...

Australia 3-1 Japan

Japan was unlucky to lose to Australia in the final 8 minutes but credit to the Aussies for a rousing finish which may indicate their arrival on the world stage at last. Australia seem to be extending their miserable World Cup run when they went behind to a disputed first half goal by Japan.

Substitute Tim Cahill equalised in the 84th minute to claim Australia's first goal at a World Cup then added a second to put his team ahead before John Aloisi put the result beyond doubt with a third in injury time.

Soccer Pundit feels Japan had only themselves to blame for not capitalising on several clear chances they had. Even though they led for majority of the match and had some good movement and passing, they lost their concentration and seemed tired towards the end.

As for the Aussies, Lady Luck finally smiled on them. For the record, Australia had failed to score a single goal in their only previous World Cup appearance in 1974 and had been plagued by bad luck, bad draws and bad play ever since. They got into this world cup by beating Uruguay on penalties.

They may just may make it beyond the group stages, after which, it is anybody's guess.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Other Updates for Day 3

Mexico wins 3-1 against Iran

Mexico scored twice in the final 20 minutes to defeat Iran 3-1 in their opening match. Omar Bravo scored the first goal after 28 minutes before Iran drew level eight minutes later through defender Yahya Golmohammadi.

With the teams tied at 1-1, Omar Bravo capitalised on a mix-up in the Iran defence to slot home his and Mexico's second goal in the 76th minute. Three minutes later Zinha headed the third to seal victory for Ricardo La Volpe's side.

Soccer Pundit saw flashes of brilliance in Iran's attacks but they were unable to hold on to the end. As for Mexico, they arrived in Germany with 67 goals in 18 qualifying games, which indicates a potent strike force but if not for the brillance of Bravo, they would not have broken the deadlock. They will need to display more performances like those in the second-half to have a more solid chance of progressing further.


Portugal 1-0 Angola

"Any victory is good, no matter how you get it," says Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Soccer Pundit guess that sums up the way Portugal struggled in this match with a narrow 1-0 win over Angola.

Portugal captain Luis Figo took on Angola's Jamba and squared the ball for record scorer Pauletta to convert the goal.

For first-timers Angola, they put up a brave performance while Portugal got to reflect in shame on how it was not able to control and finish off the match with a second goal. Opening game jitters perhaps, but Soccer Pundit thinks their chances are limited, unless they played more like a team. Cristiano Ronaldo can be a handful on his day but for this match, he was more concerned with showcasing his individual skills than to make the vital passes.

Dutch wizard 1, Serbia & Montenegro 0

The Netherlands were lucky to have a wizard in Arjen Robben who turned in a most sensational individual display of the World Cup so far, scoring the only goal of the game to beat Serbia & Montenegro 1-0.

In the 18th minute, Robin van Persie sent in a through ball which Robben latched on to, springing the offside trap and racing through to slip the ball cooly past Serbian keeper Dragoslav Jevric. He then constantly tormented his opponents and the person assigned to mark him Nenad Djordjevic had a nightmare outing and found it extremely difficult to contain him, eventually suffering the indignity of being substituted two minutes before halftime.

With this result, the Dutch join Argentina on top of Group C with three points.

Soccer Pundit won't say that this is a fabulous Dutch display as they depended on a single person too much and the play is too unbalanced with the attacks all coming from the left flank and the right winger has virtually nothing much to do.

Is it Robben's fault that he has stolen the limelight? Supporters will say that he has taken the bull by the horn and lift the match while critics will say that he is selfish and did not bring other teammates into the play.

Soccer Pundit will like to think that Robben has done the former. Coach Marco van Basten will have a lot of tinkering to do in future matches to ensure the entire team performs to expectations (they have far too many talents to be a one man show). He needs to ensure that the situation of depending on one star player does not repeat itself as any injuries to Robben could derail their chances of progressing further.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Sweden draws with Trinidad and Tobago

Goal shy Sweden cannot find the goals in this match which ends up 0-0 and they are bound to face an uphill task in later matches.

The unfancied Trinidad and Tobago, down to 10 men early in the second half of their Group B World Cup opener, kept the Swedes at bay with veteran goalkeeper Shaka Hislop the hero of the night.

Having world class target men Zlatan Ibrahimovic(Juventus) and Henrik Larsson(Barcelona) did not help matters but one consolation would be Kim Kallstrom who came on in the 78th minute and stepped up the attacking impetus.

What Sweden needs is a playmaker and a link-man for the strikers to be effective, if Kim Kallstrom starts in subsequent matches, Sweden may have a better chance. Their next game against Paraguay is a MUST WIN.

Argentina 2-1 Côte d'Ivoire

Argentina managed a 2-1 win but underperformed at times during the match. Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola scored for Argentina while Didier Drogba scored for Côte d'Ivoire.

Overall, it was a good start to the World Cup for Argentina, they took a 2-0 lead over a tricky opposition and managed to keep the game under control, in spite of not playing particularly well. In fact, Côte d'Ivoire piled on the pressure in the game's closing stages.

One thing to note for Argentina is that Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez were not called up in the match, it means that they still got a strong bench and have not unleashed their full potential yet.


'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'
- Bill Shankly